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We'll be right back. . . . . . . . . . . Welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church. If you could find your seats and grab a hymnal. Let's turn in our song books to song 185, My Savior's Love. Song 185, My Savior's Love. Song 185, My Savior's Love. Song 185, My Savior's Love on the first. My Savior's Love on the first. How wonderful and my song shall ever be. How marvelous how wonderful is my Savior's love for me. For me it was in the garden. He prayed not my will but thine. He had no tears for his own griefs but sweat drops blood for mine. How marvelous how wonderful and my song shall ever be. How marvelous how wonderful is my Savior's love for me. He took my sins and my sorrows he made them his very own. He bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone. How marvelous how wonderful and my song shall ever be. How marvelous how wonderful is my Savior's love for me. When with the ransomed glory his face I at last shall see. Twill be my joy through the ages to sing of his love for me. How marvelous how wonderful and my song shall ever be. How marvelous how wonderful is my Savior's love for me. Amen. Let's have a word of prayer. Lord, thank you so much for this day and thank you for our church. Pray that you would bless every person here and that you'd bless the service. Pray that everything done would be done to your honor and glory. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. For our next song we'll go to song 413. Stand up. Stand up for Jesus. Song 413. Stand up. Stand up for Jesus. Song 413. Stand up. Stand up for Jesus. Song 413. Stand up. Stand up for Jesus. Song 413. Stand up. Stand up for Jesus. Stand up. Stand up for Jesus. He, soldiers of the cross, lift high his royal banner. It must not suffer loss. From victory unto victory his army shall he lead till every foe is vanquished and Christ is Lord indeed. Stand up. Stand up for Jesus. The trumpet call obey. Forth to the mighty conflict in this his glorious day. Ye that are men now serve him against unnumbered foes. Let courage rise with danger and strength to strength oppose. Stand up. Stand up for Jesus. Stand in his strength alone. The arm of flesh will fail you. Ye dare not trust your throne. Put on the gospel armor and watching unto prayer. Where duty calls or danger be never wanting there. Good evening. Thank you so much for coming to Steadfast Baptist Church. If you didn't get a bulletin you can slip up your hand real quick and we'll get a bulletin to you. New Testament on my desk. We have our Bible memory passage. Any child of the age of 18 or under that can quote that verse can receive either an ice cream treat or a couple pieces of candy from our dish. On the inside we have our service times as well as our soul winning times. I'm going to go ahead and get a count for the last few days real quick. Was there anything to report of on Monday? Thanks. Alright. Three. What about Tuesday? Okay. Three for Tuesday. And then today I didn't get a count of I know that me and my partner had one. Was there anything outside of that? Two. Alright. Keep up the good work on soul winning. On the right we have our list of expecting ladies. One to add to the bulletin is Sarah Cardona. So congratulations to them. It says January. Do we need to pray for the tax rebate for December? No I'm just kidding. And then that's always a blessing right? And then also we have our prayer list. Miss Rebecca Negara please continue to pray for her health. In the Hinckley family please continue to pray for Camelia's health. Miss Elizabeth Urbanic. I guess she got a cast off. So that's good news. And then we have Stephanie Morgan was asking for her cousin's health and surgery. Lucy is praying for her mother's brain tumor and I think she had said also that it was in her spine. So just definitely be praying for her. And then brother Paul Weathers just peace and discernment for his job. Brother Matt Elle was asking for prayer for his grandmother's health and salvation. Just the whole Cardona family has been having some health issues if you'd just be praying for them. Brother Dustin Helm was asking for some extra prayer for wisdom and guidance. And then Miss Lana Proctor was asking for salvation prayers for her friend Annalise Wright. And so we'll make sure to put those in the bulletin so you have them. But they're also mentioned tonight just so you can be praying for them through the week. I'll just say a quick word of prayer for everyone that was mentioned. Thank you Heavenly Father for all the expecting ladies in our church and I pray that you would just bless their pregnancies. Just give them an easy delivery. That you would just give them health and give them wisdom. I pray that you just bless all those in our church that are struggling with various health issues. That you could just give them favor. That if possible you could just miraculously heal them. And in any decisions they have you would just give them wisdom to make the right decisions. I pray that you would just help the rest of our church family and their salvations that they need. That you could just soften the hearts of their family and their friends. That you would just give them opportunities to share the gospel. That you would give them boldness to preach the word clearly. And I pray that you would just bless our church with more soul winners. That we would be filled with zeal to preach the gospel. And that we could get as many people saved as possible. And be a bright and shining light for your honor and your glory. It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen. Also we have our men's conference starting tomorrow. And so we're really excited about that. If you have not submitted to me consent form Brother Dillon already printed a couple extra out. Please make sure to just go ahead and do that tonight before you leave. And if he knows that you haven't signed it he's welcome to harass you about it. Okay. Until you sign it. But I'm really excited. There is a group of us that are going to meet here at the building. And leave at 8.30 in the morning. And I'll be taking the church van. And there's a couple other people that are just going to show up and drive too. But there's a carpool with us. So you could even bum a ride with someone safer to drive with or something like that. But you know I feel pretty safe. You know in that vehicle. So. But I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be a lot of fun. And I'm really excited about our retreat. Also Pastor Anderson is going to be coming on Friday afternoon and then preaching for us in that evening. And that's going to be something you don't want to miss. And so I really encourage you to come out. Or make sure you're there. And then just be praying for us that we'll have no rain. It'll just be fun. Last year was a blast. And so if you have any questions this is the last chance to ask me. Alright. So. But I don't know if there's anything else to tell you. I'm really excited. May 29th we have another sports day. June 12th we have our soul winning marathon in Ardmore, Oklahoma. July 3rd we have a soul winning marathon here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. We'll just be meeting at the church building then going out. And we'll have hot dogs and stuff like that after. In the evening after soul winning. It's just kind of a time of fellowship and hanging out and everything like that. And then we have our conference the fire breathing Baptist fellowship October 6th through the 10th. I tried to make a little short video just announcing the dates. And I put it on YouTube. You can share that if you'd like. When we get a little bit closer and I know exactly who all is coming and stuff I can give better details. But we're going to have all kinds of fun stuff going on that week. We're going to have ice skating. We'll have a singles event. We'll have a teen event. We're going to do the spelling bee. And there's other stuff but I can't divulge everything until it gets locked in. Alright. So I don't want to promise something. We don't do it. But I'm really looking forward to this. I think it's going to be really epic. I think I have no idea how many people are coming. But we might have to get creative fitting everybody in here. But we're going to make it work. Alright. If we have to get kids to sit on the stage we'll break some rules. Just to make this thing work. Alright. But I'm really looking forward to it. And as soon as we get closer I'll ask you guys to help