Welcome to the Susquehanna Valley Baptist Pulpit, preaching a life worth living, abundant life in Christ. And now the message. Genesis chapter 13. As you turn there, we're going to preach the message tonight. Remember the B's, alright? Now, it may not be the type of message that you're accustomed to, but we're going to take God's Word And we're going to take a look at it, the things that happen in our lives. Now what do you mean by that, Brother Dan? I've lived no one else's life but my own. All right? And I'll tell you what, it's been pretty hairy at times. And I got saved at 16 and got baptized a little bit late after that. And then between my senior year in high school, God worked out a series of events to get me where he needed me to get because of my pride and ended up calling me into the ministry. And since 1969 I got saved, 1970 I went to Bible college, and I met my wife in 1973, and got married the day after I graduated, went into the ministry the day after that, and that's been 50 years this last June 7th, amen? And I'm still learning. But what I want to do tonight is help you and help us all in here, and I'm honored that the pastor asked me to preach at this conference. I do several conferences, but I wanted to start with us. Y'all know what I mean with us? And I want us to be thinking about us tonight, alright? How many has ever been in a sermon? We've heard some preacher preach and you go, oh, that person really needs it. OK, you know, and some of you are going like that and the rest of you are afraid to. But I want you to understand. Let's start with us tonight. Amen. And so Jesus is preaching in Luke chapter 17. I don't have you there. You just stay where you're at. And he's talking to the people about it's going to come. There's going to be two guys, you know, there'll be a couple out there doing the gardening, there'll be a couple in bed, and there'll be a couple not paying attention. And when the Lord returns, one's going to be taken and one's going to be what? Left. And no matter where you're at and what you're doing, when that rapture takes place, one's going to be taken and one's going to be left. And how many of y'all want to be raptured out of here? Good. How many want to be left here when the other's here? You know, maybe you don't understand the question. I think we all want to go to heaven, right? Well, in that process, you and I need to make a decision that we are NOT going to do the wrong thing. All God's people said. However, we have done wrong things. amen so Jesus is preaching he says in Luke chapter 6 this is great stuff by the way and they understood what he was saying Luke chapter 17 verse 32 don't need to turn on what you're gonna memorize this verse with me tonight your son's already done all right you ready you ready Luke chapter 17 verse 32 say that with me I will hear one adult in this thing okay don't you ready I won't hurt you adults this will help you adults Luke 17 verse 32 Remember Lot's wife. Say it with me. Now you say it. You got it. Wow, we learned something tonight. So to remember Lot's wife, we've got to understand something has taken place. It's so important in Christ's vernacular and Christ's life and God's life that He wants us to know that you and I, we just can't sit there, well, I don't know if I need to make that decision or not. That's a real gray area. No, it's not gray. Either you have Jesus Christ in your heart or you don't. Amen. Secondly, either you're right with God or you're not. Amen. Now, I know there's older people in here like me. How many of you folks in the last five years over the age of 60 have gotten stiffer? Put your hands way up high. I want the kids to see this. Come on. Wear that stiffness proud, all right? You kids don't know what stiff is. You've not experienced it, you know. You know, you get up in the morning and you yawn, you're 16 year old, you think you're stiff. Oh no, that's not what we're talking about. Your life will change past the age of 60. Can I hear an amen? That's going to happen. Also in our Christian life, if you do not try to stay or do the best you can to stay right with God, there's going to be some problems coming to your life. And that is on you and no one else. You can't blame your mom. You can't blame your dad. You can't blame the dog, hog or frog. It's on you. Take the responsibility. All right. That's what this message is about. So remember, the beads I went to Sunday school in a church just like this Melissa Baker was my teacher she wore glasses right here preacher and and and she was about five foot tall and about five foot wide and and and she was a great teacher and I was like in first grade and she's up there teaching you know and you know she's got got her hands of waving she loved us kid you the only reason I went is because She gave us cookies and lemonade every Sunday school class. I could care less about what she's going to teach. I just wanted those ginger cookies and I wanted that lemonade. But she was teaching this lesson, children obey your parents and the Lord for this is So she kept driving that home. Sure, baby. This is right. This is right. This is right So going home that day from church my mama. She said Danny. What did you learn at church today? I learned that children obey your parents in the