Genesis 18 - 1/11/26 - Pastor Charlie Branch

Welcome to the podcast of Meadows

Baptist Church of Walnut Cove, North

Carolina. We're so glad you joined us

today. If you enjoy today's message, be

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with your friends. Now, let's join

Pastor Charlie Branch with a word from

God.

Amen. And if you would turn with me to

the book of Genesis this morning.

Genesis chapter number 18 is where we'll

start. Genesis chapter number 18.

Been doing this a lot more uh teaching

Sunday school which really helped me uh

in my preparation time. kind of doing

two-part u I guess you would say a

lesson and then a Bible message uh

during the worship hour kind of along

the same lines following the same text

and it's kind of helped me and that's

what I'm I intend to do today and I have

learned that I'm going to have to quit

telling y'all on Sunday morning when I

intend to come back and preach something

again on Sunday night because every time

that I do that the Lord changes it and

uh so uh probably not going to say that

anymore. Okay. But uh we're going to

look here in chapter 18 into chapter

number 19 this morning and deal with

some truth here. Kind of introduction to

what the message will be uh during the

worship hour. And uh I'll tell you this

when you study the Bible uh the number

one principle

of uh hermeneutics uh studying the Bible

homalytics all of that it comes comes

down to this context is king

>> always and if you do not know what who

the Bible is speaking to or what the

Bible is saying you cannot interpret

what the Bible means and uh we can all

cherrypick verses amen you've heard the

illustration of the preacher that uh

opened his Bible was looking for

something to preach. He said he's going

to do the first thing uh that he saw and

he opened his Bible and it turned to uh

over there where the Bible says that

Judas went out and hanged himself. And

uh he closed his Bible up, opened it

again, it said, "Do thou likewise." And

he closed his Bible up and he opened it

again. It said, "That thou doest do

quickly." And we've all heard that,

okay? And you can cherrypick scripture

and make it say whatever you want to

make it say. Amen. Uh but context is

king. And I want to I want us to look

here in the text and uh consider a

thought here and then we'll move on now

to get you up to speed on where we're at

here. Genesis 18. Uh this is the text

here uh that introduces to us Abraham

and Lot. Uh not the first time that they

appear, but it introduces us to them in

their divided state. Abraham has uh

departed from Lot. They have divided.

