(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Now the verse that I want to focus on in this chapter is just that little short verse in verse 32. One of the shortest verses in the Bible is just three words. The Bible reads, Remember Lots Why. Now Jesus here is preaching about the second coming and preaching about the end times and giving some prophecies of what's going to happen. And he's giving some admonition unto us and to his disciples not to look back. And he's talking about in verse number 31, In that day he which shall be upon the housetop and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away. And he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife? Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. And what I want to preach about is Lot's wife. Today we're going to remember Lot's wife and understand why Jesus even brought that up and what we can learn from it. Now the title of this sermon is this, The Seven Sins of Lot's Wife. Now I thought of many more than seven. And if you stop and think about it, there were a lot of things that were wrong with this woman, even though the Bible only mentions her a few times. But I just whittled it down to just seven things that we can learn from Lot's wife because Jesus tells us to remember Lot's wife. And so that's what we're doing this morning. Turn back to Genesis chapter 18. We're going to go back to the story of Lot's wife. And just briefly, let me just explain who Lot was and who Lot's wife was. Lot was Abraham's nephew. And if you remember when Abraham left Ur of the Chaldees to go into the Promised Land, one of the people that he brought with him was his nephew. Now the Bible is very careful to name for us all the people that came with Abraham. It never mentions his wife. So he probably married her later on at some point. But Lot went along with Abraham. And there came a time when Abraham and Lot parted and went separate ways. And we'll talk about that a little bit later. And Lot went and lived near Sodom. Then he ended up living in Sodom. Sodom was a wicked, ungodly place where the men of the city were wicked sinners before the Lord exceedingly. And of course, God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of the sodomy, the homosexuality, and the sin there. And he rained fire and brimstone, completely wiped out the city. But he brought Lot and his family out of the city. Well, he told them, do not look back. He said, flee the city, run away. I'm going to rain fire and brimstone. And whatever you do, don't look back. Well, Lot's wife looked back and she turned into a pillar of salt. God killed her instantly. And that's the tragedy of Lot's wife. But let's see some of the sins of Lot's wife. God is telling us to remember Lot's wife. First of all, go to Genesis 18, verse 1. I want to say number 1. She completely failed as a wife and a mother. She was a bad wife and a bad mother, is the first sin. Look at Genesis 18, 1. The Bible reads, and the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre. And he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. And he lifted up his eyes and looked. And lo, three men stood by him. And when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door and bowed himself toward the ground. And said, my Lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant. Let a little walker, I pray you, be fetched and wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. And I will fetch a morsel of bread and comfort ye your hearts. After that ye shall pass on. For therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, so doest thou I say. Now Abraham, even though he's a very powerful, wealthy man, he sees three men coming unto him. He doesn't necessarily know who they are. It's God and his two angels. God, a few times in the Old Testament, appears in bodily form. Just as he appeared in bodily form in the person of Jesus Christ, a few times in the Old Testament he appears in bodily form. But Abraham, as wealthy and powerful a man is, he's very humble and very hospitable to guests. And so he offers them to eat a meal with him and to refresh themselves on their journey. They take him up on the offer. It says in verse number six, and Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah. And said, make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it and make cakes upon the heart. So he tells his wife to quickly prepare some bread and prepare some cakes and food. In verse seven the Bible reads, and Abraham ran into the herd and fetched a calf, tender and good, and gave it unto a young man. And he hasted to dress it, and he took butter and milk, and there's no margarine or anything like that. He had real butter and milk. The calf, which he had dressed, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat. And they said unto him, where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, behold, in the tent. Now everything in the Bible is there for a reason. This story is given in great detail, is it not? He could have just said they showed up and had lunch. But instead he gives us great detail about how he tells his wife, go make these cakes. She makes the cakes. He gets the meat together. They prepare this big meal. And they ask him, where is your wife? And he says, she's in the tent. Now, go to Genesis 19. You see, Sarah, Abraham's wife, is actually lifted up in the New Testament as being an example of what a godly woman and a godly wife should be. And keep your finger on Genesis 19. Flip to 1 Peter 3. We're going to be right back to Genesis 19, but I want to show you in 1 Peter 3 where God uses Sarah as the example of a godly, righteous wife that ladies today in 2012 should seek to emulate. And he even says that if you're a godly woman, you're like a daughter of Sarah. You know the Bible says that Abraham's the father of faith and that all of us who have faith in Jesus Christ are the children of Abraham. Well, he says if you're a godly wife, you're a daughter of Sarah. And she was that great of an example. Look at 1 Peter 3, verse 5. It says, for after this manner in the old time, the holy women also who trusted in God adorn themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands, even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord. Now, when it says Lord there, this is not like we... In 2012, when we use the word Lord, we're usually only referring to God. We call him the Lord. But the word Lord itself... For example, who here speaks Spanish? How do you say Lord in Spanish? What is it? You just said you spoke Spanish, now you don't know how to say Lord. You're just shy. Okay, I get it. It's el señor. Now, everybody knows the word señor, right? Is that something you only call God? No. Señor, it's just a term of respect that you would use. Because really, the word Lord in English, it basically just means the person who's in charge. The ruler or the boss. And that's why God's called the Lord, because guess what? He's the boss. He's the ruler. He's the ultimate authority. So anyone who's in authority in the Bible is called a Lord. You know, lower case L, a servant has a Lord, and so forth. And so when the Bible says that she called Abraham Lord, it's not saying she was worshipping him or calling him God or something. It's just she's acknowledging that he's basically an authority in that home. She was in subjection to him. And if you look back at Genesis, she basically said, my Lord, behold, also referring to Abraham. She referred to him as her Lord. So she was not a women's lib activist trying to say that, you know, it's 50-50, and I'm in charge too, and he has to listen to me, and so forth. You know, she was in subjection to her husband, calling him Lord. And it said, whose daughters you are, as long as you do well and are not afraid with any amazement. Likewise, you husbands dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered. So it's not that men are better than women, because obviously God created us both, and we're equal in his eyes. In Christ, there's neither male nor female. There's neither Jew nor Gentile. There's neither bond nor free. The same value, but not the same position of authority, okay? It's not that I'm better than my children, but I'm in charge. It's not that your boss at work is better than you necessarily, but he is the boss. You still have to obey him. Even if you know more than him, he's still the boss. You have to obey him. It's the same thing with a husband and wife. Maybe the wife is smarter. It doesn't matter. The husband's the boss. That's what the Bible says, that wives are to be in subjection to their own husbands, that he is the boss. And the Bible says that women are the weaker vessel. Now, it's just a fact. I've done it before. I'll do it right now. I'll challenge any woman to come up here and arm wrestle me right now, and I will win. And it's not because I'm the greatest, strongest guy in the world. I'm his bodybuilder. It's that men are stronger than women. So any woman in this room... Now, there probably could be men in this room. Well, maybe not. No, I'm just kidding. There could be men in this room that could probably beat me arm wrestling. But a woman is not going to come up here and beat me arm wrestling, because it's just a fact. And so there's a physical weakness. God made women to be not as strong as men. That's the way He created us. It's not that we're better or worse. It's just two different creatures. There's just a difference between men and women. And it's strange to have to get up and preach that, but in 2012, this is important doctrine, that men and women are actually different. Did you know that? And you see, whenever you look at, let's say, running a marathon, there's always different rules for the men and women. You know, the men's qualifying time is this. No, the women's qualifying time is this. Why? Because there's a difference physiologically between men and women. There's a difference in authority. Women are just as important. They're just as valuable. They have just as much worth, but they're different. Go back, if you went to Genesis chapter number 19. So we see that Sarah is lifted up as being a godly woman, who was in subjection to her husband. And notice, where was she? Why did they even ask that? Where is she? Where was she? She was in the tent, and she was making food. Look at the contrast with Lot's wife. In Genesis 19, verse 1, the exact same scenario pretty much plays out. God's two angels show up in verse 1, and there came two angels to Sodom and Eden. And Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. And Lot, seeing them, rose up to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. And