Lord. It's it's the best thing to do. It's right She says well that is good. So this week. Are you going to obey? Yes, I'm going to obey. You know that mama I love my mama and dad you're okay, but I love mama why because she don't spank quite as hard as you do but anyway I thought my name was middle name was don't till I was seven years of age It was Danny don't touch Danny don't eat Danny don't touch do so I want you to understand I was real proud of myself that I remembered what the Bible lesson was that day and so did my twin Sam and So, you know it you learn one thing at church you hear from the pulpit one thing, but sometimes we live another don't we? Amen And that week, we was raised on a farm, of course, and that week, Daddy went to work, and as he's getting ready to go to work, we're around the kitchen table there in the morning. He said, now, children, I'm going to be gone today working, and I've got to be doing this, this, and this. Now, Dan and Sam, you remember, you remember what the Bible lesson was yesterday. Yes, children, obey your parents and the Lord for this is right. You're going to live longer, amen? And so he said, good, you obey your mom and your aunts today. They're going to be working here on the farm. I got to go to work down at the dam on the higher river, so you're going to do this, this, and this. And you obey your mom if you don't. I brought you into the world, I'll take you out. And I want you to understand, you obey your mom. Yes, yes, yes, dad, you know that. Now he says, here's two don'ts. Number one, you don't ride the cattle today. We've been riding cattle, we watched, you know, Bonanza, and we've been doing a little rodeo, you know. He said, you stay off the cattle. Secondly, you don't go up to the pig pen. And that's a no-go zone. Stay away from the pig pen. Yes, sir, daddy. Children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. You know, and dad went to work and mom got busy and my aunts came down and they're all working, you know, and my twin and I, about 930 in the morning, about two hours later, we're bored stiff. So we worked our way up to the chicken house and worked our way on up to the pig pen and we stayed away from the cows, but we had watched the bonanza the night before where little Joe and Haas was in a rodeo. And so we we said, well, there's the pigs. And that's not here. What he doesn't know won't hurt him. It said, children, obey your parents and the Lord for this is right. No parents here. So it's our decision, right? See our theology. I think I got that from my parents. But I'm saying as we got there, we're going to take turns riding the hogs. Y'all, you kids know what a hog is? A sow, y'all know what a sow is? That's where the McDonald's bacon and sausage comes from. And we had four or five big old sows. Our pig pen was about the size of the church up here, this platform. And over here on this side was a little lean-to. That's a hillbilly term for a little shed, you know. And inside, the pigs would be in there sleeping, you know. So my twin and I got on top of that shed. We drew straws. I got to jump on the pig first, all right? And so I went, whoa, piggy. Now when you do that, the pigs would come out, you know. And so called that big old sow came out. I can't do it now, but I jumped off that roof on top of that pig, grabbed her by the ears. How many, got any farmers in here? How many has ever heard a full grown sow squall? Whoa, scary you like an elephant, right? So she's a squall and I'm holding on my little fat body on top of that fat pig It was something to see and by 20 notes on top of that roof He's got to get to the number seven to win if I get to seven. I'm in number one place one Two and he's doing that three and on three The sky went dark We did not know below us preacher was two nests of hornets on each side, watch me, of that shed. There's a reason why Dad said, don't go to the pig pen. Now I'm telling you, When I looked up, I saw those hornets. Now, they're not a bumblebee or a sweet bee. They are bees on steroids. How many of you have ever been stung by a hornet? All right. You ever want to get back to your mother-in-law, turn one loose in the car while she's driving? I'm just saying those things are powerful. I jumped off that pig. I jumped over that fence. I'm running hard as I can. I could care less what Ephesians says, chapter 6, verse 1. I'm just trying to get away from the bees. And I dive into a watering trough about 30 yards away from that pig pen where our cattle would drink. My twin's stuck on the roof. He's trying to get off. They're attacking him. I was stung about seven times before I went into that little water container. He got stung about 20, 25 times. And I come up for air. The bees have gone. He goes walking past me. And his head was starting to swell. It was about the size of a volleyball. And you could see his eyes. They got him here and here and here and here. And the poison was doing its work. And he made it to the back of the house. And I'm trying to drag him into the house. And he basically fainted. I thought he died. Mom come out screaming and yelling. What happened? I said, I don't know. We're just up at the pigpen. Bees. She goes, oh, no. And she throws him in the back of that car. We had a 48 Ford on that day and got