Not for Ladies - Just for Men
James West is the pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Osterburg, Pennsylvania.
“And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night. And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. 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. But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door. And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place: For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it. 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.” (Genesis 19:1-14) I want to talk to you today about what Lot did see and the things that Lot did not see. When you go back and read the story of Lot, he is looking toward the plains of Jordan and he began to lust after the life of ease and plenty. He saw a place that was well watered, maybe it looked to him like the garden of Eden. It was a beautiful place. It was a place that was well watered so that his cattle could eat and drink and get fat. His herds would prosper and his wealth would prosper. I can see Lot as he sat alone in the door of his tent, pondering that city and what he thought the place would bring for him. He began to see a lot of things: wealth and prosperity, ease and pleasure. But I want to remind you that there were many things Lot did not see. There were things about Sodom he should have seen, but he did not see. Lot didn’t have his focus and attention on the right things. There were many things that he should have thought about and pondered about and reasoned about. He should have prayed and asked the Lord for guidance. He should have not looked at just the beginning, but also the end of it, where it would end up for him and for his family. Lot got his eyes on the well-watered plains of the Jordan, and he felt the pull of temptation to move in that direction. He began to see things in the temporal light, instead of looking at things from a spiritual standpoint. Look with me at II Corinthians 4:18. “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” I wish I could have said to him, “Wait Mr. Lot, you’re just looking at the temporal. You’re not looking at the whole picture here. There are some very important things you are not seeing. You’re not reasoning and considering how this is going to end up. You’re not looking at the spiritual effects of this move. You’re looking at the situation only from a material and temporal point of view, instead of looking at it in a spiritual way.” Everybody faces times of temptation sometime in their life when you may want something so badly in your life that you don’t look at the whole picture. I’ve talked to young people who think they’ve fallen in love. They want each other, but there are some important things to consider in the relationship that they’re not looking at. There are things they have purposely blinded themselves to, because they don’t want to look at it honestly. They have covered their eyes and they’re refusing to look at the whole picture. You talk to them and they say, “We must get married. I’ve got to have him or her,” instead of looking at the whole picture. They refuse to consider that the Lord may have a different plan, or that this relationship may be bad for them spiritually. There are some things in the relationship that worry folks, and other people see it, but you’re blind to it. Young person, you need to listen to the people who are concerned about you. Look at the whole picture. There are many things that Lot saw, but there are a whole lot of things that he did not see, things that he should have been looking at. Lot, do you see what it will cost you if you go to Sodom? Lot, I’m not talking about your bank account. I’m talking about your family, the people you love. Lot, I’m not talking about how wealthy you can become and your material possessions. I’m talking about the price you will pay spiritually if you go to Sodom. Lot just had a physical eye for the temporal, a materialistic eye, but he allowed things to blind his spiritual eyes. He didn’t look at the whole picture. Fanny Crosby has written some of the most beautiful songs in our hymnbook. Hardly a week goes by that we don’t sing one of the songs that she wrote. One reason I like Fanny Crosby, even though she was blind and could not see physically, listen to the songs that she wrote. She saw very well spiritually. That woman had some discernment and insight when it came to spiritual things. Fanny Crosby may have been blind physically, but she had some spiritual sight. She was able to see things that most people don’t ever see spiritually. I say to Lot, “Wait! Don’t go, Lot! You’re not looking at the whole picture. You’re not seeing the things that you need to see. You’re allowing your greed to blind you. You’re allowing your hunger and desire for things you should not have to blind you. You’re allowing your thirst for materialistic things and wealth to blind you. Don’t go to Sodom.” Before you make decisions where your whole family is involved, you need to look at all of it. You need to look at how it’s going to affect your family and your children’s future, not just your pocketbook. You need to look at it from every angle there is, physically, materially, and mostly spiritually, how it will affect your family. Most of all, you need to consider the will of God, and His leadership, because He knows things about what awaits you in the future that you could never figure out, no matter how hard you try. Whether or not it makes sense, you had better go in the direction the Lord leads you, not in the direction your greed and even your common sense may seem to guide you, because that’s where He plans to take care of your family and bless them. Many a man has made a decision based upon, “I want to have more for my wife and my children,” only to end up losing everything, including their marriage and their children. Blinded by greed, blinded by wealth, blinded by temptation and