Remembering Lot's Wife

Genesis 19 is where we are again this morning. We'll be here again for just a few more weeks. We're going to talk about Lot's wife this morning. We have spent a lot of time talking about Lot himself and as you recall the beginning of our study of Genesis after 19, we said that we'd see a lot of us in Lot's life. We'd come to understand more of who we are when we look at Lot and that's true and hopefully you've been examining your life in light of his as you've gone through our study in Genesis chapter 19.

But this morning we're going to look at his wife. Little is mentioned about her. She's referenced three times in Genesis chapter 19. That's it. Three times. Her name is not given. She's just referred to as Lot's wife. And there's one verse that we skipped over in our last time that we're going to focus in on today. It's Genesis 19 verse number 26. It reads as follows, but his wife from behind him looked back and she became a pillar of Saul's. This woman is so prominent in Scripture, although she's only mentioned three times in one chapter, she becomes so prominent in Scripture that she becomes the supreme example.

Listen carefully. The supreme example in the New Testament of people who have everything around them that speaks to them about truth and godliness but never accept that truth to become godly. Turn back with me to Luke chapter 17 for a moment and I'm going to ask you to keep your finger on Luke 17 as well as Genesis chapter 19 because that's the bulk of our time this morning. We'll be going back and forth. Jesus said in a conversation with his men, verse number 32, these three words, remember Lot's wife.

Remember Lot's wife. They needed to remember her because she would become a key illustration to people who are not ready for God. And therefore she becomes a supreme illustration for us today as we try to understand this woman and how she speaks to us even though dead. She speaks volumes to us about our lives. Remember Lot's wife. I wonder if you have ever stopped to think about Lot's wife. The Bible says you need to remember her.

Do you remember? Did you remember her this week? Did you remember her last week? Answer, probably not. Most of you probably never knew Luke 17, 32 existed. But it does. Remember Lot's wife. Why? Why? Why do we need to remember this woman? Three things I want you to see. One is her character. Two, God's chastening. Three, our cleansing. Three main points. I hope to get through them this morning but I probably won't. So we're going to begin with point number one, her character.

Her character. And you need to notice three things about her character. Three things that speak volumes to us. They all come from Genesis 19, verse number 26. Let me read to you the context of that verse in case you have forgotten.

Verse 23 says, The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities and all the valley and all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew on the ground. But his wife from behind him looked back and she became a pillar of salt. Three things I want you to notice about her character.

One is this. She desired the world. She was told not to look. But she couldn't help herself. Bodily she was removed from the city. She and her husband and her two daughters were on their way to Zoar. And we'll see in just a few moments that they are just to embark into the city gate of Zoar and she looks back. She looks back. Why? Because she desired the world. Even though her body was out of that worldly zone, she desired it. Why? Because worldliness doesn't necessarily have to do with where I am physically but where I am spiritually.

What's going on inside of my heart because worldliness is more an attitude than it is an act. It's what I really desire. It's what I really want. And just the fact that she looked back tells us that she desired the world. That's why the Bible is replete with exhortations given to Christians about how they should live their lives. That's why Paul said in Colossians 3, set your affections on things above not on things below. If you be risen with Christ, if you be a new creation, you have no business setting your affections on this world, this world that's going to be destroyed one day.

So therefore set your affections above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God the Father. So Christ said in Matthew chapter 6, where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Where is your treasure? Where have you invested your time? Where have you invested your energy? Because that's where your heart is. You can say your heart is in one location. You can say your heart is one way. But if all your time and all your money is focused another way, then you've lied to yourself and to those round about you.

Whoever seeks to keep his life shall lose it. The context of Luke 17 helps us understand a lot about Lot's life. Christ says be careful.

That your desire for the world be so strong that it keeps you from gaining eternal life. The question comes, was Lot's wife saved? Answer, no. How do you know? The Bible never says that she was righteous. The Bible never tells us that his wife was righteous. She was so in love with the world, so in love with the world that she just had to look back. So Christ says in Luke 17, whoever seeks to keep his life shall lose it and whoever loses his life shall preserve it.

Over in Luke chapter 9, Christ said something very similar. He said this in verse number 23, if anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? Number two, her character.