me in the car. I've been stung a couple of times. This right ear still moves from that bee sting. But I'm just saying that as we get to the doctor, the doctor, we rush in there. He's in worse shape than me. Doctor said, bring him in. And they gave him a shot. And they had him on a bed there on a gurney. And they said, wait, this should take effect and help it. It was a kind of serum and he started to feel better and mom called dad down at the work And dad come driving in there. Now. My dad was 5 foot 2 220 pounds and he wasn't fat Did you ever see a hydrant? He was like a hydrant no neck just poof and and kind of walk like this, you know and He was a stout guy and when he would get upset he had a body language about him when he would be mad This is what would happen And that chin would go to the right, and then my eyes would blink. Oh, no. And he would try to control himself, but the more he blinked, okay. And when he heard the doctor said that this is what happened to your son, and where did it happen? And when he realized that we got to the pig pen, And we got in the bees nest. Oh boy We got in the car to go home. My twins laying across the backseat his feet on my lap Mom's in the passenger side dad's driving at over 48 43 on the tree for it I mean he shifts in gears and he's driving like this and his necks are snapping and my mom reached over and tapped his shoulder and His name was Cletus. We called him Shorty. I never did, but everybody else did. She said, Cletus, not today. Not today. I didn't know what that meant, not today. Well, the next morning, I found out what that meant. My dad, usually when he wanted to get us or discipline us, he wouldn't come up the steps. He'd be, that means everything's fine. Come on down. If it was, you're in trouble. That third thump, oh, no. That morning, there's no thump. Hear his feet coming up those steps. He walked in our room, my twins over there, and I'm over here, and we'd been up, and we'd been waiting for the Judgment Day. He walked in, he had a Bible with him, and he also had another thing with him, a paddle, okay? It wasn't a very big thing, but it's not how big it is, it's whose hands it's in, right? And so he walked over there, he laid that down, and he said, now boys, here's what the Bible says. Children, bear your parents to the Lord, for this is, for this is, say it again, for this is, There's a right and there's a wrong. Either you're right with God or you're not. Amen? With me so far on this thought? So, I want you to catch this. So we get there and Dad disciplines us. He sets us back down and he says this, boys I want you to understand something. From this day forward when you disobey me or your mom in any way judgment's coming but he said more importantly when you disobey God the real judgment is coming my dad wasn't a preacher you know he just wasn't that way but he said I'm telling you you know you did wrong today yes sir we know we did wrong you made a choice not to do the right thing yes sir we said this now and he said Luke chapter 17 verse 32 says what we have no idea dad remember Lot's wife What? Remember Lot's wife. What happened to her? She turned to a pillar of salt when she disobeyed God and God's will, God's word and God's way. She thought she had it made in the shade with all the lemonade. She didn't think God's will and Bible actually applied to her because she was close to her husband and close to Abraham and they could live around all this sin and let all that stuff go and it would be okay because she's with Lot. And she knew what was right. What did she do, folks? She did wrong. All she did was turn and look. She didn't say anything. She didn't hurt anybody else. Yeah, but that body language speaks. And Dad said, the next time, the next time you want to disobey me, you better remember Lot's wife. OK. And he said, more importantly, you'd better remember the bees. And I'm telling you, when he was done with us, we remembered the bees. Amen. Now let's go to our story. Genesis 13. Bible tells us here, remember Lot's wife, Bible tells us here Lot has been blessed, Abraham had been blessed, God had grown them, God's got a plan for them. And this message tonight deals with God's judgment when we do not listen to His Word, when we don't obey the Holy Spirit, when we don't respond to God's leading and we do it our way. I want you to understand four things, maybe five I'll look at tonight. And the first thing is this, Lot made a decision. He made a decision. Now the land was before them. They had all of this property here. And they had all this property here. And they had all this property here. This is Sodom and Gomorrah. And he got, you know, he can go halfsies, you know. And Abraham said, now I'm going to let you make the choice because, you know, our boys aren't getting along. They're fussing and fighting. And so we've got to make a decision here. Look at chapter 13 and verse 7. And there was strife between the herdman of Abraham and herdman of Abraham's cattle and the herdman of Lot's cattle. And the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelt then in the land. And Abraham said to Lot, Let there be no strife. Now Abraham's the uncle. He's the leader here. All right. Both are supposed to be godly men, which I'll show you at the end of the