Lot's Learning Process

It is so good to have you with us tonight. I have anticipated the beginning of this study for many, many weeks, and it's only 10 weeks long. It could be a lot longer than that, but it's only 10 weeks until Thanksgiving, and so that's how long this study is going to be. And I hope you'll be with us for all 10 weeks. It's only really 10 hours when you think about it, and it's not that long. And if you are, Christmas will be here before you know it, and that's a good thing. And so we want you to be a part of this study with us as we look at the life of Lot and the loss that he encountered because of so much compromise.

The cost of compromise is great, and this study is truly relevant and prevalent for us today in so many ways, simply because there are Christians today that love to dabble in the things of the world. Have you ever noticed that? Maybe you're one of them. We love to tinker with society and the things that are there, and before you know it, we begin to be enamored with the things of society. And when studying the life of Lot, you'll think twice before you begin to dabble in the things of the world. The homosexual agenda of our day is addressed in the study of Lot with Sodom and Gomorrah, so it becomes very relevant for us to study it and understand exactly what the Bible says concerning that sin and our response to people that we might be able to introduce them to the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord, something that Lot did not do, something that Lot refused to do, something that Lot forgot to do, and therefore it was a major, major blunder on his part.

Not saying that everybody in the city would have been saved, but at least he could have made the effort. But when you begin to compromise, those things are not uppermost in your thinking. Lot's a man that teaches a lot about leadership or the lack of leadership. I mean, the things he doesn't do with his family and the things he does with his family are so outrageous that you begin to wonder whether or not the man was ever truly saved or not. And if it wasn't for Peter's epistle, we would think the guy wasn't even born again.

But he was a righteous man, he was a just man, and it's hard to understand that when you study his life because everything about his life screams carnality, screams selfishness, screams screams narcissism, and yet the Bible does say he was a just and righteous man. If it wasn't for Peter telling us that, we would never know that he was such. And so as we study this man's life, we begin to understand more and more about our lives and the importance of how not to lose in life. You know, there are many losers in life, but you don't have to be that way if you understand the gospel of Christ and you understand the grace of God.

And Lot, through all of his loss, teaches us how not to lose. And none of us really wants to lose in life. At least I hope that's not your desire. If it is, maybe this study is not for you. But we want you to understand the greatness of what the Bible has to say concerning this man. You know, when Lot's faith corroded, Lot's family corrupted. When Lot's faith corroded, Lot's family corrupted. And so we need to understand exactly what happened to Lot. What led him to make the decisions he made? What was it about this man's life that led him to a place that would cause him to leave his uncle Abraham and to move towards Sodom and then to live in Sodom and then become absorbed in Sodom?

What was it about this man? Hopefully we can shed light on that for you to help you understand exactly what took place. His name is mentioned a few times before we actually have the narrative on Lot. And the times it is mentioned briefly are like pieces in a puzzle that help us put together a man's life to show us the things that happened to him that caused him to think and to act the way he did. And so we're going to show you some things tonight that I guarantee you've never seen before. And you will come and be so glad you came because your eyes would have been opened to things you've never seen before as we open up the Word of God.

Just the brief mention of the man's name begins to open up to us a whole picture of how this man developed the lifestyle he developed. So important. And I want you to remember this as we begin to study Lot's life. And that's this. What happens in me is always more important than what happens to me. You must understand that principle. What happens in me is always more important than what happens to me. As you go through life there are so many things that happen to you. God has designed certain things to come your way, certain situations that you encounter, things that happen to you.

But what happens in you is so much more important than what happens to you. And there are a lot of things that happen to Lot. But just because they happen to him doesn't mean that they had to control the way he thought and the way he lived. What happens on the inside of you is so crucial as God wants to develop your character and mold you to the kind of person that he wants you to be for the glory of his wonderful kingdom. So as we look at this tonight, I want you to see three things, okay?

Three things that are pieces to a puzzle that help us understand how Lot learned to live his life. Okay? Point number one is this.