sin, Lot made a choice that would cost him dearly and make him pay a great price. Lot moved his family into a city where he decided to go, not where the Lord led him. The Bible says that he was a righteous man, but what he saw when he went to Sodom, it literally vexed his righteous soul, not just sometimes, but every day. Lot, do you see what will happen if you go? Things he saw after he got there were things that he wished he had never seen. You’d better look and look hard before you go. You’d better pray about it before you make that move. There are some dangers, my friend. There is danger if you don’t look at the whole picture. “But, Preacher, I want that. My flesh wants that. My pocketbook could profit from that.” Yes, but let’s look at the whole picture. “But, Brother West, I want that vehicle. I want that house. I’m going to take out a loan.” You’d better stop and think about some things. “I want her. I want him. I can’t live without them.” Do they love God? Are they spiritual? Do they plan to serve the Lord and be faithful to Him for a lifetime? You’d better stop and look at the whole picture. Many times loneliness causes us to make decisions that we should not make. Loneliness will blind a person if we’re not careful. Physical attraction has led many young people into a trap of Satan that destroys their lives. Let me give you some things I believe Lot did not see when he decided to go to Sodom. #1. Lot did not see the shame of losing his testimony. One of the most important and most valuable things that you have is your testimony. Your testimony will determine how much influence you have, and how the Lord can use you. If my testimony is gone and my influence is gone, the way you’re going to affect somebody for God, if it is gone, then God will have no other choice but to put you on the shelf. Do you want to influence your children one day for God? You’d better guard your testimony. Do you want to one day influence the church, if God gives you a church and a people? You’d better guard your testimony. If you want to have some influence with some people one day for the glory of God, and you should want that, you’d better guard your testimony. “Hey, Lot, do you realize when you go to Sodom, you’re going to lose your testimony. If you lose your testimony, you’re like somebody crying in the wilderness. Nobody is listening.” Look at verses 12-13. “And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place: For we will destroy this place,...” The very judgment of God is about to fall on Sodom. Fire and brimstone are about to fall from Heaven and destroy everything and everyone there. Lot needs to get his family to safety. The angel said, “If you’ve got anybody here, you’d better use the influence and the testimony you have and get them out of here. Look at verses 13-14. “...because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it. 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.” Do you know what they said? “What would Lot know about God? All of a sudden he’s going to show up and talk to us about God. You must be joking.” Lot had taken the influence and testimony that God had given him as a Christian and a husband and father and thrown it away. Because of that, his daughters and sons in law perished in an ungodly city, because he lost his testimony. “Preacher, it’s not a big deal if I go to the movie house.” Somebody will see you. “Hey, Preacher, it’s not really a big deal if I dress immodest, is it?” Somebody will see you. Every time you go against God and the Bible and every time that you do something wrong, you lose a little more of your testimony and your influence and your effectiveness for God. I say, “Lot, I know there are some things that you’ve looked at, but you haven’t seen the shame of losing your testimony.” His sons-in-law had no respect for him. Did you ever live like a heathen and try to talk to somebody? Have you ever had somebody that lived like a heathen come up and try to talk to you about the Lord? It goes in one ear and right out the other ear, doesn’t it? It doesn’t influence you at all. Have you ever had somebody try to talk to you about the Lord while they smoke their cigarette or drink a beer? I had a guy try to witness to me holding a beer can. You say, “What did you do?” I stared at the beer can. He had absolutely no influence on me. Lot didn’t see the shame. He never saw the potential of losing his testimony. He didn’t realize when he went to Sodom that there was going to come a day when people were going to laugh at him and mock him. The Bible says in Proverbs 22:1, “A good name (a good reputation, a good testimony) is rather to be chosen than great riches,...” I would rather have a testimony with people to be able to influence them and affect them for God than have lots of money in the bank. “A good name is better than precious ointment;...” (Ecclesiastes 7:1) When Lot saw the plains of the Jordan, he never thought about his testimony. We joke a lot about our in-laws. It may be funny to a point, but the honest truth is you ought to love your sons-in-law. You ought to love your daughters-in-law. You ought to love your in-laws as a part of your family. You ought to be concerned for them and pray for them. You ought to want to be able to influence them for good and for God. Lot knocked on the door and said, “The judgment of God is coming. Get up and get out of here. The great cry of the wickedness of Sodom is come up before God and God has sent two messengers to tell us to get out before he wipes it from the face of the earth.” They said, “Who do you think you are? Aren’t you the same guy that sat down at the gate of the city with all the boozers, drunks, and the homosexuals? Aren’t you the same one?” They began to laugh just like your family will laugh at you, if you don’t see the whole picture and make the right decision. If you don’t protect the very testimony and influence that God has given you and