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Before the Lord · Sermon Podcast at Cartersville1st

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If you have your Bible, we'll make your way to Genesis 18 as
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we continue in our series titled Answering God's Call.
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Genesis 18 we're going to pick up in verse 22.
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We're going to make it through chapter 19, verse 29 today.
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So we're going to cover a lot of texts.
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This may not be a text that you would expect on Mother's Day,
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and quite honestly, I really didn't either.
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I wrestled with God about that a little bit, got a piece about
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it, but I really feel like the Lord wants to use this text to
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speak to us today. I also want to give you a heads
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up that as we walk through it, I want you to be thinking about
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the two different men we're going to meet because really
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this text is a tale of two different men in two different
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lives. But before we get there, I want
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to admit to you that when I get to the get to the opportunity,
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I'm going to stand before the Lord face to face.
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I've got some questions that I want to ask.
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I mean, it may not be right off, but whenever Jesus gives me a
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chance to ask some questions, I want to ask, right?
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So like God, how long were Adam and Eve in the garden before
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they sinned? You know, was it 3 minutes or
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was it like 30 years, right? I mean, how long did they make
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it right? I want to ask that question,
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God, what really happened to the dinosaurs or God maybe what's
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the exact age of the earth or God, could you kind of tell me
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how Cain's wife, how all that worked, how closely she was
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related or not? All right, God, can we talk
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about Genesis 6 like the sons of God, the daughters of men, the
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Nephilim and God, what exactly happened right there?
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All right, God, why mosquitoes? I could keep going.
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I got I got a list right that I'm going to be ready for when
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God gives me a chance. But praise God, we might have
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all sorts of questions, many of them good ones, but praise God
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that God has answered for us already.
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The primary questions we need to know the answers to in order to
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know him, live for him, and honor him as followers of his
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Son Jesus. Praise God, God has answered for
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us in his word those primary questions.
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And in fact, when we're going to read this morning the beginning
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part of this text, we're going to hear two of the most
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important possible questions ever that God could be asked by
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man. I want you listening for those.
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And then I want you following along on the two men, Abraham
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and Lot, and the tale of two lives that we're going to see
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this morning. Let's pick up reading Genesis
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18, beginning in verse 22. So the men turned from there and
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went towards Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord.
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And then Abraham drew near and said, Will you?
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Here's the question, number one. Will you indeed sweep away the
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righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are 50 righteous
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within the city. Will you then sweep away the
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place, and not spare it for the 50 righteous who are in it?
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Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to
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death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the
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wicked. Far be it, far be that from you
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question #2 Shall not the judge of all the earth do what is
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just? And the Lord said, If I find at
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Sodom 50 righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for
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their sake. Abram answered and said, Behold,
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I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and
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ashes. Suppose five of the 50 are
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lacking, will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?
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And he said, I will not if, if it if I find 45 there again He
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spoke to him and said, suppose 40 are found there.
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He answered, for the sake of 40, I will not do it.
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And then he said, Oh, let not the Lord be angry, then I will
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speak. Suppose 30 are found there, He
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answered, I will not do it if I find 30 there.
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He said, Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord.
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Suppose 20 are found there, He answered, For the sake of 20, I
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will not destroy it. Then he said, Oh, let not the
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Lord be angry, and I will speak again, but this once.
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Suppose 10 are found there, he answered, For the sake of 10, I
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will not destroy it. And the Lord went his way when
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he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to
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his place. Question number one that we
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heard right out of the gate is will God sweep away the
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righteous with the wicked? Remember the situation.
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Three men have paid Abraham a visit.
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These are no ordinary three men. Two of them are angels and one
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of them is the Lord himself, the Son of God, the second person of
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the Trinity who's been from everlasting eternity past.
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Who's the one who spoke all of creation into existence, The one
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who would take on human flesh that we would call Jesus and
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call Jesus now, who's eternally existed and is now appearing
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even in human form in the Old Testament with two angels that
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have come to visit. Now their primary destination
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was not Abrahams address if you remember they visited him, but
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their primary destination is the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
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Why? Because the sin of these cities
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has risen so high. Because it's gotten so deep and
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so bad and so broad, and the rampant wickedness has become so
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unjust and so much unrighteousness is flowing
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through their streets that the cries of the oppressed, the
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cries of those suffering under the injustice, and the
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unrighteousness of Sodom and Gomorrah has risen so high.
