Remember Lot's Wife
Introduction: This past Wednesday was Women's Day, a day to remember women's rights, and the Lord calls his disciples to remember one woman in Luke 17:32. There is no warning in all the Bible more sobering than this one. The Bible says that Lot was a righteous man, but apparently his wife was not, it seems that she was just a professor of religion. Heaven may have been upon her lips but Hell was in her heart. Jesus doesn't ask us to remember Sarah, Hannah, Esther, or Ruth, but of the women in the Bible we are commanded to remember this one un-named woman, who is only known as Lot's wife. He singles out one woman who is eternally damned, and says, "Remember her." Jesus was on the subject of his Second Coming and how unprepared the people will be when he returns. He speaks as if we are all in danger of forgetting this important lesson. He speaks to us this morning to "Remember Lot's wife." (Introduction adapted from Joseph Clark's: Proclaiming Bible Truth Vol.1)
Transition: What is it about her that the Lord wanted us to remember? I want to point out three things that we should remember about Lot's wife. First, remember the disobedience of Lot's wife.
I. Remember the disobedience of Lot's wife
Lot was the nephew of Abraham and when the two of their clans chose to part ways because of the arguments that were rising up between their herdsmen, Abraham chose to go to Canaan. Lot chose to live in the well watered low lands of Jordan. Lot pitched his tents near Sodom where the people were wicked and exceedingly sinful.
Because of the wickedness in the city of Sodom and Gomorrha, God was going to destroy the city but after Abraham pleaded for his nephews life, God sent two angels to deliver Lot and his family from the city that he was soon going to destroy.
When the people of the city saw the two angels go into Lot house they demanded Lot hand them over so the Sodomites could rape them. It shows you just how depraved they were when their lusts had them screaming for the rights to abuse God's angels. After they tried to manhandle Lot out of the way, the angels blinded them so they couldn't find Lot's door and after Lot and his family hesitated, the angels grabbed Lot's hand and his wifes hand and his two daughters and they took them out of the city as God was raining down burning sulfer on it and as they were leaving, the angels gave them the command not to look back at Sodom. Only one disobeyed: Lot's wife.
There are many things we could examine about Lot, such as why he chose to give up his tent life to live in a town full of sin? or why would a righteous man want his bones to be laid down in a place like Sodom? But we are not told to remember Lot, we are told to remember his wife, who in this case was his worse half.
Let's remember whose wife she was. She was the wife of a man who, with all his faults, was a righteous man. She was united to him in the closest possible way and yet she perished. We should remember that grace isn't passed on through the blood stream. you can be married to the most saintly man and still be the devil's daughter. Lot's wife was there when Abraham received the promises from God, she was there when Melchizedek came to meet Abraham, she literally held the hand of God's own angels and in spite of all of these great priviliges she died graceless, hopeless, godless, and unbelieving.
Jesus said "they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven." Lot's wife may have outwardly conformed to her husbands religion but the world was in her heart and she determined that not even the grace of God was going to take it out. We may be saved by grace but it is only through faith that we can receive it. Lot's wife never had any saving faith - evidenced by her unwillingness to accept salvation on God's terms and as a result, damnation naturally followed.
She lived her life in divine opportunity. She was surrounded by God's people, living directly in recorded history, God's wonderful plan was being played out all around her and yet what good did it do her. None whatsoever.
You can be so close to salvation and not be saved. You can be next to God and not have him in your heart. You can go to the best church and have the best preacher and still be lost. Gehazi was Elisha's servant; Demas was Paul's co-worker; Lucifer was one of God's angels; Judas was Christ's disciple; and yet they are all damned.
Lot's wife was told not to look back and yet that is exactly what she did. When God gives a command, it is crystal clear what we are to do next. Surprisingly some still refuse to obey, even when they know his commands are always for our good. Like Saul's sacrifice, you can do many things to please God but if you disobey him you reveal the rebellion that is in your heart.
Transition: What was in her heart is what caused her to turn and look back toward Sodom, secondly, we are to remember the desire of Lot's wife.
II. Remember the desire of Lot's wife
This is the primary lesson that we are to remember about Lot's wife. Lot's wife looked back because she loved what she was leaving behind. There is nothing in this world worthy of giving so much of our heart to that it will cost us our eternal lives. Why sacrifice the eternal on the altar of the temporary? It evidences your faith when you sacrifice the temporary for the eternal. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy... but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.." Jesus said "No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." (Lk 9:62) Even as Lot's wife was being delivered by angels, she couldn't help but look back to the devils.
I mentioned Wednesday night during our Bible study that at some point we all must come to a decision whether we will leave sin and follow God or will we leave God to follow sin. We can not do both at the same time all though many people like the Corinthians and Laodiceans have tried. And there has been many in our churches that have done the same.
