An event in the Judean wilderness, just after the baptism of Jesus, replayed the contest between Satan and Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-7). "Remember Lot's wife" as an example of the folly, the danger, the wickedness of trifling with what you know to be wrong, of committing little sins, breaking little precepts, and going on to Satan's ground only a very little way. Now to gather up a few PRACTICAL LESSONS from our subject.1. The evil of worldly attachments.III. Read . '"(Bishop Ryle. Her heart was in Sodom, though her body was outside. THE SERIOUS OFFENCE; or Lot's wife looking back. I answer —1. If you are such an one, I say to you this day, Take care: "Remember Lot's wife. But, though almost saved, she perished after all. Alas, many are! The story of them was handed down from father to son with a jealous reverence; so that it is not unlikely that among our Lord's hearers were men who, in common with Josephus, had visited this heaven-blighted spot, and on whose minds these words would tell with solemn force — "Remember Lot's wife."(D. He could not pretend to it out of any merit, and might have smarted, for his choice showed weakness in not resting on God's word: "I cannot escape to the mountain, let some evil take me, and I die" (ver. No: He singles out one whose soul was lost for ever. 19). He exciteth us to look upon this pillar, and therefore certainly it will yield many instructions for the heavenly life. Let us watch and be sober. Remember that though she went some way towards escape SHE DID ACTUALLY PERISH THROUGH SIN.1. Thus, we cannot fail to see in it a low and debased degree of earthly-mindedness, a heart fixed and bent on getting its worldly stuff — ready to incur difficulty for it, danger for it — ay, and the anger of God for it. Therefore we should not tempt and presume upon His patience. 2. The Holy Spirit strives. On the AWFUL PUNISHMENT with which the wife of Lot was visited I will only insist as showing how peculiarly aggravated in God's sight must have been the nature of her sin. "(1) Are you careless about the second Advent of Christ? THE SIN WHICH LOT'S WIFE COMMITTED. Death suddenly appears, and deals his fatal blow. Hear the confession of an old man: — "When I was young, I said to myself, 'I cannot give up the world now, but I will do it by and by. 19). It was dreadful spiritually. "(1) Are you careless about the second Advent of Christ? That look was a little thing, but it revealed the true character of Lot's wife. Even to them He says, "Remember Lot's wife."5. It was a great mistake on his part to abandon the outwardly separated life. The danger of damnation is seen and felt as never before. See on Genesis 19:26. Time and place were fixed. (2) This was a sin committed by stealth. )Punishment of Lot's wifeD. Worldliness was at the root of her sin. What we are to remember concerning her. It has been thought — and there is considerable reason for the thought — that she was a native of Sodom. If this story of Lot's wife be true, and do live in our remembrance; by way of caution, why should we not all take heed how we look back to worldly interests, in the day when the Son of Man shall be revealed, or in this day of the gospel when the Son of Man is revealed. Remember Lot’s wife, in the hour of conviction of sin. Her heart was in Sodom, though her body was outside. Rebellion is as much seen in the breach of what appears to be a little command as in the violation of a great precept. The last days are on His mind, when He says, "Remember Lot's wife."3. A Sermon Delivered On Sunday Morning, August 24, 1879, By C. H. Spurgeon, At The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. God may deliver our family in the time of common calamity, and yet some of our house may suffer. Faith may be as well exhibited by not looking as by looking. )The danger of looking backW. Decision is essential to success in all departments of life. It is the almost universal sin. The desert of sin is still the same; and the exactness of Divine justice is still the same; what hath been is a pledge and instance of what may be.2. Therefore we should not tempt and presume upon His patience. 1. Surely it is!the greatest mercy to have grace to repent; but it is also a mercy to have space to repent. WHAT AND WHEN IS THE SPECIAL TIME THAT LOT'S WIFE IS TO BE REMEMBERED BY US? If you are such an one, I say:(3) Are you halting between two opinions, and disposed to go back to the world? If you are such an one, I say to you this day, Take care: "Remember Lot's wife. She looked back with regret at the valuable possessions that were being abandoned. Lot's wife had also shared her husband's privileges. In fact, of the leading features of the phenomenon, traces remain in the physical geography of the neighbourhood to this day. Alas, many are! 32.] And yet thousands of evil spirits were around them, whispering, shouting, flashing their treasures, singing love-songs to draw their eyes from the treasure at the top, and to make them look back; but every one that looked back was turned into stone. III. "Remember Lot's wife." (1 Corinthians 10:22).(iii.) (1) First of all, then, beware of remembering past faults without repentance. “In fact, the kingdom of God is among you.” So it does not require us to be “taken” somewhere else. Clarke's Luke 17:32 Bible Commentary Remember Lot's wife - Relinquish every thing, rather than lose your souls. )A woman to be rememberedBishop Ryle.I. Oh I think what it is to despise the mercy of Christ, who came from heaven to deliver us; and shall it be slighted?II. (2)His earthly ties and interests are stronger than those which pertain to heavenly things. This particular judgment is monumental, and so intended for a pattern and spectacle to after ages; and it is also here recommended by the Lord Himself — "Remember Lot's wife." See how many things meet here--the authority of God is spurned, the word of the angel is disbelieved, the wisdom or necessity of the command is questioned, and the impious prerogative laid claim to “Our eyes are our own; we may look on what we will: who is Lord over us?” Now it is easy to see what gives to those offences against a positive precept their character of deep offending. R. Stevenson.I. A. "She looked back." (1)He is not intent on the work in hand. A hopeless end. "Remember Lot's wife" as an example of the folly, the danger, the wickedness of trifling with what you know to be wrong, of committing little sins, breaking little precepts, and going on to Satan's ground only a very little way. Remember Lot's wife.