on Sunday nights. It's a blessing. So I hope everyone had a good day. It's a wonderful day the Lord has given us. Genesis chapter 13. Genesis chapter 13. This is kind of a turning point, if you will, in the book of Genesis. This is when Abram and Lot separate and I'm I've preached on this text a few times. I feel like I could preach from it for three months and not get it all out. I'm going to preach it similar to what I had but a little bit different. I'll point out some things. I've preached on this text, I've preached on it a few times on a worldly view versus a godly view. You read this story and you see Lot's view of life and you see Abram's view of life. to drastically different viewpoints and you see what it got each one of them and we could learn a lot from this chapter and from this particular story and I'm going to kind of pull a page from Dale this evening I'm just going to read as we go along well it's only 18 verses but we're just going to kind of read as we go along and preach as we go along through the text rather than read it and go back over it. But I want to just catch you up to speed. For those of you that may not remember or are not familiar, you know that through the book of Genesis we had creation, then we had the fall of man, then we see the two bloodlines of Cain and Seth. we follow them and we see that the man gets exceedingly wicked nobody left on earth any good but Noah and his family and God told him to build the ark and we got the flood after the flood we got the Tower of Babel where people were scattered all throughout the earth because of the languages that's how we got all the languages we have and then shortly thereafter God calls Abram and Abram is a descendant of Shem one of Abraham's three sons And his name's not been called Abraham yet. It's still Abram. And that's going to change here shortly. But when Abram left, God told him, he said, get you away from your kindred and your land. You leave everything behind. But he didn't do that. He took his dad and he took his nephew with him. He wasn't supposed to take either one of them. And so sometimes the lesson we learn from that is even in obedience, sometimes we're still disobedient. even in obedience we still struggle to get it right but here Abram is God is kind of stripping things from him if you will and we see the turning point so Genesis chapter 13 I trust everybody's there okay we got through people with us so that's enough I guess verse 1 and Abram went up I'm going to go and read, I just can't do it without him. And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had and a lot with him into the south. And Abram was very rich in cattle and silver and in gold. And he went on his journey from the south even to Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning between Bethel and Hai, and to the place of the altar what she had made there at the first and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. So notice how that when they came back up out of Egypt now if you remember when Abram went to Egypt that's when he told them that Sarah was his sister or Sarah I think still yet rather than his wife because he was afraid they'd kill him and take her so he said just tell them you're my sister well that's a pretty good invite to take her as your wife if she's single and that's exactly what happened and God spoke to Pharaoh and said the woman you've got you probably ought not touch or I'm going to touch you so to speak and so they run Abram off and they're coming back up out of Egypt now but notice he went back to where he started he went back to the altar he knew he had to get things right he knew he'd sinned and Lot also which went with Abram had flocks and herds and tents and the herd was the land was not able to bear them that they might dwell together for their substance was great so that they could not dwell together and there was a strife between the herdsmen of Abram's cattle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle and the Canaanite and the Perzite dwelt then in the land and Abram said unto Lot let there be no strife I pray thee between me and thee between thy herdsmen and thy herdsmen for we are brethren for we be brethren 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. Or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. Notice this, and Lot lifted up his eyes. I want to ask you this evening, what are you seeing? What are you seeing? And beheld all the plain of 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 Zoar. Then Lot chose him by all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east, and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. If those of you that don't know what that means, that means that the cattle and all the animals ate up all the grass in the area they were in. When he would move, he just kept moving towards Sodom. Closer and closer. Every time he moved, he just moved towards Sodom. You ever heard the phrase Sodomite? Yes, that's where it came from. Verse 13, but the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. Not just sinners, it puts emphasis on it. Verse 14, the Lord said unto Abram after Lot was separated from him, lift up now thine eyes and look for the place where thou art northward and southward and eastward and westward. For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it, in the breadth of it for I will give it unto thee. Then Abram removed his tent and came and dwelt in the land of Mamre which is in Hebron and built there an altar unto the Lord. Notice again an altar. Let's pray. Father we thank you again for this time together for the day that you blessed us with. Thank you for the ones who came to the altar this morning and pray that you