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Friday, November 1, 2024
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"Linger Or Flee?"
Message summary: I don’t want to get comfortable in “Sodom”. I don’t want to linger when God directs me to flee. I don’t want to cling to that which God tells me, “Let go”. Often in life we have the choice between lingering and fleeing. Rather than lingering like Lot, let us be among those who have “fled to take hold of the hope offered to us” (Hebrews 6:18).
Listen to our message on your audio player.
"As
morning
dawned, the
angels urged
Lot, saying,
'Up! Take your
wife and your
two daughters
who are here,
lest you be
swept away in
the punishment
of the city'.
And while he
(Lot)
lingered, the
men took hold
of his hand,
his wife’s
hand, and the
hands of his
two daughters,
the Lord being
merciful to
him, and they
brought him
out and set
him outside
the city”
(Genesis
19:15,16).
“Now flee from
youthful lusts
and pursue
righteousness,
faith, love
and peace,
with those who
call on the
Lord from a
pure heart” (2
Timothy 2:22).
Charmed by the world’s delight,
Things that are higher, things that are nobler,
These have allured my sight.
I was discussing current events with an individual who supports the liberal/progressive worldview. Whatever new wave of godless idiocy is introduced he will eventually be in favor of it as long as it becomes liberal dogma. We were discussing one of the newer expressions of perversity and he admitted that he just didn’t know what to make of it. However he eventually accepted it due to his rejection of the foundational authority of Biblical truth. A New Testament verse that describes such a person is found in Ephesians 4:14: “tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine”.
Periodically in these messages we have observed the tendency for the slide into evil to be incremental. By “incremental” we’re speaking of small steps, although the steps are turning more into a downhill free fall all the time!
This doesn’t happen all at once, but with repetitive exposure, what once shocked our senses and offended our ears or even broke our hearts becomes tolerated, then acceptable and eventually celebrated.
The next step is that the once shocking, abnormal behavior becomes normal and the behavior that had been normal may very well be touted as abnormal!
The record of Lot, Abraham’s nephew, is very instructive here. Following the dispute between Lot’s herdsmen and Abraham’s herdsmen regarding where the animals would graze Abraham graciously gave Lot the choice.
Lot made a critical choice when he chose the more lush grazing land in the valley for his flocks (Genesis 13:10). This led him to pitch his tent near Sodom (Genesis 13:12). Even at that time the Scripture gives this indictment: “Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord” (Genesis 13:13). Yet Lot did well and in time he married, had two daughters, and eventually his house was built in Sodom (Genesis 19).
Lot, now residing in Sodom with his family, had grown accustomed to the ways of the native people. After all, he was the alien, so adjustments do come. Let’s be careful wherever we reside that we are able to differentiate local culture from sinful behavior. God’s appointed time of judgment had come upon the Sodomites due to their deviant, sinful behavior but, in answer to his Uncle Abraham’s fervent prayers, Lot and his family would be spared.
But it was painstakingly hard for Lot to leave. As destruction of the city loomed it was time to leave. The angels of the Lord urged Lot to flee, "As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city".
Lot had grown very comfortable in Sodom. Had he grown so accustomed to the wickedness that it dulled his spiritual senses and he no longer saw sin for what it was? Just consider his depraved offer of his own innocent daughters up to the lustful residents of Sodom who were demanding to have his angelic guests. It would seem that one concession led to another which led to yet another until any remnant of spiritual convictions no longer mattered to him. His prosperity and prominence at the city gate had prevailed over his piety.
Lot’s moral values were wretchedly twisted. He had lost the power of moral persuasion and later in the chapter we see this twisted condition in his wife and daughters as well. Genesis 19 is one of the saddest chapters in the Bible, showing man’s pathetic condition in apostasy. Consider how Lot’s wife’s body remained as a pillar of salt, a lasting monument of rebellion toward a holy God and an illustration used by Jesus, then later in the chapter the sordid account involving his daughters followed their departure to safety.
I don’t want to get comfortable in “Sodom”. I don’t want to linger when God directs me to flee. I don’t want to cling when God tells me, “Let go”.
Often in life we have the choice between lingering and fleeing. Rather than lingering like Lot, let us be among those who have “fled to take hold of the hope offered to us” (Hebrews 6:18).
Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer:
Father, I pray
that You will
guard my heart
so that I am
not lured into
reckless
desires that
originate from
worldly
thinking and
godless
behavior. I
know, in my
heart, that
these worldly
desires lead
to ruin and
destruction as
they gradually
lead me to
abandon godly
principles and
holy living.
May godless
trends and
philosophies
be evident to
me as I reject
the enemy’s
plan to
gradually dull
my senses to
what is
falsely called
knowledge and
the
enlightenment
of our age.
May I always
pursue
righteousness
with a humble
and obedient
heart,
through Christ
Jesus, my Lord
and my Master
regardless of
the
consequences.
Amen.
Matthew
Henry’s
Commentary
Note: “Lot
was good, but
there was not
one more of
the same
character in
the city. All
the people of
Sodom were
very wicked
and vile. Care
was therefore
taken for
saving Lot and
his family.
Lot lingered;
he trifled.
Thus many who
are under
convictions
about their
spiritual
state, and the
necessity of a
change, defer
that needful
work. The
salvation of
the most
righteous men
is of God’s
mercy, not by
their own
merit. We are
saved by
grace. God’s
power also
must be
acknowledged
in bringing
souls out of a
sinful
state.
If God had not
been merciful
to us, our
lingering had
been our ruin.
Lot must flee
for his life.
He must not
hanker after
Sodom. Such
commands as
these are
given to those
who, through
grace, are
delivered out
of a sinful
state and
condition.
Return not to
sin and Satan.
Rest not in
self and the
world. Reach
toward Christ
and heaven,
for that is
escaping to
the mountain,
short of which
we must not
stop.
Concerning
this
destruction,
observe that
it is a
revelation of
the wrath of
God against
sin and
sinners of all
ages. Let us
learn from
hence the evil
of sin, and
its hurtful
nature; it
leads to
ruin.”
Today's
Suggested
Music and
Supplemental
Resources
"I Am
Resolved"
Listen
on YouTube
Dailey and
Vincent
"Preacher
Tell Me Like
It Is"
Listen
on YouTube
Greater Vision
"Preach the
Word"
Listen
on YouTube
Gold City
Today we will share some photos of our visit to the Lewisburg area on Wednesday. Lewisburg is a quaint town along the west side of the Susquehanna River about 90 miles north of us and the home of Bucknell University. In the morning Brooksyne especially enjoyed visiting Street of Shops, an antique market housed in an old factory. Then we rode on the Buffalo Valley Rail Trail to Mifflinburg and back.
