Sermon #1245[1]
Title: Lessons from the Life of Lot
Text: 2 Peter 2:7-9
Reading: Psalm 1:1-6
Subject: The Vexations of the Righteous
Date: Sunday Morning - November 3, 1996
Tape # T-4
Introduction:
God’s saints are often vilified as
wicked men. The ungodly of this world, those who do not know our God, do not
know us, and do not no the gospel of Christ try to appease their own
consciences by trying to convince themselves and others that God’s saints are
really wicked, hypocritical people. That kind of slander, hard as it is to
bear, is to be expected from wicked men. But sometimes saints are vilified by
other saints as terribly as by wicked people. Horrible as that is to think
about, it does happen. May God forgive us the evil of participating in such
wickedness against his chosen! May he teach us and give us grace to bridle our
tongues!
Of all the men in history who have
been unjustly maligned by those who ought to highly esteem them, one man stands
out in a most extra-ordinary way. I can think of no one, other than or Lord
Jesus Christ, who has been so unjustly, yet universally, misrepresented as
Abraham’s nephew, God’s servant, and our brother, whom he Holy Spirit
distinctly calls “just Lot.” Lot has
been constantly repudiated. Theologians, commentators, and preachers have,
throughout history, represented Bro. Lot in a very bad way. The ancient Jewish
writers denounced him as a vile reprobate. And most of the very best
commentators have treated him only a little better.
I must confess that I have, through ignorance, been guilty
of misrepresenting him myself. Today, I want us to see what God the Holy Spirit
tells us about this rather remarkable man. I want us to learn the lessons that
the Bible’s record of his life is intended to teach us. Let’s begin by reading
Peter’s account of Lot’s life in…
2 Peter 2:7-9 God "delivered
just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (8) (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and
hearing, vexed his righteous soul
from day to day with their unlawful
deeds;) (9) The Lord knoweth how to
deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of
judgment to be punished."
Proposition: Here
the Holy Spirit identifies Lot as a truly righteous man, a godly man, who lived
among wicked men, and in their midst “vexed his righteous soul from day to day
with their unlawful deeds.”
If you are taking notes, the title of
my message is Lessons from the Life of
Lot. You are all familiar with he story of Abraham and Lot. You will
remember that they parted company when strife arose between their herdsmen.
They did not part company in bitterness, but as friends and brothers. The
reason why they parted company was that the strife between their herdsmen might
cease. Abraham, being a man of magnanimous character, offered Lot the choice of
the land.
Genesis
13:10-13 "And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld
all the plain of Jordan, that it was well
watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the
land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.
(11) Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east:
and they separated themselves the one from the other. (12) Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the
cities of the plain, and pitched his tent
toward Sodom. (13) But the men of
Sodom were wicked and sinners before
the LORD exceedingly."
Some fourteen years or more later,
when the kings of the plain were taken captive, along with the inhabitants and
possessions of Sodom, Lot and his family were taken into captivity, but not for
long. Abraham took three hundred men and delivered Lot, the kings, and the
people of Sodom from the hands of their enemies.
Lot and his family continued to dwell in Sodom until God sent
his angels to destroy the wicked cities of the plain along with all their
inhabitants, except for “just Lot” and two of his daughters. They were
delivered from the cities of destruction by the direct intervention of God.
After being delivered from the cities and from the impending judgment of God
upon them, Lot was twice enticed by his daughters into a drunken stupor and
into incest. As a result, he sired the wicked, cursed nations of Moab and
Ammon. Yet, this is how God the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Peter to
describe this man Lot. Read it again.
2 Peter 2:7-9 "And delivered
just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (8) (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and
hearing, vexed his righteous soul
from day to day with their unlawful
deeds;) (9) The Lord knoweth how to
deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of
judgment to be punished"
What lessons are we to learn from this
man? Why has the Spirit of God caused the life of Lot to be written in such
broad, plain terms upon the pages of Holy Scripture? Listen carefully, as I
tell you seven things about our brother Lot and try to apply them to us.
May God the Holy Spirit now speak to your hearts by his Word, through the voice
of his servant, or the glory of Christ.
I. LOT WAS A RIGHTEOUS
MAN.
This is not something we have to guess about or surmise for
ourselves. Our text plainly calls him “that righteous man.” Obviously he was
not a naturally righteous man. He was a man who was made righteous by the grace
of God. But he truly was a righteous man. He was righteous in exactly the same
way, in the same sense, and to the same degree as Abraham was or any of us are.
A. He was justified
and righteous before God by the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to him
(Rom. 5:19).
There is no other way for a sinner to get righteousness
before God.
B. He was made
righteous in regeneration, having the righteousness of Christ imparted to him
in the new creation of grace (2 Cor. 5:17).
As a child of God, being taught of God by “the grace of God
that bringeth salvation,” Lot lived soberly, righteously, and godly in Sodom
and among the Sodomites.
