Lot’s Lingering Legacy - Part B

A single little choice, and then another choice, and then another choice, and then another choice, till you have a barnyard that you're in. It's time to leave Sodom, not tomorrow, today. Today on Connect with Skip Heitig, Pastor Skip concludes his message, Lot's Lingering Legacy, and challenges you to turn from the mud and muck that have you stuck and turn to the grace of Jesus. But first, here's a resource that helps you develop sharp spiritual vision. What is the purpose that God created man for? Listen to this from Skip Heitig about God's ultimate purpose. God's creation of man was so that his reflection would be in man, but the ultimate purpose is that God might interact with man and woman.

Fellowship, intimacy, to be conversant with, at ease with, to interact with. Fulfilling purpose requires clarity of vision. You'll want to order our vision resource package for this month, which also includes a full color magazine about the vision that drives Skip's ministry. You'll also receive an audio copy of Skip clearly outlining his philosophy of ministry in the past, present, and future. Receive your vision package when you make a donation of $50 or more to connect with Skip. Give your gift by calling 1-800-922-1888 or online at connectwithskip.com.

That's 1-800-922-1888 or online at connectwithskip.com. Now we're in Genesis 13 as we tune into Skip's message today. Now I want you to note here that there is no conflict between Abram and the Canaanites who dwell in that land. There is no conflict between Lot and the Canaanites who dwell in the land. No, the conflict is between relatives. Same family.

That's where the conflict lies. I grew up with three brothers, okay? Three older brothers. I was picked on a lot, which explains a lot. When I was growing up, I also had neighbors like we all did. I don't remember any conflict with any of my neighbors. I remember plenty of conflicts with my brothers. And that's because we live close together and we're experiencing the same things and we're in a tight little house and fights break out.

But I got to tell you, sometimes I will talk to Christians who get so discouraged that there's disagreements in the church, in the body of Christ. We're believers. Shouldn't we get along?

Yes, we should. But we're a family. We're a family. And this is normal stuff that happens in a family. We're siblings.

It's called sibling rivalry. I don't know if it was a Scottish or an Irish wag who said, to dwell above with those we love will certainly be glory. But to dwell below with those we know, well, that's another story.

And it is. There is no conflict between Abram and the Canaanites, Lot and the Canaanites, but there is between the herdsmen and hence Abram and Lot. That's where the conflict lies. You'll also notice why they are fighting. It's because they got stuff. In their travels, they have done business. It has been profitable business. Their stuff has grown to more stuff. There's more employees on the payroll. There's more animals that they're traveling with. And so stuff has grown. There's nothing wrong with stuff, but understand stuff always complicates relationships.

It does. They need more room for their stuff. Now, most of us can relate to this in that whenever you move from one house to another house, it's when you realize how much stuff you have. And you will say, I didn't know we had this much stuff. And some of it's not all that important. I mean, some of it's in boxes and you open the box and you go, yep, that's my stuff. And you close the box and you will never see it again until you move again. But stuff complicates relationships.

I can prove it. Try to get rid of her stuff. Try to get rid of his box of stuff. And he'll say, excuse me, that's my stuff. Yeah, but we don't need it. Oh, well, it's mine. So they have stuff and the stuff now complicates the relationships. There's another problem. Did you notice what it says in verse seven?

It's written as a footnote, but it says the Canaanites and the Perizzites dwelt in the land. Get the picture. They're having a fight with each other as brothers and outsiders are watching it happen. They have an audience. They have an unbelieving audience.

The world is watching us. There's a great story, a sad story, but true story about Michelangelo and Raphael. And I mean the artists, not the Ninja Turtles here. The real ones are both were accomplished artists. Both were hired by the Vatican to beautify the inside of the Vatican. Both were very different kind of artists. One was a painter.

One was a sculptor. But a rivalry broke out between Michelangelo and Raphael. A bitter rivalry broke out. And even though they worked in separate places in the Vatican, it is said that when they passed each other in the hall, they refused to give each other eye contact or even speak to one another. What was ironic about this is they were working for the glory of God while having a fight. Well, people noticed it and talked about it. In fact, all of Rome found out.

They were being watched. Well, in this situation, how does Lot respond? He has to make some choices. He goes from following a champion to facing a challenge to forming choices. He's going to make some decisions. And I want you to follow with me the decisions that he makes and how he makes them. In chapter 13, verse 10, we immediately notice that Lot forms his choice based upon looks, based upon what he sees. Chapter 13, verse 10. Lot lifted up his eyes, and he 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.

Lot was driven by his senses. It looked good. He saw that and went, ooh, that's nice. That ought to be for me, since I can have what I want.

That's the best, and I want the best. It looked good. Now, that should remind you of something we just looked at two weeks ago. I think it was two weeks ago, when Eve was in the garden, and that tree was hanging there, and it says, she saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes. The New Testament calls this the lust of the eyes. You see, the eyes long for what the heart loves.

