Let's turn to Genesis, Chapter 19.
In our last study, we finished at verse
14, where the angels, the two angels had
come to Sodom, to Lot's house, and urged
him to leave the house, to leave the
city immediately, because God was going to destroy
the place.
Then we see God's mercy towards that man,
Lot, even though he was such a compromiser.
And as we go further down, we will
see why God delivered Lot.
It's very interesting when we come to that
verse to see it.
Before that, verse 14, we read that when
Lot went out and spoke to his son's
-in-law, who were to marry his daughters,
and said, Get out of this place, for
the Lord will destroy the city, he appeared
to his son's-in-law to be jesting
or joking.
His son's-in-law didn't take what he
said seriously, because he was so much interested
in making money and his son's-in-law
had seen that.
And that teaches us that if others around
us see that we are basically interested in
this world just like them, however much we
may witness to them, it has no effect
on them, because they see that we are
anxious like they are anxious, we are pursuing
money like they are pursuing money, then there
is no difference.
It is our life that makes our testimony
effective.
And I have also thought of this, that
when it says he appeared to his son's
-in-law to be jesting, there are some
people who are always joking.
You get honor by being one who cracks
jokes, and particularly with unbelievers, you can get
a lot of honor as a humorous person.
And after you have won that honor with
an unbeliever as a very humorous, sociable person,
just try witnessing to that unbeliever about the
reality of eternal things, and that unbeliever will
think that is another one of your jokes.
It's a serious thing to be a jester
with those who are not really born again
and those who are going on their way
to an eternal hell.
We have to be very careful that our
testimony is not nullified by our lust to
get a reputation as a joker or a
humorous person.
And when morning dawned, verse fifteen, the angels
urged Lot, saying, Up, take your wife and
your two daughters, and who are here, lest
you be swept away from the punishment of
the city.
Now this is, they're repeating.
It's almost as though Lot doesn't want to
go.
They urge him.
And it says again in verse sixteen, he
hesitated.
Here was a double-minded man who, even
after he heard the word of God, which
said that God's going to judge the city,
was still lingering.
His heart was so much in all that
he had accumulated and all that he had
earned, and he was thinking that he had
to leave all that behind, and he hesitated.
There's no other reason why he hesitated.
He hesitated because he was a double-minded
man.
And the word of God warns us about
being double-minded, which means to have one
mind.
The word of God says, Set your mind
on the things which are above and not
on the things on the earth.
You can have your mind set on the
things above, or you can have your mind
set on the things of earth, according to
Colossians, chapter three, verse two and three.
Or we can try and have our mind
set in both places, above and below.
Then we are double-minded.
And then, when God calls us to something,
there can be a hesitation, because I am
so attached to something.
And a true disciple is one who is
not attached to anything.
One thing we see about the apostles whom
Jesus chose was, in every recorded instance of
his calling one of those twelve apostles, we
read that when Jesus called them, they immediately
dropped everything and followed him.
Now, that sounds very simple, but just think
of this.
Supposing tonight the Lord were to tell you
to resign your job tomorrow morning when you
go to the office, and come and serve
me full-time.
Would you respond as quickly as Peter and
Matthew?
You really got to appreciate them.
There were other people whom the Lord called,
and one man said, I've got to wait
till my father dies, and another person said,
I've got something else to do.
And they never got a chance to be
the apostles.
They could have been, but the ones who
became apostles were the ones who responded immediately.
And that's really something that we need to
ask ourselves, particularly where it involves something of
the earth.
You see, we can have despised full-time
workers so much because of so many people
who have abused it and done so many
wrong things in the name of Christian work.
But the question is whether we ourselves would
be willing to give up a job like
that, like those apostles did.
That's a very big question.
Or would there be the same double-mindedness,
double-mindedness because my family can't have all
those comforts that I'm used to, and I
can't get a regular salary every month like
I'm getting.
These are the type of hesitation that lot
had.
And very often, much more than we realize,
our mind is very much attached to our
monthly salary and comforts and so many things.
And that is the thing that hinders us
from really responding to the call of God
to something higher.
A true disciple is one who is not
attached to anything on the earth.
Many have missed God's best because there's something
they're not willing to give up.
Something.
Maybe their job, maybe some possession, something.
But there's something which if God called them
to give up, they will not give up.
And God says, okay.
He won't force us.
But I really believe that's something every one
of us need to ask ourselves, that which
gives us security on the earth.
I mention a job because that is the
thing which gives us maximum earthly security.
And therefore, I believe for many of us,
our job can be the hindrance for our
following the Lord.
Because we find our security not in God,
but in our job and in our salary.
And the Lord may say, are you willing
to give that up and trust me?
And I may say, no.
He doesn't force.
Lot hesitated.
So before we judge lot, it's good to
judge ourselves and see whether we would hesitate
in a similar situation.
Because for him it was insecurity, leaving everything.
He was going to leave his job, he
was going to leave his bank account, he's
going to leave everything and go out to
someplace God is calling him.
And that hesitation.
And everyone who is honest can understand that
hesitation.
