The scripture reading for tonight's sermon is from
the book of Genesis, chapter 19.
And there we hope to read the first
17 verses.
Genesis 19, beginning in verse 1, And there
came two angels to Sodom at Eden.
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 servants' house
and carry 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 fellow came in
to sojourn, and he will need to 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
great, small, and great, so that they wearied
themselves to find the door.
And the men said unto Lot, 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.
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.
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.
Here ends the reading of God's Holy Word.
Let us turn unto the Lord in prayer.
Great and Most Holy God and Father, we
come before Thee, and we ask Thee, Lord,
to look upon us in mercy, that Thou
would help us.
For we have gathered here for Thee, and
for Thy honor and glory.
O Lord, Thou knowest our sin, and the
effects of sin that are hearts by nature
are now hardened to Thee.
And we are inclined to all evil, rebellion,
and sin.
We need cleansing.
We need forgiveness granted, Lord, for Jesus' sake.
And in Him also, we pray that Thou
would grant repentance.
That we would turn from our evil way
through the life and strength of Christ.
Lord, Thou has taught us these things.
We do not know what we speak, except
that Thou would lead us and guide us
into all truth.
Do it now, we pray, that in prayer,
in the reading of the sermon, in singing,
in giving, we would worship Thee with a
right heart, with our whole heart.
O how we need Thee, Lord Jesus.
We pray, Holy Spirit, to work in our
midst, in each one.
For Thou art able and willing.
Lord, don't leave us over to ourself, we
pray.
We pray for Thy church, the one holy
Catholic church as we have confessed.
Lord, bless her and keep her.
We have heard of those sad reports of
divisions and fightings and strifes, and men seeking
to exalt themselves in the church.
O Lord, help us.
Stop us and turn us that only Thy
great name, only the salvation of Christ, only
Thy work, O Holy Spirit, would be loved
and looked to for help and strength.
We pray that Thou would bless Thy servants
and Thy Word as they bring it, especially
in the mission fields.
We pray for the Vandenbergs in China.
Help them and be with them.
We pray for the Omens in Africa.
Lord, help them in all their needs and
the many callings and opportunities they have.
Give them strength and discernment to know Thy
will and love for Christ as they carry
out their service.
We pray for Adrian Neely and his family
as Thou has called him to South Africa.
Lord, be with them, strengthen them, help them.
We also pray for Thy work in Bali.
Lord, make things right there that Thy name
would be honored and glorified.
We pray for our nation, for our president
and all our leaders.
O Lord, give them to see their need
for wisdom as Thou didst with Solomon that
they may pray to Thee for wisdom and
for guidance that they would fear and reverence
Thee and Thy Word.
We pray for those soldiers in a strange
land risking their lives separated from their loved
ones.
Lord, be with them and prepare them to
meet Thee if that is Thy will.
We pray for those leaders in the war
that Thou would give them to see that
their strength is not in weapons, but only
in the work, the wonder of grace there
also.
We pray for those places that were so
devastated by an earthquake and the massive wave
that struck the coasts.
O Lord, how dependent we are upon Thee
and what awful destruction has been worked by
our sin.
We pray that Thou would yet show Thy
greatness and Thy goodness to bring good out
of that which is so terrible.
We pray for our little flock.
We acknowledge this Thee, Lord, that we need.
We pray that Thou would bless Thy Word
in our midst, also by sending Thy servant
which Thou hast chosen.
We pray that Thou would work through us
and Thy condescending love would show us Thy
will and work it according to Thy grace
in Christ.
We pray for Thy blessing upon Thy Word
as we hear a sermon from Thy servant
of old.
Give us help in speaking and in listening
that in all things we would be amazed
to see the depth of Thy mercy and
the wonders of Thy grace that we would
know it, feel it in our hearts.
Thy salvation through Word and Spirit, Lord, grant
it for Thy honor in Christ.
In His name we pray, Amen.
The text we're receiving tonight is from Genesis
19.16. It's a short text.
The words from that verse, He lingered.
This is a sermon written and preached by
J.C. Ryle entitled, Remember Lot.
Just a word in introduction.
The word lingered in the dictionary is defined
as waiting or staying in a place with
reluctance to leave.
So as we hear the text mentioned several
times throughout the reading, if we can keep
this in mind, it will bring insight into
the teaching and the message that Lot was
reluctant to leave.
Who is this man that lingered?