he said, Behold now, my lords! Again, that word doesn't mean God. It's just a term of respect and submission. He says, return to Behold now, my lords, turn, and I pray you, into your servant's house. See the words servant and Lord are all used together. It says, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, nay, but we'll abide in the street all night. Now, they don't know much about Sodom. Now, they obviously did, but they're saying, yeah, we're just going to sleep outside. Well, Lot knows that this is a wicked, ungodly city. And he pressed upon them greatly, and they turned in on him. He says, no, you cannot stay outside. You need to come over to my house. And they turned in on him and entered into his house. And look at this, and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. So, no mention of his wife being there. No mention of his wife doing any of the cooking. He's doing all the cooking. And notice, he baked unleavened bread. Why? Because men don't know how to bake real bread with leaven in it, and to make the bread rise. Like, if you told me right now, bake bread and make it rise, I don't even know what that means. Like, literally, do you have to let it set for a while, and let it puff up? Do you put it in the oven, and then turn off the oven, and it puffs up, and then you turn it back on? There's some process that I don't understand, and I couldn't do it to save my life. So, these angels, when they're with Abraham, they're eating nice, fresh baked bread with butter on it. And there's nothing better than buttered bread. Buttered bread, and they had meat, and they had a glass of milk. They show up and log for a feast. It's a bunch of saltines. It's a bunch of unleavened bread, okay? That's the big feast. He gives them a lunchable, okay? Why? Because his wife's not there. And look, you say, well, that's insignificant. Everything in the Bible is significant. Everything's there for a reason. Now, you say, well, how do you know she was a bad wife and a mother? Maybe that was just the one night she wasn't around. Well, because, you know, if you look at later in the chapter, and we're not going to go into it this morning, but the daughters that they raised out of that house were wicked and ungodly. And they did the filthy, they get their dads drunk, and they commit a filthy act that I'm not even going to go into. And so that shows right there that the parents failed. And that shows right there a woman who you see, she's not in the tent, she's not in the home, she's not making lunch, she's not making dinner. Her daughters are wicked and vile and ungodly because they weren't raised properly. That's why. That's why they turned out that way, because of the parents. And so we see a failure as a wife and a mother, stark contrast with Abraham and Sarah, great parents who raised a godly child, Isaac, who grew up and served God and did all the right things. So the first sin that we see, and it doesn't really have to do with her turning back, but she was a failure as a wife and a mother. But secondly, disobedience. Go down to Genesis chapter 19, and now we're going to get into the next six of these sins. They all deal with how she looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. That was just something about her character that the Bible shows us. Because the Bible doesn't give us a whole lot about Lot's wife leading up to that. But in Genesis 19, the Bible says in verse number, let me find my place here. The Bible says in verse number 12, And the men said unto the law, Hast thou here any besides? These are the angels when they're trying to get them out of the city. And the men said unto the law, Hast thou here any besides, son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city? Bring them out of this place, for we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is wax and great before the face of the Lord. And the Lord hath sent us to destroy it. And Lot went out and spake unto his sons-in-law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place, for the Lord will destroy the city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law. So his sons-in-law think he's a joke and he's just kidding when he tries to warn him that fire and brimstone is going to be rained. And it says, verse 15, And when the morning rose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife and thy two daughters which are here, because he had other daughters as well that were married, lest they be consumed in the iniquity of this city. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters. That's why they only took four people, because they only had four hands. And the Lord be merciful unto him. And they brought him forth, and set him without the city. And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, he said, now listen to this clear instruction, Escape from thy life, look not behind thee, neither stay thou on all the plain, escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. And we'll get into Lot's response to that a little bit later. Jump down to verse 26, it says, But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. So first of all, she was a failure as a wife and mother, but number two, she just directly disobeyed what God told her. Now turn, if you would, to 1 Samuel 15. You stay here in Genesis, we'll be back there. But you see, you have to figure that if God's raining fire and brimstone on your hometown, and you're running away from it, and God tells you, don't look back, wouldn't you be tempted to want to look back and just see that sight? And there's so many different reasons why you would want to look back, and we're going to talk about some of those reasons. But wouldn't you think to yourself, hey, what's the big deal if I just look back? I mean, I'm going to run just as fast, just kind of take a little glance and see. I want to see for myself. But you see, when God commands us something, whether we understand it or not, or whether we agree with it, we need to obey what God commands us. Because a lot of times, God commands us something that we don't understand at the time. Well, why can't I just look back? What's it going to matter if I just glance at it? I want to see the fire and brimstone falling. I want to see what's happening. But when God tells us not to do something, oftentimes later we'll understand why. But even if we never understand why until we get to heaven, we need to obey God's commands. The Bible says in 1 Samuel 15, 22, And Samuel said, So the Bible says that when God gives us a clear command, and we just disobey it, that's called rebellion. And the Bible says that we're being stubborn, and it's like witchcraft. It's ungodly. And so we need to be very careful when God commands us something in the Bible, not to say, well, I don't know if I agree with that, or I don't know if I understand that. I think it'll be fine if I just do it anyway. It doesn't matter whether you think it's fine. If God said it, that's the end of the story, period. You say, well, why did God tell her not to look back? Why couldn't she look? It doesn't matter why. You're thinking like Lot's wife right now. If he says don't look back because I'm pouring out fire and brimstone, you better run as fast as you can and not look back. And people today will often question God's command. Like the thing that I just preached about, about how ladies should be at home and that they should be in subjection, not this women's lib movement where they're out running things and having a career and they're the boss in the home. You say, well, why can't the wife run things if she's smarter? And I promise you there are all kinds of relationships where the wife is smarter than the other. I guarantee it. I guarantee you. Did your wife make you say that? Anyway, you're living proof. But anyway, I guarantee you there are situations where employees are smarter than their boss. I guarantee you there are situations where the children are smarter than the parents even. But wait a minute, it doesn't matter. God said children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. And the kids say, well, I don't agree with my parents' rules. It's still your parents' rules. They are ruling that home and that's what God has commanded. And whether you agree with it or understand it, God has given parents absolute authority over their children. And that authority needs to be fought. And God has clearly said that wives are to be obedient under their own husbands and everything. You say, well, but she's smarter so she's going to make the decision. It doesn't matter. You'd be better off following Dumbo of a husband, and God's going to bless you for that. Because you're doing the right thing. He'll bless that more than, well, I'm taking over here, I'm in charge, he doesn't know anything. God's not going to bless that because it's not biblical. And so we always question God's command. Why? Why? And sometimes later you'll understand why. But whether you understand why or not, if God tells you, go to church. You know, God tells you, read the Bible every day. God tells you in the Bible, you know, how to live your life. Don't do this, don't do that. You need to just obey God's commands and not rebel against it. And not bristle at it and say, I'm going to do it my way. I'm going to look back, I don't care. She probably didn't think it was going to be a big deal if she looked back. I mean, do you think she expected to be instantly killed? I mean, it doesn't seem like that big of a commandment. Don't look over there. She looks, she turns into a pillar of salt. Which brings me to my third point. Number one was that she was a failure as a wife and a mother. Number two was that she was disobeyed. I mean, that's the obvious thing, she disobeyed. But number three, she looked at something that she was told not to look at. Now again, we might think it's not a big deal, what we look at. You know, we're not doing anything. I mean, we're not committing any action or harming anyone. All I did was just look. Lot slew someone here just for looking. Just for looking at the wrong thing that he told him not to look at. Go back to Genesis 13. Because you see, the whole trouble with Lot, it all started with what he looked at. And then his wife's downfall ended up with what she looked at. Look how Lot started on the wrong track. Because Lot started out as a great guy. He was a godly young man. He was a very successful young man. God was blessing Lot and he and Abraham were prospering together. But what happened was, in Genesis 13, some of Lot's employees and some of Abraham's employees began to fight