Abraham has chosen uh the plains of

Mamry and Lot had chose him the plane of

Jordan according to chapter number 13 of

the book of Genesis. And uh here it

tells us in this text that uh the Bible

says in verse one of chapter 18 that the

Lord appeared unto him. That's Abraham

and is going to speak to him in this

chapter. Now, if you could sum up this

chapter, I believe you would sum it up

in just three words. You could sum it up

this way. Uh that in this chapter, there

is the there is the invitation of

Abraham that you notice in the first

portion, God shows up, two angels with

him in the text. This is a theophony, a

pre-incarnate appearing of the Lord

Jesus Christ. And he appears to Abraham

according to verse number two. And

Abraham invites him to have a meal with

him and have fellowship. We know that

this invitation here is received and

they stay and have a meal uh with

Abraham here in the text and Abraham is

given the news uh from Christ here in

the text that uh Sarah is going to

conceive. There's going to be a child

that's born unto them and you know the

story. Sarah laughs within herself

because she's old. Amen. And she says

it's past I'm past childbearing and she

laughed. Amen. The Lord rebuked her uh

for her laughter. And so after that

there the the text then shifts from

here. You notice that his invitation is

received. They have fellowship. They

have communion in this chapter. And then

the chapter really begins to take a turn

in verse number 16. Uh the Bible says

that the men rose up from then and

looked toward Sodom and Abraham went

with them to bring them on the way. And

so it goes from the invitation here

being received to an intervention. uh

and it's an intervention of the

righteous God. Here in the text, we know

this intervention is uh that these two

men are going to go down and look look

at Sodom and see what's going on down

there. Now, we know here in the text,

the Bible simply tells us in verse

number 20 that they have u God speaks

here in the text almost as a as a uh

speaking with himself or speaking to his

men here in verse 17. The Lord said,

"Shall I hide from Abraham that thing

which I do, seeing that Abraham shall

surely become a great and mighty nation,

and all the nations of the earth shall

be blessed in him?" And then he verse

then in verse number 20, God speaks to

Abraham and it says, "Because the cry of

Sodom and Gomorra is great, because

their sin is very grievious, I will go

down now and see whether they have done

alltogether according to the cry of it

which is come unto me, and if not, I

will know." So first part of this

chapter deals with the invitation here

of Abraham unto the Lord. But then the

next part of this chapter deals with the

intervention of the Lord dealing with

the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. And he

goes down first to behold the sin of the

land. And I just want to put this out

there, okay? When you read your Bible,

you cannot you you cannot look at these

truths based off of verse number 21

there where the text says that he's

going to go down to see whether they've

done altogether according to the cry of

it which is coming unto me and if not I

will know. You can't look at that and

say that God had to go down there and

find out.

>> He already knew.

>> Okay. He was very well aware of the

situation that was present there. But

God comes down and I really believe I

think he didn't come down just to know.

I think he come down to give them an

opportunity to get right is what I

think.

>> And so he is going to intervene.

And then the part of this chapter that's

most wellknown, not the invitation, not

the intervention, but the intercession

that's in this chapter is the most

well-known portion that begins in verse

number 22 down through the end of the

chapter. and Abraham here. The two men

that are with God there with Jesus

Christ, that pre-incarnate Lord Jesus in

our text, the two men they depart, there

are two angels, the same men that are

found in chapter 19 and verse number

one. They depart in verse number 22, the

Bible says they turned their faces from

then and went toward Sodom, but Abraham

stood yet before the Lord. And so the

Lord is standing here and Abraham is

standing beside him. And I don't want

you to miss the the the um what's the

word I want to look for? I don't want

you to miss the glory of that. Abraham

is standing with God,

>> right?

>> Beside of God. Now, there's only just

been a handful of men that's been able

to do that,

>> right?

>> Amen. We know that Adam did that. Amen.

We know that Abraham did that according

to the this text. And we know that Moses

did that. Now, I really don't believe

that you can verify any other person.

Amen. uh definitively say that they

stood beside the Lord. Other than this

man, Moses and Adam, you could probably

say Joshua, the captain of the Lord's

host. And we know that there's many

pre-incarnate appearance. But I I'll say

this right here. I don't want you to

miss the mi the the the the wonder of

this miracle. He is standing beside of

God. And notice what his plea is in

verse 23. Abraham drew near. Now, that's

a good principle.

>> Amen. When you got something you need to

ask God, it's good to get close. Amen.

>> And said, "Wilt thou also destroy the

righteous with the wicked?" Now, he

makes no bones about his request. His

request is a plea for the men that were

in that city. You notice what he says in

verse 24, "Per adventure there be 50

righteous within the city." Well, what

was he talking about? He was talking

about men. He was talking about the

people that were there. That there be 50

righteous there. Notice what he says in

verse 24. Wilt thou also destroy and not

spare the place for the 50 righteous

that are therein? It was a plea for the

people, but it was also a plea for

mercy.

He was asking saying, "Hey, if there's

50 man, if there's 50 people there

that's righteous, would you not spare

the city?" We know the story how it goes

on. I'll say this, his plea was for the

men in that city. His plea was plea was

a plea for mercy. But I'll say this, his

plea was measured. And notice what the

Bible says. He gets all the way down to

verse number 32. He's come from 50 all

the way to 10. Notice verse 32. And he

said, 'Oh, let not the Lord be angry,

and I will speak yet but this once. Per

adventure 10 shall be found there. And

he said, I will not destroy it for 10's

sake. And this is where the conversation

ends. 10 people. You don't find Abraham

making another request. He does not go

further than 10. Notice verse 33. And

the Lord went his way as soon as he had

left communing with Abraham. And Abraham

returned unto his place. And here is

something you're going to know and

something you will learn about godly men

or if you are trying to be a godly man

and following the Lord, you will never

allow your request to go beyond God's

will.