They find, who find their security in earthly
things.
And the man seized his hand, it was
serious, and grabbed him.
The compassion of the Lord was upon him.
It is the compassion of God that was
strict with Lot and grabbed him and took
him out of that city and said, come
out.
It's the compassion of the Lord that is
strict with us and that brings us out
of things that would damage us and put
him outside the city.
And it came about that when they had
brought them outside, that one said, escape for
your life.
Here was another word of God.
Escape for your life.
Do not look behind you.
And do not stay anywhere in the valley.
Escape to the mountain, lest you be swept
away.
Now, why would they look behind?
There could be two reasons.
One, it could be that they look back
in sadness at all that they had to
leave their nice house and all the things
connected to the house and their possessions.
They had to leave all that now and
go.
That was one thing, that they could look
back.
And the other is that they could look
back out of curiosity to see what is
actually God doing there.
There are two areas where we can face
danger here.
One is this looking back to something that
we have left or given up for the
Lord and we see somebody else who has
not given up those things for the Lord
and his life is so much more comfortable
and easier.
And we look back and think oh, I've
given that up, but this other brother he
hasn't and he seems to have an easier
time.
That's the looking back.
Or it can be curiosity to look into
something which God doesn't want us to look
into.
We read in the Old Testament of one
town in Israel where when the ark was
lodged there, people went and peeped inside to
see what was inside the ark.
And it says God judged thousands of them
because they looked inside what they were not
supposed to look into.
Curiosity.
You have to take God's word seriously.
But Lord said to them, Oh no, my
Lord, and here is the expression of unbelief
and disobedience.
Behold, your servant, verse 19, has found favor
in your sight and you have magnified your
lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving
my life.
But I cannot escape to the mountains lest
the disaster overtake me and I die.
I cannot escape to the mountains.
God spoke to him through those angels, Go
to the mountains.
And here is unbelief saying, No, but by
the time I reach the mountains, the judgment
may come.
Please.
As though God would take him out of
the city and then judge him outside the
city.
And it's possible for a person to think
that, that God saved him from destruction.
It's like someone who says, I'll carry you
across the river and halfway across the river,
he just dumps you and says, I've had
enough of you.
There are people who think that God will
do that to them, save them from hell
and judgment and halfway through life, say to
them, I'm fed up with you.
I'm just going to dump you in the
middle of the river.
That's the unbelief.
And again, it's good to judge ourselves instead
of judging lots to see whether there is
that same unbelief, that feeling that God will
let me down or he will let some
calamity overtake me.
That's lot's fear.
Some disaster will overtake me.
Do you have that fear?
That God who saved you from hell may
not save you from some disaster that may
come upon you or your children or that
can be a fear.
Yeah, he saved me from hell.
That's right.
But some disaster may still overtake me.
This fear, some disaster may overtake me.
Yeah, there we can learn something from lot's
unbelief.
Let the disaster overtake me.
He says, please protect me in this town.
This town, which was later named Zohar, was
also to be punished, but God spared it
because lot said, OK, Lord, please let me
go to this town.
It's a small one.
Doesn't matter if it's not judged.
Please let me escape there.
Isn't it small that my life may be
saved?
Lot knew that that small town was also
to be judged by fire and brimstone because
it was part of the cities comprising Sodom
and Gomorrah.
But he asked God to spare it.
For my sake, please let me stay here,
even though these fellows also deserve judgment.
And there we see the fantastic grace of
God.
All right, he said, I grant you this
request also not to overthrow the town of
which you have spoken.
And so God did not overthrow that town,
even though they were sexual perverts and people
who deserve judgment.
Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything
until you arrive there.
Therefore, the name of the town was called
Zohar.
The sun had risen over the earth when
lot came to Zohar and the Lord rained
on Sodom and Gomorrah, brimstone and fire from
the Lord out of heaven.
Notice that word then in verse 24, meaning
that God waited until lot was well clear
before that judgment came.
Tremendous mercy of God.
And he overthrew those cities and all the
inhabitants of the cities and what grew on
the ground.
When Jesus said that the last days would
be like the days of Noah and Lot,
the one thing he mentioned there was that
Noah was put into the ark and the
judgment came suddenly.
And Lot was taken out of Sodom and
the judgment came suddenly.
And it will be something like that in
the day when Jesus comes.
Some will be taken out and suddenly the
judgment will come on a world that is
not expecting it.
But his wife from behind him.
Just by the way, verse 25, these cities
in the valley which was overthrown lies at
the bottom of what is today known as
the Dead Sea.
The Dead Sea is the lowest place below
sea level on the face of the earth.
And even today the water in that sea
is so saturated with salt that it's very
difficult to drown in it because the water
is so dense.
And that is where Sodom and Gomorrah was
judged more than 3,500 years ago.
And his wife from behind him looked back.
And one can think of all that was
in her mind when she looked back.
Jesus said if anyone puts his hand to
the plow and looks back, he is not
fit for the kingdom of God.
Or as the Living Bible says, the one
who allows himself to be distracted from the
work that I plan for him is not
fit for God's kingdom.