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It's reached the ears of God Almighty.
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And the Lord himself has decided to investigate and see for
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himself. Don't miss Abraham's Abraham's
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position in verse 22 like we read.
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So the men turn from there. That is Abraham's tent and went
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towards Sodom. But Abraham here it is stood.
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Watch this before the Lord. Abram is positioned between the
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Lord and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, as he knows his nephew
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Lot, and Lot's family lives there.
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And so here before the Lord, Abraham is boldly chosen, if you
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will, just like you read and and heard.
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He's acting as a mediator. He's acting as a intercede, or
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he's acting as an advocate. He's acting as a negotiator,
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like a spiritual negotiator, if you will, before the Lord.
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And before we answer the first question that we heard, we learn
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a lesson from Abraham here. Who's before the Lord.
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That's like this lesson #1 in your notes, God calls us to
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intercede for the sake of others.
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God calls you and me as followers of Christ to intercede
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for the sake of others. You say, Kyle, what is it?
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What does it mean to intercede? Well, just the general term, to
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intercede means to engage or to act on behalf of someone else.
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It's when you're seeking their good and you position them
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yourself or act yourself on their behalf.
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What we're talking about, to intercede is to intercede in
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prayer. And So what we're talking about
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is this going before God in prayer on behalf of others.
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Why is this intercession, this intercessory prayer, so
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important? Because of this truth.
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The fact of the matter is that only God, and only God alone can
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truly change the heart of a man or a woman or boy or girl from
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the inside out. There's lots of things we can do
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to serve someone, to show someone God's love, but the only
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way a human being experiences, and it's the change of the power
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of God for themselves, is for God to do it from the inside of.
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This is why our intercessory prayer doing and asking for God
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to do what only He can do is so critical.
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It's a core part of Our Calling. In fact, I would say we cannot
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fulfill Holy God's call on our lives without intercessory
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prayer being a core part of what we do as followers of Christ.
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I just want to talk to you about an example of that for a moment.
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I've been reading a missionary biography that I just finished.
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I'd encourage you, as I've told you before, if you read
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different categories of books as a Christian, you ought to read
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biographies of those who went to the mission field.
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Let me give you 1. You ought to read Hudson Taylor
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is his name. He was the establisher of the
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China Inland Mission, they called it.
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So he went to China in the early years, around the same years
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that Lottie Moon would eventually go as a missionary
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there. And intercession was part of the
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DNA of this man's life before he was even born.
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For example, his father prayed that God would give him a son
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who would be a missionary to China before Hudson was ever
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born, interceding on the son's behalf that he did not yet have.
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And then furthermore, when Hudson was young, Hudson's
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mother was about 70 to 80 miles away when her son was a
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teenager. And all of a sudden, after
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dinner, she had this overwhelming impression that she
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needed to plead for the salvation of her son, who had
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not yet come to accept Christ yet as his Savior.
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And so after dinner, she goes to her room and she takes the key
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and she said she locks the door. She said she was going to give
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herself hour after hour to prayer until God responded
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positively to her request. And so hour after hour passed as
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she prayed, and eventually she said it was almost like God
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overwhelmingly impressed upon her.
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She needed to stop praying and start praising God that he had
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answered her prayer. For at that very hour, Hudson
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Taylor had been saved, unbeknownst to him that his
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mother had been praying for hours until he'd accepted
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Christ. Later on, Hudson picks up a a
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journal, a diary in their home. He thought it was his he was
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about to write. In it, he looks, he sees it's
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his sister's, but immediate. Instead of immediately closing
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it, God allowed him to see a line that he needed to read, for
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she had written there an entry that was one month ago that said
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on that day she had decided to give herself to intercessory
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prayer for the salvation of her brother daily until he was
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saved. Hudson Taylor was a man who
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marked the world, but was marked beforehand because people
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interceded for him in prayer. This man said these words
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brought up, he says, in such a circle of people and saved under
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such circumstances. It was natural that from the
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commencement of my Christian life, I was led to feel that the
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promises of God were very real and that prayer was in sober
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matter of fact, transacting business with God, whether on
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one's own behalf or on behalf of those those for whom one sought
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His blessing. Lesson #1 is God calls us to
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intercede for the sake of others.
