Don’t Look Back

Introduction

Greg wouldn’t have minded another song. But if you’ll open in your Bibles with me to Genesis chapter 19, we’ll spend that time in God’s Word. If you look with me in Genesis chapter 19, one of the biggest struggles of becoming a Christian is recognizing that in the past you’ve lived a life of rebellion. That when I come to the decision point of do I follow after Jesus, leave nothing and everything behind, and count Jesus as my all, then I have to acknowledge one key fact that I haven’t done always what I should do. Whether I think I was right, whether I was ignorant in my wrongdoing, or whether I purposely and rebelliously didn’t do what I knew my creator intended for me to be doing the whole time.

The question is, was I guilty? And the Bible says, Yes, I am. When Paul tells the Gentiles and the Jews in the book of Romans and chapter 3, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, it wasn’t a doom and gloom statement. It was a fact to point out to them, you need Jesus. You need the good news of the message. Years later, as you grow in a Christian faith and a walk and understanding of who God is and what it truly means to follow after him, the same problems can plague you. Can I be honest in my self-assessment and say, when God tells me to do something, I go right to the work? Can I move on to the work, knowing that the lifetime that I know the Bible says I am forgiven of, can I be sure that won’t catch up with me?

1. God Cannot Stand Wickedness

Or that God won’t maybe just hold it against me. In Genesis chapter 19, we have an example of one of the most wicked and corrupt societies that there is to be found in the Old Testament scriptures. That is Sodom and Gomorrah. But if you’ll first look with me actually in chapter 18, the very end of chapter 18, we’re going to pick up the reading in verse 20. To note how wicked they are, we’ll see both the pronouncement of judgment by God and the sentence He gives them. And just as chapter 18 and verse 20, then the Lord said, Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me, and if not, I will know.

So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near and said, Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Abraham is us. He says, God, what if there’s good people there? If you’re going to destroy it for their wickedness, is that fair to those who are righteous? How can you, God, punish righteous people? I think this is a powerful note for us to stop and say, God’s wisdom is greater than ours. Because what happens is this conversation, this seemingly give and take, but God knows what’s going on in Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham doesn’t, although he wishes it was better than it is. In verse 24, Abraham says, Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city.

Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked. So if the righteous fare as the wicked, far be that from you, shall not the judge of all the earth do what is just? Pretty bold speech from Abraham, and the Lord answers, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous, I will spare the whole city for their sake. Then Abraham really becomes us. He has had this strong bit of courage. He has a real relationship with God, where he has a problem, he says, God, you’re going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. What about the righteous? What if there’s fifty, God, that’s not like you.

You’re a just God. You’re not going to punish the righteous for the sins of the wicked, right? And God says, Okay, if there are fifty righteous there, I will not destroy it. Then Abraham, maybe not everyone here, he certainly becomes me. He goes, Well, wait a minute. Verse 27, Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five? And God said, I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there. And again he said, Suppose forty are found there. Answered, I will not destroy it for the sake of forty. Then he said, Oh, what? Now if the Lord be angry and I will speak, suppose thirty are found there.

He answered, I will not do it if I find thirty there. He said, Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there. He answered, For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it. Then he said, Oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but this once. Suppose ten are found there. And he answered, For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it. And the Lord went his way when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place. We read in chapter 19 that two angels are going to come to Sodom and Gomorrah. And so now the challenge essentially has been set. God says in chapter 18, there is a judgment. There is a sentencing looming for Sodom and Gomorrah.

I’m going to check out their righteousness or find their wickedness. And notice what faithful servant Abraham knows about God. What does Abraham know that God will do when he sees a city full of iniquity? He’s going to destroy it. And it’s going to be really bad. In fact, so bad that Abraham feels the need to intercede. He feels the need to say something, to do something about it. And I often wonder, knowing what God and through his son have revealed in the New Testament about heaven and hell, do we, do I, like Abraham, have a desire to intercede for people who are going to be found displeasing to God? Am I willing to say something to God or to them to try to change their minds?

But in chapter 19, we see that Sodom is going to prove their corruption. Exactly what God said would happen basically turns out to be. In Genesis chapter 19, read with me and verse 1, the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth and said, My lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way. They said, No, we we will spend the night in the town square. But he pressed them strongly, so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

But before they laid down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man surrounded the house. And they called to Lot, Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them. Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, and said, I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof. But they said, Stand back. And they said, This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge.

Now we will deal worse with you than with them. Then they pressed hard against the man Lot and drew near to break the door down. But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out, groping for the door. Long story short, Genesis 19 proves exactly how wicked and corrupt the men of Sodom were. When you think about a story, what could be more wicked and perverse than what they are trying to do? And if you note the description, it wasn’t a few bad eggs in the city. It wasn’t a few bad people surrounding the house.