God has planned a work for us.
And if I allow myself to be distracted
from that, that will of God for my
life, I allow myself to be distracted from
God's will for my life because I seek
some earthly comfort, or some prosperity, or somebody's
honor, or some money, or something that allows
me to be distracted from that perfect plan
that God has for my life, then I'm
following in the footsteps of lost wives who
put their hand to the plow and then
look back.
Lost wife were not like lost sons-in
-law.
The sons-in-law never even put their
hand to the plow.
They never came out.
This is a picture of those who come
out, and then they are so double-minded
that they look back.
We have to say to Lot's credit that
though he was double-minded in the beginning
and hesitated, once God told him not to
look back, he didn't look back.
But his wife turned around.
Now it's very interesting to see what Jesus
said about this in Luke chapter 17 and
verse 32 onward, because this has relevance for
us in the times in which we live,
because we are living in those days which
Jesus referred to as the days of Noah
and the days of Lot, days of tremendous
violence and sexual perversity.
And this connection Jesus says, in that day,
verse 30, Luke 17, verse 30 onward, in
that day when the Son of Man is
revealed, speaking about the day when Jesus will
be revealed from heaven, in the previous verse
29, on the day that Lot went out
from Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from
heaven and destroyed them all, on that day
when the Son of Man is revealed, verse
31, let not the one who is on
the housetop and whose goods are in the
house, or we can say, whose possession, he
has not become a disciple.
He has not given up his possession.
His possession, his treasure, is not in heaven.
His treasure is inside his house.
Let him not go down to take it
away.
And the one who is in the field,
let him not have to turn back.
Remember, Lot's wife.
It's in this connection, he said, that your
goods are in the house.
Lot's wife's goods were in her house.
And she looked back.
He says, in the day when the Lord's
revealed, if your heart is attached to something
on this earth, I believe the meaning of
that is, God will say, all right, you
stay with that, where your treasure is, there
will your heart be also, and there will
your body be also in the day of
the rapture.
And if your treasure is in heaven and
your heart is there, then your body will
also go there in the day of the
rapture.
But if your treasure is on earth and
your heart is there, then your body will
be here in the day of the rapture.
I mean, that's only righteous of God to
do that.
And there is where the first will be
last and the last will be first, that
many people who appear to be so spiritual,
God who examines everybody's heart, will have to
leave some people's bodies behind because their hearts
are here.
He doesn't want to separate their bodies from
their hearts.
Their heart is here and says, let the
body be with the heart.
And so in that connection, he says, remember
Lot's wife, in that night, verse 34.
And the word here is not two men.
As you read in the King James Version,
there'll be two people in one bed.
That must be a husband and wife.
Lot and his wife.
One is taken and the other is left
behind.
Lot had to leave his wife behind and
he had to go on.
And Jesus said, in the day that the
Son of Man is revealed, the wife will
wake up and discover that her husband is
missing.
And then she can remember Lot's wife and
understand why she got left behind.
Or it can be the other way.
The husband will wake up and discover that
his wife is missing.
And then he can remember Lot's wife and
understand why he got left behind.
There's no partiality with God.
There'll be two people grinding in the mill
or working in an office, we can say,
two believers, professing believers anyway.
And one's taken because his heart's been there.
God says, I unite your body with your
heart.
And to the other person also, he says,
I unite your body with your heart.
Your heart's here, your body's here.
That's a very serious warning.
Remember Lot's wife.
Jesus himself said that.
And in this, at the end of that
chapter, in Luke chapter 17, we find this
verse.
It's very difficult to interpret.
But we can see it in this connection.
Luke 17, the last verse.
Because they asked him, where, Lord?
Where, where is all this, where are all
these people going to go and be left
behind?
And then Jesus said, where the body is,
the vultures will be gathered.
Where there's a dead body, the vultures are
drawn to it.
So Jesus was speaking there about a principle
of being drawn to something that attracts you.
Like the vulture is drawn to the dead
body, because its nature is like that.
It loves that dead body.
Those whose goods are in the house, they'll
be drawn to that, and they'll be left
behind.
And those whose hearts are set on things
above, they'll be drawn to that which their
nature draws them to, and they'll be taken
up.
So that's a serious warning.
And I believe when the day when Jesus
comes, we will see that it is exactly
fulfilled like that.
That no one can fool God, that if
our hearts have set on, have been set
on the things above, God has seen it,
and he will unite our body with our
heart.
And if our heart was set on the
things beneath, however pious and religious we may
have appeared before others, God will see to
it that our body remains where our heart
is.
And Abraham arose early in the morning and
went to the place where he had stood
before the Lord.
And there we see Abraham's concern.
He wanted to see, are there ten righteous
men in Sodom?
I prayed God would spare that city if
there were ten righteous men.
He prayed and he wanted to see the
answer to his prayers.
There was a man of faith, always the
mark of faith, that when we pray for
something, we expect the answer.
We get up in the morning to find
out whether the answer has come.
And that's what Abraham got up in the
morning, went and stood before the Lord, and
he looked to see whether his prayer was
answered.