— This unfortunate woman had been informed by angels of the destruction of Sodom, and promised deliverance; but was expressly forbidden to look back, on any account, in the time of her flight; because it was proper that they should flee speedily, in the faith of this divine declaration, and perfectly contented, or at least endeavouring to be so, that they had escaped with their lives. God said, Look not back; but she would look back.(ii.) First, it was that which we pray against in our Litany as sudden death; that is, not sudden in the sense of being wholly unlooked-for — that may be a great blessing — but sudden as unprepared-for — sudden, as finding us with nothing ready for our meeting with God, with our hearts yet in the world, and our faces turned that way. So, too, salvation must be gone about at once. No doubt this had much to do with his accumulation of riches. It is like being borne away to perdition on the wings of God's mercy.II. This woman had no excuse for hesitation or reluctance. For it is impossible for a human soul to reject the truth or to quench the Spirit of God, and not be seriously the worse for such an act. As many I might give you in a way of caution, but to instance only in one. )Punishment of Lot's wifeD. So God has set great danger-signals in the sea of time. If you are such an one, I say to you this day, Take care: "Remember Lot's wife. He could weep over unbelieving Jerusalem, and pray for the men that crucified Him; yet even He thinks it good to remind us of lost souls. Delay, hesitation, casting longing looks back on a life of sin, then, may be fatal. But God turned her presently into a pillar of salt; God was quick with her. When God speaks plainly by His Word, or by His messengers, man's duty is clear.3. "Escape for thy life" — life spiritual, life temporal, life eternal — lose one and you lose all; and you may lose all by becoming weary and faint in the running.(D. The religious teacher comes and admonishes; he says, "Man cannot live by bread alone;" the claims of the Divine Father, of the holy Saviour, are the supreme claims, etc. The story of Lot and his wife is found in Genesis 19. )A woman to be rememberedBishop Ryle.I. This seemeth to be no great fault; but it teaches us that little faults in appearance many times meet with a great judgment. I would fain moor a buoy in the channel of all spiritual voyagers, and paint upon it, "Remember Lot's wife. She has become ‘the type of earthly-mindedness and self-seeking.’ This caution was appropriate to ‘disciples,’ since Lot’s wife represents, not those entirely careless, but those who have taken a step towards salvation, and yet do not hold out in the hour of decisive trial. There was disobedience in it, because it was against the express command of God, given by an angel, "Look not behind thee" (Genesis 19:17).2. Her Majesty was there to the moment. Remember Lot’s wife—The Christians escaping from the destruction of Jerusalem to Pella (see note on Matthew 24:16) are very strikingly parallelled by Lot’s wife fleeing from Sodom. But instead of rolling on till they reach the ocean and help to swell its waters, they gradually sink and are lost in the sand of the desert. God said, Look not back; but she would look back.(ii.) The lesser commandments are a rail about the greater, and no man grows downright wicked at first, but rises to it by degrees. Her end was marked by all those circumstances of anger and terror which seem to foreclose all hope. She was united in the closest possible bonds to one who, with all his faults, was a righteous man; and yet she perished. Some are like certain African rivers of which we have read. To parley, to hesitate, to cast a look at the proffered bait, is all but certain ruin.3. There is no harm in such speculations, if they are not allowed to go farther than this, that they only seek to account for a result by natural agents, where natural agents would be sufficient — that they acknowledge the interfering hand of God in the matter, whether He create for the purpose a new thing in the earth, or merely press into His service the means and agency which exist already. The Lord Jesus was speaking to His disciples: He was not addressing the scribes and Pharisees, who hated Him, but Peter, James, and John, and many others who loved Him; yet even to them He thinks it good to address a caution. "The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge". "Remember Lot's wife" as a warning to us that there must be no delays, no haltings, no slackened diligence, in running the race that is set before us. He exciteth us to look upon this pillar, and therefore certainly it will yield many instructions for the heavenly life. )Remember Lot's wifeAnon.1. "It is only a little temper, or a little levity, or a little thoughtlessness, or a little forgetfulness." Men need besides, the grace of the Holy Ghost.II. Moore, M. (1 Corinthians 10:22).(iii.) Her life had been one of marked and distinguishing mercies. She left word that she had been, gone, and should not return. That look was a little thing, but it told of proud unbelief in Lot's wife. There may be much crookedness in a small line; and the matter is not so much to be regarded as the majesty and authority of God that commandeth — as in garments the dye is more than the stuff. The story of them was handed down from father to son with a jealous reverence; so that it is not unlikely that among our Lord’s hearers were men who, in common with Josephus, had visited this heaven-blighted spot, and on whose minds these words would tell with solemn force--“Remember Lot’s wife.” (D. Moore, M. THE REMARKABLE PUNISHMENT.(J. With thanksgivings to God, that you have not long since experienced a similar judgment — — —, 2. To parley, to hesitate, to cast a look at the proffered bait, is all but certain ruin.3. Moore, M. A.As might be expected, conjecture has been busy as to the manner in which this transformation was effected. Whoever tries to keep friends both with God and mammon deadly fruit of death. ( G true character Lot! 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