This sermon delves into the life of Lot from the book of Genesis, highlighting his attraction to the world, his compromise with worldly values, and the consequences of his choices. It emphasizes the importance of not compromising with the world as Christians, the need to prioritize spiritual growth and fellowship, and the dangers of sowing to the flesh. The sermon urges believers to add to their faith virtues like knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love to avoid the pitfalls of a wasted life like Lot's.

We have made it through the 19th chapter of Genesis, and as I mentioned, I wanted to take an entire evening and consider Lot. As far as the historical account goes, we've now, with the ending of the 19th chapter, we've moved beyond any further reference to Lot in the book of Genesis, but I think there are a number of lessons that we can learn from the life of this man Lot, and so that's what I wanted to do tonight, just take one more look at Lot. We've made reference and alluded to some different things and even commented on certain things with Lot, but I thought it would be good to just sort of get the whole picture. So we're going to look at Genesis 13 once again this evening, and we might even pop over to chapter 19, but let's pick it up in verse 10 of Genesis chapter 13. And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east, and he and Abraham separated from each other. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord. Now of course we've already gone through that history and seen the the destruction of Sodom, but in looking at Lot, Lot seems to be the type of Christian who aims to make the best of both worlds. He was a believer. We know that from the New Testament commentary. It's a little bit hard to see any real evidence of his faith in the historical account in Genesis, and I think if it were not for the commentary by Peter in the New Testament, we might conclude that Lot wasn't really one of us, but we're told that he was. But he was a man who sowed to the flesh, and as the scripture declares, God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap. If you sow to the flesh, you will reap corruption, and Lot certainly did reap corruption. But Lot becomes really a warning. He's a concrete warning to all Christians who think that you can compromise with the world and not get burnt in the end, and Lot shows us that that is not the case. So, what do we see when we look at this man, Lot? Well, the first thing we see in our text that we read, Lot was attracted to the world. There he is. He's with Abraham. You know, he's, of course, his nephew, and Abraham is the man who has been given the promises of God. And as long as Lot, you know, was with Abraham, he was sort of, you know, in a sense, a part of that, you know, somewhat under that umbrella of blessing. But Lot wasn't all that interested in that, and when the tension arose that was the background for the decisions that were made, Lot chose to separate himself from Abraham. And he looks around, and it says that he looked at the plain of Jordan, and it reminded him of Egypt. So, we see that he was a man who was attracted to the world. Of course, Egypt was one of the great empires of the ancient world, and there was obviously an element of beauty and attractiveness, and so this particular region, as Lot looked to it, it reminded him of Egypt. Egypt is sort of a type of the world in Scripture, and so we see that he was a man who was attracted to the world. He was a man who set his affection on the things of the earth rather than on the things above. Lot loved his life in this world. You could sum it up in that. He loved his life in this world. He wanted the best of both worlds. Certainly, he wanted, you know, that blessing that would be there as a result of his connection with Abraham, but he also wanted to enjoy the world. He wanted to experience the things of the world. The contrast between him and Abraham, we read about Abraham that he looked for a city whose builder and maker is God. So, Abraham had no interest in that. He was looking for God's city. He was looking for, he was focused on that which was spiritual, while Lot was focused on that which is material, and so he was attracted to the world. Secondly, we note that he was drawn away from fellowship toward the world. He forsook Abraham, and essentially what he did is he departed from fellowship, and when you look at this pattern in his life, you find it is a pattern of those who, even today, that love of the world starts to draw a person's heart away, and the next thing you know, fellowship is something that is becoming less and less important, less and less vital, and there's a decrease in a sense of wanting to be together with God's people, and we see this far, far away. And we see this far too often, and there's a slow sort of a drifting, just, you know, gonna cut out a little bit of fellowship here, and just go with a little less because there's so much else to do, and then pretty soon we're gonna cut out a little bit more, and then, you know, it comes to a point where fellowship is pretty much a thing of the