He saw it, and it looked so good. Remember how in the New Testament, Paul says, we walk by faith and not by, finish it up, sight. We walk by faith and not by sight, not Lot. Lot walked by sight and not by faith. In other words, Lot is making a choice based upon what looks good to him materially, not what was good for him actually, spiritually. So he formed his choice by looking. Let's look at something else.

Number two, by leaving. He's looking, and now he's leaving, Abram. Verse 11 tells us, then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east, and they separated from each other. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent as far as Sodom. So first he's looking in that beautiful green belt of the Jordan plain. He goes, that looks good.

I want it. And so now he's separating and moving towards Sodom in that direction. And why is that a big deal? Look at the next verse. But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked. It's one thing to be wicked. It's another thing to be exceedingly wicked. It's like wicked turned up to 10 and sinful against the Lord. So Lot separates from Abram. It's probably a good day for Abram because he didn't have a guy like Lot hanging around him, which could bring him down, but it was a bad day for Lot because for Lot, Abram was that champion of faith, and Lot could have learned so much.

So Lot leaves the place of spiritual strength to move towards Sodom. I have a question for you. How do you make choices? What values are so important to you that when you make a choice, you bring those values to bear in making that decision? For some people, they make a decision based only upon a job offer. Nothing wrong with a job offer, but if life is all about that, there could be some issues. Some people, it's all about the social life that is available to them. For others, it's all about the material accoutrements that are around them. Griffith Thomas put it this way, even professively Christian people often choose their home in a locality simply for its scenery or its society or other material advantages without once inquiring what church privileges are there.

The souls of their children may starve amid worldliness and polite indifference. Listen, Lot is on a trajectory, and it's a tragic trajectory. Lot is making choices in the flesh for the flesh. So he's looking, he's leaving third by living.

He's living. Now watch something. Go to the next chapter, chapter 14, verse 12. I'm only going to read one verse, so I'm going to fill in the gap now. Five kings have joined together in a coalition, and they attack the region, and they attack the areas, the population bases, and plunder it. And Lot is caught on the crossfire. Verse 12, they, the five kings, also took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who what?

What does it say? Who dwelt in Sodom. He's living there, his goods, and departed.

Now remember, nothing has changed. The men of this city are exceedingly wicked, but he goes from looking to leaving, pitching his tent toward it. Now he's living in it. You know, I bet if you were to ask Lot, why are you living in Sodom? Of all places, why, why Sodom? I bet he would have had a reason, an excuse.

I bet he would have said something like, well, there's a lot of advantages to living in a city like Sodom. You know, it's pretty advanced, and you know, I've been wandering around the desert for a long time with Uncle Abe. This is, this is good. This will be good for my future.

This will be good for my family. According to rabbinic literature, it says, when Lot separated himself from Abram, he at the same time separated himself from God, and he chose to settle in Sodom because of his lustful desires. Now that's rabbinic literature, and I don't know if that's true.

That's their comments through the years passed down. And the reason I hesitate there is because when I turn to the New Testament, Peter talks about Lot, and he gives him an interesting word. You remember what he calls Lot in Peter? He calls him righteous. Second Peter chapter two, it says righteous Lot, righteous Lot, whose soul was vexed day after day because of the wickedness that was around him. I don't doubt that. It's in the Bible.

He was tormented by what he saw, but he lived there all the same. You know, it's one thing to be in a place, and you sort of walk around, and you just sort of cluck your tongue and go, that's horrible. I can't believe that. That's horrible. Pretty soon, because you're still there, you become desensitized to it all.

Pretty soon, you don't even clock the tongue. It's like, whatever. This is just the way, this is where we live. So he's in it. He's living in it. He's righteous Lot. He's tormented by what he saw.

He's clicking the tongue. But I got to tell you, his wife and daughters aren't too tormented because his wife will be longing to go back to Sodom when she's drug out. And his daughters will marry two men from Sodom who will mock the judgment of God when it comes.

So looking, and then leaving, and then living. But there's a fourth stage in his making of choices, leading, leading. Now I want you to Skip way ahead to chapter 19. One verse, verse one, 19, verse one. The story of Lot picks up again. He shows up in verse one of chapter 19.

I want you to notice this transition. It says, now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and he bowed himself with his face to the ground. Why is that important? Because you know who sat in the gates of ancient cities? Leaders. Only the judges, only the magistrates, only the politicians, people of influence occupied the place of influence which was the gate because at the gate of the city, the entrance is where cases were adjudicated by judges or by elders and he's one of them. So he's not just a citizen, he's a leading citizen. He's a politician in Sodom. Nothing wrong with being a politician but there is a problem with being a politician in Sodom. He's a leader.

He is a leading citizen of the city. To put it in the words of David in Psalm 1, Lot had walked in the counsel of the ungodly. He had stood in the path of sinners and now he is seated in the seat of the scornful. He goes from a resident of Sodom to a representative of Sodom.

And as someone pointed out, if you walk in the footsteps of bad advice, you will soon sit among those who give it. There's Lot, man. He's one of the bosses in town.

I can't resist this. Look at the very next verse, verse 2 of chapter 19. Do you see the word house there, Lot's house? I point that out to you because this is the very first mention of the word house in the Bible and it belongs to Lot. Abram is out there in tents as a pilgrim.