I think this point will be a little shorter than the first point. She defied the Word. She defied the Word. Verse number 17, do not look behind you. That was the Word given by the angels. Don't look behind. See, come to verse number 26, but his wife from behind him, what? Looked back. She defied the Word. If you desire the world, you will defy the Word of God. It's that plain and simple. If you want what the world has, you don't care what God has. If you want what the world wants to give you, you don't care what God wants to give you.

And so when she heard the warning given by the angels, she rebelled against it. She didn't want to have it. Look what it says, or look what Charles Spurgeon said when he quoted these words. Rebellion is as much seen in the breach of what happens or what appears to be a little command as in the violation of a great precept. It was just a little thing. Don't look back. What part of don't look back don't you understand? You just don't look back. But she looked back. She defied the Word of God. She didn't want to have or do what God's Word said.

There are many people today in the church who really believe that they are born again. They really want people to say, yes, I'm a Christian. Just look at my attendance.

Just look at my life. I'm here every week. But they defy the Word of God at every point. And we've got to be careful about that don't we? And they defy the Word because they desire the world. Let me give you a couple of illustrations.

Ephesians chapter 4 says this. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other just as God and Christ also has forgiven you. Therefore, chapter 5, be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. Paul says you need to get away from a bitter spirit, an unforgiving kind of spirit, a slanderous kind of spirit, an angry kind of heart.

Put all that away and I want you to be tender hearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. I want you to walk in love. And the way you walk in love is you forgive your enemy. You forgive your brother of sin. And we have people today in the church who say, I'm not going to forgive my brother. I'm not going to do that. You can't expect me to forgive them for what they did to me. And yet they want to tell everybody they're born again Christians. Time out. Wait a minute.

Let's hold on a second. You tell me that you're going to defy the Word of God and say, no, I am not going to do that and say, I'm a Christian. A Christian does not defy the Word. They delight in the Word. The Christian does not desire the world. They detest the world. That's the difference. So Christ says, remember Lot's wife.

She desired the world. She defied the Word that was given to her. She did not want to obey what was said. She wanted to do her own thing. She wanted to linger behind so she could look back. Because that's what she really wanted. What makes you any different than Lot's wife when you say, hey, wait a minute. You think that I'm going to forgive them for what they did? Not on your life. And after all they haven't even come to me and sought any kind of forgiveness. So why should I forgive them? You forgive them as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you.

The Christian's greatest testimony is clearly seen when forgiveness is at stake. Clearly seen. Let me give you another example.

James 1 verse 26. If anyone thinks himself to be religious, you think yourself religious? Say, I'm a pretty religious guy. Alright. Here's your test. If anyone thinks himself to be religious and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless. Whoa. You say you're a religious person? Yes, I do. Are you able to control your tongue and bridle your tongue? Or do you just lash out with swear words and curse words and slanderous kind of things whenever you want to?

The Bible says your religion's worthless. It doesn't mean a thing. It doesn't mean a thing. How? Because out of the heart, the Bible says by your words you shall be judged and by your words you shall be what?

Condemned. Because what comes out of the mouth is what's evident of the heart's condition. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. So James says, you say you're a religious man. You say you know God. You believe in God. And yet you don't bridle your tongue and you live a life of continuous gossip and slander and swearing and cursing. James says your religion is worthless. It doesn't mean a thing because those who have a new heart, those who are a new creation have a new language. That's what he says.

People say, well, I'm not going to do that. Case closed. You see the Bible's very black and white. We think it's gray. But people want to defy the Word of God, just outright say, I'm not going to go to church. I don't need to be in church. You've got to ask yourself the question, do you really know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? You say, wow, Pastor, you're hitting kind of hard today, man, in terms of where we stand. You're doing a lot of meddling today. I'm not doing any meddling. I'm just reading to you what the Word of God says.

Jesus said it. I'm just quoting it. Remember Lot's wife. Why? Because she desired the Lord. She desired the Lord. She was the world. She defied the Word of God. God said, don't do this. She did it. She did it. You know, we want to play around with God. Which leads me to the third aspect.

She disbelieved the warning. She didn't believe it. She didn't really believe it. Down deep her heart. She said, My God is a God of love. My God is a God of compassion. My God is a God of care. My God is not going to sweep me away in judgment. Not my God. My God loves everybody. My God's going to make a way for everybody to get to heaven. My God's a God of mercy and grace and forgiveness. I can look back. I don't have to worry about. He didn't really mean that we'd be swept away in judgment. He meant something else.

