When God poured out His righteous judgement of fire and brimstone and wiped out the perverted society of Sodom and Gomorrah in vengence against their legalised homosexual practices (sodomy) as an example for all time, one man and his wife and two daughters escaped - but not completely.

The man's name was Lot ( in Hebrew meaning " a wrapping " ! ), a nephew of Abraham who was the father of Israel.

Lot was no gay. In fact, as a very "moral" man he detested such ungodly and inexcusable perversion. However he was not motivated to take the plunge to actually separate himself from those well-watered plains of Jordan. ( Jordan means judgement. )

• CALLED OUT
  
  But the day came when God opened Lot's earth-bound eyes and called him out, indeed dragged him out.

• LUKEWARM
  
  Yes, spiritually, Lot was a lukewarm customer, as also his wife and children, though his 'wrapper' was moral enough! And though they seemingly escaped, Lot's wife lingered for a last backward look at the city she had  come out of ( but not in heart ), and was overtaken with the same judgement as that city.
  
  
• THE HALFWAY HOUSE OF 'GRACE'
  
  And Lot, after haggling with the angels who had come to rescue him, settled for a halfway house called ZOAR (meaning 'little' ), between Sodom and the mountains to which he had been called to go, ( the sort of country where Abraham lived ).
  Lot's 'deal' with the angels was on the grounds of what he called God's 'mercy' and abundant 'grace'- that God would surely accomodate a little ( 'Zoar' ) of the 'old life', his supposed 'new life' in the context of the carnal plains of Sodom, new cloth to an old garment, good seed on stony / weedy ground!
  
  
• REVEALED BY FIRE
  
  However, God's mercy and love in reality were such that when the heat of God's righteous indignation hit the low-down plain of Lot's lukewarm comfort zone, he was glad to do what he was first meant to do and escape to the mountains, walking by faith above the plain of the world - 'the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eye, and the pride of life.
  But alas, even then, it was only to face the fruits of his double-mindedness and external standards-the discovery that both his daughters were themselves perverts!
  Add to that the revealation of time, that their offspring were to be arch enemies and perverters of Israel itself !
  
  A sad story indeed ! to say the least.
  
  
• TODAY'S SODOM
  
  No wonder Jesus warned the world for all time,
  

REMEMBER LOT'S WIFE.....and,
as it was in the days of Lot, this is
exactly how it will be at the end time'
-His Second Coming and the judgement.
  ( Luke 17:28-32.)

• LOT'S WIFE TODAY
  
  Add to that 'Lot's wife' - Ms Carnal 'Christian' - perhaps something on Sunday, but her heart is still hooked on the 'good life' of this world, 'the fertile plains of Jordan' the other six days of the week.
  
  
• TODAY'S LOT
  
  Then there is lukewarm Lot, inside his religious wrapping. He is doing an inter-church Bible course! is evangelically involved, attending 'spirit-filled' weekend retreats - as ecumenical a mix-up as you like - 'rain on the just and the unjust'. Unashamedly, again, 'carnal Christianity' is the name of the game almost without exception; a mix of the supposed new-life, spirit filled if you wish, with the leaven of the old, on the pretext of the permissiveness of God's mercy and grace (for 'no one is perfect' you know, that is, in obedience).
  Nothing has changed!
  'The gospel of grace' they call it.
  'Hog wash' / 'dog vomit', Peter calls it!
  But no! 'Grace is unconditional.'
  'Once saved means you are always saved.'
  And even (in some cases) 'there is no hell', though (maybe) a heaven!
  Salvation is not salvation from sin (known disobedience).
  God does not see sin in us, only the blood of Christ's cover-up.
  Sinners go to heaven under the 'robe of Chist's righteousness'.
  ( You better believe it. )
  Indulgences for sin, once charged for by 'the holy Christian church' is now evangelically proclaimed to be free!
  
  
• FURTHER DOCTRINES OF ZOAR
  
  And so today we  find so many have settled for the halfway house of Zoar,
  the lukewarm mix of hot and cold, flesh and spirit,
  the Samarian doctrine of serving the gods of the culture and the God of heaven.
  We follow Jesus...at a safe distance and 'by their works deny Him'.
  We preach and seek the prosperity of the 'loaves and fishes' of personal affluence, rather than 'those things which are above'.
  We wrest  Scriptures to pretend they say 'Judge not', when they say the opposite (except for hypocrites), and that a converted Paul was carnal, sold unto sin!
  ( Did you ever hear such shameless blasphemy! )
  And the Serpent has again beguiled Eve, who again wears the pants and rides her high horse of anti-feminity, war paint and all!
  ZOAR for sure.....and My people love to have it so!
  
  
• THE ABRAHAMIC MESSAGE
  
  But the Abrahamic covenant-message remains the same, though unheard...unwanted...unpermitted...persecuted...perverted...compromised...railed against, namely:.
  'Come ye out of her my people and be ye separate.'............( Revelation 18:4, 2 Corinthians 6:17 )
  'What fellowship has light with darkness.'.........( 2Corinthians 6:14 )
  'Go forth unto Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.'..................( Hebrews 13:13 )
  'They who are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts.'........( Galations 5:24 )
  'Sin shall not have dominion over you.......under grace.'...............( Romans 6:14 )
  'Now being made free from sin ( known / wilful ), you have your fruit unto holiness, without which no man will see the Lord.'.........( Romans 6:22, Hebrews 12:14 )
  'By their fruits ye shall know them.'....................(Matthew 7:16, 20)
  'I would you were hot or cold. Because you are lukewarm (a hot-cold mix), I will spew you out of my mouth.'........(Revelation 3:15, 16)
  'A piece of new cloth is not put to an old garment and new wine into old wine skins - without  the last state being worse than the first!'..............(Matthew 9:16, 17, Peter 2:20, Luke 11:26)
  'Abraham, walk before Me and be though perfect ( in faith-obedience ) and I will perform (K.J.'make') My ( conditional ) covenant with you.........(Genesis 17:2)
  .....and so for 66 books of the Bible in the light of our acceptance of salvation through Christ, not just in language, but in spirit and in truth - faith which is alive, not dead and therefore without fruit e.g. of repentance / separation from the old life.
  
  
• YOU AND ME
  
  It is true, the majority will never heed Christ's warning regarding Sodom, Gomorrah, Lot's wife and ZOAR!
  What about you?
  Never can we say that we did not know, can we! nor miss the point that Jesus made:
                                      'MANY ARE CALLED, BUT FEW CHOSEN.'                      (Matthew 20:16)
  
  

• THE WARNING
  
  How well we are warned:
  

'Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure!
'For if after we have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour  Jesus Christ, we are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with us than the beginning'
'For it had been better for us not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after we have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto us.'
'But it is happened unto us according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.'
'Ye therefore, beloved, seeing you (now) know these things before (hand), beware lest you also, being lead away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness!'
                                                                         ( 2 Peter 1:10, 2:20-22, 3:17.)

• THE QUESTION
  
  So the question remains:
  
  Are we willing to leave the comfort zone of where we are today?
  
                                                 Dear friend, it wouldn't pay  to leave the answer too long, would it!
  
  
  Brother Donald Wilson
  27.02.2003
  Luke 13: 6-9