Topical Sermon: Escape for Your Life!

Scripture Reading: Genesis 19:14-17

"Escape for Your Life!"

Intro.

1. Have you ever found yourself in a place/situation in which you knew you shouldn’t be? What did you do?

a. Say: “Too late now;” “Just this once;” or flee like Joseph? (1 Cor. 10:13).

b. What put you into that position of temptation/sin in the first place? (1 Cor. 10:12)

2. Lot is an example of allowing the influences of the world to bring us into evil situations (Sodom, Gen. 13:13; 18:32; 19:15-16).

3. Gen.19:17: Like us today, there were some things Lot needed to escape, namely, the influences that had actually brought him into a dreadful situation.

I. LOT NEEDED TO ESCAPE MATERIALISM, Gen. 13:8-13.

A. His Selfishness Cost Him Dearly, 13:10-11.

1. Lost his peace of mind (2 Pet. 2:7-8) / flocks / herds / his wife (due to her own disobedience, 19:17, 26).

2. Led into incest by his daughters (19:30-38).

B. Lust for Material Things always Causes Loss.

1. Covetousness: “A lustful desire to have more.” (Heb. 13:5)

a. Eve: Lost all due to greed over what she didn’t have.

b. Judas (Jno. 12:6): 30 pieces of silver – but he lost it, his apostleship, his life and his soul, Acts 1:25.

2. Mal. 3:8-10: Materialism “robs” God today – Rebellion against God. (selfishness)

a. Indifferent worship selfishly covets one’s own will.

b. Miserly giving is covetousness in action.

c. Gambling shows the nature of covetousness.

3. Truly, one pays dearly when driven by greed!

C. Christians must be Driven by Giving, not Getting (self-indulgence) Lk. 6:38; 2 Cor. 9:6-8 (Acts 20:35).

II. LOT NEEDED TO ESCAPE A LIGHT REGARD OF SIN, Gen. 13:13.

A. He Chose to put Himself and his Family into Sinful Surroundings, 1 Cor. 15:33-34; Eph. 5:11-12.

1. Failed to adequately regard the effect of sin’s influence upon himself and his family.

2. 2 Pet. 2:7-8: Daily vexed (“torture, torment, distress”) over the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah.

B. Lot was Vexed…

1. But not to the point of leaving Sodom, 2 Pet. 2:8. He continued to live there. 1 Tim. 6:11 – We must flee sin and follow good.

2. But not to the point of abandoning worldly entanglements:

a. Business conditions, Gen. 13:10.

b. Position in the community (among the citizenry), 19:1.

c. Family ties, 19:14.

d. We must not be unequally yoked, 2 Cor. 6:14.

3. Yet, he had a false sense of security, Gen. 19:15-16.

a. Warned, yet he lingered (cf. 1 Cor. 10:12).

b. Matt. 16:26: Possessions, position, power, prestige, personal desires – all can give us a false sense of security (cf. Obadiah 3).

C. His Light Regard of Sin Eventually Destroyed his Influence, 19:5-9, 14, 26, 32.

1. His influence over his neighbors and his family.

2. Applications: Social drinking and dancing (1 Pet. 4:3); immodest dress (1 Tim. 2:9-10); lying (Eph. 4:25).

3. Instead: Abhor evil (Rom. 12:9); Wake up (Rom. 13:11-14); Abstain (1 Ths. 5:21-22) so that → 1 Pet. 2:11-12.

III. LOT NEEDED TO ESCAPE INDECISION AND DELAY, Gen. 19:16-17 (lingered… “escape”).

A. Many have been Lost because of Indecision and Delay.

1. Felix was terrified, yet due to impure motives he never obeyed, Acts 24:24-27.

2. Never delay when you know the truth! 2 Cor. 6:2

B. Do not Linger on the Threshold of Sin. Sin occurs…

1. When it is against God’s law, 1 Jno. 3:4 (5:17).

2. When there is doubtful engagement, Rom. 14:23.

3. When it influences others to stumble and sin, 1 Cor. 8:12-13.

4. When we sin by not doing what we know is good, Jas. 4:17.

-Instead: Have the mind of Christ (Phil. 2:5).

Conclusion

1. 1 Cor. 15:33: Don’t be deceived; Sin, if allowed to do so, will influence us, consume us and destroy our faith!

2. Gen. 19:17: Escape for your life; God will reward the faithful and fully punish sinners.