In this sermon, the speaker begins by asking for prayers for himself and his family, as they are constantly battling against Satan. He emphasizes the need for balance in understanding and preaching the word of God, as some people are going off heavily on the topic of grace. The speaker then mentions a upcoming conference in Switzerland, which is designed to minister to Europeans and Americans in Europe. The main focus of the sermon is on the biblical character Lot, who is known for not leading his own family to the Lord and therefore contributing to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The speaker highlights the importance of leading our families to God and the consequences of failing to do so.

Well, greetings friends. It's such a joy and privilege to be back with you again this month. I realize that a lot of you folk hear me from month to month and you realize this, but this tape ministry is a very significant part of my ministry. It really is one of the major factors in what I'm doing during these days. And it's one of my, one of the spots where Satan finds me the most. He really does not like for me to make these tapes. He just doesn't want me to get the personal prayer support and the financial support that I get from you. So I know he's really fighting and I just appreciate you praying. God is up to so much right now. I have backed out of going to Korea and I'm very pleased with the decision I made not to go. A lot of folk really wanted me to go, felt like it would really add to my revival. Emphasis if I had gone, if I would go, but I've definitely backed out. And the last three meetings have been of the most phenomenal meetings I have had in America or anywhere in the last eight years. I mean, the Lord broke through in these meetings. I'm talking about the glory of God would come and people would repent of their sins and turn to Jesus with all their heart. And I mean, it was on a church-wide level and it's just, it has blown my mind. It's strengthened my courage and my faith. And I am just so excited right now about what the Lord is up to. And I do realize that the Lord may want me to go to Korea, Japan, and also South America in the coming years. But I have decided that that's definitely not my main ministry. That my main ministry is right here in America, dealing with these churches, helping these churches. Because we are in a great drought right now on spiritual things in America. And God is up to some things and doing some things in churches and in people's lives that will turn to it. And so it's a big issue. But I feel God wants me to stay right here. The invitations are numerous and I am praying earnestly that the Lord will let me know where to go. Now Satan is really fighting the ministry, not mine, but a lot of men. Back during the political campaign, a lot of good men went down the drain with the political program. Satan just uniquely got some men more interested in politics than in preaching Jesus as the answer to the whole thing. And I don't want to let you have the idea that I am not strong in relationship to conservative politics. And so I am. I voted. I gave money. And when I was in this proper setting, I gave my opinion. But I did not allow my opinion to interfere with my preaching and so on. But anyway, Satan got a few men out on that level. And right now, right now, some of the deepest friends and longest friends, precious friends that I've had through my life as a Christian are now getting imbalanced in doctrine. And boy, my old heart is so heavy, so heavy. And so I want you to pray that I'll respond to this problem like I'm supposed to because these men are definitely, definitely getting things off. And I'm right in the middle of the group that we're going to have to deal with. So I trust that you'll really pray about this whole thing. Pray for my family. I need your prayers. I have three boys and one girl and Marthie and we're all interested in being used just like the Lord wants us to be used. But Satan is constantly battling. And I know that the Lord is sovereign and that he'll see us through if we'll just yield to it. And I want you to pray that we'll yield to it and that we'll see his supernatural grace working in each and every one of our lives. This is needful. This is so needful. As I make this tape, I'm just beginning a three-week period of relaxing. It's good for me to go several weeks in a row relaxing because the first week I don't even get unwound. About the second week I get unwound. And the third week I really, really rest. So I have these three weeks here just to really rest. You will get this tape about the time I'm headed back in on the road. But I need your prayers that the Lord will sustain me through this fall. This spring has been a very, very busy springtime for me. And this fall is going to be a very, very busy fall time for me. You pray a lot of things are going on. Brother Mack Kearney is available in my office to go and preach to these people where I'm going to be in meetings. And we're just trying some things out, researching some things. And just to see if they really work, if we can help these churches get prepared. And so outside of that, we're more back to the original things that I've been doing for 20-something years than new things. But the Lord is so blessing through the books and tapes. Do pray that God will have his way. Now this month, I'm going to deal with a man. And the man's name is Lot. Now Lot needs no introduction probably to all of you. You probably already know Lot. You're probably already aware of Lot's whole life. You've probably been reading about Lot many, many years. And I do not really need to introduce him to you. But we are going to take a look at his life through the scripture. And we're going to talk about his life because I believe it's very applicable at this time. I remember some years ago, I preached to the tape club on the most wicked man that ever lived. And I referred to Lot. And I referred to Lot because Lot was a man that if he had won his own family to the Lord, God would have spared Sodom and Gomorrah. But it's obvious that he did not even win his own family to the Lord. So the Lord could not find ten righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah. So he destroyed it. And I feel that that's no way out rationalistic viewpoint. I feel that if there's enough people in Lot's family, if he had won them to Jesus, you know, in Old Testament fashion, if they had become righteous people, maybe not as Abraham, but just as Lot, because he was referred to as a righteous person, then God would have spared Sodom and Gomorrah. But because he could not find ten people in Sodom and Gomorrah that were righteous, the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Well, let's look at this whole thing about who is Lot. We're going to call him Lot the Backslider. 