Don't Look Back!

GEN 19:1 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 "My lords," he said, "please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning." "No," they answered, "we will spend the night in the square." 3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate.

GEN 19:12 The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it." 14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, "Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. 15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished." 16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. 17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!"

GEN 19:24 Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

IN this Biblical account, we see that God had sent two angels to rescue Lot and his family from the terrible judgement that was to come to Sodom & Gomorrah. Much like God wants to rescue us today from the impending wrath to come upon this world. Notice that when Lot spoke to his son-in-laws about it, they thought it was a joke and quickly dismissed him. Church, there are a lot of people out there that think God’s impending wrath is a joke, but rest assured it IS coming....and soon! But what I would like for us to focus on today is Lot and his wife’s reluctance to leave what had obviously become their "comfort zone".

We see that even Lot had to be grabbed by the hand and physically yanked out of Sodom! We do know that Lot and his family were prosperous there in Sodom. He was so important that he would sit at the gateway of the city....a place of importance that signifies a city leader. He was pretty well content with his place in life. But God had other plans for him....

God’s instruction were clear.....get up and go where I want you...and don’t look back! There are a lot of things we can take from this. As Christians, sometimes we get "content" with our lives. "What do you mean, Pastor?" Well, I mean we can’t rest on our laurels. We can’t be happy just because one time, a long time ago, we got the baptism of the Holy Ghost. One time, a long time ago, we were really, really close to the Lord. One time, a long time ago, we gave our all to Him....we used to be soooo zealous for Christ! Everywhere we went, we couldn’t wait to share the "good news". Yep, we USED to be all that. What happened?

REV 2:2I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

God knows our hard work....our good deeds...our perseverance...our refusal to accept sin and false doctrine. Yet He holds something against us....vs 4. WOW! The revival we just had last week needs to be our wake-up call. The Spirit that we felt every night during the revival is the Spirit that needs to stay with us always. God doesn’t want us to have a revival of our spirits just to go right back to that "comfort zone" we were in before! It’s time to stir things up here in Chico, Tx! You know what? It’s time to: