This morning, God's Word comes to us from Genesis chapter 13. Genesis 13, we'll be reading the 18 verses of this chapter. And I would encourage you to keep your Bibles open, as we'll also be looking briefly at chapters 14 and then later chapter 19. Genesis 13, beginning at verse 1, what we hear now is God's Word. So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold. From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel. to the place between Bethel and Ai, where his tent had been earlier, and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the Lord. Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. And quarreling arose between Abram's herdsmen and the herdsmen of Lot. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time. So Abram said to Lot, Let's not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Let's part company. If you go to the left, I'll go to the right. If you go to the right, I'll go to the left. Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt toward Zohar. This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company. Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord. The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had parted from him, Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth. But if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you. So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the Lord. Here we begin the reading of God's holy word. Well, this morning we looked together at the story of Lot. It's a story that I suspect is well known to most of us. The story of Lot and the story of Sodom and Gomorrah and the destruction. We all tend to know how the story ends up. God raining down fire and brimstone and His judgment upon wickedness. But perhaps we're not quite so familiar with how the story began. How the story began in chapter 13 with Abram and Lot and the decision that Lot made to go away from Abram as they were having a difficult time together. Remember how they got back here in Canaan. God, years earlier, had called Abram to follow him to go to a land that God would show him. And Abram left with his family and traveled up to Haran and spent some time there, a trip of about 600 miles or so, And then from Haran down to Canaan to the land God had promised to show him. And they dwelt in Canaan for some time, but there was a famine. And so Abram and Lot leave the promised land and go down to Egypt. Spend some time there. Then they decide to come back out of Egypt, back to the promised land. That brings us where we are in chapter 13. So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev with his wife and everything he had. And Lot went with him. And it seems that during these years, Abram and Lot, both had become very, very wealthy. They had lots of flocks, lots of herds, lots of animals to be taken care of. And as you know, the land can only support so much livestock. There's only so much grass. There's only so much vegetation to provide for the animals. And so, fighting breaks out. Who's going to get the best grass spots to feed their animals? Fighting breaks out between Abram's herdsmen and Lot's herdsmen. So Abram tries to settle the matter by bringing Lot a choice that he can make. Verse 8. So Abram said to Lot, Let's not have any quarreling between you and me or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. It's not the whole land before you. Let's part company. If you go to the left, I'll go to the right. If you go to the right, I'll go to the left. Abram gives Lot the choice. He says, there's all kinds of land out there. Lot, you choose. And whichever you choose is fine with me. If you go left, I'll go right. If you go right, I'll go left. And Lot is faced with a critical choice to make. What does he do? Verse 10, Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered like the garden of the Lord. He looked and he saw this land, the plain of Jordan, and it looked like Eden to him. It was beautiful. It was glorious. It was well watered. It was the perfect place for his flocks and herds. Lot looked and he saw and he chose. Verse 11, so Lot chose for himself the whole plain of Jordan and set out toward the east, and the two men parted company. Lot looks and sees and chooses. And we read that while Abram lived in the land of Canaan, Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. When Lot was faced with the choice of what he should do regarding this problem with the animals, the choice he should have made was, Abram, I don't care what it takes. I'm not going to leave you. Abram was the one who had received the promises of God. Abram was the one with whom the covenant had been made. Abraham was the one who God had chosen. And Lot just said, I don't care what it takes. I don't care if I lose all my lots, all my herds, everything I've got. I want to be with you because God has chosen you. But in making this choice, Lot chooses to leave where God has said he would dwell. In making this choice, Lot chose to go away from the people of God. It looked like a good choice. The land looked great. It looked like it would perfectly fit the needs that he had. But in choosing to follow what looked good, he was also choosing to leave Abram, to leave God's chosen, to leave the covenant people. When we are faced with decisions to make in our lives, how do we make those choices? How do we make choices about who we're going to date? How handsome He is. How attractive she looks. how pleasant they are to be around. But if we are dating those who will ultimately lead us away from the covenant people, we're making a choice that takes us away from God. When we think about what job we might take, what do we look for? What's the bottom line? What's the compensation package look like? How many weeks of vacation do I get? What are the benefits? But if it is something that will take us away from the people of God, away from corporate worship on