be with them. The others that came during the revival I pray that you touch them as well. Lord we all need a touch from you every day of our lives multiple times sometimes and God I'm asking that you speak to our hearts this evening through your priest word Lord I need it as much as anybody here and I love you and I praise you Lord we just thank you Lord Jesus Christ and we pray amen now And as most of you, I'm sure some of you are somewhat familiar with this story. It's not anything new. And I pointed out some things, but I want to go through this and point out some things to you and give you two perspectives that we have oftentimes in our life, sometimes without even probably realizing it. Now notice again, and I've read this, but I want to point out to you and Abram went up out of the Egypt, he and his wife and all the land a lot with him. So a lot was still tagging along. And notice how it says this in verse 2, and Abram was very rich in cattle and silver and gold. Now it mentions on down that Lot also which had with Abram had flocks and herds and tents but it doesn't say he was very rich. It put Abram in a classification as very wealthy. and someone who had great, great wealth, great investments and everything that he needed to be highly sustained. And he went on his journey from south, even to Bethel, to the place where his tent had been in the beginning. between Bethel and Hai, and notice he said, and he went into the place of the altar. So Abram, after he had sinned, I believe, in Egypt and realized he had done wrong in doubting God and not doing what he should have done, he went back to the altar. You know, every now and then when we doubt God and we do wrong and we sin, we need to go to the altar. We need to go get things right. We need to confess it. We need to get things settled with God and not carry on in that way of our life and not continue on in that sin, whatever it is, or say it'll be okay. We need to make sure we have confessed that sin before God. And I'm going to tell you, sometimes it takes more than just a, Lord, I'm sorry for that. Please forgive me and move on. Folks, I'm not sure that we're really repenting sometimes. That's a whole other message, maybe I need to preach. But we need to go to a place spiritually, not emotionally, spiritually where we are repentant for what we've done. And sometimes that goes back to the places where we were, to the old places. Verse 5, And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks and herds, tents, and he had, and the lamb was not able to bear them, so we know that they were clashing, they were butting heads, and they're... Servants were getting mad and fighting, no doubt, arguing over the cattle, eating somebody else's food, and the water getting knocked over and whatever else. I don't know exactly how it happened, but nevertheless, they had some difficulties. And notice who stepped forward and spoke up. And there was strife, verse 7, between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle. The Canaanite and the Perzite dwelt in the land. And notice verse 8, And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, between thy herdmen, and thy hermit for we be brethren notice Lot nowhere do I find anything let me go and say this in the Bible positive about Lot except in Peter when it said his righteous soul was vexed that's the closest positive statement you'll find about Lot if it were not for that verse as far as I'm concerned in my eyes Lot would have died and went to hell everybody hear That's the only thing we can find that is even remotely positive about Lot. And we see that Abram is the one that stepped up and had the... the godliness, the love, and the respect to say, Lord, let's not get divided because, in other words, he's saying, Lord, what's going to happen if this keeps up, you and I are going to be at odds with each other. And every now and then when you see something boiling in your life with somebody, if you need to go to them and get that taken care of, go to them and get that taken care of. Don't let it keep boiling up to there's division between you and them. Let me say this, and I used to preach this a lot. And this is, again, please, I almost hesitate sometimes anymore. Please don't take this personal. It's not anything personal against anybody. But if Satan can get you mad at one person in this church, it's me. He wants you upset at me. He wants you to find fault with me. He wants you to hate my guts because then he can get you out of this church and likely out of church. Cause division. So in verse 9 he says, It is 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. And if thou wilt depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. So Abram is looking at Lot saying, Lot, I tell you what. Look, let's not do this. I'll even give you first choice. He said, Whatever way you want to go, I'll go the opposite. Whatever you want, I'll give it to you. And it should have been the opposite, right? I mean, Lot should have submitted to his uncle, Ben the Elder, and said, no, Mr. Lot, you've taken care, or Mr. Abram, you've taken care of me, you have brought me under your wing, you have protected me, and on and on and on he goes and he should have said, you pick first. But he didn't do that. Because he was a selfish human being. He should have never been with Abram to start with. He should have still been back in the land of Ur. He should not have left. And both of them were disobedient. Lot and Goin and Abram for letting him. And we're going to see the results of that. Folks, let me tell you something. Every time you disobey God and walk the opposite direction of what God has told you, there will be negative results and sin to pay