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REMEMBER LOT’S WIFE REMEMBER
In Luke 17, Jesus
was teaching His disciples to always live their lives for the Lord so they will
be prepared for the Day of Judgment. After He taught them this great lesson, He
told them,
Luke 17:32 "Remember
The Bible is full
of examples for us to learn from in OT. For instance, Paul said the following
about the children of
1
Corinthians 10:11 Now all
these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our
admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
It is always good
for us to examine the mistakes that they made, so that we can make sure that we
don’t repeat their mistakes. We could learn from Nadab and Abihu about not
breaking God’s command or we can learn a great lesson from how Moses struck the
rock instead of speaking to it, which caused him not to enter the promise land.
Luke 16:25 "But Abraham said, 'Son, remember
that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil
things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.
When we fail to
learn from our mistakes, we can find ourselves in the same place as this rich
man.
Now lets take a
look at what we can learn from
Matthew 19:5 For this reason a man shall leave
his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one
flesh'?
However, they
found themselves living in a corrupt city where all kinds of sinful things were
taken place including homosexuality. The awful behavior of those in that city
have also became examples for us as Jude writes:
Jude 1:7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities
around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to
sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example,
suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
When you live the
life of sin, you will face the eternal consequences. Because these people of
Sodom and Gomorrah were so corrupt, God was going to destroy that city, but God
was going to give Lot and his family the opportunity to escape before the
destruction happened because when the two angels went to the city Lot took them
in and protected them and this is what they told them.
Genesis
19:12 Then the men said to
Lot, "Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters,
and whomever you have in the city -- take them out of this place! 13 "For we will destroy this place,
because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the LORD,
and the LORD has sent us to destroy it." 14 So Lot went out and spoke to his
sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, "Get up, get out of
this place; for the LORD will destroy this city!" But to his sons-in-law
he seemed to be joking. 15 When
the morning dawned, the angels urged
God had given Lot
and his family the opportunity to escape since they were the only righteous
people in that wicked city and they ran for their lives, but remember one of
the commands was not to look back, but watch what happens as pick back up in,
Genesis
19:24 Then the LORD rained
brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the
heavens. 25 So He overthrew those cities, all the
plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 But his wife looked back behind him,
and she became a pillar of salt.
Since
The first thing
we learn about her mistakes is that God is serious when it comes to obeying all
of commands. Not only was she supposed to flee, she was not supposed to look
back, but she did and it cost her life. This show how one sin can be fatal.
This teaches us that we should always work hard at remaining faithful to God
and if we do sin, we need to repent as Jesus said,
Luke 13:3 "I tell you, no; but unless you
repent you will all likewise perish.
We should never
treat sin lightly because you never know what it may cause. For instance, in
Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphire both lost their lives when they lied to the Holy
Spirit.
Ezekiel
18:24 " But when a righteous
man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according
to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the
righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the
unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed,
because of them he shall die.
Under the O.T.,
people who lived in sin were to be put to death, but even under the O.T. there
away of avoiding death.
Ezekiel
18:21 " But if a wicked
man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and
does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 22 "None of the transgressions which
he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness
which he has done, he shall live.
So from the OT
and the NT we learn that importance of obeying God’s Word, and if we sin we
need to take care of the sin right away by repenting.
The second thing
we can learn from this event is that she perished even though she was married
to a righteous man. To prove that
2 Peter 2:6 and turning the cities of Sodom and
Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward
would live ungodly; 7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of
the wicked 8 (for that righteous man, dwelling
among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by
seeing and hearingtheir lawless
deeds)
This teaches us
that no matter how righteous our mate may be or how much we surround ourselves
with righteous people, they cannot save you because you are responsible for
your own actions, and you must give account of how you lived your life. So,
just as
Another thing we
learn from lots wife is even though she had a strong desire to be saved, she
still perished. She was heading the right direction, but she allowed herself to
get distracted and she looked back.
There are many
that are like this today. They have a desire to be saved, and they may even
start down the right path, but they get distracted and the look back, which
causes them to get back on the wide road that leads to destruction. Jesus said,
Luke 9:62 "No one, having put his hand to
the plow, and looking back, is fit for the
As Christians we
must be careful that we don’t allow the world to district and cause us to take
our eyes off our goal of getting to heaven, if we do, we could find ourselves
far removed from God. John said,
1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in
the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in
him. 16 For all that is in the world -- the lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life -- is not of the Father but
is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the
lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
The world has a
lot of temptations to tempt us with, but as Jesus taught we must keep looking
toward heaven, and remind ourselves that the temporary pleasures of the world
are not worth losing the eternal happiness we will receive in heaven Jesus
said,
Mark 8:36 "For what will it
profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
So, don’t allow
the world to cause you to look back and lose your soul.