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How many of us are where we are because our mothers interceded
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for us for maybe hours and days that we knew not, and yet God
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heard a mother's cry for her son or for her daughter, just like
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in Hudson Taylor's case. That's lesson #1 but don't
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forget question number one. Will God sweep away the
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righteous with the wicked? What's the answer?
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Well, what is God's repeated answer to Abraham when he
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negotiates God down from 50 to 10?
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That's an interesting way. I don't know that I'd envision
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myself negotiating with God like that.
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But here Abraham is interceding and he's negotiating one number
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at a time. What is God's answer?
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Every time from 50 to 45 to 10? He says if he finds just 10
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righteous in the city, God says he would spare it on their
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behalf. Now, obviously to get a little
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bit ahead of myself, God is not going to find 10 righteous in
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the city as you know the story. In fact, I think you can
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accurately say that God is only going to find one righteous in
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the city and he will destroy the cities as we're going to see,
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but not before He rescues the righteous.
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Will God, Will God sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
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The answer is never ever, which allows us also to immediately
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answer question #2 Shall not the judge of the earth do what is
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just? Verse 25?
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The answer there is yes both now and forever.
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Yes always, both now and forever.
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So watch and see what God does. Beginning in chapter 19 verses
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one through 11. The 2 angels came to Sodom in
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the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom.
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When Lott saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with
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his face to the earth. And he said, My Lords, please
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turn aside to your servant's house and spend the night and
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wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and
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go on your way. They said no, we'll spend the
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night in the town square. But he pressed them strongly.
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So they turned aside to him and entered his house.
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And he made a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
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But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of
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Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man,
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surrounded the house, and they called to Lot.
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Where are the men who came to you tonight?
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Bring them out to us, that we may know them.
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Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after
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him, and said, I beg you, my brothers, do not act so
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wickedly. Behold, I have two daughters who
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have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you,
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and you do to them as you please.
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Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the
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shelter of my roof. But they said Stand back.
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And they said this fellow came to Sojourn and he has become the
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judge. Now we'll deal worse with you
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than with them. Then they pressed hard against
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the man lot and drew near to break down the door.
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But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the
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house with them and shut the door.
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And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance
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of the house, both small and great, so that they wore
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themselves out groping for the door.
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When the 2 angels arrive in Sodom, Lot is sitting at the
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gate. Now that's biblical terminology
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that Lot was a man of influence. Lot potentially and probably had
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some sort of leadership position or place in this city.
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Maybe he was a part of the Chamber of Commerce, or maybe he
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sat on the the City Council, or maybe he was elected to the
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school board or he Lot Lot did something that gave him a place
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at the gate where the elders are leaders of the city would sit.
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As soon as Lot sees these guests, he bows down to them.
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He runs to the then he offers hospitality to them, but they
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don't accept it at first. Why?
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They say we're going to stay in the city square, out in public.
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Why in the world would that be? Probably to get a full scouting
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report of the city for which they've come.
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Lot doesn't give up. He presses upon them.
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No, stay with me, stay with me. Finally, they give give in.
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Just before bedtime though, the city, every man to the last man,
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turns into a mob, surrounds Lot's house like a pack of
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wolves and demands that Lot give them the men.
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Lot refuses to do so, seeks their protection, and then comes
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up with an idea that quite honestly, I don't know if you
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have times like this. There's times I read my Bible
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and I read something I read and I think to myself, did I just
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read what I thought I just read. Y'all been there before?
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He does something that quite honestly, one could not imagine.
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The angels, the men refuse. The angels have to get involved,
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supernaturally shut the door, snatch, slot in to the house and
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they strike the men groping at the door with blindness, who
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continue to seek out the fulfillment of their desires
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despite the fact that they can't see their face in front of them,
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their hand in front of their face.