Lot, the nephew of faithful Abraham.
And when did he linger?
The very morning Sodom was to be destroyed.
And where did he linger?
Within the walls of Sodom itself.
And before whom did he linger?
Under the eyes of the two angels who
were sent to bring him out of the
city.
Dear congregation, the words are solemn.
The voice of the Lord Jesus commands you
to remember Lot's wife in Luke 17.
The voice of one of his ministers invites
you this day to remember Lot.
Let me try to show you with four
points.
One, what Lot was himself.
Two, what the text tells you of him.
Three, what reasons may account for his lingering.
And four, what kind of fruit his lingering
brought forth.
So again, four points.
What Lot was himself.
What the text tells you of him.
What reasons may account for his lingering.
And what kind of fruit his lingering brought
forth.
First, what was Lot?
You would perhaps say, ah, Lot was a
poor, dark creature.
An unconverted man.
A child of this world.
No wonder he lingered.
But, mark now what I say, Lot was
nothing of the kind.
Lot was a true believer.
A real child of God.
A justified soul.
A righteous man.
The Holy Ghost has placed the matter beyond
controversy by calling him just and righteous in
2 Peter 2, 7 and 8.
And has given us evidence of the grace
that was in him.
One evidence is that he lived in a
wicked place seeing and hearing evil all around
him and yet was not wicked himself.
Also from 2 Peter 2.
Now to be a Daniel in Babylon, an
Obadiah in Ahab's house, an Abijah in Jeroboam's
family, a saint in Nero's court, and a
righteous man in Sodom, a man must have
the grace of God.
Another evidence is that he vexed his soul
with the unlawful deeds he beheld around him.
He was wounded, grieved, pained and hurt at
the sight of sin.
This was feeling like David who says, I
beheld the transgressors and was grieved because they
kept not thy word.
Rivers of waters run down my eyes because
they keep not thy law.
From Psalm 119, 136 and 158.
Nothing will account for this but the grace
of God.
Another evidence is that he vexed his soul
from day to day with the unlawful deeds
he saw.
He did not at length become cool and
lukewarm about sin as many do.
Familiarity and habit did not take off the
fine edge of his feelings as is too
often the case.
Many a man is shocked and startled at
the first sight of wickedness and yet becomes
at last so accustomed to see it that
he views it with comparative unconcern.
This is especially the case with those who
live in towns and cities.
But it was not so with Lot.
And this is a great mark of the
reality of his grace.
Such a one was Lot, a just and
righteous man, a man sealed and stamped as
an heir of heaven by the Holy Ghost
Himself.
Before we pass on, remember that a true
Christian may have many a blemish, many a
defect, many an infirmity, and yet be a
true Christian nevertheless.
You do not despise gold because it is
mixed with much dross.
You must not undervalue grace because it is
accompanied by much corruption.
Listen and you will find that Lot paid
dearly for his lingering.
But do not forget as you listen that
Lot was a child of God.
Secondly, let us pass on to the second
point I spoke of.
What does the text tell us about Lot's
behavior?
The words are astounding and wonderful.
He lingered.
And the more you consider the time and
circumstances, the more amazing you will think them.
Lot knew the awful condition of the city
in which he stood.
The cry of its abomination had waxed grave
before the Lord.
From verse 13.
And yet he lingered.
Lot knew the fearful judgment coming down on
all within its walls.
The angels had plainly said, the Lord has
sent us to destroy it.
Also from verse 13.
And yet, Lot knew that God was a
God who always kept His word.
And if He said a thing, He would
surely do it.
He could hardly be Abraham's nephew and live
long with him and not be aware of
this.
Yet, he lingered.
Lot believed there was danger.
For he went to his sons-in-law
and warned them to flee.
Up, he said, get you out of this
place, for the Lord will destroy the city.
From verse 14.
And yet, he lingered.
Lot saw the angels of God standing by
waiting for him and his family to go
forth.
And yet, he lingered.
Lot heard the voice of those ministers of
wrath ringing in his ears to hasten him.
Arise, lest thou be consumed in the iniquity
of the city.
From verse 15.
And yet, he lingered.
He was slow when he should have been
quick.
Backward when he should have been forward.
Trifling when he should have been hastening.
Loitering when he should have been hurrying.
Cold when he should have been hot.
It is passing strange.
It seems almost incredible.
It appears too wonderful to be true.
