Consequences of Spiritual Compromise (Part 3)

[0:00] My dear friends, I pray literally that you do marvel.! You do marvel at the cost.

[0:12] In the busyness of our lives! You find time. I use car time.

[0:39] I think I've shared with our people many times. I learned a long time ago, I get in the car. Now, I'm not prescribing this for everyone and saying you're wrong if you don't do it.

[0:50] This is what I have found to work for me. I don't turn the radio on. Even Christian music, I don't do that. I sing songs and that's fine. I use that time to marvel and to pray and to think carefully on the Lord.

[1:04] It's a time I can do that. Because like you, I get busy. You think, well, Pastor, you do God stuff all day long, right? I mow grass. I vacuum.

[1:16] I do all kinds of stuff. Praise the Lord. God, you're so good. You just find time, right? Well, He's certainly worth it. Well, friends, this morning, Genesis 19, my intention is to conclude this chapter.

[1:34] It's become three parts as we have dealt with it together. And what I'm dealing with in this, I'm titling the consequences of spiritual compromise as we see that compromise in the life of Lot.

[1:47] Now, we see a lot of other things going on in this chapter that I've brought out in the first two messages. But in this third one, it really comes home about Lot's life.

[1:58] And this is a very difficult message to bring in some ways. It's been like a dark cloud all week long. Sometimes it's like that in places in the Word of God.

[2:09] Now, that doesn't mean there isn't hope. And I'll preach the hope of Christ this morning. But we've got to deal with some really tough stuff before we get to that. Let me then jump into chapter 19.

[2:21] And I'm going to just read the entire thing so that we have the full context of what we're dealing with, both front and back in what I'm talking about this morning. Now, the two angels that had been visiting Abraham and Sarah and announced that in a year's time, Sarah will have the promised child, promised over a decade ago to them.

[2:43] Now, those same two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. And when Lot saw them, he rose to meet them. He bowed down with his face to the ground. And this is what he said.

[2:54] Now, behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant's house and spend the night. Wash your feet. Then you may rise early and go on your way. They said, however, no, but we shall spend the night in the square.

[3:07] Yet Lot urged them strongly. So they turned aside. They entered into Lot's house and he prepared a feast for them. And he baked unleavened bread and they ate. Now, before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, if you can call them that, surrounded Lot's house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter.

[3:32] And they called to Lot and said to him, Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them. I told you when I preached that in that message, that means literally have intercourse with them.

[3:46] But Lot went out to them at the doorway and shut the door behind him and said, Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly. Now, behold, I have two daughters who've not yet had relations with man.

[3:58] Please, let me bring them out to you and you do to them whatever you like. Only do nothing to these men in as much as they've come under shelter of my roof. But those men said, Stand aside.

[4:13] Furthermore, they said, This one came in as an alien, speaking of Lot, and already he's acting like a judge. Now we will treat you worse than them. And so they pressed hard against Lot and came near to break the door.

[4:29] But the men, the angels inside, reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. Then they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that those men wearied themselves trying to find the doorway.

[4:48] Then the two men said to Lot, the angels, Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of this place, for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.

[5:07] Well, Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were to marry his daughters, and said, Up! Get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy the city! But he appeared to his sons-in-law to be jesting.

[5:20] They took him to be a clown. When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.

[5:34] But Lot hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the Lord was upon him. And they brought Lot out and put him outside the city.

[5:48] When they had brought them outside, one said, Escape for your life! Do not look behind you and do not stay anywhere in the valley. Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.

[6:00] But Lot said to them, Oh no, my lords! Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you've magnified your lovingkindness, which you've shown me by saving my life.

[6:10] But I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I'll die. Behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please let me escape there.

[6:22] Is it not small? That my life may be saved. And so he said to him, Behold, I grant you this request also, not to overthrow the town of which you've spoken.

[6:33] Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there. Therefore, the name of the town was called Zoar, which means small. The sun then had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar.

[6:45] Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And God overthrew those cities and all the valley and all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew on the ground.

[7:03] But Lot's wife, from behind him, looked back and she became a pillar of salt. Now Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord.

[7:17] And Abraham looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley. And he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace.

[7:33] And thus it came about when God destroyed the cities of the valley that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.

[7:51] Well, Lot went up from Zoar and stayed in the mountains and his two daughters with him for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. And he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters.

[8:04] Then his firstborn said to the younger, Our father is old and there is not a man on earth to come into us after the manner of the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine and let us lie with him that we may preserve our family through our father.

[8:21] So they made their father drink wine that night and the firstborn went in and lay with her father. And he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

[8:34] On the following day, the firstborn said to the younger, Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine tonight also.

[8:45] Then you go in and lie with him that we may preserve our family through our father. So they made their father drink wine that night also.

[8:55] And the younger arose and lay with Lot. And he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. Thus, both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father.

[9:10] The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. As for the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ami.

