The Life of Lot III: Where is Your Heart?

Genesis 19
Gregory Broderick | Sunday, May 08, 2022
Copyright © 2022, Gregory Broderick

Where is your heart?  The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  So it is important that we examine where our heart is and where our treasure is.

Most of you hearing me today—almost all of you—have confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  Almost all of us would consider ourselves to be Christians.  Most of us have said, “Jesus Lord,” and most of us have been baptized.  Most of us are members of the church.  Most of us are members of this church.  Most of us take holy communion every week.  Most of us know the answers to virtually all theological questions.  For five years, ten years, forty years, fifty years, we have been trained as well as any seminary student, thanks to Professor Pastor Mathew.  We know that there is one thing needful.  We know that we must seek first the kingdom of God.  We know the five offices of a Christian—the five priorities.  We know that man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.  We know that whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, we must do it all for the glory of God.  We know that the only way to be saved is through faith alone in Christ alone, that we cannot earn or merit or contribute to our salvation in any way, and that our salvation is all a free gift of God’s grace to His elect.  We know that we must leave all and follow Jesus.  We know that we must confess and forsake our sins.  We know that we must live a holy life in obedience to the Lord and by the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.  We know that we must count the cost and that we must pay the cost of following Christ, even though we know that it may cost us everything from a worldly perspective.  And we know that though it may cost us all, it is better by far to be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than anywhere else.

So we know a lot of things.  But what is it that we do?  Do our actions match our profession?  It did not say in Matthew 6, “Where your knowledge is, there your heart will be.”  It did not say, “If you can get all the correct answers, you will enter the kingdom of God.”  It says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be.”  And we show where our treasure is, we show where our heart is, by what we do, not by what we say and not by what we know.  After all, the devil, a fallen angel, knows too.  In fact, he knows far more about God and about His Christ than we will ever learn in this life.  But the devil’s knowledge does not save him.  The unbeliever knows the truth that there is a God, that we are sinners, and that only God in His mercy can save us.  He knows, but his knowledge does not save him.  In fact, he suppresses the truth by his wickedness (Rom. 1:18–21).

Knowledge will not save the devil, knowledge will not save the unbeliever, and knowledge will not save us either.  Knowledge is necessary, but it is not sufficient to save us.  We must combine it with faith to be saved (Heb. 4:1).  We must prove our faith by obeying God, especially His command to trust in Christ alone and to repent of our sins, for the kingdom of God is near.  That is what Jesus preached in Mark 1:15:  “Repent and believe the good news.”  It is not just “believe it.”  It is not just “know it.”  It is “repent and believe.”  We must prove our repentance by our good deeds, particularly the good deeds of obedience, the good fruit of faith (Matt. 3:8).  So it is not what we say.  It is not what we know.  It is not even what we feel.  Even though we live in the age of feelings, it is not even what we feel that shows where our heart is.  It is what we do.  By our actions, we reveal what we treasure, and that reveals where our heart is.

What does all of this have to do with Genesis 19?  Well, Lot is quite tragically an example of a man whose actions showed that his heart was in the wrong place.   His heart was set on Sodom.  Of course, Lot would never have said so.  I am pretty sure about that.  “Oh, no,” he would say.  “My heart is with God.  In fact, I am tormented in my soul by the filthy lives of lawless men.”  Second Peter 2:7–8 says so.  “I just have to be here in Sodom for my job, or because of my family obligations, or whatever else.  I know about God, though, even though I am in Sodom.  I know about God.”  But what he said or what he thought or what he felt were all superseded by what he actually did.  All of his actions showed a sad reality:  Lot’s treasure was in Sodom and thus his heart was in Sodom also.

So let us look at Lot’s progression toward Sodom, into Sodom, and of Sodom.

Toward Sodom

Lot was not born in Sodom nor was he raised there.   His transition to Sodom was progressive.  It was a step-by-step journey.  He was born into the center of the kingdom of God at that time.  He came out of Ur with his grandfather Terah and left Haran with his uncle Abram, the man of God.

Lot started out well.  He left Haran with Abram and with Abram’s household, going with Abram into the promised land of Canaan that God would show them.  Lot was with Abram every step on the journey of faith from Haran to Canaan, and either saw or heard about God’s promises to Abram.  We remember those promises.  In Genesis 12, God said, “To your offspring I will give this land.”