But, the Spirit writes it down for our
learning.
And so it was.
And yet, there are many of God's people
very like Lot.
Mark well what I say.
I repeat it that there may be no
mistake about my meaning.
I have shown you that Lot lingered.
And I say that there are many Christian
men and women in this very day like
Lot.
There are many real children of God who
appear to know far more than they live
up to.
And to see far more than they practice.
And yet, continue in this state for many
years.
Amazing that they go as far as they
do, and yet, they go no further.
They hold the head, even Christ, and love
the truth.
They like sound preaching and ascend to every
article of Gospel doctrine when they hear it.
But still, there is an indescribable something which
is not satisfactory about them.
They are constantly doing things which disappoint the
expectations of their ministers and of more experienced
Christian friends.
Marvel that they should think as they do,
and yet, stand still.
They believe in heaven, and yet, seem faintly
to long for it.
And in hell, and yet, seem little to
fear it.
They love the Lord Jesus, but the work
they do for Him is small.
They hate the devil, but they often appear
to tempt him to come to them.
They know the time is short, but they
act as if it is long.
They know they have a battle to fight,
and yet, a man might think they were
at peace.
They know they have a race to run,
and they often look like people sitting still.
They know the judge is at the door,
and there is wrath to come, and yet,
they appear half asleep.
Astonishing they should be what they are, and
yet, nothing more.
And what shall we say of these people?
They may be classed under one sweeping description.
They are all brothers and sisters of Lot.
They linger.
These are they who get the notion into
their minds that it is impossible for all
believers to be very holy and very spiritual.
They allow that eminent holiness is a beautiful
thing.
They like to read about it in books,
and even to see it occasionally in others.
But they do not think that all are
meant to aim so high a standard.
At any rate, they seem to make up
their minds that it is beyond their reach.
These are they who get into their heads
false ideas of charity, as they call it.
They would fain please everybody, and suit everybody,
and be agreeable to everybody.
But they forget they ought first to be
sure that they please God.
These are they who dread sacrifices and shrink
from self-denial.
They never appear able to apply our Lord's
command to cut off the right hand and
pluck out the right eye.
They spend their lives in trying to make
the gate more wide and the cross more
light.
But they never succeed.
They are they who are always trying to
keep in with the world.
They are ingenious in discovering reasons for not
separating decidedly, and in framing plausible excuses for
attending questionable amusements and keeping up questionable friendships.
One day you are told of their attending
a Bible reading, and the next day perhaps
you hear of them going to a ball.
They are constantly laboring to persuade themselves that
to mix a little with worldly people on
their own ground does good.
Yet in their case it is very clear
they do no good and only get harm.
These are they who cannot find it in
their heart to quarrel with their besetting sin,
whether it be sloth, indolence, ill-temper, pride,
selfishness, impatience, or what it may be.
They allow it to remain a tolerably quiet
and undisturbed tenant of their hearts.
They say it is their health or their
constitutions or their temperaments or their trials or
their way.
Their father or mother or grandmother was so
before them, and they are sure they cannot
help it.
But when you meet after an absence of
a year or so, you hear the same
thing.
But all may be summed up in one
single sentence.
They are the brothers and sisters of Lot.
They linger.
If you are a lingering soul, you are
not happy.
You know you are not.
It would be strange indeed if you were.
Lingering is the sure destruction of a happy
Christian.
A lingerer's conscience forbids him to enjoy inward
peace.
Perhaps at one time you did run well,
but you have left your first love.
You have never felt the same comfort since.
You never will till you return to your
first works like Peter when the Lord Jesus
was taken prisoner.
You are following the Lord afar off.
And like Him, you will find the way
not pleasant, but hard.
Come and look at Lot.
Come and mark Lot's history.
Come and consider Lot's lingering and be wise.
For our third point, let us consider the
reasons that may account for Lot's lingering.
This is a question of great importance, and
I ask your serious attention to it.
To know the root of a disease is
one step toward a remedy.
He that is forewarned is forearmed.
One thing I observe in Lot is this.
He made a wrong choice early in life.
There was a time when Abraham and Lot
lived together.
They both became rich and could live together
no longer.
Abraham, the elder of the two, in the
true spirit of humility and courtesy, gave Lot
the choice of the country when they resolved
to part company.
If you, he said, will take the left
hand, then I will go to the right.
