Genesis 19
Lot invites two angels to his homeverses 1-5
And there came TWO ANGELS to Sodom at evening
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 you 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 on them greatly – and they turned in to 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
compressed the house round – both old and young
all the people from every quarter
and they called unto Lot – and said to him
Where are the men who came in to you this night?
Bring them out to us that we may KNOW them
Lot defends his guestsverses 6-8
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 who have not KNOWN man
let me – I pray you bring them out to you
and do you to them as is good in your eyes
only to these men do nothing
FOR therefore came they under the shadow of my roof
Angels strike men of city with blindnessverses 9-11
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 you than with them
And they pressed hard against 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 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
Angels tell Lot of their missionverses 12-13
And the men said to Lot
Have you here any besides? son-in-law – sons – daughters
and whatsoever you have in the city
BRING them out of this place
FOR we will destroy this place
BECAUSE the CRY of them has become great
BEFORE the face of the LORD
and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it
Lot tries to speak to future son in lawsverse 14
And Lot went out – and spoke to 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 to his sons-in-law
Angels rush Lot out of the cityverses 15-17
And when the morning arose – then the ANGELS hastened Lot saying
Arise – take your wife and your two daughters – which are here
lest you be consumed in the INIQUITY of the city
AND while he LINGERED – the men laid hold on his hand
and on the hand of his wife
and upon the hand of his two daughters
the LORD being MERCIFUL to him
and they brought him forth
and set him outside the city
And it came to pass – when they had brought them forth abroad
that he said – Escape for your life
Look not behind you
neither stay you in all the plain
Escape to the mountain – lest you be consumed
Lot begs for the city of Zoarverses 18-22
And Lot said to them – Oh not so my Lord
BEHOLD now -your servant has found GRACE in your sight
and you have magnified your MERCY
which you have shown to me in saving my life
and I cannot escape to the mountain
lest some EVIL overtake me and I die
BEHOLD now – this city is near to flee unto – and it is a LITTLE one
Oh let me escape there (is it not a LITTLE one?)
and my soul shall live
And he said to him
See – I have accepted you concerning this thing also
that I will not overthrow this city
FOR which you have spoken
Haste you – escape there
FOR I cannot do anything till you be come there
THEREFORE the name of the city was called Zoar [little]
LORD rained down fire and brimstoneverses 23-26
The sun was risen on the earth when Lot
entered into Zoar
THEN the LORD rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah
BRIMSTONE and FIRE from the LORD out of heaven
and HE overthrew those cities – and all the plains
and all the inhabitants of the cities
and that which grew on the ground
BUT his wife LOOKED BACK from behind him
and she BECAME a PILLAR OF SALT
Abraham looked at the destructionverses 27-28
And Abraham got 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
Lot was sparedverse 29
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 which Lot dwelt
Sin of daughters of Lot with their fatherverses 30-38
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 FIRST-BORN said to the younger
Our father is old – and there is not a man in the earth
to come in to 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 FIRST-BORN 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 next day – that the FIRST-BORN said
to the younger BEHOLD – I LAY last night with my father
let us make him drink wine this night also
and go you 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 FIRST-BORN bore a son – and called his name Moab
the same is the father of the Moabites to this day
And the younger – she also bore a son
and called his name Ben-ammi
the same is the father of the children of Ammon
to this day
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 5 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. (3045 “know” [yada] means acquaintance, be aware, discover, perceive, have sexual relations, understand, or to know by experience)
DEVOTION: When the LORD inspired Moses to write the first five books of the Bible, HE didn’t spare any of the details. HE showed the sins of Abraham and Lot. Here we have grave sins described. Abraham had his wife lie to spare his life. Here we have two daughters having sexual relations with their father to preserve his seed.
Their motives seemed good but their actions were not. How did this happen? They were influenced by their sin nature and by the society they lived in for so many years. Society makes their own rules without regard for the LORD. Those that are Christian have to live above those rules and obey the rules of God first. If there is a conflict between what society accepts and what God doesn’t accept, we need to follow the LORD always.
What was their society like? This verse gives us an idea of what their society was like. At night the men of the city came to the door of Lot asking to have sexual relations with the two men that were visiting the city. Lot had them under his roof for protection because he knew what would happen if they stayed in the streets overnight. He did not agree with the men of the city but he didn’t move out either. The New Testament tells us that Lot’s soul was vexed by the sin of the people of the city. Yet he was willing to offer his daughters to the men if they would leave the two visitors alone.
The men of the city would have nothing to do with his suggestion. They wanted to do what they wanted to do without someone else judging them for their behavior. They didn’t care about God. They didn’t care about Lot. They only cared about their desires.
We live in a day and age when the laws are changing to allow people to do whatever they want to with other people regarding sexual relationships. This chapter is introducing us to the fact that this is not something new. In the days of Abraham there were cities that promoted this type of behavior. The LORD sent two angels to get Lot out of one of the five cities of the plains.
Lot tried to approach his future son-in-laws regarding leaving the city but they didn’t want to leave their lifestyle and laughed at Lot. While the two angels were in Lot’s house the men of the city came to his door. All the angels in Scripture are male. Lot understood what the men of the city wanted to do with these guests of his. He was willing to offer his daughters in place of these men. He knew that their actions were wrong and sinful.
The angels pulled him back into the house and caused the men of the city to suffer temporary blindness.
Our world is blind to the rules that God has established in HIS WORD. God was going to judge the cities of the plain because of their sin. We as a nation have allowed sin to become normal in our world. Many of us have become like Lot and lived with sin and never really said anything against it. We need to stand up. God is going to judge our world and we know that it is going to continue to get worse, but we need to still teach those we love what sin is and what to do to get rid of it.
Christ is still the answer to what we are facing today. Christ can give us victory over our sinful desires. We have to stand for truth. We can love the sinner but hate the sin. God has done that for us. HE has brought us out of sin into a proper relationship with HIM. Does this mean that we are sinless? NO!! Does this mean that we are not to live in sin? YES!! There is a difference between sinning and living in sin. God corrects by chastening to keep us from living in sin. One of the chastening for those who don’t listen is death of HIS children.
CHALLENGE: Stand up for the rules of God. Love those that are around us with HIS type of love. Tell them HIS standard and pray that those listening will obey HIM. HIS message of salvation needs to be heard! God can heal anyone from any sin because of the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 13 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. (6818 “cry” [tsa’aqah] means outcry, screaming, yelling, wailing, cry of distress, a shriek, or call for help)
DEVOTION: The blood of Abel spoke to the LORD about the sin of Cain. Here we have the voice of the land speaking to the LORD about the sin of the cities of the plains near Abraham.
The angels are communicating with Lot regarding what is going to happen in the near future. They want him to collect his family and all those who will go with him before the LORD destroys the cities of the plain. In the area were five cities but we will learn that only four are destroyed because of the plea of Lot. God lets the sins of an individual or city or nation go so far and then HE has to judge them. HE sends warnings before HE judges most of the time. Cain killed Abel and the LORD dealt with Cain. The people living in Noah’s time were given warning by Noah who is called a preacher of righteousness. They would not listen to Noah and the LORD sent a flood. The same thing is happening here the warning is given by Lot to family members and their friends but they would not listen. They enjoyed their sin for a season and God judged them. God sends warning to each nation before HE sends judgment. On many occasions HE warns the nation of Israel before HE sends judgment. HE is even warning us regarding what is happening in our nation that is against HIS standard. If we continue to not heed HIS warnings there will be a judgment that we would wish we never received.
Some of the warnings we have received are manifested in our financial crisis that is still affecting us today. There have been weather warnings but we continue to not heed them. There have been rumors of wars and wars and yet we don’t seem to care.
God wants us to listen to HIM. HE wants those who claim to be followers of HIM to stop sinning and pray for revival. A revival always starts with believers. Lot needed a revival. His family needed a revival. It didn’t come.
CHALLENGE: What kinds of calls for help is the LORD receiving today from our nation and our world? Is it getting louder and louder? When do you think HE will act?
: 26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. (5027 “looked” [nabat] means behold, consider, to perceive with attention, direct one’s gaze towards, to show regard, or have regard)
DEVOTION: The attraction of sin is real. Lot had moved into the city of Sodom and the sins of Sodom were attractive to his wife. She liked the city life. She liked the activity even though it was not the type of activity that pleased the LORD. She didn’t mind her children marrying men of the city, even though they were not believers. She didn’t seem to care about the spiritual life of her family.
Lot was not better. He knew what was going on in the city. He knew that the men would not be safe if they stayed in the market place all night. He wanted them under the protection of his house. He also knew that the men of the city were evil and yet he let his daughters date them.
So when the angels were taking the family out of the city because of the prayer of Abraham she had to have one last look back into the place she loved. She knew they were sinful but she didn’t care. This attitude caused her to be judged with the other members of the city.
God wants parents to protect their children from sin. They face sin every day in school. They face sin every day on television. They face sin every day with their friends. Sometimes they even face sin in church.