2 Peter 2.8 tells us that he was righteous Lot. Boy, it's hard for me to accept that he was a righteous man. But I'm sure that God knew something about Lot that we do not see in just a careful study of his life. He was a righteous man. That's how God counted him, as righteous Lot. So we have righteous Lot. Lot was the nephew of Abraham. You can't talk about Abraham, excuse me, without bringing up Abraham. You just can't do it. Lot was the nephew of Abraham, Abraham his uncle, Lot's, Abraham's brother, son. And, you know, you may be interested in the story a lot where it's found in the Scripture. And if that's the case, you ought to start studying the 11th chapter of the book of Genesis. And you can just take through the 19th or 20th chapter of Genesis. And it covers the whole story of Lot, as far as the basic structure of the story. Now, there are Scriptures all across the Bible that tells us something about Lot. Lot traveled with his uncle. And that's very significant because it seems like that Lot traveled on another man's vision. It really looks like that he did. And men without vision perish. It seems that all the speaking that God did in these chapters that relate to Lot, he did the speaking to Abraham, not to Lot. Now, that's so important that you get your own life in proper perspective to the Lord. I see nowhere that Lot ever got his own personal life in his proper perspective with the Lord. I see Abraham constantly going to the altar, but Lot never, never, never. And so it is obvious that Lot knew the Lord from the statement in 2 Peter 2.8 and then some more statements that relate to Lot out of these chapters that we're going to deal with. I think the 19th chapter indicates that Lot bowed down before these men that came from God to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. He bowed down and recognized them as the Lord's agents and so on and so forth. There's indication that Lot knew the Lord, but there's no indication that he set up a constant response to the Lord at all. He just was a man without any personal contact with God. And I feel like this is Lot's first and greatest mistake, men and women going on other people's visions. The Lord God, he is a personal God. He's not only a personal God, but he is the God of the individuals. And it doesn't put any strain on God for you to personally know God. It doesn't put any strain at all. He has given himself to us that we may know him. And I feel like that one of the big reasons today that so many of our good people are having such a difficult time with the Lord is that they are going on other people's vision, other people's revelation, other people's calling. I notice that on the level of denominationalism, churches, we're always getting programs, programs. And those programs indicate the fact that we have picked up something from someone else rather than a word straight from the Lord. So I feel that Lot's big, big problem was the fact that Uncle Abraham was the man in contact with God, not Lot. And so Lot went on Uncle Abraham's calling, you might say, and vision for sure. And so here we are in the 11th, 12th chapters of the book of Genesis. And there we have in those chapters Uncle Abraham's call. And God definitely, definitely dealt with Abraham. And he was called to go into the land of Canaan. And, of course, when he got to the land, the first thing he did in the 12th chapter of the 18th verse, he pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west and Haiyah on the east. And there he built an altar unto the Lord, and he called upon the name of the Lord. And so we see Abraham, as soon as he gets into the land of promise, he erects an altar unto the Lord. Now, there was a famine going on in this land. So this obedience of Abraham led Abraham into a test immediately. Obedience will always lead us to test. We will be tested. Well, he was led to this test. And, of course, Lot was right along with him. That's what we're going to say. And I'm just slipping into the story now to identify Lot. Lot, right along with Abraham, went into Egypt. And there, of course, Abram, at that time, I keep calling him Abraham, he turns into Abraham. Abram had his own problems down in Egypt land. He went down to Egypt land for help. And he had his own problems down in Egypt. He lied, and God's soul rebuked him. The people of the world rebuked him. Beloved, it's awful when the people of the world rebuke the saints. But we all need rebuking at times. And so he got his rebuke. And in the 13th chapter of the book of Genesis, Abraham came up out of Egypt. He and his wife and all that he had. And Lot was still with him. And Abraham went straight back to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai. There he built an altar, see, where he was at first. And he called on the name of the Lord. Lot's all over this place. But Lot also went with Abraham. He had flocks and herds and tents. You see, there's no indication, read the rest of it, if you like. There's no indication that Lot called unto the name of the Lord. And now we're beginning to face a little problem with Lot. There was, in the 7th verse of that 13th chapter, there was strife between the herdsmen of Abraham's cattle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle. And, of course, the Canaanites, the Pessarites, dwelt in that country. And these represent lost people. And they were watching the conflict between Abraham's herdsmen and Lot's herdsmen. There obviously was a big problem. And we're going to see a second test for Abraham. But we're going to see an indication of spiritual maturity slips through Abraham. Abraham knew they had a problem. Lot knew they had a problem. Now, we're going to watch Lot. Abraham and Lot came