And when he saw Sodom and Gomorrah burning,
he knew that there were not ten righteous
men in that.
And he saw, behold, the smoke of the
land ascended like the smoke of a furnace.
Thus it came about that when God destroyed
the cities of the valley.
Now, this is the verse I was referring
to at the beginning.
God remembered not Lot.
Did you notice that?
God remembered Abraham and delivered his nephew Lot.
It's quite a contrast to Genesis chapter 8,
verse 1, which we considered.
There we read God remembered Noah and delivered
him from that flood.
But here, it doesn't say God remembered Lot.
He was pretty ashamed of Lot, this compromiser
who was dishonoring his name in Sodom and
Gomorrah, making his name a laughing stock by
living for the world and trying to preach
the gospel.
It's like some people who are not upright
in their jobs, and they go around giving
tracts or wearing badges.
But they are not straightforward in their jobs.
People see that they love money, that they
live for the earth.
If you are like that, brother, better you
don't wear a badge, better you don't give
out any tracts, at least don't dishonor the
Lord's name.
Let them think that you are just another
unbeliever, rather than, if you do give out
tracts and make it known that you are
a Christian, make sure that your testimony is
way beyond reproach, absolutely 100% clear.
Wherever your testimony is not 100% clear,
the best thing you can do for the
Lord is not let anybody know you are
a Christian.
Let them think you are a Hindu or
a Muslim or an atheist or something.
Better they don't think you are a Christian.
If your testimony is not absolutely upright and
clear in your office and neighborhood, it's far
better they think you are an atheist or
a Hindu or a Muslim, rather than that
the name of Jesus Christ is dishonored.
When they see your behavior and your conduct
and the way you do things, and then
you give out tracts and you preach to
them.
No, God was ashamed of lots, but he
remembered Abraham.
And for Abraham's sake, he blessed his nephews.
Amazing how God blesses our family members, because
he sees one upright man.
I've seen that many a time, that because
of a very upright, godly father, the children
who don't deserve God's blessing because they are
such compromisers, still somehow get a few trickles
of blessing because of a very godly father
or mother.
Sometimes even a nephew gets blessed.
Think of that.
That God can remember you and bless one
of your nephews because he sees the goodness
and the uprightness and the righteousness of your
life.
It's absolutely fantastic what God will do for
other people who are in some way related
to a godly man.
That we learn from the Old Testament.
God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of
the midst of the overthrow, and he overthrew
the cities in which Lot lived.
And Lot went up from Zoar.
Finally he had to leave Zoar.
See, first he didn't want to go to
the mountains, but I think he discovered that
the people in Zoar were just as wicked
and evil and sexually perverted and violent like
the ones in Sodom, and he had to
get out.
And finally he had to come to the
place where God told him to go in
the first place.
He went up to the mountain because he
was afraid, it says, verse 30, to stay
in Zoar.
He saw the wickedness and he thought, boy,
God will judge this place too.
And now this man who was the millionaire
of his time is now a pauper, staying
in a cave, no house, no place to
lay his head.
The man who sought after riches, the man
who sought after this world, ends up as
a pauper, lost his wife, lost his son's
-in-law, I don't know who else of
his relatives he lost, and then left with
his two daughters.
And then we read the horrible thing that
those two daughters did in verse 31 to
38, how they had children through their father,
and we see how the influence of Sodom
came upon their daughters.
The influence of Sodom had affected his daughters,
and that's something which many people don't realize,
that when they go seeking for money in
the world, it affects their children so much.
They lose their children and daughters and sons
in more ways than one.
If only people would realize.
The influence of Sodom had made these daughters
also so sexually perverted in their minds, and
so crazy after marriage and having children.
That was their craze.
We must get married and have children.
If God gives it, that's all right, but
to have such a lust for it, that
even if God doesn't give it, I must
get it one way or the other, is
really opening the door to all types of
sin.
There are people like that, who when they
couldn't find a believer, just choose anyone, because
they are so crazy after getting married and
having children.
That's what these women were.
These two women were crazy after getting married
and having children.
And we got to take a warning from
there, from the evil conducts of these two
women, and they had children called Ammon and
Moab, as we read in verse 37 and
38, who are the father of the Ammonites
and the Moabites.
Later on we read of, we read in
the book of Deuteronomy, that God said that
not a single Moabite or Ammonite must ever
enter into the congregation of the Lord after
the tenth generation or something like that.
It was a severe judgment.
And we see here that that's the last
we hear of Lot.
We never hear of Lot again.
Think of what a different ending his would
have been if he had walked the God
-fearing way that his uncle Abraham had walked.
And this is a warning for all those
who have the influence of some God-fearing
person near them, and who take it lightly,
despise it.
Jesus said that even a prophet is usually
despised by his relatives, and those in his
own house, only outside he has honor.
Abraham was probably despised by Lot, but later
on he would have realized what he had
missed.
The influence of a godly man, never despise
it.
And don't despise it just because he's your
relative.
Maybe God blesses you in some way because
of that man, because you're related to him.
If only Lot had realized that.
