MAR 19 2023 | Genesis: Behind the Curtain S3E8 | Behind The Curtain – Season 4

Sea Change Church · Genesis: Behind the Curtain S4E8 · "Behind The Curtain - Season 4" · March 19, 2023
Automated transcript. Not reviewed for accuracy.

Good morning. My name is Phil Jarrett involved in Men's Ministry here and Adam already did the plug for the men's to come tomorrow night at 6:30. So I'm not going to talk to the men. I'm going to talk to the wives the girlfriends the fiance the sisters the moms and suggest that you might suggest coming tomorrow night. And when the guys come home, they will forget that it was your idea and they'll say what a great time they have so that's my recommendation to you.

So today's scripture reading is from Genesis 19 15 through 26. With the coming of dawn the Angels urge lot saying hurry take your wife and your two daughters who are here or you will be swept away when the city is punished. When he hesitated the men grafts his hand and the hands of his wife and his two daughters and led them safely out of the city for the Lord was merciful to them.

As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said Flee for your lives don't look back and don't stop anywhere in the plane flee to the mountains or you will be swept away. That lot said to them. No my lords, please your servant has found favor in your eyes and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life, but I can't flee to the mountains. This Disaster will overtake me and I'll die.

Look here is a town near enough to run to and it is small. Let me flee to it. It is very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared. And he said to him very well. I will grant you this request too. I will not overthrow the town you speak all but flee there quickly because I cannot do anything until you reach it. That is why the town is called zor.

By the time lot reached or the sun had risen over the land. Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah. From the Lord out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plane destroying all those living in the cities and also the vegetation in the land. But Lot's wife look back and she became a pillar of salt.

the word of the Lord Good morning, if you're at your Bibles open up Genesis, 19 15 through 26. We're looking at the story of lot and let's just start right away. Lots of idiot. He's just an absolute idiot. And the sad part is I've been that idiot. I mean everything I mean not everything that guy does but I mean, there's just so many principles in his life that are so easy to relate to the hesitancy the not following God the wanted to do your own thing leaving the blessing to follow some pipe dream or whatever it is. We see this at things happening in a lot now, there's two words that I'm gonna give you.

That this sermon is focused around that are not on your notes. If you have a pen I want you to just you know, write up all over your notes write the word conviction. conviction and resolution conviction and resolution There is a Quantum Leap. between conviction and resolution how many times have you been convicted of something? You didn't do anything.

You see conviction oftentimes. I remember when I was trying to get sober I'd be convicted and sometimes just the conviction gave me enough for a leaf that I felt like that was the end of the road like just the conviction. Hey, I was convicted. I should I should make some changes in my life like conviction. I want to say convictions. Awesome. If you don't have conviction, you're a psychopath like convictions a good thing right conviction is key.

but conviction without resolution is moot. Resolution is the ability to have the determination grit courage whatever it is to act upon what you've been convicted about what we see here in this passage is lot has conviction. We know that in last week as we looked in second Peter. I believe it was where it said that lot. How do you know he was a righteous man.

That was so overwhelmed and convicted by the evil society that he lived and he was so convicted, but he wouldn't leave. God did not called him to be there and one thing about light he was living in a wicked place, but we know he was not partnering with God to change that Wicked place. A lot was just in the middle of wickedness whether it be because his wife wanted to be there his children wanted to be there it offered him personal benefits. There's a whole lot of reasons. Why lot lost everything and left everything behind remember he had so many sheep and herds and all these things when he left Abraham, they could be together yet so much wealth because he was near the blessing and that's what we talked about last week.

And so he left Abraham and went to the plane where he could water his sheep and his herds and all the wealth that came with that and we find him now with no mention of sheep or blessings. He's lost everything living in a place where he's can totally convicted and also willing to live in while not partnering with the god to change that Wicked place. And so God had never called him to be there. I wrote this and you can add this to your notes as well. I put no double-minded person as ever changed the world.

Double-minded people don't change the world. They get convicted. They start halfway down the road. They look back they turn back. They they don't have the resolution to finish the job you have conviction conviction is like a vowel. Resolution is the ability to live into the vow and to fulfill The Vow two points today because once again, I'm the master of the two point sermon they're much shorter.