me with some of that planning. But just please put that on your calendar. A couple other things. We've been trying to make some Spanish Bibles for a while. It's been a really vexing project. But I think it's going to turn out great. So we have a sample here that we've made. And we've already kind of looked over this and reviewed it. Pretty good. We had some people help us too. But if you'd like to just look at it and if you have any suggestions pretty much speak now or forever hold your peace. But we're going to order about five thousand five thousand of these to start. And we can hand them out. The Spanish Bibles we bought before we were buying for like five or six dollars a piece. I'm able to make these for two dollars and forty cents. So that's way better. And it's really been a blessing to get this done. Brother Dylan's done a lot of hard work on this too. So if you want to check it out we'll put it over here and you can look at it. We had made a bigger version but it wasn't going to be very good for the price. We thought it was going to be smaller. So here's a little bit more economical. It's very similar to the red ones that we had had in the past. And so I'm excited about that. Also, so the world likes to celebrate in June Pride Month. So what I've decided is we're going to celebrate Anti-Pride Month in June. And so I have a couple things for you. First of all, I'm going to try and work Romans 1 into every sermon in June in some way. That is my commitment to you guys. Second, if you can we're already doing Exodus 20. Keep doing that. Finish that. But as a special bonus if you can memorize Romans 1 and quote it to a non- family member in the month of June, then you can receive another special treat. A special treat just for you guys. Also, the Sodomite Deception DVDs. That's been a lengthy vexing project but they should be approved now. And they're in the, they're churning them out or whatever as we speak hopefully. They're supposed to get here in June as well. So we're going to have 5,000 of these DVDs to start handing out. And so I'm really excited about that. And we're going to be celebrating Anti-Pride Month. So it's going to be a great time to come to church and to get lots of goodies. And so I'm really excited about things. And with that, let's go to our third song for the evening. Maybe we should ad lib to Psalm 139 just because it sounds good. Alright, let's go to Psalm 139 in your Bibles and your white handouts. Psalm 139. Psalm 139. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God. Depart from me, therefore ye bloody men. Depart from me, therefore ye bloody men. Do not I hate them, O Lord that hate thee. Do not I hate them, O Lord that hate thee. Am not I grieve with those that rise up against thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord that hate thee. For they speak against thee wickedly. For they speak against thee wickedly. And thine enemies take thy name in vain. And thine enemies take thy name in vain. Do not I hate them, O Lord that hate thee. Do not I hate them, O Lord that hate thee. Am not I grieve with those that rise up against thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord that hate thee. I hate them with perfect hatred. I hate them with perfect hatred. I count them thine enemies. I count them thine enemies. Do not I hate them, O Lord that hate thee. Do not I hate them, O Lord that hate thee. Am not I grieve with those that rise up against thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord that hate thee. Good singing. Genesis 13 the Bible reads And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and lot with him into the south. And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord. And lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together, for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle, and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen, for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right. Or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. And 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 him all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east, and they separated themselves, the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent towards Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. And the Lord sent unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward. For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it, and in the breadth of it, for I will give it unto thee. Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord. Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for Genesis chapter 13. I pray that you would fill Pastor Shelley with your spirit, and help him to preach his sermon. Give him clarity of mind, so he can articulate his message to us tonight. Also, Lord, I pray that you would help us to pay attention to the sermon, so we can learn more about this chapter, and we can understand what you're trying to communicate to us in this portion of Scripture. We thank you so much for our church, and I just pray for safe travels on our men's retreat as well. And in Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Ben. Verse number one, the Bible reads, And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and lot with him into the south. And Abram was very rich in cattle and silver and in gold. And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, unto the place of the altar which he had made there at the first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord, and Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together, for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. Now, what's interesting is in chapter number 12, we had left off with Abram and Sarai going onto Pharaoh and going into Egypt, and there had been a famine, and he had made kind of a weird decision to lie about his wife and tell them that she was just a sister, and they kind of had played this trick on Pharaoh to try and preserve their life. They were afraid, and what they had done was wrong. But they ended up being rescued by the Lord, and the Lord was going to take them out of Egypt, and so we kind of fast forward, and now they're coming back to the land that they had originally sojourned in, originally come to, and the Bible's now giving us more details about Abram specifically. But what's very interesting is that the Bible tells us in verse 2 that he was very rich in what? Cattle, silver, and gold. Now, that's pretty much the three things you want to be rich in, right? I mean, money, money, and money, and so forth. Money, money, and physical possessions. Cattle is like liquid gold. I mean, these things are expensive, and the Bible's telling us that he wasn't just rich. He was very rich, okay? Now, here's the thing that you have to understand about the Bible's characters and money, and I've been doing a big series on biblical finances and everything like that. There's nothing wrong with having money, okay? How much money you have literally has nothing to do with how godly you are. You can have no money and be perfectly godly in God's perfect will. I mean, Jesus Christ had nowhere to lay his head. You could be like Job, which was basically the wealthiest person on the planet. You could be like Solomon. Not only was he like the wealthiest person on the planet, he was like the wealthiest person ever in comparison to how much possessions he had relative to the world and everything else. I mean, Solomon's basically the richest guy that's ever lived, ever. I mean, he's the Rothschild's times ten, okay? But the thing is, is it doesn't depict if you're godly, if you're not. Abraham is described here as having a lot of money. Other Bible characters, like Daniel, he's a slave. He doesn't have a lot of money, okay? So you can't take your physical possessions and decide whether or not you're godly or if you're not. And here's the thing. God's perfect will for everyone is not to just be the most broke, destitute person on the planet. Sometimes they have wealth too, okay? What you're not supposed to do is desire to be rich or labor to be rich. That's what the Bible clearly commands. And even more important than those is you're not supposed to have the love of money in your heart, okay? The love of money is the root of all evil. But let's think about Abraham's decision-making. Did Abraham leave his family because he wanted to be rich? Did he leave like, oh man, I'm going to be rich if I leave here. I'm going to be rich if I travel in this other land. I'm going to be