It was those surrounding the house to the last man. And they wanted to come for those two angels, what they viewed as two men. Miraculously, God through his messengers intervenes, and they strike the crowd with blindness, and so they eventually wear themselves out. And by the way, that’s a beautiful picture of what we look like when we try to do something against God’s will. We’re essentially blind men groping around, tiring ourselves out. Because without God there is no hope. There is no purpose. There is no set plan. But here comes the interesting part. God offers Lot’s family safety. You remember that bargain with Abraham? Abraham said, God, if there’s even ten people, will you spare the city? And God said, I will. Well, there wasn’t ten, but there might have been a few in verse 12.

Then the men said to Lot, Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city. Bring them out of the place, for we are about to destroy this place. Because the outcry against this people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it. So Lot went out and said to his son-in-law who were about to marry his daughters, Up, get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city. But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting. As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city. But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.

And as they brought him out, one said, Escape for your life, do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills lest you be swept away. And perhaps you know the story in verse 23. The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the Lord reigned on Sodom and Gomorrah sulphur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities and all the valley and all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew on the ground. But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back. And she became a pillar of salt. No reading of Genesis chapter 18 or 19 can conclude any logical explanation for God other than that he cannot stand wickedness. He cannot stand it.

2. But He Lingered, and She Looked Back

In fact, what was he going to do? Destroy it. What did he do? Destroy it with fire and sulfur from heaven. The entire area destroyed. The inhabitants were taken down. God has no room and no time for sin. But that creates a problem because there are some good people. But those good people make some pivotal mistakes. Notice in verse 16, what was Lot’s reaction? The angels say, there is devastation coming. Lot knows there’s devastation coming because he’s gone to his family and said, Y’all have got to get out of here. But when it’s Lot’s turn, what does he do? The man of faith, Lot, verse 16, but he lingered. What would have happened if it wasn’t for the mercy of God as described in verse 16?

It says that the angels grabbed him and his family by the hands and led them out of the city with the Lord being merciful to them.

They could have been destroyed. Lot’s hesitation could have led to his family’s demise. Lot, the very one that God felt strong enough about to save. To say, hey, I will give you an opportunity.

But he lingered. Unfortunately, that wasn’t as bad as the story gets. It continues on. Lot’s wife in verse 26, after being told, do not look back, only press forward. She looked back. And while Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed with sulfur and fire from the heavens, Lot’s wife was destroyed. Because she turned around and looked. See, it doesn’t matter what God’s command is. When he says go, we go. When he says don’t look back, we do not look back. And that’s going to put us in a tough situation because when we try to learn some lessons, just three lessons this morning from Lot and his wife, we have to see sin is terrible. God wants to save us. But even with those two facts being true, there’s a lot of work for us to do.

3. By Faith Abraham Went Out

A positive example, this is found in Hebrews chapter 11. Note in Hebrews chapter 11, the difference in Abraham and Lot. Abraham and Sarah versus Lot and his wife. In Hebrews chapter 11, notice the description of Abraham. In this great hall of faith, you can imagine this is going to be a positive example. By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And here’s the line. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith, he went to live in the land of promises in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. Why? Verse 10? For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

That’s faith. There’s a lot of people here who have a lot of different personality types. No one typifies that more than my wife and I. She wants to throw me a surprise party. Really badly. And I really badly do not want a surprise party. Because there’s two types of people, as far as I’m concerned. There’s those who like surprise parties, and there’s those who like to plan surprise parties, and you can guess which account we each fall into. You see, we have differences. And for Abraham to say in verse 8, I’m going to go to this land God told me to go to, with no concept of who’s there, why I’m going there, or where there even is, is remarkable. If I’m going to go somewhere 30 minutes away that I’ve never been, I have checked the maps three times.

And I’m checking them while I’m going. And I’m scouting the area and reading reviews. Yes, there are people who do that. Those people are me. When you think about that level of preparation for a 30-minute trip, imagine Abraham and Sarah. God says, I want you to go. Abraham had no clue where it was, but he went. Lot, on the other hand, knows destruction is coming. He has told his family, you have got to get out. But when it’s his turn to go, the angels are telling him, leave. He lingers. Lot’s wife, who obviously understands what’s going on, is told, do not look back. And what does she do? She looks back. That is the pivotal problem. When God says go, we too often hesitate. We’re caught by our own decision making.

4. Forgetting What Lies Behind

What kept Lot there? What made his wife look back? We could speculate any number of answers. Could be wondering what’s happening, sadness, tragedy, knowing their entire village was being destroyed. That would weigh on you emotionally. Having a heavy burden of traveling quickly just to escape that would be a heavy burden physically. But notice what Paul says with regards to giving up something behind. Lot and his wife were giving up something in a tragic way. Notice Paul in Philippians chapter 3. He was willing to give up something else. Notice this with me in Philippians chapter 3, beginning in verse 7. Paul says, whatever gain I had, see these words with me in verse 7. I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ. The righteousness that comes from God depends on faith, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, that I may share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection of the dead. Now put verse 11. By any means possible I may attain the resurrection of the dead. Verse Lot who lingers, and his wife who looks back. I know there’s a lot to do. The scriptures reveal. There’s a prayer life to be had each and every day.