Abraham knew the stopping point just as

well as God did. Now, you would ask, you

say, "Preacher, well, what what is the

what is the magic number?" I don't know.

I don't know. I tell you this, what I

believe, and I'm going to get ahead of

myself right here, but I believe Lot was

the only righteous one in Solomon.

You're

>> right.

>> The only one. And so, in this text,

you've got one man that's in one that's

in this city. Verse 19 or chapter 19 and

verse number one, the Bible says, "And

there came two angels to Sodom and Eve."

Now you notice this text the way it

begins. A day passes by in our text.

Verse 33. The Lord went his way. As soon

as he had left communing with Abraham,

Abram returned. Abraham returned unto

his place. And the two angels, they make

it to the city at the evening time. Now

you get that setting, okay, in your

mind. They're there in the evening time.

Darkness is setting. And the Bible says

in verse number one, "And Lot sat in the

gate of Sodom." Now, that is a vast

difference from where Lot was just a few

chapters ago. Just a few chapters ago,

Lot had pitched his tent and they were

only it was only pointed towards Sodom.

He wasn't even close to it, but he was

just pointed towards it. You've heard

this before. Amen. The direction that

you're pointed will be the destination

that you end up at. Amen. And so, here

he's in the gate. The Bible says in

verse one, Lot seeing them rose up to

meet them. Now, let me just just point

this out, okay? These these angels

obviously set something off in Lot

because when they come in, what does the

Bible say? He rose up to meet them.

These wasn't just the average citygoer.

Amen. He noticed that something was

going on different about these men.

Verse number one, he bowed himself with

his face toward the ground. There was

obviously a holiness that these men had

about them that he could see. And I'll

say it's the same way in this day and

time.

>> Holy men, holy women, they have a a

image, amen, that others can see about

them that they do portray holiness. Now,

I know these are angels, but the truth

is still the same. Notice verse two. And

he said, "Behold now, my lords, turn in,

I pray, you into your servants house,

and tar all night, and wash your feet."

Notice this. And you shall rise up early

and go on your ways. And so, he makes a

request. Now, you could look at chapter

18 and chapter 19 and you can make a

contrast. You can look at everything

that goes on, the events, the same

invitation really is given. He invites

them into his home. He prepares them a

feast. But you see, Abraham was never

wanting God to leave. And I'll tell you,

here's here's the number one difference

that you'll see in this text. When they

showed up at Abraham's house, there was

three. When they showed up at Lot's

house, there was two. Who was missing?

Jesus

the Lord.

>> You know why the Lord didn't show up

there?

Because it was wicked.

And he's not going to interject himself

into a place full of wickedness.

>> Right?

>> You think about where Jesus was when he

was on this earth. Jesus never

interjected himself into the midst of

sinful wickedness. Where what what

happened to him? It was always brought

to him. Isn't that interesting? Jesus

never placed himself in these

situations. You think about this. Jesus

didn't show up there because he wasn't

welcome there.

>> Right?

>> Jesus showed up at Abraham's house

because he was welcome.

>> Notice this in the text verse number

two. He says, "Turn in, I pray you, into

your Lord's house. Try all night. Wash

your feet. Ye shall rise up early and go

on your ways." Like, look, y'all come

in. You You can stay here the night and

you need to turn around and go on from

where you come from.

Look what the Bible says. And they said,

"Nay, but we will abide in the street

all night." So already Lot is picking up

on the fact that these boys have got

motives to deal with something.

And he already knows that what's going

to happen is not going to be pretty.

I'll say this, when you look at this

text, I think just as much as Lot knew

the wickedness of the men of the city,

he also knew the will of these two

servants that they had come to bring

destruction.

>> Notice verse number three. And he

pressed upon them greatly. What did he

press on them about?

