What Lot Lost

I. Introduction (Matthew 16:24-26)

“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” - Matthew 16:24-26

• Do not try and hold onto and save your life - you WILL lose it in the end
• But if you let it go (lose it), and walk away from it so that you can follow Jesus, you will find it, and actually start enjoying it
• To gain and acquire the wealth of all the world could not equal the value of your soul
• Nothing in this world equals its value - so, do not trade it for anything!

II. Background (Genesis 12:4)

A. Abraham Had a Nephew Named Lot

“So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.” - Genesis 12:4

• Lot is an example to learn from, just as much as Abraham is an example to learn from
• Have you seen that the book of Genesis is FULL of living examples of people who lived by faith, and those that did not!

B. Abraham and Lot Start Off the Same

• From the same country, culture
• Both decide to believe in God and follow His call to leave everything and follow Him
• Believing God makes a sinner, righteous, by his faith alone!
• Both were saved (Romans)

C. But They Became Very Different in How They Lived and What They Wanted in Life

• Abraham lived to know God and enjoy God and believe everything God promised, looking forward to a better country, a heavenly country - wealth did not matter to Abraham, even though he actually did pretty well as a cattle rancher
• Lot lived for wealth, and power, and success as a man, always looking for something in this world that would help him be more wealthy, more powerful, more successful

D. In the End…

• Lot loses everything he sought for and worked so hard to get
• He becomes one of the greatest failures in the Bible!
• And then there was Abraham…
• All that Abraham lost was ‘time’ - a 25 year wait is pretty long, but that is nothing compared to what Abraham gained by trusting all the promises of God
• You and I may be behind all the latest gadgets and latest cars, and latest fashions, and latest movies… but in the end, we remain! And the promises of God will be worth it all

III. Message

A. Lot’s Backsliding

“The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself.” - Proverbs 14:14

1. Meaning

   • Sliding backwards - it doesn’t mean walking away from God… It just means we’re no longer trying to get closer to God, and instead, slipping, sliding backwards!
   • It means starting off right, but cooling off, slipping back down where you came from
   • It happens naturally unless there is an opposite, stronger force applied to our sliding
   • Compare it to climbing up a rope… You put a lot of effort in with each pull of your body upward, but the moment you let go you will slide downward very fast!
   • Compare to the game at a fun fair, striking a bell, but it falling right back down!

2. How did Lot backslide?

   • He started off right. There was a time in Genesis 11 where Lot had the same faith in God as Abraham and Sarah, was “justified by faith”
   • But in time Lot fell in love with wealth and success, while Abraham stayed in love with God and worshipped God and followed the will of God!
   • Backsliding didn’t happen overnight! It took 20 years…
   • He stopped needing God - no regular time of praying
   • He stopped walking with God - didn’t talk with God and listen to God
   • He stopped worrying about the holiness of God, and the need to be right with God!
   • Step by step Lot traded his simple life in his simple faith for greater wealth and greater power
   • And this ought to scare us
   • It’s not some great sin that usually separates us from God…
   • It is our little sins that we allow to take root in us - especially arrogant pride!
   • Even small sins that we think don’t matter: small lies, laziness, bad attitudes, covetousness
   • None of those sins ever stay small

3. How far did Lot fall?

   • First stepped away from a godly influence (Abraham’s) towards Sodom’s influence

     “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.” - Genesis 13:10

   • Started looking for fun and life elsewhere - not into “church” as much
   • Pitched his tent, the front of his home towards Sodom

     “Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.” - Genesis 13:12

   • That means all his attention was on what was going on in the big city of Sodom - all the light, the laughter, the drinking, the drugs, the money, the business opportunities
   • It was a wicked, wicked, wicked city - full of violence!

     “But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.” - Genesis 13:13

   • Most modern cities are Sodom and Gomorrah all over again!
   • He was SWEPT away with Sodom into captivity and had to be saved by Abraham (Genesis 14:1-3, 11-12)
   • Moved INTO Sodom

     “And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground.” - Genesis 19:1

   • Became a ruler and judge in Sodom - a leader/head of Sodom’s people
   • He has reached the “TOP” of the world (in his mind), but in truth, he is at the very bottom of his fall away from where he started!

B. At Any Point Lot Could Have Repented and Returned to the Lord, But He Never Did

1. Lot’s Lingering (Genesis 19:15,16)

   “And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.” - Genesis 19:15,16

   • Lingering means hesitating, delaying, panicking, overthinking, to loiter; to remain or wait too long; to be slow in deciding; to stay in a daze
   • What do stewardesses say on an airplane in the event of a crash landing? Leave everything behind and get out as fast as you can! Don’t think about what is in the overhead compartment… run!

2. Lot would not walk away from his world - refused to! Stubborn!

   • Lot valued and loved the life he had - his world - the wrong world
   • And it had such a tight grip on Lot and his family that it made it impossible for Lot to make a rational decision to flee
   • Yet Romans chapter 6 says we ARE free in Christ, and can walk away from the culture around us, and our bad friends and our phones…
   • But we don’t want to
   • And so we start losing everything that is good in our lives, WHY? Because we linger

   “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” - Matthew 6:31-33

C. Lot’s Losses (Genesis 19:30-38)

“And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters…” - Genesis 19:30-38

1. His wealth

   • In that instant, Lot left behind everything he had worked so hard to get
   • His big house - used to live in a tent, not a big house
   • His powerful position in government as a judge
   • All his wealth
   • The very life he had worked so hard to obtain
   • It all became ash behind him
   • He lost it all in that judgment fire
   • Ends up living in a cold, dark, empty CAVE in obscurity!