rich if I go to... He has no desire to be rich. Notice though that God is just blessing him with money while he's following God's commandments. He's not doing anything but just doing whatever the Lord told him and the Lord is blessing him with this great wealth. So here's the thing. If you just are serving God, if you're putting God first and you're doing that which is right and you're a hard-working person, oftentimes God will bless you with money. God will give you riches. I mean look at people like Solomon. At the beginning, he said he just wanted wisdom from the Lord. He didn't ask for money. But then God's like, I'm just going to give you money anyways. And here's the reality. People that are really, really smart and following God's commandments, it's kind of like inevitable that you might make a lot of money depending on what circumstance you find yourself in. Now if you're, hey, you're a slave, you probably don't have a lot of opportunities to make a lot of money for yourself. But notice that Daniel is promoted to the highest ranking person within all the kingdom. Why? Because he's good with money. How about Joseph? Joseph obviously was slow in slavery, but then again, he's put in the highest position you could possibly be put in without being born Pharaoh. And what does he do to Egypt? He makes Egypt one of the richest places on the planet because obviously whenever you're following God's commandments, you're going to make good decisions, wise decisions. The blessings of God come with them. Look at our country. Is our country godly? Is our leaders really wise according to the Bible? No. And you know what's not happening to our country? Wealth. What's not happening to our country? Riches and blessing and wonderful things happening to us. What's happening? Inflation and all kinds of horrible things are happening to our country that you don't even know yet. We don't even know what the true consequences are going to end up being. But when you reject God and you hate God, there's not going to be blessing tied to that. And there could be temporary I understand all that. But what I am saying is this. When you follow God's commandments, blessings may come. Go to Psalms chapter 23. Psalms 23. Now what I'm not saying is this. Follow God's commandments and you're guaranteed to be rich. That is not what I'm saying. I have not said that. I would never say that. That's what your people like. Michael Osteen, T.D. Jakes, Kenneth Copeland, these type of guys will teach you. And really that's because they have a love of money in their heart. That's what they really want. But Abram, you know what? I believe Abram would have served God being poor his whole life. But God decided to just bless Abraham anyways. And here's the thing. Somebody that can take following God and being very humble about it is probably the same person that God wants to bless with riches because he knows it's not going to be a problem under them. He knows they can handle it. And a lot of times God won't bless people with things that they can't handle. He won't tempt them above that which they're able. Now look what it says in Psalms 23 verse 5. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil. My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Now this is one of the most famous chapters of the Bible. One of the most quoted Psalms. And notice what this person is saying. You're going to give me a table in the presence of my enemies. What's the table picture? Food. Right? At pictures being able to be provided for. What was one of the things that Abram had? Cattle. Much cattle. He was very rich in cattle. And where is he at? He's not with his own people. He's in the presence of his enemies. He's literally dwelling in the land of Canaan but even though he's dwelling in the midst of his enemies, he's dwelling against or with the people that hate God, his cup's running over. He's being very blessed. Everything is just in exceeding abundance and in fact often times when the heathen look at Abram or Isaac or at Jacob, they say man you guys are way wealthier than us or you're mightier than us or you have more blessing than us and they want them to have God's blessing. They want them to bless them because they're like they pray for us. Because obviously God's helping you out. God's blessing you out. And so we see that clear blessing being tied to Abram. Go to Proverbs chapter 10 for a moment. Proverbs chapter 10. What I am saying is this. When you follow God's commandments and you do that which is right God will bless you. God will take care of you. God will provide for you. Now the Bible says that with food and clothing we're supposed to be content. So if you don't have that then you need to ask God to get that. You need to be like God I need some food and some clothing. But if you have that you should be content. So then no matter how much money He gives you above that line that content line you're not supposed to desire anymore. But here's the thing. The people that are really serving God and being really faithful often times He will. Then shower them with extra blessings and give them more than they need and more than they could even desire at times. The Bible says in Proverbs 10 verse 22 the blessing of the Lord it maketh rich and He addeth no sorrow with it. Here's the best part about it though. Because you know and I think in the world we live in today especially in America you're never going to be like Jeff Bezos rich. You're never going to be Mark Zuckerberg or Warren Buffet or these type of people because to make that kind of money you have to be really wicked. Typically a lot of dishonest gain. But you could end up you know people own their own business or work really hard. You could make a lot of money and be pretty wealthy just generally speaking. But here's the thing. When you're doing it the right way God can make you rich and with no sorrow which is something none of those rich people have. Those people have all kinds of sorrow that comes with their riches. The fact that they can't sleep at night because they're afraid they're going to lose it. Abraham if he lost his wealth whatever. You know when Job loses all of his wealth he's still praising the Lord isn't he? He said hey naked came I into this world and thither shall I return. He's not like worried about the fact that he lost all his money. Obviously it sucks. It's obviously it's not good. It wasn't fun. But he's like you know what I can still praise the Lord. And whenever you make money dishonestly you often don't make enemies. And you have to worry about those enemies coming and trying to take that money back. Investigating. Auditing you for things that you've done. Checking all the machines. Counting the ballots. I'm sorry. I'm thinking about something else. And there's sorrow with that winning. Okay. Go to Psalms chapter one. But when you do things fair and square there's no sorrow added with it. And here's the thing why don't you try to get God's blessing the right way? Why don't you try to have things in your life doing it through God's commandments because you know what when you do it through God's commandments he adds no sorrow to it. When you do things the way the world wants you to there's consequences and sorrow with all of those things. Have kids God's way. Have finances God's way in all these things. And you know what he adds no sorrow with that. There's no guilt and shame. You can actually go to sleep at night and enjoy the things that God has given you because you've done that which is right in his eyes. Psalms one verse one says blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly nor standeth the way his sinners nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and night and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in the season. His leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Here's the thing how can someone that's saying you know what I'm going to follow God's commandments perfectly not prosper. That doesn't even make sense. God is the God of the whole earth. God is the Lord of the universe and he wants those that follow his commandments to be blessed and to prosper and you know what he says that you will. Now here's where the prosperity people get in. They tie prosper into being rich, filthy rich. You can prosper and not have riches. Wouldn't you say that John the Baptist prospered in the things that he did? I mean he baptized all kinds of people. He had a great preaching ministry. He reached everyone. He prepared the way of the Lord and