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:
Stop living in the past. When we remember the past, we tend to only think about the good moments. We block out that which wasn’t so good. Did you ever talk to someone that was growing older and it seemed like they would maybe "embelish" their exploits everytime they told them? I find myself even remembering myself to be a better athlete than what I actually was. I remember that big hit I had to help win that baseball game. I have to think really hard to remember the times I struck out or missed an easy fly ball. (One time a pop fly hit me right on the head!) When I remember my musical career, I remember sold out halls...people clapping, dancing. Then I remember playing for 4 or 5 people hollering "turn on the juke-box!" No applause there! Couldn’t wait to leave! But even though there were MORE bad times, we tend to think only about whatever little "good" there was....and even that "good" wasn’t that good!
Some talk about the "good old days". Had to walk 5 miles to school....barefooted....in the snow....uphill both ways....no TV, no A/C old cars that had tires that you were lucky to get 10K miles out of, or 100 miles without having to stop and patch the tube! Good old days? There WERE obviously good things about those days....innocent....honest folks....but there were also BAD things!
Listen.....we can use the past to learn from it...but never should we "long" for the past! We should be excited that God has a plan for us! ISA 43:18 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.
God is doing something new for you! Aren’t you excited? Aren’t you looking anxiously forward to what new thing God has in mind for you? You see, for Lot to leave his old life, he had to step out in faith...he had to believe that God would absolutely take care of him. Did you know that if God is leading you and taking you to another level, you won’t "lose" anything! You will gain! Incorruptible treasures! Glory to God! He is making a way in the desert!! Your desert! Some of you had been dry for so long you didn’t even realize you were in the desert! When God poured His glory out on us and we were all filled and refreshed, did it make any of you think.."hey.....I’ve been missing this! I NEED this"? It did me! And it made me realize that in order for me to move forward in God’s plan for my life, I must be willing to forget the past and go on to what God has for me today.
PHIL 3: 12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
What happened whenever Lot’s wife yearned so much for what she left behind? Want some pepper with that salt? She was content...living large...had a high place in Sodom’s society. She was probably written about a lot in the society pages...you know, tea parties and such....hob-knobbing with Sodom’s elite! Had to look back instead of forward to what "new thing" God had in mind for her. I want to show you something...LUKE 17:32Remember Lot’s wife! 33Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. That’s a warning from Jesus himself....remember Lot’s wife.
God is doing a new thing in your life. Embrace the change! Look forward to what God has in store for you. Have you ever been looking in your rear-view mirror and missed something happening right in front of you? Now...it’s necessary to check your mirror from time to time to be sure your not about to get run over (especially here in Wise county)...but you’d better not stare too long! There might be a curve coming up! In the same manner, we can use our past experiences to help us take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold for us! Straining for what’s ahead! Eager...anticipating....doing whatever we can to get to the next level. If we keep looking back, clinging to the past, defiantly holding on to what "was", then we will miss what God is doing right now.
Don’t revive what God has removed! Don’t gather and piece back together what God has smashed and scattered! Don’t put yourself back under that yoke that God has already broke! These are the good old days....the best days of your life lie ahead of you....if God is leading your way!