with one another because they had so many cattle, they were fighting over the pasture to let their cattle graze. And so Abraham went to Lot and said, Look, I don't want there to be a fight between us. We're relatives, we love each other, let's not have a fight. Let's go our separate ways. We just have too many employees, we have too much cattle, let's split up. And Abraham, the humble man that he was, said, I'm going to let you choose, Lot. Wherever you want to go, Lot, whichever way you go, I'll go the opposite direction. You have the whole land before you. You take first pick. You know, and really Lot probably should have said, Well, you know, why don't you have first pick since you're the one who taught me everything I know and brought me up and so forth. But look what Lot did. When he's given that option, go wherever I want, he looks at Genesis 13, 10, it says, Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose all the plain of Jordan and Lot journeyed east and they separated themselves to one from the other. So Lot looks around and he sees the beautiful area where Sodom is located and that's what he chooses. Now he didn't live in Sodom. He lived in the well-watered plain. But look at verse number 12. It says, Abraham dwelled in the land of Canaan and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, but look at this, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. Now here's the thing about a tent. Usually a tent only has one door to get in and out of, right? And the Bible says he pitched his tent toward Sodom. That means that he faced the door, because obviously the tent has four sides, but he faced the tent toward Sodom, which means what? The door is facing Sodom, which means that when he sets up his tent, he walks out the front door every morning. What's the first thing he sees? Sodom. His tent's pitched toward Sodom. He gets up out of bed. He goes out to work. He walks out the door. There's Sodom every day. And that's going to wear him down eventually, because the Bible says, mine eye affected my heart. And when you're just constantly seeing Sodom, you're going to think about it over and over again and you're going to say, hmm, I wonder what it's like down there at Sodom. I wonder if I could just go down there for a little while. Maybe we could just go buy some stuff down there, just spend a little time there. Or maybe we could just get like a weekend house down there or whatever. But he's looking at it every day. And that sight of Sodom every day eventually leads to him moving into Sodom, and he's living in Sodom. But the problem with that is that the men of Sodom were wicked sinners before the Lord exceedingly. Now go to 2 Peter 2. What were the sins of Lot's wife? Number one, she failed to be the wife and mother that she was supposed to be. She was nothing like Sarah. Number two, disobedience to God's word. Number three, looking at something that she was told not to look at. You see, looking at something is enough to destroy you. Looking at Sodom every day was enough to ruin Lot. It says in verse 6 of 2 Peter 2, And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that after should live ungodly. The Bible says that even today, Sodom and Gomorrah is an example of what God's going to do to those who live ungodly. It says in verse 7, And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked, for that righteous man dwelling among them in what? Seeing. And seeing and hearing vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust under the day of judgment to be punished. Every day he vexed his soul by seeing wickedness before his eyes. Now, people today, often the first thing they do when they wake up in the morning, they turn on the TV. And what do they see? Sodom. You know, they see all the worldliness, they see all the ungodliness. It's everything that is the world. Everything that is not of God is what's promoted on the television. The tell-lie vision, or the hell-a-vision. And you see, what we ought to be doing, the first thing we ought to see, is the Word of God when we wake up in the morning. We should get up and read our Bible. And the Bible says that we should seek the Lord early. And the Bible talks about how the manna was on the ground every morning, and the children of Israel were to go out and eat the manna every morning. But Jesus said that God gave them manna that he might teach them, that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God does man live. And the Bible is telling us that the manna was a picture of God's Word, and so we should get up every morning and get the manna of God's Word. This is what we should be feasting our eyes on. Not feasting our eyes on some scantily clad woman on the television. Not feasting our eyes on a bunch of sin and iniquity on the TV. And many people, that's their habit. Get up in the morning, flip the TV off. That's the first thought in their mind is whatever the TV is putting into their mind. That's the first thought they have. When in reality we need to wake up in the morning and put on the new man, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, open our Bible, start the day off right with God's Word, with prayer, with putting the right thing before our eyes. Now, in Psalm 101 the Bible reads, I will behave myself in a perfect way. Oh, when will thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. Now, how's he going to walk within his house with a perfect heart? He says, I will set no wicked thing before my eyes. I hate the work of them that turn aside and should not cling to me. So the Bible is clear that what we look at can be a sin. Amen. Just looking at something is a sin. He said, I'll set no wicked thing before my eyes. Job said this in Job 31.1. I made a covenant with my eyes. Why then should I think upon a maid? He's talking about lust there. Jesus said, That I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee. For it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy old body should be cast into hell. The Bible is clear that just looking is a sin. The Bible says I made a covenant with my eyes. Why didn't He say I made a covenant with my mind? How then should I think upon a maid? No, He said I made a covenant with my eyes. Because, let's face it, if you're looking at an ungodly image, you're going to think an ungodly thought. And many people today, they think, Oh, I can look at it, but I'm just going to keep my mind pure. Good luck with that. Number one. Number two, you've already sinned. Because the Bible lists three sins. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Looking at something that you're not supposed to look at is a sin. Looking at scantily clad women on the television screen, or whether it's in a magazine, or whether it's in just real life, whether it's just out and about. You know, you see a woman, man, that is scantily clad, you're to look the other way. The Bible says let thine eyes look right on. Look neither to the right hand nor the left. And when you see the magazines, you just say, Oh, I'm just checking it out. I'm not thinking any bad thoughts or anything. It's not lust, I just like to look. Why do you like to look? Because of the lust of the eyes. You need to be careful what you look at, because God considers it a sin to look at something that's wrong. Set no wicked thing before your eyes. Don't even look at it. And people today, they think it's okay. They'll say, oh, you know, and I heard people say this, married men will say, Oh, well, just because I've ordered doesn't mean I can't look at the menu. Now, what's so stupid about that is that every restaurant I've ever been to in my life, they took the menu away from me as soon as I ordered. You order, and then the lady says, okay, I'll take the menu down. Well, just because I've ordered it. You know, stupid. Jesus said rip your eyeball out of its socket rather than to lust and look after women, because it's ungodly. It's a sin. And we as men today in 2012 need to be very careful what we look at, because there are a lot of bad images out there that are before us, and if we want to indulge the flesh, we can just look at all that stuff and pretend that it's not affecting us. Well, I guess it wouldn't have affected a lot either. It pitches tent toward Sodom every day, but guess what? It did affect him. And ladies, you know, obviously, it's a different struggle that ladies have. It's different temptations that they're going to look at, but you know what? You need to control what you look at and what you feast your eyes upon. That was her sin. She looked at something that God told her not to look at. Well, there are things that God tells us not to look at, and we shouldn't look at those things either. But number four, go to Hebrews chapter number 11. Hebrews chapter number 11. Number four, she looked back. She looked back. Not only did she disobey, not only did she look at something she was told not to look at, but she looked backwards. She looked back. You see, we all have maybe done things in the past that were wrong, some more than others. Oh my God, I grew up in a Christian home, so I never really knew the depths of Satan. I never really went full-blown into just the world system of sin and ungodliness. Obviously, I've sinned in my life many times, and I'm not a perfect person today, but I didn't thankfully go into extreme sin of our world today. I didn't get into fornication or drunkenness or drinking or anything like that just because I grew up in a Christian home, and I had that privilege. You grow up in a Christian home, thank God for it. But many grew up in a not-Christian environment, or they went off into sin, and they've had a lot of things in their past that were sinful, and the Bible makes it clear that we should never look back on those things, and we should just go forward and not look back. And I can look at my own life and see times when I was worldly and not living for God and doing a lot of the wrong things. I shouldn't be constantly wanting to go back to that, and obviously the worst thing would be to go back to it, but here's the thing. I shouldn't sit around thinking, what would it be like to go back and live the way I used to live? I wonder if my old friends are still having fun or whatever. Just looking backward. The Bible tells us forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before. The Bible says in Hebrews 11.15, this is talking about Abraham and Sarah and people like that. He says, and truly if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. And so the Bible says that when Abraham and Sarah left Ur of the Chaldees, they didn't look back. They were