he was successful in that. What could be a more important job? Nothing. Hey you know what there's going to be a lot of people that have a really important job in this life and it's not about money. And you know how you're going to prosper? Through following God's commandments. Through delighting in the law of the Lord. But look no matter what it is in this world that God has deemed for you to be or do, you will prosper when you're following his commandments. And for some people that may be monetary riches or something like that. But typically the people that he blesses with the money are the people that didn't want it anyways. And they just want to give it away or help others or do whatever. That's the people he gives. The person that's sitting there thinking like I want to pick the financial blessing one. That's probably the person that God's not going to give it to. Because they're thinking like because I also want the jet ski and I want the five car garage and I want all the other stuff. And look I'm not even saying having a jet ski is sinful. I'm not saying having a house or garage. Look build the biggest house you want. I don't care. Spend your money however you want. But at the end of the day you know the people that are just so desiring of physical possessions and money are often the people that God's not going to bless that way. Because you've already shown you have a hard issue. But when your delight is in the law of the Lord. He may give you every kind of blessing that you could have possibly imagined on top of that. And that's really what you have to focus on is you will prosper. You will look at the backwards to your life and you'll say wow I have been very successful in the things that God has given me. Hey I raised some great children that love the Lord. I guarantee all of you parents in here if I said hey I'll give you 10 trillion dollars at the end of your life as an option. But all of your children don't go to church and they're not saved. Or you can have no money and all your children are saved in serving the Lord. I know which button they would press. But some people as parents you know what they're chasing in their life. Button eh? They're not chasing the one of their kids. You say how do you know that? Well where are they on Wednesday night? Where are they on Sunday night? I mean what are you chasing when you don't go to church? What are you chasing when you're not taking your kids out soul winning? What are you teaching your kids when you yourself don't serve the Lord and you're not doing that which is right and you're not trying to teach in the ways of the Lord. Which button are they pressing? Go back to our story. Now what's also interesting is this Lot also had flocks, herds, and tents. So just by Lot being associated with Abraham he gets all kinds of great blessings and riches too. They both have great riches from following God's commandments so far. But there's a problem. They have so much wealth. They have so much money they can't even physically dwell together. That's how much wealth they literally have. And look I know they try to pack as many people as they can down in those border facilities or whatever but that's not very humane. Okay? They need some more space and you can't pack cattle together too much. Look at verse 7. ... So notice that it's a physical problem. There's nothing wrong with physical problems. These things are going to happen. happen. You're going to always have to solve problems in your life. You're either going to have to figure out new car, new house, new clothes, new things. I mean, especially if you have lots of kids. I mean, that thing is changing all the time, right? I mean, we're getting to the point where we can't even physically fit in our van anymore. We probably have to buy a new van. Not because I want to, but because you got to get here, right? So you're going to have things that you just have to fix when you grow, okay, when things expand. Even the church, you know, if our church grows and we have more and more people, it'll get to a point where it wouldn't be very comfortable to fit 250, 60, 300 people in this building. It would get kind of annoying, right? People would get frustrated. They'd start fighting about the bathrooms and fighting about everything. And legitimately, they'd just be fighting. It's like you don't want to have strife in the church, right, just for silly reasons like that. We need to find some more space or something. And so here, it's just legitimately they have some kind of a problem. They have some kind of a strife because of this. And notice Abram's attitude, though. He wants to fix this problem. He wants to make peace between them. It makes me think of Matthew chapter 5 where it says, blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. And so this is a good attribute in Abram that he wants to basically make peace. And he's not even imposing his will. Notice a peacemaker is not trying to get their agenda, their wishes, or their wants satisfied. They're willing to esteem other better than themselves and let other people be appeased and have what they want just so as to make peace. Notice what he says. Hey, if you go right, I'll go left. Hey, and if you go left, I'll go right. He's not saying like, I want right, go left. Do what I said. I'm your uncle. And in fact, Abram's the one in charge. Abram has the authority. Couldn't Abram legitimately just tell his nephew like, look, you're with me, buddy. You're going over there now. Couldn't you have said that? But instead, he's just saying, look, I don't want to have problems. You go to the left, I'll go right. You go right, I'll go left. Whatever you want. And this is what peacemaking looks like. Some people get confused. They're like, oh, I'm trying to make peace. I told them they can have this one. And it's like, that's not necessarily making peace. Making peace is sometimes saying, what do you want? And then you just give them whatever they want or appease them. You know, I don't like to use the word compromise here because compromise almost insinuates that you're giving in to something that is maybe wrong or there's something negative about it. There's nothing negative. It's just preferences here. It's just left, right, I don't care. I just don't want there to be strife between us. So let's just go ahead and settle. And you know what? That's a good quality to have in a Christian is one that says, you know what? You want this one, go for it. You want that, you have it. You know, preferring other and esteeming other better and allowing other people to have what they want and what they get, that's an attribute of a mature Christian, someone that's spiritually minded, seeking for peace. The carnal Christian says, no, I want A. No, I'm entitled to B. No, I'm in charge. And they just have to give their way and whatever they want and they're not willing to appease others and lift other people up. I'm older. I've been here longer. I'm in charge. You've been blessed by me. You know, there'll be people like, I've been in this church since the beginning. You do what I say. You know, who's this newcomer in here? Why does he get to pick or why does he get to do this or I'm older than him? People just throwing their weight around or saying, well, I've been here and working harder and doing more and so I get X, Y, and Z as opposed to this person's attitude saying, hey, you want to go right, I'll go left. You want left, I'll go right. Whatever you want. I just don't want there to be strife among us because that's something that's bad. Look at verse 10, it says, and 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 liked the land of Egypt as thou comest unto Zohar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan and Lot journeyed east and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent towards Sodom. So Abram gives the option and Lot makes his choice. Now, we have to read between the lines a little bit here. Obviously, the Lord gives us all these details because it helps us understand what's going on in their minds and in their hearts as they make these decisions and these decisions are not just seemingly historical. There's also spiritual things that are tied to these decisions. What is the deciding factor for Lot? It says in verse 10, and Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere. So what is it that appeals to Lot when making this decision? The fact that this area is richer. Money. Money is a consideration in Lot's decision making. Was that in Abram's