Choices, Choices, Choices

     A young mother took her three children to the ice cream store and the man asked, "Chocolate or vanilla?"  She replied, "Why don't you have more choices—I get so tired of these two."  "Lady," the ice cream man said, "if you only knew how much time it takes for folks to make up their minds between chocolate and vanilla, you'd never offer more choices."  Isn't this what Satan has done?  He has given so many choices that people spend all their time running around looking for their favorite flavors.

     Recently, our family was reading through the book of Jeremiah, and we were amazed at how seriously God deals with sin.  Chapter after chapter doles out the judgments against the ungodly nations—Egypt, Philistia, Moab.  And then it hit us—Moab wasn't just another pagan nation that had rejected the Lord.  Moab had descended from the family of Abraham, howbeit through his nephew Lot's incestuous relationship with his eldest daughter.  As we thought about this, we saw a very graphic spiritual picture—Moab is the "church" of today—"Having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof."  (2 Tim. 3:5)  It is filled with people who insist they are fine, spiritually, but also insist on being about Him their own way—making their own choices.

     As we look at the life of Lot, we see a whole series of tragic choices.  Due to the overcrowding of the land, Abraham, Lot's uncle, gave the younger man his choice.  Genesis 13: 11-13 tells us, "Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.  Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.  But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly."  He selected the plain—in the Hebrew, it means a circular tract of land, but it also refers to a dancing and a whirling about.  Lot, in his selfishness, whirled about, pleasing himself—he would have the most fertile land, and Uncle Abraham would have to make do with Canaan.  Lot chose the Jordan, and in the Hebrew it means "descenders,"—it comes from a word that means to go downward.   And downward, he indeed, went, for he pitched his tent toward Sodom—a very bad choice.  Donald Stamps puts it this way: "Lot's great failure was that he loved personal gain more than he hated the wickedness of Sodom."  Like many do today, he positioned himself in close proximity to the world and its ways, and it wasn't very long before he was tainted even further.  Immerse yourself in hours of ungodly TV programs or rebellious music, and it won't be long before you become ungodly and rebellious.  It's really true—garbage in, garbage out.  There was even a time when Sodom and Gomorrah were raided by neighboring kings, and Lot was kidnapped. (Gen. 14: 1-16) Uncle Abraham and his many servants rescued Lot, but where did he go then? —Right back to Sodom. 

     In fact, he even became one of the rulers there—"Lot sat in the gate of Sodom." (Gen. 19:1)  One day, two angels came to bring Lot out.  While they were staying in his home, the immoral men of the town besieged them, hoping to sexually abuse the two visitors.  It is from this incident that the word "sodomy" gains its meaning today, referring to homosexuality—a perversion strongly condemned in the Word of God. (Lev. 20:13; Deut.23:17; I Cor. 6:9; I Timothy 1: 8-10)  "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." (Gen. 19: 15-16)  Lingered?  What is he doing lingering?  Fact is, he had already been consumed in the iniquity of the city.  In the Hebrew, it means he questioned the whole thing; he hesitated, and was very reluctant to leave.  In God's mercy, he and his family were literally dragged out of the sin and given a new start.  Lot's choice would have been to stay in it, but God chose otherwise.  Even then, Lot was not thankful.  He was told to escape to the mountain, a spiritual picture of being above the sin and free from it, but he wanted to make his own choices.  He would go to Zoar, meaning, in the Hebrew, a little city.   Out of the city, but not all the way—out of the world, but not all of the way—out of the sin, but not all of the way.  Oswald Chambers once said, "Jesus never insists on obedience, but if I don’t, I have already begun to sign the death warrant of the Son of God in my soul."  Obviously, God isn't going to make you do everything His way—in the end, He allowed the family to go in their own direction.  While on their way, Lot's "wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt."  This was not just a casual, listless looking back—a sighful yearning for her little home and white picket fence.  In the Hebrew, it means she looked back with the intention of actually going back.  Bad choice!

     Peter tells us that Lot "vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds."(2 Peter 2:8)  He had been called to follow God, but, little by little, he let his righteous soul be diminished and worn away—he did it, not God!  Once the three escapees reached the hills of Zoar, they were still fearful and found a dark cave to live in.  While there, Lot's two daughters became even more fearful—fearful that they would never be able to have sexual relationships and children.  So, they devised their own plan—get their father drunk and have children through him.  The sin had penetrated—Lot had no problem with drunkenness and the girls had no problem with incest.  And Israel would have major problems for evermore—Moab and Ammon would be their enemies from then on.  It began with selfishness and it ended in tragedy.  According to Jeremiah 48:7, Moab had trusted in his works and treasures, and was therefore, about to be destroyed.  Verse 11 tells us: "Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed."  So it is with the so-called church today.  A church can hardly be found that does not, in reality, base salvation on being good, being baptized, or giving generously—good works and treasures.  Many have believed the false message that the Christian life is to be one of smooth sailing, prosperity, and perfect health.  Explain that one to the Christians who sit in cold, damp, rat-infested communist or Muslim prison cells—for the faith!  The false church sits in ease, not really willing to be poured out from vessel to vessel—sacrificed and poured out for the next soul.  A.W. Tozer once wrote, "Promoting self under the guise of promoting Christ is currently so common as to excite little notice.  Self can even live unrebuked at the very altar."   Multitudes today claim true salvation, but their scent has not changed—their hearts remain the same and they can hardly be distinguished from the world.  So many today are in the church for what they can get out of it—loving personal gain and not hating the wickedness.  They claim to have a relationship with Jesus, but are only looking for their problems to be fixed and their lives to be filled with blessings. 

     Where are the churches today that will refuse to live in close proximity to the world?  Where are the Christians who know they cannot win the world to Christ by compromise and being like it, using its music, its message, and its Madison Avenue techniques?  Where are the churches that know that the most loving thing they can do is to stand for Biblical truth and not tolerate sin?   Where are the churches that will rise above the sin and go to the mountain, living the resurrected, Kingdom-ruled life of Jesus?  The true church will be a beacon of light, shining the way out of the sin, perversion, and compromise—not into it!  Choices, choices, choices!  Don't spend your life looking for your favorite flavor. Many today think that the more choices they have, the more freedom they will live in.  It is just the opposite!  The true church will let the Lord boil it all down to one choice—Jesus, the sweetest name I know!

 

A hearty "Thank You" to one and all who pray for and even support Christ Our Rock Bible Church.  May all who are spiritually fed, be eternally grateful.

 

Throughout the year 2000, we will be providing you with readings from Genesis to Revelation to help you see Him as your only choice.

August 1               Obadiah                                 16            Matthew 5-6

2                              Jonah                                     17            Matthew 7-8

3                              Micah 1-4                              18            Matthew 9-10

4                              Micah 5-7                              19            Matthew 11-12

5                              Nahum                                   20            Matthew 13-14

6                              Habakkuk                              21            Matthew 15-16

7                              Zephaniah                             22            Matthew 17-18

8                              Haggai                                   23            Matthew 19-20

9                              Zechariah 1-4                        24            Matthew 21-22

10                            Zechariah 5-8                        25            Matthew 23-24

11                            Zechariah 9-12                      26            Matthew 25-26

12                            Zechariah 13-14                    27            Matthew 27-28

13                            Malachi                                  28            Mark 1-2

14                            Matthew 1-2                          29            Mark 3-4

15                            Matthew 3-4                          30            Mark 5-6

                                                31            Mark 7-8

 

September 1          Mark 9-10                              3              Mark 13-14

2                              Mark 11-12                            4              Mark 15-16