The sorrow he experienced. Point number two. The sojourns he encountered. And point number three. The schooling that he earned. All right? Three points, three very simple points that will help us understand the pieces of the puzzle that begin to help us formulate this man Lot and what happened in his life to lead him down a road that would cause much loss. You with me so far? If you got your Bible, Genesis chapter 11. We'll begin our study in Genesis chapter 11 because this is where his name is first mentioned.

Genesis 11 verse number 27. Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot, first time he's mentioned in the Bible.

Very important. Why? Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his birth in Ur of the Chaldeans. Verse 31. Terah took Abram, his son, and Lot, the son of Haran. That's the second time Lot's name is mentioned.

His grandson and Sarai, his daughter-in-law, his son, Abram's wife. And they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan. And they went as far as Haran and settled there. The days of Terah were 205 years and Terah died in Haran. So you say, okay, what are the pieces of the puzzle? Number one is this, the sorrow that he experienced.

And what was the sorrow that Lot experienced early on in life? The death of his father and the death of his grandfather. Very important. Now the Bible doesn't speak a lot about what took place. We don't know how Haran died. We don't know how Terah died. The Bible didn't tell us. But is it not true that those of us who have lost a father, there is an effect upon our lives? We don't know how old Lot was when his father died. The Bible didn't tell us. So if he was very young when his father died, I'm sure like you and I, there are questions.

It's not true that when those close to us die, we have all kinds of questions swirling around in our mind. Why did he die now? Why did God take him now? What about the rest of my life? Who's going to take care of me? My father's dead. Who's going to provide for me? Lord, why did you do this? All kinds of questions. Sometimes we get angry at God because he takes a loved one, a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, but all of us experience sorrow. But listen carefully. Sorrow should never shape your thinking.

Only scripture should shape your thinking. But is it not true that sometimes our sorrow is so profound that it begins to shape the way we act, the way we think, the way we respond? This is the first time Lot's name is mentioned in scripture.

There's no commentary in scripture about the death of his father, the death of his grandfather, because his grandfather, Terah, would take him under his wings, and he then would be the caretaker of his grandson, and then he would die. And the Bible does tell us how old Terah was. He was 205 years of age. Anybody here 205 years of age? So, you know, how long he was under the care of his grandfather, we don't know. But his father dies, and now his grandfather dies. And so the sorrow for this man would begin to be profound because now Abram, his uncle, the brother of his father, would then become his caretaker.

We need to be careful about how difficulties and tragedies that lead to sorrow in our lives govern how we think and how we act. So many times we want to blame what has taken place in our life as an excuse as to why I do what I do. Well, if you know the kind of father I had or the kind of mother I had or the loss that I experienced when I was growing up, you would know why I do what I do. Really? So your experience is a governing factor in how you live your life. Or does the scripture dictate how you live your life?

You know, unfortunately for Lot, he didn't have the Word of God like you and I do. He had to wait for God to speak, and God spoke to Abram and not to Lot. And so, therefore, he had to wait for God to speak. And what they had was passed down from generation to generation from Adam and Eve on down to their generation as to what was going on with the Lord God of Israel. But we had the Word of God. And so when someone dies, we can go to the Word of God and begin to understand how God comforts us amidst our sorrows.

We can see and understand the brevity of life because the Bible speaks about that. And we know why there's a brevity of life, and that's because of the iniquity of man. So we understand why life is so short, because man is a sinner. And so we can begin to understand that. But we also understand not only the brevity of life and the iniquity of man, but we know the tranquility of scripture because the Bible speaks to comfort the brokenhearted. And we can go to the Word of God and see how God comforts us through His Word.

And the Word of God will teach us about the sovereignty of God and how God is sovereign over all the events in life. And nothing ever happens by accident, but always by divine appointment. And so was there someone like Abram who would come along the side of Lot and instruct him and teach him in the way that he should go? There was a schooling for him. It was a spiritual training. We'll talk about that in a moment. But Lot needed to learn the lessons when sorrow encompasses you. How well did he learn those lessons?

