Pastor Adrian Rogers presents a compelling message about the alluring and treacherous nature of the world’s system, as illustrated by Lot’s story. This episode encourages believers to critically evaluate their relationship with the world, emphasizing the need for a Christ-centered life that transcends worldly temptations. As Rogers walks us through Biblical passages, he uncovers the painful consequences faced by those who waver between love for God and love for the world, urging listeners to choose a path of spiritual integrity and purpose.
This message is given by Adrian Rogers and Loveworth Finding Ministries.
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Turn to Genesis chapter 13. The title of the message, Is It Really Just a Small, Small World? Genesis chapter 13, verses 12 and 13. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, And 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. Is it really just a small, small world? The church has become worldly. And the world has become churchy. And it’s so hard to tell the difference between the church and the world. We hear a lot about the separation of church and state. We need to hear more about the separation of church and world. Now here’s what God’s Word says. In 1 John chapter 2 verse 15, love not the world. Neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Now when we say the world, what we mean by the word world? It’s a translation of the Greek word cosmos. And when the Bible tells us not to love the world, it’s not talking about planet Earth. God made planet Earth and God said that is good. All of nature is the handiwork of Almighty God and this is a beautiful world that God has made. Amen? And when God says, love not the world, he’s not talking about the people of the world because God loves everybody. Red, yellow, black, and white, they’re precious in his sight. And the Bible says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. He’s not talking about the planet. He’s not talking about the people. But when the Bible says, love not the world, he’s talking about a system, an ungodly system. The word translated world, I say, is the word cosmos. And it means order, order. It has an idea of a philosophy, a system. For example, we speak of the world of finance. We speak of the world of sports. We speak of the world of fashion. What we’re talking about now is not a people and not a place, but we’re talking about a system, a cosmos. When a woman puts on her cosmetics, what is she doing? She’s putting her face in order. Now, there is a certain system that the Bible says that those of us who are children of God… must not love, and indeed we must come out of as we’re going to see very clearly. Now let me tell you four things about this world before we get into the text itself. This world, this world system has a prince. Now don’t forget this. I want to give you some scriptures. I’m going to have many scriptures today. Don’t try to turn to them. Simply jot them, if you will, on a piece of paper. First of all, the prince of this world, and Jesus had much to say about the prince of this world. The prince of this world is Satan himself. John chapter 12, verse 31. Jesus said, Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince… of this world be cast out now he was talking about Satan who would be defeated at the cross and Jesus called him the prince of this world in John chapter 14 and verse 30 the Lord Jesus said the prince of this world cometh And hath nothing in me. That is, there was nothing that Satan could accuse Jesus of. But Jesus called him the prince of this world. In John chapter 16, verse 11, Jesus said judgment is coming. Judgment is sure. Because he says, because the prince… The prince of this world is judged. So what I’m saying is that this world system has a prince. And that’s the reason the apostle Paul said, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities. That is a system that has a prince over it, against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world. Satan… has many underlings who call him master. Satan has an intricate organization. He has a network of worldly wickedness and Satan is the prince of this world. Now the world has a prince. His name is Satan. Jesus told us that. But not only does the world have a prince, the world has a philosophy. It’s very important that you understand this. There is an enticing network of ideas and values that are skillfully woven together to entrap the most innocent of people. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 19, that the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. Now that tells us two things. First of all, this world has its wisdom. Number two, that God scoffs at the wisdom of this world. Again, 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 31. The Bible speaks of the fashion of this world which is passing away. This world has its wisdom. It has its fashion. It goes from the schoolhouse to the statehouse, from Madison Avenue to Wall Street. It may appear in theme parks. It may seem innocent and sometimes beautiful. But this world has a prince. This world has a philosophy and this world has a purpose. Are you following me? A prince, a philosophy, and a purpose. What is the purpose? It has a calculated plan. It has an unwavering purpose. And what is that purpose? It