If you depart to the right hand, then
I will go to the left.
From Genesis 13.9. And what did Lot
do?
We are told he saw the plains of
Jordan near Sodom were rich, fertile, and well
watered.
It was a good land for cattle and
full of pasture.
He had large flocks and herds and it
just suited his requirements.
And this was the land he chose for
a residence simply because it was rich, well
watered.
It was the town near Sodom.
He cared not about that.
The men of Sodom would be his neighbors
and they were wicked.
It mattered not.
They were sinners before God exceedingly.
It made no difference to him.
The pasture was rich.
The land was good.
He wanted such a country for his flocks
and herds.
And before that argument, all scruples and doubts,
if indeed he had any, at once went
down.
He chose by sight and not by faith.
He asked no counsel of God to preserve
him from mistakes.
He looked to the things of time and
not eternity.
He thought of his worldly profit and not
of his soul.
He considered only what would help him in
this life and he forgot the solemn business
of the life to come.
This was a bad beginning.
But I observed also that Lot mixed with
sinners and there was no reason for his
doing so.
We are first told that he pitched his
tent for Sodom in Genesis 13.
This, as I have already shown, was a
great mistake.
But the next time he is mentioned, we
find him actually living in Sodom itself.
The Spirit says expressly, he dwelt in Sodom
in Genesis 14.
His tents were left, the country forsaken.
He occupied a house in the very streets
of that wicked town.
We are not told the reasons of this
change.
We are not aware of any reason that
could have arisen for it.
We are sure that there could have been
no command of God.
Perhaps his wife liked the town better than
the country for the sake of society.
It is plain she had no grace herself.
Perhaps she persuaded Lot it was needful for
the education of his children.
Perhaps the daughters urged living in the town
for the sake of friends.
They were evidently like-minded young women.
Perhaps Lot himself liked it in order to
make more of his flocks and herds.
Men never lack reasons to confirm their own
wills.
But one thing is very clear.
Lot dwelt in the midst of Sodom without
a good reason.
When a child of God does these two
things which I have named, you never need
be surprised if you hear by and by
unfavorable accounts of his soul.
You never need wonder if he becomes deaf
to the warning voice of affliction as Lot
was in Genesis 14, 12.
And turns out a lingerer in the day
of trial and danger as Lot did.
Make a wrong choice, an unscriptural choice in
life and settle yourself down unnecessarily in the
midst of worldly people.
And I know no surer way to damage
your own spirituality and go backward about your
internal concerns.
This is the way to make the pulse
of your soul beat feebly and languidly.
This is the way to make the edge
of your feeling about sin become blunt and
dull.
This is the way to dim the eyes
of your spiritual discernment till you can scarcely
distinguish good from evil and you stumble as
you walk.
This is the way to bring a moral
palsy on your feet and limbs and make
you go tottering and trembling along the road
to Zion as if a grasshopper was a
burden.
This is the way to open the gate
to your worst enemy, to give the devil
the vantage ground in the battle, to tie
your arms in fighting, to fetter your legs
in running, to dry up the sources of
your strength, to cripple your own energies, to
cut off your own hair like Samson and
give yourselves into the hands of the Philistines,
put out your own eyes, grind at the
mill and become a slave.
Listener, wake up and mark well what I
am saying.
Settle these things down in your mind.
Do not forget them.
Recollect them in the morning.
Recall them to memory at night.
Let them sink down deep into your heart.
If ever you would be safe from lingering,
beware of needless mingling with worldly people.
Beware of lost choice.
If you would not settle down into a
dry, dull, sleepy, barren, heavy, carnal state of
soul, beware of lost choice.
Remember this in choosing a dwelling place or
residence.
It is not enough that the house is
comfortable, the situation good, the air fine, the
neighborhood pleasant, the expenses small, the living cheap.
There are other things yet to be considered.
You must think of your immortal soul.
Will the house you think of help you
towards heaven or hell?
Is the gospel priest within an easy distance?
Is the message of Christ crucified within reach
of your door?
Is there a real man of God here
who will watch over your soul?
I charge you, if you love life, not
to overlook this.
Beware of lost choice.
Remember this in choosing a calling or profession
in life.
It is not enough that the salary is
high, the wage is good, the labor light,
the advantages numerous and the prospects of getting
on most favorable.
Think of your soul, your immortal soul.
Will it be prospered or drawn back?