And so as we begin to look at the pieces of the puzzle that the scriptures give us, the first encounter we have of Lot is that he is the son of Haran, and Haran dies.

So he becomes under the authority of his grandfather, Terah, and he dies. And so this man early on had a life filled with sorrow. Now you might say, well, that doesn't really say that he cried or was sad or whatever the case may be. All you have to understand is what death does to people and how it affects their lives, especially when a loved one dies. But just because you face many sorrows doesn't mean that it should shape the way you live your life. I mean, look at Joseph.

He faced all kinds of sorrows, but he was a man of great integrity, and he lived a life that honored and glorified his God. Or even Paul. I mean, he had all kinds of turmoil, all kinds of pain and affliction, but he was able to live because it wasn't those experiences that shaped his life. It was the truth of God's word that shaped his life, and that's the way it should be for us as well. And so the very first piece of the puzzle that we begin to put together in Lot's life is that early on, mentioned in scripture, the first thing we notice about him is that he loses his father and he loses his grandfather.

The sorrows he experienced were one aspect of his life that began to shape the man's thinking. Although it truly should not be his sorrows, but the scripture, the truth of God's that should shape his thinking. The second thing I want you to see are the sojourns that he encountered, and there are three of them.

There are three trips, three traveling episodes, three sojourns in his life, and these three shape his character. These three tell us a lot about what he learned, a lot about what Lot learned in life from Abraham. Abram, he's called now, he will be called Abraham, but now he's the exalted father. And as we see this, gentlemen, please pay close attention. Gentlemen, you need to understand that what happens in these episodes, in these traveling moments, shaped the way Lot began to think. The first trip is from Ur of the Chaldees to Haran.

That's the first trip. We're going to call this trip the trip of compromise. All right. The trip of compromise. And then there's a trip from Haran to the promised land, to Canaan. That goes from chapter 11 to chapter 12. And we're going to call that the trip of consecration. And then there's a third trip, and that trip is the trip from Canaan to Egypt and back to Canaan again.

We're going to call that the trip of corruption. Okay. Three trips, one compromise, two consecration, three corruption. All three trips play a part in Lot's life. Now Lot is not the main character in the trip. He's just going along for the ride because he's not in charge. But as he goes along for the ride, there is a process by which he is taught how not to live and how to live. And the question comes, which will he choose? How will he live the rest of his life? Are you with me so far? See the sorrows that he experienced and the sojourns that he encountered.

And there are three of them. One from Ur of the Chaldees to Aran. This is a trip of compromise. Why do we say that? Listen to what the Bible says.

The Bible says these words, verse 31, Terah took Abram, his son, and Lot, the son of Aran, his grandson, and Sarai, his daughter-in-law, his son, Abram's wife.

And they went together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan. And they went as far as Aran and settled there. This is a problem. Now most commentators don't mention the problem, but it is a problem because it's a trip of compromise. When God called Abram, he called him to go to the land of Canaan, not to settle in Aran. Aran is 500 miles from where he was supposed to be. 500 miles. Now I want you to notice something, okay?

Why did he do this? Terah, Terah is the father of Abram. His name means delay. Aran, it means parched, dry. And the whole moral to the compromise is this. Whenever you delay to obey, your soul will always be dry and parched. Whenever you delay to obey, a play on the names, your soul will always be parched. And what happens is that there is a compromise here. And the compromise happens in several ways. The compromise, number one, is the fact that Abram left Ur of the Chaldees, but he didn't do it exactly as God said to do it.

That's why it's called the trip of compromise. Because listen to what the book of Acts says. Acts chapter 7, when Stephen, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, tells the high priest these words. Verse 2, Acts 7, Hear me, brethren and fathers. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Aran, and said to him, Leave your country and your ... What's the next word? Relatives. Leave your country and your relatives and come into the land that I will show you.

Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Aran, from there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living. In other words, the compromise began when he took his father with him. Isaiah 53.1 tells us, or 53.2 tells us, that God called Abraham alone. He did not call Abraham and his father. He called Abraham alone. But Abraham decides to take his father. That's a compromise. God never said to do that. God never said to take a lot. But he did. You say, well, in Genesis 11 to 12, he's not blamed for anything wrong.

Oh, but he disobeyed. He wasn't supposed to take his relatives. He was to leave his family. He was to take his household. He was to take his servants. But he wasn't to take his father. And he certainly wasn't to take his nephew, who was under the care of his father. But he did. And he compromised in terms of his associations. And Lot would learn, listen, Lot would learn to compromise in the area of his associations, as Abraham did. Well, Abraham, he didn't really do everything that God said. So why should I do everything that God says?

Listen, fathers, listen carefully. When God calls you to do something, you must do exactly what he says. If you don't do what he says and you compromise, guess who's going to pick up on the compromise? Your children. They're going to get that. They're going to gravitate to that which is a compromise. Why? Because it will allow them to compromise in the future. And that's exactly how Lot lives his life, in the arena of compromise. Because your children catch more than you teach. They catch more than you teach.

The lessons you teach are great if you're teaching in the Bible. But if you're living lives contrary to what you're teaching, they're catching what you do because it speaks louder than what you say. That's exactly what happened with Lot. Not only that, the Bible says in verse 31 of Genesis 11, Terah took Abram his son.

Why did Terah take Abram his son? Abram's in charge. God called Abram in Mesopotamia. Leave your relatives. So not only does he not leave his relatives, he allows his father to lead him. Oh, that's a problem. You say, well, shouldn't he be submissive to his father? God told him to leave his relatives, to leave his family. But he didn't. And then he neglected to fulfill his leadership responsibility. Oh, by the way, guess who else neglected to fulfill their leadership responsibility in their family?

That would be, you got it, Lot. Lot messed up. He didn't lead his family spiritually. He didn't lead his daughter spiritually. He didn't lead his wife spiritually. And he neglected to fulfill his responsibility as a leader because there's something he learned at home under the direction of Uncle Abraham. Because he is catching these things while he's not the main character in the text. He is a major character in future texts. But he is in the learning process right now.

He's listening. He's watching. He's catching. He's learning just like those in your family are doing right now as we speak. Your children, those under your direction, are watching, listening, and learning with every move you make. And you think it's not that big a deal. But it is. You think, I'm just taking care of my father. Well, Terah is an idolater. God called Abram. God in his glory appeared to Abram. Abram believed in the Lord God of Israel. He was an idolater in Mesopotamia. But it never says that Terah became a believer in the Lord God of Israel.

There's a reason why God said, leave your relatives. Why? Because I have a plan for you, Abram. And I'm going to make you a father of a great nation. And I'm going to move you on. He didn't call Terah. He didn't call Lot. You say, wait a minute. Lot became a righteous man. He did it under the direction of Father Abraham. If he didn't go with Abraham, he might not have ever been saved and believed in the Lord God of Israel. You don't know that. We just assume that. We just come to that conclusion.

But listen, don't take responsibility for saving the soul of somebody else. It's not your responsibility. God does that. We think, well, I better do this or I better go here because if I don't, my family might not get saved. You don't know that. That's God's job. You must be faithful to do what God's called you to do without compromise. Because when you begin to compromise, it does hinder the development of those closest to you. And so in this first sojourn, we see the sojourn of compromise.

They settled in Haran, which means parched. Terah means delay. And it was a delayed obedience on the part of Abraham. Sometimes they say they were there five to maybe six or seven years because they had to develop a whole group of servants and livestock and everything else. And so they say that they were there for a number of years. Well, delayed obedience is always disobedience. They delayed his obedience. And it always brings dryness to the soul. Parched souls. And that's what would happen in the life of Lot.