He pressed on that they would come into

his house. What's he trying to do? He's

trying to protect them. They turned in

unto him and entered into his house. He

made them a feast and did bake unleaven

bread and they did eat. And so notice

here further I I mentioned to you that

it was the evening time right before

darkness. Notice verse four. But before

they lay down, all right, that implies

that this is nighttime. The men of the

city, even the men of Sodom, compass the

house round, both old and young, all the

people from every quarter. So the city

has come out to see these two men that

have come to the gate of the city.

Obviously here at Lot's house, they

brought him they brought him brought

these two men in and they've come

they've heard somehow or another that

these two men are there and they come

and compass this house roundabout. And

so the darkness is seen here. The

imagery of the text is that at the

evening time as it's getting dark, they

come and gather around the house. Verse

5, you notice their defilement. They

called unto Lot and said unto him,

"Where are the men which came into thee

this night? Bring them out unto us that

we may know them." Now, I'm going to

tell you this. All right? That's not

They didn't just want to be friends,

>> right?

>> Okay.

>> They wanted to have illicit relationship

with these men. And this is where you

have some of the teaching in the word of

God that deals with the fact that there

were angelic beings that were there

present in Sodom and Gomorrah. They're

the angels that are now in hold. They're

in chains of darkness, the Bible says,

because they kept not their first

estate. Now, I can't I can't back up all

of that, but there are a lot of people,

men a lot smarter than myself, that

believe that. And so, these men here,

they were desiring. They obviously had

some kind of influence. I I read one

writer that said this. He said something

along these lines about this text. He

said that it's quite possible that the

devil and the the demonic force that was

present in this city led these men to

his house.

They were that much aware

of righteousness around them. You think

about that demoniac over there in Gera.

What does the Bible say about him? When

he saw Jesus, he cried out to recognized

him for who he was. Said, "Don't cast us

out. Don't don't kill us. Say, man, you

just cast us into that field of swine.

You see, more so than even you and I can

recognize the presence of Christ, the

demons can. You're

>> right.

>> Amen. And so obviously here they have

been led on to these men being here. So

there is the defilement in verse 5.

Verse 6, Lot went out at the door unto

them and shut the door after him and

said, I pray you, notice that next word,

brethren.

Brethren,

he's yolked up with the world.

These are the people that he chose to

make friends and call brethren.

Now, I'm going to give away some of the

message this morning. But the Bible says

that Lot was a righteous man.

Tells us that for a fact. The Bible says

that. But Lot willfully joined himself

to the world. And he even denotes their

relationship by calling them brethren.

Now what I find interesting about this

is is he calls out their wickedness in

verse 7. Do not so wickedly. So he

points out he obviously knows this is

wrong. He's tried to protect them. He's

brought them into his home. He thinks

he's doing these men a favor by keeping

them from the men that were on the

outside. But in verse number eight, look

what he says. Look at his solution to

the problem. This is what happens when

you push God out of the way and try to

handle wickedness on your own. Look what

he says. Behold now I have two daughters

which have not known man. Let me I pray

you bring them out unto you and do ye to

them as is good in your eyes. Now I

don't know if it's ever occurred to you

or not in verse number eight. But Lot's

been living here from some time. He's

been living in Sodom for years at this

point. And according to the text,

Genesis 19, you read on in the chapter,

these two daughters here are older.

They're not they're not kids, okay?

They're not young ones according to what

the Bible says in uh verse number 30 and

31 of this same chapter. So, they're not

children. All right? Isn't it

interesting that Lot has two daughters

here that are pure?

He's been dwelling in Sodom all this

time, and he still has two daughters

here that are pure. unspotted from the

world. How does how has he done that?

Well, he's obviously kept some standard

of righteousness in his own,

>> right?

>> Hasn't he?

>> Notice the text. His compromise is he

says, "I have two daughters which have

not known man. They're pure. Let me I

pray you bring them out unto you and do

ye to them as is good in your eyes."

When you try to deal with wickedness in

the flesh, all that you do is create

more wickedness.

>> You're right.

That's what they That's what he's doing

right here in this text. He is going to

take the only things in his house that's

pure and defiled

willfully.

>> Right?

>> Think of the perversion of this. He's

going to turn them over willfully to

these men.