There is study of the word that God has revealed. There is sacrifice for others and most importantly for our creator. And when I don’t go when God says go, I am like Lot. If I am saved, it’s only because God is merciful and gives me enough time to override my poor decision. The time to act is now. When God says go, we better get up and go. But there’s some inhibitors to going. And one of them is looking back. Paul looks back in Philippians chapter 3, and what we didn’t read in verses 1 through 5 is his great resume as a Jew. Paul is the Jew of all Jews. He is trained by Gamaliel. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees. He was zealous, blameless. Paul was it.

Paul was the man. He had a great resume, and he says in verse 11, I’m giving it all up that by any means possible. I may attain the resurrection of the dead. Two lessons on either side of the coin. The one side, paralleling with Paul is, it doesn’t matter where you’ve been or what you’ve done. If you think you’re great, God says, well, I oppose the proud. I give grace to the humble. It took Paul’s humility to become a child of God. It didn’t matter where he had been. It didn’t matter that he was religious. It didn’t matter that he knew a lot about God. It mattered that he was finding himself rebellious in the eyes of God. You see, Paul in verse 12 teaches us a very critical point, not just when it comes to a good resume, but a tough background, too.

In verse 12, not that I’ve already obtained this or I’m already perfect, but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own, but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind, and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. The other side of that, Pauline coin, is maybe not a sterling, a spotless resume, but a lifetime of regret, rebellious decisions. An understanding that I have not only not served God, I have encouraged others to rebel against him too. That makes it easy to look back. Paul says in verse 13 very clearly, we are moving forward.

We are trusting in Christ to get us to the goal. That means we can’t look back. For Paul, it meant giving up all of his riches, all of his fame, all that his life could have been in a powerful earthly way. But this morning I want to raise the other side of the coin and say, Is there a lifetime of regret in your background? Are there decisions you wish desperately you could take back? And the answer for everybody here is yes. The question is, what does God want us to do with that? Because I’ll tell you what it says we can’t do. We can’t look back even at destruction, even at those who have been destroyed by the works of sin and be like Lot’s wife.

5. When You’re Looking Back, You Don’t Move Forward

When God says you are to go forward, you are to strain ahead, you cannot look back. You know why? When you’re looking back, you don’t move forward. It can’t happen. When you think about Luke chapter 9, if you look there in Luke chapter 9, Jesus makes this point incredibly clear. And in a tragic way for those who were willing to follow him. Those people who, unlike Lot and his wife, were saying, Hey, we are going to go, we’re going to follow you. There’s a butt. And that but was not pleasing to Jesus. In Luke chapter 9, beginning in verse 57, as they were going along the road, someone said, I will follow you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him, Foxes have holds and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.

To another he said, Follow me. But he said, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. And Jesus said to him, Leave the dead to bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God. Yet another said, I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home. And Jesus said to him, No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. Luke 9 illustrates a powerful consideration for all of us who have guilt on our conscience. There’s only one way to go in terms of pleasing God and working towards the prize found only in Jesus Christ. It’s forward. It can be good things. Paul says, I count all of this as rubbish, as loss for the sake of Christ.

It can be good earthly things. Burying my father. Saying farewell to those who are in my home. Jesus says, No, when you get to work, you don’t look back. Is that because he’s harsh? Because he’s unfair, because it’s not right? Well, first of all, Jesus says, Lord, has the right, regardless of whether we feel it’s wonderful or not. But when it comes to that, how do we understand this? We look at other words of Jesus. When he says he came to set mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, and father against son, and families against families, is he really saying he strives for a kingdom of hatred? Of course not. But family matters. Resume matters. Sinful past matters can prohibit us from moving forward. Why is that?

Because when I think about those decisions, I regret the lifestyle I chose that led perhaps to physical consequences that will follow me till the day I die. I have to remember that when I look back to that, if it inhibits me in any way, it means my faith isn’t strong in the forgiveness of God. If Jesus has promised that he came to seek and save the lost, if the apostles of our Lord taught repeatedly that you can have the forgiveness of sins, yes, Paul underlined the fact that all sinned falls short of the glory of God. Yes, he underlined the wages of sin is death, but he also underlined the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. And that’s what Paul got in Philippians chapter 3.