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Now, there's a lot we could talk about here, but I want to
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address the thing I brought up earlier.
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You know, when you read something in your Bible and
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maybe it caused you to scratch your head and just wonder what
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in the world did I just read? Specifically this horrific
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portion of the story? How in the world could Lot make
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such a wicked offer regarding his daughters?
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The idea is shocking. It flies in the face of
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everything good, right and true, and just does it not?
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How could Lot think of such a thing?
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The reality is though, to be honest, that the thought or the
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act from Lot should not catch us by surprise.
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Why is that? Because Lot has been on the
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wrong trajectory for quite a while now.
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Lot's life in his life, He's been making unwise decisions for
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years now. Lot's been living away from the
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will of the Lord for a long time now.
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Lesson #2 is this. If you love the world, you will
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eventually live like it. If you love the world, you can't
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be shocked. You can't be surprised if it
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eventually starts creeping in your house, if it starts
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creeping in your life, if you start looking like what you're
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loving. Remember, Lot is not in Sodom
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because God called him there. Now there is second Peter 27, I
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believe, a little New Testament verse that describes Lot as
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righteous. And you wonder, well, how in the
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world was he a righteous man and how in the world did he do this?
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But I think those things are completely compatible because
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Lot, it says, was not living the lifestyle of every other man in
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Sodom. He was not.
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In fact, he it even says that such a lifestyle and wickedness
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around him was tormenting his soul, but it obviously wasn't
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tormenting his soul enough to leave.
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All right, so Lot's not in the place of his address because
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God's called him there. He chose the place because it
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looked good to his eyes. It looked good according to the
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ways of the world. It looked like a place he could
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prosper physically and financially and have what he
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wanted to have and do. What he wanted to do wasn't
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according to God's call. Abraham, on the other hand, has
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been living in answer to the call of God, and here's why.
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I really want you to zoom in and begin to notice the different
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trajectories of life between Abraham and Lot.
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While Abram is answering God's call, Lot is living as if there
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is no call of God. The way one preacher put it is
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like this. Lot was in the worst of possible
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places. I want you to listen to this
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statement and see if you can identify Lot had too much of the
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world to be happy in the Lord, and too much of the Lord to be
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happy in the world. This is why you've heard the
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statement. Christians can sometimes be the
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most miserable of people. If you fall out of love with
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Jesus because you get entranced with the world and start leaving
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the route in the will of God for you, you got too much of the
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Lord to be happy in the world. Too much of the world to be
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happy in the Lord and you can't make up your mind and can be the
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most miserable of men or women. This is where Lot is.
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Let me be even more specific. Lot, I believe, shows us that
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it's possible to have a saved soul and yet live a wasted life.
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It's possible to be rescued ultimately, but for one's life
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to accomplish nothing, for the Kingdom of God to be fruitless,
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if you will. If Lot let me say it like this
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when it comes to his daughters, I think this will help make it
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make sense. If Lot had compromised his own
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life with the world, what makes us think he wouldn't compromise
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his own family? So this shouldn't shock.
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Sin, as you've heard said, will take you farther than you want
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to go, will cause you to stay longer than you want to stay,
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and it will cost you more than you want to pay.
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Let's pick up in Genesis 19, verse 12 through 14.
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Then the men said the Lot. Have you anyone else here?
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Sons in law, sons, daughters or anyone you have in the city,
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Bring them out of this place. We're about to destroy this
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place because of the outcry against its people has become
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great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.
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So Lot went out and said to his sons in law who were to marry
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his daughters up, get out of this place.
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For the Lord is about to destroy the city, but he seemed to his
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sons in law to be jesting, that is to be joking.
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God is about to annihilate the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
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Y'all and the angels asked the most gracious, merciful question
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they could possibly ask. Have you anyone else here?
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Now let me say what the question is not.
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The question is not lot. Is anyone else here righteous?
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That's not what they're asking. This is a more merciful question
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than that. The question is not Lot.
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Is there anyone else here that deserves to be saved?