Lot moved about with Abram everywhere Abram went.  He was with Abram as Abram built altars to worship God.  He was with Abram as Abram worshiped the true and living God, and he saw God’s hand upon Abram.  Lot knew that Abram was the man of God, chosen by God, and he knew that Canaan was the land of God, chosen by God for His people.  And lest he forget, they even got a sharp reminder of this when they went down to Egypt in the midst of a severe famine.  God miraculously saved Abram from his own error in going down there and sent him back to Canaan, and Lot was there with him, as it says in Genesis 13:1.  Just in case they forgot all that God had done for them—just in case they forgot how God had directed them to Canaan—God reminded them and said, “Get out of Egypt and get back to the place I sent you.”

So Lot was certainly sure, doubly sure, that Canaan was God’s special place and that Abram was God’s special man.  Yet in Genesis 13 we see that not all is right with Lot.  Despite all that revelation from God, despite all that revelation to Abram that Lot knew about, Lot seems to have had other priorities.  When the flocks and the herds grow too large to be supported by the land, Lot parts with Pastor Abram and heads to the well-watered plain of the Jordan with the idea of being able to raise more cattle.

And here in Genesis 13, we get the impression that Lot’s choice is based more even than just on cattle, that there is more going on here than simply, “I need a place to spread out my flocks and herds.”  Remember, Genesis 13:9 tells us that the whole land was before Lot.  He could choose anywhere he wants, and the whole plain of the Jordan was well-watered.  It was a large area (Gen. 13:10).  He could raise his cattle and his flocks and his herds anywhere he wants in the Jordan River valley.  But where does he go?  Genesis 13:12 says, “He went among the cities of the plain.  He pitched his tents near Sodom.”  I don’t know anything about raising cattle, but I know it takes a lot of space.  And going near all the cities of the plain is a curious choice for someone looking for space to spread out and raise flocks and herds, if that is what you are really doing.  Wide open spaces somewhere more rural would seem more suited to raising the flocks and the herds, but that is not where Lot goes.  He goes among the cities of the plain.  He pitches his tents toward Sodom, near Sodom.

At that time, Lot already knew that Sodom was a bad place full of wicked men who were sinning greatly against the Lord (Gen. 13:13).  So we see this drift begin early in Lot.  This is step one of his journey towards Sodom:  Away from Pastor Abram and going near or towards Sodom.  I am sure he told himself, “It is all for business purposes.”  Very important.

In Sodom

The next time we see Lot, he is living in Sodom (Gen. 14:12).  Having inclined his tents and probably his heart toward Sodom, he is now living in the heart of the city itself.  Maybe this was his plan all along.  Perhaps he found better business or social opportunities living nearby.  But before you know it, the flocks and the herds that caused him to part from Abram are gone, and he has transitioned from being near Sodom to living in Sodom.  That is step two on Lot’s drift toward Sodom.  He ends up in the city.

Step three is back to Sodom.  Lot is captured and carried off as a spoil of war during a war of regional kings, and he is hauled away to slavery, losing all his possessions and all his people, including his wife, his daughters, and so on.  The godly Abram marches all night, halfway around the world basically, defeats a superior army in a daring nighttime raid, and rescues Lot from captivity, rescues Lot’s family, rescues all Lot’s possessions, and gives it all back to Lot.  One hundred and fifty miles from home, Lot experiences a miraculous rescue.

But now the mask really begins to slip for Lot.  After all of that, he goes back to Sodom.  It reminds us of the Tony Bennett song, “I  Left My Heart in San Francisco.”  This is, “I Left My Heart in Sodom.”  Lot does not repent of his obvious error in going to Sodom.  Nor does he learn the lesson and humbly submit to the man of God, Pastor Abram, that God placed over him.  No, in a baffling move, he goes back to Sodom.  So this is step three.  He just cannot quite leave.