Notice not only the perversion, but

notice what he thinks he's doing in

verse number eight. Never seen that.

Never saw this before until I studied

this on yesterday. Look what he says. Do

ye to them as is good in your eyes. For

only unto these men do nothing. Notice

that last phrase. For therefore came

they under the shadow of my roof. What

is Lot doing? He's trying to preserve

these men. Notice it again. He says,

"For therefore came they under the

shadow of my roof." He's saying, "Look,

I brought them in my house so you would

leave them alone.

But he's going to turn his children out.

I know this is Sunday school, but this

is hitting real deep this morning. Truth

about this is we we function this way

way too often. I'm not talking about

this little instance, but I'm talking

about the small factors of life. We sell

out things that are more important to

preserve things that we think need

preserving.

>> Amen. Notice this Bible says in verse

nine, "And they said, stand back." And

they said again, "This one fellow came

into sojourn and he will need to be a

judge." What are they doing? They're

calling out Lot saying, "Look, you come

in here to live with us. Now you going

to judge us. You going to tell us what

we ought to do.

You come here to dwell. You didn't have

to come here." Amen. Notice that. Now

will we deal worse with thee than with

them. And they pressed sore upon the

man, even Lot, and came near to break

the door. So they begin to to assault

Lot in front of his own house.

And notice in this text, isn't this

interesting? Their digression in verse 9

leads to Lot's deliverance in verse 10.

Lot gets delivered like three or four

different times in this text because he

just keeps choosing to follow this.

Notice it in verse 10. But the men put

forth their hand and pulled Lot into the

house to them and shut to the door. He

was trying to protect them and they

ended up having to protect him,

>> right?

>> Isn't that interesting? Notice verse

number 11 and 12. Verse 11, the Bible

says that those two angels, they smoked

the men that were at the door of the

house with blindness, both small and

great, so that they wearied themselves

to find the door. And so to deal with

these men, because they would not stop,

they had to literally impair their

physical ability to see. And verse

number 12, notice the demand that these

angels give to Lot. And the men said

unto Lot, "Hast thou hear any besides

son-in-law and thy sons and thy

daughters? And whatever thou hast in the

city, bring them out of this place?"

Now, this is what I wanted to get to.

All right. Verse 12 right here unlocks

the key to the statement that was made

in chapter number 18 and verse number 32

where the Bible says Abraham said per

adventure 10 shall be found there. When

you notice verse number 12, what you

find is Lot's whole family is described.

First of all, there are his son-in-law.

Notice that it's mentioned in the the

singular sense in verse 12. son-in-law

is mentioned in the plural sense. And uh

verse number

see here

verse number 14. And Lot went out and

spake unto his sons-in-law

which married his daughter. So he could

have had more than one. So obviously

he's got at least two daughters that are

married. Verse 12 says he has sons and

thy sons. So that means he has at least

two sons. And then in verse 12, and thy

daughters. And so he had two daughters

that had not known man. So that means

Lot had at least six children.

He's only got two of them at home. In

this text, he speaks to his sons-in-laws

to bring them out and they would not

follow him. He does not even approach

his sons.

Notice that in verse 12 again. And

whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring

them out of this place. There was no

there was no clause given to Lot at this

time. said, "Look, you either get out or

you going to burn up with it."

Basically, that's what's going to

happen. Now, this is this is where I

come back to the point I made a little

bit earlier. You see, Lot in this text

has lost his family entirely.

He loses his family. He loses his

children. He loses his daughters, the

ones that were married. He loses the

daughters that he kept when he left.

Amen. He loses his wife. will make we'll

mention that in the message this morning

and he loses his sons as well. Lot

barely makes it out of this place with

his life,

>> right?

>> And this is all comes from one little

event.

One little event. And you say,

"Preacher, well, it was Lot's fault he

made this decision." You're right about

that. But you know what? This come from

event that happened before that.

You see Genesis chapter number 13.

Genesis chapter number 13 verse number

10.

This is where this this began for Lot.