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The question is more merciful than that.
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The question is Lot, does anyone in this city belong to you so
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that we can rescue them on your behalf?
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And of course, Lot has a wife and two daughters and two sons
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in law, to which his daughters were about to be married.
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No, Again, I may be wrong when I get to heaven about this, but I
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think this is probably the case. His wife, never mentioned until
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now, was probably from Sodom. His two daughters had obviously
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been born and raised in Sodom. Where were his two sons in law
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from Sodom? Lot immediately warns his sons
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in law, but they think he's only joking.
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Kind of have to read between the lines right there, but I think
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it's a pretty obvious reading. Why in the world, in a 911
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spiritual nuclear situation, would they think he's only
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joking? Well, no doubt, because I'm
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sure, as is obvious, they've never heard Lot talk like this
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in his life. They may have never heard Lot
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bring up the Lord, talk about salvation, share with them how
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to be saved, talk about faith, talk about the call of God on
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his life. They've never heard this man
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speak of these things. All the sudden he's screaming
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and shouting at the top of his lungs because it's 911.
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And they're like, who is that? They think he's joking.
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They don't take him serious because he's never been serious
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about his faith before. Potentially in front of them,
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right? So lesson #3 is y'all Lost
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people don't take save people seriously until they see we're
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serious about what we believe. Lost people don't take save
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people seriously unless they see we're serious about what we
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believe. Let's go back to Hudson Taylor.
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As a young man, he was skeptical of Christianity before he was
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saved, and so were his friends. Here's what he says.
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Here's what was to blame, he says the inconsistencies of
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Christian people who, while professing to believe the Bible,
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yet were content to live as if there were no such book.
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These had been one of the strongest arguments of my
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skeptical companions and myself, and I frequently felt at that
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time that if I ever got to the day that I pretended even to
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believe the Bible, I would at least attempt to live by it.
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Friends, here's just a good place That sometimes there are
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realities that are so real and carry such gravity that are
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difficult to speak of. The realities of heaven and the
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realities of hell. The realities of life and the
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realities of death. The realities of salvation and
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the realities of judgement. This is a moment in time and a
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place in Scripture where we need to remember that so often we as
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believers can live our lives so casually that those who are lost
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around us don't know when to take us seriously.
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Part of Our Calling as Christians is to witness and
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warn of the salvation and judgement to come.
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I came across some words by the famous preacher Jonathan Edwards
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that again, these are convicting for me and this is I.
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I don't think you can say it more straight than this.
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Listen to his words. He says.
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How can you call someone your friend if you believe there is a
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coming judgement but you've never warned them?
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What will your friends say to you at the judgement if you
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never told them? The greatest hypocrisy, he says,
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is this is saying you believe in hell and not doing everything
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you can to keep those you care about from going there.
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I'm going to pick up reading in verse 15 of chapter 19.
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As morning dawned, the angels urged lot saying up, take your
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wife and two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in
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the punishment of the city. But he lingered.
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So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by
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the hand. And the Lord being merciful,
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look at God, the Lord being merciful to him.
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And they brought him out and set him outside the city.
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And as they brought him out, one said, escape for your life.
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Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley, escape
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to the hills, lest you be swept away.
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And Lot said to them, Oh no, my Lord, behold, your servant has
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found favor in your sight, and you've shown me great kindness
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and saving my life, but I cannot escape to the hills lest the
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disaster overtake me and I die. Behold, this city is near enough
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to flee to, and it is a little one.
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Let me escape there, is it not a little one?
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And my life will be saved. And he said to him, Behold, I
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grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of
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which you've spoken. Escape there quickly, for I can
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do nothing to you. Arrive there, there.
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For the name of the city was called Zoar.
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The angels told Lot to leave, but he lingered.
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You know the feeling, right? In the mornings early.
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Maybe it's going to happen tomorrow morning.
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Your alarm goes off and you what?
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You linger there in bed, hit the snooze.
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Why? Because you're so comfortable,
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right? You just don't want to move yet,
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you know? I don't know why.
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Why does the bed not feel that comfortable when you first get
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in it as when you're about to get out of it?