past. Some people feel they don't really need fellowship. They feel like they can survive on their own, but it just doesn't work that way. So he draws away from Abraham, and then we see that he actually, he pitches his tent towards Sodom. Now you have to believe that a lot new, Lot knew, I would imagine, maybe not thoroughly, but he knew to some extent that Sodom was a wicked city, and we don't know, you know, what transpired between Abraham and Lot totally. You know, perhaps there would have been a moment where Abraham would have pleaded with him and said, well, no, you know, Lot, why don't we talk about this? Why don't you think about this a little bit? But we see his attraction to the world. He moves, and he pitches his tent towards Sodom. You know, the world is like a, you know, sort of like a big magnet, and it's there with that pull, and it's working to pull us in, you know, ever so slowly, if that be the case, but nevertheless, just pulling us in. Paul, in writing to the Romans, you know that he said we're not to be conformed to this world, and a literal translation of that there in the second verse of the 12th chapter is stop allowing the world to mold you into its image, and that's what the world does. There's this system of the world that's trying to suck us in. It's trying to mold and shape us so that we would think like the world thinks, and we would have the priorities and the goals of the world, and that we would behave as the world behaves. Lot pitches his tent towards Sodom. You sense there that there is a friendship to some extent with the world, and we know from James that friendship with the world is enmity with God. Now perhaps, as sometimes will be the case, perhaps Lot reasoned that he was going to go to Sodom and be a witness. You know, there's a lot of people there that need the Lord. He might have had that kind of a justification, because that's exactly what it would have been, and sometimes people do that. Well, you know, I'm going to go out and see if I can minister to people in these, you know, different lifestyles and so forth. I'm going to go back to some of the parties that I used to frequent, see some of the old friends, you know, see if I can lead them to the Lord. But what ends up happening? What ends up happening is not that we lead them to the Lord. Actually, what happens is they sort of pull us back in to the world, and that's what we see happening here. The best witness, if you want to really be a witness, you know, the best witness is a separated life. That's really the best witness. And we have to be very, very careful, because the world is subtle, and the devil is crafty, and he's going to, you know, manipulate things, and he's going to use the world quite often in former relationships and things like that. He's going to use that to try to lure us back in. So we see that he forsook fellowship. He pitched his tent towards Sodom, and then finally, when we come to chapter 19, we see that Lot is well at home in the city of Sodom. He's there sitting at the gate. Sitting at the gate indicating that he had come to a place of prominence to some extent there in the city. You know, if you think of the interesting regression that is laid out for us in Psalm 1. Psalm 1 tells us, Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, who stands not in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. And it's a regression. You know, you start off just sort of just a, you know, little conversation. Just, you know, talking about the world. Just maybe a little bit of reminiscing. You know, what just those old times that we used to have. And maybe that sort of thing, or more and more frequently, you're starting to seek advice out from people who don't know the Lord, from unbelievers, and you're starting to, you know, go for that sort of counsel. And, you know, it starts there, but after a while, you end up sort of just, you know, palling around with the sinners again. You're in the path of the sinners. But before too long, if you don't watch it, you'll find yourself sitting there in the seat of the scornful. That's the regression. And that's what happened with Lot. He was attracted to the world. He chose the world. He forsook fellowship. He moved in the direction of Sodom. He pitched his tent, notice, toward Sodom. But the next time we find him, he's living in Sodom, and he's sitting in the gate of the city giving counsel. You know, once we start down that path, back toward the world, it can happen so quickly where we're right back in the pit. We want to stay as far away from any of that as we possibly can. That's the objective. We see with Lot now at this point, he has absolutely no real witness for the Lord. And again, sometimes that's what we use to justify moving in a certain direction, but we find that there's nothing there. It's not, there's no impact because there's no anointing, because you're not there because God called you there. You're there because you've compromised to get yourself there. And so Lot is in that sort of a position, and when things get really serious and the judgment is about to come down upon Sodom, you