Title Remember Lot's Wife (Luke 17:32)
Content The Lord Jesus Christ speaks to us.
"Remember Lot's Wife"
Few warnings in the Bible are more severe than this.
Lot's wife was a professed man, and her husband was a "righteous man" (2 Peter 2:8). On the day Sodom was destroyed, she and her husband left the city. After following her husband, she disobeyed God's command and turned to look at the city. She died instantly and became a pillar of salt. . The Lord Jesus Christ addressed her as a warning to the church.
"Remember Lot's Wife"
If we consider the significance of Jesus at the time he said these words, we can realize how solemn this is a warning. The Lord did not ask us to remember Abraham or Isaac or Jacob or Sarah or Hannah or Ruth. He pointed to a soul that was lost forever. He is crying out to us.
"Remember Lot's Wife"
Considering who gave this warning, I can't help but think that this warning is so solemn. The Lord Jesus Christ is full of love, mercy, and compassion. Jesus did not break a bruised reed, He did not quench a smoking wick, He shed tears for the unbelieving Jerusalem, and prayed for those who crucified Him. Such a solemn warning against lost souls.
"Remember Lot's Wife"
If you contemplate the food he spoke of, you can see what a solemn warning this is. The Lord did not simply say, "Be careful not to do what Lot's wife did," or "Be careful not to be like her" or "Do not be like Lot's wife." He used very different words. He said, “Remember.” The Lord knows that there is a great danger that we will live and forget these things, and He said so. The Lord is alerting us to our vague memory. He commands us to take the case of Lot's wife to heart. Indeed, the Lord is crying out.
"Remember Lot's Wife"
I now want to tell you about the privileges that Lot's wife enjoyed.
In the days of Abraham and Lot, it was difficult to receive true salvation. There was no Bible, no ministers, no churches, no pamphlets, and no missionaries. The knowledge of God is limited to those who have been favored. Most people in the world were living in darkness, ignorance, superstition, and sin. Compared to the millions of her contemporaries, Lot's wife had privileges that only one in a million would enjoy: Surrounded by spiritual men, she gained clear knowledge, and even received clear warnings, she truly loved who received it.
Her husband was a godly man. Also, her close relative, Abraham, was the father of faith. She must have known the faith, knowledge, and prayers of these two righteous people all too well. It cannot be that she had been tenting with them for such a long time, and had not had any knowledge of them and the One they were serving. Their faith was not formal. That belief was the rule that governed their lives, and served as a major motive for all their actions. Lot's wife saw all of this and must have known. This is by no means a privilege to be taken lightly.
Lot's wife may have been present when Abraham received the first covenants. When Abraham pitched his tent between Ai and Bethel, she must have been there too. Even when the angels came to Sodom and warned her husband to flee, she saw them.
As the angels took their hand and led them out of the city, she was one of their helpers. Again, these are by no means trivial privileges.
She lived in this state of mind, and died just as it was.
We can learn many lessons from all of this. From her case, I discovered an important lesson for people to understand today. We are now living in an age full of Lot's wives. We should seriously consider what the case of Lot's wife teaches us.
We can learn from her case that the soul is not saved just because someone enjoys many religious privileges. You may be in a spiritually advantageous position in every way. You may be being offered more than anyone else the rich opportunities of grace. You may be listening to the best sermons and doing the best Bible study. You may be living among holy, biblical, and extremely good people. But in spite of all this, you may end up being lost forever by living unrepentantly.
Some may not even understand what I am saying. Many people think that being a sure Christian requires only an abundance of religious privileges. They are not in the situation they think they should be, that is to say, acceptable to them, but rather are in a very difficult position. But give them a godly husband or wife. Give them a good gospel preacher. Beyond that, let's assume that all possible privileges have been granted to them. Will they then live a life of walking with God? no. If you think so, you are completely mistaken. In order for the soul to be saved, a privilege different from this is required.
Joab was the commander of David's army. Gehazi was Elisha's servant. Titus was Paul's co-worker. Judas Iscariot was a disciple of Christ. And even though Lot was a righteous man, he had a wife who was focused on the world and did not believe in God. They all died in their sins. They all enjoyed right knowledge, stern warnings, and numerous privileges, but they were not on the right path. Their lives allow us to infer what human beings really need.
The one thing that humans really need is the grace of the Holy Spirit.
It is right to value religious privileges, but we must not rest entirely on them. We should ask that our whole life benefit from those privileges, but we must not place them in the place of Christ. If God gives us such privileges, we should be grateful, but we also need to know how to see the effect they have on our hearts and our lives. When those privileges do not benefit us, they are only a total harm. On the contrary, it may be to numb the conscience, to only increase the burden, and to only make the condition worse. Fire melts candles, but it also hardens mud. The sun makes living trees grow, but it also dries up dead trees just right for burning. There is nothing as hard as the heart of a man accustomed to holy things. Again, no one becomes a Christian because of those privileges. He needs the grace of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, he will never be saved.
Those who are living a life of faith under a good minister should especially take my words into account. Go to a church run by great ministers. You would think they are really great preachers. You will be very happy to hear the sermon. And everyone else has the same pleasure as you. You really learn a lot from attending that church. You also feel that you enjoy a great privilege just by being a listener to the preacher. good. Of course, it cannot be a privilege. And I earnestly hope that the number of such ministers will increase a hundredfold and a thousandfold. However, what about your heart? In the end, that's the problem. Have you received the Holy Spirit? If not, you are like Lot's wife.
Little children of trusting parents should listen to me. Having a godly mother and father as parents and growing up in their sincere prayers is a great privilege for a child. It is a very blessed thing to hear the gospel from an early age, learn about sin, about Jesus, and the Holy Spirit and holiness or heaven. However, pay attention. Are you not, perhaps, in the midst of these benefits, still lying in a barren, unfruitful place? Do not leave your heart in a hardened, hardened, worldly state. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that even their children will enter the kingdom of God just because their parents believed. You must eat the bread of your life. You must experience and possess your own repentance, your own faith, and your own sanctification. Otherwise, you are no less than Lot's wife.
I earnestly pray to God that all who profess the faith today will consider this matter deeply. We must not forget that people are not saved just because they enjoy many privileges. Revelation, knowledge, faithful preaching, many works of grace, and the godly people around us are all great blessings and benefits. Those who have them are truly happy people! But if one thing is lacking, you, those privileges are all useless. One of them is the grace of the Holy Spirit. Lot's wife also had many privileges. But remember, she was not favored.