2. His wife - she perished in an instant!

   “Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.” - Genesis 19:24-26

   • We don’t know her name - she had a name, but it has been lost forever
   • She was from Sodom, a woman of high stature, living in wealth in that city
   • She was warned, but she didn’t care
   • That yearning, hunger, and look back at her city she loved, cost her her life!
   • She made her own decision - she did not want to follow him
   • She became a pillar of salt, every bit of water burned away

   “Remember Lot’s wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.” - Luke 17:32,33

   • Whatever we may lose when following Jesus, let it all go!

3. His sanity

   • Lot’s mind is broken - with grief, regret, and loss
   • Living in fear from now on
   • Flees to the mountains - no one is there - living in a cave
   • He never recovers
   • Lot became a DRUNK - easy to convince to get drunk night after night
   • Too many Christians have so much sin in them they cannot sleep, cannot rest, cannot pray, find it impossible to read their Bible! They are burned out
   • Spend a fortune trying to drown out the guilt, shame, heartache, the regrets
   • God didn’t make you that way, SIN did!

   “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” - 2 Timothy 1:7

4. His children

   • There are only a few things you can take with you to heaven when you die - one of them is your family
   • Everything else will burn, will die, will dissolve
   • You better invest the Gospel, the Bible, the fear of God in your family!
   • Lot lost his daughters who had married sodomites - burned to ash
   • His remaining 2 daughters never marry
   • They never respect their father ever again
   • Lot was USED by his daughters to get pregnant!
   • The sexual perversion of Sodom ruined LOT’S HOME!
   • Two nations are born (The Moabites and the Ammonites) that are enemies of Israel for the next 1,000 years

5. His legacy - his place in God’s plan was gone - forfeited

   • There’s nothing good about Lot’s life after this moment
   • If you read through Hebrews chapter 11 you will find sinful men and women honoured by God because of their faith, not their sinlessness
   • But Lot is NOT one of them
   • It’s not that Lot was lost, but that Lot has no example of a life of faith overruling all his failures!
   • The just shall live by faith - not just have it for a moment and then move on
   • It is the same with marriage - you don’t just say “I Do” and then go back to the way you always lived before!
   • In the end, Lot lost everything, except his soul - the things of this world are not worth it

IV. How to Battle the Sodom Agenda

A. Heed the Bible Warnings! Pay Very Close Attention!

“And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.” - Job 28:28

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” - Ecclesiastes 12:13

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.” - 2 Corinthians 5:10,11

B. Know the ROOT Sins of Sodom

“Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.” - Ezekiel 16:49

• PRIDE - Satan triggers our pride - our self-defences, self-righteousness
• WEALTH - Our fullness of bread and wealth!
• Abundance of IDLENESS - How many of us have hours to waste every day on phones? We do very little work! Live to be entertained!
• NO JUSTICE - just unrestrained abuses against everyone!
• TOLERANCE of sin and perversion and later the celebration of sin

“The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.” - Proverbs 8:13

C. Walk in the Spirit

“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” - Galatians 5:16

• Learn what this means and actually do it. Be Spirit-filled, and Spirit-minded
• A Spirit filled man will still battle sin and temptation, but he will win!
• A man who spends time reading his Bible every day, humbling himself and praying every day and worshipping God every day is able to be free from lust every day

D. Prepare More for Marriage Than for Sex

“Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.” - 1 Corinthians 7:2

• God designed the sex drive to push people TOWARD marriage
• Satan’s goal before your marriage… getting the couple to have sex
• Satan’s goal after the marriage… get a couple to STOP having sex
• Satan loves a marriage without sex just as much as sex without marriage!

E. Get Married

“Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.” - 1 Corinthians 7:1,2

• Marriage is a good thing - used to be looked forward to
• Train men to be masculine, godly, faithful, hardworking, trustworthy, passionate men
• Train young ladies to be feminine, soft, godly, faithful, hardworking, passionate women

F. Go All In on Your Marriage, All Your Life!

“I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.” - 1 Corinthians 7:8,9

• Keep your vows!
• Protect your heart - do not let it get hard
• If your marriage is under attack, remember WHO it is that is trying to destroy it and DO NOT LET HIM WIN!

G. Separate Yourself from the Dark Influences of the World

“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” - Ephesians 5:11

“Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.” - 1 Corinthians 6:18

H. Submit Yourself to God

“But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” - James 4:6,7

• Lot should have submitted to the will of God, and stayed OUT of Sodom
• You can resist the devil’s grip when you submit to God’s will

I. And… Be Content

“And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.” - 1 Timothy 6:8-10

“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” - Hebrews 13:5

• Lot failed in this attitude and it cost him everything. He who only wanted more, lost everything instead!
• Single, you are enough - being married will NOT make you happy
• Married - your spouse is PERFECT for you!
• Do you have Jesus? Does he have YOU? Amen!

V. Conclusion

• Your life and your relationship with God is more valuable than all the world’s wealth and riches
• Your legacy of how you lived will affect generations to come
• What will be remembered about your life?
• Loser, or more than conqueror?