(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

In Genesis chapter 13, Genesis chapter 13, obviously we're just going right along with our Genesis series. And so Genesis chapter 13 we're with Abraham and Sarai and Lot, or Abram, he doesn't get called Abraham until later so right now he's still called Abram. And so in Genesis chapter 13 verse 1 there, it's really just picking up right where chapter 12 left off. Remember in chapter 12 they went down into Egypt, this is the story where Abram and his wife go down there and he says, tell them that you're my sister so that they don't kill me for you. Basically, she was a very good looking woman and he was just afraid that they're going to be like, we're going to kill him and take her for our wife. So basically in verse 1 there it says, and Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had and Lot with him into the south and Abram was very rich in cattle in silver and in gold and he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning between Bethel and Haai unto the place of the altar which he had made there at the first and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. So we see that basically they're coming back to the same place they were. So when they came out of Haran, this is where they went because you can actually see that in chapter 12. You want to look back at chapter 12 verse 8 where it says in verse 8, it says, and he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent having Bethel on the west and Haai on the east and there he built it an altar unto the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. So we see that he basically just comes back to the same place he was before. So in this place here where it says that where he had made there at the first and there Abram called on the name of the Lord, I guess you could say that it's just restating the fact that this is where he called on the name of the Lord but it could be also that he came back there and called on the name of the Lord again and there's also a place where he sets up a grove and calls on the name of the Lord later on in Genesis. So again, I believe Abraham got saved before he built this altar and called upon the name of the Lord. Because calling on the name of the Lord obviously is for eternal salvation but there's also other times we call on the name of the Lord. We can call on the name of the Lord for a lot of things and we can call on the name of the Lord for physical salvation also for all kinds of different reasons. So calling on the name of the Lord, it's just like believing in the Lord, obviously believing on the Lord Jesus Christ for eternal salvation is how he gets saved but we also need to have faith in him in other aspects of our life. So that's what I believe with that. But it's interesting, what we'll see in this chapter is that this really shows us that Genesis 13 was not written as it was happening. It's not like someone was with them chronicling what was going on because it mentions Bethel. Now Bethel's not mentioned or it's not named, that place Bethel's not named until Jacob and his dream which is in Genesis 28 if you want to see that, Genesis 28. I just want to give you that information so obviously Genesis is basically a rehash, someone's writing down the accounts of what's going on and obviously it's all inspired by God so we know it's all accurate but it's not like they had someone chronicling this as it was going on. The same thing when you're looking at chronicles and kings and all that stuff, you know, it'll say this is like this unto this day. So it's like you can kind of see when it was written, right, because in Judges it'll talk about Rahab and stuff like that and it'll say she lives here unto this day. It's like well obviously she's still alive so it's not that far in the future that they're writing it. But in Genesis 28 verse 19 it says he called the name of that place Bethel but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. So we see that actually where they were at at the time when Abram was there with his wife it was called Luz. But obviously whoever's writing this is just writing in an account of what they would know at that time which is Bethel. So interesting and obviously as we go down it'll talk about how he, you know, Lot pitches his tent toward Sodom and talks about how Sodom and Gomorrah was not destroyed yet. So we know that chapter 13 had to have been written after Genesis 19 happened, okay. And so just some information there as far as the fact of how the Bible was written and how it was chronicled down and it doesn't have to be like as the events are happening they're like someone's like scribing this stuff out. You know it's like I went to the store and someone's next to me like and Jason Robinson went to Kroger and picked up, you know, it's not like that. It's obviously by the inspiration of God and just like the Gospels, the Gospels were, I don't believe, were penned down as they were doing these events. They're recalling what had already happened and Luke was that way. That's the beginning of Luke is how he's basically saying I'm setting an order to things which are surely believed and he's like I figured that since I have perfect knowledge of it I'm going to write it down too. And so we know that that's the case with at least Luke. So but anyway so as we go down the big thing with this chapter that I see if you were just want to kind of a theme of this chapter is this is where Abram and Lot split up. This is where they part ways, okay. And so in Genesis 13 verse 5, notice what it says, Genesis 13 verse 5 it says in Lot also which went with Abram had flocks and herds and tents and the land was not able to bear them that they might dwell together for their substance was great so that they could not dwell together and there was a strife between the herd men of Abram's cattle and the herd men of Lot's cattle and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land and Abram said unto Lot let there be no strife I pray thee between me and thee and between my herd men and thy herd men for we be brethren is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself I pray thee from me if thou wilt take the left hand and I will go to the right or if thou depart to the right hand then I will go to the left. So we see Abraham is very humble in this. Now Abraham is older than Lot. He's his uncle. If you remember Lot is his brother's son and his brother died before they even departed and so I believe it was Nahor was Lot's dad and so there's a lot of Nahor so I get them mixed up sometimes but I'm pretty sure Nahor was Lot's brother that had Lot and anyways so he's his elder I mean it'd be kind of like a father figure I'm sure Lot and Abraham would be the father figure to Lot but Lot obviously we know what happens with Lot but this makes me think of a story actually