6. Know That God Has Forgiven You

Did you see it again in verse 12? He says, You do not look back, you press on. Stop looking back. Know that God has forgiven you. Trust that He will deliver you. You see, Lot was saved in three different ways. Three different ways Lot was saved. The first way was that the angels came and warned him of the impending doom. Remember that? They came and they said, You’re going to have to leave. The second act of mercy was when Lot even lingered, when he held in his place for whatever the reason, and it wasn’t a good one. By the mercy of God, verse 16 says, the angels dragged him and his family out of the house and on their way. And the third way was, of course, when they actually fled, when they were outside of the city, marked for destruction.

They were spared. They were delivered. God had given them a physical salvation. God has offered us all of those warning signs. He has told us judgment day is coming. But more importantly, in verse 2, he has said, I know you have lingered. I know you’ve looked back. I know you have found yourself in your own created mess, and I love you anyway. Trust me. Take my hand, and I will forgive you of everything. In Psalm 103, look with me there. If you haven’t read this Psalm, this is one to remember. In Psalm 103, we’re just going to look at three verses, though. In Psalm 103, beginning in verse 11, we’re going to read verses 11 through 14. Psalm 103, beginning in verse 11. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him.

As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

How is it that God can do this? Why is it that God would offer that salvation? Because verse 8.

And the Lord is gracious. The Lord is slow to anger. And the Lord abounds in steadfast love. When we think about a lifetime of bad decisions, we can all pencil in way too much on that side of the ledger. But what God has taught his people from the Old Testament into the New Testament is that he will forgive. When you look at verse 12, as far as the east is from the west, our transgressions are removed from us. It doesn’t matter how great you were or how awful you were. It doesn’t matter how much sin you accumulated or how much works of righteousness you think you’ve deserved and earned and done. Paul says, I count all things as loss for the sake of Christ. When God says go, that’s not just a command to go and do things, which it is by faith.

When he says don’t look back, it’s not just that he doesn’t want us to be in pain, although I’ll tell you, as looking back almost ever caused anything but pain, but a lingering hesitation. But a thought that says, God can’t and won’t forgive me. Our God can and will forgive you if you trust in him. Do you notice the important line in verse 13? He is like a father who shows compassion to his children, but that second part is so crucial. So the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. A fear of the Lord that is proper, holy, and in the context of Psalm 103 is a fear that says, I know who God is, I know what he deserves, and I know who I am before him.

Conclusion

Praise him for his mercy, thank you for his grace and steadfast love that abounds. I will trust in him. I will go when he says go. I will believe that even I can be forgiven. When we think about lessons like these, it’s most important. It’s of critical importance to recognize that when God says go, I have to go. Then I can’t look back. I can’t find myself a prisoner of past bad decisions. That only creates future bad decisions. I have to trust in God’s deliverance. But can I tell you one more point as we wrap up the lesson this morning? It means that I need to encourage others to not hesitate when God says go. I have to be willing to be like an Abraham who’s willing to intercede for the righteous.

I need to be willing to encourage people to be among the righteous who fear God and recognize that great news. I have to find someone who is lingering in days and months and years of hesitation and encourage them, do not look back. Walk with me together as we go towards that prize of the upward call of Christ Jesus. It means that I need to teach others. I need to find someone who’s struggling, looking back, lingering, hesitating, who won’t go when God says, and tell them trust in God’s deliverance. He has told us a day of judgment is coming. He has told us there is a pathway out today. We’ve lingered, and he says, I will forgive you. But the third step is the one we’re all in.

What will we do?

The best decision Lot made, essentially, in this whole story was when he finally left Sodom and Gomorrah. There would have been no salvation, no deliverance, regardless of his righteousness or family pedigree, if he had stayed where God said, I will destroy you. And so while it is wonderful, it is crucial and pivotal to our faith that we know God can forgive us, that the mess I’ve made God can clean up, that my sins have been separated as far as the East is from the West. My transgressions have been separated from me by my God if I fear and trust him. It also means I have to leave that life. No looking back. As Jesus said, no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.

Will you go to our great and merciful God in prayer with me? Our dear God and most gracious, merciful, loving and forgiving Heavenly Father, we are so thankful for your forgiveness. As we think and read your pages, we recognize Manasseh was forgiven, Paul was forgiven, Peter was forgiven, the apostles who forsook Jesus on the cross were forgiven. Thank you for offering us forgiveness, knowing how vile and evil sin is in your eyes. Help us to trust in your ways always. To know that your plan of deliverance is possible if we trust in you. Thank you for showing us in every day and in every way what it means to be loving and merciful. Help us to wrap ourselves in your love. Please always forgive us of our sins.

Guide us. Give us courage and strength to overcome temptation, to not look back. Give us peace when we look back with anxiety. Give us strength when we wish to move forward through the greatest tests and trials that the evil one will throw in our path. Thank you for sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. We pray we always glorify you. We always trust in you and take your hand of deliverance. It’s in your Son’s name we pray. Amen. We’re now dismissed to our Bible class.