God’s saints
are by no means perfect in this world. Not one of them makes any pretense to
sinlessness. Believers know the evil of their own hearts and lives. But in the
tenor of their lives, all believers live in righteousness. Grace makes men
gracious. Those who walk in the Spirit, those who live by faith in Christ, do
not perform the lusts of the flesh. In the habit of their lives they live as
godly men and women in a crooked and perverse generation.
Galatians 5:16 "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil
the lust of the flesh."
Galatians 5:22-24 "But the fruit
of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, (23) Meekness, temperance: against such
there is no law. (24) And they that
are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts."
Bro. Lot was just such a man. Peter calls him, no God the
Holy Spirit calls him a just man, a righteous man, and a godly man. He was a
sinner with shamefully sinful weaknesses, inconsistencies, and failures. But
Lot was a righteous man, righteous because Jesus Christ was and is to him
Jehovah-tsidkenu, THE LORD HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS!
II. LOT WAS A
RIGHTEOUS MAN WHO LIVED IN A TERRIBLY EVIL SOCIETY.
The Sodomites among whom Lot lived,
worked, and raised his family were people whose lives were beyond wicked and
abominable. Their lives were filthy! Lot, we are told, was “vexed with the
filthy conversation (manner of life) of the wicked” who lived around him in
Sodom. Lot lived among filthy men who openly practiced and promoted the filth
of homosexuality and the various perversities it spawns. I cannot find words
suitable to denounce that form of wickedness, at least not words that are
suitable for me to use in public. And I will not waste your time talking about
it here. I mention it in this context only to give emphasis to Lot’s godly
character. He is truly a righteous man
who lives alone in righteousness among unrighteous men. The filthy men and
women of Sodom did not corrupt this righteous man. He persevered in the way of
faith and righteousness.
III. LOT WAS A
RIGHTEOUS MAN WHO ENDURED GREAT TROUBLES AND SORROWS ALL THE DAYS
OF HIS LIFE.
Faith in Christ, righteousness, and
godliness do not exempt believers from trouble and sorrow. “In the world you
shall have tribulation.” Frequently, our trials, troubles tribulations, and
sorrows as believers come as a direct result of our own sinful behavior. My
friend, Bro. Harry Graham used say, “Sometimes, the way God chastens
his children and corrects their sin is to make them experience and live with
the consequences of their disobedience.” Certainly, that was the case with Lot.
Once he moved to Sodom, he could not extricate himself from the place, though
he grew to despise it. We are not told why he would not or could not leave. But
there was something holding him in that abominable place which he could not
leave until God destroyed it.
Be warned, my brothers and sisters.
Everything we do, every choice we make, be it good or bad, has its consequences
upon us and those we influence. Lot made
a bad choice early in his adult years for which he suffered until he died.
It was a choice that resulted in the destruction of his wife, his sons-in-law,
and his daughters. You cannot take fire to your bosom and not get burned.
IV. LOT WAS A
RIGHTEOUS MAN FOR WHOSE SAKE A WICKED, CURSED PEOPLE WERE TEMPORARILY
PRESERVED FROM DESTRUCTION AND GIVEN SPACE FOR REPENTANCE.
When the kings of the plain and the
Sodomites were carried away into captivity, they were delivered from their
captors because Lot was among the captives. The angels of judgment were not
allowed to pour out the fire and brimstone of God’s wrath upon that reprobate
society until Lot had been delivered from the city.
If only they had known who Lot was and what mercies they
enjoyed because of him, they should have thanked him every day they lived for
living among them. As long as Lot was there they were spared. As long as Lot
was there they had space for repentance. As long as Lot was there they were out
of hell!
Even so, today, God spares the world
and holds back his utter wrath from the ungodly for the sake of his elect.
2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is
not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is
longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all
should come to repentance."
2 Peter 3:15 "And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved
brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto
you;"
God’s longsuffering is not an
indication that he will not judge the wicked, though many foolish imagine that
that is the case. God tolerates the ungodly and spares them for a season only
because of his determined mercy upon his elect.
V. LOT WAS A
RIGHTEOUS MAN WHOSE LIFE WAS ABSOLUTELY RULED BY HIS GOD FOR HIS
EVERLASTING, SPIRITUAL GOOD, THE GOOD OF ALL GOD’S ELECT, AND THE GLORY OF GOD
IN THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF HIS SOVEREIGN, ETERNAL PURPOSE OF GRACE IN CHRIST.
I cannot spend much time here, or I will not get done with
my message. But I cannot fail to show you this marvelous display of God’s
sovereign providence, by which he rules the world and overrules even the evil
actions of men, even the sins of is own people for their spiritual, eternal
good and the glory of his name. If ever
there was a man whose life was a commentary upon Psalm 76:10, it is Bro. Lot.
Psalms 76:10 "Surely the
wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou
restrain."
I told you at the beginning of my message that Lot’s
drunken, incestuous act with his firstborn daughter was he beginning of that
cursed race of people called Moabites (Gen. 19:37-38). Did you ever notice that though they were a cursed people, the Moabites
were under special, divine protection when Israel was commanded to destroy
other pagan nations?