message. And between my herdman and thy herdman, for we be brethren. We're family. We've got to stop this fussing and fighting. If it not the whole land before thee, separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If thou take the left hand, then I'll go to the right. And if thou depart to the right hand, then I'll go to the left. And Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching. Now I understand in this man's eyes, how many has ever seen Wile E. Coyote chasing that road runner? His eyeballs, he sees money, cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching. That's all Lot was seeing. He was seeing money, he was seeing fortune, he was seeing stuff. His wife was seeing it with him. Look at this. It was well watered everywhere before the Lord, destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord. You talk about fat cattle, fat camels, fat sheep. I'm telling you, he could see the money there. Like the land of Egypt, as the comest thou into Zor. Then Lot chose, he made a decision. Then Lot chose him, God's not involved, no one else is involved, and he made a decision. Can I tell you tonight, my first thought is this, Lot's decision, it may affect his life, and I gotta tell you some good news, or some plain news here, it affects your life, amen? I made a decision about a year ago, I don't know if I was here yet or not, but my wife called me about this time of night, maybe a little bit later, and I'm driving home from a revival meeting, and I love my wife, amen, and she FaceTimed me while I was driving, and I looked around didn't see anybody turned that thing on sitting there on my dash of my car and she said hey honey how you doing I'm doing good and I'm coming home to mama and and she said that's good you're gonna stop at Bucky's and yeah I'm gonna get you two giant cinnamon rolls no hassle in my castle and she says oh man I'll be waiting yeah I'll be there about 9 30 and about that time I saw some blue lights behind me And they weren't Christmas lights, okay? And this cop pulled up behind me. I turned that phone off. I said, I've got to go. I think I'm getting pulled over. And cop walked up, and this is not a joke, by the way. He pulled up and he said, sir, do you realize you were talking on your cell phone? Don't try to deny it because I watched you for the last two miles. What? You're invading my privacy. At least get a screen protector next time, old man. He kind of laughed. And I said, well, it was my wife. She called me. Well, you can't be talking on your cell phone while you're driving in the state of Tennessee. Oh, OK. He saw my Bible set. You're a preacher, huh? I said, yeah, I forgot to take that. He says, well, you better practice what you preach, son. $156 fine for talking on a cell phone. Now, let me ask you a question. Whose fault was that? Was it the cops? Was it my wife's? No, I made a choice in one-tenth of a second to do what I wanted to do. All God's people said, now I see it. You go back to chapters 13 of the book of Genesis, and Lot, who is a righteous man, makes a snap decision. He not only snapped, then he went to a longer decision. He said he looked at the well water plains, he judged them, and he said, those are mine. He made a decision. Now watch this. Every one of us make a decision here this week. We're going to be right with God or not. Every one of us will make a decision this week if we're right with God, if we're gonna do God's will. You young people, listen, God's gonna touch your hearts this week, as well as older people, to do something more, be stronger for Him coming into this next year, or go into the middle, or serve Him. I want you to understand, or have a better family, kids, to have better obedience. Mom and Dad, to have a better relationship. See, it's a choice. You make a decision, either or. I can't get any taller. Man, I'm telling you, when I was 16, 17, I got those boots you put on and hung upside down backwards to make myself taller. I did that for about a year and I didn't grow anywhere. Amen. As you can see. Amen. It's not a man made thing. It's not a thing that I do personally. It's a thing that God does to us internally. But we've got to make a decision that we're going to do what God's will is for our life. Listen to God's word. Got that. Obey God's word. Got that. Respond to God's Word, got that? D, and then do God's Word for your life. That spells Lord, L-O-R-D. And I'm telling you, when Lot was dealing with this, all he could see was money. He made a decision, number two. That decision, would you write this down with me if you're taking notes? That decision took him in a direction, all right? Look at this direction. Now, and this is a problem all across our country. I use the term gospelling in our church movement, Independent Baptist. This is epidemic. It's like COVID. It's not stopped. It's really picked up the last six or seven years where first generation Christians staying in the church, second are sliding away, third's completely quit. All right. And we've got to get a hold of this thing because people make what is volitional decisions. And the decisions will always take you in a direction. Look with me in Genesis 13, look at verse 10. Bible says this, and Lot lifted up his eyes and he beheld all the plain of Jordan. He's not