What opportunities will you have for hearing the
gospel preached?
I solemnly warn you to consider this.
It will profit you nothing to fill your
purse if you bring leanness and poverty on
your soul.
Beware of selling your Sabbath for the sake
of a good place.
I beseech you by the mercies of God
to take heed to what you do.
Make no rash decision.
Look at the place in every light, the
light of God, as well as in the
light of the world.
Gold may be bought, but at too high
a price.
Beware of lost choice.
Remember this in choosing a husband or wife
if you are unmarried.
It is not enough that your eye is
pleased, that your tastes are met, that your
mind finds congeniality, that there is companionship and
affection, that there is a comfortable home for
life.
There needs something more than this.
There is a life yet to come.
Think of your soul, your immortal soul.
Will it be helped upwards or dragged downwards
by the union you are planning?
Will it be made more heavenly or more
earthly?
Drawn nearer to Christ or to the world?
Will its religion grow in vigor or will
it decay?
I pray you, by all your hopes of
glory, allow this to enter into your calculations.
Think as old Baxter said, and think and
think and think again before you commit yourself.
Be not unequally yoked from 2 Corinthians 6.
Marriage is nowhere named amongst the means of
conversion.
Remember Lot's choice.
You may perhaps think, a believer need not
fear.
He is a sheep of Christ and will
never perish.
He cannot come to much harm.
It cannot be that such small matters can
be of great importance.
Well, you may think so, but I warn
you, if you neglect them, your soul will
not prosper.
A true believer will certainly not be cast
away, although he may linger.
But if he does linger, it is vain
to suppose that his religion will thrive.
You may be an earnest, zealous Christian now.
You may feel like David in his prosperity.
I shall never be moved from Psalm 30
verse 6.
But be not deceived.
You have only got to walk in Lot's
steps and make Lot's choice, and you will
soon come to Lot's state of soul.
Allow yourself to do as he did.
Presume to act as he acted.
And be very sure you will soon discover
that you have become a wretched lingerer like
him.
You will find, like Samson, the presence of
the Lord is no longer with you.
You will prove to your own shame an
undecided, hesitating man in the day of trial.
There will come a canker on your religion
and eat out its vitality without your knowing
it.
There will come a consumption upon your spiritual
strength and waste it away insensibly.
If you would not become a lingerer in
religion, consider these things.
Beware of what Lot did.
Fourthly, let us inquire now what kind of
fruit Lot's lingering spirit bore at last.
I would not pass over this point for
many reasons, and especially in the present day.
There are not a few who will feel
disposed to say, after all, Lot was saved.
He was justified.
He got to heaven.
I want no more.
If I do but get to heaven, I
shall be content.
If this be the thought of your heart,
just stay for a moment and listen to
me a little longer.
I will show you one or two things
in Lot's history which deserve attention and may
perhaps induce you to alter your mind.
I think it of first importance to dwell
on this subject.
I always will contend that eminent holiness and
eminent usefulness are most closely connected.
That happiness and following the Lord fully go
side by side.
And that if believers will linger, they must
not expect to be useful in their day
and generation or to enjoy great comfort and
peace in believing.
Mark then for one thing, Lot did no
good among the inhabitants of Sodom.
Lot lived in Sodom many years.
No doubt he had many precious opportunities for
speaking of the things of God and trying
to turn away souls from sin.
But Lot seems to have effected just nothing
at all.
He appears to have had no weight or
influence with the people who lived around him.
He possessed none of that respect and reverence
which even the men of the world will
frequently concede to a faithful servant of God.
Not one righteous person could be found in
all Sodom outside the walls of Lot's home.
Not one of his neighbors believed his testimony.
Not one of his acquaintances honored the Lord
when he worshiped.
Not one of his servants served his master's
God.
Not one of all the people from every
quarter carried a job for his opinion when
he tried to restrain their wickedness.
This one fellow came in to sojourn, said
they, and he will need be a judge.
From verse 9, his life carried no weight.
His words were not listened to.
His religion drew none.
And truly I do not wonder as a
general rule, lingering souls do no good to
the world and bring no credit to God's
cause.
Their salt has too little savor to season
the corruption around them.
They are not epistles of Christ who can
be known and read of all from 2
Corinthians 3.
There is nothing magnetic and attractive and Christ
reflecting about their ways.
Remember this.
Mark another thing.
Lot helped no relation toward heaven.