for. Always. So he told him, you go this way, I'll go that way. So notice verse 10. And Lot lifted up his eyes. Now I'm going to go and point something out to you that we're going to preach about the difference. If you look down in verse 14, let's read that. And the Lord said unto Abram after that Lot was separated from him, lift up now thine eyes. The Lord told Abram to lift up his eyes He didn't tell Lot to lift his up. Lot did. In his own power, his own ways, his own heart, and his own carnal, selfish thinking. And he paid for it dearly. And we'll learn more about that as we go along in the book of Genesis. So I want to preach to you this evening about who's lifted up your eyes. You are the Lord. Who is dictating your vision? Who is showing you what to see and look at in life? Who's in control of what you focus on, what you desire and your decisions you're making? Now notice verse 10 and let me go back there again. We've got two points this evening. I don't think they're real big. But number one, Lot lifted up his eyes And he beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as a garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as that cometh out of Zohar. Notice verse 11, Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east, and they separated themselves one from the other. So if you look at it geographically, what Lot done is he turned around, he saw this beautifully watered plain. I mean, it was fresh, and there was fresh grass, and all the fruit trees, and everything was so perfect, and it was everything that you'd want. And he turned around and looked the other way, then he said, Abram, and it was a hillside. Boy, he really treated Uncle Abram real nice, didn't he? I mean, he thought a lot of him. I mean, he thought so much of him. He gave him the worst by far. He took nothing in consideration. Church, when you are making a decision like this, first of all, a lot was already out of place. Once you figure out and you recognize you are out of the place where God wants you, you need to get back to the place like Abraham did and figure that out and let God make your decisions, not you, because you will continue to dig the hole deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper. And all through this time, we see that Abram had always treated Lot good. He treated him with respect. But somewhere along the line, Lot had no respect for Abram or anybody else, including his own family. Parents, when you're making decisions to do things, you better think about it. You better realize that the decisions you're making also are affecting your children, and possibly grandchildren, and possibly great-grandchildren. As Lot went along and as he chose this plain, he said, Lot lifted up his eyes. This devil will show you things to look at. He'll give you things to see. He'll show you a well-watered field. He'll show you everything that you need is right there. But he's not showing you what's off in the distance. He won't give you that picture. You take so many people whose life has been riddled by drugs or alcohol. Pornography, whatever the case may be. Destroyed. Satan didn't show them the end result. He didn't show them what it was going to be like 10 years from now when their life is absolutely messed up and inside out and almost beyond repair. He doesn't show them that. He just showed you the way of water plain. He shows you how beautiful it is. He shows you how wonderful it is. And Lot saw this opportunity and he took it and he never gave any recognition to God. I find nowhere in the Bible where he ever acknowledged God and said, Father, what do you think I should do? I don't see Lot going to the altar. Verse 12, Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. Now notice again something else we see here. He said Lot lifted up his eyes and he saw the plain of Jordan how wonderful it was, well watered and how fruitful it was and how it would sustain a herd and grow a herd and everything else. But notice where the riches came from for both of these men. Who do you think blessed them to have what they have? God. God gave them what they've got. And church, let me remind you, God gave you everything you have, whether you realize that or not. And let me reassure you, if you don't know this, in a moment's flash it can be gone. I hope not. I cannot imagine getting home this evening and my house burning down, a pile of ashes. I cannot fathom what that would be like, how heartbreaking and crushing that would be. Or a flood come through and literally wash everything I had away. How, I mean, just demoralizing that would be. I mean, it would be so gut-wrenching. But at the same time, God gave me everything I have and let me remind you, we're not taking it with us. Too much of the time. We put too much value in what we can gain here. Lot was not looking out for anything but his selfish self. Be careful that you and I don't fall in that trap sometimes. And get selfish in our decisions. Hey listen, you cannot give too much when it comes to God. You cannot give God. Try Him. Now I'm not preaching health and wealth. But I'm just telling you don't give and say well if I give this God will bless me. Well he might do it but don't give it for that reason. But just try and put him to the test sometimes and see if he won't pass. But Lot lifted up his eyes. Now point number two. See I said two points. Y'all cheering aren't you? Verse 14. Notice the difference. And the Lord said unto Abram. I don't find nowhere in the Bible the Lord spoke the lot. I've not found anywhere up to this point that God has said a word to him. But he sure made an awful lot of decisions. Have you been making decisions without God speaking to you? Be careful decisions you