in the New Testament between Paul and Barnabas because Paul and Barnabas actually split up over some kind of strife some contention and so in this story with Genesis we obviously see that Lot it's his downfall to kind of split up from Abraham because he obviously pitches his tent toward Sodom and we know the story about him with Sodom and Gomorrah and so but I want to look at just the account with Paul and Barnabas go to Acts chapter 15 because when I was reading through this and kind of just looking at this chapter that's immediately what came to mind and even with this what you notice here is that there's not a strife between Abraham and Lot it's a strife between their herdmen and in this case with Paul and Barnabas it's not really a strife between them like they don't have a problem with each other they have a problem with who wants to go with them and so it's it's kind of seems like a parallel story here and how they split up you know and and go do their own thing but in Acts chapter 15 verse 36 notice what it says Acts chapter 15 verse 36 it says in some days after Paul said unto Barnabas let us go again and visit our brethren into every city where we have preached the word of the Lord and see how they do and Barnabas determined to take with them John whose surname was Mark but Paul thought not good to take him with them who departed from them from Pamphylia and went not with them to the work and the contention was so sharp between them that they that they departed asunder one from the other and so Barnabas took Mark and sailed unto Cyprus and Paul chose Silas and departed being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God and he went through Syria and Cilicia confirming the churches now with this story with the Paul and Barnabas what we see here is basically Mark departed from the work he didn't want to do the work and he departed away from when when in the midst of them doing something and he basically just went home and just stopped you know helping them and so Paul's like I don't want to take him with me I don't want to take him with us because you know he left the work he's going to bring us down so to speak and so there's contention between them because of that and actually you know in the Bible you don't really hear Barnabas after that and so and now you do hear Mark you know it seems like he redeemed himself he did write one of the Gospels and but Mark also talks about and Mark you know bring with me for he's profitable profitable for the ministry he says in one of his letters so it seems like Mark got back on the right track so it seems like he kind of had a lapse and Paul's like I'm kind of done with you I'm not saying Barnabas just like got out of the work or like we just don't know what happened with them but it's interesting that Paul we have all this other information about what happened with Paul and then Barnabas just kind of falls off the radar and so but I want to just talk about this for a second as far as Christians there's some Christians that need leadership okay when I think of Lot I think of somebody that is a good godly person as long as they have someone to follow and I've seen this many times where there's certain Christians that if they don't have someone pointing them in a direction being a good example to them at all times they fall out and that's I see that with Paul with with with Lot. Psalm 1 and Psalm 1 one of the most famous you know Psalms it says blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly nor standeth in the way of sinners nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and night the one thing that we need to remember especially in our church and that's one great thing and one important thing about having a good church filled with and when I say church I'm talking about the congregation I'm talking about the people is that you're around people that love the Lord that are righteous and wanting to do righteousness meaning that if you hang out and yoke yourself up with a bunch of worldly Christians you're going to become a worldly Christian it's just the fact of the matter is that you're going to get sucked in to some worldly lifestyle or whatever and so some and then there's some Christians I believe that are more likely for that to happen and if they don't have someone to grab on to and say and just kind of hold on to them as they go you know follow the Lord they'll fall out now this is why I don't believe everybody is meant to be a pastor I don't believe everybody you know if there was ever everybody meant to be a pastor there'd be no one in the pews right and honestly you know if there was like just great churches all over the place I'd be just fine sitting in the pews okay because it's a lot you know it's a little less work for me but I obviously I'm honored to be the pastor of this church I'm honored to do the work and so I'm not you know sliding that in any manner but what I'm saying is that not everybody is able to do it not everybody can just pick up their you know their selves by their own bootstraps so to speak when it comes to spiritual things and there's some people that can do great work as far as like they can work hard they can provide for the family and and and that's not what I'm talking about I'm talking about the spiritual battle going soul winning consistently not getting out of it reading your Bible consistently not getting out of it not getting discouraged when you know people are sliding you or you know whatever and don't get me wrong every pastor I'm sure gets discouraged and every pastor goes through trials and tribulations and all that stuff but what I'm saying is that not everybody is an Abraham and I am NOT linking myself to Abraham so what I'm saying with this though is that there's a quality in a leader though where a leader will lead he'll go by himself if he has to and then there's other people that don't go as long as other people are going and that's great you know I'm glad for people to go and and so that's why we need good leaders and we need people that are leading the charge but you know some people just need to be in a good church where people are doing the work and you got good leadership and they can get under the wings of people that are leading the charge and they can do great works for God but if they get out of that then they'll fall and that's what I see with a lot and so in Psalm 119 Psalm 119 and verse 63 and if you want to just kind of keep notes with this Psalm 119 verse 63 there's plenty of passages on this but it says I am a companion of all them that fear thee and of them that keep thy precepts we need to remember of who are we friends with who are our companions who are we hanging out with you know if you're here on all three services obviously that's good because you're yoking up with people that love the Lord that want to do right that are