Another thing we
learn about
There are many
people today that are guilty of this as well because they have been taught the
truth, but they don’t want to obey the truth. When it comes to the Day of
Judgment, they are not going to be able to offer up any valid excuse of why
they didn’t obey God’s Word. A great example of this comes from the parable of
the 10 virgins.
Matthew 25:1 "Then the kingdom of heaven shall
be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the
bridegroom. 2 "Now five of them were wise, and
five werefoolish. 3 "Those who were foolish took their lamps and took
no oil with them, 4 "but the wise took oil in their
vessels with their lamps. 5 "But while the bridegroom was
delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 6 "And at midnight a cry was heard: 'Behold, the bridegroom is coming;
go out to meet him!' 7 "Then all those virgins arose and
trimmed their lamps. 8 "And the foolish said to the
wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are
going out.' 9 "But the wise answered, saying, 'No, lest there should not be enough
for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.' 10 "And while they went to buy, the
bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and
the door was shut. 11 "Afterward the other virgins came
also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!' 12 "But he answered and said,
'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.' 13 "Watch therefore, for you know
neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
The main thought
behind this parable is that you need to make sure that you are always living
your life is such away that you will be prepared if Jesus come back today. As
we read, 5 of the virgins were prepared, but the other 5 were not. Since they
were not prepared when the bridegroom came, they were not allowed to go to the
wedding.
Those who know
the truth and refuse to obey the truth will be in this same boat, and they will
not make it into heaven.
Another thing we
learn about Lot’s wife was that she had enough faith to start going the right
direction and she even had enough faith to leave her friends and her
son-in-laws to do what God had said, but the problem was she didn’t remain
faithful and true to God. We can learn from this that it takes more than just
becoming a Christian to be saved because we must be willing to continue to
remain faithful until the day that we die. There are many Christians today who
seem to think that all they have to do is get saved, then nothing else is
required of them, but they are sadly mistaken. The writer of Hebrews says this,
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore we also, since we are
surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and
the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the
race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and
finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was
set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the
right hand of the throne of God.
This is the
message is taught through out the NT. We are encouraged to endure and to run is
such way that we will gain our reward in heaven. Paul is a great example of
this because he had to face all kind of hardship for the cause of Christ, but
he kept pressing on and keeping the faith all of his life, that is why he was
able to say,
2 Timothy
4:7 I have fought the good
fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me the
crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on
that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
So we can learn
from the mistakes of
Revelation
2:10 Be faithful until
death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Another thing we
learn about
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love
toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been
justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
Peter and Paul
teach us that God doesn’t want anyone to perish, and He wants everyone to come
to a knowledge of truth, but many are not willing to be saved because they want
to do things their way. God is not going to force anyone to take advantage of
His grace because He loves us enough that He wants us to chose for ourselves. I
hope that all of us will always choose to love God and embrace His grace.
Another thing we
learn from
This same thing
can happen to us today because God’s grace is not something we can abuse, and
it is not a catch all for all of our sins as Peter said,
2 Peter
2:20 For if, after they have
escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter
end is worse for them than the beginning. 21 For it would have been better for them
not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment
delivered to them. 22 But it has happened to them according
to the true proverb: "A dog returns to his own vomit," and, "a
sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire."
It is up to us
whether we want to remain in God’s grace or remove ourselves from it. We must
realize that God’s grace is not a licenses to sin, and if we keep testing God’s
grace by living unholy lives, we find ourselves being like a dog that returns
to its own vomit. That should produce a disgusting picture in your mind, but
you know what, it is even more disgusting when we allow ourselves to return
back to a life of sin after we have been freed from it though the blood of
Jesus, and if we don’t repent and get ourselves back right with God, then we
will not make it to heaven.
The last thing we
learn from this event is how
Matthew
10:37 "He who loves
father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or
daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 "And he who does not take his
cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
Unfortunately,
this becomes too hard for some, and they will follow the same path that their
parents and grandparents have followed. They have the attitude that if their
parents and grandparents did it then in must be right. This is why it so hard
to convert some that have been attending a denomination all their life. When
you teach them that a person must be baptized to be saved, they won’t accept it
because if they do, they will have accept that their parents and grandparents
are lost too. This becomes more challenging if those loved ones have already
died.
While it is
difficult to think of someone you love that has passed away as being lost, I can
promise you that they don’t want you to be loyal to them, they want you to be
loyal to God’s way. This is exactly what the rich man in story of rich man and
Lazarus wanted for his brothers. Noticed what he begged Abraham to do:
Luke 16:27 "Then he said, 'I beg you
therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, 28 'for I have five brothers, that he may
testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.'
When he found out
that he was in this horrible place of torment, he was hoping that someone could
go and teach his brothers to change their ways. This is exactly what every
loved one would hope for as well if they are lost like this rich man. So, we
can learn from this example that no matter how hard it may be for us, we must
not allow the failures of our loved ones to keep us from obeying the will of
God.
I hope this
lesson has shown how important is that we learn from the mistakes of those in
Bible like
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