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DAILY LIFE MINISTRY

ESCAPE TO THE MOUNTAIN!

Gen. 19:15-26 “15And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. 16And 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; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. 17And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for your life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. 18And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord: 19Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in the sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast showed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: 20Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. 21And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. 22Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. 23The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. 24The the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; 25And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. 26But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.”

I believe this story is a metaphor of many people who think they are Christians but in reality they are deceived. Some might say they are Christian but just lukewarm Christians or mediocre Christians or backslidden Christians, but I say there are only Christians and non Christians. God is calling everyone to run far away from their sins (escape unto the mountain) and live a life of holiness, but the fake “want a be’s” want to negotiate with God and say “Oh no God I will not flee too far from the world, that is where my friends and family are and I don’t want people to make fun of me or even worse yet persecute me and after all I was told that you have so much mercy and grace for me that even if I sin a little (let me go to the city of Zoar, just a little sin), you will still spare me.” How did we get into this deceitful condition? I believe as with the story of Lot we need to go back to the roots. Gen. chapter 13 and verse 12 says Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom. I heard a preacher say one time, “If you pitch your tent toward the world, it won’t be long and you will be smack dab in the middle of it.” So instead thinking that you can sin a little because of God’s mercy, you should have the heart that because of God’s mercy, He allowed you the opportunity to escape to the mountains and that is exactly where you should go! Because of the mercy of God, He gives you the grace to flee from the iniquities of the world. Do not linger as Lot and his family did expecting the Lord to take you by the hand. If you have the attitude that you are just going to escape sin far enough to get by, then you are not escaping sin at all. Jesus said, “You’re either for me or against me. You’re either gathering for the kingdom, or scattering abroad.” If you think you can just go far enough to get out of the arms length of God’s wrath, then you are already consumed in it. I believe there is a real significance to the short little 23^rd verse which reads “the sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.” Don’t you think for a moment that if you are dabbing in a little sin and nothing is happening to you, that you are getting away with it. There are no hidden sins with God; for the day is bright and He sees’ all sin. Even if you are not being chastised for your sins right now, a record is being kept. We will all be before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account for the things done in the body, whether they be good or bad. So what happens when God gives us the opportunity to “escape to the mountains”, and we decide to take just one more gander at the glamour of sin? Like Lot’s wife, it could well be too late. Repentance is a gift from God and when He offers it, don’t take it lightly because you never know if it will still be offered tomorrow. Don’t think you can be a Christian and go on willfully sinning. Hebrews 10:26-29 says (paraphrasing) if you willfully sin after you have received the knowledge of truth there is no more sacrifice for you, only the fear of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. The word adversaries here is the Greek word hoop-en-an-tee’-os which means contrary to or opposed. So if you are willfully sinning, then you are contrary to or opposed to the finished work on the cross. Verse 29 really doesn’t leave you with any options; it says if you are willfully sinning after you know the truth about the blood that was shed by the Lord Jesus you will be condemned; end of story. You can take all the verses out of content that you want to justify your sinful actions, but bottom line is this; you will have to give an account. What about those who say, I’ll get right tomorrow? Of course, any good Christian’s response to that is that tomorrow is not promised. But I believe there is more to it then that from the story of Lot. Going back to Gen. chapter 19 and verse 30 Lot did decide to go all the way out of the plain and to the mountain but while he lingered, his daughters adapted his sinful attitudes in them. Even though they went to the mountain with their father; they honor the Lord with their lips and actions but their hearts were far from Him. Galatians chapter 6 and verse 7 says be not deceived, God is not mocked. Whatever you sow you will reap. The longer you stay in the world, the more long term damage you cause for the kingdom of God. Lot lingered in the world long enough to corrupt his daughters and because of that he fathered the tribes of the Moabites and the Ammonites that were the enemies of God’s people for generations.