make without hearing from God. If God isn't part of it, you don't want to be part of it either. And the Lord said unto him after that Lot was separated from him. Let me stop here again. I said I could preach on this chapter forever. God could not bless Abram the way he wanted to until that attachment was gone. Lot was bringing him down. He was holding him back. He was a thorn in Abram's side. I mean he was a stick in the mud for him whatever country phrase you want to put with it or city slicker phrase for you city gals all that Lot had to do was one time I believe look up and say father I have failed to call on you would you please guide me and bless me like you have Abram he didn't do that Once God got the weights and the sin that was besetting Abram out of his life, he was able to say, now it's time to take off. Now it's go time. Sometimes in our life, there's things in our life we got to get out. I'm going to tell you a little something real quick. God has dealt with me at times. It ain't fun to get up here and confess my sins and faults to you all, Don't ever put me on a pedestal and think that I'm living some kind of life that you don't live. I should live an example. Folks, I'm no different than you are. And let me tell you this, don't you think any other preacher is either? I know them. I know the ones that everybody knows. I know the ones that's got the big names and they struggle just like you and I. I know them personally, a lot of them. Not that I'm anybody and neither are they. There was a game that I love to play on my phone. I like to play it too much. And God has dealt with me. And God has dealt with me. And at times I've turned it off and I find myself downloading it, turn it back on. So well, I'll just play it just a little bit. I won't play it much. But as time goes, it increases. And I find myself at times, because the way the game is, it's a live game. You can't pause it. My kids will be talking to me. My wife will be talking to me. And even worse, my God will be wanting to talk to me. And I can't stop because I'm playing the game. Now, there's nothing wrong with that game. It doesn't have cussing in it. It doesn't have anything. The clan that I belong to, some of you already know what game it is, just by that statement possibly, was a Christian group. And we would even have Christian conversations at times. But it was the time it was taking. And God said, if you want me to bless this revival, you'll delete it. Sunday morning when I preached for our revival, I stopped either on this pew or this pew, put my hand on it. I think this one was making a point. And God spoke to me as strong as you sitting here right now. It took me a couple days. but that I had to get out of my life. It had to go. There's things in our lives that need to go. They may not be sins, but if they're taking time away from us to what we could be giving to God, it becomes a sin. If they're taking time away from your family, if you're so absorbed in something that you can't listen to your loved ones, you need to think about that. And by the way, if you got a friend that pulls you away from God and not towards God, they're not your friend. I don't care how much fun you think you have with them. They're destroying your life and you better get a hold of that. And I don't care how old you are. All right, word by word here almost. The Lord said unto Abram, so we got two points. Lot lifted up his eyes and the Lord lifted up Abram's eyes. There's a big difference in the two here. Notice God speaking. He said, lift up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art, northward, southward, and eastward, and westward. For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. I don't know how this would have went down, but I like to think I wonder if Abram would have looked straight at Lot and said, I'm going that way. I wonder what would have happened then. I think Lot would have got trampled. Let that sink in for a second. Because when Lot left, God said, look around, turn a complete circle. Whichever direction you go, I'll give it to you. Abram had something Lot didn't have. He had God on his side. He had God's promise. Lot didn't have that. I don't know what would have happened if Abram would have said, well, you know what, Lot took that, but I believe I'm going to take it from him. And he could have. Now I'm not saying he was going to go towards Sodom, but I believe Abram could have walked right through the middle of Sodom untouched and God would have destroyed it all around him. You say that's crazy. You find me some other stories in the Bible that's not crazy and I'll give you a dollar. Tell me what other book you find where a donkey talks to somebody. There's some crazy stories in the Bible. And we see that God told Abram to lift up his eyes but instead Abram didn't want anything to do with the worldly view. with the carnal way. He said no. He said we are separated. I realize now I don't know that Abram said this but humor me. I wonder once God spoke to him if Abram would have realized you know what I shouldn't have brought nobody with me. I should have done what God said to start with. He's on his own. I'm going this way. And God blessed him immensely. When God gives you a vision for something He tells you to lift up your eyes and to look and I'll show you what I'm going to do with you. You do not be afraid. You step forward and do it. You can do it because God said He would do it through you and with you. And He will see to it that you'll get there to where He told you to go. There's a missionary. I cannot remember his name. It's been a while since I've told this story. The Lord just brought it back to my mind. He was going, I think, into