going to share it. That it all was well watered everywhere before the Lord. destroyed Solomon Gomorrah. Now, does that make it the right place to be? Usually not. The more bells and more whistles and more lights there is, the more... I'm just telling you the devil's behind that thing. He's not going to share anything with Abraham. of Jordan. And Lot journeyed east. That means this. They separated themselves. He got away from his godly uncle. He got away from the godly people and separated themselves one from another. Now watch this. And Abraham dwelled in the land of Canaan and Lot decided to dwell in the cities of the plain. End of story. No, no, no, no, no. God wants to drive this home. Watch this. When Jesus says, Remember Lot's wife in Luke chapter 17, He's talking to all of us in this New Testament age. She made a decision with her husband. And the Bible says here, He pitched His tent toward Sodom. It's not bad yet, is it? We don't know how bad Sodom and Gomorrah is. Well, he pitched it towards Sodom. That means he chose it for the money. The dollar sign was clicking in his computer, in his bank account. He thought it was going to get really rich and famous there. And what he did, he took himself away from the spiritual man, the spiritual leadership. He went towards the wicked city. Can I say this? He pitched his tent toward, that means he's going in with them. And for us not to miss the point, look what God tells us in verse 13. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord. Underline that last word, exceedingly. Exceedingly you could not hide it. They were bad people He knew they were bad people and I'm telling you when you and I make a decision We want to always go in a godly direction all God's people said When I was a senior in high school, I was working for lastly tractor sales in the state over there and in Cambridge, Ohio and They knew I was a Christian I knew I had gotten saved the summer before, and so had my twin. This was about seven or eight years, maybe ten years after our pig incident. They had a meal for all the workers, a banquet, giving us a bonus, and they had some liquor there. They had tubs of Budweiser and Jim Beam whiskey and some vodka and stuff. All the other workers were drinking. My twin and I weren't going to drink that stuff. We don't drink. We don't do that. The boss came over. He was about three sheets to the wind. He said, if you boys are going to work for me, you're going to drink my liquor. We looked at the boss and said, Mr. Lashley, you're drunk. We're not going to touch that. I said, I'm done here, Sam. We both just kind of walked away from that job. Because we're not going to be part of that. Man, we felt pretty good about it. We got saved. We made a decision. Walked out of that place together. And I'm telling you, it was really good. And man, we stopped the devil on that front, did we not? Amen. And then we got a little bit older. And about six months later, we decided girls are pretty good looking, about the age of 17, 18, you know. And I got saved, of course, so did my twin. We got baptized at the same time. And God is leading me to go off to Bible college. He wants to stay there and he falls in love with a girl that was not good. I'll just be blunt, she was not saved. Like a teenage Jezebel, amen? And he wasn't coming home until about 10 or 11 o'clock at night. My mom asked, where's your brother? Well, he's over there with that girl, that no good girl. She said, well, you pray that God gets him out of there. And I said, Mom, I'm going to Bible college here in about two weeks. And I, you know, I'm just going to go and God's called me and I'm going to go into ministry and leaving all this behind. And she says, Yeah, Dan, you're answered prayer. But, you know, I want you to know something. Your brother's not bad. He can be good. We just got to get get him get him away from that simple situation. Can I stop here for a moment? Do you all think that Lot needed some guidance? You think he would listen to Abraham? No way, Jose. You got people in your family the very same. I got people in my clan the very same. And when they get to the end of that rope, when they get to the bottom of that ditch, when that boat sinks, they look up and says, well, Uncle Dan, Brother Dan, Pastor Dan, what can I do to get my life straightened out? And I always start with, you know, Remember Lot's wife. It started with you making the decision. Will you own up that you're the ones in problem here? Yeah, okay. And that decision will always take you in a direction. You want to get that peace? You got to do it God's way. Amen? So that goes to my third point now tonight. He made a decision, took him in a direction that always leads to what you're devoted to. JOIN ME IN GENESIS CHAPTER 14 NOW. I WANT YOU TO LISTEN. IF YOU WANT TO HAVE A REVIVAL IN THIS PLACE, YOU NEED TO MAKE A DECISION. YOU'RE GOING TO LISTEN, OBEY, RESPOND, AND DO WHAT GOD'S WORD TELLS US TO DO. IT TELLS ME HERE IN CHAPTER 14, LET'S LOOK AT VERSE 11. BIBLE MAKES THIS STATEMENT HERE THAT THEY TOOK ALL THE GOOD OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH AND ALL THE VITALS AND WENT THEIR WAY. SOME TERRORISTS CAME INTO SODOM AND TOOK OUT Lot and his wife and all the people that were there and they took Lot and Abraham's brother's