Turn your Bibles, please, to Luke chapter 17, please. Luke chapter 17. Even though we're in the life of Abraham, I want us tonight to focus on a warning and a, very frankly, a command that the Lord Jesus Christ gave us concerning probably the most obscure person in the entire Scripture, Lot's wife. And I want us to consider implications of why the Lord would give us that warning to remember this woman. Let's begin reading in verse 20 through verse 37. Now when he was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them and said, the kingdom of God does not come with observation, Nor will they say, see here or see there, for indeed the Kingdom of God is within you.' Then He said to the disciples, the days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, look here and look there. Do not go after them or follow them. For as the lightning that flashes out of one part of heaven shines to the other part of heaven, so the Son of Man will be in His day. But first, he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. And as it was in the days of Noah, so will it also be in the days of the Son of Man. They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, as it was also in the days of Lot, they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built. But on the day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so it will be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. In that day, he who is on the housetop and his goods are in the house, let him not go down to take them away. And likewise, the one who was in the field, let him not turn back." And here's the text. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it. And whoever loses his life will preserve it. What we have here in the text that I just read in your hearing is a warning by our Lord about His second coming to the earth. In the parallel text in Matthew 24, Jesus said that just before that time, there will be a time of great tribulation that will come upon the earth. The devastation during the great tribulation will be unparalleled in human history. In fact, He said, unless those days were shortened, no one would survive it. In the midst of our Lord's discourse on these things, He sets forth this sober warning that will be the area of our concern tonight. Verse 32, remember, Lot's wife. Now over the years, this warning has been the focus of many sermons. The most well-known being probably the one preached and published by J.C. Ryle. In fact, we had this sermon among our tracts on the back table. Some have taken his sermon and just preached from it. I was tempted to do that, but didn't really feel comfortable in doing so. Even though some of my thoughts and comments have been influenced and will be direct quotes by Dr. Ryle, the outline in the sermon, I hope, are the fruit of my own footnotes or my own efforts. Just a footnote. I found that even J.C. Ryle relied on someone else for his sermon because when I read the Puritan writer Thomas Manton, I see that J.C. Ryle borrowed very heavily from Thomas Manton, which is fine because all of it bears the truth of God's Word. Now, your outline shows you how I want to consider our message tonight. I want us to consider some of the preliminary considerations in relationship to the warning about the Lord to remember Lot's wife. Then the primary considerations in relationship to the warning, and then some practical considerations in relationship to that warning. First of all, preliminary considerations. By that I do not mean unimportant, but things that we need to consider beforehand. First of all, the context of this warning. Throughout his earthly ministry, our Lord often spoke of his second coming. In doing so, he challenged us to be ready, to be watchful, for no one really knows the day or the hour when he will return. This is the case with the overall text before us tonight. He spoke initially to the Pharisees and addressing the question when the kingdom of God would come about in verses 20 through 21. But then he turns and begins to speak to his disciples. He spoke of his second coming to judge the world. When the Lord comes the second time, when he comes to the earth, he will come not as a savior, but as a judge. And his primary point is that most will not be expecting his return. In fact, they will be so caught up with the common activities of life that they will not even be thinking of his return or even many not even believing in his second return. And to illustrate this, he reminds us of the days of Noah and of the days of Lot. Notice that in both cases, they were totally oblivious to what was about to befall them. Look at verse 22. And when, excuse me, the days will come, you will desire to see that of the Son of Man and drop down to verse 28, excuse me, verse 27, 26. And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man. Notice it was business as usual. They ate. They drank, they married wise, they were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, that was also in the days of Lot. They ate, they drank, they built, they sold, they planted, they built. But on the day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Then he applies this to the difficult events that will immediately precede his second coming and how we should respond or how they should respond to those events. Look at verse 30. Even so it will be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. And he's saying when those difficult times come, have no concern for anything that has to do with this life. flee from all danger without regard for temporal matters. Verse 31, In that day he who was on the housetop and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And like one, the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. And it is right here that our Lord interjects this warning. Look at verse 32. Remember Lot's wife. She was warned to flee from Sodom because of the judgment of God that was about to befall those ancient cities. But in doing so, she obviously had second thoughts. Her attachments to that wicked city were such that she stopped and looked back. In doing so, she was destroyed. When those difficult times come, Jesus says, don't be concerned with anything else. plea for safety, remember Lot's wife. Alright, having set the context, let's look at the nature of the warning. Look at the text again. Remember Lot's wife. In the Greek, that's an imperative. What does that mean if it's an imperative? It's a command of God. It's a present imperative, which means we are to continually remember Lot's wife. This is not a suggestion. This is a command of God that we are to continually be remembering Lot's wife. He does not say, beware of following her or taking heed of imitating her. Do not be like Lot's wife. But he says, remember Lot's wife. Now, this presupposes at least two things. The warning presupposes that we know about Lot's wife. It presupposes that we know the historical record of Lot's wife. The importance of this warning is meaningless to those who have no knowledge of Lot's wife. Now, I forgot to do this, but I was going to get down to the gym last week while I was preparing this sermon and asked people what did Jesus mean to remember Lot's wife and who was Lot's wife, but I forgot to do it. But you see, unless we know the historical narrative of Lot's wife, the command is meaningless to us. So he presupposed that the people to whom he was speaking actually knew the historical narrative concerning Lot's wife. But the second presupposition is the tendency on our part to forget the story of Lot's wife or to not take it as seriously as we should. As a result, our Lord stirs up our lazy memories. He bids us to keep the case before our mind's eye. He says, remember Lot's wife. Remember how her love for the things of this world brought about her everlasting destruction. Then he says the importance of the warning. Remember Lot's wife. He does not bid us to remember Abraham or Isaac or Jacob or Sarah or Hannah or Ruth. He singles out one of the most obscure persons in biblical history. She's only mentioned three times in the historical record and once by Jesus. We don't even know her name. In fact, when the angels first warned Lot to take his family out of Sodom, They never even mentioned his wife, although it's assumed in the text. Let's go back and look at the historic narrative. I'm assuming that you know the story, but if you don't, we'll be looking at it tonight so that you'll have some basis for this warning and this command that comes from our Lord Jesus. I want to show you that, first of all, that the angels did not even mention Lot's wife when they first told Lot to flee from Sodom. Look at verse 12 of chapter 19, Genesis. Genesis 19, verse 12. Then the men said to Lot, have you anyone else here, son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, take him out of this place. Never mentioned his wife. I'm just trying to show you that she's a very obscure personality. Only when judgment was about to fall do they and the narrative itself speak of her. Look at verses 15 and 16. When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city. And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and the hand of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city." The third mention, see, she's mentioned there twice. The third mention has to do with what she did and what happened to her in verse 25. They were told, excuse me, go back to verse 24 first. Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. She merely looked back on the destruction that was falling on the beloved city and was destroyed in a most dramatic and uncommon way. That is what we know about this woman. And that's all we know about her. But Jesus understood that what happened to her and why was of the utmost importance to his people down through the ages. And that's why he says, remember Lot's wife. The fifth thing we want to consider, the fourth thing, is the validation implied by the warning. In setting forth this warning, our Lord was validating Lot's wife as an historic personality and the destruction that fall upon her as a historic reality. If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, then you have to believe everything he says. And I like the fact that Jesus often referred to the aspect of the narratives in the Old Testament that are hardest for us, even as believers, to accept and believe. Jonah being swallowed by a fish, and Lot's wife being turned into a pillar of salt, and all of these. But he often takes the most difficult things for the natural mind to believe and refers to them as a historic reality, thus confirming all of those Old Testament events, including this one here. In each of these cases, our Lord validated them as historic personalities and Lot's wife as a historic personality and the extraordinary event where she was judged in this unusual way where she was destroyed and turned into a pillar of salt. He establishes that as an actual happening in biblical history. Now, having looked at the preliminary considerations, let's look what I believe are the primary considerations. And for that, we'll just stay in Genesis 19. First of all, the grace of God that Lot's wife experienced. We don't think about that that much, do we? But since there is little said about Lot's wife, we do not always consider that God showed her much grace and taking her out of Sodom along with Lot and her two virgin daughters. Verses 15 and 16. When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city. And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him. And they brought him out and set him outside the city. But God did not show grace and mercy to her other daughters or to her sons-in-law. Look at verse 14, this is assumed. So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who had married his daughters and said, get up and get out of this place for the Lord will destroy this city. But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking. And when Lot left, he left with his wife and two virgin daughters. His other daughters, how many of them were there, we don't know. And their sons-in-law obviously stayed in the city and were destroyed. God showed