you throw it to the wind, there is coming a day when you’ll try to be serious with somebody and warn them and protect them, but they won’t take you seriously. They will begin to mock you. Hey dad, what are you doing that will cause you to lose your testimony? “Preacher, I don’t smoke.” But what do you do that will cause you to lose your testimony? Do you realize if you tell a dirty joke, that you’ll lose your testimony with people? If you live one way at church and go home or go to work, or go to school and you live another way, you’ll lose your testimony with people. If people see you one way at church and another way during the week, you’ll lose your testimony. If your family sees and hears you being dishonest, you’ll lose your testimony. What is it that causes people to mock and laugh at you? What is it in your life that keeps your family from taking you serious when it comes to spiritual matters? Whatever it is that is causing you to lose your testimony, why don’t you get rid of it today? Why don’t you abandon it and walk away from it? Why don’t you get it out of your life today? Whatever it is, don’t allow it to ruin the very name that God has given you. Don’t allow it to cause you to become a castaway. It’s not worth what it’s going to cost you in your family. You’d better guard testimony with all that you have. I say to Lot, “Don’t you see the sin and wickedness of that city? Don’t you see the danger of it destroying your family spiritually? Don’t you realize that if you go there, Lot, it will not be long before you’ll lose your influence with your wife and your own children? Even the lost will not listen to you? No one will take you serious.” Lot did not see the shame of losing his testimony. I watch people all the time. I’ve watched them sit in these pews. I love you regardless of what you do, but you’ll lose your testimony in a hurry with people if you live a hypocritical life by living one way pretending to be something here, and not being what you say you are when you’re away from here. Lot wasn’t looking at the high cost of losing his testimony and influence for God, especially with his own family. #2. Lot did not see the sorrow of lingering. Look at verse 15. “And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.” I think these are some of the saddest words in the whole story. God is judging the city, fire and brimstone are about to rain down upon it, and the Bible says in verse 16, “And while he lingered,...” Those angels literally had to drag him out of the city. I watch people linger all the time. People linger about things they should not linger at. Sorrow and pain always follow. He just told his sons-in-law and daughters to get up and get out, but they think it’s a big joke. Now it is time for him to get up and get out of the city. The Bible says that Sodom had such a hold on him that they had to literally drag him out of the city. Lot never saw that when he was looking at the well-watered plains and the opportunity for material gain. He never dreamed when he went down to Sodom years before that the world and sin would have that much of a hold on him. He never dreamed that there would come a day that the angels from Heaven would have to drag him out of a city that God was getting ready to destroy. That’s what happens when you begin to linger. Sin and worldliness will get a grip on you. Sorrow and pain always follow. I watch people linger at salvation. Delay, delay, delay, delay, neglect, neglect, neglect, until it is too late. Then you get a phone call. So and so that you have witnessed to died and went to Hell. They put it off just one day too long. When I got right with God, the Lord impressed on my heart to go see a young man. I knocked on his door one day. He and his wife and another guy were there. I walked in with my Bible. I can still see them in my mind sitting on the couch. They were smoking pot. I began to witness to him. I’ll call his name Kevin. I said, “Kevin, you need to get saved. God has impressed on my heart to come here.” They began to laugh and mock. About six months later he was killed. When you linger at salvation, you’re playing with sorrow and suffering. You’re foolishly gambling with your eternal soul. That young man has been in Hell for years and years, and he will always be in Hell. When people linger at salvation, they’re playing games with eternity. When you begin to delay and neglect the things that God has told you to do, Isaiah 55:6 says, “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:” We are commanded to seek God. Never linger and delay about salvation. I preached a funeral the other day and I’m telling you that it was a clear presentation of the Gospel. There were people there that God was working on, but they would not move. They would not make a decision. They got up and walked out the same way they came. Some of them may never have that chance again. Not only do I see people linger at salvation, but I also see them linger at separation. Do you know what happens when saved people begin to linger at separation? It becomes a vice in their life. The sin that they are playing with will become a vice in their life. They linger and linger and linger. They know what God is dealing with their heart about, but they keep putting it off. My Bible tells me that I am to avoid sin. My Bible tells me that I am to avoid the wrong crowd. “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,” (II Corinthians 6:17) That’s what God wants for all of us. You don’t need to linger. You’re toying with sin. You’re playing with fire. God has already told us that we’re to get away from sin, and stay away from it before it becomes a habit, and before you become a slave to it. Lot had no business with those homosexuals. None. Neither do you. I was working a job and I knew there was something funny about this cook. He wiggled around me one time. I said, “You and me need to talk right now.” We went in the