[9:23] He is the father of the sons of Ammon to this day. This is a hard chapter. But it's in the Bible.

[9:36] And it's in the Bible for a good reason that serves the purposes of God. And so I am constrained but also privileged to preach it for what it is.

[9:47] It's a warning to Israel. And I'll say more about that in a moment. But folks, I've spent some time now with you in this material trying to prepare you for the realities of what we're facing in our own culture so that we can use Scripture to call what's happening in our culture what it is as it's defined by God in Scripture.

[10:14] My opinion doesn't matter. Pastor Greg's opinion doesn't matter. Apart from the Lord, it doesn't matter. But when God speaks, we need to listen as His people.

[10:27] And so I want to share with you some of the issues that are in the news currently that reflect exactly the spirit of what I'm talking about and have been talking about in Scripture from Genesis 19.

[10:45] This will not be easy. I pray that you will stay in your seat and trust me and let me get through this. And then I will show you the relevancy of what I'm trying to do this morning as I set the stage.

[10:58] Alright? The first thing that I want to bring to your attention concerns a minor league baseball team this month. And that team was forced to forfeit the baseball game by the officials themselves because the players on one of the teams refuse to wear the pride jerseys they call them.

[11:20] Isn't it interesting that they display all of the aspects of homosexuality in pride? Doesn't that hearken to Psalm 36? They boast about the things they should be ashamed of.

[11:32] They display those things as things that they are proud of. Proud that they represent this kind of life and heart before a holy God who made them.

[11:45] So that team forfeited the game but at the same time the officials decided we won't let the fact that there's no baseball game the whole reason we were gathering for this celebration get in the way of what we really wanted to do in our agenda and so they held the celebration anyway in place of the game.

[12:08] Now transition to Major League Baseball something close to our hearts where Atlanta Braves fans at least one of us is a loyal fan the other's a little more fickle if they're winning I like them Suzanne loves them despite she stays with them she prays for the Braves God if you like baseball help the Braves win kind of thing no I'm okay alright she'll have her say in Major League Baseball we have this the Giants pitchers San Francisco Giants pitchers wrote Bible verses on their pride hats and they were told such behavior won't be tolerated now folks do you see what's happening here it's fine for us to display our religion on our cap because that's what it is it's a display of your belief it's okay for us to do that but some of the pitchers wrote Genesis 9 on their hats what does Genesis 9 refer to the rainbow the rainbow where God put the bow in the clouds as a promise of his grace never again will I do this and destroy mankind on the earth by water and they have taken the rainbow and turned it into something isn't it despicable when God uses the rainbow as a symbol of salvation

[13:32] Christians please hear us do not let these people who are defaming God and rebelling against him in his heart steal the rainbow as a symbol of God's grace and mercy will you not do that you can wear a rainbow and you can tell people this doesn't mean what you think it means it means what God assigned it to mean you don't have to be belligerent you can use it as an opportunity to honor the Lord and say the rainbow is a beautiful thing and it has absolutely nothing to do with the rebellious hearts of man it has everything to do with the saving nature and character of a mighty God who gave his son as a substitute for sinners so that they could know the forgiveness of God in Christ Jesus these become opportunities for us they wrote these verses on their hats and they were told no no we will not tolerate that kind of behavior it went on to say this their demand isn't inclusion it's conformity or else that is exactly the spirit of the age it isn't a matter of saying you have your religion you believe what you want to believe but we'll come over here and we have our understanding and beliefs and we'll live what we believe it's not like that if you don't agree with them they cancel you they cancel you out of life they discredit you and demean you so that you don't count it's as if you do not exist now this next one is the most difficult one it's the final one I want to share with you and the one

[15:16] I'll spend a little bit of time on my brother Mitch turned me on to this about three weeks ago and Mitch I have to confess to you it was it was so stunningly hard for me to take this in that I sat on it for that long and prayed it wasn't true I prayed that somehow you got some bad information turns out Mitch was spot on and it was even hard for me in 30 something years of ministry seeing sin for what it is in my life and in the lives of many others to put my mind around this but I think what I'm about to share with you is indicative of exactly the spirit of Sodom and Gomorrah and God's judgment and we are living it in our time this is a snapshot of a few of thousands of men in Great Britain who formed rape gangs and have perpetuated tens of thousands of rapes on girls across the nation you don't want to believe this is true this is today's news it's real and this quote here at the bottom the sentence that should shame a nation is from the commentator who researched this material and then compiled it in a summary and what he is compiling his summary from was what

[16:53] Britain called a rape gang inquiry report by a particular political official in Britain who's leading the charge to expose this for what it is so here here is the quote that I want to share with you in reference to the sentence that should shame a nation ever so often you encounter a sentence so morally shocking that it forces you to stop reading and simply stare in disbelief at the page that's what happened he says to me last night as I read portions of the United Kingdom's grooming gang inquiry to be sure the entire thing is revolting but the report describes one particular occasion in which a vulnerable young girl not a woman she was 13 years old a vulnerable young girl was returned by the authorities to a house where she was being sexually abused here's the sentence that should shame a nation according to the account the police officer who brought her back reportedly told the men inside to have fun with her folks this isn't hyperbole