is unutterably hostile to the things of God. unutterably hostile to the things of God. Now listen carefully, because I’m trying to give you the Word of God clearly. Jesus, speaking of the world, said in John chapter 7 and verse 7, “‘The world cannot hate you, but me it hateth, because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil.'” Now, everybody will hear a lot about the loving Jesus, the accepting Jesus, the nonjudgmental Jesus, but that’s not the Jesus of the Bible. That is not the Jesus of the Bible. Jesus said, “…the world hateth me because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil.” And then the Bible says that the world cannot understand what Jesus has to say in John 14, verse 17. Jesus said, “…the Holy Spirit is coming, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him.” You talk to a moral whirling about the things of God and he will say, hey, I don’t agree with you. I don’t see it that way. And he, my friend, is not lying. He cannot see it. The world hates the things of God. He doesn’t understand it. Now you say, Pastor Rogers, isn’t everybody supposed to love us? No. Is that a surprise to you? John chapter 15 verse 18. If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. You cannot, you cannot be a friend of Jesus and a friend of this world. Put this one down big, plain and straight. James chapter 4 and verse 4 says, You adulterers and adulteresses, know you not that friendship of the world is enmity with God? That means warfare. Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Now this world has a purpose. It is a system calculated to capture the hearts and minds of many people. And one day this system will enthrone Satan, Superman, the Antichrist. It has a prince. It has a philosophy. It has a purpose. And it has a people. There are people of this world. Jesus called them in Luke chapter 16 and verse 8, the children of this world. Now, understand this, that we are in the world, but we’re not of the world. Now, we are twice born. They are once born. And we’re going to find ourselves going against the tide most of the time. We are members of the human world. We live in the physical world. But we do not belong to this world’s system. Does that surprise you? Did you think that we were to be saved and on the way to heaven? But just a part of this world’s system? May I tell you clearly from the Word of God that separation from the world and separation unto Almighty God is the first duty of any believer. Separation from the world and separation unto God is the first duty. The Bible tells us in Romans chapter 12 and verse 2, we are not to be conformed to this world, but transformed. by the renewing of our mind. Jesus said in John 15, verse 19, I have chosen you out of the world. Therefore the world hateth you. To talk about a worldly Christian, Billy Sunday used to say, would be like talking of a heavenly devil. Now, The Apostle John has warned us. 1 John 2, verses 15 through 17. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. And then John tells us what the world is. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh… The lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abides forever. Now all of that is an introduction to the message today, because the message today is going to be an illustration of this principle. This principle that there is a system, an ungodly system. It has a prince. It has a philosophy. It has a purpose. And it has a people. Now, if you’re a child of God, and if you are a child of God, I want to tell you clearly and plainly, you are going to find yourself in conflict with this world. And you’re going to find out as a child of God, you’re not to be in collusion with this world. You’re to be in collision with this world. Now, that may not suit you. You may say, I don’t like that. I don’t want that. And that will be your choice. That’ll be your privilege. But I’m telling you as clearly and as plainly as I know how, and God helped me to say it, you cannot be a friend of this world and a friend of Jesus at the same time. And the same world that crucified Jesus will break your neck if it can, if you stand up for the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, there was a man who loved God. His name was Lot. And that man tried to be a friend of the world and a friend of God at the same time. And it got him into horrible problems. Now, what happened is this. Lot, who was the nephew of a man named Abraham, whose name at this particular time was Abram, it had not yet been changed to Abraham. Lot and Abram were uncle and nephew. They lived in the land of Canaan and there came a range war between Lot’s herdsmen and Abram’s herdsmen. And Abram was the magnanimous rich uncle. And so he said to Lot, Lot, There ought not be any strife between us. Not only are we related in the family, but we’re in the family of God. Let there be no strife. Lot, you just choose. Whichever way you want to go, you go. If you go this way, I’ll go that way. You go north, I’ll go south. You go east, I’ll go west. Whichever way you want to go, just simply go. And the Bible tells us that Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom. Notice, if you will, in Genesis chapter 13, verse 10. 