remember what happened. Verse 14 of chapter 19 tells us, 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 his sons-in-law, to them he seemed to be joking. And this is one of the saddest pictures of a believer. His life is so compromised that when he tries sincerely to warn people about the judgment that's coming, to them it's just a big joke. You see, Lot had really lost the right to speak to anybody because he was so compromised. Our lives will either make or break our testimony. Your life will make or break your testimony. You know, if you're there on the job, and on the one hand you're compromised, you're, you know, partying on the weekends, you're talking about that kind of stuff when you come back to work. People know when you do go to church and all, you know, you have some sort of identity as some sort of a Christian anyway. But people can see that there's a lot of inconsistency. You know, whenever you try to get serious with them about the Lord, they just, they can't hear it. They're not going to hear it. Because it's our life. Our life is going to be the thing that gives power to what we proclaim. It's, our lives are going to be part of the attraction that will draw people to listen to the truth. Paul, in writing to Titus, he speaks about good works. He refers to them as adorning the gospel. The good works adorn the gospel. Just as you would, you know, put some sort of ornament on, you know, something to to adorn it. And so, when we're living, when we're practicing what we preach, when we're living the lifestyle, it enhances a person's opportunity to receive from us. Because they say, you know, this person, they're living it. They're not just saying it. I don't know if you've had the experience, but I certainly have, over the years, seen so many people who, you know, could talk the talk, and show up at church, and you know, come on to the job site, or there, and tell everybody, you know, praise the Lord, and all that sort of thing. And then, turn around and say, you know, turn it around and cuss people out, turn it around and rip people off. And boy, that is just such a sad and tragic thing. That's pretty much where Lot was at. So, when he comes with an urgent message, and he comes with a message that's actually legitimate, there is a judgment coming, nobody can hear what he says. It seems to be a joke. Lot subjected his family to ungodliness, and to a very heavy price. And as we pointed out previously, we have to think, especially those of us who are the heads of families, the heads of households, we have to always be thinking, you know, what are my actions, how are my actions going to impact other people? Because they will. Now, I'm just guessing, but you know, I don't think Lot really thought any of this through. Maybe he really thought so much about his children when he made this decision. He might not have even thought so much about his wife. Maybe he did. Maybe they both decided that that's what they wanted to do. But did he look at his children? Did he think about the environment that he was going to bring them into? Did he think about the devastating moral effect it might have on them? Probably not. And a lot of times that's what happens. We don't really think it through. We don't think through all of the ramifications of our actions. We see this over and over again. And so Lot subjected his family to ungodliness, and remember the price that he paid. His daughters and his son-in-laws, they perished in the judgment of Sodom. His wife, as you remember, looked back longingly towards Sodom, and she became a pillar of salt. She perished. His two younger daughters who survived, you remember that story of how they seduced their father and were impregnated through him, and you see the corruption that they picked up, no doubt, in Sodom. And we have to ask ourselves questions like, how are we influencing our families? What are we subjecting our families to? Are we subjecting them to things that we think are relatively innocent and, you know, this isn't really a problem, but yet it could become a problem. Alcohol. You know, we were at a restaurant the other day, and Cheryl and I, we saw a couple of young families there. Two couples, there they were with their little children. They were eating there at the restaurant, and they were talking about the church service they had come from. They were talking about the lesson. They were talking about the Sunday school that the kids had attended that day. And at the same time, they were guzzling down various alcoholic beverages. Now, I don't want to be real hard-nosed about that sort of a thing, and of course, you know, each person needs to come to a conviction before God in regard to these kinds of things. But when you just think of it in terms of wisdom, you know, what does that do? What kind of a model does that put forth for the children? See, we too easily say, oh, this is no big deal. You know, my kids will never be affected by any of this. But hey, you start listening to the stories of people who are addicted to alcohol, and oftentimes you find out that it started when they were young. I remember