reading their Bibles wanting to do God's work but even outside of church you need to think about who am I hanging out with who am I spending all my free time with and I'm not talking about work okay we got to work okay we got to go out into the world okay so I'm not saying like you're not you're always going to be around people that are like minded believers that are fired up for soul winning okay so that's a good that's a good case for why you need to be in church because it gets you out of the world you know and you can kind of get cleaned up from all the stuff that you have to see out there but but you want to be a companion of them that fear the Lord those are the people you want to be friends with don't be companions with fools okay because notice what it says in Proverbs chapter 13 Proverbs chapter 13 and verse 20 so when I see the story of Abraham and Lot splitting up that's what I think about I think about the fact that Lot needed to stick around Abraham because he just wasn't strong enough to go in on his own and he was a right you know he was a saved man I mean according to 2nd Peter chapter 2 he he he vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds that righteous man he calls a you know lot was a saved man you wouldn't think it and when you're reading about him in Genesis here but he was a man but he was a worldly saved man and but I don't believe he was worldly right here I believe he was probably just a typical Christian that was doing what they should be doing but as soon as he got out of the wing of Abraham it all went downhill and we haven't got to where it goes downhill this is kind of just where it starts okay but it has to start somewhere you know usually people that get out church don't go straight into like a worldly sinful life okay it's just a progression but Proverbs 13 verse 20 it says he that walketh with wise men shall be wise but a companion of fools shall be destroyed this is something that's talked about a lot in Proverbs and Psalms and all this and so we need to remember that we need to have wise friends we need to have be a companion you know iron sharpened with iron so does you know a friend sharpen the countless his countless and I'm misquoting that but but there's plenty of stuff about friend about friendship you know he that hath friends must show himself friendly and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother you know that you want to have companionship of people that are following the Lord go to Malachi chapter 3 Malachi chapter 3 Malachi chapter 3 so I just want to give you a little bit of just Bible as far as the fact of why what the Bible what God he wants us to stick together he wants us to feed off each other and to lift each other up to exhort one another right and so much more as you see the day approaching you know for not forsaking the assemblies right and that's what that's talking about exhorting one another and and not forsaking the assemblies because you know we need each other we need to feed off each other and as a pastor I need you to okay and yes I you know I'm the leader as far as I'm the under Shepherd Christ is the chief Shepherd he's the great Shepherd he's the good Shepherd and he's the one that's ultimately over this church but I need your I need your support I need you know that companionship because if I don't have it I'd fall to I'm sure eventually but you know I believe the pastors had set to a higher level as far as sometimes I may need to go it alone right you know what if there was a day where no one go out soul winning I just need to go it alone and you know before I started the church the way back when I remember talking to pastor Anderson about you know starting a church this is way before I was married and all this stuff and he said he said you need to you need to go out solely by yourself sometime that's time you know I'd only gone like two by two and like we'd always have our friends with us and he said because when you started church it may just be you you know your kids may have be sick and like you know your wife can't go out and all this stuff and it may just have to be you by yourself and I remember the time I did that I mean I was the only one I mean it wasn't like there was other people at other doors and we were kind of out there together but I was kind of by myself you know knocking a door now I was alone completely alone and I remember it was daunting but I did it and you know it's just one of those things you got to prepare for if you want to be a leader because sometimes you got to do things alone and no one knew I went except for the people that I talked to obviously and obviously I told the pastor you know so-and-so got saved or whatever but and I don't recommend that you know like obviously we need to go two by two but I was kind of trying to prepare myself as far as if I had to do that and so all I'm saying with this is that but even me you know it was hard it was hard to do that because there's something about having a silent partner there's something about having someone with you and I've been so winning for a long time and I've won people to Christ you know and I you know it's second nature as far as where I'm going with people and all that stuff but there's something about that companionship that just like makes it a million times easier and so you know in Christ I believe was going alone you know when he went out and then he would get you know meet up with his disciples but you know Jesus led by example he did a lot of things alone and so you know as a leader sometimes you need to do that but some people can't handle that a lot I don't believe can handle that but I told you do a Malachi right Malachi chapter 3 verse 16 Malachi 3 verse 16 says then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another and the Lord hearkened and heard it in a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name so sometimes the way you know you say well I'm hanging out with Christians they're all saved that's not necessarily the best thing because you'd be hanging out with Christians that aren't wanting to live for the Lord they're gonna put wet blanket on soul winning that don't like God you know they don't like hard preaching and they're gonna just bring you down okay what I'm saying is you need to be yoked up with Christians that are what you're wanting to do and what what God wants you to do and so and obviously people are gonna be coming in there at different levels obviously if someone's just wanting to go in that direction they're not where you're at that's not what I'm talking about because obviously you're gonna run into people that are like just get saved they're trying to get into things they got a lot of stuff they got a polish up and all that that's not what I'm talking about I'm talking about people that should know better okay people that are clearly