not mindful of the country that they came out of. They didn't sit around thinking about how great it was in Ur of the Chaldees, and I wonder if it's still there for us. I wonder if the old house is still there. I wonder if we could still get our old job back. I wonder if I could still be back there. No, they didn't look back. And when we live for God and when we follow Christ, we should burn our bridges behind us. For example, let's say God is dealing with you, and go if you would to Luke chapter 9. Let's say God deals with you about some sin in your life, like for example, we're talking about things that you shouldn't be looking at, maybe some wicked DVDs, maybe some ungodly movies. And God is dealing with you about that, and you're saying, you know, I shouldn't be watching this, and then basically you pack them up in a box and put it up in the closet. Now what I can do is just throw them in the trash. You shouldn't put it up in the closet, and then people literally put stuff up in the closet because it's like, well, if I backslide, I don't have to re-buy all that stuff. It's expensive. You know, what if I backslide or what if I can't handle it? Hey, I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. You know, I want to give up all this wicked music, but, you know, these are pretty expensive, so just in case, I'm going to put it up in a box. And I've literally known people, I'm telling the honest truth, I can name a few people who literally took all the ungodly music that they didn't want to listen to, put it up in a box. That box was in the closet for 20 plus years. And eventually that box came down from the closet and was opened up, and that music was put back into use. Think about that. That shows you right there. You've got to burn your bridges behind you. Don't even have that temptation around. Just, you know, when you make a change, you know, or maybe you have clothing that's immodest or ungodly clothing, you know, don't put it in the closet, just throw it away. Just say, you know, I don't need this stuff. I'm not looking back. I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back. That ought to be our mantra. That ought to be our motto. We shouldn't leave the pathway open to go back. And what was she doing? She was fleeing a wicked place. She was fleeing an ungodly place that God was destroying. She should have just made a clean break from it and just said, you know what, I learned my lesson. I'm not going to be around people like that again. I shouldn't have been living in that city in the first place. You know, we're a Christian home here. Lot's definitely saved. I don't know if his wife was saved, but, you know, she should have just followed his lead in that area and just said, let's get out of here. Let's go ahead and just not look back. Look at Luke 9, 57. It says, they came to pass as they went in their way. This is Jesus going on his way. A certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, boxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head. And he said unto another, follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. Verse 61, and another also said, Lord, I will follow thee, but. You know, that's a lot of people, right? Well, I'm going to follow Christ, but. But he said here, but let me first go bid them farewell which are at home at my house. Look what Jesus says to them. And Jesus said unto them, no man having put his hand in the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. Right there the Bible says that God expects us to serve God, to put our hand in the plow. Why the plow? Because serving God is hard work. He said put your hand in the plow and don't look back. Just as Lot's wife was told, don't look back. You say, why couldn't she look back? Why are we told not to look back? Because God wants us to go forward, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize and the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. You see, 2011 and the failures of 2011 and the sins of 2011 should not be your excuse for 2012. Forget all that stuff. It's gone. It's behind. Move forward. Live for God. From this day forward do what's right. And there's no excuse not to. Put your hand in the plow with Jesus and never look back. But number five, go to Genesis 19. What was the fifth sin of Lot's wife? What was the mistake that she made? Well, the mistake that she made was by following man's example instead of God's commandment. Look at Genesis 19, if you would, in verse 17. And keep in mind, this is before Lot's wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. It says in verse 17, it came to pass when they had brought them forth abroad that he said, escape from thy life. Look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain. Escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. And Lot said unto them, OK, let's go. I'm not going to look back. Is that what he said? It says, and Lot said unto them, oh, not so, my lord. I mean, this guy is ridiculous. First of all, they tell him, we're going to rain fire and brimstone upon your city. You need to get out of the city right now. And he's lingering. He's like, OK, I need to get my stuff. Let me pack. They're like, no, you don't get it. Fire and brimstone is going to fall on the sea. You need to leave right now. OK, when are we leaving? Finally, the two angels have to just grab his hand, grab his wife's hand, grab his two daughters' hands, you know, all four hands were filled, and they just had to drag them out of the city finally. And then they get there, and they get to the edge of the city. OK, we dragged them out of the city. Now we can let them go on his own so we can destroy the city, because the two angels were the ones that were going to do it. And they tell him, OK, we got you out of the city. Now go. Run. Don't look back. Just go that way. Go, go. No. Not so, my lord. And look what he says. I mean, this is insane. Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shown unto me in saving my life. And I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me and I die. I think some evil's going to take you if you keep hanging around. You're worried about survival in the mountains? So Lot, I don't know if he just didn't know how to make a fire with two sticks or what, but he's afraid to go into the mountain. He's afraid he's going to get eaten by an animal. He's just not a mountain guy. He's kind of an urban guy. He's kind of a metro guy. That's why he's living in Sodom. And so he's just kind of a soft guy or whatever. And so he sits there and he doubts and he's double-minded. You know what? That's why his wife probably looks back. Because she sees him. She sees how he is, right? And how he's double-minded and how he's lingering and stuff. And then next thing you know, she turns around and becomes a pillar of salt. And so the mistake that she made was following man's example instead of God's commands. You see, God has given us all clear commands. Now, we have leadership in our life. For example, we talked about it earlier. Children have their parents. Wives have their husband. Employees have their boss at work. You know, this church has a pastor. But here's the thing. Your leadership is not always going to be perfect. And a lot of times your leadership can let you down. Your husband might let you down. Your father might let you down. Your boss might let you down. Your pastor might let you down. Now look, if I do wrong as your pastor and I let you down, that doesn't give you an excuse to do wrong. Because who did God punish? He punished her. Because she disobeyed God's command. You say, well, yeah, but it's Lot's fault. It doesn't matter. She still didn't. Now you say, well, I thought you said you're supposed to obey your authorities and stuff. Well, yeah, you are. But the Bible says we ought to obey God rather than men. The Bible says, let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. You see, there are higher powers. If you look at the chain of command, God is at the top of that command all the time. Now people that are in the military, and I've never been in the military, so I can't really speak to this with great detail, but help me out, for example, you have a chain of command, right? So wouldn't it be possible that you might get conflicting orders from two different people? Who do you go with? You just automate every time? Or do you pick which one seems like it's going to make more sense? Yeah, you go with the higher. That's how it is in the kingdom of God. Let's say my parents are telling me to do one thing that just completely contradicts God's word. I'm going to go with what God's word says. Now, if my parents tell me to do something that goes against what I think and what I agree with, well, I'm going to have to do what my parents are telling me because my parents are the boss. But when my parents come into direct conflict with God's word, I'm going to have to go with God's word. And that goes with the same thing at the boss at work. Believe me, I'm all for obeying your boss at work. I'll preach it all day long. The Bible preaches it. I was just going through it in my Bible reading yesterday. He said it in, I think, three different places. Just in my Bible reading yesterday, he told servants to obey their masters in the workplace and so forth, and that we ought to obey the boss at work. But when your boss tells you, hey, lie to this customer, you know that that clearly goes against God's word. You can't lie. You should obey the boss until he tells you to disobey this, because it goes God, then your boss, and then you. That's the chain of command on the job. And so God can veto what man says. And so, yes, she should have been a submissive and obedient wife unto Lot, but you know what, when Lot is just blatantly disobeying God's word, that's where she should have said, well, you know what, that's his problem, but I'm not going to look back. I'm going to do what God told me to do. And a lot of people will hide behind, well, I would serve God, but it's just my husband. Well, I would serve God, but my wife. Well, I would serve God, but my parents messed me up or whatever. They spanked me with the bell. That was the best thing they ever did. They didn't spank you enough with the bell. And so we can't hide behind man's example. The Bible says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. And you know, Pastor Anderson, God forbid, but Pastor Anderson can let you down. Put your eyes on Jesus. You know, you can't use an excuse, well, I did it because Pastor Anderson did it. Or I did it because my parents did it. Or I did it because so-and-so did it. And