So it's very important to understand what was going on as Lot would sit back, he would listen, he would watch, and he would begin to learn. He learned from Abraham that full obedience to God is not necessary. He learned from Abraham that you can partially obey God and it's okay. And Lot would live his life in partial obedience to God. And he learned that from Abraham because Abraham modeled that to him. I'm not trying to excuse Lot for his behavior because he could make the right choices. He just didn't.

But the second trip was a trip of consecration. Because when you come to Genesis chapter 12, right, it says this. Now the Lord said to Abraham, go forth from your country and from your relatives and from your father's house. Same thing he said earlier. Okay. This is a repeat of what God gave to him in Mesopotamia. This is a repeat. This is a review. This is something that would move him from Haran to Canaan, to the land of promise. And I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great and you should be a blessing and I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you I will curse and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.

So Abraham went forth as the Lord had spoken to him and Lot went with him. Now he has taken Lot because Terah is dead. He had taken Lot and Terah or Terah had taken them because he neglected his responsibility to lead and they were in Haran. But now the grandfather of Lot, the father of Abraham is now dead. So now Lot's his responsibility. So he takes him with him. Now Abraham was 75 years old when he departed from Haran. Abraham took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his nephew, and all their possessions.

Which they had accumulated in the persons which they had acquired in Haran. And they set out for the land of Canaan. Thus they came to the land of Canaan. Abraham passed through the land as far as the side of Shechem to the yoke of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land. The Lord appeared to Abraham and said to your descendants I will give you this land. So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. Then he proceeded from there to the mountain to the east of Bethel and pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai or Ae on the east.

And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. Twice he built an altar in the Canaanite land. Now you had the trip of consecration. Now you move from compromise to consecration. Now he's going to do what God said to do. He delayed his obedience but now he is fully going to obey. And when he gets there he realizes the beauty of what God had given to him. And he builds these altars in the Canaanite land. He builds the altars as a testimony to the true and living God that there is one God.

There is no other God. And now his testimony begins to be strong. This is where Lot needs to learn. But unfortunately like your children and mine no matter how much we preach the truth and live the truth whenever we go off in error and compromise and corruption they gravitate to that more so than they do to the life of consecration. Why? Because there's iniquity in their heart. And sin in the heart is always drawn to sin in life. But here was Abraham. Now he's going to fully obey. Now he's going to build the altars into the honor and glory of the Lord.

Now he's going to live for the glory of the Lord. And this is what Lot needs to gravitate to. This is what he needs to see. He's seen it. He's seen the testimony of Abraham. This is a great time for Lot to learn and to realize his responsibility to stand strong for the name of God. But the third trip happens.

And the third trip was the trip of corruption. And it says these words in Genesis chapter 12. Abraham journeyed on continuing toward the Negev. Verse 10. Now there was a famine in the land. So Abraham went down to Egypt to sojourn there for the famine was severe in the land. This is a major problem. Now if you've been with us on Sunday morning we've been talking about what it means to act like men. We've told you that to act like a man you must be proactive. Right? You must take the initiative. You must be the driving force in your family.

You must lead the way in your family. You can't be passive. Passivity is the killer of the family. Passivity in the male is the killer of the family. You can't afford to be passive. It will always bring corruption to the family. So you need to be proactive when it comes to the things of the Lord. So here Abraham is showing that he is proactive. But we've also told you on Sunday morning what? That not only do you live proactively not passively but you must live prayerfully. Right? You must live prayerfully.

Abraham did not call upon the name of the Lord. There was a famine in the land. There was a problem in the land. What do you do? Well I'm the leader. I got to make a decision. I'm going to Egypt. But he never sought the Lord in the situation. The famine was severe. But what do you do? You go to the Lord. Like any great father does, he teaches his children that in a time of tragedy you go to your knees, you depend upon the Lord, you call upon the Lord, and you trust the Lord amidst your tragedy. That's what you do.

