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Amazing Facts

Joe Crews

Remember Lot’s Wife

A nagging, discontented wife has broken the concord of many a marriage.

1 woman complained bitterly when her husband was transferred and died as a result.

I'll be back in a moment with the amazing facts about the wife who didn't want to move.

Hello, this is Joe Cruz and the Amazing Facts broadcast, Facts Which Affect You.

In Luke 17 we find 1 of the most dramatic illustrations Jesus ever gave concerning the end of the world.

The disciples had been asking about the signs, just how near the end was.

Now let's read the answer Jesus gave in Luke 17, 28-32, verse 22.

Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot, they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded.

But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

In that day he which shall be upon the house top, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away.

And he that is in the field let him likewise not return back.

Remember Lot's wife." Now, friends, let me ask you something.

Why did Jesus tell those living at the very end of the world before Jesus comes to remember Lot's wife?

What does this woman of long ago have to teach us about the end of the world?

Well, Jesus used this as a fearful warning.

You see, this woman fell away from the truth.

She gradually let the world steal her affections until she became careless with holy things.

And Jesus had plenty to say on this point.

I gather, in fact, that this must be 1 of the most deadly perils facing God's people in these last days.

Christ said on another occasion, Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

So there is a danger, friends, that we get cold and careless, that we lose our way on the narrow road and fall into that miserable majority on the broad road to destruction.

I confess to you today that this is 1 of the pastor's most perplexing problems.

How can people lose their love for holy things?

How do they stop appearing at church and prayer meeting?

How do they keep finding excuses for their spiritual failures?

It's not because they disbelieve the truth, but it's simply because they have no more love for the truth of God.

And it doesn't come by just a sudden experience.

There's a gradual slackening that takes place.

And finally an individual wakes up to realize that the power has simply disappeared.

It's been nibbled away little by little and finally has slowly slipped away.

In 2 Timothy 3 we read about men having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.

Jesus said, Many will come in that last day, and say, Lord, Lord, have we not done this and that?

And he will say to them, I never knew you.

Now I cannot think of anything worse than this.

They had contributed their time, they had put their effort into the matter of serving God, and yet they were left out at last from the kingdom of heaven.

They didn't get anything out of this life, and they were also losers of eternal life.

Well after reading all that Jesus said about those who were saved, 1 absolute truth stands out clearly.

There will be no divided heart in heaven.

There will be no half-surrender on the part of the redeemed.

In Luke 14, 33, we read these words, So likewise whosoever he be of you, that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciples.

Now just as that merchant man had to sell everything in order to buy that pearl of great price.

So we must be willing to put everything into that investment for heaven.

But now let's get back to the story of Lot again.

We really can't study his wife without knowing something also about him.

Now apparently this was an excellent family.

They had heard the call of God just like Abraham did to leave Ur the Chaldees.

You see, this family shared Abraham's faith, and hundreds of times no doubt they had prayed at Abraham's altar.

And I can picture that caravan as it came to the entering in place of Canaan.

The uncle and nephew had their great herds.

They were wealthy men, both of them, Lot and Abraham.

In fact, they are what we would call today millionaires.

But some trouble developed among their herdsmen as they entered into the promised land.

So Abraham said, Look, Lot, let us divide here.

You go 1 way, and I'll take the other way.

Well, Lot looked down on those teeming cities of the plain.

He saw there the possibility of wealth and commerce.

He saw also, of course, the wickedness of those cities.

But the Bible says simply that He pitched his tent toward Sodom.

Abraham, I believe, was very happy about that choice, because he wanted to go towards the hills with his herds and flocks.

But Lot went down to live near those great cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and the plains.

Now I think Lot was a man of good intentions.

Apparently he didn't even plan to go inside those wicked centers.

He only pitched his tent nearby where he could take advantage of the wealth and commerce.

But listen, friends, Good intentions will not save anybody.

The whole tragic loss of this man was triggered by that 1 simple choice that he made in those early days.

That early decision to move down into the vicinity of those godless cities cost him the loss of almost everything.

And nobody can really be blamed except Lot himself.

You see, he was really prompted by selfish temporal advantage.

He lost his goods, his home, his family, and practically his own life.

And I repeat to you today that he didn't intend to lose any of those things.

There was no thought, I am sure, that he would live inside those wicked, wicked cities.

But nearer and nearer he moved until finally he sold out.

He got rid of his flocks and herds and actually did make his home in Sodom and Gomorrah.

He reasoned that he would guard his children and protect his home by strict, careful prayer and religion.

But the fact is that he gradually compromised.

He failed to hold up the truth and lost out at last.

You see, he had already made 2 bad choices before this.

His wife was a very worldly-minded individual who seemed to love pleasure more than she loved God.

His second bad choice was, of course, in the place he chose to live.

He still felt, though I am sure, that he could control things.

His case was going to be different even though it didn't usually work out.

The same old shallow argument is still being used today, friends, making an exception of my case.

Wallot was a neutral, nominal influence of the very best.

He lived in Sodom, but he felt he wasn't really doing anything too bad while he was living there.

Now understand, friends, that this man's worldly family didn't help any.

I can hear them pleading with him to move closer so that they could have the advantages of the metropolis.

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Remember Lot’s Wife

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