Protected In The Midst Of It All
Scriptures: Gen. 12;4-5; 13:5-11;18:32-19:10; 2 Pet. 2:4-9; Phil. 4:6-8
Introduction
In my message last week I asked you if you were a starter or a finisher. I acknowledged the fact that you can’t finish something unless you first start it and that there are many people who plan to start something and never get around to it. As it relates to our relationship with Christ, I made the assumption that all of us have started in that race but we have to finish it. If you recall from last week I reminded you of the story of Lot’s wife and how after she had made it to safety from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, she turned around and looked at the destruction and turned into a pillar of salt. In this instance she had started but was not able to finish. The cost of her disobedience was her life. In addition to this story I shared with you what Jesus told His disciples in Matthew chapter twenty-four. Jesus said in the last days, the days in which we are living in now, many will fall away. Please understand that you cannot “fall away” from something that you never had. Jesus made it clear that there will be some who will be walking with Him and stop – just as some of His disciples did when He walked the earth (John 6:66). If you recall, these disciples followed Him until they became offended in some of His teaching and they left Him. In the last days we will have people who will walk away from their faith. They started in this race but will not finish it. If you are concerned about whether or not this could happen to you, take heart because God has given us a promise of protection in the midst of the world around us. This week we will examine Lot from the viewpoint of remaining a righteous man in the midst of wickedness. Remember, when God commanded Abraham to leave his home and his family, Abraham took Lot with him. Both Abraham and Lot had possession and after leaving Egypt, their possessions grew which led to them having to separate because the land they were dwelling in could not sustain both of their cattle. This led to Lot choosing to dwell in the city of Sodom. Turn with me back to Genesis chapter eighteen. We will begin reading at verse thirty-two.
“Then he said, ‘Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?’ And He said, ‘I will not destroy it on account of the ten.’ As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham the LORD departed, and Abraham returned to his place. Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. And he said, ‘Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant's house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.’ They said however, ‘No, but we shall spend the night in the square.’ Yet he urged them strongly, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he prepared a feast for them, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter; and they called to Lot and said to him, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them.’ But Lot went out to them at the doorway, and shut the door behind him, and said, ‘Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly.’ Now behold, I have two daughters who have not had relations with man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them whatever you like; only do nothing to these men, inasmuch as they have come under the shelter of my roof." But they said, ‘Stand aside.’ Furthermore, they said, ‘This one came in as an alien, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them.’ So they pressed hard against Lot and came near to break the door. But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.
(Genesis 18:32-19:10)
Let’s look at what Abraham did and why once he found out God’s plan for destroying those cities. Abraham was told that Sodom and Gomorrah was going to be destroyed and he knew that his nephew Lot lived there. Although he knew that Lot was a righteous man he also understood that the lives of the rest of the inhabitants in the city were wicked because the angels just confirmed it. Abraham began to negotiate with God (Jesus actually) on how many righteous men would have to be living there in order to save the cities. He started at fifty and negotiated his way down to ten. God agreed to spare the cities if ten righteous men could be found within them. When the angels arrived to the cities, Lot brought them into his home to protect them. When the men realized where the angels were, they attempted to break down Lot’s front door to get to them. At this point the angels had identified that there were not ten righteous men in the cities and therefore they would fulfill their original mission and destroy them. However, they were under command to get Lot and his family (those that chose to leave) out of the cities before they destroyed them. That’s the story of Lot in a nutshell, but I want you to see something else. Let’s reread verse 9. It says, “But they said, ‘Stand aside.’ Furthermore, they said, ‘This one came in as an alien, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them.’ So they pressed hard against Lot and came near to break the door.” Notice how the men described Lot? They said that he had come in as an alien (foreigner) and was now trying to act as a judge over them because he was not in agreement with what the men of the city was trying to do. Lot lived in a wicked city and he was surrounded by wickedness and yet he remained faithful to God. He remained righteous even though he was surrounded by wickedness. Lot moved to a city whose moral compass was the opposite of his and yet he did not try to fit in. He did not allow himself to be assimilated into their culture so that he started doing what they were doing. According to the men, he remained alien to them. This is very important because even though Lot knew God, if he had chosen to participate in the lifestyle of the city he would have been destroyed with the rest of the inhabitants. Remember what I told you about Lot having possessions that he brought into Sodom? When the angels came to destroy the cities, Lot lost everything that he could not immediately carry out. Think about that. His choice to dwell in a wicked place cost him his possession but not his righteousness or his life. He never strayed from his belief in God! Now jump over to 2 Peter chapter two and I want you to see what Peter said in reference to Lot. We will begin reading at verse four.
“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter; and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment.”
(2 Peter 2:4-9)
Peter walks the readers through a historical analysis of how God dealt with the widespread sins of the world. He talked about how God dealt with the angels who rebelled against Him. Then he mentions righteous Noah and how God saved him and his family when He destroyed the world through the flood. Noah and his family were saved because they were righteous. From there he mentions the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. What he demonstrates is a pattern for how God has dealt with and will deal with sin. Whether we like it or now, God is consistent! Peter says that what God has done in the past is an example for those who would live ungodly lives in the future. Now focus on what Peter said about Lot in verse seven through nine. It reads, “And if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment.” (Vss. 7-9) Peter said that God rescued righteous Lot. We know that because we read that in Genesis chapter nineteen. But also notice what we have not read before.