he is my boss. It doesn't give you the excuse to do it. So that was a mistake that she made. She followed man's example instead of God's commands. But last, sixth is this. Curiosity was the sin of Lot's wife. Now, curiosity is not always a sin. Go to Genesis, or I'm sorry, Romans 16. Romans 16, 19. I've only got two more to go. Five down, two to go. Of the sins of Lot's wife. Curiosity, now, curiosity can be a good thing. Curiosity can be helpful. Curiosity can spark people to learn new things. But, curiosity can definitely be a sin. And can definitely lead you into a lot of sin. Look at Romans 16, 19. The Bible says, for your obedience has come abroad unto all men. I am glad, therefore, on your behalf. But yet I would have you wise unto that which is good and simple concerning evil. Now, the opposite, if you read the book of Proverbs a lot, you know the opposite of being wise and being simple. Those two things are used. You've heard of somebody being a simpleton? It means they're not very smart. And the Bible, when it uses the word simple, it is often referring to someone who is not intelligent or unwise. What is God saying here? He says He wants us to be wise. But He wants us to be wise about things that are good. And He said He wants us to be simple concerning evil. That means we should be ignorant and dumb when it comes to things that are evil. What does that tell us? Does God want us to just know everything? Just know about everything. No, there are certain things that we shouldn't want to even know about. Evil things we shouldn't even want to know about. This is what happened to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. What tree did they eat of? The tree of what? Knowledge of good and evil. That's the tree of the day. And of course, Satan tempted Eve and said that God knows that in the day you eat thereof, you'll be like Him knowing good and evil. You'll know more. Curiosity was part of why Eve partook of that fruit. Curiosity, go to 1 Samuel 6.19. 1 Samuel 6.19. Curiosity is why she looked back. It's one of the reasons why she probably looked back. Because think about it. It didn't say she went back. It didn't say that she headed back. She turned back. He said, look not behind you. She looked back out of curiosity. Because look, if you hear the fire and the brimstone and the explosions, aren't you going to be curious? I mean, who would not be? Look, I would be curious. Who thinks they would be curious and want to look back? It'd be hard. Who thinks it'd be hard not to look back? I mean, if you're running away from your town and you're hearing the sound, fire, brimstone, explosions, everybody would want to look back, I think. But that's why they had to tell them, don't do it. But you'd want to look back. Why? Curiosity. I mean, I'm curious right now. What did this look like? What was the fire and brimstone like? I mean, it sounds interesting. Look, when God tells you, don't look. Curiosity needs to be overcome with, hey, I just need to obey here. I'm not going to look back. Here's some other people who died because of curiosity. 1 Samuel 6.19, the Bible says, And he smote the men of Beth Shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. Even he smote of the people 50,000 and threescore and ten men. And the people lamented because the Lord had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter. They were curious about what was inside the ark of the covenant. And the Bible says that they opened up, they weren't even supposed to touch the ark of the covenant. They opened it up and looked inside. And it says, because they had looked into the ark, he slew them. 50,000 some people. I mean, that's a lot of people who died because of curiosity. Yeah, I wonder what's in there. And curiosity leads people into sin, especially young people. And listen to me, children, especially children, teenagers, listen to me. Curiosity will lead you into sin. You just want to try drugs just to see what it's like. Just out of curiosity, you know, just try a little bit. God doesn't want you to know what drugs are like. You say, I just want to see what it's like to drink and just that feeling of being buzzed or being drunk. And I thank God I've never been drunk. And I don't know what it's like to be drunk. And so I have to ask people, you know, So, what is it like to be drunk? Or look in the Bible where the Bible tells you what it's like to be drunk. And I thank God I don't know what it's like. You know what? When it comes to being drunk, I'm simple. I don't know. I couldn't tell you what it feels like or what. I don't know. All I can go by is where the Bible says, Thy eyes shall behold strange women and thy mouth shall utter perverse things. I don't want to say perverted things. I don't want to look at a bunch of women that are not my wife. So I'm not going to drink alcohol. And there are many other places where God describes the effects of alcohol. But I get all my knowledge about it secondhand. I'm simple, concerned. I don't know what it's like to smoke pot. I don't know what it's like to do drugs. I don't know what it's like to do all these things. I don't want to know. And you don't need to know, kids. Kids, you don't have to grow up and taste beer and smoke pot just to try it. And people will tell you, oh, that's just a phase you go through. No, it's not. It does not have to be a phase that you go through. Other people's curiosity gets them to look into a pornographic magazine. Why? To see what it's like. Look, let's face it. If you're a young man growing up in a godly home, in a righteous home, you should not know what a woman's anatomy looks like. You shouldn't even know. Until you get married. That's when you're supposed to find out. But curiosity can kick in before that. Oh, I want to know what it's like. No, you wait until you're married, son. And that's when you'll find out. And curiosity can lead you into wicked sin of looking upon that which you should not look at. Just to see. Just to see what it's like. People will talk about, oh, I went to go see. I remember a wicked movie came out. And somebody said, well, I went to see it just to see how bad it was. What kind of nonsense is that? They literally said, I went to see that movie because I knew it was going to be bad. I just want to see how bad it was. You have defiled your heart and your mind by looking at wickedness. God said not to look at it. So you have to look at it just to see how bad it really is. But people will do that. Listen to bad music just to see how bad it is. Just so that I can preach against it. You know, I'm going to download Metallica and download a bunch of wicked Hollywood movies. I'm going to watch all the TV sitcoms so I can preach why people shouldn't watch them. I'm going to watch them all and learn about them. No, I don't care. And sometimes when I'm preaching, I'll give inaccurate facts about movies or TV or music industry. And people will correct, oh, Pat, you don't know what you're talking about. Don't you know it's this, this, and this? And now I just have to question everything you preach. You don't know what you're talking about. You got this Hollywood thing wrong. You got this rock and roll thing wrong. You got evolution wrong. You got the big bang wrong. I'm glad I got it wrong. Because I don't want to be an expert on sin and filth and iniquity and ungodliness. You don't even understand the big bang. I don't want to understand it. It's stupid. It doesn't make any sense. I don't want to be an expert on the big bang and everything. The bottom line is, sometimes curiosity. And look, there are some things you can research without defiling yourself. Obviously, reading about the big bang or something, it's not like you're looking at porno or something. But think about it. There are a lot of things, though, where looking at it, I believe, would defile you. For example, I've never read the Book of Mormon. I don't feel that I should read the Book of Mormon. My grandpa tried to read it. My grandpa, he had a lot of Mormon relatives. He wanted to get his Mormon relatives saved. And he said, I'm going to read this thing because I want to be able to talk intelligently. He got two pages into it, screamed and cursed it, and threw it across the room and said, I'm not going to read this garbage or something. Look, I don't need to read. The Bible says that we don't need to inquire. He said, learn not the way of the heathen. We don't have to inquire after these people saying, how do they worship their gods? I don't care how they worship their gods. And yes, with Mormons, it is gods, plural, because they don't believe in one god. They believe in multiple gods. And so I don't have to read the Book of Mormon. I'm not going to read the Koran. I'm not going to read the Catholic Apocrypha. I don't need to read these books that I know were written by pedophiles. Joseph Smith married to a 12-year-old who wrote the Book of Mormon. Mohammed, who wrote the Koran, was married to a 9-year-old when he was 40. I was out stolen and talking to a Muslim. They said, have you ever read the Koran? I said, why would I read a book written by a man in his 40s who was married to an 11-year-old? And he said, no, she was not 11, she was 9. Because I was wrong. My mind didn't even wrap my mind around it, so I switched it to 11. And then I went home and looked it up, and sure enough, yes, she was 9. That's all I need to know about Mohammed. That's all I need to know about Mohammed. You tell him he's married to a 9-year-old? Okay, let's X out that religion off the list. There's 1 billion people that are in a false religion. That's all I need to know. I don't need to go any further than that. You see what I'm saying? If I see a Hollywood movie with all the wicked actors and the wicked people that are making it, I don't have to go watch the whole movie to figure out it's bad before I can preach against it. It's pretty easy to figure it out. I want to be as simple... And look, we're all going to be exposed to things that are wrong and that are ungodly, but we should be as simple as possible concerning evil, and we should not let curiosity take us into... And look, the people that I'm preaching to the most right now are my children. Are you listening, kids? Don't let curiosity lead you into the bar just to see what it's like, into the strip club to see what it's like, into the beer aisle and into the liquor cabinet to see what it's like, to try drugs, to try fornication, to try all these things. Just don't worry about it. It's garbage. There's nothing there. It's vanity of vanity, sayeth the preacher. All is vanity. Fear God and keep