[18:13] I looked it up this is truth this really happened and Britons are waking up to this reality the report summary that this particular commentator pulled together from this rape gang inquiry report includes some of the following that I want to share with you and I'm even condensing what he condensed he said he dealt with about half of what the report reveals and I'm taking even less than that to show you again the spirit of what is living in our age as the spirit of Sodom and Gomorrah it lives in the hearts of people the report summary reads like this the number of raped and trafficked British girls is in the hundreds of thousands right now the count is between 250 and 300,000 girls and growing the attackers are overwhelmingly

[19:28] Muslim foreigners that is not a political statement or a racist statement it is a statement of fact the report goes on to say that these gangs were religiously motivated to carry out these rapes under the theological teaching of al-wale wa-el-bare it's some kind of doctrine that's codified somewhere which demands subjugation of the infidel including sex slavery as a form of subjugation Muslim armies have used this teaching to justify rape across the world for 1400 years read our history the problem is geographically widespread affecting all corners of the nation it reminded me of what the bible said about all men from every quarter of the city showed up rich and poor young and old insisting that lot send these men out so that these other rapists could have their way with them this is a widespread problem

[20:41] I looked at one graphic that showed the nation of Britain and there were all these red places everywhere representing almost 50% of the country overall where this has taken place here's one the rape gang started more than 50 years ago in fact they have traced this issue to the 1950s when a group of Palestinian not Palestinian Pakistani Muslim men came together and had their way with a 13 year old girl they traced it back to then and then it spread from there notice what I say here these horrific crimes have only escalated in recent decades especially following Tony Blair's 1997 victory and the start of orchestrated mass immigration with greater numbers came greater opportunities for abuse perpetrators built organized networks that transported victims between towns and cities and past girls between multiple adult men authorities purposely and willfully ignored the mass abuse this is unconscionable folks the report also claims the current prime minister

[22:13] Keir Starmer was directly responsible for more than 13,000 cases being dropped against these men and I'm not talking about cases where there was doubt about whether or not this was going on these were cases where girls were coming forward weeping and asking for help and telling people what happened to them and they were ignored you know why they were ignored because there's a group of politicians in Britain that wanted Muslim votes this catered!

[22:46] to Muslim voters that's documented people that's what this report has borne out as the primary motivation for this beyond just the fact that these are lustful perverted men victim testimony is overwhelming the evidence is overwhelming in other words it's a slam dunk case not only is it overwhelming in the sense that it leaves you stunned and wanting to get sick but it's overwhelming in the sense of the number of girls who've come forward and that can be substantiated as being a part of this victimization finally whistleblowers were silenced and threatened with seizure of their assets and careers for telling the truth the state did not merely ignore these whistleblowers it punished them to protect the gangs and it's own reputation can you believe that the people in authority now here's one of the reasons that

[23:54] I shared this with you because as I read down through this article this came up in bold print right across the middle of the page the obvious question is how a society arrives at such a place isn't that the question how did we get here how did we get here he goes on to say for centuries the Christian tradition provided the West with a simple but profound answer to the question of human dignity every person possesses value because every person bears the image of God so human worth is not determined by social status it's not determined by ethnicity it's not determined by wealth usefulness popularity or political influence it is bestowed by God himself amen that conviction that I just read about the value of human beings being made in God's image that conviction brings obligations yes it does this scandal reveals far more than the evil predatory men it reveals the moral failure of a culture there it is this report reveals the moral failure of a culture folks we are following hard on their heels a culture that increasingly lacked the confidence and courage to act upon its own professed values they claim to be a

[25:46] Christian nation not anymore the girls needed adults willing to risk criticism in order to protect them they needed institutions more concerned with justice than with public relations and political clout they needed leaders who understood that some responsibilities are so fundamental that no political consideration can excuse!

[26:13] abandoning them civilizations reveal themselves by how they treat those with the least power the girls at the center of this scandal deserve protection dignity and justice instead many were betrayed by the very people entrusted with their care that is how civilizations die and that was the conclusion of this particular commentary at that time much more has surfaced in the last couple of days since I finalized all of that as people all over Britain are waking up to this gross reality that has been going on for more than 50 years in their country with many of their political officials many of their police departments in full awareness of what's going on we have a police officer sitting here my friend Jeremy and I could not imagine that man doing something even remotely close to that over his career and so you have to ask yourself what has happened in that culture that has brought an entire society to its knees willing to sacrifice its girls one of the statistics in the report and then

