"REMEMBER LOT’S WIFE"

Text: LUKE 17:26-32

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INTRODUCTION:

1. Of the four Gospel writers, only Luke records these three words from the lips of our Saviour: "Remember Lot’s wife" (Luke 17:32).
2. We are not told her name, but she is immortalized in a pillar of salt and in the words of the Bible (cf. Gen.19:13-17,24-26).
3. A Sunday School teacher was teaching her class this story one morning and she said, "And Lot’s wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt." A little girl raised her hand and said, "The other day my mommy was driving her car and she looked back and turned into a telephone pole."
4. My message today is simple: "Remember Lot’s wife" (Luke 17:32).

1. REMEMBER HER PRIVILEGE

1. She was related to Abraham, a great man of faith, a man whom God calls "Abraham my friend" (Isa.41:8), and "faithful Abraham" (Gal.3:9), and "the Friend of God" (James 2:23).
2. Lot was Abraham’s nephew and so Lot’s wife had plenty of opportunities to hear about the things of God from both of them.
3. There are many people here today that have had similar privileges – maybe you started attending Sunday School at an early age and grew up in a Christian home but yet you have never been genuinely saved.
4. It is dangerous to be in that condition – Lot’s wife had to be dragged out of Sodom and yet her heart was still there. The Bible says she "looked back." Bible teachers tell us that the Hebrew word used here for look means "to look longingly," in other words, she wanted to go back. Maybe she wanted to go back and grab some of her belongings (cf. Luke 17:31).
5. This is why many people do not get saved – they are too hung up on worldly things, and worldly possessions, and worldly pleasures. These things crowd God out (cf. Luke 17:26-30).
6. There is nothing wrong with eating and drinking and marrying and buying and selling and planting and building – these are normal, everyday activities. What was wrong was that they had no time left for God. All of their industry and commerce and property did not help them when God poured out fire and brimstone from heaven upon them and "destroyed them all" (Luke 17:29).
7. Lot’s wife almost escaped, she almost made it – that’s the way a lot of church people are – they are almost saved, but like Lot’s wife, they are looking back.
8. Lot’s wife had many warnings but down deep in her heart she just did not believe God (cf. Gen.19:1-3,15-17). There are multitudes of people like her; that is why our Lord said: "Remember Lot’s wife."
9. There was a wealthy businessman who was heading home late one night from an important dinner engagement and he remembered that he needed to pick up some important papers from his office. He told his chauffeur to stop at the office and he would run up quickly and get them. He did not have his office keys so he rang the bell on the intercom and the night watchman was sleeping upstairs like a baby. He kept pushing the buzzer and the night watchman kept saying through the intercom, "Coming, coming." After this went on for about ten minutes, the businessman grew exasperated and so he instructed his driver to take him home so he could get his keys. He went home, got his keys, came back and tried ringing again and once more the sleepyhead watchman mumbled, "Coming, coming." The businessman opened the front door with his key, took the elevator up to his office, and found the watchman snoring loudly. He yelled at him and the watchman replied, "Coming, coming."
10. That is the way many people are in church. The preacher preaches his heart out about the judgment of God and salvation and heaven and hell – and some sleepyhead folks nod their heads and mumble, "Amen" or "Good sermon, pastor" or whatever but yet they are not serious at all about the things of God – they are like Lot’s wife.
11. She went along with Abraham and Lot but in her heart she was with the worldly lost people of Sodom.
12. Not only should we remember her privileges, we should also remember her sin.

2. REMEMBER HER SIN

1. She may not have been involved in the filthy sins of Sodom and Gomorrah, but God judged her for the one sin that is common to all lost people – the sin of unbelief!
2. She really did not believe that God would destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, just like there are many people today who do not believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back in judgment (Luke 17:29-32).
3. There are many people like Lot’s wife in our fundamental churches today – because of a good Christian influence they are not guilty of the gross sins of adultery and drugs and sex perversion but yet they have never been born again and so their hearts are full of presumption and disobedience and defiance towards God.
4. Lot’s wife lived a worldly, comfortable lifestyle like so many people today – God is not a real part of their lives (cf. Ezek.16:48-50).
5. So many people are seduced and enticed by the television and materialism and other worldly distractions and they do not realize that the devil is setting them up.
6. The ancient Persians, when they obtained a victory, selected the noblest slave and made him king for three days – they clothed him with royal robes, they wined him and dined him, and gave him any worldly pleasures he could choose. But then after the three days were over, they tied him up and sacrificed him to their gods of mirth and folly. That’s the way the devil deceives sinners, and that is how he deceived Lot’s wife.
7. Not only should we remember her privileges and remember her sin, but most importantly, we should also remember her fate.

3. REMEMBER HER FATE

1. Adam Clark said that she "became a monument of the divine displeasure, and of her own folly and sin."
2. Matthew Henry wrote: "The flood came, and destroyed all the sinners of the old world; fire and brimstone came, and destroyed all the sinners of Sodom. But that which is especially intended here is to show what a dreadful surprise destruction will be to those who are secure and sensual."
3. Are you "secure and sensual"? Are you worldly and complacent? Remember Lot’s wife.
4. Let me say three things about her fate:

1. She deserved it.
2. It was sudden.
3. It was final.

5. Now, let me make an application for some of you here today who have heard the Gospel – you know the Gospel, that Jesus died for your sins – but you have never repented of your sins and you are as lost and confused as Lot’s wife.
6. Let me drive home the point:

1. Beware of worldly entanglements, unsaved friends and loved ones, etc. (cf. Luke 14:26,27).
2. Beware of questioning God’s commands – Lot’s wife knew what to do, she just would not obey God.
3. Beware of delays – they can be dangerous. The Bible doesn’t say that Lot’s wife returned to Sodom; it says that "she looked back" and "she became a pillar of salt" (Gen.19:26). If God has told you to do something, do not delay, do not procrastinate, do not put it off.

CONCLUSION:

1. Lot’s wife came as close to deliverance without achieving it as was possible. She was brought right out of the doomed city and set on the way to safety.
2. But she looked back and lingered, still yearning for the worldly pleasures left behind in Sodom.
3. There are many folks like her today – they are close to being saved; they come to church somewhat regularly (usually Sunday morning only). They have not gone off into debauchery or dope – they are not hanging around the bars or the off-track betting parlors.
4. But they still have not repented, they still love the world more than God, they are still not saved.
5. Many years ago there was a strange fellow called the "human fly." He got quite a reputation climbing up the walls of big downtown skyscrapers. One day it was announced that he was coming to Los Angeles and would climb up the face of one of the largest buildings downtown.
6. Hours before the appointed time there were thousands of eager spectators gathered on the sidewalk to watch. Slowly and carefully he went up – he’d grab a window ledge, then a protruding brick, then a cornice. Up and up he went, higher and higher, against apparently insurmountable difficulties.
7. At last he was near the top. People down below saw him grabbing for something, to the right and then to the left and then over his head – something to grab onto, something to pull him up and keep him going.
8. Finally, he spotted something that looked like a gray piece of stone or maybe a discolored brick, protruding out from the wall. He reached out for it but lost his balance, and before the horrified eyes of the spectators, fell to the pavement below and was instantly killed.
9. In his dead hand was found a spider’s web. What he apparently mistook for solid stone or brick turned out to be nothing but dried froth. That’s the way it was with Lot’s wife and that’s the way it is for anyone who tries to grab onto the fleeting pleasures of this world.
10. "Remember Lot’s wife" (Luke 17:32).