his commandments. That's the best life you're going to live, and this other stuff out there is worthless and garbage. That's why the world's not happy today. That's why they're taking all these antidepressant drugs today. That's why they're committing suicide today in Hollywood. That's why they're on their fifth wife and their fifth husband. Why? Because there's nothing there of value. Take God's word for it. Take my word for it. You don't have to go look at Sodom yourself to figure out Sodom's wicked. Amen. Take the Bible's word for it. You know, people say experience is the best teacher. But you know what really is the best teacher? Someone else's experience is the best teacher. You don't have to reinvent the wheel, my friend, and figure out that everything's bad for yourself. But lastly this. Go to Romans chapter 1. Let's recap quickly. What were the sins of Lot's wife? Number one, totally failed as a wife and mother. Number two, disobedience. Just flat out disobeying a really clear command from God. Number three, she looked at something that she was told not to look at. Number four, she looked back at her sinful past instead of turning a new page and just moving forward. Number five was that she was following a poor example of a leader instead of following God's commands. And look, you might have a boss at work who is not exactly a role model for your life. Maybe he's a drunk and maybe he's a deadbeat. Maybe he's a fornicator. Maybe he's an adulterer. But he's still your boss. You're still supposed to obey your boss. So when he says, okay, I want you to take the forklift and move this and that, or I want you to run the conduit up over here, or I want you to show up at 6 a.m. and run the pipes here, you're supposed to obey that boss and say, yes, sir, treat him with respect. But does that mean that you're supposed to follow his lifestyle? No. No. See the difference? You know, my parents, maybe there are certain things that were in my parents' lifestyle that I should or should not have emulated. But either way, when they say take out the trash, I'm taking out the trash. If they say be home at 9 o'clock, I'm going to be home at 9 o'clock. If they say eat your Brussels sprouts, I'm going to eat my Brussels sprouts. My mom never fed me Brussels sprouts because she hated them too. But whatever my parents told me, I'm supposed to do it. But it doesn't mean that I have a right to say, well, I'm going to follow their sins as well. Or I'm going to follow my boss's sins. Or my pastor, if he does it, I'll do it too. And hopefully I'm not a bad example to you in any area. But if I am, let God's Word supersede what I'm doing and what I'm telling you. Because this is the final authority. And that's a mistake that Lot's wife made. Number six was the sin of curiosity about something that God had forbidden her. God said no, but she just had to see it. Look, you don't get to see it, Lot's wife. I wish we knew her name. But then, yeah, I don't know. For some reason, God didn't want us to know her name. Maybe just because he wanted everybody to apply it to themselves. Any woman can be a Lot's wife if she does these seven things. Or any woman can be a daughter of Sarah if she does all the opposite things. But number seven was this. And I love alliterations. A soft spot for the sodomites. That was the seventh sin of Lot's wife. You see, she left her heart in San Francisco. She just couldn't let it go. She just had to look back. She had a soft spot for the sodomites. Now you say, well, Pastor Anderson, shouldn't we all have a soft spot for the sodomites? And honestly, in today's world, that's what we're being taught. Now here's why. There's an agenda today. It's not an accident. It's a planned agenda. And let me just give you a little historical lesson on this quickly. You see, sodomy, or what we would call today being gay, which, of course, the Bible uses the word gay. And it's not talking about being a queer in a homo. And when the Bible uses the word gay, it's talking about being cheerful. It was used at one time in James chapter 2. And so I'm not going to corrupt God's word by using the word gay, because that's a Bible word. And it has a biblical meaning, and so I'm not going to corrupt that word. I'll use words like strange. That's what the Bible calls it. Strange flesh. Or queer. Queer means strange. Or I'll call it sodomy, sodomites. Or I might use words like fag, or homo, or pervert, or predator, or pedophile. But anyway, the bottom line is, there's an agenda. It used to be that everybody felt the same way I feel about it. Like the way I feel about it right now. Which is just like, it's disgusting, it's revolting, it's a sick person, it's somebody they want to stay away from. Or words like abomination, sin, wicked sinners before the Lord exceedingly. This is the way that our world looked at sodomy throughout history. Now I know there were pockets and places where people delved into this, just like Sodom and Gomorrah. Maybe places in ancient Greece and places where... But you know, in America today, in this continent, that's how it was looked at, right? Hundreds and hundreds of years, everybody agreed with me on this. But then what happened is, they started a process through Hollywood of desensitizing us onto sodomy. And the way that they did that is by first making it a joke. That's how it started. They started out by making it funny and a joke. So if you go back in time to let's say the 50s and the 60s, they weren't just promoting sodomy openly. Because that would have been too shocking to the average American. So what they did is they started making it a joke and funny. So it starts out with Bugs Bunny. You know, the little Bugs Bunny merry melodies. And it starts out with Bugs Bunny dressing up in a dress, putting on lipstick, and hugging and kissing Elmer Fudd. And you say, oh come on, it's just a joke. Yeah, but what's it a joke about? Sodomy. Two men. A man dressed in drag. And you know, he's touching Elmer Fudd, and Elmer Fudd's turning purple and green and sweaty, trying to get away from him. And Bugs Bunny's kissing him and hugging him. And look, they're both male. So it starts out as just even just a little tiny kid eating their cereal on Saturday morning, watching Bugs Bunny in drag. See what I mean? So there's the agenda. And then there were movies that would come out where men would dress as women and they'd put on a dress. But it was all a big joke. It was funny. And then also you'd start to see in the 70s and 80s, you'd see movies where there'd be a queer character. But he was never the hero. He was never the main character that you really were following. It was always just like a side character that you kind of laugh at. Like, what a fruitcake, what a queer little... This guy, he's all sissy and effeminate. And you'd laugh about it, but it's still just getting you used to it. It's funny. Now look, was it something that people thought was cool? Yeah, it's cool to be a homo. No, it was like, it became like, oh you're bad, you know, you're queer. It became something that you would make fun of and laugh at and think that it was funny. Well then, after they got that embedded in our culture, sodomy is a joke, men dressing as women is funny, it's comedy, it's a joke. And listen to me, there are independent fundamental Baptist churches today. I literally, a family member of mine, visited a church in Texas and if I could remember the name of the church, I would name it to you. And they had a play at this church. I think it was the one in Mesquite, Texas. I don't remember the name, but the other side named it. But they went there at this youth conference. And in the youth conference, they had men dressed up as women in an independent fundamental Baptist church. They had men in dresses, in drag, joking around on stage. That is wicked, that's an abomination, it's not funny, wipe that stupid smile off your face, you're an independent fundamental Baptist church, you've got teenagers, and you're dressing men up as women to get a good laugh. Well I'm not laughing, I don't think it's funny, fools make a mark, it's sin. And I'm not going to dress up like a woman for a skit, and for a gag, and for a joke. It's not funny, it's disgusting. But that's what they did. Now that's step one, everybody got step one? Step two, you need to stop making fun of these homos. The poor little queer, poor little sodomite. So first they brainwash you to make fun of them, to laugh at them, right? They are the ones who tell you to laugh at them. Then they turn around and tell you, stop laughing at them, stop making fun of them. They have feelings, they're born that way, they're a poor little thing. How dare you make fun of them, after they're the ones who taught you to make fun of them. Then they make you feel sorry for it. Then they turn around and say, oh let's give them special rights. Because they're this poor, and then they'll relate it unto black people. Like, oh see, people used to hate black people, now they hate homos. Look, black people are every bit the same as white people. The Bible says we're all made of the same blood. He's made all nations of the earth the one blood. And if I were a black person, I'd be insulted when they say like, you know, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, and homosexual. Like it's the same lit, like it's a race. But they try to brainwash you like that, to get you to feel bad. So they pick people that have been picked on in the past. And they relate the homos to somebody that's been picked on in the past. And by the way, white people have picked on black people in America. But all over the world, people pick on people of other races. Turkish people are picking on Europeans, and Europeans are picking on Turkish people. Japanese people hate Chinese people. That's just human nature. That's just man's sin nature, to hate his fellow man, and to hate his brother without a cause. But that has nothing to do with sodomy. Sodomy's a perverted action, and a perverted person. But it gets you brainwashed. And somebody told me that in the twilight, somebody said they went over to a friend's house, and twilight was on the TV screen. Yeah, I like this story, but that's what they said. They said, you know, I was at a friend's home. No, I'm just kidding. But they went to the home of a friend, and twilight was on the TV. And this is what the vampire in twilight was saying. Do you think this is a choice? I was born this way. Does that sound familiar? See what I mean? So it's even those type of movies that maybe don't overtly have anything to do with being a homo. They're brainwashing