See, we don't want to believe God. God says, Don't do this. If you do this, this is what's going to happen. We say, I don't think so. Like we're God. Like we have, you know, a better idea than God does. As if we can make a decision without any consequences. The Bible says, Be not deceived.

God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. And yet we don't believe that there are consequences for sin. We don't want to believe that. We just want to go on living without any accountability, doing anything we want to do, because our God's a God of love and God will forgive me. Really. Really. I said it on Wednesday night. If you missed it, I'm going to say it this morning. You know, people in the church suffer from DDD. You heard of ADD? People of evangelicalism today suffer from DDD, doctrinal deficit disorder.

Did you know that? People are so out the lunch when it comes to doctrine that they go around and they just come up with all kinds of theological ideas. And then you talk to them about the Word of God. They say, Well, that guy's not going to do that. And I told the people on Wednesday night, We at CCC don't want to suffer from DDD. See, we are committed to teaching the truth, the whole counsel of God, so you understand who God is. This woman, she disbelieved the warning. She didn't believe it. Whenever you, listen, whenever you disobey God's Word, whenever you say, You know what?

He doesn't really mean I got to do that. Whenever you defy the Word of God, you disbelieve His warning. You don't believe that God is going to do what He says He's going to do. You don't believe it. Let me give you an illustration.

Exodus chapter 20. God says, I am the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

You shall have no other God before me, none. I am it. There's only one priority in life, that's me. You should not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You should not worship them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. I'm a jealous God, He says. And I visit the iniquity of the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing loving kindness to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments.

God says, I'm it. I'm the sole purpose for your existence. I'm everything. I don't want you to go after any other form of worship. I don't want you to worship anything else. I am your sole priority. And if at any time you decide that I'm not your priority, you decide to worship something else, to make for yourself another idol, to put all your affection and all your devotion in another direction, I'm going to visit the iniquity upon your children, to the third and to the fourth generation.

Your sin of denying me, your sin of idolatry, your sin of not making me the priority, I'm going to visit it upon your kids. And we say, no, you're not. No, you're not. God says, yes, I am.

I'm a jealous God. And I want all of you. I don't want a part of you. I don't want a third of you. I don't want a tenth of you. I want all of you. Every single aspect. And we say, you don't really want all of me, God, do you? You just want some of me. And God said, if you give me all, boy, I'm going to add so much compassion, so much loving kindness upon your generation for thousands of generations beyond. Just give me yourself and I'll just blast your socks off. But if at any time you said, you know what, God, you're not my priority anymore.

I don't really care that much about you. I'm going to visit the iniquity upon your children's children. He goes on to say this, you should not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Do you believe that? Do you believe you should not take the name of the Lord your God in vain? Say, well, yeah, sometimes. Then God says, for the Lord will not leave them or him unpunished who takes his name in vain.

You think you're going to go unpunished if you're going to blaspheme my name? You think you can treat my name with frivolity? You think you can go around calling me the big boss upstairs or the big God in the sky and go around being unpunished? No way. God says, be not deceived.

I will not be mocked. You need to adhere to my standards. Don't defy my Word. You believe the warning. Lot's wife, she desired the world. She defied the Word of Almighty God and she disbelieved the warning. So, what happened? God judged her. God judged her. Where are you today? Where do you stand with Almighty God? The Bible says, remember Lot's wife.

Do you want to keep the world? Do you want everything the world can give you? Do you desire the world more than you desire the Word or do you detest the world? Do you defy the Word of God or do you delight in the Word of God? Do you disbelieve the warnings of God or do you really, truly believe that what God said He would do, He will do? It's not really hard to determine where you stand. You just got to answer yourself those simple questions and say, yes, I want God more than anything. Lot was a worldly man.

He didn't look bad. He believed the warning. He believed it. How many spouses are married to men or to women who've seen the mighty power of God in their lives yet still have not come to a place of repentance? Christ says, remember Lot's wife.

Remember her. Don't forget her. Why? Because there are so many people today that look just like everybody else in the church and there's coming a day when the Son of Man is going to appear and they're not going to be ready and they'll be swept away in judgment just like Lot's wife was. She wasn't prepared to meet her maker and she was swept away in the judgment of God because she disbelieved the warning. She defied the Word. She desired the world. The basic simple question is what do you desire in life?

What do you detest in life? What do you believe in life? Let's pray.