But think of the sad ending, that the
last thing you hear about Lot is this
horrible evil that he gets into after getting
drunk.
Yeah, a tremendous warning for those who have
ears to hear.
Chapter 20, verse 1, Abraham journeyed from there,
and Abraham said of Sarah, his wife, Genesis
22, she is my sister.
You see, this is the same mistake he
made once before.
We read that in Genesis 12, where he
told Pharaoh, this is my sister.
And he got into a little trouble there
when Pharaoh discovered it was not his sister,
but his wife.
But he doesn't seem to have learned that
lesson.
And he says a second time, for the
same reason.
He's probably afraid of his wife, Abimelech.
This is another king.
Abimelech was probably the title of the king
of this area, just like Pharaoh is the
title of the king of Egypt.
And so Abimelech took Sarah, saying, oh, well,
if it's your sister, I'd like to marry
her.
But God came to Abimelech that night and
said, you're a dead man, and God warned
him.
But notice something here.
The absolute honesty of the word of God.
It's very difficult to find a biography of
a great man of God written today, which
is honest, like scripture.
You read about Noah in scripture, great, mighty
man of God, but it tells you that
he also got drunk one day and lay
naked.
Great man of God Abraham was called the
father of us all in Romans chapter four,
and it tells us how he did so
many wrong things, tells us about the lie
that Isaac said, Jacob, and the failure of
Moses, how he lost his temper, and how
Paul shouted at the high priest, and Paul
had a disagreement with Barnabas, and they separated.
Peter denied the Lord.
You look through the biographies of all these
great men in the scripture, and you find
that the scripture is absolutely honest.
And that teaches us what the inspiration of
the Holy Spirit leads us to.
There is a tendency to hero worship in
our flesh, and I've seen that among Christians.
I've seen it in every single group of
Christians that I've ever come across on the
face of the earth, from the worst to
the best, that when they have some great
respect for a particular man of God, they
become one hundred percent blind to anything wrong
that that man can ever say or do
or teach.
That man is like the Roman Catholic infallible
Pope.
Not only infallible Pope, he's perfect.
And then we know that such people have
got a wrong idea.
They're not led by the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit gives us eyes that are
wide open.
Luke, who was the apostle Paul's close co
-worker, was willing to write about Paul's weaknesses.
Think of that.
And Paul would have been very happy that
Luke wrote it so that people don't think
of him more highly than they ought to
think.
Think if you were delighted that when a
close co-worker was saying something about you,
he said some of your bad points too.
Praise God, I'm glad he said that so
that those chaps don't get a wrong idea
about me.
It's not easy to have that reaction, because
we love to be here or worship ourselves.
And we don't want anybody to say anything
wrong about us.
That's part of our carnality.
But the word of God is so absolutely
downright honest.
Jesus said that men will come from the
east and the west and sit down with
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of
God.
He spoke about Abraham.
God calls himself the God of Abraham.
But this here's a fellow telling a lie
concerning his wife.
Honest.
It is honesty that God appreciates more than
flawlessness.
Flawlessness means without a single mistake in my
life.
And I'm just being dishonest, trying to give
people the impression that I never made a
mistake and never make a mistake.
That dishonesty, God detests.
That's what makes people into Pharisees.
But I know this is God's word because
it tells me honestly about the failures of
God's people, of great men of God.
And I can believe what I hear when
somebody tells me about another great man of
God.
I can believe it only if he tells
me one or two of his failures also.
Otherwise, I can't believe anything he says.
He may be just bluffing.
But when he tells me one or two
of failures of that man of God, then
I know that this must be the truth,
because he's honest enough to see his failures
too.
Now, if you don't believe that, you try
that out.
You go into any group of Christians, whether
it's the Methodists, you ask them about Wesley,
or the Lutherans, and you ask them about
Luther, or the Catholics, you ask them about
the Pope, or any group, the best groups,
go and ask them about that leader.
And invariably, they'll tell you that leader is
one who's never made any faults.
What a ridiculous idea!
So contrary to Scripture.
And there's where we see the soulishness of
even some who are otherwise spiritual, that they're
not willing to honestly face up and see
that in a particular area, so-and-so
was wrong.
Even though he was very godly, he was
wrong.
And I just want to encourage you, my
brothers and sisters, don't be soulish like that
concerning anyone.
Be clear, walk in the light, and be
like the Holy Spirit has inspired Scripture to
be.
Honest and truthful about the greatest men that
Scripture writes about.
So that's a great encouragement for us, but
we can learn something here about Abraham, why
Abraham told a lie.
He told a lie because he was afraid
of man.
The Bible says in Proverbs 29, verse 20,
the fear of man brings a snare.
That means it's a trap.
Why did he tell a lie when we
are caught in a tight spot in the
office?
Three words.
Fear of man.
Always.
Invariably, it is fear of man.
Why did Abraham tell a lie when he
was in a tight spot?
Fear of man.
It is a trap.
It caught Abraham, it has caught us, and
if I don't fear God sufficiently, I will
fear man.
Then I'll be caught in the trap.