Abraham didn't do that. He took matters into his own hands. And a lot of men do that. Maybe you're one of them. That when a tragedy happens you go into operation mode. You go into fix it mode. Without ever calling upon the name of the Lord. Without ever asking God what do I do next Lord? You just go do it. And then you say Lord I hope you bless what I just did. Instead of going to the Lord, say Lord what do I do? Where do I go? How do I how do I respond to this? But this was the trip of corruption.

Look what happens. It came about when he came near to Egypt that he said to Sarai his wife, see now I know that you are a beautiful woman. Well you know Abraham's 75 so that makes Sarah how old? Anybody know? 65. She's a babe at 65. She's a beautiful woman okay. And when the Egyptians see you they will say this is his wife and they will kill me but they will let you live. Let me show you how he said it okay.

He says this, see now you're a beautiful woman and when the Egyptians see you they're gonna say this is his wife and they're gonna kill me but they will let you live. Don't let them kill me. That's how he said it. He said it like a girl. I said come on Abraham you gotta be kidding me. Oh don't let they're gonna kill me. So you tell them, you tell them that you're my sister. You're so beautiful that they know you're my wife. I'm a dead man and after all God's gonna bless me. Remember I'm the father of a great nation.

I can't die. So baby you can't let me die. So lie for me. Lie for me. Now in the background is Lot listening watching and waiting right. He's learning for the process. So it says in verse 14 it came about when Abraham came to the Egypt. The Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. Pharaoh's official saw her and praised her to Pharaoh and the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house. Pharaoh you gotta see this woman. She is absolutely gorgeous. You need her. So they went and took her to Pharaoh's house which is preliminary for being married to her to him.

Therefore he treated Abraham well for her sake and gave him sheep and oxen and donkeys and male and female servants and female donkeys and camels. Wow look what my lie did. My lie was a prophet. I profited from my sin. I could lie about who my wife is and look what I get. I get oxen. I get donkeys. I get camels. I get goats. This is great. And Lot's saying wow man if I could lie like that look what I'll get. See that? That's what happens. But the Lord struck Pharaoh in his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abraham's wife.

God was so good to his wife wasn't he? Protected her. And struck the house of Pharaoh with plagues. Then Pharaoh called Abraham and said what is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you lie to me? Look what now has happened to me. You see when you sin how it affects everybody you come in contact with. We think that hey babe it's okay just tell this lie it will all work out for me. It'll be better for me. You go compromise your purity. You go and you live a life of immorality and I'll be saved.

Let's do that. And she says oh okay because you're my head I'll follow your direction. And God overrides all that and protects her. And now Pharaoh comes back and says what have you done to me? Look at my household.

Look how you have destroyed my household. What have you done? Why did you lie to me Abraham? Now his testimony has been destroyed obliterated because he lied. See that? Why did you say she is my sister so that I took her for my wife? Now then here is your wife take her and go. Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him and they escorted him away with his wife and all that belonged to him. So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev he and his wife and all that belonged to him and here it is Lot with him.

The trip of corruption was the biggest influence in the life of Lot because when he sees Sodom in the distance he sees it and it reminds him of Egypt and that's where he wants to go. He has now got a taste of the world. Now there is times that God sent people to Egypt. He sent Joseph to Egypt. He sent Joseph and Mary to Egypt in the book of Matthew. Remember that? To flee from Herod in his destructive ways. But God never sent Abraham to Egypt. Abraham never called upon the name of the Lord to ask the Lord for direction.

He just did what he wanted to do and look what happened. You see you can live proactively but if you don't live prayerfully you're in big trouble, big trouble and that's exactly what happened with Abraham and that was the influence in the life of Lot. Remember Lot is not the main character in the story yet but these are pieces of the puzzle that helped put together a portrait of a man who lived a life of loss because he learned to compromise because of those who were over him leading in the way of compromise and corruption.

