Vs 12-13 Abram dwelled in the land of Caanan and Lot dwelled 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.
One of my favorite songs is an old hymn of the church called ( Leaning on the everlasting arms) The whole song is about the blessing and the strength and the peace and joy that fills our lives as we lean on Jesus.
Another one that is very similar is the chorus: Learning to lean, I’m learning to lean I’m learning to lean on Jesus, finding more power than I ever dreamed I’m learning to lean on Jesus.
I always loved these songs: then I got a little older and I found out that they were based on the word of God
Song of Sol 8:5 Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness leaning upon her beloved.
(Of course it’s talking about the church leaning on Jesus).
Then I read Jn 13:23 Now there was leaning on Jesus bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved
(of course that disciple was John the beloved) The very one that Jesus entrusted the care of his mother to as he died on the cross.
Then Heb 11:21 Says: By faith Jacob when he was a dying blessed both the sons of Joseph, and worshiped (leaning) on the top of his staff.
I loved that verse because it puts Jacobs life into perspective
Early in life Jacob had been a liar, a cheat a usurper, a supplant-er he would do anything to get what he wanted. (he was a self made man)
He would lie cheat and steal, and he did.
He cheated his brother out the birthright of the first born son, and then he deceived his father and got the blessing of the firstborn son through deception.
But one night he had an encounter with the angel of the lord, and he wrestled with him all night long till the break of day and the angel said let me go ( but Jacob said: I will not let you go until you bless me,
Somewhere during that wrestling match Jacob came face to face with the wicked and corrupt man he had become and he realized that he couldn’t fix himself.
When Jacob said: I won’t let you go till you bless me, the angel of the lord put forth his hand and touched the hollow of Jacobs thigh and threw it out of joint, and the sinew or muscle of his thigh shrank)
From that day on, Jacob (leaned) to the side the Lord had touched
That day he received a new name, He was no longer called Jacob the liar, heel grabber and supplant-er and deceiver.
But his name was called Israel (Prince who hath power with God)
Israel’s power was not in his standing, and it was not even in his wrestling even though he wrestled all night long) His blessing and his power and his strength and his transformation came through his leaning.
When he learned to lean he found the power of God.
Tell your neighbor lean into the power
I know it doesn’t make sense sometimes but the strength and the power of the child of God is found in his weakness.
2 Co 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches in necessities in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: (For when I am weak then am I strong)
2 Co 12:9 He said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee for (my strength is made perfect in weakness)
The greatest battle we will ever fight as believers is not with the devil, it’s not even with sin ( it’s with self)
Our fight is with the spirit of self pride that makes us feel strong and independent
Pride is a killer
Pride will tell you, (You can do it on your own, you don’t need to wait on God, you don’t need to pray, you don’t need anyone’s help, you don’t have to read the bible you already know what it says) You are so talented you don’t need anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Pride will tell you (you can stand on your own, your smart enough to make the right choices ) you don’t need no preacher telling you how to live.
1 Co 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
The strongest believer the most anointed and effective believer is the one who has learned the secret and the necessity and the joy of (leaning on Jesus).
But my message tonight deals with a lean in the wrong direction
As believers we are all leaning ( the only question is, which way are you leaning?)
Prov 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and (lean) not unto thine own
understanding.
You are leaning the wrong direction when you convince yourself that you know whats best for you,
When you believe that you are strong enough to stay saved even though you don’t pray or read the word of God.
When you believe that you can make it without the fellowship of the saints.
When you start letting little things slip in that are offensive to the spirit of Christ.
You see in our story Lot had grown in number and strength until now he was a rival a competition to Abram.
In other words the flesh had become almost as strong as the spirit man (The flesh is the self life)
This is where people start leaning in the wrong direction ( they begin to allow self to be in charge.
Not sin (just self)
Self = My way, my plans, my feelings, what I want, what feels good to me, what makes sense to me,.
I don’t see anything wrong with it, it looks alright to me (it’s just country music it’s not that evil rock and roll stuff.
Its just rated r movies and I don’t even go to the show I just watch em at home, ( besides that preacher it’s not pornography or anything like that)
And then it’s I just don’t feel like going to church today ( I’m alright I’m not backslid or anything like that I just want to hang out at the house and chill.
Give me a break preacher: I’m not going to the bar, I’m not going to the crack-house, I’m not looking for a prostitute, ) I just want to hang out at the house watch the tube and relax.
I wonder if that wasn’t exactly the same attitude that got David in such a mess:
2 Sam 11:1-5
1 And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah.(But David tarried still at Jerusalem.)
That’s where it all started: David was at the wrong place at the wrong time, It was the time of year for Kings to go forth and fight their battles, but David stayed home, ( he leaned the wrong direction)
2 And it came to pass in an evening-tide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.
3 And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
4 And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house.
5 And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.
David finds out Bethsheba is pregnant he tries to hide his sin ( and he becomes a murderer) He arranges to have her husband killed in battle.
2 Sam 11:14-15
14 And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.
15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die.
And it all started with a little lean in the wrong direction
Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom
Sodom was known to be a wicked and sinful city, but Lot (leaned) toward Sodom
That’s what it means ( he pitched his tent leaning toward Sodom, facing Sodom, favoring Sodom, thinking about Sodom, Imagining the things that were going on in Sodom.
Not in Sodom not a partaker of Sodom’s sins (but close enough) to hear the sounds of Sodom, close enough to look over and see the business of Sodom (close enough that eventually the dirty off color jokes didn’t offend him anymore, close enough that their immorality and vulgarity didn’t offend him anymore.