Parents have an awesome responsibility to protect their children from the manifold temptations around them. That is why it is so important to have family devotional times to help the family mature in the LORD.
CHALLENGE: If your parents are not having a devotional time with you – ask them to start. Parents if you don’t know what to do – write me and I will give you some suggestions.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
:27 And Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD. (1242 “morning” [boqer] means 1 morning, break of day. 1a morning. 1a1 of end of night. 1a2 of coming of daylight. 1a3 of coming of sunrise. 1a4 of beginning of day. 1a5 of bright joy after night of distress (fig.). 1b morrow, next day, next morning. [Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship])
DEVOTION: When is your time to hear from God and His Word? Many have discovered that the best time is early in the morning, when God speaks clearest to them. Abraham was a man of prayer, and he had interceded on behalf of Lot for God not to destroy Sodom. That next morning, he came out to inspect the area of the plain where Sodom had been. Imagine what he might have thought when all he saw was smoking rubble! As perhaps he had feared, Lot had not been able to lead even ten people to become righteous in this evil city.
Yet somewhere in all of this he must have taken some comfort in the fact that God had listened to his intercession. Lot had not been killed in this mass destruction, although he took residence in a small village away from Sodom. He had lost his wife (whom we otherwise know nothing about) in a plaintive look back on their old home in Sodom. In spite of God’s mercy, though, Lot had become drunk twice and committed incest with his own two daughters.
But Abraham was committed to continuing his relationship with the LORD. He arose early in the morning to seek God out and find out what His promises for the new day were. He was seeking to walk hand-in-hand with God throughout the day. The idea of meeting with God in the morning was different from meeting with God in the cool of the evening, when man is now confronted with confessing the sins of the day to the Lord.
Morning is the time when we hear God speak to us before we encounter the busyness of the day. He does not want to be crowded out by the activities of our day or by the social media of our day.
CHALLENGE: Are you actively seeking out the Lord first thing in the morning? If not, plan on arising early tomorrow and spending some time with Him in His Word. (MW)
: 37 And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites to this day. (1067 firstborn” [bekiyrah] means older one, a female offspring who came first in the order of birth, or elder)
DEVOTION: Remember these two family groups: Moabites and Ammonites. They play a role in the future plans of Israel. These two nations who are related to the children of Abraham will not act like family.
Lot not caring about what he taught his daughters has consequences. The consequences show up when they think all hope is lost regarding finding a proper husband.
What do they act like? They decide to get their father drunk to the point that he doesn’t know what is going on and then to have a sexual relationship with him to produce seed for him. They want to give him grandchildren.
There is no thought of God in what they are doing. They are just thinking of themselves and their father not the consequences of the actions. Could God have giving these two daughters good husbands in the near future? The answer is YES!!
We can sometimes think that we have to act right away to get what we want in life rather than to wait for God’s timing. Each of us has run ahead of God at some point in our life. We have a desire to do a good work for the LORD but we want to have it happen soon.
CHALLENGE: There are consequences when we don’t wait on the LORD for HIM to open the right doors for us. Ask the LORD to give you the patience to wait for HIM.
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD (Jehovah)verses 13, 14, 16, 24, 27
Face of the LORDverse 13
LORD going to destroy cityverse 14
LORD merciful verse 16
LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrahverse 24
LORD out of heavenverse 24
God (Elohim)verse 29
God destroyed the cities verse 29
God remembered Abrahamverse 29
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Angelsverses 1, 15
Two angelsverse 1
Lot called them lordsverse 2
Struck men with blindnessverse 11
Instruct Lot to come out of cityverse 12
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period ofcreation)
Sodomverse 1
Someone sitting at gate was importantverse 1
Lotverses 1-26, 29-38
Guest treatment
Wash feet
Feed them
Provide place to sleep
Protect guests
Offered daughters to men of city
Son in laws wouldn’t come with him
Lot to take wife and two daughters out
of city
Lingered
Lot’s wife looks back: pillar of salt
Ask to stay in small city: Zoar
Relationships with two daughters
Children by his daughters: Moab and Ammon
Men of the city of Sodomverses 4-11
Wanted to have sexual relations
with angels (know them)
Tried to break into Lot’s house
Angels smote them with blindness
Abrahamverses 27, 28
Stood before LORD
Looked at Sodom and Gomorrah
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Sodomy: men knowing menverse 5
Wickedlyverse 7
Offer daughters verse 8
Hurt Lotverse 9
Mockverse 14
Iniquityverse 15
Lingeredverse 16
Looked backverses 17, 26
Evilverse 19
Drunkennessverses 32-35
Incestverses 32-35
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Warningverse 13
Mercyverses 16, 19
Graceverse 19
Saving lifeverse 19
Rememberedverse 29
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
Dieverse 19
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QUOTES regarding passage
