What is the Direction of your life after Salvation?
Wed. Night March 4th 2009
2 Peter 2:7-9; Genesis 13:5-13
Introduction
In what direction or you going in life since you’ve been saved? What kind of decisions are you making in your life? A lot of that depends on the spiritual condition you are in.
We know Lot’s spiritual condition because the Bible tells us clearly what it is. He was a righteous man who obviously made some bad choices in the direction for his life and the life of his family sometime after he had become a righteous man.
So tonight, I want to take a look at Lot’s bad decision and what motivated him to make that decision because if Lot as a righteous man can make bad decisions; it means that you and me as Christians are not immune from making bad decisions even though we are saved.
Read Scriptures: 2 Peter 2:7-9; Genesis 13:5-13
I. We are likely to make a bad decision if we chose not to consult God in making our decision.
Genesis 13:4 “and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the LORD.”
Genesis 13:14-15 “The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.”
Look at the contrast here. In verse 4, it says that Abram called on the name of the Lord. And as soon as Lot departs God then talks to Abram again and blesses him with so much land. So obviously his decision to ask Lot to leave was bathed in pray and talking with God .And the decision to ask Lot to leave was God initiated.
Now let’s take a look at Lot’s decision. No where does it say that he asked Abram for a little time to go talk with God to see where he should settle. Instead, he looked up and saw a land that was well watered and said that I will take that land.
Both righteous men but Abram talked with God before asking Lot to leave. And Lot did not talk with God before deciding why way to go.
The obvious choice is not always what God wants for us.
II. We are likely to make a bad decision if our motivation for the decision is mostly materialistic.
Genesis 13:5-6 “Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together.”
Genesis 13:10 “Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)”
Lot had a large flock and a large herd. And his decision to move toward Sodom was based on the fact that it was well watered and that would allow him to maintain or even increase the number of animals he owned.
But if we look at verse 13 Moses (the writer of the book of Genesis) begins with the word “Now”. And what he is telling us is that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah already had a reputation of being wicked and Lot was aware of their reputation of being wicked and yet was willing to overlook that for the possibility of taking possession of a land that could water his animals.
Lot’s decision was purely based upon preserving his possessions. He gave no thought to how the wickedness of Sodom was going to affect his wife or how the wickedness would affect his daughters.
III. We are likely to make a bad decision if we chose not to seek the counsel of people we consider Godly.
Genesis 13:11 “So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company:”
It was a decision of one. It doesn’t tell us that Lot asked the advice of his wife and daughters. Lot knew that God was working in Abram’s life but he never asked Abram “which way do you think I should go?” Lot had herdsmen that managed the animals but it does not tell us that he asked for their input.
It is clearly a decision of one. Lot’s decision! And the Bible is quite clear that in the counsel of many there is much wisdom. He chose to ignore that and he has a bad decision to prove it.
IV. We are likely to make a wrong decision if we think that we have the spiritual discipline on our own to do the right thing.
Genesis 13:12 “Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom.”
Genesis 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.”
In Genesis 13, Lot’s tent is pitched toward Sodom. He lives close to Sodom but he is not living with in the city.
We come to Chapter 19 and there is a whole different picture. He now sits in the gateway of the city which means that he had some type of political position in the city.
His home is no longer on the outside of the city. He is now living within the city of Sodom.
Sometimes we make the wrong decision because we think that we have the discipline to do the right thing but we don’t. If we think too highly we will make a wrong decision.
V. We are going to make the wrong decision if we have to sacrifice others to get what we want.
Genesis 19:6-8 “Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said, "No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”
Lot was willing to sacrifice the moral purity of his daughters to get what he wanted. If you have to hurt someone in the process of getting what you want you can pretty well guess that it is a wrong decision.
Conclusion
Two men going in totally different directions! Both are righteous men, the Bible tells us that, but the decisions that they make are going to be as different as night and day. Are you going to be like Abram or are you going to be like Lot. Your choice.
(Thanks sermoncentral contributor, Preacher’s outline and sermon bible, Dr. Dave Hartson)