We are not told how large his family
was, but this we know.
He had a wife and two daughters at
least in the day he was called out
of Sodom if he had not more children
besides.
But whether Lot's family was large or small,
one thing I think is perfectly clear.
There was not one among them all that
feared God.
When he went out and spoke to his
sons-in-laws, which married his daughters, and
warned them to flee from the coming judgments,
we are told he seemed to them as
one that mocked.
From verse 14, what fearful words those are.
It was as good as saying, who cares
for anything you say?
So long as the world stands, those words
will be a painful proof of the contempt
with which a lingerer in religion is regarded.
And what was Lot's wife?
She left the city in his company, but
she did not go far.
She had not faith to see the need
of such a speedy flight.
She left her heart in Sodom when she
began to flee.
She looked back from behind her husband in
spite of the plainest command not to do
so.
From verse 17, and was at once turned
into a pillar of salt.
And what were Lot's two daughters?
They escaped indeed, but only to do the
devil's work.
They became their father's tempters to wickedness and
led him to commit the foulest sins.
In short, Lot stood alone in his family.
He was not made the means of keeping
one soul back from the gates of hell.
And I do not wonder, lingering souls are
seen through by their own families, and when
seen through, despised.
Their nearest relations understand inconsistency if they understand
nothing else in religion.
They draw the sad but unnatural conclusion, surely
if he believes all that he professes to
believe, he would not go on and do
as he does.
Lingering parents seldom have godly children.
The eye of the child drinks in far
more than the ear.
A child will always observe what you do
much more than what you say.
Remember this.
Consider these two things I have just mentioned.
Do not misunderstand my meaning.
It is amazing to observe how readily people
catch at the least excuse for misunderstanding the
things that concern their souls.
I do not tell you that believers who
do not linger will usually be great instruments
of usefulness to the world.
Noah preached 120 years and none believed him.
The Lord Jesus was not esteemed by his
own people, the Jews.
Nor yet do I tell you that believers
who do not linger will usually be the
means of converting their families in relations.
David's children were, many of them, ungodly.
The Lord Jesus was not believed on even
by his own brothers.
But I do say it is almost impossible
not to see a connection between Lot's evil
choice and Lot's lingering.
Between Lot's lingering and his unprofitableness to his
family and the world.
I believe the Spirit meant us to see
it.
I believe the Spirit meant to make it
a deacon to all professing Christians.
Let me speak a few parting words, especially
to all who call themselves believers in Christ.
I have no wish to make your hearts
sad.
I do not want to give you a
gloomy view of the Christian course.
My only object is to give you friendly
warnings.
I desire your peace and comfort.
I would fain see you happy as well
as safe and joyful as well as justified.
I speak as I have done for your
good.
You live in days when a lingering, Lot
-like religion abounds.
The stream of profession is far broader than
it once was, but far less deep in
many places.
A certain kind of Christianity is almost fashionable
now.
Talk about the leading controversies of the day
to buy popular religious books as fast as
they come out, to attend meetings, to discuss
the merits of preachers.
All these are now comparatively easy and common
attainments.
They require little or no sacrifice.
They entail no cross.
But to walk closely with God, to be
really spiritually minded, to behave like strangers in
pilgrims, to be distant from the world in
employment of time, in conversation, in amusements, in
dress, to bear a faithful witness for Christ
in all places, to leave a savor of
our Master in every society, to be prayerful,
humble, unselfish, meek, to be jealously afraid of
sin and tremblingly alive to our danger from
the world.
These, these are still rare things.
They are not common among those who are
called true Christians.
And worst of all, the absence of them
is not felt and bewailed as it should
be.
I give you good counsel this day.
Do not turn from it.
Do not be angry with me for plain
speaking.
I bid you give diligence to make your
calling and election sure.
I bid you not to be slothful.
Not to be careless.
Not to be content with a small measure
of grace.
Not to be satisfied with being a little
better than the world.
I solemnly warn you, do not attempt doing
what has never been done.
I mean to serve Christ and yet keep
in with the world.
I call upon you and beseech you, I
charge you, I exhort you by all your
hopes of heaven and desires of glory, do
not be a lingering soul.
Would you know what the times demand?
They demand the shaking of nations, the uprooting
of ancient things, the overturning of kingdoms, the
stir and restlessness of men's minds.
They all say, Christian, do not linger.