12–14 The messengers clearly stated their twofold purpose. They had been sent to destroy the city and to rescue Lot and his family (vv.12–13). The response of the two “sons-in-law” (v.14) shows that they are at one with the rest of the men of the city. This provides a further vindication of the divine punishment that was to follow. There is a curious wordplay in the response of the two sons-in-law that provides a connecting link with the previous chapter. When they heard of the impending divine judgment on their city, the sons saw Lot’s words as an occasion for “laughter” (wayehî ḵimṣaḥēq v.14; NIV, “thought they were joking”). The wordplay between their “laughter” (meṣaḥēq), the “laughter” of Sarah (wattiṣhaq, 18:12; ṣāḥaqāh, 18:13; sāhaqtî, 18:15a; sāḥāqte, 18:15b), and the “laughter” of Abraham (wayyiṣḥāq, 17:17) is obvious and provides a bridge across these narratives to the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promise in the birth of Isaac, whose name means “laughter” (yiṣḥāq). (Sailhamer, J. H. (1990). Genesis. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers (Vol. 2, p. 154). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
19:1–14. The two angels (cf. 18:2, 22) were reluctant visitors to Lot. In spite of Lot’s hospitality, they preferred to lodge in the square. But when the angels were in Lot’s house.… all the men … of the city … surrounded the house. They wanted to have sex with (lit., “to know,” i.e., sexually) Lot’s visitors. They wanted homosexual relations with these two who they thought were men. As angels, they apparently were handsome. The men’s vileness was matched, surprisingly, by Lot’s hypocrisy, for he was willing to give them his virgin daughters (19:8). To protect one’s guests was part of hospitality, but this was going too far! Lot’s pleas for righteousness (v. 7) were now wasted as the Sodomites saw a different side of their judge (v. 9). He might as well have mocked. The angels then pulled Lot back into the house, made the men outside the door blind, and told Lot to get … out because they were going to destroy the city. When Lot told this to his two daughters’ fiancés, they did not believe him. (Ross, A. P. (1985). Genesis. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 60). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
Messages (Gen. 19:12–13). God’s message to Abraham was a joyful one: he and Sarah would have the promised son within a year. But the message to Lot was frightening: God was going to destroy Sodom and everything in it! God would have spared the city had the angels found ten believers; but since that was not possible, God mercifully rescued the believers they did find (19:16). God’s message to the lost world is that judgment is coming, but His promise to His own people is that He will rescue them (1 Thes. 5:1–11; 2 Peter 2:4–10). (Wiersbe, W. W. (1991). Be Obedient (p. 81). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
Ver. 12. And the men said unto Lot, &c.] When they had got him into the house again, they began to make themselves known unto him, and to acquaint him with the business they came to do: hast thou here any besides? which they ask not as being ignorant, though angels know not every thing relative to men, but to shew their great regard to Lot, who had been so kind to them, and so careful of them; that for his sake they would save them all, if they would take the benefit of their protection, and in this they doubtless had the mind of God revealed to them: son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters; it should be rendered either son-in-law, or thy sons, or thy daughters; if thou hast any son-in law that has married a daughter of thine, or any sons of thine own that live from thee; or grandsons, the sons of thy married daughters, as Jarchi interprets it; or any other daughters besides those two we here see: and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place; that is, whatsoever relations he had, whether more near or remote; for as for hit goods, whether in his own house, or in any other part of the city, there was no time for saving them. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 1, p. 135). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
Verses 20–21 recall the innocent blood of Abel that “cries out” (ṣōʿăqîm, 4:10) for vengeance (more below). It appears that the sin at Sodom-Gomorrah was social injustice, and the cries were either the result of the victims’ pain or their pleas for vengeance. (Mathews, K. A. (2005). Genesis 11:27–50:26 (Vol. 1B, p. 225). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
In the case of Sodom-Gomorrah, the exceptionally deplorable makeup of their sins subjects them to the prospects of total annihilation, prompting Abraham to query about the righteous whom he feared would be indiscriminately consumed with the guilty. (Mathews, K. A. (2005). Genesis 11:27–50:26 (Vol. 1B, p. 225). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
Genesis: The Light of the New Testament by F. W. Grant Loizeaux Brothers
Cain, then, is a Jew, the formal worshiper of God, bringing the work of his hands, the fruit of his own toil, not doubting that it ought to be accepted of God. Not irreligious, as men would say, he ignores the breach that sin had caused between man and his Creator, but of which the very toil whose fruit he brought was witness. So coming, he is necessarily rejected of God; na dsuch is Pharisaism, of whatever grade or time. Just persons, having no need of repentance; diligent elder sons, serving the Father, but without getting so much as a kid to make merry with their friends; self-satished legalists, ignorant of God and grace: such is the Lord’s picture of a generation of which Cain was prototype and father. Pharisees were they, who always were most zealous for commandments and against Christ, “going about to establish their own righteousness, and not submitting themselves to the righteousness of God.” (p. 55,56)
1 Chronicles 17
God promises David that He will propagate David’s lineage forever.