Sunday, it doesn't matter how good it looks. It is a choice away from God's covenant people. God calls us to make those choices that will keep us with Abram. Not going left or going right, but saying, I don't care if it costs me everything. I'm staying with you. Lot chose to leave Abram. Lot looked and he saw, and what he saw looked so good to him. How often have we seen that in Scripture? Already back in the Garden of Eden. Eve is tempted. She looks and she sees, and the fruit is supposed to be pleasing, and it looks so good to her. but leads to destruction. It doesn't matter how good it looks if it takes us away from the Lord. But what happens to Lot? Lot makes this choice. He moves to the cities on the plain. He pitches his tent near Sodom. And the very next thing we read in chapter 14, the very next thing we read is a war breaks out around him. Chapter 14, verse 1. At this time, Amraphel, king of Shinar, Ariok, king of Elessar, Ketlaomer, king of Elam, Sidal, king of Goyim, went to war against Bera, king of Sodom, and these other kings. And these kings go to war with each other. And what happens in verse 11 is the four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food, then they went away. They carried off Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions since he was living in Sodom. Lot makes this choice and the next thing you know, he's being carried off into captivity. This well-watered land, this beautiful place, he loses. And in fact, he's a captive to kings who've captured him. Sin is so subtle that way. So many times that which looks so good and so enticing turns around and begins to enslave us. This battle that waged around Lot should have been a warning to him. Should have been a warning. I made a bad choice back there. I should go back and go back with Abraham again. But the war breaks out and he goes into captivity and he ignores the warning. And he ends up a captive. And our sin is the same way. It looks so enticing. It looks so good. It just seems like the right thing to do. But that sin turns and begins to enslave us. And we serve it. I'm sure Lot never imagined he'd be taken off into captivity. We don't imagine, no one imagines when they first take a drink of wine from a glass that they will end up being enslaved by alcohol. But we know it happens. No one imagines when they first look at books or movies or magazines, no one imagines when they first glimpse at internet pornography that it will turn around and enslave them. But it happens. That which seems so innocent, so good looking, so wonderful, turns and becomes our master. That's the deception of sin. And we find ourselves enslaved just as surely as Lot was. God warns him as the war breaks out. And it should be no surprise to us. If we make choices that take us away from the people of God, if we make choices that take us away from the path of righteousness, it should be no surprise to us when things start to fall apart. It should be no surprise to us when the war breaks out around us. Because we've chosen to set a direction away from God. And these things happen that we might be drawn back to God once again. Don't be surprised, young people, if you make choices that take you away from the church, away from God's covenant people, that things go bad in life. Don't be surprised. Expect it. Because God warns us in these things. He draws us back in these things. Lot refused to heed the warnings. And yet God was gracious to him. God was good to Lot. At the end of chapter 14, we read that Abram comes and actually rescues him and brings him back again. But I guess he didn't learn the lessons very well because he didn't go back to dwell with the covenant people. We read in chapter 19, verse 1. And this is the story we're very familiar with. Chapter 19, verse 1. The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening. And Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. Did you catch that? Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. Back in chapter 13, he had pitched his tents near Sodom. In chapter 14, he is taken away in the battle because he's living in Sodom. And now we find him sitting in the gate of the city. And that phrase doesn't just mean that was the location he happened to be in at the time. But to sit in the gate of the city was to sit as one of the rulers of the city. It was a way of describing their authority. He's on the city council now. In a position of authority over Sodom. And I'm sure if you had asked Lot way back in chapter 13, Lot, would you ever rule in Sodom? Would you ever be in authority there? Sodom, that wicked city, I would never want to be there. But I'll pitch my tent near. And then for whatever reason, being near simply isn't good enough. It's inconvenient. It's not quite right. And so I'll go and live in Sodom, but I don't want to have anything to do with those things going on around me. And now Lot is sitting as a ruler in the city gate. How seductive sin is. Little by little. Step by step. taken away from the people of God enslaved by sin and reveling in it. Lot finds himself as a ruler in Sodom. Big sins. Big sins don't happen just like that. They happen one little sin at a time. little by little, step by step. Adultery doesn't happen just like that. But it begins what seems like so innocently. It begins with a word. It begins with a thought. It begins with a touch. and little by little step by step what was unthinkable for us is suddenly a reality and we find ourselves ruling in Sodom little by little and step by step You would never imagine leaving the people of God, but sometimes it's so hard to get back to church on Sunday evening. It's so hard to make the trip back again, and so we'll just skip this one time. It's just a small thing. It's not a major thing. And then, you know, staying for Sunday school after church is kind of an inconvenience. I'd rather just go home and have coffee with