her great, great grace. She experienced the grace and mercy of God. But secondly, the wrath of God that Lot's wife witnessed. The grace of God that Lot's wife experienced but the wrath of God that Lot's wife witnessed. The wrath of God against sin and wickedness are not always apparent to the natural eye. God's wrath often comes cloaked in the garb of what we would call natural events. During the reign of Hezekiah, the mighty Assyrian army was turned back from attacking Jerusalem when the angel of the Lord killed 180,000 Assyrian soldiers. The scriptures tell us that this was the hand of God and his wrath, but the Assyrians probably saw it as a contagious and fatal disease that soldiers often pick up when they're in foreign fields of battle. God's wrath often comes cloaked in the garb of social disintegration. Paul tells us in Romans 1, verses 18 through 32, that the wrath of God is revealed by removing divine restraint over the lust of men's hearts and allowing a society to self-destruct by its own wickedness. We know that this is a wrath of God because Paul tells us so. But the unsaved world does not know this, nor would they ever believe this. The mighty Grecian empire was destroyed by its own wickedness. The Roman Empire was destroyed in the same way, and our fears is that our own nation is being destroyed this way, but historians do not see it that way. My point being that God's wrath is not always apparent to the world at large, or even to us as believers. We can say, well, that's probably the wrath of God, but we don't always know. But this was not the case with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot's wife heard the warning of the angels. Those cities were about to come under the wrath of God for the wickedness. She heard that warning given to Lot. After they left and entered the city of Zoar, God's wrath fell in a most spectacular and obvious way. Abraham saw the smoke as some 40 or 35 or 40 miles away. Fire and brimstone rained down out of heaven, wiping out those cities wiping all the inhabitants off the face of the earth, burning up all the lush vegetation that grew in that area. In light of the warning by the angels and having her see the great judgment that fell out of heaven, there was no question, there could be no question in her mind, this was the wrath of Almighty God. And she was an eyewitness of this most extraordinary and powerful manifestation of God's wrath against those wicked cities. So we saw that Lot's wife, the grace of God that Lot's wife experienced, the wrath of God that Lot's wife witnessed. But then we see the sin that Lot's wife committed. Verse 26 of Genesis, but Lot's wife looked back. Now, this seems like a trivial thing. Fire and brimstone was falling on the city that she loved, and she merely looked back to see it. People are naturally curious when it comes to wanting to see spectacular events or serious accidents. I investigated many accidents in the middle of the night, sometimes in inclement weather. And yet many times, I wasn't surprised, but you would see the roads and the streets lined with onlookers standing in a pouring down rain at three o'clock in the morning wanting to see an accident. That's just natural human curiosity. But even though the sin seemed trivial, it was infested with many other sins. Even though the sin seemed trivial, it was infested with many other sins. First, disobedience. When they were warned to flee from Sodom, they were given explicit instructions by the angels they were not to look back. Look at verse 17. Escape for your life. Do not look behind you. Second, unbelief. They were told not to look back or tarry in the plains, lest they be destroyed. Verse 17. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed. So you see, first of all, disobedience. Secondly, unbelief. Because if she thought she really was going to be destroyed, she wouldn't have looked back. She obviously was disobedient and certainly her sin of looking back was infested with the sin of unbelief. Third, ungratefulness. The Lord had shown her grace and mercy in taking her out of the city, but her stopping to look back was to despise God's grace. She was ungrateful in the kindness that the Lord had shown her. Fourth, deceit. I often marvel how detailed the Holy Spirit is, even in giving us the historic narratives in the Old Testament. The Holy Spirit never wastes words. Every word has meaning and has significance. Notice that Lot's wife looked back when she lagged behind Lot and his two daughters. Verse 26, But Lot's wife looked back behind him. This seems to imply that she looked back knowing that Lot would not see her look back because she was behind him. Fifth, idolatry. Her looking back was due to the fact that her heart was still in Sodom. Remember, Lot was very wealthy so she had many material possessions. Lot was sitting in the gates of the city, which means that Lot was in the upper echelons of social status. She enjoyed social status and material possessions. The things she had in Sodom were held in higher regard than the judgment that God said was going to fall upon them. This is confirmed by the text of this warning by our Lord. He spoke of His second coming to judge the world, and His primary point was that most would not be expecting His return. In fact, they would be so caught up with the common activities of life, they would not even be thinking or even believing in the second coming of Christ. To illustrate this, back in our text in Luke 17, He reminds them of the days of Noah and Lot. Then he applied this to the difficult events that will immediately precede a second coming and how they should respond to those events. When those difficult days come, have no concern for anything else that has to do with this life. Flee from all danger without regard for temporal matters. He said in Luke 17 31, in that day. He was on the housetop and his goods are in the house. Let him not go down to take them away. And likewise, the one who was in the field. Don't look back. Don't look back. Luke 9 32, he who puts his hands to the plow and