just not wanting to do what the Bible says okay and so we need to be careful with that but a lot a lot ends up falling into Sodom and you know basically he gets the choice of where he wants to go now he doesn't start off living in Sodom okay that's what's interesting about the story it's not like he just departs and just goes into Sodom but he goes into the plains of Jordan and Sodom is in that direction okay and so he kind of steps his way over there okay he just gets a little closer to it and it's just like a magnet eventually it pulls them all the way in and so look at Genesis chapter 13 again Genesis chapter 13 Genesis chapter 13 and verse 10 it says and Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan that it was well watered everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah so we see here that this is clearly being written after Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed because they already know it's destroyed even as the Garden of the Lord like the land of Egypt as thou comest unto Zohar and Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan and Lot journeyed east and they separated themselves the one from the other Abram dwelt dwelled in the land of Canaan and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent towards Sodom and at this point notice what it says about Sodom and verse 13 says but the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly so at this point it's not like Sodom was like a righteous nation and then eventually it went bad it's already a wicked nation at this point where lots kind of inching his way over there it's a wicked sinful nation exceedingly and we know why okay because it's a bunch of reprobate abominable garbage that's going on over there and then by the time chapter 19 comes around God's done with it I mean you got to imagine I don't want you to imagine okay it's it's you know we don't want to think about it's not hey we shouldn't speak of those things which have done to them in secret but what I'm what I'm saying though it's for God to rain fire and brimstone down on a city there had to been some ridiculous stuff that was going on think about what goes on in our country you know just from the abortions to all the wickedness and sodomy and all that stuff that goes on in our country and it hasn't rained fire and brimstone down yet now it will okay we are we've definitely touched on that God's just uh you know he's slow to anger but it's building up his wrath is building up for this country but he pitches his tent towards Sodom now this is when I think of this I think of the fact of those that are pitching their tent towards Hollywood or towards the television and towards all the wickedness that's on TV and all the TV shows and all the movies and all this garbage that they that they are just looking at and it's sucking them in it's desensitizing them to them you know when when that fag came in here on Sunday night you know everybody in here knows what to think about them because you're not brainwashed because you're not desensitized to it because you're reading the Bible and when you read the Bible you know exactly what the Bible says about them the Bible doesn't say they're cute the Bible doesn't say they're funny the Bible doesn't say that they're like your your your friend's best friend and you know they're just these little cute fags you know that you should have around and everybody's got their little you know fag friend or something like that you know that's what Hollywood will tell you that's what you know all these movies and all these TV shows and they'll also tell you that there's a majority there's like this this like 50 percent of the world is is a bunch of queers and this is not the case and I and it's funny you know you're saying why are you bringing up well it's talking about Sodom here so I'm bringing it up but what I'm saying is that you say you may ask you know why do you why do you keep bringing this up why does everybody keep bringing it up to me I want to I want the phoenix okay and I wrote on a plane and this is in my in my notes but the I went on a plane and this lady that I was talking to I was trying to you know talk to her about the gospel she's catholic and all this stuff and about at the end toward the end of the conversation she's just like you know you know I feel a little more confident talking to you about this type of stuff she's like what do you think about the homosexuals obviously she whispered it to me even though we're on a plane where no one can hear you she whispered it to me and she says what do you think about the homosexuals and I went through the reprobate doctor and she's like I can't believe I've never seen this I'm like you're in the catholic church that's why you haven't seen it you know because because that's who that person that should be teaching it is he is a queer pedophile or whatever he is but so I you know I was I was just on a plane this person wasn't saved I was trying to give her the gospel trying to talk to her about the bible and all that stuff but she asked me what I think about that she's and before I even give her an answer you know what she said to me she's like it's getting out of hand this is from an unsaved catholic woman that's reading some book about demons and angels and like just a you know nice lady you know and so then I go my brother and my Mike's dad passed away and I was just talking to the family and all that stuff and they and his aunt who we don't believe is saved but we're kind of talking to him about the gospel but you know like a lot of his family saved he's he's kind of and they were all testifying that it was because of Matt so he's been doing some work in his family and so that was a great testimony right there but his aunt was just kind of talking we're just kind of talking about the gospel talking about you know trying to get I was trying to give him some comforting passages about the fact that you know he believes his dad was saved so I mean that's comforting to know that you know this isn't the end we're going to see him again but his aunt last thing she mentioned to me she said do you believe in the homos I'm like believe in the homos I'm like what do you mean like like I don't believe in them I mean I don't like them I mean so and that's what she meant she's like what do you think about him I'm like well the bible says to reprobate and and all this stuff and and she's like well you know we should love him and have him in church though this is right after I kicked one out of our church right and I'm just like and so anyway what I was like well no I said I wouldn't have him in church I said I said they're reprobate they're past the hope of salvation and I was kind of explaining that well the other family members are getting it actually found out after I left Matt Mike's like well you took a stance on