This is not where the sin started, but

I'm I'm going to go back and hit that in

just a minute. Notice what the Bible

said in chapter 13 and verse 10. And Lot

lifted up his eyes 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. Notice that

little phrase in verse 10, like the land

of Egypt,

as thou comest unto Zor.

Now what you find here in our text, the

Bible says in chapter number 12 that

Abraham in a lapse of faith takes Lot

and his wife and his and his servants

down to Egypt because he was fearing a

famine.

Notice what the Bible says in verse

number nine.

The Bible says in verse number nine of

Genesis 12, "And Abram journeyied, going

on still toward the south, and there was

a famine in the land. And Abram went

down into Egypt to sojourn there, for

the famine was grievious in the land.

And it would came to pass when he was

come near to enter into Egypt, that he

said unto Sarah's wife, Behold now, I

know that thou art to Pharaoh wanted to

look upon, therefore shall come to pass,

when the Egyptians shall see thee, that

they shall say, this is his wife, and

they will kill me, but they will save

thee alive." Abraham has to lie to go

down into Egypt. He lies about his wife.

He says that she's my sister. The

Pharaoh here in the text, the Bible says

that the Lord plagued him in verse

number 17. In verse 18, Pharaoh called

him said, "What is this that thou hast

done unto me? Why dust thou not tell me

that she was thy wife?" Verse 19, verse

20, he deals with the situation. All

right? And everything looks okay. Abrams

went down into Egypt. Their land was in

a land was in a period of famine. But

you got to remember who's tagging along

with them? Lot's tagging along with

them. What is Egypt a type of in the

Bible? The world. So what's he done?

He's took Lot down in there to Egypt.

And Lot has seen everything that Egypt

has to offer. And when he comes out of

Egypt, Egypt, Egypt never leaves his

mind.

>> Right?

>> And so back to chapter 13 and verse

number 10. Verse one, Abram went up out

of Egypt. he and his wife and all that

he had and Lot with him into the south.

And so their their herds get so large,

you know the story. The herds get so

large, their herdman are striving. So

they've got to split up. And in verse

number eight, he says, Abram said Lot,

let there be no strife, I pray thee,

between me and thee, and between my

herdman and thy herdman, for we be

brethren. Is not the whole land before

thee. Separate thyself, I pray thee,

from thee. 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. And notice verse 10

again. And Lot lifted up his eyes and

beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it

was well watered everywhere before the

Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorra, even

as the garden of the Lord. Notice the

phrase again, like the land of Egypt,

as thou comest unto Zor.

So, Lot has ended up where he's at in

chapter 19 because of Abraham's lapse of

faith in chapter 12.

>> You see, this is the this this is the

importance of decisions in your life.

>> Right?

>> You see, you might let me just put it in

practical terms, okay? You might make a

decision and you might recover from

that, but your family might not. You're

>> right.

You might make a decision to get out of

the will of God and to go the way of the

world for a period of time. Then you get

back right again, but your family may

not ever recover from that.

>> Right?

>> You see in this text, the demand was

given to Lot in verse number 12 of

chapter 19. He said, "All right, we know

what we've got to do,

but nobody's going to follow."

And so what has happened is Lot's desire

for prosperity. Hear me. All right? I'm

not preaching, but I am. Okay? Chapter

13 and verse 10. His desire for

prosperity. What did it say about the

plains of Jordan? That it was well

watered everywhere, good land for

cattle, good land for crops. He saw that

it was well watered everywhere like the

Garden of Eden,

like unto Egypt.

You know what he did?

He went and pitched his tent in that

land that was full of prosperity.

And what happens? Years pass on,

children grow up, and their location

changes.

Instead of just looking at Sodom, and

now they're living in Sodom,

>> right?

>> You want to know a description of

America as we know it today? Right there

it is.

>> Right.

>> We just looked at it for a long time and

now we're living it.

>> You're right.

>> And God is saying, "All right, it's time

to get out." Verse 12. Hast thou hear

any besides son-in-law and thy sons and

thy daughters at least six children? Lot

has here in this text, if you count his

sons-in-law, there's at least eight.