when I was a boy, and you know, going over to the house of my friends, and their parents had a cupboard full of alcohol. And they would go away, and well, we'd break into the cupboard and drink the alcohol. And I know I wasn't the only kid that was doing that. And of course, that thing's happening today. And so my question is not, do you have liberty to have a drink with your meal? That's, to me, that's really not the question. The question is, you know, do I really need to do this? And what about the potential danger? What about what I might do to somebody else, how I might stumble another, a little one? You see, to me, it's too big of a risk. I don't even want to risk it. And why bother? Drink a Coke. You know, have a 7-Up or, you know, whatever. I've drunk plenty of alcohol in my life. I don't know what the big attraction is, honestly. To me, it seems that a lot of it's just more of an image than anything else, because most of the stuff just tastes terrible. I can think of a lot better-tasting drinks that aren't alcoholic. But these are the things. How are we influenced in our family? What about drugs? You know, there's a big move in different parts of the country and a big move in the state here to legalize pot. It's a big campaign to legalize pot. And a lot of parents, they're growing pot in their homes and smoking it in their houses and you know, again, they're the kids. The kids are running around. The kids are subjected to this. What is this doing? What kind of an example is it setting? But even more than that, what happens when these kids start dabbling with this? Well, people say, oh, well, you know, pot, marijuana. You know, it's no big deal. Hey, it's medicinal. They're using it for medicine these days. You know, it's not addictive, they say. It doesn't really do anything. It just sort of calms you down. That's not true. It is addictive. And everybody who knows anything about drugs knows that it's the gateway drug. Every, well, most of the people who are using hard drugs started smoking pot. So now, of course, I'm addressing a congregation full of Christians. Nobody has these problems, right? You would hope that that would be the case, but unfortunately, sadly, it's not because we hear stories about this kind of thing all the time. But again, what are we subjecting our families to? Do we realize the price that will be paid if this kind of sowing to the flesh goes on? Because when we sow to the flesh, there is always going to be that reaping. What about the internet and cable? Unmonitored. Boy, how many kids have gotten into some horrible, horrible things through no parental supervision with cable and with the internet? I've heard of a number of kids getting into all kinds of perverted sexuality through the internet. There they are, unsupervised, unmonitored, and they go on. And, you know, of course, today, you don't even have to go look for stuff. They'll send it to you. And suddenly, you've got a pornographic image there on your screen. And what does a 10, 12, 14-year-old kid do with that? You know, they follow it. Well, I wonder what this is. And what if I click on this? And then what happens? And we, as adults, oh, well, I don't have a problem with that. Oh, I can handle that. So let's bring in the cable. Let's get the dish up there on the roof. And let's, you know, pipe in everything we can possibly get into the home. But with no supervision, we are setting our children up for a major fall. You see, these are the things that we've got to think about. You might say, well, you know, what am I going to do without cable? You know, ESPN, I got to watch the game. Read the paper. Find out what the score was. I'm not saying, obviously, you can't have internet or you can't have cable. But look, are we being wise? Are we monitoring this? Are we conscious of the fact that there's potential? You know, we're potentially bringing some seriously destructive stuff into our homes. We have to be careful about these things. How are you influencing your family? Is your home, is the emphasis there in the environment materialistic? We're teaching kids that it's all about money and it's all about getting things. And so they're growing up just with that sense of it's all about the material. Are we setting spiritual goals? And do we have a spiritual atmosphere in our homes? Perhaps it's an environment of hatred, slander, bitterness. You see, these are the things we have to, all of us have to take this into consideration. Lot, tragically, sadly, evidently, didn't think about any of this stuff. And he ends up losing it all. I can only imagine how Lot must have felt. Someone put it like this, wretched indeed must have been the closing days of Lot. Cowering in a cave, stripped of all his earthly possessions, his daughters and son-in-law destroyed in Sodom, his wife turned to a pillar of salt, and he left face to face with his own awful sin. You see, the thing is we, again, as we go into these things or as we drift into them or as we sort of meander into them, not being careful, we're failing to see where it's going to go. And then we see it, I've seen it, the pastors see