INSIGHT
David is described as a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). It is difficult for us to accept that statement when David is guilty of lying, adultery, murder, and other indiscretions. However, to be a man after God’s own heart means that David wants the same things God wants. His noble desires and intentions are overruled several times by his passions; but when David’s senses are restored and he repents of his sin, again his heart beats after God’s desires. We may not be as bad as David in his bad moments, but are we as good as David in his good moments? Do our hearts beat after God? (Quiet Walk)
THE SPIRITUAL FELLOWSHIP OF REVIVAL
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another…” Galatians 1:6-7
Now this is the kind of thing that is being said at the present time: It does not matter what people may teach. Though they may deny the very essence of Christianity, if I like them, if I am attracted to them, if I can talk easily to them, then that is what counts. It is what they are that is important and thus they make an appeal to you. So what do we say about this modern tendency?
That is not the danger today! The danger today is that we are so afraid of legalism that we have become utterly nondescript. We have knocked down all the barriers and the signposts; anything is all right. “We are a happy lot together and we have a wonderful spirit. Roman Catholics are suddenly now changing. Everything is marvelous. We are going to have a great universal church and there will be no more trouble.”
But that is the very opposite of the New Testament teaching. No, I am not arguing for a legalistic precision. All I am arguing for is what the Apostle Paul is putting before us here in Romans 10:3. These Jews, he says, are outside because they have not got this exact knowledge that saves! There are implications and aspects of this great truth about which we cannot and must not speak dogmatically. But about the thing that saves us we must be as dogmatic as we can be This is absolutely essential to salvation.
The Apostle’s case was always this: there is only one gospel. It had been committed to him and he preached it. Any departure from it was a lie, and whoever preached a lie deserved to be “accursed” (Galatians 1:8).
A Thought to Ponder: “Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”
(From Saving Faith, a sermon on Romans 10:3 by Martyn Lloyd-Jones.)
The Two Ways
“For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” (Psalm 1:6)
This verse outlines the inescapable truth that there are only two roads and two destinations to which they lead in eternity. The word “way” (Hebrew derek) means “road.” There is only one way leading to heaven—the way of the righteous; and one way leading to hell—the way of the ungodly.
This is a very common word in Scripture, but it is significant that its first occurrence is in Genesis 3:24, referring to “the way of the tree of life.” Once expelled from the garden of Eden because of their rebellion, Adam and Eve no longer could travel that “way” of life and began to die.
The equivalent Greek word in the New Testament is hodos, also meaning “road,” and it too occurs quite frequently. Its literal meaning—that of an actual roadway—lends itself very easily to the figure of a style of life whose practice leads inevitably to a certain destiny. Since there are only two basic ways of looking at life—the God-centered viewpoint and the man-centered viewpoint—there are only two ways of life, the way of the godly and the way of the ungodly. The one leads to life, the other to death. There is no other way.
The Lord Jesus taught: “Enter ye in at the strait [i.e., ‘narrow’] gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).
“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25). But what is the way of the righteous that leads to life? “I am the way,” said the Lord Jesus: “no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). “This is the way, walk ye in it” (Isaiah 30:21).
(HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
To love God is to live in complete dependency upon him so that prayer, rather than self-sufficiency, becomes the hallmark of our relationship. Too often, especially in rural areas, there is a cultural attitude of self-sufficiency. We are to “pull our own weight” and live independent of other. We resent any intrusion by others. Those who need the assistance of others (such as those of welfare) are seen as weak individuals. The result is that we approach our relationship with God with the same attitude. While we recognize that God is over all and we are accountable to HIM, we see ourselves as self-sufficient. Prayer becomes a sidebar of the church rather than central to the church. (p.105)
(Developing Leaders for the Small Church by Glenn C. Daman)
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