It's good to be here tonight. I just got through with a meeting up in the Ozarks. We about froze to death. And then we were up a few weeks ago in Wisconsin. We about froze to death. And I had, of all things, to wear that suit that had two pair of pants tonight. I thought it was going to be wintertime down here, too. Was I mistaken? I come to this pulpit with a burden this evening. It is my prayer, and I want to speak to you tonight. You will know who you are in the course of this message. You will know who you are. You are a believer. You come to the Lord. But you have begun to slip backward. You have begun to be entangled with the affairs of this life. And you are distracted. You are of a double mind. You are not in harmony with the will of God right now in your life. It is my desire and it's our prayer that you would be restored. You that are overtaken in a fault There's only one of two possibilities for you. You will either be restored, or you will apostatize. You don't want to go all the way down. Now, I'm going to talk to you tonight about a man in the Scriptures, and we're going to read. I want you to turn with me to Genesis 19. I'm going to speak to you and share with you, not everything, but I'm going to give you a few characteristics of a fellow named Lot, who is a believer. Believe it or not, Lot, as we will see, and I will have you to turn with me in a moment into the New Testament, 2 Peter 2. But I want to begin reading. I'm not going to read. I will, in the course of this message, point out many things in the whole chapter, or most of the chapter. But I want to just read from Genesis 19, beginning at verse 1. And this is where The Lord is sending two angels into the wicked city of Sodom where Lot is now some sort of an official, as we will see, in the city, to rescue him, to pull him out. The Lord out of mercy, which we will see this, not because of merit, not because of work, But because of the Lord's own good intention to show Lot mercy. Got him out of that mess. Saved him, in fact. But Lot, though he were saved out of Sodom, Lot still suffered, as we will see, many consequences. to His pilgrimage where He ought not to be. And this is the thing. You as a believer can get in a position. It may not be a location, or it may be a location. But you can get in a position in your life where you ought not to be. You've fallen into this state. And it's so important that if you've seen yourself slipping back, there is, thank God, There is repentance at any stage of our fall. God not only can convert you at the moment, at the beginning, but God can convert you even after a fall. That's why James, the last verse in James, Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth and one do convert him, You probably, even since you believe, needed a conversion. Needed to be turned again to the Lord. Well, that's a good thing to do. To turn back to the Lord. And the Bible promises us this. Whatever sin may have come into our life and got a grip upon us, The Bible is very faithful to say to us, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins. Listen, do not think that the blood cannot cleanse this sin. The devil would have you to believe it's all over. It will only be all over until you die in sin and go to hell. Earth, you may, by grace, repent and be restored. Let's read a little bit about Lot. Genesis 19. I'll have you to turn some other passages in a moment. There came two angels to Sodom that evening, and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Notice in the gate of Sodom, this was not just sitting there for pleasure, he was sitting there for profit. He was sitting there because it was a position in the city, a position of notoriety, a position of authority, a position of prominence. And Lot seeing them, rose up to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. He knew they were holy men. And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servants' house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and you shall rise up early and go on your ways. And they said, Nay, but we will abide in the street all night. And he pressed upon them greatly, and they turned unto him, and entered into his house, and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter. And they called unto Lot and said unto him, Where are the men who came into thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them. And that is not, we want to get acquainted with your new friends. This is, that we may, and let me say, that we may sodomize them. That we may have homosexual relations with them. That's what they wanted. And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, and said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold, now I have two daughters who have not known man, Let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes. Only unto these men do nothing, for therefore they came under the shadow of my roof." And they said, stand back. And they said again, this one fellow came in to sojourn. And will he needs be a judge? Now we will deal worse with thee than with them. And they pressed hard against the man, even Lot, and came near to breaking down the door. But the men put forth their hand and pulled Lot into the house to them and shut the door. And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, though small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door. And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatever thou hast in the city? Bring them out of this place. For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them has become great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it." And Lot went out and spoke unto his sons-in-law, who married his daughters, and said, Get up. Get out. Get up. Get out. Woke them up. Midnight. They're in bed. Get up! Get out! Get out of this place! For the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law. And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise! Here he was! Get up! 