Lot is in a house as a citizen. And the New Testament thinks that's important because when we get to chapter 11 of the book of Hebrews, speaking of Abraham, it says he waited for a city that has foundations whose builder and maker was God. So he's in tents wandering around waiting for the city of God. Lot's got Sodom and goes, this is good enough right here. So looking, leaving, living, now he's leading.

And there's a fifth in his choices and that is lingering. Same chapter 19, last set of verses, I promise. Verse 12. Then the men said to Lot, this is now, this is the showdown at the Sodom chorale. This is judgment day. The men said to Lot, have you, anyone else here, son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, whomever you have in this city, take them out of this place.

Get out of dodge. For we will destroy this place because of the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord and the Lord sent us to destroy it. 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. Can you hear that conversation?

Can you hear those young men who think they are so better educated than Lot? You believe in the judgment of God. When morning dawned, verse 15, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, arise, take your wife, your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city. Verse 16 is the key verse. And while he lingered, while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to them, brought them out and set them outside the city. Please look at that word lingered in verse 16.

Maha is the Hebrew word, maha, and it means to hesitate or to question or to be reluctant. So there's Lot being drug out of town, and he's a little bit like, he's got his, he's not going anywhere. He's like, whoa, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. He's got some questions about this. He's reluctant to leave. I don't know.

I don't know about all this judgment stuff. He lingered. Well, what a contrast. Lot lingered, and the angels lugged him out of town. They had to pull him out, saying, get out of here. What's happened to Lot? He's become deadened to the urgency of separating from the evil that's around him. At one time, he would have been sensitized to it. Now, it's just been there so long, he's just deadened to the urgency of, I got to separate myself from this evil.

He's deaf to the messengers that God sends. And you know what it reminds me of, is the Pharaoh in the Bible that Moses had the confrontation with, remember the 10 plagues, the Passover. So there's 10 plagues of fallen Egypt.

The Pharaoh, the dude in charge, faces the brunt of it. And one of the plagues was the plague of frogs, where it says frogs covered the land. They couldn't walk in the floors of the land. They couldn't walk in the walls of the land. They couldn't walk in the floors of the palaces because they'd step on slimy, squishy, gushy frogs.

The frogs were in their bed at night when they got in. The frogs were in the kneading chambers where they'd make bread. He opened the oven, frogs come out, frogs souffle.

I mean, frogs are everywhere. So Pharaoh says to Moses, ask the Lord to stop the frogs. And so Moses says when shall I entreat the Lord so that this plague will cease?

And Pharaoh gives the craziest answer ever. He says tomorrow. Tomorrow. We would say right now, please, would be the time. He says tomorrow. Really, one more night with the frogs?

You want that? Tomorrow. Sin is like that. Pick your poison, whether it's alcoholism, drug addiction, pornography, anger, whatever. Nobody wakes up and says, today I will become one of 12 million alcoholics in America. What they do is they wake up and they say, just one more day, just one more drink, just one more night. I can stop whenever I want to. Just one more day. And then they wake up one day and they see that their whole life is filled with frogs.

Tomorrow. Here's Lot. Here's a guy who stood side by side with Abram. Here's a guy who flew in formation with men and women of faith. Here's a man who marched from his homeland to the promised land. Now he's a fat duck.

Now he's a fat duck. I know 2 Peter says he was a righteous man and he was righteous because he made some point. At some point, he had a faith experience. He believed God. Abram believed God and it was counter to him for righteousness. So he must have followed that and said, I'm going to believe too. But though he had a saved soul, he had a lost life.

And I know too many people like that. Yeah, they're saved. I'm going to see them in heaven. But their life from here to there, heaven, is just wasted. Saved soul. Lost life. Lot is a fat duck, unable to rise above the filth of the barnyard that he has chosen to stay in day after day and week after week and month after month. And what this shows you, among other things, is the power and the consequence of choice.

A single little choice and then another choice and then another choice and then another choice till you have a barnyard that you're in. It's time to leave Sodom. Not tomorrow. Today.

The Bible uses that word a lot. Today is the accepted time. Now is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation in the book of Romans. Not tomorrow.

Today. Make a choice today to turn your life over to Jesus. Make make your choice today to turn your back on what you know you should turn your back on and come under the grace of God.

Don't you love that last verse? The Lord being merciful to him. Drug him out of town. Ah, the Lord wants to be so merciful to you. And he will.

But you have to invite him in. That concludes Skip Heitzig's message from the series Crash and Burn. Find the full message as well as books, booklets, and full teaching series at connectwithskip.com. Right now, listen as Skip shares how you can share life-changing teaching from God's Word with more people around the world. If you're going to hold firmly to biblical truth, then you must study God's Word.

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800-922-1888. Thank you for your generosity. Join us again tomorrow as Skip begins a message about the consequences of careless actions. Here's the point to be made. Every believer's actions matter, for better or for worse, and they affect the whole group. Connect with Skip Hyten is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.