[27:32] I'll move on said 87% plus of the victims that have come forward the 250,000 to 300,000 girls who have come forward to report this 87% of them are white do you know if you say that in Britain if I was in Britain preaching right now and I said that they could arrest me I could go to jail for saying that statement in Britain because it's racist and it's against the law that's that's where we are folks we have we have stadiums packed with people people who come to see a baseball game but are forced to celebrate pride night a month long celebration do we have any other holidays that you know of that go on for a month of celebration of a particular idea tell me because

[28:32] I tried to think of one a month of pride celebrations celebrating the homosexual life agenda and theology now you heard me say lest some of y'all who haven't been here start thinking man this guy is really hating no listen I hate sin I hate it in my life in your life and in the life of the people I serve I preach Jesus Christ crucified buried and raised again for the hope of forgiveness for sins our message to these people who are not our enemies but our mission field is come to Jesus Christ and have him open your eyes to the reality of what this is going to get you this is a one way ticket straight to hell now if we don't have the courage and love and conviction of our hearts to speak the truth and love to these people so that they can be saved from their sins then we're not loving them are we we need to stand up to the lies of demons and this is as demonic as it gets this is

[29:44] Sodom and Gomorrah and its spirit is alive and well today in the USA Sodom and Gomorrah and the other cities of this valley show a civilization dying from within the rod of their own depravity is on full display as these people give themselves over to unbridled displays of personal perversion and demonic debauchery so Genesis 19 is a warning first of all to its original audience the Israelites who are standing on one side of the Jordan river getting ready to cross that river and invade this territory under God's orders and claim the promised land it's a warning to Israel about compromising God's truths to adopt the ways of the culture around them God says don't do that!

[30:41] become like the people I'm sending you to judge and the judgment or the punishment is death you are my instrument of death against these people for what they have done that's God God is seen as judge against sin but he's also seen as justifier of sinners hallelujah as judge God is punishing sin he is punishing sinners for their perversion of his ways the outcry that has come to God is the depraved depth of wrongdoing by Sodom and Gomorrah and you know that God sent the angels so that he could show us he could show Israel and he could show Abraham I am doing my diligence I could just wipe them out because I know intimately their hearts new he did that to show us the lengths that he goes to to act in full knowledge and then in full accord by that knowledge and you heard me preach this in previous messages from this chapter

[31:52] God made a promise to Abraham and in saving Lot we see how far God goes to keep his promise to deliver even one believer one believer from his wrath now that is God's work as justifier savior redeemer deliverer but we also see how Lot is being found out be sure your sin will find you out things are catching up to Lot now in his life what he's been living in the way of a little spiritual compromise here and a little spiritual compromise there are now compounding and we're seeing how attached Lot has become to Sodom we are seeing how his mind has been poisoned by Sodom and how that's filtered out into his family but he hesitated and they had to grab his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his daughters and literally pull them out of the city that's not a man dedicated to

[32:59] God's word that's not a man trusting in the word of the Lord God's patience with Lot is God's fatherly loving kindness and long suffering which he shows to his redeemed children and I'm so thankful for that I'm a sinner I am in need of the patience and long suffering and loving kindness of God are you we see so much of God's character in this chapter of scripture so what I'm doing is this I am outlining six consequences of spiritual compromise from Lot's life and here's what we've covered so far and what I'll conclude with today spiritual compromise corrupts our relationship with God's servants it corrupts our perspectives on sin it corrupts our credibility among other people we saw that

[34:04] Lot's own sons in law thought him a clown because Lot had acted so much like the clown for so long they didn't even take him seriously it corrupts our trust in God they had to seize him by the hand and drag him out he didn't trust the word of the Lord and it corrupts our servant leadership we see that in the way that Lot dealt with his wife and his daughters now I'm going to do the sixth and final consequence of this compromise from Lot's life this morning Lord willing so just as Sodom was in Lot it was also profoundly in his family and it comes out clearly in these final verses of the chapter particularly verses 30 down through 38 and here's spiritual compromise corrupts our life's legacy this is important we all have some sense of legacy being built into our lives now and when we die that legacy is going to be known for what it is sometimes you hear at funerals people try to kind of sugar coat the life of people who haven't lived a particularly helpful legacy particularly honorable legacy we tend to want to say nice things about people have passed on regardless of how they lived but nevertheless folks when we die we will leave a legacy people will know something about us now the question is this what do you want to leave behind it's not as important as this please hear this and ecclesiastes teaches us this the more important question is this question what are you doing now what are you doing now not only what will you leave behind but what are you doing now with the time that you have the resources that you have the blessings

[36:02] God has bestowed on you what are you doing now with your wife and your kids the extended members of your family what are you doing now in your service to this church family in this particular city!