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 the two daughters, the Lord being merciful unto him, not for any other reason under heaven. And they brought him forth and set him outside of the city. And it came to pass when they had brought him forth abroad that he said, Escape for thy life. Look not behind thee, neither stay thou in the plain. Escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my lord. Behold, now thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which he has shown me in saving my life, and I cannot escape to the mountain." You ever hear such chronic bellyaching and unbelief in the space of mercy? They just told him that he would be spared. They told him that he would be saved. He says, I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil overtake me and I die. Behold, now this city is near to flee into, and it is a little one. Oh, let me escape there, is it not a little one? And my soul shall live. And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, and I will not overthrow this city for which thou hast spoken. Haste thee, escape there, for I cannot do anything till thou come there. Therefore the name of the city was Zor, or insignificant, or small. When the sun was risen upon the earth, a lot entered into Zorah. Then the Lord reigned upon Sodom and Gomorrah." And I might pause here saying, making them an example, an object lesson. Peter says, "...for all those afterward who should live ungodly." And that includes this bunch that marched on Washington this weekend. God has notified them in His eternal Word what He plans on doing to those folks. And it's not just those, it's anyone in sin. Your sin of adultery is not any better than the sin of homosexuality. Your addiction to internet pornography is not any better than perversion. It is perversion. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and 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. Now, I'm not going to take the time to read the rest of the chapter, but I want you to notice this is not the end of the story. There is another shameful and degrading chapter at the close of this, which I will not even read, and you will take time yourself to read it. It involves a daddy's incest, and by the way, and somewhat ignorantly because he was made drunk, by his daughters, but nevertheless, he got his own two daughters pregnant. Now, while God is thinking about this, turn with me now to 2 Peter 2. 2 Peter 2. Beginning in verse 6, And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that after should live ungodly, and delivered just lot. And I might say, just lot. Just lot in the singular sense and just lot in the justified sense. Delivered, justified lot. Why? Because God had justified him. God had underwritten His justification. God had a vested interest in Him for His own glory and for His own goodness and for the magnification of His own mercy. And by the way, let me say that will be the true end of the story for all of us who have saved. God will have magnified His own mercy in saving us. He didn't get a good bargain when He got us. It's all to the praise and to the glory of His grace that He saves any of us. And He delivered just lot, vexed with the filthy. King James says, conversation. It means the whole scope of the way they acted. Not just the way they talked, but the way they acted in public. They acted disgracefully. looked disgracefully. Everything about their manner of life was deplorable and horrid. And the scripture says that Lot was vexed, tormented, bothered, grieved, unhappy, miserable, Like you shouldn't even be there. With the filthy manner of life of the wicked. For that righteous man, listen to that, dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul. See, that's one thing God does for you when He saves you. When you initially come to know Him, He gives you a righteous soul. He cleanses you. You're different. If you've been made righteous by God, you can fall far and you can fall hard, but you cannot make your righteous soul unrighteous. That righteous man dwelling among them and seeing and hearing vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds. And the moral of the story in verse 9 is, the Lord knoweth how. Thank you. Some of you need Him to move with His knowledge toward you because you're in it up to your knees. You've been swiveling around places you ought not to go. You've been rubbing shoulders with the wrong kind of company. You're out of fellowship, out of step with the Lord, and you know it, you're not happy. And if God doesn't exercise His mercy and grace toward you and pull you out, you're a goner. But it says here, the Lord knoweth how. to deliver the godly out of temptations. And by that I mean, well, we think, was not tempted and did not he fall in a lot of temptation? Yes. But the Lord delivered him from fatal temptation. Final apostasy. And that's what's got to happen if you're on the way down. If you're deteriorating in your spiritual life, that's what the Lord's got to do for you. He's got to deliver you out of it, lest your temptations are more than you can bear and you go under and depart finally and completely from the Lord. And if you do that, there is no hope. The Bible tells you so. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation. Thank you, Lord. and to reserve the unjust unto the day of punishment." Don't think anybody's getting away with anything. Thank you, brother... Jackie. Let's pray. We need to work tonight, Lord. We don't want another sermon. We don't want just another meeting. Just another conference. If that's all we get, we'll take it. We'll take any drop of mercy you give us. If you were to give us a word tonight, we'll take it. But if you were to give some poor soul that's being tempted, who has been overtaken in a fault, who have sinned, but have yet not sinned unto death. We ask for them tonight, Father. On their behalf, would you show them mercy and call them back into fellowship? Restore unto them the joy of the salvation of the Lord. Touch these wicked and deceitful things and days and times. Put them behind them. Bring them into the light and liberty and fullness and freedom and joy of the Lord. For I pray in Jesus' name, Amen. We normally don't speak openly about the embarrassing failures. or the disappointing conduct of any of our family members. It's not something we normally delight in telling anyone of how shameful some of our own relatives or our children are behaving. But here it is. The Lord Jehovah seemingly delighting in the permanent record of the most despicable shortcoming Putting it into the book forever to be read and pondered and remembered. Here it