Get to lunch quicker all of us number one. Run don't walk from the things that are not of God. I soften that up. and then I was convicted that I softened it up because God wasn't just moving away from Sodom and the cities of the plain he was destroying them. And so you can change your notes. Run don't walk from the things that God is destroying are things that are dying.

See there comes a point and I had a sermon a few weeks back where I was like, hey don't give up on people. Always be there never leave never leave anyone behind and here's the balance of scripture right? Because scripture balances itself. And let's God's like I'm done with that. I'm gonna destroy it then you got to go. And there's times where God says it's time to go. Jesus even said when you see these things where does he tell you to flee? Same place?

The Angels told lot to flee Run to the Hills. Same thing Iron Maiden said in that one album just right? Thank you. Saw that Run to the Hills. We said did he just mention Iron Maiden in a sermon I did. Run to the Hills flee to the hills if you see God something is dying the ability to run when it's time to run number one. Number two Don't Look Back upon the things God has freed you upon from Don't Look Back upon or back to the things God has freed you from I do a lot of this God's freed me. I'm so free.

Oh so free, man that looks good back there. That's exactly what happened a Lot's wife and what the angel said not to do two things run don't walk from the things that are dying. You can put that or from the things God is destroying are minimally things that God is Not upon not on get away from them run. number two Don't Look Back upon the things that God has freed you from George Eliot said this no evil Dooms us hopelessly.

No, evil Dooms us. Hopelessly except the evil. We love. And desire to continue in and make no effort to escape from it. Do you have any things in your life that you just got to be honest with just say I just love that God. I just be straight with you. Like I wouldn't keep doing it if I didn't love it. I mean, I know I shouldn't and I feel guilty about it. Sometimes the place to start with God it just say God. Can you get me to the place where I don't love this anymore or I don't like it. I just gotta be honest with you God. I really like this sin and I want to stick in it and stay in it. But what we tend to do is we hide that from God even though that's in our heart. He knows us right. We kind of hide that from God we won't talk to him about it. We won't bring it up in prayer. We won't talk to him just speak straight to God.

Say God I got this thing this covetuousness or this greed or this desire for money or position or sexuality or whatever the thing is. And just say God, I love it. I want you to know I just love it and I and I love you more, but I'm not showing that I'm actually can you just get me to the point where I don't love it that much anymore start there with God. No evil Dooms as hopelessly accept the one we love.

and desire to continue in mmm and make no effort to escape from first point run don't walk from the things guy go to verse 15. with the coming of the Dawn The Angels God had said Angels there urge the lot they were there's an urging. Saying hurry. Take your wife and your two daughters who are with you and you will be or you will be swept away when this city is punished.

You'll be swept away when the city is funny just go through those verses verse real quick because there's a couple interesting things that I noted in the verse with the coming of the Dawn. God that's I don't think that's a mistaken scripture that God is bringing light. God is always with the light. God is always with the dawn.

And in our darkest moments. Dawn is coming and being able to recognize the dawn. Is one thing so we said at the coming of the Dawn. The next is the Angels urge lot. Some of you God is urging. There's an urging you know, there's an urging the holy spirit's urging you. You're bargaining. Your hesitating you're waiting he's urging you now eventually because God is good and it says that in a moment and maybe he doesn't always do this. He grab you by the hand and save you I can't tell you how many times I was rescued.

People pull a knife on me had that have multiple times drug deals gone bad. I mean just craziness Mission Beach just nuts. Middleman how many times I thought I should be dead. God has he rescued me way too many times. I just feel like everything I get from this point on is icing on the cake. Some of you guys don't have that story, but God still urging you about something. He's nudging you. He's urging you.

We don't want to get to the place where God has to grab our hand use angels to pull us out. We want to have the conviction to go Upon Our Own next thing it urged him saying hurry keyword hurry. Hurry, is there any hurry in your life? Got to hurry. I just hang out just gonna peace out here. Just chill a little bit. Take your wife and your two daughters who are with you or you will be swept away evil has the ability to sweep you away and it can sweep the righteous away as well.