And we see here that it's quite interesting
to see that this event takes place immediately
after some of these fantastic revelations that Abraham
has had.
In chapter 17, God came to him and
made a covenant with him and gave him
the sign of the covenant circumcision, and made
fantastic promises.
In Genesis 18, God came and sat down
and had a meal with Abraham and spoke
to him about Sodom and Gomorrah.
After all these tremendous revelations, immediately Abraham falls.
What do we learn from that?
We have to be particularly careful after, just
after, we have received some mighty experiences with
God.
If you had some tremendous experience with God,
that's the time when you have to be
very careful.
You don't know what's ahead.
Perhaps a big fall is just waiting for
you.
Because maybe a certain pride has come into
your heart.
And like they say in the world, pride
goes before a fall.
That a certain pride has come and God
has blessed me or given me some revelation,
God spoke to me in this personal way.
Abraham may have felt that.
God has spoken to me and told me
about the judgment coming on Sodom.
God has told me I've changed my name.
My name is not Abraham anymore, Abraham.
And then down, crash.
A warning.
Be particularly careful after you have had some
new experience with God, some revelations.
That's the time you've got to be watchful.
Think of Peter.
Jesus said, who am I?
Jesus, Peter says, you are Christ, son of
the living God.
And Jesus says, blessed are you, Simon Bar
-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed
this to you, but my father in heaven.
Think if Jesus was speaking to all of
us sitting here.
And one of us got up and gave
the right answer.
And Jesus Christ publicly congratulates you.
So put your name and says, you are
really blessed.
And you are so fucked up, you feel
like putting your collar up because Jesus has
congratulated you in the presence of everyone.
And the very next thing that Jesus tells
Peter is, get behind me, Satan.
He has fallen.
The very next time Peter opens his mouth,
he's fallen.
He says, Lord, don't go to the cross.
At one time he's speaking from God, at
the other time he's speaking from the devil.
Be particularly careful when you have been publicly
congratulated or publicly honored by God, then really
something.
Yeah, that's something we learn from, you see,
we don't realize how weak our flesh is
until the moment of temptation.
In the moment when we are having revelations
from God and getting fantastic experiences and being
blessed by God, we can almost forget that
we still have a flesh in which there
dwells no good thing.
And we can think, oh, I'm really so
highly spiritual now, I'm having wonderful experiences with
God, and in that moment I forget that
I'm still carrying around with me a flesh
in which there dwells no good thing.
Then I fall.
I must never forget whatever experiences I may
have had of God, whatever God has done
for me or through me or blessed me
or blessed others through me, I must remember,
I am still at the end of it
all carrying around with me a flesh in
which dwells no good thing.
And I'll never see the corruption in flesh
better than in the moment of temptation.
Let the temptation come, and all these experiences
and revelations I had yesterday, it's almost as
though they're not there.
I suddenly reacted in just a human evil
way.
And then we see that Abraham was just
like us.
But God is merciful, because he had a
purpose for Abraham and he has a purpose
for us.
It says he came to Abimelech in a
dream at night and said to him, you
are a dead man.
Because of the woman whom you have taken,
for she is married.
That teaches us something, that God is able
to speak even to earthly rulers on our
behalf.
Sometimes you wonder whether God can speak to
your boss about some need that you have.
Here Abraham had a need.
His need was, this fellow has walked off
with my wife.
Can God speak to him?
Of course God can speak to him, and
God did.
Maybe you have a need.
And you need somebody to speak to your
landlord, or your boss, or someone who is
above you.
Can God do it?
If you live before God like Abraham and
not like Lot, you can be sure that
God will speak for you.
But if you're living like Lot, trying to
make money in Sodom, and then suddenly come
to God to claim his promises made to
Abraham, you find it doesn't work.
But if you live like Abraham did, he
will even speak to great rulers.
Wake them up in the night or speak
to them at night in a dream and
say, listen, I want to tell you something
about your dealings with this man who has
come into your town.
Think that God can do that.
Have faith, brother and sister, that God can
do that.
According to your faith, be it unto you.
If I say, Lord, I believe you can
do that for me, he'll do it for
me.
Another person who is timid says, oh, I'm
not sure.
It won't happen for such a person, because
his problem is not his timidity, it is
his unbelief.
There are many things God cannot do for
his children, because they are so unbelieving.
They read that God spoke to rulers on
behalf of his children, and they won't believe
that God can speak to that petty little
boss sitting in an office.
Think of that.
And because of their unbelief, God says, all
right, I will not speak to him, because
you don't believe me.
You don't believe I'll do it for you.
Think what a different situation would have happened
if you had trusted God and said, Lord,
I'm your wholehearted disciple.
I desire nothing on this earth except to
do your will.
And God will even speak to rulers on
your behalf.
He'll disturb their sleep at night and speak
to them in a dream on your behalf.
That's what he did.
He said, give back that man's wife to
him.
And Abimelech has to do it.
He doesn't have to be a believer, by
the way.
Abimelech was no believer.
He was a godless, probably an idolater.
God can speak to idolatrous kings.
Sure.