that because last thing one of the last things my dad said to me was the fact that if I ever went to a church and there was a queer in there he's like I'd walk out and like his mom was all about the fact that we don't have queers in our church and so so why do I bring it up because everybody keeps bringing it up to me okay everybody always wants to know what I think you know I go out soul hunting and sometimes I can't even get the gospel until they ask me well what do you think about the homos I think they're a bunch of vile reprobates they're gonna burn in hell that's what I think and so but it doesn't matter what I think what does the bible say about it the bible says it saw them it says they were wicked and sinners before the lord exceedingly and enough to where god completely decimated them you know I don't want to talk about the queers I wish people you know like obviously I'm all for speaking the truth and if people want to ask me anything about the bible I love talking about the bible but there's a lot of other things in the bible I'd rather talk about than the filthy fags okay but what I'm saying with this is is that it's being pumped into the minds of all of America and it's getting to the point where a lot of just unsafe people are like I'm sick of it it's disgusting and all they you know what sometimes you say it takes one person to say you know what that's disgusting it's wicked and I want nothing to do with it and the bible says it's an abomination and they're twice dead plucked up by the roots and they're going to be cast into the lake of fire that's their end and praise god for it and when someone stands up and says that sometimes you know there's going to be a lot of people like yeah I agree with that too I just didn't want to say it because they're too afraid of being called a bigot they're too afraid to be called like homophobic I'm not afraid of the fags I hate the fags there's a big difference because I'm not going to fear what man can do unto me I'm only going to fear what what god can do unto me and they should be fearing what the lord's going to do to them but there's no fear before and before their eyes and so anyway when when a lot pitched his tent towards Sodom what he was doing is that he was looking at it and isn't that where everything starts and go to James chapter one James chapter one because it all starts with what you're looking at then it starts with what you're lusting at and then that's when you commit sin and so there's a progression to this if you're not looking at it all the time you're not going to be thinking about it and you're not going to be tempted to lust after it but if that's all you're putting before your eyes then obviously that's just I mean there's just no way out of it so James chapter one verse 14 it says but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed then when lust hath conceived it bringeth for sin and sin when it is finished bringeth for death there is a progression but in order to for lust to be conceived you need to be you need to be looking at it go to Matthew chapter uh chapter five but I'm going to read to you Job 31 and verse one it says I made a covenant with mine eyes why then should I think upon a maid so Job is saying I made a covenant with my eyes why then should I think upon a maid because he said I'm basically saying I'm not going to even look at a young woman I'm only going to be thinking about my wife you know he doesn't say that he's only going to be thinking about his wife but that's basically what he's saying is that he's not going to commit it you're not going to commit adultery if you're not even looking at other women okay and so when I'm saying looking at him I'm talking about the fact that you're looking on them in a lustful manner and you're like staring at them and thinking about them in an inappropriate way okay so obviously you know you're going to see women you're going to see you know and ladies you're going to see men I mean it's just life you're going to run into people and so but there's a difference between looking on someone with lust because when lust hath conceived it bring forth sin and sin when it is finished bringing forth death and if you're not looking and dwelling on it you're not going to start lusting after it but in Matthew chapter 5 verse 28 Matthew 5 verse 28 famous passage but it says but I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart now obviously it's a sin this is a sin you're committing adultery in your heart if you're to lust after a woman you're married or they're married that's a sin and it would be considered adultery but it's not it's not as extreme as if you actually did commit adultery does that make sense now if you're not lusting after a woman in your heart would it make sense that you would even commit adultery then do you see how that starts it starts with you lusting after someone in your heart so when lust hath conceived to bring it forth sin and sin when it's finished bring it forth death because all you're doing is just murdering yourself pretty much to go commit adultery and you're getting a wound that's never going to be healed as it says in Proverbs and so that's what you got to think about is the progression David when he committed adultery you think it just started he just he was having a great marriage everything was going on and then all of a sudden he's just like boom adultery with Bathsheba you know obviously there's a progression there's a progression that started that he saw her lusted after her called her over to his place and then committed adultery and so the progression as far as how that happened if he wasn't on the rooftop looking at her it wouldn't have happened if you don't drink the first sip of alcohol you won't be an alcoholic period it's just the the the fact don't taste don't just just keep your eyes make a covenant with your eyes you're not going to think upon a mate and so but in Matthew 6 and verse 22 and just in the light of this there's there's a lot of power in the tongue and and James talks about that and then you know the bridle bridling your tongue but there's also a lot of power in your eyes and what you see and so in in Matthew 6 22 it says this the light of the body is the eye if therefore thine eye be single thy whole body shall be full of light but if thine eye be evil thy whole body shall be full of darkness if therefore the light that is in thee be darkness how great is that darkness so just the power of your sight and what you're looking at and just how that affects your whole body and affects everything that you do so Lot pitched his tent towards Sodom he was looking at it he was desiring it and so we need to remember that and obviously there's passage in first John chapter 2 it says love not the world neither the things that are in the world and says if any man loved the world the