If we put ourselves and we encamp within it lot was very he was convicted. It says in second Peter, but not convicted enough to leave. And he wasn't partnering with God to redeem the city. So he wasn't doing anything good like Paul would go into evil cities. But Paul would be would be working there. He'd be working for God w e r k. He'd work for God then they'd Stone him. He'd go back in that's different than what lot is doing. Some of you God is urging you got lots of convictions. I'm speaking to myself.

Conviction God is urging you. You know he's urging you, but we haven't stepped into resolution. So we see that here we see that I got to ask. When's the last time you ran? When was the last time there's something you're like even recognizing that I gotta run from this? You got something in your life. You're there. It's a ticking time bomb.

You're in The Hurt Locker, but you're not even trying to defuse it. You're just sitting there. You're waiting there in that moment. When was last time you ran? There's something you need to run from. I realized a few years back. That it had been like I was a runner for a while so I ran for a while until my knee started hurting too much, but I hadn't remember the last time I had done a full Sprint. It had been like four or five years since I did a full Sprint. They're actually will come a time in your life. Well, you will never run again.

I don't know if you know that and so I wanted to push that out a little bit so I decided I was gonna start trying to run again without blowing out my achilles tendon. So I made a decision I was gonna start running again and now I can act I'm not fast. I used to be pretty fast but no longer fast, but at least I can run as fast as I can. I know how fast I can run and I can do it, you know, the problem is There's some things in my life. I don't have that same conviction and resolution to run from.

Right now all y'all myself included. You've got that little thing right that little thing you got that urging. And that's a thing that God's saying I'm not on that. I'm not blessing that. You got conviction but no resolution. It's time to run. It's time to run. When was the last time you ran from something? Was last time you actually ran from it. Not just let it sit chill out and be there. It's like the frog and the boiling water. I put this you can write this in your notes as well because it's not in your notes.

There is a juxtaposition between hurry as we see in this passage and hesitation. Hurry and hesitation, right? What's hurry I got to get up on it. I got to get out. Because this is no good, but we don't even we don't see the storm of Brewing. We don't feel it because some things just sit there. So passively it feels like the pH is balanced perfectly, but it's acidic to your life.

hurry versus hesitation the Angels had an understanding of the times and the timing of God that lot did not possess. People that are in tune with God know his timing. People that are in tune with God know what God is destroying when he's destroying and so Jesus said to the people when you see these things that were aware of the time.

Lot was not aware of the times the Angels were are you aware of those things in your life, and maybe you're not even aware or are we even comfortable? So the angel say to him in verse 17 go to verse 17 They say flee not to hurry as soon as they had brought them out. Verse 17. We'll go back to verse 16 in a second as soon as they had brought them out. One of them said Flee for your lives don't look back and don't stop anywhere on the plane.

Fleet of the mountains or you will be swept. away See there is a a time for everything and there might come a time. Where God is called, we'll call you to physically please somewhere because God has had enough of that place. You can see that I guess the question I would ask. powerful question Does God have the right to judge and Destroy things that go against his nature?

Does God still destroy cities? Does he destroy Nations? Did he destroy Nazi Germany that his thing? Does he destroy things or does he not it's a great question. I've had many people say I don't believe in a god. Who destroys people and the innocent people? It's always the innocent people that are there the children that are part of that City or whatever it is. It's a great theological question. Maybe God doesn't destroy things anymore. Revelation says he's going to but maybe he doesn't whether he does or he doesn't he's never called me to destroy something. He's called us to redeem things and he's called us to live there until he says get out.

Lived there until he says out to get out and to partner with him. So when God tells you and I want to bring this back to those things in our lives, right? Because I think it's way more practical for us to be thinking about the things we're hesitating on our lives then oh, what about this city or this nation? We can get into that esoteric conversations and existential conversations have all these conversations while just letting this thing sit in our life. That destroys us, right. So let's just talk about us because way more prankmatic way more important.