And said, give back that woman and solve
his servant's problem.
You believe God can solve your problems by
speaking to your boss?
If you live like Abraham, sure.
And Abimelech had not come near her, and
he said, Lord, will you slay a nation
even though blameless?
The Bible says, the king's heart, Proverbs 21
.1, is in the hand of the Lord.
God can turn it wherever he wills, the
rivers of water.
The rivers of water are going east at
one time and west at another time.
In other words, God can…
Have you seen a river in a map?
You never find a straight river anywhere in
the world.
A river is always meandering, going this way,
that way, sometimes east, sometimes west, east, west.
That's how it goes.
And the word of God says in Proverbs
21.1 that the Lord can turn the
king's heart which is set on going east,
he can turn it round to make it
go west, just like the rivers of water.
Wonderful word.
But that's what he did with Abimelech.
And Abimelech said, Lord, this man himself said,
he's my sister.
And she also said, he's my brother.
In the integrity of my heart and the
innocence of my hands, I've done this.
God said to him, yes, I know that.
Think of those three words.
I know that.
Think that you can stand before God and
say, Lord, in the integrity of my heart,
I did that.
I made a mistake, true.
But I didn't do it with a bad
motive.
I did it sincerely, thinking that it was
the right thing.
And God can say, I know that.
And therefore, I don't judge you.
That's a great word of encouragement for those
of us who have had the experience of
making mistakes, even when our heart was absolutely
straightforward and upright, full of integrity.
That we can hear God saying, I know
that.
And at the same time, those three words,
I know that, which is an encouragement to
men with men of integrity, is also a
tremendous warning for people who try to play
the fool with God.
For God also says, I know that.
I know why you did it.
I know that you were trying some tricks
there.
I know that.
Three words that can either be an encouragement
to us or a threat of judgment, depending
on whether our hearts are in integrity or
in crookedness.
Think that a heathen king could stand to
God and say, Lord, in the integrity of
my heart, I did it.
And God says, I know that.
And he testifies to it, like he testified
concerning Job.
He was concerning a heathen king, that the
integrity of your heart, you did this.
Therefore, because I saw the integrity of your
heart, I kept you from sinning against me.
Do you believe that God can keep us
from sinning?
That's not Jude 24.
That is Genesis 20, verse 6.
Jesus can keep us from falling.
God kept Abimelech from sinning, because he saw
the integrity of that man's heart.
Why does he allow some people to sin,
then?
I'll tell you.
Because he sees that in their hearts they
are not straightforward.
I've seen that many times, particularly as we
have proclaimed the message of victory over sin.
We've seen many people oppose us, and very
often we find that behind all that opposition,
they may say it is doctrinal, and this,
that, and the other, but behind it all
is a lack of integrity of heart.
And what is more dangerous are the people
who don't oppose us, but sit saying that
they believe everything, but are hypocritical in their
attitude, in their life.
And they sin.
And they talk about the new and living
way, and sin, and sin, and sin, and
sin, and sin, and sin, and sin, and
sin, and sin.
And God can never say, I've kept you
from sinning.
Think of that phrase, I have kept you
from sinning, because I saw the integrity of
your heart.
Put it another way, I have allowed you
to keep on sinning, because I've seen that
there's no integrity in your heart.
You are crooked, and that's why you keep
on sinning, even though you talk about victory
over sin.
Take that seriously.
That if God sees that there's an integrity
in our heart, even if we make a
mistake, he will keep us.
Tremendous encouragement to those who want to be
free from guile and hypocrisy.
I believe with all my heart that in
the final day we will see that many
believers completely missed God's will, and lost their
salvation, only because of one thing, because of
guile and hypocrisy in their lives.
I believe that will be true even for
people who have sat in the church, and
quite likely even for some who have come
into our midst.
Quite likely, they will miss salvation because of
guile and hypocrisy.
Whereas some other person was weaker, but because
they were honest and upright before God, God
lifted them up and kept them.
Brothers and sisters, seek after integrity of heart,
and hate all guile and hypocrisy.
You know, that's a warning to us from
a heathen king.
It is sovereignty of God that kept him
from sinning, and he says, I didn't even
let you touch her.
Think of that.
That this man wanted to marry Sarah, and
took her to his house, and he didn't
even touch her.
Think of that.
That God's sovereignty could have kept that king
so busy that day, that he didn't even
have an opportunity to touch Sarah till he
went to sleep and got this dream.
Think of the amazing sovereignty of God that
can do such a thing.
Amazing.
Think about that, and see God's sovereignty.
Now he says, restore the man's wife.
Don't just confess your sin, you have to
make restitution.
You have to give back what you have
taken wrongfully, for he is a prophet.
Think how God defends Abraham.
He doesn't say he's a liar.
We would say he's a liar.
God says he's a prophet.
God is merciful, unlike us.
We can be so hard in judging others.
He's a prophet.
Yeah, I know he slipped up, but he's
a prophet.
There's something in his heart which makes him
a man of God.
God saw that in Abraham, despite his failure.
And that is another encouragement, that God doesn't
just look at our failures.