Even though there was a trip of consecration, even though there was a time where he was fully obedient to the Lord and built altars for the Lord. When tragedy strikes and believe me your children will learn more from you when tragedy strikes than at any other time in your life and you better be prepared to live for the glory and honor of God because if you don't then you will teach them how to disobey God. And Lot learned to disobey God. Lot learned to lie. What did Lot do? Abraham offered his wife to Pharaoh.

So what did Lot do? He offered his daughters to the homosexuals. Abraham did. My uncle did. He got away with it. And look at all the donkeys and oxen and sheep and cattle that he got.

So let me offer my girls to the homosexuals. He learned that from uncle Abraham. I'm not excusing Lot at all. He should have known better because there was a life of consecration they did not pick up on which he should have. So what do you have? You have two pieces of the puzzle. The sorrows he experienced and the sojourns he encountered. Thirdly, there is a school, the schooling that he earned.

And the schooling he earned falls into two categories. One was spiritual and the other vocational. Okay. One was spiritual, the other was vocational. The Bible tells us these words in the book of Genesis, Genesis chapter 18 verse number 19. We read that God said of Abraham, I know him that he will command his children and his household after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do righteousness and justice. Wow. Wow. That's an amazing statement that God said about Abraham. But that's in Genesis chapter 18, not in Genesis chapter 13.

So Abraham would have learned a lot between chapter 13 and chapter 18. But, but Lot was in that household and Lot was trained spiritually. His schooling was a spiritual schooling by father Abraham. And Abraham wasn't the greatest of fathers when it came to his nephew Lot, but he was his father. And he would teach him because Lot would become a righteous man. He would have to hear about that from Abraham who had received the call from God when the glory of the Lord appeared unto him. And he turned from the idols in Mesopotamia and served the true and living God.

So some way, somehow, sometime he would communicate those truths to Lot and Lot would embrace the righteousness of Christ and embrace the God of the universe and embrace the truth that Abraham taught. Somewhere down the line, he would embrace that truth. But yet that truth did not govern the way he lived because there was so much other compromise, so much other corruption around him that the iniquity in the heart was driven more in that direction. And so as it was, it would slowly push him further and further away from Abraham, push him into Sodom and push him to a place which caused him major compromise, major loss.

But he was schooled by father Abraham. He was taught the truth of the living God, but he also received vocational training. The Bible tells us, and we'll see this next week, that Abraham had 318 men that he trained to be soldiers. These men would go against the kings of the east when they had invaded Sodom and they would win the victory and Abraham would go and pay tithes to Melchizedek because he won the victory of 318 men. They were trained soldiers. Abraham was a warrior. He trained his men. And don't think for one moment he wouldn't train Lot, his nephew, in warriorship and train him in a vocation that would allow him to live.

And the Bible tells us that Lot also had many herds and many livestock, much livestock. He had all kinds of animals and he had learned how to take care of them from father Abraham. He had had a vocational training. He had had a spiritual training. He had been schooled by father Abraham. And you would think that the spiritual would override the vocational, that what he learned about the heart would be more important than what he learned about how to live outside of his house. But for some reason it did not take root in Lot's life.

So what have we learned? What we learned about not losing in life. Let me give you three principles based off of our three points and we will conclude our time together this evening.

Whenever you experience sorrow in life, as Lot did, whenever you experience sorrow in life, be encouraged theologically. Whenever you experience sorrow in life, be encouraged theologically. That is, made the study of God and the glory of God be the major factor in your encouragement. Thanatology is a study of death. Mentioned 924 times in the Old Testament. Some 423 times or 27 times, I think, in the New Testament. So over 1,300 times death is mentioned in the Bible. The study of thanatology is one of the most fascinating studies in all of scripture, the study of death.

But we don't want to study death. It's too negative. It's too dreary. It's too sad. And yet it is the one reality in life every one of us must face. And when sorrow comes into a life, you must be encouraged theologically. If you are, you will be grounded in the Lord. You will be grounded in the Lord. So when you experience sorrow in life, be encouraged theologically because you will be grounded in the Lord. Number two, when you encounter your sojourns in life, be enlightened biblically.