The drift continues.  Lot’s heart keeps taking him away from the man of God and towards the godless Sodom.  After this, in Genesis 19, things really go off the rails for Lot.  But before we get into all the bad things that Lot did in Sodom and all the bad things that happened to him there, consider this:  Lot missed out on a lot of things because he was not with Abram, the man of God.  There is a 1950s-era pastor named Ray Stedman who preached a sermon on this passage called “The Wasted Years.”[1] Lot wasted all these years.  He could have been with Abram, with God, seeing these things of God.  Look at all that happened when Lot was gone from Abram.  Lot is not there in Genesis 15 when God makes a covenant with Abram.  Lot forfeited the grace that could have been his.  Lot is not there in Genesis 17 when God returns and confirms and expands upon this covenant relationship by the sign of circumcision.  Lot is not there in Genesis 18 when God appears to Abram again and graciously entertains Abram’s plea for the lives of the people of Sodom.  Lot is not just over there doing something he is not supposed to be doing; he is also missing out on grace after grace after grace—literal theophanies, God appearing, and Lot is not there to experience it.

When we part from God’s place, when we leave God’s man that He put over us, when we abandon God’s people that He joined us to, it is not just the bad decisions we make that have bad consequences.  It is also the things we miss, the grace we forfeit, that have bad consequences.  There is a serious cost to missing out. And not only is there a serious cost to missing out, but there is also a serious cost to what you are doing over there in Sodom.  Lot was not doing nothing during his time away from the center of the kingdom.  No, he is very active in Sodom, cementing himself further and further into the life of Sodom, entangling himself, his family, his finances, and his heart with the people of Sodom.

Of Sodom

Genesis 19:1 says that Lot was sitting at the gateway of the city when the divine emissaries arrived to inspect the place.  This is an important thing.  It is a clear indication that Lot is some kind of an official in the city of Sodom.  It is not that he was just hanging out at the city gate with nothing to do.  Perhaps he was an elder.  Perhaps he was the town mayor.  But at a minimum, just sitting in the city gate shows that he was a prominent and respected man—sitting in the gate, fully accepted, and fully integrated into the life of Sodom.

I would point out that at least one significant person, Matthew Henry, seems to disagree with this understanding.  So whenever you are on the other side of Matthew Henry, you want to stop and take serious consideration.  Henry’s view is that Lot sat alone in the gate, waiting to do good deeds while others partied and had a good time.  That is a very, very generous reading towards Lot.  It is not my reading.

The town gate is often referred to in the Scriptures as an administrative center occupied by men of authority or men of standing.  Deuteronomy 21:18 speaks of the elders judging the rebellious son at the city gate, the place of judicial action.  In Ruth 4, Boaz claims status as a kinsman-redeemer and he does it at the town gate.  He documents the purchase of the land at the town gate and claims Ruth as his wife at the town gate.  In 1 Samuel 4, Eli the priest waits for news of the battle against the Philistines.  Where does he wait?  At the town gate.  In 2 Samuel 18, David is giving military instructions during the uprising.  He commands his troops from the town gate.  And of the Proverbs 31 woman, it is said that her husband is respected at the city gate where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.  So there is a real significance to sitting at the town gate, and it seems that Lot is more than your average city resident in Sodom.  He is a leader, officially or otherwise, sitting at the town gate.  He is fully a part of the fabric of Sodom life.

It is not just that he is sitting there; he also takes action at the town gate.  He further demonstrates his prominence by greeting the angelic visitors, inviting them into his home, and counseling them what to do.  These are the actions of someone who has some kind of an official status or who is an unofficial leader at minimum.  He stands between the wicked men of the town and his guests, and refuses to give them up, again demonstrating some kind of prominence, some kind of authority (Gen. 19:6–7).  Either way, whether he was officially the mayor of Sodom or not, Lot is a prominent man in that town, and he is connected to that town.  So we see this further drift.  He went from towards Sodom, into Sodom, back to Sodom, and now he is a prominent man in Sodom.

But there is more:  Step five is intermarriage.  It is not just Lot lives there and has standing there, but he is really fully integrated into the city.  He is a Sodomite, at this point.  Verse 14 speaks of his sons-in-law, indicating that his daughters are betrothed in marriage.  So this is really the full monty in Eastern society.  Marriage is not just the empty or individual gesture that it represents in the rudderless and vacuous West that we live in.  No, back then and in that place, it was an important family decision and family bond to unite your family to another family in marriage.  In fact, the daughters of Lot probably had little if anything to say about whether they got married or to whom.  So the fact that Lot’s daughters are engaged to men of Sodom says more about Lot’s relationship with those families than his daughters’ relationship with those men.  This is reflected also in the fact that Lot is the one who goes out to warn them.  The girls don’t run out to warn their fiancés that fire and judgment is coming.  Lot is the one who goes out and warns them, probably because Lot is the one who has relationship with them and their families.  Either way, this forming of a family relationship represents a further step in Lot’s bad journey.  And it shows just how far his heart longing for the Sodomite life had led him.