my family or do something else. And so is it really necessary to come early or to stay late once the Sunday school year starts again? Is it really necessary? It's not that big of a deal. Little by little, step by step, suddenly we find we don't know those people at church very well anymore. We feel kind of disconnected from those people who go. And so our interest wanes little by little, step by step. That's the subtlety of the sin. That's what Lot faced. God would judge Sodom and Gomorrah. God would judge them with fire and with brimstone. Lot, too, would be judged. And his judgment, the consequences of his judgment, would be that Lot would lose his witness to those around him. Lot would lose his ability to declare right or wrong. That's exactly what happens in Genesis 19. When these men come and try to break down the door at Lot's house, verse 9 says, They say, get out of our way, they replied, and they said, this fellow came here as an alien, now he wants to play the judge. If Lot had ever gone with the intention of saying, look, this is what's right and this is what's wrong, he lost that ability because of his life. Lot, how can you say there's right and wrong and live here and rule in Sodom? He lost his witness to those around him. He could no longer declare righteousness and unrighteousness. Because his life didn't live it. His life was mired in Sodom. He lost his witness to those around him. But I find even more tragically, he lost his witness to his family. When Lot knows the destruction is coming, He goes to warn his daughters and sons-in-law. We read in verse 14, So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, hurry and get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy the city. But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. He lost his witness to his family. What a warning to us as parents. As God has called us to raise our children, to know Him and to love Him and to serve Him. What a warning to us that we must be walking in the ways of righteousness. The church year is going to start up shortly with Sunday school and catechism. And we say to our kids, we say, it's important you memorize your catechism. You've got to memorize your catechism. And they say, okay, Dad, what is your only comfort in life and in death? We tell our kids, you've got to know the Scriptures. You've got to memorize the Bible. You've got to know it. You've got to know what God says. Okay, Dad, I'll know it as well as you do. We can't hide from our own kids. They see us. They know our commitment to the Lord. They know what is important to us by what we spend time on. Do we with joy look forward to coming to God's house on Sunday morning and Sunday evening? Our kids will catch that joy. Or is it time to get in the car again to put in our hour? Kids will catch that too. Lot lost his witness to those closest to him, to his family. Little by little and step by step, Lot would receive the judgment of God. And yet, yet Lot is not swept away when Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed. Instead, God of His mercy and God of His grace rescues him even from Sodom. God sends these angels, verse 16, and Lot has to be dragged away. When he hesitated, the men grasped his hands, the hands of his wife and his daughters, and led them safely out of the city for the Lord was merciful to them. Lot's got to be dragged away. But God's mercy abounds even over Lot's sin. Even over his consistent pattern of choosing the wrong. God grasps hold of him and drags him back and saves him from the final destruction. What a great God. Gracious and merciful. I don't know where you are this morning on the road. May it be that by God's grace you are dwelling firmly with Abram. You are dwelling with the people of God. Not even looking left. Not even looking right. Being willing to lose everything. But being with God and His people. That's our prayer. But if you've begun if you've begun to look left or right. If you've pitched your tent near Sodom. Or if you are dwelling in Sodom. Or even if you are one of the rulers of the city. God is still merciful and gracious. When we turn to Him in confession, He will receive that cry. He will draw His people to Himself forcibly if He needs to and rescue us from the final, ultimate, eternal destruction. God does not let His people go because He is faithful. Not because of our faithfulness. We'll wander left and right all the time. But God is faithful and merciful and righteous and just. and loving and forgiving. And God then leads us in the paths of righteousness. He leads us in His way. He does instruct us in His Word. And as those warning signs come up, as we look to the left and the right, we must heed the Word of God, heed the counsel of those around us and walk day by day, step by step, not towards Sodom, but walk in the ways of the Lord. We must pray for that for us, for our children, for our grandchildren, because of God's faithfulness to His people that He would lead us in the ways of righteousness. Let's join together in prayer. Lord our God, for Your Word we give You thanks. For all of Your Word. The stories of the Gospel in the New Testament, the stories of the Gospel in the Old Testament. The warnings You have left for us in the history writings. We thank You for this story of Lot. May it be, O God, that Your Spirit would apply this Word to our hearts and our lives. That day by day we might see Your goodness as we can follow after You and walk in Your ways. And Lord God, if we have turned to the left or right, forgive us, we pray. We confess our sins. We confess our willfulness, our stubbornness, and our pride. And we pray that by Your Spirit You would draw us back to You. Back to the covenant people. back to the ways of righteousness. So strengthen us daily, we pray, O God, for service in your kingdom and for walking in your ways. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.