you to get to thinking along certain lines, just very slowly, like the frog in the hot water, just getting you brainwashed. It's not a choice. I was born this way. It's not my fault. I know I'm killing people and sucking their blood, but, you know, I'm a victim. Even though I'm such a filthy animal and I'm hurting people, it's not my fault. I was born that way. And then they get you to apply it later to men with it. So you develop what? A soft spot for the sodomites. Now, let's look at the Bible and let's let the Bible undo some of our brainwashing. And, by the way, you know what the TV guide is called? The programming guide. It's called television programming for a reason, because you're being programmed. That's why. But look at Romans chapter number 1. This is just a great New Testament passage that just really lays this out. Because a lot of people say, Well, you know, you're talking in the Old Testament when God raised fire and brimstone. Did you know that fire and brimstone is going to fall on this earth once again? Read the book of Revelation. We read it this morning in Luke 17. He said God's going to do the exact same thing He did to sodom. He's going to rain fire and brimstone. He will do it again. God does not change. He's the same. Look at Romans 1, and this is our last point. It says, For the wrath of God, verse 18, Romans 1, 18, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth and unrighteousness, because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has showed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even as eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because that when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations. Now look, who's the problem here? Is this people born that way? He said, No, they have no excuse. They knew God. They did not glorify God. They knew who He was. They were exposed to God. They did not glorify Him. They were not thankful. They became vain. And look what happens in verse 21. It says, And their foolish heart was darkened. Now look, which came first? Their foolish heart being darkened, or all the wicked stuff they did? They did a bunch of wicked stuff, and they rejected the truth of the Gospel. Their foolish heart became darkened. Verse 22, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man and to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. Wherefore, or for this reason, God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. So we see people going down a wicked path and a wicked downward spiral, knowing the truth, rejecting it, turning to all manner of sin and iniquity, and finally God just gives them up. It says, Wherefore, God gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts. But He didn't give them up until they'd already rejected Him and done all this other stuff. It says He gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts. So not doing something that He invented or dreamed of, but something that came out of the lusts of their own wicked heart. He says this, Who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator who is blessed forever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up. So again, two times now He said God gave them up. He said God gave them up unto vile affections, for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature. And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lusts one toward another, men with men, working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was me. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient. So this is my question that I can't understand for the life of me. Everybody wants to have a soft spot for the sodomite. And they say, oh, we need to love them and try to reach them and don't give up on them. If God already gave up on them three times by the time they're a queer, why can't I give up on them? Oh, they need to be in church, you need to have them in church, and they need to get saved and bring them in and love them and tell them, you know, I love you anyway, and even though you're a sodomite, you're my friend. Look, God already gave them up three times. And you're not giving up? Give me a break. It's not scriptural what you're saying to me. You got it from TV. You got it from liberalism. You got it from the world. And so he says this. Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, what does even as mean? Same way. So look, same way God did. They don't want to have God in his knowledge. Guess what? He doesn't want to have them in his knowledge either. Do you get that? I mean, do you see that? Because the word reprobate, look it up in the dictionary. It means rejected. Rejected. So he says, hey, you reject me? OK, well, I'll reject you. And he says, even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient. What is those things that are not convenient? Convenient, OK, we think of convenient as like, oh, that's pretty convenient. But when the Bible used the word convenient, it comes from the word veneer. Like if you speak Spanish, for example, it's a come. And convenient means those things which come to you or come naturally. Something that comes naturally. This is something that does not come naturally. Man lusting after other men. Now look, we're all sinners, aren't we? We all have temptations. You know, we talked about it earlier, the temptation of scantily clad women. But let me tell you something. Any normal man, and people say, well, what's normal mean? Normal means I'm not a pervert. I'm not a predator. I have not been turned over to a reprobate mind. I have not been given over onto vile affections. Does everybody understand what normal means? It's basically 90-some percent of the population is normal, as in they're not a reprobate. They're not rejected and turned over to vile, filthy affections. The normal man is not tempted by homosexuality. It's not something that we have to struggle with. Now look, we might struggle with a lot of commands. I mean, who struggles here with sin from time to time? Everybody would say, you know, if we named all sin, yeah, I struggle with that one. Or, yeah, I struggle with that one. And different people might struggle with different sins. Who's struggling here with lusting after other guys? You know, it's not going to happen. And if you do, then there's the door. Get away from me. But here's the thing. You know as well as I do. You know your own heart. You can't see X-ray vision into other people's heart. You know your own heart. I know my heart. If you're a man, the temptation is women. Okay? And you know, you have to keep your mind pure. You have to stay godly. You have to make a covenant with your eyes. You have to be with your wife alone and not be tempted by everything else. But the temptation's there. It is something that you have to look out for. It is something you have to be careful of. It's something you have to guard your heart and your mind of. But you know what? You're not tempted with men. It's just not natural. It's not convenient. It doesn't come naturally. No one would even dream of this stuff. Except that they had just gone down the tubes of depravity to get to the point where they've been completely given up and completely given over to filth to even dream of such a thing. This was unheard of in so many places because it's just so far off the deep end that it's not even something that would enter a normal person's mind ever. Okay? And so, he says here they do the things that are not convenient. And look, is there a period at the end of verse 28? So we're still talking about the same people, the same group. Being filled. Now that's not a complete sentence. Being filled? Because you know why? There's no subject. That's why. Because a sentence in English has to have a subject and a verb. Am I right? But here's the thing. There's no subject because it's the same subject we've been talking about. The same people we've been talking about. They're the ones who are filled with all wickedness or unrighteousness. Fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness. So look, when you see the queers portrayed on TV as being, oh, this poor little victim and they're really nice and they really love each other and they're really nice people and they're really clean and dignified, good citizens, is that what the Bible describes them? No. The Bible describes them as filled with unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, envy, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whispers, backbiters, what? Haters of God. Have you ever noticed how they hate God? Oh, but they go to church. They go to church to defile it. To defile God's house. Just to make a point. Just to pervert others. It says they are haters of God, despiteful, which is another word for, I'm sorry, for hateful. Look at this, proud. Does that ring a bell? That's their favorite word. You know, we're out and proud. Haters of God, despiteful, proud. Boasters. Are they in the closet? Are they hiding it? No, they want to boast about it. They want to brag about it. Their glory is in their shame. Inventors of evil things. Disobedient to parents. Without understanding. I mean, just every sin, it says they're filled with it. Even disobeying their parents. It says, without understanding. Covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful. Who, knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of our love and affection and our soft spot. He says, they which commit such things are worthy of death. And he says this, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. And look at the next verse, keep reading. Therefore, thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. For wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself. For thou that judgest doest the same things, but we are sure that the judgment of God is according to the truth against them which commit such things. The Bible says that we are guilty if we take pleasure in them. And then we judge them, and he says, yeah, the judgment of God is according to the truth against them which commit such things. Yes, they are worthy of death. Yes, they are turned over to a reprobate mind. Yes, it is vile and strange and ungodly, as all the other scriptures teach. But he said, if you take pleasure in them, you're guilty. Now how did she get a soft spot for the Sodomites? By being around them every day. By hanging around them all the time. That's how she got the Sodomites. How are you going to get a soft spot for the Sodomites? Same way. Same way. You know why? Because you watch them on TV. And your favorite musicians are Sodomites. You'll get a soft spot. Now you're not going to believe this, but there was a day. I've been saved since I was six years old. Are you listening to me? I've been saved since I was six. I grew up in a Christian home. But there was a time when I did not hate Sodomites. I did not have disgust for Sodomites. First of all, when I was a kid, I was never even exposed to Sodomites. Because thank God, they weren't even out of the closet. It was still pretty unheard of. It was pretty rare. I never had even laid eyes on one of these things until I was like 16 or something. 