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. Even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. And Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan. And Lot journeyed east. And they separated themselves, the one from the other. Now what happened is this. That Lot, Lot was charmed by this world. Here’s the first point in the message. The world… has its charming persuasions. Write that down. The world, the world has its charming persuasions. Now, the place that Lot wanted to go to was beautiful and delightful and luxurious and tantalizing and charming and persuasive. But Sodom, stood for all that God hated. Because there was a sin in Sodom, it was the sin of homosexuality. And it was absolutely contrary to the Word of God. Now, never argue with me about this because I will not argue with you about it. I’ll point you to the Word of God and step out of the argument. Let me give you God’s word. Leviticus chapter 18, verse 22. Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind. It is abomination. It is abomination. Now, I didn’t make that up. I am a preacher of the Word of God. The argument is not with me. It is not with a Baptist. It is with the Word of God for yea or nay. Now, that which is an abomination to God has become a source of pride to other people. Isaiah chapter 3 and verse 9. The show of their countenance doth witness against them. And they declare their sin as Sodom. They hide it not. Woe unto their soul. For they have rewarded evil unto themselves. When perversion goes on parade. God says, woe unto these people. When they show their sin as Sodom, the show of their countenance does witness against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. How does God feel about this sin? Romans chapter 1, verses 24 through 26. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. Who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the creator who is blessed forever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections. For even their women did change the natural use unto that which is against nature. And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another. Men with men, working that which is unseemly and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error, which was meat. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient. And then God concludes this passage in verse 32, who speaks of people who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do them, but have pleasure in them that do them. That is, they get their entertainment this way. Not only do they do them, but they have pleasure in them that do them. Now again, I want to remind you of what God said about Sodom in Genesis 13, verse 13. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. But here was a man, his name was Lot, and the world to Lot had its charming persuasions. Now, Lot moved toward Sodom. Sodom… WAS SATAN’S MASTERPIECE. REMEMBER WHAT JOHN SAID? FIRST JOHN 2, VERSE 16, FOR ALL THAT IS IN THE WORLD, THE LUST OF THE FLESH, THE LUST OF THE EYES, AND THE PRIDE OF LIFE IS NOT OF THE FATHER, BUT IS OF THE WORLD. THINK ABOUT SODOM. And think about some other places that you might know. There was the lust of the flesh, Sodom with its pleasures. There was the lust of the eyes, Sodom with its possessions. There was the pride of life, Sodom with its philosophies. And so Lot… becomes a friend of Sodom. Now, what does that have to do with me? What does that have to do with you? Well, the same forces that had its charming persuasions to pull away Lot, those same forces are working on the people of God today daily. Second point. First point. The world has its charming persuasions. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Gloriously beautiful, unspeakably wicked. Second point, the world has its controlling power. The world has its controlling power. Now the Bible says in Romans chapter 12 that we’re not to be conformed to this world. This world will squeeze you into a mold. But it’ll happen very subtly. Let me give you four steps in Lot’s life. Step number one, direction. Look, if you will, in verse 12. And the Bible says the last part of that. And Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom. Now underscore that. Pitched his tent toward. Toward Sodom. Now all this was, was a direction just moving toward Sodom. He’s not in Sodom. He’s just taking a step toward Sodom. And I would ask every mother and father, I would ask every teenager here today, have you done that? Have you taken just simply a step toward Sodom? Have you begun to move in an ungodly direction? First direction and then decision. Genesis chapter 14 and verse 12, the Bible says there that Lot dwelt in Sodom. Now remember, first of all, there was direction. And then there was decision. He decided to move into Sodom. I don’t know what happened. He just moved closer and closer and closer. Soon he was living in the suburbs of Sodom. And finally he said, well, it’d be a whole lot simpler if I just simply moved into Sodom. I don’t have to partake of their sins. Direction, decision, and then deception. What has happened to Sodom now, his conscience has become dull. He finds himself very much at home in Sodom. What once used to amaze him now amuses him. And he now has a conscience that is dull. He has become a solid citizen of Sodom. As a matter of fact, he becomes a VIP. He finds himself on the city council. In Genesis chapter 19 and verse 1, the Bible says he’s