is. The Lord putting it together in the record of those terrible failings. The almost unbelievable backslidings. The unthinkable behavior. of one whom He declares to be as righteous as Abraham. Let me tell you this, God has no category A, B, or C of righteousness. If you ever get any of it, you get the full dose. You have a complete righteousness in Christ through His cross So that there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. God is very bold with His love, and He is obviously not afraid to bestow grace upon souls whom He receives little in return. Is that not so? Proving that it is never by the works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He has saved us. Don't think you've ever built up merit. If you have any righteousness, if you have any salvation, it comes to you freely. Why? Because you have cast your lot and hope and confidence in the Son of God. No other reason. It seems by New Testament standards, we would not think lot much of a child of God, if a child of God. The story of lot has perplexed many Christians. But the New Testament commentary given by Peter declares Lot to be a very just man, whom the Lord delivered and set forth as an example of his great grace, his mighty delivering power. Here he is called just, justified, and delivered justified Lot, vexed with a filthy conversation of the wicked, a righteous man with a righteous soul, a godly man whom the Lord delivers out of temptations. Isn't that amazing? With all of Lot's shenanigans, his worldliness, his backsliding, his debacles, and his deviant deeds, All of these things appear to be swept under the rug, or I say swept under the blood. While his few good points, which we would have never noticed in the narrative, do you notice anything good about him? That his justification and his deliverance and his righteous soul The final word is the New Testament word, and those are the words that are memorialized forever concerning life. I sometimes read the account in Genesis, and I read the account in Peter, and it says, is this talking about the same man? Isn't this risky of the Lord? Doesn't He lower the bar here? Praising such a poor example? Beloved, I want you to know that God never raises or lowers the bar. For only Christ meets up to the standard. Even after the Lord saves you, He must continue to save you. You never measure up to the standard. The rest of us, Outside of Christ are little lots. Now it doesn't mean that you have necessarily fallen into the same exact despicable things, but you're a lot in your own fashion and have been. You find that even Abraham, in chapter 20, verse 9, lied about his wife. And Abimelech rebuked Abraham, justified Abraham, Telling Abraham to his face, you've done to another man things that ought not to be done. So what I intend to do, what we want to see tonight, if we look carefully at the record, what is not just an example of God's unconditional mercy. He is a memorial to the pitiful consequences of compromise with sin. Don't think your fooling around with the world doesn't have consequences. Don't think for a moment you shall not, as a child of God, reap in portion, not in full, but in portion in this world what you have sown. I'm telling you, beloved, we have a warning. Lot serves as a warning for believers who have started getting loose in your life. Maybe it's that little tattoo like the others have. Maybe it's that little liquor over the weekend. You begin to get a little loose. You begin to compromise with the world. Beloved, and I praise the Lord tonight, there is a blessed state of total justification. And the Lord had justified a lot. And hopefully tonight I'm talking to you who've really been justified. You that are slipping and departing from the Lord. He has underwritten your justification. And therefore, if he has, he's going to be merciful. And the Lord will be merciful in a lot and save a lot out of the terrible destruction that fell upon the wicked. But there is also such a thing, believe it or not, there is such a thing as the righteous being scarcely saved. Due to their backsliding, their compromise with sin in the world, they have reaped defeat, agony, misery, loss of joy, no victory, heartache. And all of these, at any point, ought to serve as a goad to cause you to think, What am I doing to myself? What am I bringing upon my life? Let me go through these things with Lot real quick. And then I'll summarize with some closing lessons. Let me give you, let's talk a little bit. Let me talk about Lot. And if you can fit in here anywhere, and if you can catch something by the Spirit of God that arrests your heart, take it and go with it. Because let me tell you this, backsliding is dangerous. And if you're slipping, and if you're going down spiritually, and your prayer life is in the pits, and you're out of fellowship with the church, and you're dabbling in the world, you're in danger. There's no two ways about it. Wake up! Turn! Get on track! Come back to the Lord. For it's only in staying close to the Lord, number one, that makes us happy and full of joy. When we begin to get close to the world, entangled in the affairs of the world, seeking the things of the world and the wealth of the world, Do we soon lose our joy? My friend, I would suggest to you that it did not start Lot's downward spiral out of fellowship with God and out of the will of God. It did not begin in chapter 19. In fact, chapter 13. Turn with me. In chapter 13, verses 10 through 13, tells us there was a quarrel between Lot and Abraham over the pasture land. in the promised land which belonged legitimately to Abraham. The strife and the fussing and the feuding was going on, and Abraham couldn't bear to have this strife. So he gave Lot an option in verse 9. It's not the whole land before thee. Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right. If thou wilt take the right hand, then I will go to the left. And Lot lifted up his eyes," listen to this, and Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zor. Then Lot chose him, all the plain of the Jordan." Why? The lust of the eyes? and the lust of the flesh, and purely making his decision on natural reason. What will make me money? What will get me ahead in this world? When Abraham came to him and said, separate Lot if he had any sins at all, he would have ran.