15 or 16. Because it just wasn't that common as it is now. You never had them in school and stuff. But what happened is, I got to a point where I'm listening to all this worldly music. Right? And then you know what you start finding out? The music that you're listening to, the performers are Sodomites. So here's the thing. I didn't hate Sodomites. I didn't hate queers. I didn't think like, oh gross, disgusting, oh it's wicked, it's an abomination in the eyes of God. The Bible says they're worthy of death. That wasn't my attitude as a teenager. Why? Because hey, the lead singer of REM is an open Sodomite. Did you know that? And that's not a rumor. He's openly queer. I mean he's just an out and proud Sodomite. Michael Stipe, the lead singer of REM. Hey, I had REM tapes. Michael Stipe's cool. REM's cool. So that's going to cause you not to hate. And not to be angry about it and not to condemn it. You think, well he's a cool guy. When your hero is a Sodomite? Not that Michael Stipe was ever my hero. That's all. But anyway, I'm not saying he's my hero. That guy looks like he has AIDS or something. He's like really shriveled up and bald. I'm not against people being bald. The Bible says if you're bald, you're still clean. But anyway, this guy, he's like this shriveled up AIDS victim. And that's how they all look eventually, don't they? The Bee Gees. You know what I mean? These little shriveled up queer living skeletons. But anyway, okay, here's the thing. Michael Stipe is not my hero, but when you're listening to all these musicians, when one of the founding members of Depeche Mode was a Sodomite, I had a bunch of Depeche Mode tapes. I had the R.E.M. tapes. This is my confessional booth up here. I'm confessing on my sins view. But when you're listening to all these groups and all these musicians, that gives you a soft spot because you're listening to their music and you think these people are really cool. You see how that can start to give you the wrong view? So that was when I had a different view. But you know what? When I got rid of all that music and when I got rid of all the movies. And by the way, here are some famous people, some other musicians. Let me think of some others. Just openly Sodomite. And by the way, most of them that are Sodomite, they don't call themselves a Sodomite. I mean, the lead singer of the Rolling Stones is a Sodomite. But people don't. He said it. He's done it. And look, if you've done it, you're a Sodomite. But people are like, well, he's still straight away. No. The lead singer of the Rolling Stones is a Sodomite, period. Okay. You go down the list. Ricky Martin, Livin' La Vida Loca, that's one way of putting it. He is an open Sodomite. Are you listening to me? And then you look at actors like Leonardo DiCaprio, who's played several films where he's a Sodomite and he does Sodomite things on the screen. Keanu Reeves is another one. Before he was famous, acting in films and doing Sodomy in films. So these are actors that young people think are cool. I mean, probably in a crowd like this, and if we were to reach out to more young people, there would be people, you say, well, I'm not into REM and Depeche Mode. I'm not a child of the 80s. Or, you know, I don't like Keanu Reeves and Leonardo DiCaprio and Ricky Martin. But, you know, when you name all those names, the Rolling Stones, you know you've probably listened to something on that list or watched something on that list. You know what I mean? And that's where you get the soft bump. And I'll tell you this. If you would have met me, and I'm being honest here, if you would have met me when I was 16, 17, 18 years old, I would not have expressed the same opinions to you today that I express about Sodomy. I would have had more of a soft spot. You know why? Because I had the music, I had the movies, and I was inundated with it. But when I got rid of the music and I got rid of the movies and I got into this book, that's when I developed my current views on Sodomy. And so you say, well, I didn't agree with you, Pastor Anderson. You go, oh, how's your DVD cabinet? And it's between you and God. I'm not going to come look at it. How's the audio cabinet? That's why you don't agree with me. You say, no, I just don't agree with you because it's not biblical. Okay, well then get rid of all your little Sodomite posters and your Sodomite music and your Sodomite DVDs and read this book a few times. Then come back and let's talk about it. And I bet you will be able to see eye to eye on it. Because there are people that I didn't see eye to eye on stuff in the past and then it's like they get rid of some of the music and movies and it's like they start seeing a clue. That's how it was in my life. I didn't see a clue until I got rid of that stuff. And the more you get rid of it and the more you get in the book because, see, the Bible just paints a little bit different picture than El Nijan looks. Because in the Bible picture, and I'm finishing up here, but in Sodom, they surrounded the house and wanted to gang, you know what, the two angels of God. Because they looked like young men. They wanted to pull them out and force them into wickedness. And by the way, there are three stories that involve Sodomites in the Bible. They all involve forcing someone against their will. All of them. All three. 100% of them. That's what the Bible picture is sodoming. Violent, wicked, aggressive people that are out to get their filthy hands on the innocent. That's what we see in Genesis 19. That's what we see in Judges 19. It's a common theme in the Bible. That's how they are. So when you're into the music and the Hollywood, you get a certain picture of how they are. When you're reading the Bible, you get a different picture of how they are. You're like, oh man, these people are sick, they're disgusting, they're vile, they're trying to force people to do stuff. That's a totally different picture than you get. Now look, if you're being told about, for example, I mean, who here would say, you know, I just feel bad for child molesters. It's not their fault. I feel bad for them. No. Why? Because you see them as what? A predator. You're like, I don't feel bad for them. And if we said, hey, there's a pedophile that's being put to the electric chair, you'd say what? Good. Amen. Good. But see, because we've been brainwashed, well, pedophiles are bad, but sodomites, they're just, you know, cute or whatever. No, they're just as bad. They do the same things. It's the same deviation. The Bible does not distinguish the two. It's both the same problem, it's the same mental issue of God giving you over to a reprobate mind. And that's what I believe about it. And look, the Bible says this, and you don't have to turn there, but 2 Chronicles 19.2, if you want to write it down for later, 2 Chronicles 19.2, And Jehu, the son of Hanani the seer, went out to meet him and said to King Josiah, Shouldest thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord? Therefore is wrath upon thee from the Lord thy God. The Bible says if we love those that hate the Lord, and we help the ungodly, he says wrath will be honest. That's 2 Chronicles 19.2. So should I love R.E.M.? Oh, I love R.E.M.! No, God says he hates God. How can you love those who hate the Lord? Should I love Keanu Reeves and Leonardo DiCaprio and I love Ricky Martin? If you love Ricky Martin, there's something wrong with you anyway. I just love all I can... No, and you just say, well, I just love, love, love, I just love everybody. But that's not what the Bible says. The Bible says not to love those that hate the Lord. And then the Bible also says, Psalm 139.21 says, Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? And I might not grieve with those that rise up against thee. I hate them with perfect hatred. I count them my enemies. So we're not to just sit there and have this soft spot, Oh, poor little queer, and it's not their fault, and God made them that way, and we ought to love them, and whatever, and they're welcome in church. They're not welcome in church. The Bible says that even a fornicator is not welcome in church. And that's even a normal fornicator. How much more a Sodomite, which is taking it to such a worse, extreme level. We need to get back in the Bible today. Look, remember Lot's wife is what I'm saying today. Let me just close the Bible, put away my notes, and here's what the whole sermon's about. Instead of preaching for the last hour, I could have just said three words. Remember Lot's wife. Remember how she loved Sodom? Remember how she was out playing around and doing everything in Sodom instead of being at home? Remember how she left her heart in San Francisco and just couldn't let it go? She just had to look back because she said, Oh, I forgot my REM CD. Pillar of salt. Oh, I forgot my DVD collector edition of the Titanic. Pillar of salt. Oh, wait, my Depeche Mode. Pillar of salt. And look, it's that serious. Did Lot's wife kill anybody? No. Is there any record of Lot's wife committing adultery? Is there any record of Lot's wife committing a robbery? Is there any record of Lot's wife doing these things? No. What did she do? Well, I listed the seven things she did. And if you do those seven things, you're going to end up like Lot's wife. And so you ought to beware, and that's why God gave us that warning. Don't forget, because those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah as an example to those that afterwards should live ungodly, i.e. the United States of America. That's an example unto us. Don't follow the bad example of Lot's wife. Let's borrow this from my board. Father, we thank you so much for your word and for this warning. Help us to remember Lot's wife and thank you for your word, warning us. Because, you know, without your word, we would be confused by Hollywood, be confused by merry melodies and rock music and cartoons and TV. God, thank you for the word of God to put a little sanity back into us. And help us to trust your word and to obey your word, not to follow this world down the path that leads unto Sodom. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.