This idea of not hurrying not fleeing but hesitating. I told you we talk about verse 16 go to verse 16. when he hesitated the heavy they call that. The men grasped his hands. And the hands of his wife and his two daughters and led them safely out of the city. Why? For the Lord was merciful to them. You know, it's interesting. They didn't take him to the mountains if I if I'm him.

I'm going I'm going back to Abraham. They said Fleet of the mountains. He ends up in a cave. Actually he ends up in Zoar. So we'll talk about zoorn just a second because he Bargains he's gonna bargain with this thing in his life. I would have run to Abraham. At the end of the story, we're not going to read this today, but you're gonna see Abraham walks out. Where's Abraham? It's way up in the mountain up on a plane.

He could have run back. I would have run back to Abraham if I was him, but he bargained to go to a city. We'll look at that in just a second, but he had this hesitation. Verse 16 says when he hesitated they grabbed his hand. And the hands of his wife and his two daughters and led them safely out of the city for the Lord was merciful to them.

We want to get that we never want to get to that bottom. I talked to somebody this week it was having an issue in their life big deal. freaking out I said let this be your bottom. I said let this be let this be the bottom, you know, a lot of times, you know, I've talked to people sometimes and they just they don't want they have a really bad incident they end up an emergency room or something bad, you know catastrophic happens in their life, right and you're talking to him. You can tell when you're talking to him. They're not ready to give it up.

I said to one person I said, you know what you just haven't reached your bottom. Oh, I've reached my bottom. I said doesn't sound like it. We just have reached your bottom. You know, what? God wants to get to you he wants you to listen to go upon the promptings of the holy spirit so you don't have to get to the bottom. God has rescued you he doesn't want to rescue you again.

Through these acts of where he wants you to be obedient because if you're obedient you oftentimes don't need to be rescued. Stay away from the side of the pool. Don't put your finger in the electrical socket All These Little Things. If your children are obedient, why do you tell your children all these things? Right? So you don't have to rescue them my daughter one time. She had a fork. I looked over and she's at the electrical socket.

She wasn't licking it, but I thought he was going to put the fork or the knife and that there's like a steak Knife. I think it was right there and I was like, oh, let's go out. She wasn't even wearing rubber shoes. She wasn't grounded. Hesitation verse hurry, how's your hurry? How's your hurry? Are you just going to hesitate some more?

You'll probably have a conversation with yourself today walk out of here. You'll remember what I said. We'll have a conversation with ourself. Ready to hurry ready to hesitate. It's going to point number two. You're halfway done with this sermon. Don't look back. Verse 25 don't look back. Thus he the angel. Overthrew those cities and the entire plane.

Mmm, wiped it all out. destroying all those living in the cities also all the vegetation in the land but lots wife looked back. She became a pillar of salt seen those pillars of salt. To go to Israel with us. We're gonna be going again. There's these giant pillars of salt. So they have all these salt and then what happens is a dirt around it gets washed away and it slowly just creates these pillars and so they have these massive 10-foot giant pit all through that plane as you drive through this plane. There's just like like stalagmites like slack tights whatever and so you see these but they're reverse, right? They're reverse and they're these pillars of salt and I always wonder which ones which ones lots of Life which one is it?

Don't look back. We'll get to the don't look back in a second. It says lot negotiates. It says in good he says when lot talks to these angels if you look in the Scripture A Lot said to them in verse 18. Actually a little bit further. on there He says verse 20. Angels tell him to Run to the Hills. lot negotiates with an Angel He's got negotiate doesn't want to go to the Hills.

The angel God's Messengers. These are messengers of God have told him to do something. He wants to negotiate. I don't know why the angel said yes, but they did. Says look. Here's a town near enough to run to it's really small. They can't have too much wickedness. It's really small. Let me flee to it. It's very small. Isn't it?

Very very small. Just tiny little bit of Whitney. wickedness Then my life will be spared. He said to them very well. Just imagine these angels. Are you serious? Okay. Very well. Oh Grant this request too. I will not over the thorough of the town that you were speaking of that town. It's called Zohar Zoar means Refuge. So our means Refuge, we'll see what happens because lot doesn't end up in that town, right?