decision making? Was Abram deciding where to go based on which area is richer or going to have more money or be more blessed? Or was he saying, I'm going to just pick whatever is going to be ending strife. I just don't want there to be any problems. I just want us to dwell together and have peace amongst one another. What is Lot's deciding factor? Money. Riches and things that are pleasant to the eyes. What not only that, after he decides to go towards this land of riches, he also pitches his tent, it says in verse number 12, toward Sodom. Now, we have to think about the imagery of this. They're dwelling in tents. Now, tents are going to have a door. So whenever you wake up in the morning, what do you do? You walk out the door, you go outside. So what's the first thing that Lot likes to feast his eyes on every morning? Sodom. Sodom. What is he putting before him? What is he putting first in his life? Sodom. And here's the thing. The thing that you're looking at, the thing that you're putting first in your life, the direction that you're pointing is often where you're going to end up. And we already know, I mean, if you've read any Genesis before, you realize where we're headed in this story. But it's not a coincidence that Lot ends up going into Sodom. And here's the thing. You can look at people's lives and you can kind of tell where they're pitching their tent and what they're looking at and the direction that they're headed and kind of where they're going. And then you end up seeing them go there. There's a lot, it's very rare that people surprise me on where they end up. Because if you pay attention, you can kind of tell where this person is pointing, what this person is heading towards, what the decisions this person is making. And so you can kind of see people drifting in certain directions. You can see what is Abram drifting towards? The Lord. And putting the Lord first. And putting the Lord's commandments first. You say, how do you know that? Well, blessed are the peacemakers. Isn't that putting the Lord's commandments first? Did Lot offer any kind of peace? Is Lot deciding? What is Lot deciding? Hey, this place is richer. Hey, I'm looking towards Sodom. I'm looking towards that wicked, evil city. And he's headed in the wrong direction. Why? Because covetousness was the reason for his move. Covetousness. Desiring things that he does not have. And he's more interested in being in a rich area than other things. Isn't there a lot of things to consider when moving? What's the richest place? That's a consideration. What would be other considerations? What's the safest place? Hey, Portland, Oregon might be a richer place to live, but is that a safer place to live? New York City might be a richer place to live. Would that be a safer place to live? San Francisco. That's definitely a richer place. I mean, you can make 50, 60, 70 percent more at whatever job you have there if you go to San Francisco. In some cases, even more than that. I mean, they'll pay you tons and tons of money to work in San Francisco, and you can make lots and lots of more money, but is it safer? Better watch out for all the poop on the streets. What about Godly? Is it a Godly area? Is it an area where you'll be affected towards the Lord, serving the Lord, being zealous for the things of God? Is it an area where you want your children to be raised? I mean, are these the considerations that Lot has when moving? And, in fact, what is the number one reason why most people move? For a job. I mean, let's just be honest. When people move, it's typically a job. Maybe it'd be closer to be family. I don't know. That might be a second thing or whatever. Be closer to the in-laws. That's just not a good move, okay? Just telling you, all right? You'll thank me later when you realize. But why would I want to move for money as opposed to... Why did Abraham leave his family? Why did Lot leave his family in the first place? Was it for money? No. It was to be right with God. It was to follow God's commandments, and then notice what happens when they follow God's commandments. They get rich. And Lot has already experienced the blessing of God and the riches of God for following his commandments, but instead, you know what happens? Because he got those riches, something happened. He likes those riches more than following God's commandments. He forgot where those riches even came from. So now, where is he headed? He's headed for those riches. But, you know, here's the sad reality, and we'll get there in our Bible. But think about where these two guys end up. Let's think about the end of Abraham's life and the end of Lot's life. Who ended up having the most riches? It's not even close. Lot's in a cave with his two daughters that he impregnated with nothing. Every physical possession that he had was burnt up and destroyed, and he's living in a cave with his two daughters that he impregnated, and they become the two most wicked nations, the Ammonites and the Moabites, who worship false gods. They're the first nations that we hear about with abortion. Oh, what? Surprising. Feminist daughters, and then abortion comes along. What a great inheritance, Lot. What a good way. Way to head towards Sodom, buddy. And then, Abram, who doesn't want money, who doesn't care about the blessings of physical riches, what does he get? He gets the whole land. He's super wealthy, and he has a child to inherit it and to become even more wealthy and more mighty. So notice, the guy that doesn't chase riches, he gets all the riches, and the guy that chases riches gets nothing and is in a gutter with his whole life ruined and destroyed. Do you think that's a surprise? Do you think that's really a revelation? I'm telling you, these people that are pitching their tent towards Sodom, it's a dangerous road to walk. It's a bad direction to head for your life. The right direction is staying wherever God wants you. And you say, where's that? In his commandments. Obviously, the Lord doesn't, you know, land is land. It doesn't matter where you live, okay? It doesn't matter if you live in the Middle East or not. It doesn't matter if you live in Texas or California. Obviously, some of those places are going to be better than others, all right? And I'm not going to pitch my tent towards Sodom, all right? Go to Proverbs chapter 4. Proverbs chapter 4. Some people like to say they're on the front lines, okay? But guess what? I don't think, you know, it worked out for a lot deciding to go to the front lines. Now, look, if there was this awesome church in Sodom defying all odds, okay, maybe we'd change that story. But there wasn't a good church in Sodom, okay? There wasn't some redeeming quality about Sodom. It was just wicked. It was basically like going to California and then just going to San Francisco, right? He wasn't going to Sacramento with Verity or he wasn't going to LA, the Orange County with First Works. He was going straight to San Francisco. And look, if anybody in my church came up to me and said, hey, Pastor Shelley, I got a big job promotion. I'm going to San Francisco. I would tell them that's a wicked, horrible decision. I would not say, great, wonderful, go for it. That is not a good move for you or your family, okay? Why? Well, what church are you going to go to, number one? Now, if there was a great church, maybe there would be an exception to that, but I don't know of one. I doubt that there's a good church in that area that would be a spiritual uptick in your life. And here's the thing, you should not be going and chasing money in your life. Now, if you said, hey, I'm going to go to some other area that has a great church, go for it. I don't think that there's anything wrong with going to church A, B, C, or D as long as they're serving the Lord there and as long as you're going to serve the Lord there. There's nothing wrong with where you live physically, but there is something wrong with chasing money. Proverbs chapter 4 verse 25, the Bible says, let thine eyes look right on and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left. Remove thy foot from evil. Notice what the Bible's saying. Hey, pay attention to where you're looking. Consider the pathway that your eyes are gazing upon. Look at your life and look at the vision that you have for your life and decide, why would I walk on this path? Is this the right path for me? And here's the thing, once you've already identified God's path, what is he saying? Don't look anywhere else. Don't like, what's over in Sodom though? No, he's just like, hey, look, just keep looking at the Lord. Just keep following God's commandment. Don't look to the left. Don't look to the right. Just keep your eyes locked on Jesus, on his commandments, on what he would have you do in your life. And he says, remove thy foot from evil. If you find yourself in evil, if you find something on your path that looks evil or looks wicked or whatever, you need to remove yourself from that. Hey, as soon as he woke up and saw, oh, there's Sodom, he should have been like, oh man, and turned his tent another direction or started walking another direction, trying to figure out how to get back on the right path instead of being like, oh, there's Sodom over there. What's going on over there? You say, why are you ripping on Sodom? Well, look at verse 13. It says, but the men of Sodom, oh, go back, I'm sorry, not in Proverbs 4, but look back at Genesis 13, look at verse 13. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord. Notice this word exceedingly. Exceedingly. What does exceed or exceedingly mean? Well, go to Genesis chapter 7. I'll give you the dictionary definition. The dictionary says, to exceed means to be greater than, as in number or degree, surpass, another definition to go beyond the limits of, okay? So according to the dictionary, it's saying to go beyond something greater than something, to surpass something, go beyond some kind of a limit. Let's see how else the Bible used the word exceed. Genesis 7, 19, and the waters were failed exceedingly upon the earth and all the high hills that were under the whole oven were covered. So what happened? The water exceeded the land limits. It exceeded the highest point of land and it went above the land. It surpassed the land. It went above the limits of the land. Go to Genesis 16. Go to Genesis chapter 16 and look at verse number 10. So we're seeing how else the Bible uses these words. Genesis chapter 16, look at verse 10. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly that it shall not be numbered for multitude. So what happens in Genesis 16 when you use the word exceedingly? It's saying it's such a big number it cannot be numbered. It's going beyond the possibility of being numbered. It's surpassing being numbered. It's something that can't be numbered. Okay? Go to Deuteronomy 25. Go to Deuteronomy 25. Now I can't show you every time the word exceed is used in the Bible, but I'm just showing you how else the Bible uses this word. It's very consistent. It's very clear what it means to exceed something. Whenever you get a ticket for driving, it could say exceeding the speed limit. What does that mean? You went past the lawful limit to drive. Some people do that more than others, okay? Don't test me, all right? Deuteronomy chapter 25, look at verse 3. Forty stripes he may give him and not exceed, lest he should exceed and beat him above these with many stripes then thy brother should seem vile unto thee. So notice he's saying, hey, here's a number. You're not allowed to go above that number. If you go above that number, go beyond that number, surpass that number, or exceed that number, what does that mean? It's too many. It's too much. And then he's noticed considered vile. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter number 10. Now what did the Bible say that Sodom was like? They were wicked and they were sinners before the Lord exceedingly. So what is that attributing to them? It's saying that them being a sinner and them being wicked is exceeding. So what is exceeding sin? It's to go beyond something. What would it be going beyond? It's going beyond just being a normal sinner, going beyond just being a normal wicked person. You say normal wicked person. Well, here's the thing. Everyone's a sinner. And everybody's wicked in comparison to the Lord, okay? There's not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not is what the Bible says. I mean, when the Bible talks about these six things that the Lord hates, yea, seven are abomination to them, one of them is lying lips. Who's never told a lie? Okay? There's no sin that God couldn't look at and say you're not wicked. You are wicked. We're vile in His sight in comparison, okay? But here's the thing. Some people go beyond being a normal sinner. Some people go beyond being someone that just is not perfect, has a normal sinful nature. And you say, well, how do we define that? Well, look at 1 Corinthians 10 verse 13. There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. So in Corinthians, the apostle Paul's talking to the church and he's telling him to say, look, sin, it's common to everybody in the sense that we all have a sin nature. And there's certain sins that every single person struggles with, okay? Called the Ten Commandments. Welcome to the Bible. Thou shalt not steal. Hey, that one, we all, we could all potentially steal, lie, commit adultery, commit murder, commit any of those sins. Some people have done some of those sins. And the reality is those temptations are common to man. It's easy, it's hard not to sin in those areas. It's hard not to do things that are wrong in many of those cases. But there's some sins that take literally zero effort. And when I say zero, I mean it's, you're not, you don't have to try at all. And these are called reprobate sins. And look, there's no need for me to warn our church from not doing them. And in fact, preaching against these sins will have no impact on whether or not people commit these sins. Let me explain to you what they are. Being a pedophile. I do not have to encourage or admit, please don't be pedophiles, okay? Or say, please stop being a pedophile. Because here's the thing, the person that's a pedophile, no matter how much I preach at them, will never change that. And every man in this room that's not a reprobate, I don't even have to tell them not to do that. They'll never do it. Or being a faggot. Hey, guess what? I don't have to warn my church, hey guys, don't be faggots this week. Don't like accidentally be a sodomite. Stop being sodomites this week. No way, no way, no way, no one even preaches that. Look, even the liberals that believe that they have those people in their church and they're reforming them, they never preach against that. They never get up and say, guys, stop being faggots this week. And please stop being pedophiles this week. They never preach against that openly. They'll say generic things like, let's follow God's commandments and let's not do perversions and stuff like that. But they try to lump everybody in the same boat and make everybody... Look, I don't have to preach against those sins because you're not tempted with them. But there are things you're tempted with and guess what? I'm going to preach on those. Like lying, stealing, commit adultery, murder. I bet we can find people guilty of that in this room. All of those. Sorry. But you know what? I hope I would never find people guilty of being a pedophile or being a sodomite. Those people are not welcome because they're not going to fix it. And why would I want to go to a city where that's what they're doing? He's saying, what does it mean to go beyond sinful? It's those type of people. It's people that are doing things that you and I would never do. It's something that's so gross and so vile. The Bible describes it in Romans 1 as vile affections. Why? Because you and I would never do it. Just like I don't have to get up behind the pulpit and say, guys, stop eating dung. Just quit eating it. I don't have to tell you that. Don't eat any vomit. Hey, someone vomited up here. Please no one eat it. I don't have to tell you that. No one is going to do it. There are certain things you don't have to say. And in fact, a normal, good-hearted person, the children in our church wouldn't even think anybody would ever do it. They would never need that commandment. But they find out about what sick people in this world do, people that hate God and hate Jesus Christ. And what kind of person, like Lot, says, I want to live with them? You say, why? Why would someone want to live with them? Guess what they're attracted to? Money. Is it any shock that the city in America that has the highest number of these little disgusting maggot freak faggots is also the most expensive place to live in America? You think that's a coincidence? It's not a coincidence. They gather to it like cockroaches. They love it. They're going to go to the well-watered plane. And so oftentimes you have to get away from the well-watered plane because all the cockroaches