together. And Abraham and Lot, there was strife between them. So there must be a division. Now, Brother Abraham tells Lot that he can choose any direction he wants to go. He can choose any direction he wants to go. And Brother Abraham took the spiritual position here. He really did. He left it unto Lot as to what to do. And the first thing Lot did was Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plains of Jordan. Now, the first thing Lot did was lift up his eyes. The Bible says, Whatsoever is not of faith is sin. We walk not by sight, but by faith. So what I'm saying here is Lot acted just like a carnal or a lost person. He lifted up his eyes. He lifted up his eyes. In other words, he ceased to walk by faith. He failed to go to God and say, Okay, God, which way do you have for me? He lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plains of Jordan. Now, when he lifted up his eyes, something very strange happened to him. It was well watered everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Listen to this. Even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zor. Now, when Lot lifted up his eyes, it looked like even as the garden of the Lord. In other words, he saw what he wanted. And he really, genuinely thought this is the way of God. Now, when a person backslides to the point that they cease to walk by faith, and they start walking by sight, then beloved, what they see in their sight confirms to them this is the way of God, walking in it. Very interesting. But it happened just like Jonah. When he decided to run, there was a ship provided. Boy, he surely thought that was the way of God. Look at that ship waiting on him. And I've seen it in my own life. When I have decided something, the next happenings would just confirm, it seemed, that I made the right decision. When the next three or four things that happened to me proved to me that I did not make the right decision. Well, this was something. Now, Lot lifted up his eyes, and this Sodom and Gomorrah, before the Lord destroyed it, must have been something. But this was so much like the will of God that Lot then chose him all the plains of Jordan. So he made the choice on the basis of what he could see. He didn't make the choice on the basis of what God wanted. He made the choice upon the basis of what he could see. Then Lot chose him all the plains of Jordan. And he made the choice. He didn't let the Lord make the choice. He made the choice. And he separated himself from each other. And I'll tell you that's a dangerous thing for Christians to do, is to separate themselves and get away from people that are really walking with the Lord. Well, Lot did not go to Sodom and Gomorrah immediately. He dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plains, in that twelfth verse, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. In other words, Lot didn't go down to Sodom and Gomorrah immediately. He first went down in that direction. He went in that direction. And let me ask you to be careful now about your direction. See, a man that walks by sight, makes his own decisions, separates himself from the people of God, and then picks his tent in the direction of evil, is in an awful, awful, awful bad shape. Well, if we followed Abraham here, we'd see again in that thirteenth chapter, Abraham erects another altar unto the Lord, in that eighteenth verse. And so on. But in the fourteenth chapter, in the fourteenth chapter, we have something very strange. The kings, several kings rose up and went to Sodom and Gomorrah, and I mean laid it bare, and Lot was taken captive. But in the fourteenth chapter, in the fourteenth chapter, we have something very strange. The kings, several kings rose up and went to Sodom and Gomorrah, and I mean laid it bare, and Lot was taken captive. Lot in all of his goods. He must have been a rich man. All of his goods. Abraham hears about it. Abraham takes his own servants, and I mean folk, he cleaned their plow, the king's plow. He got all the goods back, got all of Lot's people back, and I believe this was a great warning to Lot, to get out of Sodom and Gomorrah. But Lot went right back to Sodom and Gomorrah, after Uncle Abraham came down and got him delivered. Lot went right back, right on back to Sodom and Gomorrah. Well, I'm having trouble with my glasses. Just hold on. And so we find the next few chapters deal basically with Abraham and not Lot. But when we get over to the nineteenth chapter of the book of Genesis, we have Brother Lot mentioned again in several ways. Now, we did skip over the fact of Abraham's intercessory prayer. That is a classic. Where Abraham started praying to God, there's so many righteous. We released some, spare Sodom and Gomorrah and so on and so forth. Finally got down to ten righteous. God said, yes sir, I'll spare Sodom and Gomorrah, if there are just ten righteous down there. But you know, that wasn't even ten righteous. Lot had not won his family. Well, here we find in the nineteenth chapter, there's two angels to Sodom's gate. And Lot saw them coming, and he bowed himself with his face towards the ground. He recognized these men, and these men had come from God. And so he bowed himself before them. And behold, now many, my Lord, he said, turn in, I pray you, unto your servant's house. And tarry all night, and wash your feet. Ye shall rise up early, and go on your way. And they said, listen to this, Nay, but we will abide in the streets all night. Now, I see this as these men representing the reality of God. And, oh, Lot has lost such contact, that these men would rather sleep in the street than to fellowship with Lot. Now, he is beginning to pay for his undoings. He failed to go to the altar when he came out of Egypt. No indication. He allowed strife, and then he began to walk by sight, and he made his own choices. And that's an awful thing. And the next thing we know, he's beginning to pay for that. These men would rather sleep in the streets than spend the night with him. And he pressed upon them greatly, and they turned unto him, and entered into his house. And he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. And they did fellowship with him, I believe. Oh, brother, Lot. I believe he got right as right as he could. And they came in, and even had fellowship with