back. I said, “Don’t wiggle around me.” Then he giggled, and I let him have it both barrels. He went and told the manager. “That man doesn’t like me.” I said, “I don’t know him, but what I do know about him I don’t like.” Lot had no business hanging around Sodomites. He had no business fellowshipping with the homosexuals, and neither do you. He had no business going into a city and taking his family into a city that was full of sin and wickedness. God told me to come out from among them so I would not be hooked on sin, hurt by sin, destroyed by sin. Don’t delay in separation. Come out from among them before sin becomes a vice in your life. Stay away from them. I wonder today what sin is lingering in your life? Every time that sin lingers in our life, people get hurt. Your own family gets hurt. You get hurt. Your church gets hurt. The cause of Christ is hurt, and the very heart of Almighty God is hurt. What is it today that you’re lingering in that you ought to get rid of? There is the danger of Sodom, the danger of fostering sin and keeping and feeding sin in your life and making excuses for it. God says to come out, and He means right now. Don’t delay and linger about parting ways with sin. Remember when Jesus called and told those fellows to follow Him. One man said, “Lord, let me go back and bury the dead.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury the dead. Go thou and preach the kingdom of God.” Don’t linger. Don’t wait. You do what the Lord said you should do immediately. You do what you know is right to do immediately. There is no reason for anybody to linger at a command from God. Every time that we do, sorrow and suffering and pain always follows. #3. Lot never saw the seriousness and urgency of the hour. I’m convinced today that God’s people just don’t see the seriousness of the hour. Do we not have enough discernment to realize that He’s coming soon? Have we grown so cold to God that we cannot see what is happening right before our very eyes? Do you realize now that we live in a country where the stores don’t even want to use the word Christmas? A lady that I know came up to me at Wal Mart the other day and said, “Brother West, It’s going around the store that we’re not even supposed to say, ‘Merry Christmas.’” I said, “Did they tell you not to say it?” She said, “No, but it’s going around to the employees that we’re suppose to use ‘Happy holidays.’” I said, “The day that they say that you can’t say, ‘Merry Christmas’ I will never walk back in a Wal Mart or any other store that says that.” God has told me, “Love not the world...” It’s a worldly system that says, “We don’t want anything to do with God. We don’t want to hear the mention of the name of Christ.” Can you not see the seriousness of the hour? Our own country that was founded upon God and the principles of the Bible, our own country now has said, “We don’t want Him anymore.” And we sit and do nothing about it. What a shame. Lot, you don’t see the seriousness of the hour. Look at verses 16-17. “And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.” He didn’t see the seriousness of the hour, but neither do we. My friend, I believe with all my heart and soul that Jesus is coming very soon. Enoch saw the very seriousness of the hour. That’s why the Bible says that he began to walk with God. Noah saw the very seriousness of the hour and the judgment of God that was coming. That’s why he built an ark in obedience to God’s command. We live in a time when we just don’t see it. We ought to see the urgency of the hour and do more than we’ve ever done before, run harder than we’ve ever run, pray more fervently than we’ve ever prayed, and witness and give the Gospel more than we ever have before. Time is running out. It’s not time to lay our sword down. It’s time to pick the sword up. It’s time to take a stand and fight for right and fight for the church and fight for the Bible and fight for the family and stand for our God today. We ought to run harder than we ever have. This nation has gone against God for over 50 years now. It is absolutely unbelievable what is being taught in secular colleges today. Our school system is against God. No prayer, no Bible, no Ten Commandments, they don’t want anything that even reminds them of God and the Bible. If it says the word Christ, get it off. They are taking a stand against right and against God, but we’re not taking a stand for Him. We just sit here with apathy, coldness, and indifference. Lot did not see the seriousness of the hour. He, himself, even delayed. When a nation begins to be a nation of drunks, God will judge that nation. When a nation becomes a nation of addicts, judgment is on it’s way. Drugs are literally everywhere. I went to court with Brother Mark and a young lady he was trying to help. At Blair County, they had one courtroom for certain types of crime. I said, “What courtroom is that?” She said, “The drug courtroom.” It was packed out. When a nation becomes a nation of addicts, when a nation becomes a nation of immorality and filth, when a nation is a nation of false gods, when a nation turns its back on God and begins to oppose God and Christians and the church, look out, my friend. Realize the seriousness of the hour. We live in a very serious time, but it’s also a very exciting time. You say, “What’s so exciting about the judgment of God?” The Rapture. “What’s so exciting about the antichrist?” Because if he’s here, that means we’re fixing to go home to Heaven. “What’s exciting about the Tribulation?” I’ll tell you what’s exciting about it. I’m not going to be here. Praise God! Don’t you believe that Bible even a little bit? Before the Tribulation, the Rapture takes place. Before the antichrist is exposed, the Rapture takes place. Let the judgment of God fall. Let’s get the Gospel to everyone we can, and get everybody saved we can get saved, because we’re soon gonna be out of here. Lot did not see the shame