When Lot's wife looked back, it revealed her secret love of the world. The scripture says that where the heart is, there also is the treasure. Her treasure was in Sodom and while you can tak Lot's wife out of Sodom, you can't take Sodom out of Lot's wife. The angels warned her with the similar warning that Paul made to the Corinthians - "..come out from among them and be ye separate.." but for Lot's wife she didn't want to be separated from the sinful world, she wanted to live in it. When she had the opportunity to choose her home, she couldn't help but look back to a corrupted, wicked, evil place. We have a choice to make. Will we make heaven or hell our home? If we can not separate our hearts from this world we bring judgment on ourselves.
Think of what it says about those whose philosophy of life is "let us eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die." they say 'Lets cast off all the burdens of religion and just enjoy all the forbidden pleasures of this life, while we have the time to enjoy them.'
Paul wrote the Phillipians "...but one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead." When called to escape the coming judgment of your sins, will you look back regretting what you had to leave behind? Are you looking back at this world as you are being delivered from it? Will you look back and mourn the loss of your sins or will you be grateful that you have left it behind? Peter recites a proverb that stands true today: "A dog returns to it's vomit and a sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud." It is the nature of the worldly man to return to the world, just like a dog returns to its vomit. Its the nature of the sinful man, no matter how much he makes outward changes, to constantly return to his sin, just like a washed sow returns to the mud.
1 John 2:15 "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."
When it was time for her to be separated, Lot’s wife could not tear herself away from the world. She had always been in it and had loved it and delighted in it. Even though she was married to a righteous man, when the time came for her to make a decision, she chose the world. She was told to go and don't look back, but that was too much. Her feet were taking her the right direction, but her heart wasn't going with her. She did look back and she proved that she presumed God was wrong and defied his command and she risked it all to give one last love-glance to a filthy and condmend world. By that glance she perished. The love of the world is death. Those who cling to sin must perish, no matter who they are or who they are related to.
Transition: She perished is a unique way, being transformed into a pillar of salt. We don't hear of anyone else dying like she did, which brings us to the last thing we should remember about Lot's wife...
III. Remember the destruction of Lot's wife
Jesus said to his disciples "you are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot." (Mt 5:13) God's punishment is perfect, He turned Lot's wife into what she should have been in the first place: salt of the earth, she was to be a different flavor than this sinful world. She was supposed to be a separated believer that was making a difference amnong her neighbors. It seems that her wicked neighbors had a bigger influence on her than she had on them. Which wasn't hard considering she never had any true faith to begin with, which is doubly damnable considering how close to God's people she was. If she wasn't going to be the salt of the earth that she was suppose to be, then God would punish her by making her physically, what she refused to be spiritually.
If our hearts are glued to the world, we will perish with the world. If our desires and delights look to the world and we find our comfort in it, we will see ourselves and all we have consumed in the day of the Lord’s anger.
It will be a sad, sad thing to see those who were united in holy matrimony be separated for eternity. The husband and wife that lived together and work together and suffered together and saw their children grow up together and to think that they can be eternally separated never to meet again is a scary and sad reality for anyone whose love is not in Christ.
If you love money may it persih with you, if you love fashion may it perish with you, if you love fame may it perish with you, and if you love the world it will perish with you.
Listen to what Jesus said before he says to 'remember Lot's wife': “I tell you, in that night there shall be two in one bed; the one shall be taken and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken and the other left.”
It doesn't matter how a close world hugging Christ professing person is to the truly sanctified born again believer - If you cling to the world and can't help but look back to it, you must perish in your sins. This makes the remembrance of Lot’s wife a very solemn thing to those who are close to the people of God.
She was willing run with him for a while, following his example. She went with him a long ways until she began to think it over; what she was doing and what she was leaving behind and then she slowed down and lingered behind. Remember, that she went part of the way towards safety and yet she still perished.
Backsliding begins with a desire and she evidenced her desire by looking back to what was suppose to be put behind her.
This woman was actually out of Sodom and she was almost in Zoar, the refuge city, and yet she perished. How close she was to salvation and yet she perished. Almost saved, but not quite. Let me repeat those words, “ALMOST SAVED, BUT NOT QUITE.” Escaped from the vilest form of sin, but not truly in Christ.
Conclusion: Privlege alone will not secure your salvation. You can have spritual advantage, great opportunity, enjoy the best church and the best preaching in the world and still be lost. Some day the tares shall be separated from the wheat and the goats will be separated from the sheep.
We have heard the song "I have decided to follow Jesus - no turning back. no turning back." There are some who look back and there are some who do turn back, but for others they can't turn back because they never left in the first place. We serve a jealous God and he will not have a bride that is not devoted to him. How sad it is when you think of those who enjoy all sorts of Christian privileges and yet they are not saved.
Make sure that this isn't your fate. Pray that the Lord would guard your heart from backsliding and from the dangerous temptations of a fallen world, and when we look let's look ahead toward heaven and salvation and leave our sins where they belong, on the cross- where they were sent to die . . . forever.
Amen.