Africa. And they missed the boat. And they finally got to the destination. And the guide had left, so they had to get another guide. And as they were going in to the jungle, I mean, it was not an easy trip. As they were going in, his mom died. They had to bury her in a hollow log. And as they were letting her down in the grave that they dug, their dad made them sing Amazing Grace. And he said, Grace was not very amazing to me at that moment. And it probably wouldn't have been to me either. But he continued on. And he went on. He finally got into the jungle, into where the tribe was at. They were almost untouched by outside people. Very little influence from outside world. And they came in. He learned the language and he started gaining some ground. He was making a few converts. People were starting to pay attention. The witch doctor recognized this. So that night, he broke a bunch of glass, the witch doctor did. He walked on it, jumped through the fire, and did a big hoo-ah-hoo-ah-hoo dance to try to gain back the people, make sure that the missionary did not gain any more influence. And he's standing there and said, God, I don't understand. He said, my life's work just went up before me in a flash. He said, right in front of my eyes. He said, it's destroyed. He said, why did you allow this? And God said, you do it. Yeah, he said, you do it. So gingerly, this is a true story. The guy stepped on the glass. Didn't cut him. Gingerly made another step. It didn't cut him. And as he went along, he noticed he was having zero effect. Remember, he's in a jungle. He even got to the point where he took his shirt off and was rolling around in the glass and it was having zero effect. He jumped in the fire, stood in the fire, kicked the logs down, and stood there and preached a message in their native tongue, which he was still learning to speak their language. Could only very little speak it. But God gave him the ability that night to speak it. That is speaking in tongues, by the way. I'm not trying to be mean. And as he did, he looked down, he said he was standing in coals. He said when he got done preaching, he said his feet was pitch black. He said he went to bed that night, And when he, I'm sorry, as he got done preaching, he gave an altar call, and I don't remember, like three or four hundred of them got saved right there on the spot. A lot of the tribe. He said he went to bed at night, and he said, God, if I wake up in the morning, my feet is burnt to a crisp. He said, it's your fault, not mine. He woke up the next morning, there was not a mark on him nowhere. He said, what's the point of that story? Is when God guides you to do something, You follow the Lord. He will give you the tools needed and necessary to do it. He will work the miracle that needs to be worked. But you and I have to be willing to follow. Abram was blessed beyond measure. He got a lot away from him. He got the things out of his life that didn't need to be there. And God said, now I'm going to take off and now you're going to be somebody. He goes on, as I read to you, he said, your seed's going to number the sand by the shore. He said, Abram, wherever you put your foot, that land will be yours. If you notice, if you follow Abraham's life, there's a reason Israel is the shape it is. A lot of that's where he stepped. Imagine if he would have kept walking. how much bigger Israel would be today. I think he could have took Russia if he wanted to, if his feet would have led him, if he would have lived long enough. If he would have just walked, God would have given him that land. Now, some of you in life are struggling with decisions to make. It may not be a sin. It may need to be something you need to get out of your life that you know should not be there. And if God puts His finger on something in your life and you don't deal with that, that becomes a sin because you are being disobedient. It is now a sin. Might not have been before, but it will be when He tells you to get rid of it if you don't do it. Or if He tells you to do something and you don't do it. Not to do something and you keep doing it. Any of that, it's a sin because He has spoken and He has touched it. And you're in disobedience. Now, humor me for a minute. I like to think these ways. I wonder how different the story would be if Abram would have never took off. If he would have said, God, I don't want to leave. This is my home. I'm not going to go anywhere. Do you realize I may not be in Israel today? If there was, it would have came through somebody else. You understand because of Abraham, we have the Bible, the country Israel exists, and Jesus came to be. If he would have been disobedient, somebody else's name would be in the Bible. But I'm going to tell you why God chose Abraham, because he knew he would do it. I would not want to die, leave this earth by rapture or death, and God asks me to do something, and I not do it. And face Him one day. How different will your story be? Father, we thank you again for this time together. Lord, I pray that somehow this message tonight meant something to somebody. That Lord, we all have things in our life. sometimes that we need to get out of our life so you can bless us. You can get the full benefit from our life, Lord, and we can get the full benefit of you in it. Father, I pray and I ask right now that you take these remarks and you take this little message, God, and you do something with it. Lord, I love you and I praise you tonight, and I pray that you make a difference in someone's life, that, Lord, that some way, somehow, these words spoken will help them draw a little bit closer to you. We thank you in the Lord Jesus Christ's name we pray, amen. As we stand we get a song.