Peter says that Lot had been “oppressed” by the sensual conduct of the men of those cities. Peter says that based on what Lot saw and heard in that city his soul was tormented. Have you ever lived somewhere where your soul was tormented? Have you ever worked a job where you were tormented? Maybe you experienced something like this in school. If you have you can mildly understand what Lot was dealing with. Lot was tormented by what he was witnessing. In reality, Lot should have left there years before and why he didn’t we will never know. What we do know is that Lot was tormented by his surrounding and when the destruction happened, Lot too lost everything that he could not take out of the city. His life was saved but many of his possessions were lost. Now here is the good part. Peter says that based on what God (Jesus) had done in the past through the examples that he had listed, “then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the Day of Judgment.” Peter says that Jesus knows how to rescue us from temptations and to keep us out of hell. If that is the case, what’s the problem? Why will some fall away? Why do some get caught up in the ways of the world? Why are we struggling with what is going on around us. Why do we panic when things do not go our way and we become stressful about the “what ifs.” The reason is not as hard as you may think. Lot lived surrounded by sin – not just your normal easy sin, grave sin. He was oppressed by it. He may have had his sons-in-laws involved also. We do not know the extent of what he witnessed but what we do know is this: when he saw the angels entering the city he was unaware of whom they were and he immediately brought them into his home to protect them. He knew what would happen to them if they were left to fend for themselves on the streets (if they were normal men.) He made this assessment quickly based on what he knew were the lifestyles of those he lived next too. However, even though he lived all around it, he never accepted it. Even though it oppressed him, he did not give in to it. Even though the peer pressure was high he withstood and remained righteous before God. When he made those choices, God honored him and rescued him prior to destroying the cities. I want you to consider one more point before I close. Have you ever thought about what would have happened to Lot if he had not invited those angels into his home and protected them? He could have potentially been destroyed because he did not stand up for the righteousness that was within him. The angels could have destroyed those cities without ever having taken Lot and his family from there. Lot taking them in and trying to protect them ultimately saved his life!
So what about you and me? Jesus knows how to protect us also. He knows what we are facing and He is providing what we need to withstand. We may fall down but He is ready and able to pick us up again. However, the responsibility is ours and we have to make a choice. Paul said the following in Philippians 4:6-8: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” (Philippians 4:6-8) With everything going on around us in and in others parts of the world we worry and yet Paul says “be anxious for nothing.” When things are shaky with our jobs, our health, our family members, we worry and still Paul told us, “be anxious for nothing.” While we are thinking about all of the “what if” Paul wrote that we should be making our requests known to God through prayer in humbleness with thanksgiving. In other words, we accept that we are not in control so we go to the One who is. We are humble when we go, but bold at the same time because we know the One we serve actually does have our backs. With that understanding we can give thanks! Now here is the promised which I spoke of at the very beginning: “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” I firmly believe that this is what Peter was talking about when he talked about Lot and God rescuing us from temptation. The peace of God will guard our hearts and minds when we understand Who has us. I know things seem rough on the outside. I know we have struggles. I know things in our lives can be shaky at times, but who has you? Lot was tormented by the lives of those around him and yet he remained righteous. His mind and his heart were sealed. He did not turn away. He knew the stories and he knew what God had done and could do. He refused to take a chance on losing out and that decision saved his life and those of his family who were willing to leave with him.
I want you to leave here this morning knowing that whatever you are going through Jesus is protecting you. We are pressured to accept the things around us and participate. We are pressured to be like everyone else. We are punished when we choose to be different. We look at how much easier our lives would be if we just went along with the programs. We have issues in our homes, on our jobs, in our churches, in our government, with our health and it all stacks up on top of one another. Sometimes we actually believe that we would be better off dead and in heaven because this world is just too hard. With all of this I want to leave you with a mental image. There is a song that says, “This world is not my home, I am only passing through. If heaven is not my home, oh Lord what would I do? The angels are beckoning me, to heaven’s open door and I cannot feel at home, it this world anymore.” This world is truly not our home and we are just passing through because heaven is where we are headed. So imagine that you get in your car for a road trip. You leave your home with a destination of Denver. While you’re traveling in your car you pass through all of the small towns and cities without stopping. Why? Because your destination is Denver and while you may pause on the journey to refuel, you will not stop until you arrive at your destination. That is our lives here on earth. We are in a state of pausing while we make our journey home. One final note, when you’re traveling in your car and it starts to lightly rain, what do you do? You keep pressing on! You’re protected by the car so the rain is not touching you. You’re not getting wet. You keep going. Imagine Jesus through the Holy Spirit being your car as you are traveling through this world. While you may witness the things of this world, if you choose you’re protected from them. Why do I say if you choose? Just like being in a car when it’s raining, I can choose to open the door and step out of the car and get rained on. You see the point? Jesus has made a way for us but we have to choose the way.
You are protected in the midst of what you are going through. May God bless and keep you.
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