Deuteronomy 2:8-9 "And when we
passed by from our brethren the children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir, through
the way of the plain from Elath, and from Eziongaber, we turned and passed by
the way of the wilderness of Moab. (9) And
the LORD said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in
battle: for I will not give thee of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession."
Considering
the origin of that nation, the wickedness of it, and the destiny of it, why do
you suppose God protected it?
Turn to Matthew chapter one, and I will show you.
Matthew 1:1 "The book of
the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham."
Matthew 1:5-6 "And Salmon
begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; (6) And Jesse begat David the king; and
David the king begat Solomon of her that
had been the wife of Urias;"
Matthew 1:16 "And Jacob
begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called
Christ."
That very thing which is the most
abhorrent of all Lot’s abhorrent deeds was overruled by our God to accomplish
his salvation and ours! In fact, had Lot not gone to Sodom, he would not have
been brought to such a low position, Moab would never have existed, Ruth would
never have been born, our Lord Jesus Christ would never have come into the
world, we would never have been redeemed, and God’s purpose of grace would have
been destroyed. But such suppositions are totally absurd because our God rules!
Blessed be his name, nothing comes to pass but that which he has purposed and
brings to pass for our good and his glory! Oh, for grace to trust him!
VI. LOT WAS A
RIGHTEOUS MAN WHO VEXED HIS RIGHTEOUS SOUL FROM DAY TO DAY WITH THE
UNGODLY DEEDS OF THE PEOPLE AMONG WHOM HE LIVED.
The exact word here translated “vexed”
is only used one other time in the entire Bible. In Acts 7:24 it is translated
“oppressed.” This is one of those words that has many shades of meaning. In
order to get some idea of what the Holy Spirit is here telling us about Lot’s
attitude toward the ungodly of his day, we must understand the meaning of this
word - “vexed.” It means…
·
Oppressed!
·
Tormented!
·
Distressed!
·
Sick!
·
Miserable!
·
Pained!
·
Exhausted!
·
Worn Down with
Toil!
I don’t know about you, but that
pretty well describes the shape I am in in our generation. What about you - Are
you a vexed soul in this reprobate age? I am fairly certain that those things
which vex me today are the very things that vexed Lot in Sodom.
A. Lot was vexed
by the idolatrous religions of Sodom.
He knew what Paul later wrote in
Romans chapter one, that the root cause of the filthy, unnatural, beastly
behavior we call homosexuality is idolatrous, man-centered religion.
B. Bro. Lot was
vexed by the utter immorality of the society in which he lived.
He was weary, worn-out, pained, sick,
and exhausted with the evil around him. Seeing them and hearing them
constantly, everywhere he went, everywhere he turned, simply ate away at his
soul! I think I know exactly what he felt.
C. I have no
doubt that Bro. Lot was vexed by the impending wrath of God upon his family,
his neighbors, and the world in which he lived.
Lot was a man, a righteous man. As
such, he was a caring, sensitive, compassionate man. As a man, our Savior had
compassion upon the city of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel. As a man, he
looked upon that rich young ruler as he walked away to hell, and loved him.
Like his Redeemer, Lot was vexed by the wrath of God that would soon fall upon
the inhabitants of Sodom.
D. I am sure he
was also vexed by the indifference of professed believers.
I have no idea how many there were. I
suspect that his daughters, sons-in-law, and some of his neighbors at least
professed to believe God. I know that his wife did. But no one, not one person
in Sodom was aroused by the message he had received from the Lord. They were
all indifferent! He seemed as one who mocked, as one who made a big deal about
nothing!
E. And I am
certain that Bro. Lot was vexed, perhaps above everything else, with the sin,
callousness, and indifference of his own heart.
I know I am! Nothing so pains me as I
pain myself. Nothing so distresses me as I distress myself. Nothing vexes me
like me!
Romans 7:18 "For I know
that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is
present with me; but how to perform
that which is good I find not."
Romans 7:24 "O wretched man
that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"
Let me tell to one more thing, and I
will send you home, I trust, with these seven Lessons from the Life of Lot burning in your heart and driving you
to Christ.
VII. LOT WAS A
RIGHTEOUS MAN DELIVERED FROM SIN, AND SORROW, AND WRATH BY THE GRACE OF
GOD.
The Lord brought him out of Sodom and at last brought him up
to glory. And, blessed be his name, soon, we too shall be delivered!
Application:
1.
Take heart, my
friends. - “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation!”
2.
But I warn you
who foolishly imagine that God will overlook your sin - The Lord also knows how
“to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.”
Scripture Reading
Sunday Morning - November 3, 1996
Psalms 1
"Blessed is the
man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of
sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. (2) But his delight is in
the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. (3) And he shall be like a tree planted
by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf
also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. (4) The ungodly are not so: but are like
the chaff which the wind driveth away.
(5) Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in
the congregation of the righteous. (6) For
the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall
perish."