Every journey, good or bad, is one step at a time.  Going all the way back to Genesis 12 and 13 and so on, I am sure that Lot would never have thought way back then, “I will be a Sodom elder with my daughters pledged in marriage to Sodomite men.”  He would have said, “No way.”  But, one step at a time, that is exactly where Lot ended up.  His journey into Sodom life both revealed where his heart was and inflamed his heart for further connection to Sodom.  It inflamed his heart desire for the Sodomite life.

It is hard in any journey to imagine five, ten, twenty, or one hundred steps ahead.  It is very easy to go one at a time.  And having taken one step, it is easier to take the next step and then the next step and the next step.  He parted with Abram.  He went near Sodom.  Then he went into Sodom.  Then he went back to Sodom.  Then he is an elder or the mayor or an official in Sodom.  Then his daughters are pledged in marriage to men of Sodom.  What is left?  There is nothing left to do.  You are a Sodomite at that point.  Lot went from the center of the kingdom of God to the center of the kingdom of Satan, one step at a time.

The journey of 1,000 miles starts with a single step, and so does the journey to hell.  You may never think that you will ever take that last step.  No one ever thinks he will ever take that last step into some bad place.  But it is so much easier to do after all the steps that come before.  So the key is not the last step; the key is the first step.  Don’t start down the road to Sodom, don’t start down the road to hell, unless you want to end up there.  That road only goes one place.  Do not concern yourself with that last step; concern yourself with the first step.  Stick with Pastor Abram.  Keep in step with him as he keeps in step with the Spirit.  Follow the man of God that God has appointed as he follows Christ.  Don’t take a few steps down that road to Sodom just to see what the path is like.  You will soon find yourself as a Sodomite, fully under the lordship of its king Sin/Satan.

The key is the first step, and that is true.  But in a very real sense, the most important step for all of us is the next step.  Ask yourself today:  Am I moving toward the people of God?  Am I moving toward the man of God?  Am I moving toward the Promised Land that God has chosen for me?  Or am I moving away?  Don’t wait until you are entangled in Sodom to realize that you have a problem.  At that point, it may be too late.  In fact, at that point, it probably is too late.  Praise God, he can save us at the first hour or the last hour.  But you are in a lot more trouble in the last hour than you are in the first.  (GTB)  Instead of waiting till the last, consider now your location and your direction.  You need to be aware of both to know where you are going.  You can be in a true church but headed toward the gate, headed toward the fringe.  If you only considered your location—”Hey, I am in a true church”—you will miss the warning signs and you will soon find yourself at the gate, outside the gate, and then out into the kingdom of the world.  You will soon find yourself entangled in Sodom, wondering, “How did I get this far?”

Lot probably said, “I am only near Sodom.  I am not in it yet.”  Then he probably said, “Yes, I live here, but I am not really like them.  I am not really one of them.”  He probably said, “I am tormented in my soul every day by the wicked acts of these people.  So that gives me some assurance of salvation.”  And he might even say, “My daughters are only engaged.  They are not yet married.  I am not totally committed.”  We can be deceived.  We have great capacity for self-deception.  Had Lot looked not at where he was today but at the progression of his life, he would have seen the truth:  “I am farther and farther and farther from God, from His land, from His people, and from His man.  I don’t know how this happened to me, but I must stop today and reverse course before I am too far gone.”

If you find yourself outside of Christ this morning, the counsel for you is simple:  Stop stepping toward your sure destiny in eternal hell.  That is the only destination of the broad way that you are on.  Stop going that way.  Cry out to Jesus Christ, “Have mercy on me, a sinner!” and be saved.  Then enter on to a different way, the narrow way of salvation through the narrow gate of Jesus Christ.  Enter that narrow way by faith.  Leave your sin and your slavery to sin behind and begin walking on that narrow path.  The broad path leads only one way: to eternal hell.  The narrow way leads only one way: to glory, to God.  That is the path that will take us to the best place, the place where we will want to end up: in joy unspeakable and full of glory, worshiping God and worshiping His Christ forever in eternal heaven.  And the nice thing about the narrow path is that it is available every day, even today.  Stop going the wrong way and start going the right way, through faith in Christ.