love of the father is not in him we need to not love Hollywood not love this world not love the wickedness that they promote but it says for all that is in the world the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father but is of the world and the world passes away and the lust thereof but he to do the will of God abideth forever and so the lust of the eyes that's what Lot had and he doesn't fall yet in this chapter but we know his end game we know what happens to Lot and to his family and so Lot is not an example we want to look to Abraham is Abraham's the friend of God that we're looked to and that's the person that we want to emulate not Lot Lot is the bad example okay and so but after Lot leaves what's interesting as soon as Lot leaves God's like hey I want to talk about a blessing I'm going to give you and it's interesting that you know when we purge ourselves from worldly Christians how God can use us and how we can do so much more things for God when we're not we don't have this anchor of just worldliness on us okay and obviously when we're just dealing with worldliness in general in our lives you know and wickedness and just getting sent out of our lives but I'm thinking about the fact of you you have people that that you've been hanging around with and all this stuff and they're dragging you down now when you're living for God and you're going soul-winding you're reading your Bible you usually don't have to worry about getting rid of them they'll get rid of you it's just a true case and when I when I got saved and I was getting into the things of God people they want to hang out with me you know unless you're doing what they're doing they don't want to hang out with you you know when I said no I don't want to go to that party I want to go drink and do all this other stuff you know they're like well you know what else are we going to do that's all they want to do so I mean they if you don't do what they want to do then you're just not going to hang out and so you tend they tend to not want to hang out with you because they don't want to do the stuff you're doing they want to do the stuff they're doing and so usually it takes care of itself you just get into a good church start doing what you need to be doing get grounded and start living a righteous life that stuff's going to kind of just fall off okay it's not like you're gonna have to hey we're gonna have to have a talk we can't be friends anymore okay that usually isn't the case you never usually have to have that talk okay I never had to have that talk I never said I just can't hang out with you anymore I haven't I just I mean it's just the fact that they're not going to want to hang out with me and so we need to think about that with with purging you know sin out of our lives but purging you know purging you know people that are bringing us down people that would entice us to go into something we don't want to go into but notice this this this blessing that that God gives to Abraham after after the departure after Lot leaves in Genesis chapter 13. Genesis 13 verse 14 it says and the Lord said unto Abram after that Lot was departed from him so notice is after he had departed from this is what he says said lift up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art northward and southward and eastward and westward for all the land which thou seest to thee will I give it and to thy seed forever and I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth so that if a man can number the dust of the earth then shall thy seed also be numbered arise walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it and I will give it unto thee then Abram removed his tent and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre which is in Hebron and built there an altar unto the Lord so once you get that worldly Christian stuff out of the sea notice the lot leaves and he's like hey I want to tell you about something so you want to see some blessings from God you want to see some some great works that you can do then yoke up with the wise you yoke up with the the godly Christians yoke up with those that love the Lord and love the Bible and just see the blessings flow in as far as God using you and so and obviously I know people can win people to Christ that are you know living sinful lives because the gospel has power but if you want to be the most effective for God you need to be living a righteous godly life get that get all the dross away from you you need to be purged so you bring forth more fruit and you need to get all that stuff out and so you know thinking back about Paul and and Barnabas and you know how they they left you know and people left him and the case was is that he didn't want to go because Mark left him when he when he departed from Pamphylia and left from the work but there's other people that left Paul. Demas it says in 2 Timothy chapter 4 says for Demas hath forsaken me having loved this present world so you have you have Mark who left the work you know and it could have just been laziness you know doesn't really say it was like persecution or anything or it doesn't really say that he loved the world Demas it was he loved this present world so he was choked by the cares of this life right he was choked by the riches and and Mark you know it's almost kind of like he's just like tired of doing the work or something I don't know but when he did that you know God was blessing him and 1st Corinthians chapter 5 it talks about this with the church when you have Christians and we're just talking about Christians you know I'm not talking about unsaved family members and friends that you're trying to win the Christ I'm talking about people that are that are saved but they're not living godly lives and 1st Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 6 1st Corinthians chapter 5 verse 6 it says your glorying is not good know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump this is applied to false doctrine in Galatians but in this case it's talking about people that are committing really bad sins like fornication like there was fornication in the church where he committed he committed adultery pretty much with his father's wife and you know basically they need they needed to kick him out of the church that's what he's basically saying is you need to purge this out okay and there's just a list there's a list of things they need to purge out but it says in verse 7 purge out therefore the old leaven that ye may be a new lump as ye are unleavened for even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us therefore let us keep the feast not with a old leaven neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth so he's basically saying hey you need to get rid of this leaven so that you can be a new lump and basically purge yourself from that wickedness because basically if