it, when we have the woman in the office, in the fetal position, weeping over the destruction of her marriage. When we have the children going off into all kinds of sin because the parents failed to set the example, and we're hypocrites in the home. We see it over and over and over again. We've got to look down the road, we've got to realize again what Lot failed to take into consideration. If I sow to the flesh here, I will reap corruption here. That's what Lot did. He sowed to the flesh, he reaped corruption. Was Lot saved? We talked about that initially. Was he saved? Yes, but by the skin of his teeth. He was saved by the skin of his teeth. He was a man who, if you use the analogy from Paul in 1 Corinthians 3, he was the man who built on the foundation with wood, hay, and stubble. Remember Paul said, as a wise master builder, I laid the foundation, but others are going to build on it. The foundation being Jesus Christ. There's no other foundation that anyone can lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. But he said, take heed how you build on that foundation. And every one of us who are believers, we're building on the foundation of Christ. We're building a spiritual house. Well, that's what we're supposed to be building. And God has supplied us with gold, silver, and precious stones. He supplied us with his word and wisdom from his word. He supplied us with the spirit and the energy and the direction and all that of his spirit. But some people are building with wood, hay, and stubble. And what's going to happen, Paul tells us on that day, all of this stuff is going to be tested by fire. And the wood, hay, and stubble, of course, is going to be consumed. And then he adds, he shall be saved, but as though through fire. I have met many people who I do believe are Christians. I've listened to their testimony. I've heard their story. I've observed them to some extent. And there's no doubt in my mind that there's been a genuine, you know, connection with the Lord. But at the same time, there's all kinds of little compromises in their life that they're making. And they're in the process of reaping that corruption. And it's a sad thing. Saved, yes, but by the skin of their teeth. Lot's life could be summed up in one phrase, a saved soul, but a wasted life. A saved soul, but a wasted life. Peter tells us about the possibility and the pursuit of an abundant entry into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I do not want to get in by the skin of my teeth. I don't want to have whatever the opposite of an abundant entry is into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior. Can you imagine? We've all probably had the experience of having shame over something. Shame is, it's a really unpleasant experience. But can you imagine the shame that Lot would have had as he stood before the Lord? Can you imagine the shame that many have had as they've stood before the Lord, realizing that they wasted their lives because they were attracted to the world, because they were drawn into that and they couldn't just let it go? How can we avoid ending up like Lot? Well, Peter tells us in his second epistle, the first chapter, familiar verses, but let me read them. He says, to virtue, but also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue. To virtue, knowledge. To knowledge, self-control. To self-control, perseverance. To perseverance, godliness. To godliness, brotherly kindness. To brotherly kindness, love. And then he says this, for if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is short-sighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never stumble. You see, we're to be adding to our faith. We're not to be drifting back into the world. Something that's astounding me these days is this year I have been a Christian for 30 years and I look around me and I see people who came to the Lord back in the 70s like I did and have been around for years, but I see people drifting back into the world at this stage. And it's baffling to me. I don't understand it. You see, it's not a matter of just, I've got faith and I'm saved. It's a matter of adding to our faith. We've got to keep adding to our faith. And Peter says if we keep adding to our faith, we're never going to have a problem. We're not going to stumble. We're not going to be barren or unfruitful. It's when I stop adding to my faith and start dabbling back in the world again, that's essentially what happens. I get attracted back into the world. You know, I see, I'll just be frank with you, I see guys my age, you know, I don't know what they're going through. I guess it's maybe a midlife crisis. I don't know. They're past midlife, so I don't know. What it is. But you know, all of a sudden they're trying to look like they're 25 again. And they're going out and, you know, trying to do the things that they could do when they were 25. And you know, it doesn't work. And it looks really bad. Just give it up. Just face the fact that, you know, it's over and there's something better coming anyway. What are you thinking about going back there for? But you see, if we're not adding, we're