Be enlightened biblically. In other words, as you go through life, gentlemen, do not move your family unless you have clear direction from God. Don't do it. Don't do it. I can give you so many examples of families that I know that moved because it was cheaper to live someplace else. And I told them, don't move because it will cost you. And they said, if I stay, I can't afford it. And they moved. And the price they paid to move, to save money, cost them dearly with their family. Cost them. They left their church.

They left the support of their church, could not find another church. It affected their children. It affected the growth of their children. It had brought tragedy to their families. And I told them, don't move. I can give you illustration after illustration after illustration. You just can't pick up and move because you can't afford to live here. That might be the practical thing to do, but is it the biblical thing to do? Have you been enlightened biblically? Has God shown you in his word? You know what?

It's time for you to go. You got to go. Don't switch churches unless you know for certain that God has called you to another church. Don't do it. Because it will affect your children. It will affect your grandchildren. It will affect your family. Unless God moves you. If God moves you, go. If God hasn't moved you, but you get, you know, all uptight about something or irritated about something and you leave, be careful. And as you soldier, if you don't or not enlightened biblically, that is you are not seeing the truth of God that moves you from one place to another.

Don't get married to somebody unless you know for certain God has said, yes, this is the one. Do not be unequally yoked together with an unbeliever. Make sure they love the Lord. Make sure they know the Lord. Make sure you have the counsel of your parents and the counsel of their parents. And to make sure you know that this is the one, my daughter, my son is to marry. Make sure you have ironclad assurance that this is the best way to go. And none of us really knows because it's kind of a, uh, I think lack for a better word, a crapshoot when it comes to getting married sometimes, you know, but you know, you, you have this assurance from scripture.

You, you trust in the Lord to, to do a great, great and mighty work and make sure you, you sought wise counsel as, as we go through the life, we make these moves that we shouldn't always make, but we think because practically we should make them. We do it. And it costs us greatly. Don't do it unless, you know, for certain you have chapter and verses as it's time for me to go. I got to go. God has moved me in this direction. I believe that this is what God has for me and my family. And I can show you scripturally and biblically.

This is what has been said. That's very important. That's very important. So when you experience sorrow in life, be encouraged theologically. If you are, you'll be grounded in the Lord. When you encounter your sojourns in life, be enlightened biblically. If so, you'll be guided by the Lord. We all want to be grounded in the Lord. If you're grounded in the Lord, you'll be guided by the Lord. You got that point? Number three, when you are encountering your school in life, you're being trained, which all of us should always be in that process.

Be educated spiritually. Be educated spiritually because if you are, you'll be growing in the Lord. If you're grounded in the Lord and you're guided by the Lord, then you will be growing in your walk with the Lord. And that's where Lot needed to be, but wasn't. The schooling he received from father Abraham should have been that schooling that educated him so spiritually that he would want to grow in his walk with the Lord. Because that would be the key to his ability not to compromise and to be strong in the Lord, in the power of his might.

My friends, this is so important. If you don't want to lose in life, you must be grounded in the Lord. You must be guided by the Lord and you must be growing in your walk with the Lord. If you don't do that, you will lose. If you do, you won't lose. You'll win and everybody wants to win. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the word of God. How great the truth is. Our prayer father is that Lord you would embed this truth in our hearts. Cause us, cause us Lord to obey your word. May your spirit enable us to live for you.

I pray for every man in the room. I pray God that they would be men who lead their families in a way that honors you. That there'd be no compromise in their walk with you. There'd be no delay in their obedience to your word. But there would be a life of consecration that's so strong, so loud that it overshadows all things in their lives. Lord, help us not to sojourn to Egypt. You said in your word, book of Isaiah, woe to those who go down to Egypt, who trust in horses and trust in chariots. Woe to those who go a direction that lead them away from trusting you and entrusting in man's operation.

Lord, don't let us do that. May we as men lead our families in a way that honors the King. In Jesus name, Amen.