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Y'all ever wondered that? Oh my God, you could have
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reversed this. Made life a whole lot easier.
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Anyway, that's a different set of story.
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So you know what this is like. Lot's been lying in bed and
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Sodom for years now. This is where he's comfortable,
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This is what he knows. This is where he wants to be.
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And Lot lingers so long the angels have to physically seize
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him, his wife and two daughters. By the hands, maybe by the
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collar. It sounds like they literally
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have to pick them up and take them out by force.
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And yet they do. Out of the mercy of God, Not
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because they deserved it, but because of God's mercy.
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They bring them outside the city.
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You heard the instructions they gave.
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Escape for your life. Don't look back.
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Don't stop anywhere along the valley.
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Get to the hills. Run for your life.
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Judgment is coming, but Lot still doesn't want to run.
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Lot still really doesn't want to leave.
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Lot's life is so compromised he can't take God seriously.
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Lot asked to go to a nearby city.
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They grant him his request, and once they arrived safely, God
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did in his complete and perfect justice what he said he was
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going to do. He rained down judgement for the
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sin of these cities, the entire valley and its inhabitants.
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Look at verse 26 again, it says. But Lot's wife behind him looked
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back and she became a pillar of salt.
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Now #1 that's just weird right there.
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That's bad. That's just weird.
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You know, it's interesting that the Dead Sea is also called the
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Salt Sea. Archaeologists believe that
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these cities may be buried underneath that very place to
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this day. It was once a very beautiful,
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fertile, incredible geographic area.
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Let me, let me, let me try to make clear what happened with
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Lot's wife. She had left physically, but she
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had not left spiritually. She was taken out of Sodom, but
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Sodom had not been taken out of. She had heard the warning, but
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she didn't heed it because she really didn't 100% believe it.
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And maybe this more than all, she wanted Sodom more than she
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wanted her own salvation. Luke 17, verse 27 through 33.
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Here's some words of the New Testament on this.
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They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in
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marriage until the day when Noah entered the ark and the flood
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came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the
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days of Lot, they were eating and drinking, buying and
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selling, planting and building. But on the day when Lot went out
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of Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed
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them all. So it will be on the day when
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the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, let the one who is
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on the housetop with his goods in his house not come down to
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take them away. And likewise the one who was in
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the field not turned back. Remember Lot's wife, whoever
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seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his
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life will keep it. In other words, the New
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Testament goes out of its way to warn us as followers of Christ,
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as we approach the return of Christ, that the final judgment
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at hand. Let no Christian have a heart
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like Lot's wife. You know what they say on an
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airplane in case of emergency, as you approach the exits or
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find the nearest exit. You know the other instruction
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they give you? Let me see if I can start it for
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you. Leave all carry on baggage
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behind. Escape with yourself.
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Don't look back. Don't try to hang on to anything
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you had in the life before the plane crash.
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Just embrace the future you have without that.
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Leave it behind. Proceed to the nearest exit.
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Lot wanted Lot's wife wanted her bags.
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She wanted the life she had left behind more than she wanted the
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life God had in store for her. Which life do you want more?
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Which life are you living for? Lesson #4 Is this.
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If you're not ready to leave now, you probably won't be ready
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to leave then. If you're not ready to leave
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now, you're not ready to leave now.
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You probably won't be ready to leave then.
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Let's finish the last set of verses 27 to 29.
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And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he
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had stood before the Lord. And he looked down towards Sodom
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and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley.
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And he looked, and behold, the smoke of the land went up like
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the smoke of a furnace. So it was that when God
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destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham
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and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew
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the cities in which Lot had lived.
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Why did God rescue Lot? Let me put it like this.
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Did God rescue Lot because of Lot, or did God rescue Lot
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because of Abraham? Specifically, the Bible says
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because God remembered Abraham. Who stood where?
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Remember before the before the Lord who had placed himself in
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intercessory prayer before the Lord, because Abraham stood
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before the Lord on his behalf and interceded, Lot was saved,
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y'all because Abraham prayed, the angels physically snatched
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Lot up. Because Abraham prayed,
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Abraham's intercession saved Lot's life.