If he sees an integrity in our hearts,
he doesn't just concentrate on the failure like
men do, focusing their microscope on that.
He sees something behind all that.
He sees all the sacrifices you've made, all
that you've given up.
And he doesn't forget it.
He's a prophet, and he will pray for
you, and you will live.
If he prays for you, you'll live.
You may be a great king in the
world, but your life is dependent on that
man of God praying for you now.
This world doesn't realize how much power a
godly man has in heaven.
That kings are dependent on him.
Think of that.
It's not a joke when we say we
pray for the prime minister, the leaders in
the country.
Their life is dependent on the prayers of
godly people.
Not the compromisers and the hypocrites, but the
godly people.
One godly man can affect the life of
a ruler.
He will pray for you, and then you'll
live.
Think that God can say that, even though
the prime minister may not hear it.
If that godly person or those godly people
pray for you, you'll live.
Otherwise, you'll die.
It's there in the Old Testament too.
But if you do not restore her, if
you don't make restitution, you shall surely die.
And all who are yours.
Zimlak arose early in the morning, and he
was more wholehearted than a lot of believers
when God tells them to make restitution.
Give back what you took wrongfully, whether it's
somebody's wife or somebody's money or somebody's property
or anything.
Give it back.
And Zimlak didn't think about it for five
years.
He arose early next morning and started giving
back.
That's an example of restitution from a heathen,
godless king.
And called all the servants and told all
these things, and the men were greatly frightened.
And Zimlak called Abraham and said to him,
What have you done to us?
How have I sinned against you, that you
brought on me and on my kingdom a
great sin?
What is he called, adultery?
This is before the law.
There were no ten commandments those days.
And he didn't even know God.
But as a heathen king, he calls adultery
a great sin.
And there we see the shallowness.
Jesus said that Sodom and Gomorrah would rise
up in judgment against some of the cities
where he preached.
He said Tyre and Sidon would rise up
in judgment against some of the cities in
Israel where he preached.
And I believe that Abimelech and heathen people
will rise up in judgment against so-called
believers who commit adultery, who talk about the
ten commandments and the new covenant, and then
don't recognize that adultery is a great sin,
which Abimelech will rise up in judgment against
believers in that day.
Sure, they don't recognize that fooling around with
women in the opposite sex is a sin.
People like Abimelech will rise up in judgment.
He recognizes that's a great sin.
And you have done to me things that
ought not to be done.
And Abimelech said to Abraham, what have you
encountered that you've done this thing?
And Abraham said, because I thought there is
no fear of God in this place, and
they will kill me because of my wife.
It's very interesting.
This is the first place in the Bible
that the phrase, the fear of God, comes.
First place in the Bible where the phrase,
the fear of God, comes.
And notice that it is mentioned in connection
with sexual sin.
The power of sex is so strong in
human beings, and God has kept it like
that.
It wasn't the devil who created that power
so strong, it was God.
And he kept it so strong with one
reason, among others, that he can test a
man's fear of God.
Because in the thought life, in this area,
it is very easy to sin, and nobody
knows it.
And there God has tested a man's fear
of him or not.
It's easy for God to test whether we
fear him or not with just this one
area.
It's like a litmus paper test of the
fear of God.
What is that man's attitude to sexual sin
in his thought life, or that woman's?
Immediately, God, blue or red, the litmus paper,
you know whether it's an acid or an
alkali.
Immediately God knows, does this person fear him
or not.
You don't need to check it again.
One test is enough.
Remember that.
And that's why this is a very serious
sin.
That's why we need to take it very
seriously.
I always tell young people, this is the
first area you need to get victory over
completely.
Purity in your thought life.
If you don't take it seriously there, that
means you don't really fear God.
If you're not battling there to get the
victory, you say, oh, I'm falling, I'm weak,
I've done it so often.
Yeah, you don't take it seriously, my brothers.
And it is going to be, it can't
go too well.
And further, she actually is my sister, he
says, through sort of a white lie, he
said.
Because she's actually the daughter of my father,
not the daughter of my mother.
She became my wife.
He says, I told her wherever I went,
to please say that you're my sister.
In other words, this is a plan they
hit upon before they left Uru, the Chaldeans.
And God caused me to wander from my
father's house.
I said, please tell everybody that you are
my sister.
And so she said that.
And then Abimelech gave Abraham sheep and oxen
and gave Sarah back and told Sarah, verse
16.
I've given your brother, sarcastically, this brother of
yours, he says, I've given him a thousand
pieces of silver.
And it is your vindication before all who
are with you for a covering of the
eyes.
He gives back more.
He doesn't just give the woman back.
He says, here's the money for the embarrassment
that I caused you.
And before all the men.
And Abraham prayed to God.
And God healed Abimelech and his wife and
his maids, so that they were both children,
because they had been barren until that time
because of Sarah.
Yeah, there's something that we learn from Abraham's
life.
Though he failed, God stood by him and
lifted him up.
And quite a few things we can learn
from Abimelech's life, from a heathen king's life.
May God help us to walk in the
light of the word of God.