He negotiates. He doesn't end up that we know that he ends up in a cave. Ends up in a cave. With nothing, no herds, no nothing because he left the blessing. I remember I was I got sober I think 34 years ago or something like that, and I was a few years back. I was in Scotland. And they have like I'm supposedly really good whiskey there right? And so there is this there was this TV show like an hour long on the making of whiskey.

And I started watching it. I'm like Whiskey's cool. Like if you ever thought like whiskey like I was like whiskey sexy, I don't know if you thought that okay you warm it and I'm watching the show and it's mesmerizing. I'm like whiskey I could get into some whiskey now. Somebody had said to me like hey, you know, you couldn't you drink again God's healed you could drink again, but I'm watching this and I'm thinking man I could get into that now granted as I remember whiskey destroyed my family, but nonetheless separate of that.

time and so I'm sitting there and I and I was I was watching this and I realized you know, what? I could drink no whiskey and I ain't gonna think about whiskey no more because I don't want to look back to Whiskey. But I realized this somebody said God healed, but God healed you from alcohol. I said, no. He didn't he rescued me from alcohol.

Heal me. And if he did I'm not gonna I'm not gonna test it. You see I fell into the water on a ship. God brought me back on the ship. Does that mean I can't fall off again? Hey, no, I can totally jump off and fall back. But there was that moment. There was that moment. I'm like you gonna look back at that. Some dudes married some woman's married.

Marriages says in as good as you thought it was gonna be. mmm But remember that girl in high school, she's amazing if I was with her, I just check out Facebook. Check it out. Just start thinking about it. You're loser. If you do that, stop doing that. Okay, you're gonna ruin your wife your life. That's how you ruin your life.

Don't ruin your life. At a friend one time had a bag and his garage. What's that? What's the bags? Oh my old girlfriend letters. I read them and I feel bad. I said burn the back throw that away. What excuse me what the hell and I mean that because that's heading towards hell. What the hell are you doing? Throw the bag away. You got like three kids throw the bag away.

Just makes me feel good, dude, because they're all nice. And look back at turning pillar salt. That's God rescued for something from something don't look back. Don't Look Back let it go let it go there's got we are pressing forward. We are moving ahead and a triumphal procession. There's nothing back there for you, but he negotiates to go to Zohar you want to know the funny thing about Zoar?

It says a lot fleas. Lot in his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains. It says For he was afraid to stand Zohar. He got to Zohar and Zora wasn't everything that he thought it was going to be. Whether they wanted that you know what I think happened. You're the only guy that survived all this you're the dude that brought it.

You're with that God who just destroyed everything. He got he was afraid to stay there. Now. The angel said we're not gonna We're Not Gonna destroy it so he wasn't afraid of God. He was afraid of the people living in Zora. I see that place a refuge wasn't a place of Refuge. It'll take your life. It'll Knock You Out. You're gonna hurry you're gonna hesitate today. Every one of us has an opportunity myself included.

To look at the things we're hurrying or hesitating for and saying do I have conviction do I have conviction or do I have conviction and resolution? I want to read one story and we're done. the final draft of the Emancipation Proclamation final draft was taken to Abraham Lincoln at noon. On January 1st. 1863 Twice the president picked up his pen to sign it.

And twice he laid it down. Turning to the Secretary of State William Seward. He said I've been shaking hands since 9 am this morning and my right arm is almost paralyzed. If my name ever goes into history, it'll be for this act. And my whole soul is in it remember that? If my hand trembles when I sign this Proclamation all who examine examine it thereafter.

Will say he hesitated. The president then took up the pen again and slowly but firmly wrote Abraham Lincoln. resolution he believed in that Proclamation with all of his soul, and he was Resolute to it. There's an Open Door some of you here in this today. I think all of us have something right. You're gonna go we're gonna leave. It's gonna get lunch time.

It's starting to negotiating getting negotiate with you're gonna say I'm gonna run from that thing today conviction verse resolution. God wants to set you free doesn't want you in Zoar. Doesn't want you living in the cave. He wants you in the land of his Blessing with him. Amen.