[36:14] we have visitors here today that live in another city we can't be responsible for the other city that's where they live we live here this is our mission field right here how are we treating our mission field when you die what do you want to survive you what do you want to go on living beyond you that's your legacy it's what people will remember you by but more importantly it's how people will go on being influenced by your life even though you've gone to be with the Lord how will the life you live go on influencing those who were closest to you maybe even people that you haven't met and yet they watched your life have you ever had somebody do that with you you ever had somebody come into your life after a time and told you that you had an effect on them in a positive way because they watched your life and you didn't even know they were watching you're like who are you

[37:21] I've had that a couple of times people are watching well we're dealing dealing with the issue like father like son in this case like daughters that's what the scripture is bringing out lots daughters will leave behind a legacy of their own it's not a good one it's recorded for eternity right here in this chapter of God's holy word and it involves a plan which reveals!

[37:48] that every bit of the thinking of lots! daughters is entirely based on falsehood lies it is perverted reasoning done without the cleansing power of God's wisdom for right living verse 30 Lot went up from Zoar and stayed in the mountains which that was the original idea of the command of God from the angels wasn't it Lot go to the mountains and Lot whined and said I'm not a mountain guy I'll die I don't know how to survive in the mountains what are you talking about I'm a city dude but now it's a good idea because he's scared and fear drove him to the mountains not faithfulness to God and his two daughters with him because he lost his wife because he didn't steward her well or lead her well for he was afraid to stay in Zoar here is a man filled with fear he is a total coward in every way so he stayed in a cave with his daughters and so his first born daughter decides that there is something that needs to be done here and

[38:56] I'm going to act on it as far as she's concerned everybody's dead her little world was so confined to the cities of the valley she couldn't think outside of her little world her little bubble of life everybody's dead we'll never find it sounds kind of honorable at first we want to continue our father's legacy and I think what legacy that's not it folks that's what she says that's not what she means we're going to get into that and so let's do this let's get daddy drunk and then let's have relations with daddy and I'll get pregnant by my own daddy and there you go that's the plan and then she goes to her younger sister and says hey now you do this too I was with dad worked out fine now you go do that with dad let's see if we get pregnant sure sure enough the

[40:00] Bible let's know yeah they were very fertile and they got pregnant thus both the daughters of lot were with child by their father verse 36 then they named their kids both of the names are word plays that suggest in Hebrew that they are having their father's child yeah I love that look on your face Abby that's exactly the look on my face as I read this you go what now listen ask yourself how do you get to that point can I help you with that you get to that point by being around a bunch of people who constantly speak this into your life and live it and it's normalized like homosexuality like all of the issues of LBGTQ RZS XS plus plus I'll tell you what guys don't do this wicked thing

[41:04] I've got a better plan I've got two virgin daughters here behind this door I'll go grab them and throw them out here and you can have your way with them all night long this is the sentence that should shame a nation here she is have fun with her that's what he did is it any wonder that his own daughters would come up with this plan no it's not and it's sobering for us as I look into the faces of my brothers in Christ who are daddies who have daughters who have sons one of the questions that I asked myself as I read the rape gang report and wept I said this to myself where were the men where were the men was there not a man willing to stand in the outcry of this nonsense this perversion this wickedness this evil how many daughters had to be violated how much terror needed to go across the country before a man would stand up and say enough whatever it cost me enough where were the preachers maybe they were preaching

[42:31] I haven't seen a hint of that so far and I'm looking for it I'm looking for it this is perverted reasoning so much of their life as a family was wrapped up in Sodom and in the surrounding cities that that's how they defined who they were and how they lived from their perspective family life had come to an end in the smoke and ashes of the valley so the daughter's perverted perspectives are not due to being female you've heard this I've heard this well there you go that's the way a woman thinks that is so wrong listen this has nothing to do with them being female as a motive for what they want to do it's because their minds are poisoned with the world's wisdom priorities pursuits and perceptions that's why they're doing this from what scripture tells us about these two women the sum of their lives all that these women did all that they stood for is going to be burned up in

[43:42] God's judgment I'm going to show you in a minute what they produced lots life with his daughters is another example of lots wishy washy values and ways in life lots daughters were virgins yes in the physical sense but their purity and innocence ended at the surface of their lives in their hearts and minds they were thoroughly sodomites they lived by sight they didn't live by faith in the Lord so I asked the question what were these two women thinking in the end of verse 32 and 34 tell us I'm going to put it up here on the screen just for the sake of time and emphasis look at what it says come let us make our father drunk with wine and let us lie with him why that we may preserve our family through our father then once again when the oldest sells the idea to the youngest says it again let us make him drink wine tonight also and then you you go in and lie with our father that we may preserve our family through our father how do you get to this place where the answer to sin is more sin well if you have sin and not repented of it immediately you know the answer to that question because we have all been guilty of that at some level or another they weren't holding to a literal belief that there were no more men on the earth