looks back. Meaning. You make a decision to go forward, but your heart's really back here. Jesus said you're not fit for the kingdom of God. Looking back in this case is indicative of where the heart is. The eyes look back with a longing and is unable to tear itself away. The result is always the same. You're not fit for the kingdom of God. So it was with Lot's wife. Her looking back towards Sodom showed that she was not fit for the kingdom of God. And you have the judgment that Lot's wife suffered. Verse 26 of Genesis 19, but his wife looked back behind him and she became a pillar of Saul. Alright, having looked at the preliminary and primary considerations in relationship to this warning by our Lord about Lot's wife, let's look at some practical considerations. And there are three. They're there before you in your outline. When the things of this life..." And remember, this is a warning to the disciples. When the things of this life begin to take priority over the things of God, remember Lot's wife. Boy, that's one we all need to hear, isn't it? Because we all struggle with that. When the things of this life begin to take priority over the things of God, remember Lot's wife. Her desire for the things back in Sodom took priority over the things of God. She was destroyed. And here I'm going to draw from J.C. Ryle. In fact, I'm going to quote to him verbatim because he said it better than I could. He says, that look was a little thing, but it told of secret love of the world in Lot's wife. Her heart was in Sodom. that her body was outside. She had left her affections behind when she fled from her home. Her eye turned to the place where her treasure was as the compass needle turns to the pole. And this was the crowning point of her sin. And he quotes from James and 1 John. The friendship of the world is enmity with God. What if we could only remember that? That when we seek to love this present evil world, we're actually standing against God. John is more clear in 1 John 2.15, if any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. He goes on to say, this aspect of our subject deserves special attention. Let us focus our minds and hearts upon it. I believe it to be the part to which the Lord Jesus particularly tends to direct us. I believe you would have us observe that last wife showed that she was lost by looking back to the world. Her profession was at one time fair and spacious, but she never really gave up the world. She seemed at one time in the road to safety, but even then to the lowest and deepest thoughts of her heart or for the world. The immense danger of worldliness is the grand lesson which the Lord Jesus means to us to learn. Oh, that we may have an eye to see and a heart to understand. I believe there never was a time when warning against worldliness were so much needed by the Church of Christ as they are at the present day. Now, this was back in the 1800s. How much more today? Every age is said to have its own peculiar epidemic diseases. The epidemic disease in which the souls of Christians are liable just now is the love of the world. It is a pestilence that walks in darkness and a sickness that destroys at noonday. It has cast down many wounded, yes, many strong men have been wounded by it. I would sincerely raise a warning voice and try to arouse the slumbering consciences of all who make a profession of salvation. I would sincerely cry aloud, remember the sin of Lot's wife. She was no murderess, no adulteress, no thief, but she was a professor of religion and she looked back." Then he goes on to say, there are thousands of baptized people in our churches who do not engage in immorality. and infidelity, or these other grievous sins, yet fall victim to the love of the world. There are thousands who run well for a season and seem to bid fare to reach heaven, but by and by they give up the race, turn their backs on Christ altogether, and what has stopped them? Have they found the Bible not true? Have they found the Lord Jesus failed to keep His word? No, not at all. but they have caught the epidemic disease. They are infected with the love of this world." And he says, I appeal to every true-hearted evangelical minister to read this message. I ask him to look around his congregation. I appeal to every old established Christian. I ask him to look around the circle of his acquaintances. I'm sure that I'm speaking truth. I'm sure that it's high time to remember the sin of Lot's wife. And one of the great veins on the church today is illustrated on a night like tonight. Well, many churches are not worshiping the Lord. They're having a service, but it's a Super Bowl party. I have seen such ridiculous rationalizations Well, we're going to watch the Super Bowl and then we're going to invite a lot of unbelievers in. And then after the Super Bowl, we're going to try to witness to them about Christ. There's going to be so much yelling and screaming about which time the team lost and everything else, you think anyone's going to have a heart to hear the gospel. But it's just a sign of the worldliness that is reflected in Lot's wife. The second line of application is this. When tempted to rationalize or trivialize a particular sin, remember Lot's wife. When tempted to rationalize or trivialize a particular sin, remember Lot's wife. There's no indication that Lot's wife was an immoral woman. There is no indication that she was involved in the sinful conduct of the Sodomites. Her husband was a safe man. She had two daughters living at home who had never known a man. To have virgin daughters in that kind of a wicked environment is quite remarkable. But she received the same judgment as those wicked Sodomites. To the natural eye, her sin streak seems trivial, inconsequential, insignificant, not even worth mention. It was just a quick look back at the destruction. The idle curiosity common to mankind. But we know that's not true because of our Lord's warning. If it was merely idle curiosity, he would not say, remember Lot's wife. It seems even more trivial when compared to the wickedness of those cities