son who dwelt in Sodom and his goods and departed. There came one that escaped and told Abraham, the Hebrew that had dwelt in the plain of Mamre, the Amorite brother of Esherol and brother of Anar, that they were confederate with them, with Abraham. And when Abraham heard that his brother has taken captive, he armed his train, 318 men, and he pursued them into Dan. And to make a long story short, he bushwhacked the bushwhackers. He got those terrorists and put them in their place, verse 16, and he brought back all the goods that Lot had, and also brought back again his brother Lot and his goods, now watch this, and the women also and the people. Good stuff! Man, Lot had made a mess of stuff, right? He made a decision that took him in the wrong direction. And in that direction we find out what is this man devoted to? I mean, his life was going to get lost, now Abraham saved him. What is this man going to do? Is he going to get out of Sodom? Is he going to leave Gomorrah? The answer is no. He shows us what he's devoted to. As you look at this closer with me, you'll see what he's devoted to in chapter 19, verse 1 of the book of Genesis. When Jesus said, remember Lot's wife, folks, men, women, it's deeper than just reading the scripture. You've got to understand that we're dealing with a generation here of people that God's just getting His country started. And Abraham was not perfect, but he was trying to be loyal to God. I want you to understand. Look at chapter 19 with me. Look what it says in verse 1. There came two angels to Sodom at evening. See, Sodom and Gomorrah had gotten worse. A great cry went up from the earth. And Lot come to see how bad it was, all the sin and debauchery. And it was bad. It says, And Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. That means he's sitting right in the midst of them. He's one of their magistrates. He's one of their judges. And Lot seeing them, those angels, rose up to meet them. And he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. He knew who they was. they were his devotions displayed here devotion to money devotion to can I say having a hierarchy a devotion to be the big shot and he was dedicated to that city and in that dedication in the process of time what he's devoted to is exposed all right now listen carefully a wicked crowd of people you could not hide it you could not deny it My twin brother did not come home until about midnight. Mom said, now you go get him out of there. You're supposed to go off to Bible College to Bob Jones tomorrow. Yes, Mom. Will you go in that house and get him out of there tonight? And you bring him home. Mom, he'll whip me. He's twice my size. I've been praying. He's not going to whip you, all right? And okay. And he said, you trust me with this. You go get him. We had a 1963 Chevy at that time, and I picked up my friend Cam Hayes. Cam's about your size. He's a lot bigger than I am. We could both handle my twin, but not me by myself. I said, Cam, come on. He said, what we're going to do is get Sam out of this house. He said, both of us. I said, no, we both will take him on. Mom said, bring him home. Now I'm afraid of mom more than him, my twin brother. Amen. And because, you know, he can whip me, then he's got to deal with mom. So and mom, man, she can get a hold of God. Amen. And so I'm telling you that Cam and I got to the property. We backed up about from the street to where your door is out here. We backed up the driveway. 63 Impala, three lights in the back, four door. It was like a pukey brown color. And we backed up. And I said, Cam, leave all four doors open. He said, why? Well, I may be running for my life, and you may have to get out quick. You leave that thing in park, the moment I jump in the car, we go. Do you understand? Okay, I got it, I got it, I got it. So I walked in the house. Now, when I went into the house, it was about the size of the house I'm staying in. So I didn't knock, I just walked in. Sam's sitting there on the couch, and he said, what are you doing here? Well, my mom and your mom sent me here to get you out of this, I wasn't really good, I had no PR skills, out of this hellhole. And mom says, get you away from this Delilah, or Jezebel, whatever she is. She came around the corner at that time, she heard the word Jezebel, and she heard me say that's what she was. Now listen, understand I'm 18, okay, and I only know John 3, 16 at that time, and that's about it. And she threw a book at me. And I knocked the book down. And I said, Sam, you got to get out of here, because that person is no good. The devil is after you through her. You need to come on. And he said, well, I don't think this is right. No way. You better come on. She come around with the broom, and she swung it at me. And I took it from her. And it hurt a little bit, but I broke it over my knee and just threw it at the floor. And he said, you back off. And I said, you understand. Mom sent me. God's in this. Well, you know, I'm old enough. Yeah, you're 18. Remember the bees? I don't know where that came from. Remember the bees? He said, yeah. Remember the bees? Yeah. He picked his boots up. He said, Dan, I believe you're right. Walked out that front porch, left her standing. She's like this. Bees? I ran to the car. He got in the car. He