[45:11] I don't think that that was completely true in their lives they may have been wrestling with some of that because the destruction was complete and Abraham of lust and carnal want I don't know that they were lusting after their dad or anything like that here here's what I think the Bible is bringing out it's up here on the screen sex with their father was a means to an end and they found a way to justify it in their mind that's what we do when we're deceived they had an end justifies the means mentality it's a mentality they saw lived out quite often in their father lot he was a compromiser just as lot reasoned in his mind a better plan than the angels now lot's daughters apply the same method in their relationship with their authority figure their father do you see how that works this is what the Bible is showing us now we have to ask to this what does getting lot drunk tell us why are we being told that on two different occasions here with these two daughters well it tells us that these daughters knew in the least that lot would think it wrong to be intimate with his own daughter so

[46:32] I'm going to give lot that one I think lot knew that ain't happening I can't be in my right mind and do that I don't care what you two say that ain't happening but getting lot drunk gets them around his objections and his authority and allows them to follow their own ideas now when you sin do you not see the pattern of trying to get around God's authority and getting around the objections of the truth and you sin it's exactly what you do it's exactly what I do when I sin when we sin we're not exalting Jesus in the forefront of our minds and hearts in that moment and saying I will only say and do what pleases him that's not what we do when we sin we exalt self that's what's happening here I will say this about Satan he perseveres and he's very patient but he's not clever in my mind from what I read in scripture he just keeps doing the same tricks over and over again and we keep falling for the deception why because we're selfish because we like his candy and we want to have some that's sin in whatever form it takes for you in whatever you struggle with in whatever you find yourself coming to

[47:59] God about fairly often and asking for forgiveness it may be something as simple as some manifestation of pride or lust or greed no they knew that daddy wouldn't let them do that the reality is they didn't respect their father and they did not love their father this is not respect this is not love in their minds I've got this old tired guy with this old tired religion lot his religion didn't help him any I think particularly the oldest reason that they were doing a good thing because in the end their father's legacy and heritage will be carried on in their offspring the seed of their father and their children remain the family line survives the judgment of God oh really no not so much what they're doing is culturally acceptable and selfishly expedient Canaanite culture has taught them this not

[48:59] God and so this is the kind of worldly reasoning that reminds me of Abraham and Sarah before their names were changed with Hagar back in Genesis 16 when they got the idea that Abraham could have a child by their hand maid marry my hand maid and have a child by her and then give the child to me and!

[49:20] it'll be my child since I've been barren and how did that work out for them not well at all right it also recalls instances of Israel's compromise with pagan ways all around them and so what do we see happening in all of this well we see them passing on the poison and that is in the cultures of the Moabites and the Ammonites because that's who comes out of this union with the Moabite nation is born along with the Amorite nation or the Ammonites verse 36 tells us that they were successful in their plan but they were far from successful in fulfilling their original desires to preserve the honor of their family there's nothing honorable about this in God's sight again they had a culturally defined sense of wisdom and honor they didn't have a godly sense of the wisdom of the lord in this folks listen there is no honor in sin only ruin and death there is no honor in sin to do this with you the book of numbers chapter 2 what we need to see now this is a sermon about the consequences of spiritual compromise you're about to see some of those consequences now numbers chapter 21 sorry if I said 2

[51:48] I misspoke 21 numbers 21 and I'll start in verse 21 because this is the testimony of God through Moses then Israel sent messengers!

[52:06] to Sihon king of who? Ammon the Amorites saying let me pass through your land we will not turn off into the field or vineyard we will not drink water from your wells we will go by the king's highway until we pass through your border but Sihon would not permit Israel to pass through his border so Sihon gathered all his people and went out against Israel in the wilderness and came to Jahaz and fought against Israel then Israel struck him with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok as far as the sons of Ammon for the border of the sons of Ammon was Jazer Israel took all these cities and Israel lived in all the cities of Ammon or the Amorites in Heshbon and in all and let me pick it up there I'm just giving you an idea of what happened in Moab and

[53:06] Ammon they became bitter enemies of Israel and these are lots descendants through his daughters 22 1 through 7 then the sons of Israel journeyed and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan opposite Jericho now Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites so Moab was in great fear because of the people for they were numerous and Moab was in a dread of the sons of Israel so Moab said to the elders of Midian now this horde will lick up all that is around us as the ox licks up the grass of the field and Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at the time so he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Baor at Pethor which is near the river in the land of the sons of his people to call him and said to Balaam behold the people came out of Egypt and behold they cover the surface of the land and they're like living opposite of me therefore please come and curse them curse this people for me since they're too mighty for me perhaps curse is cursed so the elders of

[54:20] Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand in other words they're they've got a hired gun in this supposed prophet named Balaam they're going to pay him a lot of money and he's going to be their secret weapon and so they came to Balaam and repeated Balak's words to him we want to hire you the events that lead up to numbers 25 three separate times Balak took Balaam to high places of worship that they had formed around their territory and Balaam instructed them to do a pagan ritual of worship and then God spoke to Balaam God actually came and spoke to Balaam not because Balaam is legit but because God's going to use him as a tool in all of this he's going to turn the whole thing that they're trying to put together against

[55:23] Israel in Israel's favor this is the power of our God to overcome sin and death and do as he purposes! Listen! Sin and death are our enemies but they are not greater than God our Savior!