that are over there. Move thy foot from the evil. Go back to Genesis chapter number 13. But what does Lot do? Hey, I want to go live amongst the cockroaches, not worrying about the consequences of his actions. I want to go to the big church. Well, guess what? There's going to be some cockroaches in that big church. We try to get them out. We say no dogs allowed. It says in verse 14, and the Lord said unto Abram, after that lot was separated from him, live up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art, northward and southward and eastward and westward. For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I'll make thy seed of the dust of the earth so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it, for I will give it unto thee. Then Abram removed his tent and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebrew and built there an altar unto the Lord. Now, again, Lot goes towards Sodom, pitches his tent towards Sodom. What is Abram doing? He's walking in the land of God's promises. He's focused on God and God's promises, isn't he? What's Lot focused on? Money and evil and covetousness and wickedness. And you can tell where these people are going to end up. And look, you can look at people in their lives and say, I can tell where this guy's going to end up in two years, in five years, in ten years at the end of his life. I can tell by the decisions he's making. I can tell by his lifestyle. I can tell by how he dresses, how he talks, how often he goes to church, how much Bible he knows, how often he goes soul winning. I can tell where he's pitching his tent. I can tell what he's focused on in his life, and I can tell where this guy's going to be in the future. And some people are going to be dwelling with Abram, and some people are going to be dwelling with Lot. And it's frustrating because as a preacher, you get up and you scream and yell, and oftentimes people don't really care. Like, well, I'm already pitched here, so just keep going that way. I'm warning you. And you know what? The Lord blessed them both when they were following him, but because Lot sought the riches and the things of God, he got neither. Abram got them both. Lot got nothing. And you know what? Lot gets the worst legacy. Abram gets the greatest legacy. When I always think of someone that's the worst person in the Bible that was saved, you know what I always think of? Lot. Lot is like the most worthless Christian in the Bible. The Bible just wants to make it clear. And just Lot. He was saved, but I love that he uses that coupling so that we wouldn't be confused as by works. Because you can't look at Lot and be like, look at all those works. I mean, tell me what Lot did that was good ever. He did invite the angels in. That's about the best thing I could say. That's about it. He just didn't want to watch Queer Eye for the Straight Guy or something that night. He was like, I'm tired of watching this TV. I want to turn it off. He went and sought after riches. He dwelt in Sodom. He married his daughter to Sodomites. His wife was obviously interested in the world and not in the things of God. He lost his wife. He lost his house. He lost his goods. He went into a cave. He drank alcohol and got drunk two nights in a row and impregnated his daughters who ended up having the two worst nations ever from their womb. Good job, Lot. What a legacy. And then let's think about the legacy of Abraham. Oh yeah, he's considered the father of the faith. Father Abraham had many sons. And many sons had Father Abraham. Do you think that the Moabites and Ammonites are singing that? Father Lot had many sons. No. And they're all dead anyways. Basically, their whole generations got wiped out and destroyed and decimated and intermingled. Nobody even knows. Nobody's like, I'm an Ammonite. I'm a Moabite. That's the black Hebrew Israelites talking bad about people. But what you have to understand about this chapter is everybody tries to make this carnal and it's spiritual. Because Abraham, it says very clearly in verse 15, he's going to give the land unto who? I will give it, I'm sorry, for all the land which thou seest, to thee, so that's Abraham, will I give it, and to thy seed forever. Now, who's the seed? Well, look at the next verse. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth. That sounds like a plurality. Okay? Now, a simple reading of this text, somebody might get confused and think, oh, that's the children of Israel. That's the physical descendants. That's all of the Jews. And that's just all of these physical people. But here's the thing. Who was the seed in Genesis chapter number 12? That was Christ. Okay? Go back to Galatians chapter number 3. Go back to Galatians chapter number 3. Let's understand what this is actually saying. Because what do they love to do? What do Zionists and Jews love to go, oh, we inherited this land from Abram. But is that true? Well, for that to be true, then Abram would also have inherited it because it said he was going to give it to him and to his seed. Okay? Well, look at Galatians chapter number 3 and look at verse number 26. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither bond nor free. There is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abram's seed. And notice this. And heirs according to the promise. Now here's the thing. What's that promise? The promised land. So who's the heir to the promised land? Abram and his seed. Well, who is the seed in verse 16, Galatians 3 verse 16? Now to Abram and his seed where the promise is made, he saith not unto seeds as of many, but as of one, and unto thy seed, which is Christ. So the land is Abram and Christ. But guess what? You and I get to get on on one of those people's deal. Christ's. Because notice it says that if we're the sons of God, if we're with Christ, what does it say in verse 29? And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abram's seed and heirs according to the promise. So notice we're counted as that seed. We're joint heirs with Christ. And we get to inherit that promise. So when he's talking about the dust being a multitude in this great number of people, who is that number of people? It's saved Christians. He was talking about me. He was talking about you. He was not talking about the Jew. He was talking about me. He was talking about you, but not that Jew. Hey, there is neither Jew nor Greek. We're just Christ's. We're just children of God. Go to Romans chapter 4. Let me prove this further to you. Don't get confused here. It's mine and yours and Abram's. And he's going to give it to us. But here's the thing. He didn't give it to Abram yet. And he didn't give it to me yet. And he hasn't given it to Christ yet. But when he does give it to them, we're going to get inherited with him. Look at Romans chapter number 4, and look what it says in verse number 13. For the promise, talking about the promise to Abraham that we've already read about, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect, because the law worketh wrath. For where no law is, there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. So notice Abram becomes our father when we believe in Christ. And notice that that inheritance was not through the law. So those that were under the law that did not believe, not Abraham's seed. Those that are without law and don't believe, not the seed. Those that are under the law and believe, they're the seed. Those that are not under the law, which is us, but believe, we're part of that seed. And look, obviously it's multifaceted. By believing, we also get what? Salvation, eternal life, we become a child of God. But guess what? Becoming a child of God doesn't come with nothing. It comes with an inheritance. And that inheritance is that promised land that we get to inherit. We're joint heirs with Christ and we get it. It's our land. Praise the Lord. Go to Hebrews chapter number 11. Go to Hebrews chapter number 11. But here's the reality you have to understand. Because they'd say, oh, well, this is a dual fulfillment because the physical seed gets it and it's a spiritual picture. It's just a spiritual picture. It's just a spiritual picture. Well, but they're still God's children. Nope. Well, they're Abram's seed. Nope, they're of the devil. Well, they're entitled to that land. Nope. Well, we need to support them against the Palestinians. When did the Bible say that? It's in the Bible. It's in the Bible. I thought blessed are the peacemakers. And I know it's not very popular because it's like the Democrats