that were destroyed. But it involved much more than a glance back. It involved disobedience. Unbelief. Ungratefulness. A love of that city which the Lord utterly destroyed. A love of an environment that was so offensive to God that He was moved to wipe it off the face of the earth. How often do we look at a sin and say, that's a little one. And we rationalize it. It's not a big deal. But no sin stands in isolation from other sins. It's always infested with other sins. Let me illustrate. Covetousness. An inordinate desire for other things. Well, all right, you know, I want to have a lot of things. I see some new cars, a nice bigger house, all this. But you say, all right, that's wrong. But that sin does not stand alone. It's infested with other sins. It's idolatry. The Scriptures make that clear. Ephesians 5, 5. No covetous man who is an idolater will inherit the kingdom of God. Colossians 3, 5. Covetousness, which is idolatry. You see my point? It's not just covetousness, but it's infested with other sins. Idolatry. It's infested with the sin of discontentment. A covetous person is one who is discontented with what they have. They want more. And we are warned in Hebrews 13, 5, let your conduct be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have. When we covet and want and desire and fight to get other things. And I'm not talking about trying to have a good business or work hard and all those other things. I'm talking about that inordinate desire for other things. It shows that we're not content with what we have. Infested in that sin is ungratefulness and unthankfulness for what God has given us. We're ungrateful for what He's given us. We are not thankful for what He has given us. Remember, when you're tempted to rationalize or trivialize a particular sin, there's no sin that's trivial to God. The slightest sin is a tremendous offense against a righteous and a holy God. But also remember that sin does not stand alone. Even though it may seem like a small, trivial sin, it's infested with many other sins. The last line of application is this. When the judgment of God seems remote and far removed from your mind, remember Lot's wife. When the judgment of God seems remote and far removed from your mind, remember Lot's wife. When we read the historic account of the generations of Noah's day and the account of Lot's day, we are taken back by the wickedness that abounded during those times. As a result, we never consider that the people in those days lived lives much as we do today. Even though the wickedness had increased to a point where God had to destroy the whole world in a flood, Jesus said the people of Noah's day ate, they drank, they married, wives, they were given in marriage. Even though the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah cried out for judgment, Jesus said that the people living in those cities ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, and they built. They were living life in a normal way. It was business as usual. And the judgment of God was remote and far removed from their minds, in fact, probably not even considered and not even believed. But that was just the point. The business as usual attitude blinded them to the impending judgment of God. Just as it was in the days of Noah and Lot, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man. People will be so caught up with normal everyday life that they will be blinded to the coming of the Lord in judgment. Even us, even though we know that the Lord could come at any time, we have a tendency to think, it's probably years away. It's probably a long... Every generation thinks the Lord's coming in its own time. And look how many often the people have said, the Lord's coming in the next few years, but it never happens. So even then, even though we know it could happen any time, we sort of push it back and it becomes remote. And we think, probably not in our time. But just as judgment fell on Lot's wife, So will fall on everyone who does not come to believe in Christ and repent of sin. You may be like Lot's wife and sort of, alright, I'll leave, but I love my sin. You see, if you're here tonight and you've heard the Gospel over and over again, why you have not come to Christ, we know there's all kind of theological implications to why. But one of the reasons, as far as you're concerned, you love your sin too much. You love the things in this world too much. I would only suggest to you, remember Lot's wife. She loved the things in Sodom, but she was caught up and destroyed and lost forever. May it never be that anyone in this congregation gets so caught up with the temporal things of this life that they forget about the coming judgment of the Lord on sin. Let's stand and I'll dismiss you in prayer. Lord, all of us have to admit that there's things in this world that dazzle us and attract us. There are things in this world that seem so innocent, and they may be kept in a proper place. This world is very attractive even to those of us who have been saved. Now, we are not to despise the things that you give us. We are not to go up on top of a mountain, give up our jobs and our businesses, wrap ourselves in a white robe and wait for you to come. But Lord, we're talking about a love of a system that hates God, hates Christ, and hates Christian, and is administered by Satan and his demons. A world that's trying to press us into its mold is trying to, even in this country, purge God from our national conscience. And as we learned in Sunday school, when we forget about who God is, We become grossly immoral. We're seeing that happen in our country. O Lord, help all of us to remember Lot's wife. You did not say that to the Pharisees. You said that to Your disciples. May we remember that. Remember where her heart was. And that because of that, she was destroyed forever. move in the hearts of everyone in this place, we're not saved. Help them to realize that their unbelief will one day destroy them. Cause them to open their eyes, Lord, that they may see the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.