Biblical teaching - T81

The Lord is warning you : He is coming very soon

Will He find you like Noah or like Lot ?

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            Further on, in chapter 18, the Lord appears to Abraham with two angels, and announces to him what is to come. In verse 20 He says : « And the Lord said : because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous (it was the same at Noah's time when the whole earth was crying out. In this case it was the cry of the two cities and their regions ; they were abominable cities). I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me ; and if not, I will know ». Abraham interceded for these cities and called upon the Lord for mercy. He said : "Lord, if there are fifty, thirty, twenty, or even only ten righteous men, will you not spare the city for the sake of these ten righteous men, Lord ?" And each time the Lord answered : "I will spare the city". Abraham stopped at ten. He went no further. In verse 32, he said : « Let not the Lord be angry ». He was afraid lest the Lord would become angry. But the Lord would not have been angry, beloved ; if Abraham had kept on interceding until one righteous man, I think the Lord would have said : "If I find only one righteous man, I will spare Sodom". And that is what He did in actual fact. He did not destroy Sodom as long as Lot was there. Just one righteous man ! As I see it, it also proves that the end times judgements will not come until the Church is raptured.

 

            For Noah and Lot, the judgement did not come until the small group of righteous people was removed from this sinful world, when they got into the ark, or left the city that was to be destroyed. The flood did not come until Noah was in the ark, and the destruction did not come until Lot had left the city ! Likewise, the great tribulation will not come until the Bride is raptured.

 

            So God will not destroy this earth as long as there is a single member of His Church, of His Bride left. Abraham stopped at ten, but the Lord did not. In chapter 19, the angels arrived in Sodom. They were to spend the night in Lot's house. Lot sat at the gates of Sodom and saw the two angels coming. In those days, as it is still the case today with some populations, hospitality was a sacred duty. Lot took the angels into his home. Lot was at the city gates : that was where the leaders sat and judged the people entering or leaving the city, or those who requested a judgement.

 

            Please remember that Abraham had asked Lot to choose : "do you want the mountain or the plain ?" he said. Lot looked around and saw that the mountain was barren. He saw that where Sodom and Gomorrah lay, the plain of the River Jordan was rich and fertile, with plenty of rain. Lot started making the wrong choice. He chose to go down rather than up ; he was like a righteous Christian who starts walking in defeat.

 

            So you see, instead of going up, instead of staying in the mountain with the Lord, he chose to go down, lured by worldly wealth. Lot's heart began to be attracted. Lot began by pitching his tents towards Sodom, then he settled in Sodom, and finally he became one of the leaders of Sodom. Perhaps he said to himself in his heart : "I must give my testimony. I'll go there and give my testimony and try to save some of those people". But that was not the Lord's plan. That was not what the Lord wanted him to do.

 

            Some people tell me : "It seems to me that the Lord wants me to stay in this unholy, apostate church because I still have a testimony to give". It may be the case for some, however I believe that in these end times, the Lord wants them to leave, which will not prevent them from giving powerful testimonies to those who want to listen. But the fact that Lot dwelt in this unholy city and became a leader in it, even if his heart still remained righteous, shows us the extent of his compromise. He was not like Abraham, who stayed in the mountains, gazing at the country, in the presence of God.

 

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