for some reason are the ones that are saying we should stop Israel from bombing Palestinians. But you know what? They're right. I'm not going to sit here and say, oh, please, Jews, bomb as many Palestinian women, children, and men as possible. It's stupid. They should both cease fire. Let Lot have whatever he wants. You go to the right, I'll go to the left. But you know what? It's silly. It's foolish for them to fight over their land and it's not been promised to them by God. And you say, how do you know that? Well, didn't he say you'd give it to Abram? Okay. Well, let's look at Hebrews chapter 11 and look at what it says in verse number, let's start in verse 8. By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for inheritance obeyed and he went out not knowing whether he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked for a city which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God. Through faith also Sarah herself received strength and conceived seed and was delivered of a child when she was past age because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one and him as good as dead so many as the stars of the sky in multitude and as the sand which is by the seashore numeral. These all died in faith, notice this, not having received the promises but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country and truly if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country that is unheavenly wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for he had prepared for them a city. So notice what the Bible says, Abraham went out, he sojourned, but it says he did not receive it. So here's my question, if Abraham never received it how could I then say that that land is their land because Abraham got it? He never got it. He will get it, that promise was given to him, God will deliver on that promise, but you know what, it wasn't his possession, he just dwelt there as a stranger and it's a picture of us dwelling on the earth today, we're just strangers and pilgrims, who cares? Who cares how much physical land you get because guess what, you can't take it with you, but you know what's really important is that heavenly city, that heavenly country, that heavenly land and it's all yours for the taking. But which Christian are you, are you going to be Lot who tries to have as much as he can now and then he ends up getting nothing? Or be like Abraham who didn't care that he didn't have anything and get everything? If you lose your life you can find it, but if you try to hang on to your life you're going to lose it. Now what can we learn from this story, well you're all on a path, but here's my question, where are your eyes looking? Are you looking towards Sodom today or are you looking towards the heavenly city in Jerusalem, something that you can't even see physically? And you say well how do I know where I'm looking? Well what are your lifestyle choices? When you wake up in the morning do you look at Sodom or do you look at the Lord? Are you looking at his word? Are you trying to pitch your tent towards Sodom or are you pitching it towards Jerusalem, heavenly city today? And you know what, I commend those that are starting to go in the right direction. You know what, it's a lifetime. Lot was at one point in his life headed in the right direction, but then he started pointing the wrong. And we all may at times drift off or take a couple steps in the wrong direction, but we need our mind to get back on the right path. And I'm telling you what, when you look back on your life you're going to say wow I'm so glad that I stayed and just laser locked on the Lord. Lot is going to look back on his life and be like man, I hope nobody lives like me. I hope they use me as a bad example. I hope they say don't make the mistakes that I did. Obviously he's in heaven, and look if you're saved you're saved. I can't change that, you can't change that. But you can change your inheritance, you can change your legacy. What kind of legacy are you going to have? You will have a legacy, whether you like it or not. You will be like Lot or you'll be like Abram, or somewhere in the middle obviously. But you will end up somewhere. I want you to go one more verse, I thought about this. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter number 5. Look at verse 7, I like this verse. For we walk by faith, not by sight. Abram walked his whole life by faith, not knowing where he went, not knowing what's going on, not being able to see it, and at some point Lot quit and he started walking by sight. He liked what Sodom looked like, he liked what the well watered plain looked like, he locked the things of this life and this flesh and all those things. And you know what, we're not supposed to walk by sight, we're supposed to walk by faith. And you say, Pastor Shelley, tell me where that's at. I can't, it's faith. Tell me what it looks like. Describe for me. It's here. You want me to show you a picture of a beautiful mansion in San Francisco? That's the wrong picture. This is your picture. This is where you want your life to end up. And you know what, you chase those things, who knows when the Democrats will burn your city to the ground and you'll have nothing. When Antifa and Black Lives Matter come in and just completely destroy you. And look, I think that can happen in our lifetime. I think as wicked and evil as some of these cities are, we may see them literally destroy their own cities before our eyes. And it may be God's judgment on them. And those people that are chasing that dream. You know all those people that are chasing that Bitcoin and Dodge coin had a big loss this week. All those crypto chasers. But you know what, people that just went to their job and are just slowly adding to their bank account, you know, they're not going to see loss. They're not going to see that same problem that all these people chasing money and chasing the dream. Don't chase the wind today. Chase the things that you know that are for sure. Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. And you say, why do you just keep hammering it? Because I'm telling you, some people just won't listen. I'm trying to make it really clear. But you get to decide what legacy you're going to have. I can't decide it for you. And you know what? God is not going to decide it for you. You get to decide it. You're in the driver's seat. Drive towards the heavenly Jerusalem. Let's go to prayer. Thank you father so much for your word. Thank you for the promises that you've given us. Thank you that not only have you forgiven us of all of our sins and given us all the blessings that we have in this physical life and saved us and called us your children. You've even made us joint heirs with Christ that we will inherit a heavenly city that's going to come down on this earth. And the Bible says the meek shall inherit the earth. And I pray that people would realize their eternity is going to be decided in the next few years. Their short little life that's a vapor is going to decide their legacy, how they spend eternity, the inheritance that they have, and that they would stop worrying so much and obsessing over the things of this life and the flesh, and that we wouldn't pitch our tents towards Sodom, but rather we would desire to be wherever you want us to be, that we would be safe in your commandments and not in the pleasures of this world. And I pray that you would just give us the right attitude and the right mind so that we would seek for heavenly riches. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. My faith has found a resting place, not in device nor creed. I trust the ever-living One. His wounds for me shall plead. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that He died for me. Enough for me that Jesus saves. This ends my fear and doubt. A sinful soul, I come to Him. He'll never cast me out. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that He died for me. My heart is leaning on the Word, the written Word of God, salvation by my Savior's name, salvation through His blood. It is enough that Jesus died and that He died for me. On the last, my great physician heals the sick man. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that He died for me. On the last, my great physician heals the sick, the lost He came to save. For me His precious blood He shed. For me His life He gave. I need no other argument. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that He died for me. Amen. Thank you for coming. God bless. You are dismissed.