Tell your neighbor (close enough is too close)
Eventually, Lot has moved his family into town
They are now living in the midst of a city that is given to perversion and unbridled lust and sensuality.
Now they are no longer on the outskirts of town, they are not just passerby’s or occasional visitors, they are no longer on the outside looking in, (Now they are residents, citizens of Sodom)
Ro 12:2 And be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds¦.
This means don’t allow the outside pressure to shape your life, don’t make adjustments to accommodate the mindsets attitudes and appetites of this world.
The bible says: Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove them.
James 4:4 The friendship of the world is enmity with God, whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
There is continual pressure on the child of God to relax, tone down, become tolerant and flexible toward the spirit of worldliness, ungodliness, and perversion in our nation and this world.
The standard of morality in this nation has fallen so low that there is no moral compass to point us to true north.
The line between right and wrong has been erased and from a world view it is nearly impossible to discern the difference between good and evil.
Isa 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil, that put darkness for light and light for darkness: That put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
Lets not be spiritual ostriches that bury our heads in the sand and pretend that because we ignore it it does not exist.
Our nation is leaning away from God, This society is leaning away from God, but what concerns me most is that the church is leaning toward Sodom, toward tolerance of sin and compromise to avoid conflict.
To avoid conflict, to gain acceptance, to fit in, many of our pulpits have sold out, even many of our mainline denominational churches that once held the bible as the only standard for a life acceptable to God have been infected by the spirit of compromise, and no longer do they sound a clear warning against sin.
Their message has become diluted, and polluted, their pulpits are for sell to the highest bidder.
1 Cor 14:8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?
To every man or woman that ever stands behind the sacred desk ( you are held accountable by God to speak the truth, and to speak it with clarity and simplicity) To every preacher that dilutes the message, and hides the truth in obscurity and confusion, you will be held accountable by God for every soul that is lost because you failed to preach the full counsel of God without fear or favor.
Now Lot and his family are settled in Sodom
They are surrounded by sin, and what at one time was repulsive and unthinkable is now the atmosphere they breathe every day.
Gen 18:17-32
You can read one of the greatest passages in the bible as a mere man named Abraham intercedes for the souls of men, as he pleads for the mercy of God he brings God to an agreement ( If I find ten righteous ones I will spare the city for their sakes).
Through Abraham’s intercession, Three angels are sent to Sodom to bring Lot and his family out.
Lot has two daughters and two sons in laws.
Lot warns his sons in law
Gen 19:14 Up get you out of this place for the Lord will destroy this city (but he seemed to them as one that mocked unto his sons in laws).
Gen 19:16-17
16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they (brought him forth, and set him without the city.)
In other words (Lord being merciful unto Lot, the angels took hold of their hands and (pulled) them out of the city.)
I know should get on with my message, but I just can’t go on without taking a minute to thank God for pulling me out, I was stuck in sin and he pulled me out.
Is there anybody here right now who knows if God hadn’t pulled you out, you’d be dead?
Somebody I’m talking to right now (God pulled you out of drug addiction, God pulled you out of alcoholism, God pulled you out of a bad relationship, God pulled you out of homosexuality, God pulled you out of prostitution, God pulled you out of dead religion.
Somebody ought to get on your feet right now and thank God that he pulled you out, your flesh didn’t want to quit, but he pulled you out (he could have just said come out and just kept on walking but he knew my flesh was fighting to stay in Sodom so he PULLED me out.
I was sinking in Quicksand, the harder I fought to get out, the deeper I went and the worse it got, then God in love and mercy reached down his hand and pulled me out.
Touch three people and tell them (He pulled me out, I was stuck pretty good but he pulled me out, I even fought him and resisted him but he pulled me out.
Then look at:
Gen 19:17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
19:24 Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from heaven
19:26 But his wife looked back from behind him and she became a pillar of salt.
This chapter closes with Lots two daughters getting their father drunk and becoming pregnant by him, and out of these incestuous relationships came two of Israel’s greatest enemies (the Ammonites and the Moabites).
Lot lost everything: He lost every temporal blessing that he had in Sodom, he lost his two sons in law, he lost his wife, and finally he lost his two daughters to the spirit of lust and corruption and perversion of Sodom.
And it all started with a lean in the wrong direction.
I’m closing but I have to make this point, it is perhaps the saddest part of the whole story.
Through Abraham’s bold intercession the mercy of God had determined that judgment of Sodom could be avoided if he only Ten righteous were found there.
Supposing that Lot had the power of a Godly life that had influenced his family toward God, they only needed four more people to overturn the verdict of destruction.
But the sad truth is: Not only were there not four others to be found, Lots life was so unstable, and so empty of conviction that his sons in laws thought he was making a joke about the coming judgment.
His wife loved Sodom so much that her heart never left, and when her eyes turned to where she had invested her heart, She became a pillar of salt and died.
And it all started with ( a lean in the wrong direction)
As I close this message, child of God I only have one question (which way are you leaning?)
I know by the Spirit of God, someone hearing this message right now, Your life has begun to lean in the wrong direction.
It may not be any big thing right now, you might even say, I haven’t sinned.
But your leaning the wrong way:
Song of Solomon 2:15 It’s the little foxes that spoil the vines.
Don’t follow Lots example, don’t let the little things add up until it’s beyond repair.
Repent, and start right now (leaning on Jesus)
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