sitting in the gates of Sodom. Now what that means, sitting in the gates, if you understood, it’s the same thing as saying he’s in the courthouse. That’s where the business is being done. First of all, direction, then decision, then deception. He now is so deceived that he cannot see what is happening in Sodom. Now you see, Lot was a good man. He was a godly man. But I want you to see how the devil deceived him and finally destroyed his testimony and everything else. He moves into Sodom. He becomes a leader of Sodom. His wife… is high up in Sodom society. His girls go to Sodom High. Maybe they’re cheerleaders there. They begin to date the boys of Sodom. And now here’s a man who has become a solid citizen of Sodom. And now he is calling the men of Sodom his brothers. He has sunk so low. Lot moved into Sodom and Sodom has moved into Lot. Now here’s the third thing. The world has its corrupting pollution. You cannot play with fire and not be burned. Now what happened is this, that God sent two angels to warn Lot. And God, may I say, though I’m no angel, God has given me to warn you. But God sent two angels to warn Sodom of the coming judgment day. to warn Lot of the coming judgment on Sodom. But when those two angels came to Lot’s house, the sex perverts of Sodom tried to commit sodomy on those two angels. It’s one of the most sordid stories in all of the Bible. And Lot on the inside of the house said, come into this house quickly. Get out of the streets of Sodom. You don’t know what’s about to happen to you. These are holy angels who have taken the form of human beings and they are pulled into the house of Lot. And Lot goes out to the milling angry crowd of Sodomites outside of his house. And Lot says, listen, these men are my guests. Don’t do this to these men. I have two virgin daughters. who’ve never known a man. “‘I will give you my daughters. “‘Do to my daughters what you will.'” Can you imagine a man who simply pitched his tent towards Sodom is now sacrificing his daughters to the lust of the Sodomites. You read about it in Genesis 19 verse 4. But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, come past the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter. And they called unto Lot and said unto him, Where are the men which came into thee this night? Bring them out unto us that we may know them. That’s a euphemistic way of saying that we may commit sodomy with them. And Lot went out the door unto them and shut the door after him and said, I pray you, brethren. Now he’s calling them brothers. I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold, now I have two daughters which have not known men. Let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you and do ye to them as it is good in your eyes. May God have mercy. Here was a man who has sunk so low. The angels say to Lot, Lot, we’re going to destroy this place with fire and brimstone. Lot, you’ve got to get out of Sodom because God is going to rain fire and brimstone upon Sodom. But do you know what? Lot just lingers in Sodom. It’s so hard for him to give up Sodom. In Genesis chapter 19, verse 16, the Bible says, “…and while he lingered,” I can hardly believe this, “…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. They had to say, come on, Lot. Get out of this place. Come on, come on, come on. God is going to destroy this place with fire and brimstone. And Lot, now so in love with Sodom, can hardly bring himself to leave Sodom. The world had wrapped its sticky fingers around Lot’s heart. His wife was so full of the love of Sodom. that she could not bear not to look back. And the Bible says in Genesis chapter 19, verse 26, but his wife looked back from behind him and she became a pillar of salt. Here was Lot’s wife who had lived in Sodom so long that she had the devil’s initials carved on her heart. She was covered with the slimy fingerprints of Sodom. She had to look back upon her darling city. And it gets worse. I’m not even going to go into this. But Lot’s own daughters got him drunk and he committed incest with his own daughters in a drunken stupor. That, my friend, is the pollution of the world. We talk about the world with its persuasions. We talk about the world with its philosophies. But friend, this is a dirty world. It is a dirty world and it will pollute you. You cannot play with fire and not be burned. Now, here’s the final thing. Not only the world and its corrupting pollutions, but think with me for a moment about the world and its costly price. What did God do to Sodom? God burned Sodom with fire and brimstone. Turn this time to Genesis chapter 19, if you will. And look, if you will, in verse 24. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. Now every now and then somebody will call a preacher a fire and brimstone preacher. Hey folks, I’m just reading this, okay? This is the Word of God. If you don’t like it, take it up with God. Don’t take it up with me. When it makes you angry, you come and apologize to me and I’ll forgive you, okay? And then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities and all the plain and the inhabitants of those cities and that which grew upon the ground. The Lord has its costly price. God’s judgment fell upon Sodom and upon all of this ungodly system. There was a shower of red rain. If you were to go to Israel as I’ve been today, you could go to the southern part of the Dead Sea. It was once a beautiful and a fertile place. It is nothing but absolute barrenness. Because God destroyed that which could have been the first atomic blast here upon this earth. Do you believe that literally happened? Well, let me tell you that Jesus believed it happened. Let me give you what Jesus said about it. In Luke chapter 17, verses 28 through 30. Jesus is saying that as it was in the days of Lot, it’s going to be in the last days before he comes back to this earth. Jesus prophesied. Jesus prophesied. The sodomite revolution of the last days. Luke chapter 17, verse 28. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot. They did eat. They drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. The Son of Man is a word for Jesus. It speaks of Jesus. Now listen, folks, that is none other authority than the Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus said clearly and plainly that as it was in the days of Lot, it is going to be in the last days just before he comes. Simon Peter and Jude both speak of this. Peter said in 2 Peter 2, verse 6, that he turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah unto ashes, condemning them with an overthrow. Now listen, and making them an example to those that after should live ungodly. Do you understand that? I say, do you understand it that God left Sodom with its smoking ruins as an example? as an example to those that after should live ungodly. And Jude, verse 7 says this, even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. It is now utter desolation. Lot loved the wrong world. I’m talking now about the price that he paid. Let me tell you, it cost him in three areas primarily. First of all, in the area of his faith. of his faith. He was a man who loved God. In this story, you’ll find God speaking to Abraham. But you don’t find God saying a word to Lot. Lot is now blinded by sin. God finally comes to Lot and pulls Lot out before the fire and the brimstone fall. But Lot does not have the fellowship with God that Abraham had. Abraham was a friend of God. Lot, when he was in the world, was the enemy of God. Friendship with the world is enmity with God. Now, when God saves you, precious friend, when God saves you, if you do not come out from the world, if you do not live a separate and a godly life, You’ll never have any joy. You’ll never have any strong faith. When God saves you, God does not fix you where you cannot sin. anymore god just fixes you where you cannot sin and enjoy it anymore and the bible says that this man lot vexed his righteous soul he had just enough religion to make him miserable in the world and just enough worldliness to make him miserable in his worship and he was miserable in both halves of his life but it cost him in his faith it cost him in his family he lost his family I believe Lot’s family is in hell. I believe his wife is in hell. I believe his daughters are in hell. I believe his sons-in-law are in hell. Lot, when he finally understood what God was going to do to Sodom, Lot tried to warn his family And listen to this, Genesis chapter 19 verse 4. And Lot went out and spake unto his sons-in-law, which married his daughters, and said, Get you up out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked to his sons-in-law. They laughed at him. Who are you, Mr. Lott, sitting in the gate? Who are you to tell us to get out of this city? You self-righteous bigot. They laughed at him. And there’s some of you, you may go to heaven, you may be saved, but you are such a rotten moral whirling that your loved ones are going to die and go to hell because they stumble over your rotten testimony. You’re writing testimony. They laugh at you. You come and talk to them about Jesus Christ and they see you living with one foot in the world and one foot in the church. Here was a man. He suffered the loss in his fortune. Oh, he was a businessman. And there’s nothing wrong with business. He was a wealthy man. There’s nothing wrong with wealth. Abraham also was a wealthy man. But I’m telling you this, friend, it all went up in smoke. And when it went up in smoke, he had nothing left in this world or the world to come. The Bible says there in the New Testament that when we come to the judgment seat of Christ, if any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss. But he himself shall be saved, yet so is my fire. What a picture of Lot. He got out of Sodom with his coattails smoking. And all that he dreamed for and schemed for and loved and worked for, it was lost. It went down the tube. Here was a man. He suffered the loss in his faith. He suffered the loss in his family. And he suffered the loss in his fortune. Lot loved the wrong world.
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We pray that God has blessed you as you’ve listened to this message. If you’d like additional copies or information about other available resources, write to us at Loveworth Finding, Box 38300, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. You can also visit our online bookstore at lwf.org. In the U.S., you can place Visa or MasterCard orders by calling 1-800-274-5683 Monday through Friday from 8.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. Central Standard Time. Thank you, and may God richly bless you.