[55:38] And so we can look to God even now as we battle sin and see the grace that we need to overcome what has overwhelmed us and this is the message and so God's going to do that three times he tries to talk Balaam into cursing the people of Israel now keep in mind Balaam is a false prophet but God's going to use him and so several times as this takes place verse 38 of chapter 22 Balaam said to Balak after he tried to talk him into cursing the people behold I have come now to you am I able to speak anything at all the word that God puts in my mouth that I shall speak he's a false prophet if you turn over to 23 verse 12 must I not be careful to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth verse 25 of chapter 23 then

[56:40] Balak said to Balak do not curse them at all or bless them at all but Balak replied to Balak did I not tell you whatever the Lord speaks that I must do then over in 24 Balak's anger in verse 10 burned against Balaam he struck his hands together and Balak said to Balaam I called you to curse my enemies but behold you've persisted in blessing them these three times down into verse 13 though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold I could not do anything contrary to the command of the Lord either good or bad of my own accord what the Lord speaks that I will speak isn't that amazing this guy's not a believer but he's an instrument in the hands of God to do what's right in the sight of God for the people of Israel if you look at numbers 25 while Israel remained at Shittim the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of

[57:45] Moab problem the people are assembled for war and something terrible has happened verse 2 for they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods that is the Canaanite people the Moabite people all around them invited Israel to the sacrifices of their gods and the people ate and bowed down to their gods so Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor and the Lord was angry against Israel and then verse 9 those who died by the plague were 24,000 God sent a plague on all the people who had joined into this harlotry so you see here a clergy of people who are who are sinfully acting in sexual ways and they call it worship and so 24,000 of the men of

[58:46] Israel were slain because they had participated in this nonsense and given their hearts over so Bala couldn't curse Israel but by Balaam's advice Bala hatched a plan to seduce Israel into sexual sin and idolatry folks is it any wonder in your mind that Israel is failing and faltering here in sexual sin from Moab and the influence of Ammon on their lives given what we just read about Lot do you see how this progresses this is how cultures die because they don't listen to God they don't follow God and the people of God don't speak up and say no more no more and just share the truth what was God's response in all of this that takes us all the way over to Numbers chapter 31 hang with me for a little bit more here Numbers chapter 31 then the

[59:46] Lord spoke to Moses saying take full vengeance for the sons of Israel on the Midianites afterward you will be gathered to your people so God is telling Moses to take vengeance on the people who have done this terrible thing in Israel and cost the lives of 24,000 men in Israel because of their sin drop down to chapter 31 verse 7 if you would so they made war against Midian now keep in mind when we talk about the Midianites here these are Midianite men who are in Moab they are living in the nation of Moab Moab is modern day Jordan the Amorites lived in modern day Jordan the Midianites that are the nation of Midian that Gideon will later fight are in Saudi Arabia so these Midianites are living by the thousands in Moab so just as the Lord had commanded Moses and they killed every male they killed the kings of Midian along with the rest of their slain evil are evi and rakim and zur and hur and reba the five kings of

[60:54] Midian they also killed Balaam the son of Baar with the sword the sons of Israel captured the women of Midian and their little ones and all their cattle and their flocks and their goods they plundered now I'm reading this because this is God's response to what these wicked people did in seducing Israel that's how they tried to conquer them hear me they tried to conquer God's people through sexual sin and this is God's response verse 10 then they burned all their cities where they lived and all their camps with fire and they took all the spoil and the prey both of man and beast they brought the captives and the prey of the spoil to Moses to Eleazar the priest and to the congregation of the sons of Israel to the camp at the plains of Moab which are by the Jordan opposite of Jericho well Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them outside the camp and Moses was angry with the officers of the army and the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds who had come from service in the war and

[61:59] Moses said to them have you spared all the women behold these caused the sons of Israel through the counsel of Balaam to trespass against the Lord in the matter of Pehar you see there it is so the plague was among the he's saying look these are the very women that cost the lives of your brothers 24,000 of them and you spared them now therefore kill every male among the little ones and kill every woman who has known man intimately so!

[62:26] if these women had been sexually active with any man they're not lining them up and saying did you do this with Israel they're saying if you're not a virgin you die you see what God's doing here he's covering the whole gamut of sin this is God punishing sin folks it is as serious as it gets I hope it makes you hate sin I hope it makes you hate your sin I hope it makes you say today as you leave this place if anything sobered me that sobered me and I need to quit playing with my sin I need to quit acting like this is something I can play games with and repent I'm not saying this because I have first hand knowledge of individual people in this congregation who are playing with sin or I would have already come to you sinners and women

[63:28] Lot started compromising little by little until all of a sudden he found himself completely consumed with the culture that he lived in instead of being an influence on it he became part of the problem God warned against following Moab following him and I have so many other verses in here we get to Jeremiah chapter 32 and we see that it gets to the point where the Amorites have such a tremendous influence on the religious life of Israel that Israel starts going to their worship services as it were and the Amorites teach the Israelites how to take their little children and their infants and throw them into fires sacrificed to Molech and Molech means the reigning one now ask yourself parents how do you get to the point where you throw your baby in a!