So that is Lot’s progression from the center of the kingdom of God to the center of the kingdom of the devil.  Let’s look at our next point:  Unwilling to leave.

Unwilling to Leave

Lot’s heart was revealed by his progressive movement toward Sodom and into Sodom and becoming like Sodom.  But the more jarring revelation about Lot’s heart is this:  His heart is so twisted up with the things of Sodom that he cannot bring himself to leave, even at the point of crisis.  He knows that this Sodom is an extremely wicked place.  He knew it back in Genesis 13 by reputation.  He knew it when he was captured and rescued in Genesis 14.  He knew it was a cursed city.  And surely he knew it from seeing it every day.  After all, why does he go to those angelic visitors and insist so strongly that they not stay in the town square, as was their plan?  It is most likely that he knew what would happen to them if they stayed out in the open with no protection.  He knows what Sodom is all about.

Of course Lot knows how awful Sodom was.  Second Peter tells us he was tormented in his spirit by their filth.  We know that he knew it was bad.  But he also saw firsthand in Genesis 19:5 when the men of the town come to his door and bang on his door and demand that he bring out the visitors to have forced sex with them.  It is a remarkable evil that they are doing, and he is right there.  They even try to break down the door when Lot refuses (v. 10).  And, in fact, they imply that they are going to do the same thing or worse to Lot if he does not send the men out.  So he knows it is wicked place.

He also knows and believes that Sodom will be destroyed imminently by God.  The angelic visitors tell him so in verse 13.  And they validate their claim by the miraculous blinding of the men who come into town.  So this is not mere rumor.  These men, these angelic visitors, have the power to carry out what God sent them to do.  We know that Lot believed them, or at least believed them enough to go and tell his wicked Sodomite sons-in-law, “Hey, we’ve got to get out of here.  This place is going to be destroyed.”  But they just laughed at him.  They might not have believed it, but Lot believed it.  He believed it enough to take action.

Yet despite all the wickedness, despite the sure and imminent judgment, despite the fact that he believes them, Lot cannot quite bring himself to leave.  His heart is seriously compromised.  His treasure is in Sodom, and thus his heart.  So he knows, but then he cannot actually go.  The angels urge him in verse 15:  “Hurry!”  This is not some Noah’s ark situation when the disaster is going to come in 100 years.  This is imminent.  “Hurry!” And still he hesitates (v. 15).  The angels drag him and his family out by the hands, when they cannot bring themselves to go.  Yet still Lot bargains:  “Don’t make me go to the mountains.  Let me go to one of these little cities by the plain.”  Of course, Mrs.  Lot was so entangled and so far gone that she disobeyed the word of God through the angels, looked back, and was turned into a pillar of salt.

It is a shocking display of just how thoroughly Sodomized that Lot had become.  He could not go, despite all the knowledge that he had.  His wife would rather risk death and destruction than obey and leave.  She just had to look back one more time.  It shows where her heart was.  His daughters are so shot through with Sodomite philosophy that they get their father drunk and rape him so that they can have cursed children.  Then they brag about it by giving the children names that reference the vile act of incest.  Moab means “from father.”  Ben-Ammi means “son of my father.”

Bit by bit, Lot had become a Sodomite in his heart.  He led his family into Sodomite ways and Sodomite thinking.  He was destroyed, debased, and ashamed, and he probably never even realized it.  He did not realize that it was happening, but he got used to it little by little by little.  And out in Sodom, without Pastor Abram to oversee him, there was no one to bring the words of rebuke and correction that Lot desperately needed.  What about his own heart?  What about his own conscience?  Deadened and deceitful.  We should never trust the thought, “I will know when I’ve gone too far.”  The Bible tells us, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.  Who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9).

I am pretty confident to the end that Lot would not have recognized how his heart had been corrupted.  Maybe he would go back to his feelings:  “No, I am distressed by the way these people live in Sodom.  I am not like them.  I am tormented in my righteous soul by the wicked things I hear and see.”  But most likely, Lot deceived himself because, when we keep looking at it, what did Lot do?  He only ever moved in one direction.  He only moved into ever closer union with the city of Sodom and with its wicked men.  He pitched his tent near.  He lived in.  He went back.  He sat at the town gate.  He offered his daughters in marriage.  He offered his daughters as substitutes for the visitors.  He was unwilling and unable to leave, even at the point of judgment.   Say what you want, know what you want, feel what you want, but look at what it is that you do.  Where your treasure, there your heart will be also.

