The Way Family Christian Center
Don't Forget Lot's Wife

      • Psalm 30NIV2011

  • REMEMBER LOT'S WIFE
    (Luke 17:32)
    Luke 17:32 (NLT)
    Remember what happened to Lot’s wife!
    No, you can’t Get to Heaven
    DON'T LOOK BACK
    ​
    And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. - Luke 9:62
    Luke 9:62 NLT
    But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”
    Luke 17:32,33
    Luke 17:32 NLT
    Remember what happened to Lot’s wife!
    Luke 17:33 NLT
    If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it.
    Summary: Once we start to follow Jesus we must never look back. We must give up our old way of life to find new life in Christ.
    I need two volunteers to help me. [Enlist two children.] We are going to play "Follow the leader." One of you will be the leader and the other one will be the follower. [Appoint each one. Say to the follower, "Wherever he leads, I want you to follow him."] Lead on, leader!
    [After a short distance, stop them. Give new directions to the follower. Tell him, "Keep following him, but now I want you to look back behind you the whole time."] Lead on, leader! [This should be interesting, if not comical, to watch.] What happened? It is hard to follow someone if you take your eyes off the leader. Thank you for helping to demonstrate our lesson for today.
    In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, two angels brought Lot and his family out of Sodom and warned them, Escape for your life; look not behind thee. (Genesis 19:17) God destroyed the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah with great balls of fire from heaven. [Read Genesis 19:26] Lot’s (unnamed) wife desired to go back to her old life in Sodom. She "looked back" and was caught in the destruction.
    ​
    Luke 17:32 NLT
    Remember what happened to Lot’s wife!
    Luke 17:33 NLT
    If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it.
    ​
    Introduction:
    1. This is one of the shortest verses in the Bible.
    2. This statement was spoken in the context of the impending destruction of Jerusalem.
    3. In this lesson, let us examine several reasons why we need to remember Lot's wife.
    I. THE HISTORICAL BACKDROP
    A. (Genesis 18:1 - 19:29).
    Genesis 18:1-19:29 New International Version
    The Three Visitors
    18 The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. 2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
    3 He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord,[a] do not pass your servant by. 4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 5 Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.”
    ​
    “Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.” 6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs[b] of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.”
    ​
    7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 8 He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree. 9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.
    “There, in the tent,” he said. 10 Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”
    Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
    13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
    ​
    15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.” Abraham Pleads for Sodom
    16 When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. 17 Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.[c] 19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”
    20 Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”
    22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.[d] 23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare[e] the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
    26 The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
    27 Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?” “If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”
    29 Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?” He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”
    30 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?” He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
    31 Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?” He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”
    32 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?” He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”
    33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.
    ​
    Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed
    19 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”
    ​
    “No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”
    3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. 4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”
    6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”
    9 “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
    10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.
    12 The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”
    14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry[f] his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
    ​
    15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.”
    16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. 17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”
    18 But Lot said to them, “No, my lords,[g] please! 19 Your[h] servant has found favor in your[i] eyes, and you[j] have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”
    21 He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.[k])
    23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
    27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.
    ​
    29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.
    B. Abraham was told that Sodom, Gomorrah, and the cities of the plains would be destroyed because of their extreme wickedness.
    C. Abraham pleaded on behalf of the cities, but to no avail.
    D. Lot and his family were told to leave and not look back.
    E. Lot's wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt.
    II. LESSONS LEARNED FROM LOT'S WIFE
    A. She Perished Although the Wife of A Righteous Man.
    1. (II Peter 2:7-8) Lot was a righteous man.
    2 Peter 2:7-8 New International Version
    2 Peter 2:7–8 NLT
    But God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him. Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day.
    7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless 8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—
    2. (Romans 4:3) Her uncle Abraham was a righteous man.
    Romans 4:3 NLT
    For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”
    Romans 4:3
    New International Version
    3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”[a]
    3. The righteousness of our relatives won't save us.
    4. We won't be asked, "Were your relatives faithful?"
    5. God has no grandchildren, only children.
    B. She Perished Although She, Herself Was Righteous.
    1. She was spared from the initial destruction because of her righteousness and God's mercy.
    2. But her righteousness did not license sin.
    3. Once escaping the defilements of the world, we must continue to live a sanctified life.
    4. (Revelation 2:10). Revelation 2:10
    New International Version
    10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.
    5. (Romans 8:1).
    Romans 8:1 New International Version
    Life Through the Spirit
    8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
    C. She Perished Although Warned to Flee.
    1. It is not enough to know the facts of the gospel; we must obey them.
    2. (James 4:17).
    James 4:17 New International Version
    17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
    3. (James 1:22).
    James 1:22
    New International Version
    22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
    4. It must be a horrifying fate to stand condemned while knowing all along the
    route to pardon.
    D. She Perished Although Her Sin Seemed Small.
    1. She just looked back.
    2. It seemed only natural; remember, her family was there.
    3. But this should stand to warn us of how serious sin is viewed by God.
    4. (Romans 6:23).
    Romans 6:23 New International Version
    23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[a] Christ Jesus our Lord.
    E. She Perished Although She Was Separated from Sodom.
    1. Sodom can be viewed as a type of the world.
    2. Even though a person may leave the world and be translated into the kingdom of God (Colossians 1:13), they still can sin (I John 2:1).
    Colossians 1:13 New International Version
    13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
    1 John 2:1 New International Version
    2 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
    3. Probably more than we would like to realize, there are several Christians who are separated from the world but looking back.
    4. (Philippians 4:13-14).
    Philippians 4:13-14 New International Version
    13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength. 14 Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles.
    ​
    Conclusion:
    1. The mistake of Lot's wife should serve as a warning to us all.
    2. Initial separation from the world is good, but not sufficient.
    3. We must guard our lives by continued obedience day by day.
    4. "But Jesus said to him, no one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:62
    Luke 9:62 (NLT)
    But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”
    Jesus warned his followers that when he returned to earth he would be coming suddenly, and they should be ready. We are his followers now so we should be ready too. We should not desire our old sinful (bad) life once we ask Jesus to be our Savior. Don’t look back!
    ​
    [Read Luke 17:32,33] If we remember Lot’s wife we won’t look back! That is our warning. We can follow Jesus if we keep our eyes on Him. If we are going to follow Jesus as our leader we must be willing to lose our old way of life to find a better life in Christ. If we look back we will lose our way and be lost. Let’s rededicate our lives to Jesus today and follow our leader, Jesus!
    ​
    ​

      • 2 Peter 2:7–8NIV2011

      • Romans 4:3NIV2011

      • Revelation 2:10NIV2011

      • Romans 8:1NIV2011

      • James 4:17NIV2011

      • Romans 6:3NIV2011

      • Luke 9:62NIV

      • Luke 17:32NIV

      • Luke 17:33NIV

      • Luke 17:32NIV

      • Luke 17:33NIV

      • Romans 4:3NIV

      • Philippians 4:13–14NIV2011

The Way Family Christian Center
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