[64:23] fire Ben huh how does a culture an entire nation where were the men who would see that and say stop what are you doing they didn't do that because they were participating we have to ask this sexual sin was used as a weapon it was weaponized to corrupt Israel and the legacy of Moab and Ammon today pornography is spreading across our land at a rate that defies imagination multiple billions and billions of dollars are being poured into that industry and coming out of that industry in profits and all it takes is click click and you're there and you pipe it right into your life right into the front of your face and men and women are falling in droves to this cancer throughout my entire ministry

[65:34] I have ministered to many many many people caught up in this it's a very very powerful deception and it drives right into the very identity of who you are as male and female folks this compromise was so bad and it extended for so long that even the wisest man wise wise except the only other man wiser than him was Jesus Solomon I have a reference here in first Kings where Solomon took all 600 pagan wives 600 you want to look at that dude and go are you crazy six would have been too many 600 are you serious then he got 300 concubines to add to that and all of them were for pagan nations around him which God said not to do and guess what they did first Kings I'll give you the reference here you want some references here some references here they are in order first

[66:38] Kings 11 1 through 13 and what does the Bible say at that point and these led Solomon away from the Lord that's why God told him not to do it if you don't think sexual weaponized sexuality is powerful think again now let me close with this I want to draw your attention back in Genesis 19 to several verses that speak to the hope now Abraham in verse 27 of Genesis 19 arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the valley and he saw the judgment of God didn't he the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace!

[67:24] that is what the valley and he sees nothing but smoke and ash but here's the hope thus it came about when God destroyed the cities of the valley that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived he delivered Lot he gave him hope folks our new life in Jesus our obedience in serving Jesus from a grateful heart is to be lived out in a very special relationship within God's family don't underestimate the family that you sit with right now worshiping the same God you're worshiping this is God's household in fact I'll close with this quote from John MacArthur this is a powerful testimony to what Pastor Greg and I continue to minister serve preach and teach about the very special nature of who you are and what we do here as a family and why this is so unique in helping each one of us take careful stock of who we are in the

[68:35] Lord and how we deal with sin in our life and how we live in love to God by keeping his commandments not so much out of duty but because we're growing to love Jesus for who he is he's becoming so special to me I don't life here's the quote active local church membership is imperative to living a life without compromise it is only through the ministry of the local church that a believer can receive the kind of teaching accountability and encouragement that is necessary necessary for him to stand firm in his convictions God has ordained that the church provide the kind of environment where an uncompromising life can thrive that's that's what we want here we don't want to distract you we certainly don't want to deceive you we don't want to delude you we don't want to entertain you we want to create an environment by faithfulness to

[69:50] God where you can have an uncompromising life and thrive in it before Christ that's our aim so we teach the word pray the word speak the word we encourage one another in love in the word we minister God's truth because that light is what gives us light psalm 36 and we need to live by the light folks active local church membership is imperative if you're going to live a life that is uncompromising you forfeit the seriousness of God for the local church and you're going to compromise yourself and that's going to compromise your legacy and you'll answer to the Lord for that so be sobered and be hopeful will you pray with me father this is a very hard passage of scripture only in the sense that it does sober!

[70:46] us it makes us think about and look into matters that are hard for us and I'm thankful that you didn't skirt around the reality of what was created by two women who decided that they had a better plan and because of a father who just became adult and didn't do his duty before you by being a man of God a man that you could count on to minister the truth between the three of them Moab and Ammon came to be bitter enemies of Israel and led many many many thousands of souls to their ruin father I pray that in our own culture here and now you will give grace church Williamsburg a heart for the lost in our community and abroad so that at every opportunity each of us have individually through the week we will be willing to offer the kindness of Jesus in a smile in a word in a gesture that help people to know that we are living to serve the one

[71:51] King of Kings and Lord of Lords I pray that you would put Jesus name on our lips and his love in our souls so that people will see in the window of our eyes that love pouring out of us love for them even in their lostness and love especially for each other as we serve Christ so help us to open our mouths to testify to God's goodness and salvation in Jesus help us to reach out to those who are enslaved in sexual sin and have given themselves over so that they will have hope hope beyond the suffering the darkness the deception hope beyond wasting their lives thank you for every soul here this morning Father who has sat under your word may you use this testimony now to encourage our young people our children our moms and our dads in a faithful service to Jesus because we love you even as you first loved us in Jesus name we pray and for his glory amen