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Lesson #5 is this. Our prayers impact eternity.
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Our intercession impacts eternity.
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Only God can change the heart. When we partner with God in
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prayer, God promises to hear what we lay before Him, and our
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prayers impact eternity. Writing of the impact of prayer
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warriors in his Life in ministry, Hudson Taylor said.
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As I think of those prayer warriors in my life in ministry,
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I'm reminded how much the cause of missions is indebted to many
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who are never themselves able to physically go on the mission
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field and who never were able to largely give up their means even
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to missions. And yet will not be a little
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surprised, but greatly surprised in the great day to see how much
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their work has been advanced by their love, their sympathy in
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their prayers. Our prayers impact eternity.
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I'm going to ask John and praise team to come out.
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And before we observe the supper in just a moment, I'm going to
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I'm going to ask you to respond to what you've heard this
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morning like this. I asked you earlier on which man
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you might most identify with Abraham or Lot.
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And my question for you is this, in our time of response, are you
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answering the call of God on your life and can identify as
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Abraham because you've said yes, you've realized you've been made
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with a purpose. You've said yes to Jesus who
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lived a sinless life for you, died on the cross for you, paid
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your sin debt, rose from the dead for you, and you've said
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yes to him. And you're living as far as it
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says depended on you to answer God's call and will for your
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life. If so, can I ask you, are you
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interceding? Are you interceding for the lots
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in your life? Here's what I'm going to ask you
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to do. If you identify with Abraham
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this morning, I'm going to ask you during the invitation to
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come and intercede for the lots in your life.
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You know the people. You know where you live, work
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and play, your family, your friends, classmates, teammates,
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Co workers that God's put you in their path.
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God's called you to intercede on their behalf.
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We ought to take every opportunity to do that, knowing
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our prayers impact eternity. I'm going to ask you when we
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sing in just a moment, if you know a lot in your life, you'd
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come out and just maybe kneel, heal, or stand here, and we just
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have a time of responding to intercede for the lots in our
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lives. Maybe it's your own.
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Maybe it's a child or a grandchild who's far from God.
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But I also want to ask you this. What if you don't identify with
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Abraham? What if in all honesty, you
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identify more with lot? Maybe you know the Lord.
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Maybe you just know the Lord. You know you're not saying yes
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to his will for your life. Maybe you know that you're
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living as if God doesn't have a call on your life, when actually
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He does, and you know it. You've just been ignoring it,
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maybe rejecting it. And maybe you've been hearing
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God's call and you continue to linger.
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What if, what if, what if, what if you just said Gordon.
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Lord, I, I don't want to linger any any longer.
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Lord, I'm ready to leave. God, I don't want you.
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I have to snatch me up. I'm ready to go.
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I'm, I'm ready to follow. I want what you want.
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I want the life you want from me more than the life I've been
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living. God, I want what you have in
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store more than the bags of the world that I'm carrying that I
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think are my life and are worth more than what you have to
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offer. And so maybe even as those who
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identify with Abraham come down, maybe you'd be willing to
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identify as a lot and come down. And you don't have to tell
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anybody the difference. You can just lay before the Lord
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the fact you're willing and ready to leave and say, God have
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me. I'm saying yes today.
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And if that's you, I want you to come too.
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So I'm going to pray and then I'm going to ask you to stand
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and we're going to respond. If you need to talk with me, I'm
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going to be here. If you need to trust Jesus, you
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come tell me that you come do business with God in prayer,
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whichever way you identify today.
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All right, Heavenly Father, I want to ask that wherever each
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one of us stands right now, Lord, that we'd rightly respond
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by faith to you that God either we would in faith intercede the
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God, we would either in faith leave.
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But God, whatever it needs to be, help us say yes to you and
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have your way. I pray in Jesus name and all
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God's people said, would you stand with me?
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Would you come? We're going to have encouragers
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that'll be closed. This altar is open.
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Abraham or Lot, whichever it may be, or somewhere in between, you
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come. Let God have his way in your
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life as we sing and worship.