in losing his testimony, nor did he see the sorrow of lingering, nor did he see the urgency of the hour. #4. Lot didn’t see the sinfulness of having his own way. Look at verses 19-20. “Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast showed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.” Lot didn’t see the sinfulness of having his own way. When he came to Abram he said, “My cattle and your cattle can’t stay at the same pasture. Our herds are too big. We’re going to have to part ways.” Abram said to him, “You choose what you want. I’ll go the opposite direction.” What Lot should have said to his uncle Abram at that time, was, “Uncle Abram, you’re the friend of God. Uncle Abram, you’re the man of God and you know God. Give me counsel and tell me where I ought to go and what I should do,” but he didn’t do that. Lot began to be very selfish and self-willed. When you begin to be selfish, you’re on the way down. “I want my own cattle.” You’re in trouble. “I want my own servants.” You’re in trouble. “I want my own water.” You’re in trouble. “I want my own pastures.” You’re in trouble. “I want to do what I think is best for me and my wallet.” Selfishness always leads to destruction. When I talk to people in marriage counseling, one of the main problems you always have to deal with in marriage is that couples are just selfish. They both want their own way all the time. When you want your way all the time, it will cost you. Here is a man that wanted his own way and it cost him his testimony, but he didn’t even see it. Here is a man that wanted his own way, but it cost him his family, his wealth, his joy and his peace and he never saw it. Are you selfish? I cannot stand to see selfishness. One thing that I will not tolerate in my children is selfishness. I despise it because selfishness says, “I just care about me, but I don’t care about you at all. I care about my feelings, but I don’t care about your feelings. I want what’s good for me, and I don’t really care about what’s beneficial for you.” I cannot stand to see children that are selfish and they treat their parents badly. I even see parents that are selfish and treat their own children bad, or they make life-changing decisions based on their carnal desires that break the hearts and destroy the lives of their children, and they don’t even care. Selfishness always leads you down. Wanting his own way cost Lot, and it cost him dearly. My friend, if you want your own way all the time and you must have your way all the time, you’ll lose your family one day. Your wife or your husband will walk away and you’ll say, “They abandoned me.” No, you ran them off. You caused them to leave because of your selfishness. You’ll lose your job, your testimony. You’ll lose everything by being selfish. Lot never saw the price tag and the results of selfishness in his life. Because he did not see the whole picture, his wife died. I believe he loved his wife. His daughters and sons-in-law died. His testimony is gone. People have been preaching about Lot for thousands of years and very little good is ever said about him. The Bible, talking about his wife, says, “Remember Lot’s wife.” (Luke 17:32) She was destroyed, but he is the one who took his family to Sodom, because he never saw the whole picture. My friend, I say to you, don’t you see the shame in losing your testimony? We’ve got a lot of young people here. You’re not married yet, but within the next few years, many of you will be married. One day you’re going to hold a little boy or little girl in your arms. It will have much more of an impact if you can look at that little boy or little girl and say, “Your Mommy and Daddy never did wrong because we loved God. We dated right and married pure.” It will be important to you then, because you’ll look at that child and say, “I want to influence them for God. I want to protect them from the heartache of sin.” Lot saw the temptation of Sodom and the promise of material wealth and prosperity. But there were some much more important things that he was blind to. After Lot went to Sodom, he threw all of his influence away. He never saw that, but you can see that today. He didn’t see the sorrow of lingering and delaying. He didn’t see the seriousness of the hour. I’m convinced today that God’s people don’t see it. We just don’t see it. Nor did he see the sinfulness of having his own way all the time. Look at verses 35-36. “And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.” Look how far a man could go, and look how far a man could lead his children to the point they have no shame or conscience about wickedness. Lot had no godly influence on his children at all. They didn’t even think about it. “Let’s get our own daddy drunk, so we can have physical relations with our own father.” They didn’t even see the wrong in it. Lot was the one who took them to Sodom, who subjected them to the wicked influence that took them to that point. The seriousness of the hour, things he didn’t see. Lot saw some things. He saw the plain of Jordan well watered, beautiful, just like the garden of Eden. He began to say, “I want that. That would be financially prosperous for me.” But wait, Lot. There are some more important, more valuable things you need to see. “No, I want that.” Lot, you’ll lose your testimony. “I want the cattle and I want the wealth and I want the prosperity. I want that.” But you’ll lose your family and you’ll lose your testimony. You’d better look at the whole picture, not just the beginning of it. Friend, we’d better be careful about making decisions based on wants and desires and temptations. We’d better look at the whole picture. We’d better see the spiritual implications, the high cost of sin and worldliness. Before you follow your temptations or your pocketbook, you better take an honest look at the whole picture, and see the things that Lot didn’t see. |
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