LOT, A SAVED SOUL--A LOST LIFE

Genesis 13:1-10

Morning Meditation 10/7/14

"And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south. And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai; Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD. And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar."

I would encourage you to read Gen. 12:1-5; Gen. 14:1-16; and Gen. 19:1-38. Lot is one of those tragedies of Scripture that one would rather leave out. However, God shows both the strength and weakness of His people.

When we begin to read of the life of Lot, the Scripture makes very sad reading. They tell us that Lot was saved and this is made clear in 2 Peter 2:6-9, "And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds) The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:"

There are some things about this passage that we should notice:

1. God overthrew the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha as a warning to others. The practice of the wicked is identified by the name of the city, i.e., Sodom..

C2B7 Unbridled sex especially homosexuality was the practice of all.

C2B7 When Lot received the Angels of God into his home, it says in verse 8, Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof."

C2B7 It is beyond my imagination that Lot would bargain with the men of Sodom and offer them his daughters to satisfy their wicked lust just to leave the Angels alone who had come under his roof.

C2B7 Then the next shock is to discover that Lord calls Lot a "just" man which means that he was saved.

1. He saved Lot and his wife, and his two daughters out of the judgment of God on these wicked cities.

2. God will not destroy His children with the wicked of this world. Hebrews 12:6-7, "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?" The Lord's judgment comes to the believer in the form of chastening.

LOT MADE HIS HOME AND REARED HIS CHILDREN IN WICKED SODOM

This was a deliberate choice. The steps in his choice are outlined in Genesis 13:10-13, "And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly."

There came a time in Abraham's and Lot's lives that they were getting in one another's way. So Abraham suggested that Lot pick the direction he wanted and Abraham would go the other direction.

Genesis 13 tells the sad story. Lot lifted up his eyes and all the plain of Jordan that it was well watered so he made this his choice. As he looked to the well watered plains of Jordan, he also noticed that there were cities. Mrs. Lot could well have helped him to make his choice. She would have been much better off in entreating Lot.. I think she had her eyes on the cities. This is always a tragedy when a man and his wife disagree.

God always calls His people to a life of separation. There are many reasons why I believe a life of separation is the right one for the Christian. Paul tells Corinth in Genesis 13:10-13, "And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. Corinthians 6:14-18, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."

1. The first reason for separation is given in the words, "But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly." You can't run with dogs without smelling like one.

2. We are not to mix and mingle with the wicked of the world. Some use fellowship with the people of the world as a means to witness. I don't accept it that you can joinum and winum.

One can't devote time with God forbidden people, and place, without the wicked winning you over to their side.

THE DANGER OF THE CITY STEALING HIS CHILDREN AWAY

There is unbelievable pressure on all of us today especially teens. My heart goes out to every teenager that is or has been caught up in the violence and the wicked practices that have taken such an awful tole in our society. God is too good to do wrong and to wise to make a mistake. Christian young person, don't discard your faith in favor of being accepted on a high school or college campus.

The best way to help this world is to peach the gospel without compromise. It knocks someone out of the pew and they leave saying if this is Christianity, I want none of this. They are no doubt very serious. But they are seriously wrong something that really matters. It is what determinations heaven and hell.

When I was a boy, I would not mind. didn't want anyone to tell me what to do. Does this sound familiar? Kids get things that make them look important and smarter than their parents. One time my grandfather took me to a jail in Conway, AR. He said, "Now Earl, I want you took this prison over. He said, "We are training you in proper conduct, We don't want you ever to come here. If you do wrong or go with the wrong crowd, this is where you will end up." He said, "Now Earl I am trying my best to help, you make it in life by staying within the bounds of the law. Right now you are in my care. I am your conscience and I am what you believe now, but there is coming a time you will be on your own. I don't want you running with the wrong crowd. They will get you in trouble and you will have to get someone to get you out of jail. If you ever get in jail, be thinking about who is going to get you out because I am not. The law of our land is plain enough and reasonable. We must be governed by law."

I can't tell you what one look at that jail did for me. I know one thing, I didn't want to go there. Let's notice the following,

1. Lot was out of touch with God. It was Abraham's plea for him that got him off.

2. He lost the,

C2B7 conscienceness of the presence of God.

C2B7 the peace that he had with God.

C2B7 the power of God, if he ever had it.

LOT LOST HIS INFLUENCE IN SODOM

1. He had no influence with the men of Sodom. His appeal to the men of the city was unheeded, and actually mocked at his attempt.

2. He had no influence with his children. Genesis 19:8-9, "Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door."

3. He had no influence with his own wife. She turned back and turned to a pillar of salt. This is exactly what God said would happen.

LOT WENT FROM BAD TO WORSE

He escaped Sodom, Lot lost his wife. She had to be dumb to think that God would not step in and judge her on the spot.

LOT LOST HIS HONOR AND WAS INVOLVED IN SHAME WITH HIS OWN DAUGHTERS

The word of God does not gloss over anything. He gives us what happened to lot.

Genesis 19:14 says "And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law."

What Lot knew was a very little. And what he did know of a certainty was that the Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were to go up in a reign of fire. But he did not influence his sons- in law or his daughter believe him. He seemed as one that mocked.

This is about the place to bring this meditation to a close. Lot died a lonely death, after having had two children by his cestious relationship with his two daughters. It is sad, but it is very true, the same thing is happening in so-called Christian homes today

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White