And so you think about this with me. If

he's got at least two sons-in-law,

two daughters that are married to those

sons-in-law, two sons and two daughters

that are virgins, and Lot and his wife,

how many is that? It's 10.

Abraham prayed and he said, "Per

adventure, 10 shall be found there." But

you know what? Abraham knew that Lot was

the only one that believed.

>> Right?

>> Notice verse 13.

For we will destroy this place because

the cry of them is waxing great before

the face of the Lord and the Lord hath

sent us to destroy it. And it's like I

told you before, I think Lot already

knew it.

He knew it. He knew the sin that he was

living in. He knew the wickedness, the

immensity of sin that was present in

this city. But he chose to live there

because at this point in his life, if he

had decided to leave, he would have lost

it all anyway. You're

>> right.

>> I want you to think about this. If Lot

had chose to get right with God and

leave that city, he would have had to

leave his wife and all his children

there. You're right.

>> And so, you know what he did? He stayed.

I'm seeing it all the time.

My dad's talking to me about a gentleman

the other day. We was just we prayed for

him, prayed God would touch his family.

They've left his church. They've went to

a liberal church up the road because his

children won't want won't they won't

mind him. They won't listen to him. His

wife just lets them do whatever they

want to. And he told my dad, he said, "I

give up.

I'm not losing my children and my wife."

And so, you know what he had to do?

He had to throw in the towel.

You say, "Preacher, was that the right

thing to do?" I don't know. What do you

think?

Here's what it comes down to in our

life. Okay. God God before everything

else.

>> Right. Right.

>> Before everything else. And the problem

is when people start out wrong, this is

what you have to deal with. You're

>> right.

>> If Lot would have never pitched his

tent, you're

>> right

>> toward Sodom, his children wouldn't have

had to live there.

>> You're right.

>> If he would have made the right

decision, but I'll tell you this. All

right. It comes back on those of us too

that are here this morning because our

little lapses of faith could be the

thing that causes somebody else to stay

out for their lives.

>> Amen.

>> Abraham was the friend of God. He's the

father of the faith. And it was

Abraham's decision that caused Lot to do

this.

Our little lapses of faith could be what

causes somebody else to live a life of

perversion and wickedness. I can tell

you this this morning. We have no room

to quit.

>> Amen.

>> We have no room to back up. We have no

room to let up.

>> We've got to stick to it. You're

>> right.

>> And more so than that, we got to believe

it.

>> Yes.

>> What good is hanging with something if

you don't even believe it?

>> Amen.

So, we'll preach here out of chapter 19

this morning, the Lord helping us and uh

look at this thought, but give you a

good little introduction to that. I I've

enjoyed doing that. I think it helps

with the message. Those of you that are

here for Sunday school and for

preaching, you get all of it together.

So, I enjoy that. We may do that for a

while. And uh but uh I don't say I don't

preach this this morning to be

discouraging. It just it's just a wakeup

call. Let's get serious. Amen. Amen. and

I love each one of you. Let's pray and

then we'll get ready for worship

service. Father, thank you for this day.

Thank you for your grace and your mercy,

Lord. Thank you for the truths of the

word of God, Lord. The illustration,

God, you paint it so perfectly.

Lord, you tell us, Father, that we

cannot afford to have one toe in this

world.

>> God, we've got to be completely

separate. Lord, I pray you'd give us

boldness and courage to do that in these

days. in order to be real and right for

you. Lord, we love you. Thank you for

loving us. Help us in the worship

service today. Bless the singing and the

preaching. And we give you praise for

what you do because we ask it in Jesus

name. Amen.

Thank you for joining our service today.

We'd love it if you'd join us in person

the next time you are able at Meadows

Baptist Church. Our physical address is

2988

Stewart Road in Walnut Cove, North

Carolina. Our service times are Sunday

school at 10:00 a.m., Sunday morning

worship at 11:00 a.m., Sunday evening

worship at 6:00 p.m., and Wednesday

evening Bible study at 700 p.m. For more

information, visit us at

meadowsbaptisturch.com.

Thanks again for tuning in.