jumped in the back seat. Cam took off. Legs are hanging out, car doors are slamming, dust is flying, stones are going everywhere. As we get down to that driveway, it wasn't my mom's arm touching dad's shoulder, it was Sam's hand coming up, tapping my shoulder. Thanks for remembering the bees. We drove home that night. Mom had him packed. I don't know how she did this. He wasn't even signed up or anything to go to Bible college. Take him to Bob Jones. Get him out of the state. Get him away from out of here. God's going to work this out. Trust. You just go to school, Dan. She called Bob Jones Jr. in front of me. We got down there about 10 hours later. We ate with the Joneses. They put Sam in the school. We had a 30-day interim. If he did anything wrong, he was kicked out. He didn't. And good night. He graduated four years later with a higher grade average than me. I know that's hard to believe, but he did. He also worked three years as a personal valet and bodyguard for Bob Jones, Jr. I worked with him privately for, you know, was it 36 months or the 48 months he was down there? And he had every pass he wanted. He had it made in the shade with all the lemonade. And here I was just a normal student. Now listen carefully. Remember Lot's wife. Remember the wife and the decisions she made. When Jesus is preaching this, He's telling us it leads, your decisions will always lead to a destination. And that destination will always expose what you're devoted to. And lastly, you ready for this? It's on display for people to see. It's on display for people to see. You join me in your Bibles as we close this last thought in chapter 19. Look at verse 24. You know the story. The sun was risen upon the earth, and Lot entered into Zohar and had gotten out. The angel had him by one hand, and the angel had his wife by the other hand, and the other angel had the two girls by their hands, and they're walking out, and they're going to walk to Zohar. God said, We can do that. We're going to get you over where you need to be with Abraham. We're going to take you that way, and just don't look back. If you look back, if you look back, be not deceived, God has not mocked whatsoever a man soweth that he shall reap. He that soweth through the flesh of the flesh shall reap what? Corruption. But you soweth through the Spirit, you'll reap what? Life everlasting. Don't look back. Don't look back. Take it to the bank. If you don't look back, you're going to make it out. But what did she do? Look with me in verse 24. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. He overthrew those cities and all the plain and all the inhabitants of the cities. That's what grew up on the ground. But his wife looked back from behind him. She was going behind her husband's back. Didn't think anybody would catch it. Didn't think the angels would see it. And she became a what? Pillar of salt. Death. A statue, that thing stood there for several years. Leaving out of Sodom and Gomorrah, you'd see a woman statue, probably about five foot tall. I think it would be, God, when he does it, he does it right. Clothed in her Sodom and Gomorrah clothes, looking back at what she was not supposed to look at, looking back what God did not want her to bring with her, but she thought she was still in charge. We never get her name. We just get her body language. She made a decision. And when she turned to look back, it was this quick. And that statue stood there for hundreds of years as a testimony. But over time and antiquity, the wind and the rain blew it away. And Jesus, in that judgment, God Almighty was there. And when he's preaching to us in Luke 17, he said, when you make a decision to do right or wrong, to get saved or not saved, to stay out of sin or stay in sin, remember Lot's wife. And I thought that's the end of the story, but it's not. Let's finish. Go with me in your Bibles to 1 Peter, if you will, please, 2 Peter 2. And we'll finish the message for tonight. As you go back to 2 Peter 2, you know, Lot's the head of the home. Lot makes the mistake. Lot messes up. But Lot could get right. And man, in my book, that guy, he didn't have a whole lot going on. He needed revival. He needed direction. He needed rebooted. He needed refreshed. Am I talking right here? He needed to get it right with God on some things. And I want you to understand in 2 Peter 2, and it says in verse 6, this is amazing stuff. Folks, that's not me saying it. That's not some preacher saying it. That's God's Word saying it. That sin is wrong. That debauchery is wrong. And watch this though. Delivered just lot. That word just. No, not just just a lot, because the two girls got out too, but it says he was just. Now watch this. He was trying to be right with God, but vexed. I mean, he was troubled. He was upset. He knew it was wrong, but he sat in it. He knew his wife was not right, but he sat in it. He knew his daughters was not right. He went out to see his daughters and tried to see all their husbands, to see their family. And they laughed him to score and thought he was a nut. because he's trying to side up with God, but watch this. Vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked. That means their lifestyle. He knew it was wrong, and he lived in it. He wanted God's blessing, but he just let it go for the money, the things. For that, here it is, righteous man dwelling among them. Him righteous? Are you kidding me? But I'm not God. Look what God says, that righteous man, that means he knew what was right, he just did not do what was right. Dwelling among them and seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds, the Lord knoweth, this is key, how to deliver the godly out of the temptations. He knows how to get you out of whatever you're going to get into. He's going to bless you if you just side up with Him. You still with me on this message? Remember the bees. My twin never went back to that house. He never saw her again. I never saw her again. 