Amos 4:12 says:
Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.
The book of Genesis is filled with lamentable and tragic occurrences. Genesis chapter 19 paints a very terrible picture of life in a place called Sodom and Gomorrah. The city was a symbol of open and shameless pervasion. Genesis 19:4 says:
But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter.
THE EXPIRY DATE
This verse tells US that some visitors came from heaven to a person and the men of the city wanted to mess them up sexually. Both old and young, all the people of Sodom, were perverse people. The city was overpopulated with strange human beings. Men of this city were involved in all kinds of perverse sexual activities. God watched the city for a while. That is, He gave them a very long rope, but He had an expiry date. Once He gets tired of what you are doing, then trouble starts.
Genesis 18:20 says:
And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous.
The verdict of God was very clear, because for every sin you commit, a voice is there to cry to heaven. The cry of the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah were so loud in heaven that God arose to deal with the city. Lot and his family were drawn to Sodom. His family lived among these perverse people.
THE BACKSLIDER
The Bible makes it clear that God gave Lot a clear warning to run for his life or else he would be consumed by His wrath. He was told never to look back and never to stop moving because the doom of Sodom and Gomorrah was approaching. The Lord rained fire and brimstone on the city and the corrupt city
sank slowly. Lot and his family ran away. However, only the legs of his wife were running away, her heart was not running.
Genesis 19:26 says:
But his wife looked hack from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
Lot’s wife looked back and went straight to hell from Sodom. Why did she look behind? Because she was still attached to Sodom and Gomorrah. She wilfully refused to cut off her emotional ties to that city.
Beloved, pulling away from sin may be very difficult, because it has an attraction for the flesh. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah did not take God seriously when they heard that the city was going to be destroyed. But when it happened the mocking turned to screams of terror and death. What killed Lot’s wife? What did Jesus say in Luke 17:32? He said:
Remember Lot’s wife.
Lot’s wife died because she saw no need to take God seriously. She knew what God was saying but rejected it. That was why she perished. Although she was the wife of a righteous man and made a good start, she did not finish well. She died in the hands of the angel trying to save her life.
One man who reminds us of impending danger is Lot. Unfortunately, a good number of people face more danger than Lot.
Genesis 19: 1 – 38 says:
And there came two angels to Sodom at even; 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, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, 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 will abide in the street all night. And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both
old and young, all the people from every quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, that with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door. And the men said unto Lot, 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 waxen 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 this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law. And 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. 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; the LORD being 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, that he said, Escape for 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, Oh, not so, my Lord: Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: Behold 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. And
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. Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD: And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt. And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth: Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our Father. And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day. And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.
God clearly wanted Lot’s deliverance and He announced a very clear evacuation
Genesis 19: 15-17 says:
And 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. 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; the LORD being 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, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
HEAVEN OR HELL
God has been showing people who love Him from their hearts how the end will be. If you have been living a carefree life, like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, then you will perish. Death is the king of all. It cannot be avoided. But the question is when you die where will you be? When you leave this planet will you leave a footprint and people will remember you to be a child of God. The important thing about death is not death itself, but what follows after it.
There are so many people that God speaks to their heart about what to do and what not to do, but they are not taking God seriously. God has called some people to work on their behaviour but they refuse to listen to Him. People go to church but they don’t take God seriously. There are only two ways to die: either in the Lord or outside Him. It is either you are saved or you are not saved, either you are a child of God or you are a child of Satan, either you are headed for heaven or for hell. There is no middle camp. It is either you die as a forsaken sinner or as a forgiven saint. Whether you like it or not, if the rapture does not happen, death will surely come.
BEWARE
A lot of people are not taking God seriously. You may not like what your pastor is saying and you may not believe in the doctrine he is teaching, but please, take God seriously. Because if you don’t take Him seriously you can end up perishing like Lot’s wife did. She heard what the Lord said but did not take it seriously, and it cost her her life.
I remember a woman who died and was to be buried by her daughter. Prior to her death she was a high-class prostitute and jumped from one man to the other. When she died her daughter came from abroad with fancy clothes and make-up to burry her. She dressed her with fancy clothes, made her hair and painted her lips. When I got to the place, I asked why she was dressed that way. The daughter said she wanted her to be fancied by the time she got to heaven. I told her that she had arrived hell even before she died. She was surprised and looked at me in a strange way.
On the night of the burial, she had a dream that the trumpet sounded and people were flying; even the fattest person was flying. She noticed she was not flying. She tried to fly but landed back on the floor and she saw her mother beside her. Both of them were not flying.
PRAYER POINTS
- I receive power to meet the needs of this present generation, in the name of Jesus.
- All the rough places in my life targeted at my spiritual breakthroughs, be smoothened by the blood of Jesus, in Jeusus’ name.
- Let Your glory, O Lord, overshadow my destiny, in the name of Jesus.
- I refuse to tarry in the valley of powerlessness, in the name of Jesus.
- I rise above my roots by the power in the blood of Jesus, in Jesus’ name.
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