there's sin in the church it's affecting everybody it's just like when you add if you add leaven to to the law is it you know they're a part of the body and in first corinthians chapter 12 talks about the fact that if one part of that body hurts the whole body hurts if one's rejoicing the whole is rejoicing we're all in this together and you can't have certain pieces that are just in wickedness okay and that's why that's the reason for purging people out of the church and hopefully they get back they get they they get restored that's the ultimate goal that's the whole point of you know purging them out so that they can get out there and realize hey i need to get things right so i can get back in the church but it's saying you know obviously it goes on it says i wrote them to you in this epistle not to accompany with fornicators in verse 9 yeah not all together with the fornicators of this world or with the covetous or extortioners or with idolaters but then must ye needs go out of the world so we're not talking about the fact that you're not supposed to be hanging out with now obviously that shouldn't be your best friend you know these unsaved people right but it's basically saying hey you can keep company with them because you're trying to get them saved it's not saying to keep company with what they do but just the fact that hey they could be a drunkard but hey i'm trying to give them the gospel i'm trying to get them saved but it says but now i have written unto you not to keep company if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator or covetous or an idolater and it goes down through this list of things that we should you know if someone were to be this kind of person like an extortioner or a drunkard they're not to be in the church at the end of the the verse 13 there says therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person and so we see this as a biblical principle especially in the church as far as hey we need to make sure that we we kind of cut the mustard so to speak or the leaven of wickedness that could be in the church and that list is something that's very extreme okay now covetousness i'm not talking about someone you know we all have we all deal with certain amount of you know dealing with hey i i wish i had a better house so i wish you know what i mean and so there's there's always going to be those things when we're talking about a covetous person we're talking about like a donald trump or yeah donald trump you know someone that like that's all they live for and they just it's all about material things and that stuff can creep into a church where everybody starts getting you know that's all they want is material things it's like if someone came in and said man we need to get a nicer building we need to do this and you know it's all about the material things and it's not about the work you know that's going to infect the people here does that make sense so that's what i'm talking about i'm talking about someone that's like you maybe say a habitual you know coveter okay not someone that you know we all deal with that you know well we desire things that we shouldn't have okay and obviously i'm not a thought police person okay so obviously this person it would have to be someone that was outwardly influencing people to be materialistic does that make sense because you could be covetous all day long in your mind no one will know about it okay and obviously fornication that's something you're going to have to know outwardly it's like i can't know you know what i mean it's not if someone was coming here i don't know them from adam i they could be you know and you never know but but if they're shacked up with somebody and they're living with somebody they're not married to then yeah i mean that's that's enough proof for me so but uh but anyway i just want to see that with a lot of name abraham and lot is the fact that abraham was blessed after he you know lot left him lot fell out so you have a k you have two cases here you have one word lot's kind of you know purging out or abraham's purging out maybe something that would drag him down well with lot he needed abraham and when when he didn't have abraham it's all downhill and so you need to think about that especially being in church and being around godly people being around leaders and and people that you know that's why your kids need you as parents to lead the charge because they need somebody they can't they're not going to do it on their own children they're just not going to do it on their own and we can't expect them to do it on their own and so that's as parents we need to be leading that charge they need us there and if we're not doing it then they'd fall by the wayside as well and so but the last thing i wanted to touch on is the fact that what was promised to abraham here this blessing that was promised to him now in chapter 12 what was promised to him that god would make of him a great nation and that through him all the nations of the earth shall be blessed so it's basically promising that he was going to be a great people like god was going to multiply him right well this is actually a different promise this is the promise of the land that he's going to give him now what i want you to see is that you know when he said when he promised that he was going to get you know give him a make of him a great nation and that all the earth through him shall be blessed and i'll bless them that bless thee and curse them that curse thee remember all the these the vows and the vines and well guess what it's the same thing in this chapter now notice what it says in verse 15 it says for all the land which thou seest to thee will i give it and to thy seed forever notice the singular seed and the singular you which is thee that's what it says in verse 16 i will make thy seed as the dust of the earth so that if a man can number the dust of the earth then shall thy seed also be numbered arise walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it for i will give it unto thee now when when i know we've gone there a million times okay you know i'm not a zionist and i'm going to keep pounding that dead horse i'm going to kick it i'm going to shoot it but go to galatians chapter three because there may be something that you didn't really maybe maybe didn't really notice in this man every jot and every tittle in the bible every jot and every tittle is important the bible truly is perfect but in galatians chapter three verse 16 we're usually focusing on the fact that it's seed singular to really drive home the point that when he says to die seed he's talking about christ he's not just talking about just anybody that's born of abraham or descendants of abraham but notice what it says verse uh verse 16 so galatians 3 verse 16 now to abraham and his seed were the promises made notice the plural on the