probably drifting. But here's the remedy. Here's how to avoid. And this is the lessons that we want to learn from Lot are basically lessons of what not to do. Don't do what Lot did. If you've got an attraction for the world, wake up. What are you attracted to? The world is perishing in the lust of it. You know, the whole thing's unraveling right before our eyes. What's the attraction? You want to get it on the bailout or you want to get it on the bankruptcy? You know, what do you want to get in on these days? And if the world was ever looking unappealing, it's right now. I don't know. What's the attraction? So we don't want to do that. If we've got that sort of attraction to the world, we've got to, we've got to get on our knees and say, Lord, forgive me. Lord, change my heart. If I'm starting to drift away from fellowship, I've got to stop the drift right now. I've got to get back into fellowship, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is. And I don't want to be preaching to the choir here. You're all here tonight. So obviously you're not doing that. At least tonight you're not doing that. But you know, realistically, we need to be plugging in more to prayer and to communion with God's people so we can strengthen and build one another up. These are challenging times that we're living in. If we've compromised our witness, we need to go back and say, Lord, forgive me. And we probably need to go back to some people and say, hey, would you forgive me? I've been a bad witness. This is not what a follower of Jesus Christ ought to be doing or saying. And if I've been subjecting my family to ungodly things, I need to turn away from that and need to go home and say, okay, we've got to get our house in order here. For this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith. If you're adding to your faith, as Peter said, you're not going to repeat the mistakes of a man like Lot. Add to your faith virtue. Virtue, the word, it's talking about zeal. It's talking about passion, excitement. Courageous zeal. Add a courageous zeal to your faith. And to that courageous zeal, add knowledge. Oh, do we know the Lord well enough? I feel so often, Lord, I know you so little in comparison to what I would like to or what I even feel I should. So there's plenty of room to grow in our knowledge and to the knowledge, the self-control, a life of moderation, a life that's consistent with our profession, and then the perseverance to the self-control, and then the godliness, and the brotherly kindness, and the love. You see, if we're working on adding to our faith, if we're building ourselves up in our most holy faith, again, we're going to be safe and secure and protected from the Lot syndrome. So, these are the lessons from Lot. Things that you don't want to do. Abraham, he's our model. He wasn't attracted to Egypt. He wasn't attracted to the plain of Jordan. He was looking for a city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Abraham was looking ahead. He was thinking about his family. He was thinking about the reality of a judgment to come. He's our model. Let's follow that model. Let's pray. Lord, help us. Lord, you know these are challenging times, and yet no more challenging than they've been for previous generations of Christians. So, Lord, help us. Forgive us, Lord, for areas of compromise. Forgive us, Lord, for our lack of undue affection to the world, and help us, Lord, to set our affection on things above, not on the things of the earth. Lord, help us, Lord, to be living our lives with a full commitment to you. Nothing less than that. In these days, Lord, for the sake of the kingdom, for the sake of your name, for the sake of your church, for the sake of our families, for the sake of the witness of the gospel in the world, help us, Lord. Help us to add to our faith these things, and thank you, Lord, for these wonderful promises that will never stumble. Neither will we be barren or unfruitful. Lord, we want to bear fruit in these days, so help us, Lord. And tonight, as we're here just praying together, Lord, maybe we need to confess. Maybe we need to repent right where we're sitting. And so, Lord, help us to do that. Help us to be honest before you. You know all things. Help us, Lord, to just open our hearts and receive that mercy that you have available to us. Forgive our sins and cleanse us and renew us in our faith and empower us to live for you. In the days to come, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's stand. If you need some personal prayer tonight for anything whatsoever, anything we've talked about tonight or any other thing for that matter, pastors will be up front and available and anxious to pray with you. May God bless you, and may He strengthen you, and may He fill you with His power to live a life that will glorify Him. Let's just close out the evening with one last song here. Let me be as gold and precious silver, purify my heart. Let me be as gold, pure gold, refiner's light. My one desire is to be holy, set apart for you, Lord. I choose to be holy, set apart for you, my master. Ready to do your will, ready to do your will.