14 years go by. Yeah, 14 years go by. I'm a pastor in Indiana. My twin works for Halbert in construction, a college degree in Bible and theology and engineering, and a little smarter than I was, amen. And Sunday school superintendent, church about this size, and faithful, and one night at 11 o'clock at night, were dynamiting a mountain down in West Virginia, and he was the foreman on it. At 11 o'clock, they were gonna start at night. They blew the dirt up in the morning and during the daylight hours, and at night, they would push the stones off a mountain that'd fall down, and everybody'd stay out of that fall zone, and then the trucks would come in and haul it out. My twin was writing stuff, doing some paperwork there for work structure, and he lost count of time. A man, his friend, pushed about a 10-ton rock off the top of a mountain. And that thing fell about 1,000, 1,200 feet free fall right on top of his pickup truck and killed him immediately. November 11th, 1988. That happened tomorrow, all those years ago. And his wife called me and asked me if I would come. She called me at midnight. This happened at 11. We drove all night long. We got there. She wouldn't even go claim the body that Morgan and I did. The wallet was there. It was all recognizable. And they had me do the funeral. We got the grave ready and got the cemetery ready and churches ready. And we do this funeral. I'm doing the funeral of my twin brother. And as I'm getting just ready to get up to speak, I see this girl walk in the back, the one that I'd broken the broom at and threw at her, the one that had thrown a book at me. The one that I called a hussy and a Jezebel. She's standing by a man about six foot three and three little kids. And I go, oh, no. I didn't say that out loud. I said it in here. Last time I saw her, you know, I said, remember the bees. You know, when the funeral was over, my sister came and said, Terry wants to talk to you. Her and her husband wants to talk to you. I go, oh, man, he's bigger than I am. And went over there. I talked to them, and she said, Dan, Brother Dan, you know what happened? I said, I know, I remember. She said, I got saved two months after that incident. I was a mess, and you knew I was. You weren't real smooth, but I believe God got my attention because you come to my door. See, my mom got my attention. Godly parents, don't you shook your responsibilities. You understand what I'm saying? I want you to listen to this. Moms, don't you shirk. Dads, don't you shirk because you're dealing with the future. And Jesus is dealing with the future here, and he says, remember Lot's wife. You make the decisions now that'll carry you on later on. And I said, yes, I really appreciate that. She said, I just got to ask you a question. And I said, yes, ma'am. And she said, you said this phrase, and I've been turning it over for 15 years, because your brother just switched gears that quick, got up, picked up his boots and walked out, never looked back at me. What does remember the bees? And I said, well, it means children obey your parents and the Lord for this is right. When it comes to us obeying God, He puts on our hearts this week, we need to obey Him for this is right. And she said, can I have permission to tell that story to my three kids? You sure can. I did a funeral last March in Columbus, Ohio. Cam Hayes was the guy that drove the car. He pastored the same church for 38 years. He died of pancreatic cancer. They're burying him in Columbus. I spent a week with him a month before he died, and we shared all this stuff, and we remembered it, and she showed up at his funeral. And they're teenagers now, I think one's getting married, said, I told him the story about Remember the Bees, and we've been doing this story, and I'm telling you, I had no idea that's what it meant when Jesus said, remember Lot's wife. As she turned around and she said, Brother Dan, it's a personal thing, isn't it? I said, yes, it is. So folks, this week when we have revival and preaching, make a decision that you're going to watch this, understand that God wants us to get right. Secondly, He wants us to stay right. We need to work on that. And thirdly, that means we'll be right. And when that decision time comes, we won't go to that pigpen. We won't get into the bees and we won't look back, but we'll do what God wants us to do. And in His name, His way and will will be magnified for all to see. Heads are bowed, eyes are closed. Thank you for listening. If you would like to contact us, please write us at P.O. Box 126-541-Harrisburg, PA 17112 and visit our website at www.svbcpa.org. Until next time!