promises because there's more than one promise that was made to abraham and to his seed one was the fact that you know christ was going to come through him and that all nations would be blessed through him and you know the blessing you know the blessed them to bless thee and curse them to curse thee that was in genesis 12 this is a different promise this is a promise of the land the land of israel was promised to abraham into his seed and guess who that seed is christ so we have a bunch of zionists today that want to say you know well that land over there belongs to the jews it belongs to the anti-christ jews you know who is a liar but he denied the jesus of the christ he's anti-christ to deny the father and the son and so they want to tell us you know they want to keep saying you know well you know he promised that land to them forever though he promised it to abraham and to his seed forever that's right that's the true case and guess what the seed is those that are believers okay so that land is actually promised to us it's a promise to christ and to all those that are in christ but you know people are going to why i bring this up is because people are going to bring this up to you and be like well that land it's an everlasting covenant that that land was to israel i agree with that but to which israel to the just physical nation of israel or to the spiritual israel to the true israel to the israel of god and you know i and we these are familiar passages but but before you go to the familiar ones uh second chronicles uh chapter 20 kind of reiterates what's said here but again the consistency of the bible with this when it says seed singular and when it says the abraham singular when it gives this promise the consistency is amazing and i love it i love it because it just just nails this point home that the land was not just promised to just descendants of abraham it was promised to abraham himself and to his seed which is christ but notice in the second chronicles chapter 20 and verse 7 it says art not thou our god who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people israel and gavest it to the seed of abraham thy friend forever no seed singular and abraham thy friend forever isn't that exactly what was said in genesis chapter 13 but in galatians chapter 3 and you know if you want to turn this is where we're going to kind of end on this but but i just wanted to see that galatian chapter 3 13 or 3 16. galatians 3 16 is a powerful verse i mean that is the uppercut to all the zionist arguments out there because all the promises were made to abraham into seed and it says he saith not into seeds as of many but as of one and to thy seed which is christ that verse is packed it is just like uh you know that's all you need but as you go down to the end of the chapter you say well okay was it only promised to christ himself well no because in galatians 3 29 it ends off that chapter saying and if ye be christ then are ye abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise so we're heirs to that promise why because we put our faith in christ that we're blessed with faithful abraham all those who are in faith are blessed with faithful abraham and we're heirs according to the promise because we're in christ if that's not enough for you romans chapter 9 romans chapter 9 puts this to bed but notice that it keeps bringing up seed seed seed it's talking about the seed because that's who the promise was made to to abraham and to his seed abraham and his seed abraham and his seed abraham and see it just keeps repeating it over and over again so when you're in the new testament it talks about who's the seed it's very important that it's talking it's saying hey this isn't just natural born people this isn't just the people of the flesh it's to those that are believers romans chapter 9 verse 6 it says not as though the word of god had taken none effect for they are not all israel which are of israel neither because they are the seed of abraham are they all children but in isaac shall thy seed be called notice the different seeds there and it says that is they which are the children of the flesh these are not the children of god but the children of the promise are counted for the seed and so it's very clear that these promises the promise that the christ would come through him that all nations would be blessed through him and that those that bless him and curse him you know all those things were to him singular into a seed singular which is christ the land was the same way that land in israel is christ's and right now it's the spiritual sodom in egypt and so right now you know it's going to be cleansed one of these days it's going to be trodden underfoot of the gentiles for 42 months when the anti-christ comes on the scene but then it's going to be cleansed and that's where christ is going to rule and reign for a thousand years and until new jerusalem comes down from heaven which is who we look to right not jerusalem which which is which is in bondage with their children but jerusalem which is above which is the mother of us all and so there's so much scripture on that but just see in the old testament do you see how consistent it is with the new testament do you see how it all fits together and that doesn't contradict throughout even if you get into second chronicles into the kings and all this stuff how it reiterates it the same exact way and if you have another version of the bible it doesn't say that so you want to stick with the king james and i'm preaching to the choir obviously no one in here is going to be like yeah i don't want an niv no but but it's an interesting chapter this is where that land was promised to him but it's the same as as genesis chapter 12 it's to abraham himself the friend of god and to his seed which is christ so great chapter and i just love going through genesis it's just a lot of fun so let's end with a with a word of prayer here dear heavenly father we thank you for this evening and pray that you'd be with us as we sing one more song to you but also as we go home i pray that you give us safety in our travels i pray that you'd be with all those that aren't feeling well especially with my little girls i pray that you'd help them to to get over this cold or whatever they have and and anybody else that's not feeling well i think i think allison with the russell family i don't i think she was kind of feeling under the weather and and what we do pray that you'd be with with ruth with a pregnancy i pray everything would go well i pray she'd protect the baby and just uh just pray that she'd be able to go full term and lord just also with all with brother matt mike with his dad passing away i pray to be with him give him strength give him wisdom and just give him comfort to this whole thing and lord we love you and pray else in jesus christ name amen