Living the Sodomite life both shows where your treasure is and entangles you further and further and further into the Gordian knot of sin, worldliness, and eternal hell, so much so that you cannot leave even when you recognize that it is not going well.

Application

So how do we apply this to ourselves?  I said it is good to have knowledge, but we have to do something with that knowledge.  How do we apply this to ourselves?

1. We Must Examine Ourselves

First, we must examine ourselves.  It is not just what we wish or what we feel or what we say that we believe, but what we do that shows where our heart is.  Let us examine what we do.  My actions reveal my true beliefs and my true treasure, and that shows me where my true heart is.  It is either with God or with the devil.  It is either with Abram or in Sodom.  There is no middle ground.

Make sure to look at both your location (where you are) and your direction (which way are you headed).  Those are the two things that will determine where you are going to end up:  where you are and which way you are headed.  Ask yourself:  Am I moving toward the things of God, the people of God, the man of God, or am I moving away from those things?  We must engage in real self-examination in light of the word of God, in light of prayer to God and with God, and in light of the indwelling Holy Spirit who speaks to all believers.  So, first, examine yourself.

2. Don’t Take the First Step toward Sodom

The road to Sodom leads only to Sodom.  That is why it is called the road to Sodom.  Do not start down that road and expect to end up somewhere else.  Don’t start down that road expecting, “I will get partway down and turn back.”  Then why go down there in the first place?  If you take the first step down the road to Sodom, you will indeed end up there, and it is almost impossible to get out.  It is a trap.  You don’t think you will go.  You don’t think you will end up there.  You don’t think you will get stuck, but you will.  It is a trap.

The devil will lie to you.  He will say, “That road doesn’t really go only to Sodom.  There are a lot places that road might go.” Or, “all roads lead to God.”  That is not true.  Or he may tell you, “Sodom is not as bad as people say.  It is actually a pretty good place.”  Or he will say, “Hey, you can just check it out for a while.  You can always go back if you do not like it.”  These are lies.  Remember John 8:44:  “The devil is a liar and the father of lies.”  His purpose is to destroy you.

Here is a good practice tip for life:  Don’t follow the advice of people who are seeking to destroy you.  The devil offers the world.  He offers the good life.  He offers all pleasure.  He offers all kinds of things.  But he only delivers misery and eternal death.  He lies.  He offers all kinds of things that he does not have or possess and that are not his to give.  He will offer you the whole world.  He can offer anything he wants, but all he has to give is misery.  All he has in his life is misery and agony, and so that is all he can give.  You cannot give what you do not have.  He does not have happiness, so he cannot give you happiness.  All he has is misery.  That is all he can give.  Reject the devil’s offers.  Reject the devil’s lies, and do not start down his road to perdition because it only ends up in perdition.

3. Don’t Take the Next Step to Sodom

If you are already headed to Sodom, if you have already headed down that road, if you have already taken that first step or the second or the third, don’t keep going.  If you find yourself living among the cities of the plain, don’t keep going.  If your tent is pitched toward or near Sodom, don’t keep going.  Are you living in Sodom?  Don’t keep going.  Have you been rescued from Sodom, but are considering heading back to Sodom?  Don’t do it.  Cry out to Christ for mercy today and stop the journey to Sodom today.  Start the journey to glory today.  Take the first step not to Sodom, but back—the first step back to the man of God, to the land of God, to the household of God, for that is the place where there is blessing, that is the place where there is protection, provision, fellowship with God and fellowship with his people.  With God and his delegated authorities, there is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.  They don’t have any of those things in Sodom.  So go there and share in that, in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

4. Stick Close to Pastor Abram

God has delegated authorities for each of us:  parents, pastors, teachers, elders, and so on.  But He has especially given the gift of godly pastors to His people for their good.  Ephesians 4:11 says, “It was He who gave some to be pastors.”  He gives particular pastors authority over us, over each of us (Heb. 13:17).  That authority is for our good, for our protection, for our blessing.  Second Corinthians 10:8 and 13:10 says the authority is given to build us up, not to tear us down.  Satan, by contrast, comes only to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10).  He has limited authority also, but his authority is to steal, kill, and destroy.  The authority of God’s delegates is to build us up and not to tear us down.