Would you be found ready for Christ at
His second appearing?
Your loins girded, your lamp burning, yourself bold
and prepared to meet Him?
Then do not linger.
Would you enjoy much sensible comfort in your
religion?
Feel the witness of the Spirit within you?
Know whom you have believed and not be
a gloomy and melancholy Christian?
Then do not linger.
Would you enjoy strong assurance of your own
salvation in the day of sickness and on
the bed of death?
Then do not linger.
Would you leave great, broad evidences behind you
when you are gone?
Would you like us to lay you in
the grave with a comfortable hope and talk
of your state after death without a doubt?
Then do not linger.
Would you be useful to the world in
your day and generation?
Would you draw men from sin to Christ
and make your Master's cause beautiful in their
eyes?
Then do not linger.
Would you help your children and relatives towards
heaven and make them say, we will go
with you, and not make them infidels and
despisers of all religion?
Then do not linger.
Oh, let not one of us linger.
Time does not linger.
Death does not linger.
Judgment does not linger.
The devil does not linger.
The world does not linger.
Neither let the children of God linger.
Are you a lingerer?
Has your heart felt heavy and your conscience
sore while you have been listening?
Does something within you whisper, I am the
man?
Listen to what I am saying.
How is it with your soul?
If you are a lingerer, you must go
to Christ at once and be cured.
You must use the old remedy.
Bathe in the old fountain.
You must turn again to Christ and be
healed.
Think not for a moment your case is
past recovery.
Think not because you have been long living
in a dry and heavy state of soul
that there is no hope for revival.
Is not the Lord Jesus Christ an appointed
physician for the soul?
Did He not cure every form of disease?
Did He not cast out every kind of
devil?
Did He not raise poor, backsliding Peter and
put a new song in his mouth?
Oh, doubt not, but earnestly believe that He
will yet revive His work within you.
Only turn from your lingering, confess your folly,
and come, come at once to Christ.
Blessed are the words of the Prophet.
Only acknowledge thine iniquity.
Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal
your backslidings.
From Jeremiah 13.
Reader, remember the souls of others as well
as your own.
If at any time you see any brother
or sister lingering, try to awaken them.
Arouse them.
Try to stir them up.
Let us exhort one another as we have
opportunity.
Let us provoke unto love and good works.
Let us not be afraid to say to
each other, Brother or sister, have you forgotten
Lot?
Awake and remember Lot.
Awake and linger no more.
Amen.
In closing, I would like to read a
portion from our Confessions.
As we have heard an exhortation which we
may view as coming from the law, if
we refine it into saying do not linger,
is the law that we heard tonight.
I would like to read from question and
answer 114 and 115 of the Heidelberg Catechism.
But can those who are converted to God
perfectly keep these commandments?
Answer.
No, but even the holiest of men while
in this life have only a small beginning
of this obedience, yet so that with a
sincere resolution they begin to live not only
to some, but all of the commandments of
God.
Question 115.
Why will God then have the Ten Commandments
so strictly preached since no man in this
life can keep them?
First, that all our lifetime we may learn
more and more to know our sinful nature
and thus become the more earnest in seeking
the remission of sin and righteousness in Christ.
Likewise, that we constantly endeavor to pray to
God for the grace of the Holy Spirit
that we may become more and more conformable
to the image of God until we arrive
at the perfection proposed to us in a
life to come.
Let's close in prayer.
Lord God in Heaven, we thank Thee for
Thy Word and the warning we have read
tonight.
Lord, help us.
Use it, we pray, not that we would
be thrown back on ourselves, but that we
would be driven and drawn to Christ, driven
by the law, drawn by the Gospel.
Lord, do it, we pray.
Let us not live a careless life, we
pray.
Thou knowest all our weakness and all our
sin and Thou art so patiently teaching us,
showing so much forbearance and forgiveness, Lord.
We pray that Thou would use this Word
for the church is in a sleepy state
and the things of this world are creeping
in.
We pray that Thou would keep us holy
through the holiness of Christ that we would
look to Him in all of our need
and especially in this calling to sanctification that
we would seek in Thy Word those truths
that we must live by.
That all our fountains are in Him and
in and of ourselves we are only sin
and shame.
And Thou has chosen, O Lord, to glorify
Thy great name in the saving of lost,
ruined, lingering sinners.
Help us not to remain thus, but save
us, we pray, for Jesus' sake.
Amen.