him. But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, come past the house, compass the house, round both old and young, all the people, from every quarter. And they call unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came unto thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them. Now, how ungodly, how ungodly can you get? These Sodomites, these Sodomites, are wanting these men, that they might know them. I believe you're talking about have experiences with them sexually. How wicked, how vulgar. How ungodly, how inhuman. And Lot went out the door, and said unto them, Shut the door, and shut the door after him. And he said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold, now I have two daughters, which have not known men, let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as it is good in your eyes, only unto these men do nothing. For therefore come they under the shadow of my roof. Look how far he's come. First of all, the men didn't want to spend the night with him. And now, the people of the city have no respect for him. They disregard him as any significant person. And now, he is even saying, Here's my daughters, you can have them. How wicked, how ungodly, how devilish can you get that you would give your daughters to wicked, wicked, wicked, wicked men. You know, I feel sometimes that we are giving our daughters to wicked, wicked people. You know, I feel like that we're walking so far away from the reality of God that we are really willing to give our families away. We're just giving them up. We're letting them go over to wickedness through television, through all kind of ungodly written material. And beloved, we're just handing them over to wicked, wicked people. Now, Lot had gone this far. And he didn't stop there. They said, Stand back. And they said again, This one came into sojourn and he will need be a judge. Now will we deal worse with thee than with him? And they pressed upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. And the men put forth their hand and pulled Lot into the house to them and shut the door. And they smote the people that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they were weary of themselves to find the door. And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides sons-in-laws and thy sons and thy daughters and who whatsoever thou hast in the city? Bring them out of this place. Because they said, We're going to destroy this place. Now Lot went out and spake unto his sons-in-laws, which married his daughters, and said, Get ye out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-laws. Brother, look at the cost. Look at the price this man's having to pay, living ungodly, living in the world, living in sin. His sons-in-laws will not even listen to him. Oh, there's no telling. There's no telling what he said. Listen to these old folks talk. Oh, listen. What do you know about God? You know. What do you know about God? You say you know God. Oh, boy, they got something. So they rose up early in the morning, and you know what? The angels of the Lord had to literally, literally, direct Lot, Lot's wife, two daughters, out of the city. In fact, I personally believe they drug them out, in a sense. I don't know that they had to force them, but they had to put their hands on and bring them out themselves. And God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. And Lot didn't stop. He lost his wife. She looked back. They were told not to look back. She looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. Twenty-sixth verse of that 19th chapter. Oh, that's something else. And that wasn't all they paid. Lot lost the respect of his two daughters in relationship with their own daddy. How immoral. How ungodly. Well, I believe it was because Lot, flat, did not go back to the altar and walk on the basis of his own personal relationship with God. I know so many people that the Lord is not personal to. He's not real. He's not walking. He's not walking on a personal relationship to the living Lord. And I believe because of that, a person's not able to walk on with God and have great and mighty things happen to him. I hope we get to talk about Abraham next month in relationship to Lot because I believe it will bless you. I believe it will help you. I believe it will bring you something that will encourage you in these latter days. Now I'm going to close in a little different way. I have been so burdened today about some of my friends that are going off heavily to the degree of being out of balance about grace. And my whole heart's just longing to see those boys be balanced. So you pray when you get this tape that God will keep all of us in balance with the Word of God. That we'll not go off and be imbalanced. I can see it. So pray along these lines. We love you. I thank you for praying for me. I thank you for supporting me. I thank you for standing by me and seeing that God blesses me by your prayers and your support. May the Lord bless you. Bless you real good. And I'll see you next month. Until then you just pray for us. Amen. Well, there's one thing I did want to say to you that I didn't get said at the introduction. And that is about our Swiss trip. A lot of folks just have the idea that the Swiss trip is a fun time situation where we go over to Europe once a year and that would be a fun time. But it's really a conference that's designed to minister to the Europeans and the Americans in Europe. And our goal is to reach as many of those people as we can. And when we deal with the Russians we have to pay their way out of Russia. They can't come out and pay their own way. So we bring people out of Russia by paying their way. I mean preachers. And this is quite an experience which is quite a joy. We have the goal of $12,000 this year in cash just for the purpose of bringing men and women to the conference. And already the Lord's given us about $8,000. So we're excited about what's happening in the relationship to the Swiss conference. I want you to pray about it. Make it a real item prayer. Maybe that personally you're supposed to go. It may be that you just need to pray for us. And I am praising the Lord about this whole situation. So before I close I wanted to leave that last word with you. May the Lord bless you. For sure we're closing off.