So stick close to the man who is there to build you up, not to tear you down.  Our leaders, our delegated authorities, watch over us to tell us that we are slouching toward Sodom, even when we do not realize it.  They are there to teach and to train us in the way that we should go and to rebuke and correct us when we go the wrong way, always from the application of the Holy Scriptures (2 Tim. 3:16).  Stick close to such men, God’s gift and provision to us.  Be transparent with them so they can know you and help you on your journey to heaven to make sure that you are sticking to the narrow road and that you have not wandered on to the broad way that leads to destruction.  Believe them when they speak into your lives.  God speaks through fallible people, and the reality is that we are all fallible people.  If we are going to say, “I am not going to listen to that person because he is fallible,” then don’t listen to yourself because you are fallible too.

The truth is, other people are much more likely to see our drift before we see our drift.  So listen to them and put what they say into practice even when you perhaps don’t see it yourself.  Obey your leaders and submit to their authority, for they watch over you as God’s appointed men, and they are accountable to God (Heb. 13:17; Acts 20:28).  You may have the fear, “What if I put myself under some person that God has appointed and what if that person does wrong or tells me wrong?”  Yes, we are fallible people.  But God is able to work through fallible people.  And if that is not a good enough guarantee for you, know that those people whom God appoints are accountable to God.  You had better believe they take it seriously when they speak on God’s behalf.  They are going to have to stand there and explain to God why they did what they did.

Trust God enough to trust the husband that he placed over you and called you to submit to (Eph. 5:22).  Trust God enough to trust your parents whom he gave you to raise you up in the way you should go (Prov. 22; Eph. 6).  Trust God enough to trust the pastors and elders that he gave you as his gifts for your good (Heb. 13:17; Eph. 4).  As I said, we are all fallible.  But, praise the Lord, he works through fallible people.  And when Pastor Abram says, “Don’t go toward Sodom,” crossing your will or desire to live in or to see Sodom, do not rebel against that counsel, but rejoice for that counsel.  God is sparing you from a bad decision.  God is sparing you from a life like Lot’s.

5. Purpose to Make God and His Kingdom Your Top Priority

Commit to God and His kingdom as your top priority.  Think about God and His kingdom and how to make it your top priority.  Pray about how to make God and His kingdom your top priority.  But above all things, do it—actually do it—in the way you live and the choices you make.  Make God and his kingdom your top priority when you act.  Make the kingdom of God your highest joy (Ps. 137:6).  Seek first the kingdom of God, and God will take care of all the other things that are necessary.  Make the church that God joined you to and the people that God put you with your delight (Ps. 16:3).  I ripped all that off from Pastor Mathew.  There is still a pamphlet available out there called “Pastor’s Philosophy of Finance.”  It talks about how to have a good financial life.  But the first chunk of that is:  Make God and God’s kingdom your highest joy.  That will spare you from making money your idol, or pleasure your idol, or worldliness your idol, or whatever else it is.  When you make God and his kingdom your highest joy, the rest of those things will fall into place.

Teach yourself, your spouse, and your children to thirst not after the things of the world but after the things of God.  Lot’s problem was that he stopped thirsting after God, if he ever did, and he started thirsting toward the things of this world.  We have some hope for Lot—not much but some.  Second Peter says he was a righteous man.  It is unclear what that means in context.  There is some hope for him.  But whether he was saved and backslidden, or whether he was unsaved, I know this:  Lot made a mess, and that mess-making problem originated in his heart.

So don’t be like Lot.  Don’t move away from the kingdom of God.  Don’t move away from the man of God.  Instead, move away from Sodom, and move toward God’s promised land.  Prepare yourself not for riches in this world, but for an eternity in the glorious presence of God with the glorious people of God worshiping God in glory.  How do we prepare?  Prepare by doing it now.  We have a greater hope than cattle.  We have a greater hope than flocks and herds.  We have a greater hope than money.  We have a greater hope than having fame or being the mayor of Sodom.  We have a greater inheritance than the things of Sodom, than the things of this world.  We can live for God.  We can live with God.  And if we follow God, we will live for Him and with Him, worshiping Him with His people in glory forever.  Let’s do it, and let’s do it today.  Amen.

[1] Ray Stedman, “The Wasted Years,” https://www.raystedman.org/old-testament/genesis/the-wasted-years.