Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Signs of Vexation

Go ahead if you would and turn over to the gospel of Mark, chapter four. The gospel of Mark, chapter four. We're going to take a look at this parable that has meant so much to the foundation of this ministry. I don't know if this was the first, but it was one of the first messages that I ever heard Pastor Scott teach, I don't know how many years ago, 22, 23 years ago. We're not going to spend a lot of time in it, but we want to start here where Jesus starts to expound on the meaning of the parable of the sower.

In Mark, chapter four, verse 14, "The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts." As we begin to apply this to our own lives and to our own hearts this morning, we look around and we say, "Thank the Lord, we're all here. We're all here to worship the Lord and we're here to listen to the heralding of the word of God and to be changed by the word of God." So verse 15, is something that is not readily applicable to us. The seed wasn't stolen immediately. We're here and continuing to grow and pursue. And then we move on and we look at verse 16, "And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended." Once again we look around and we can think of our own lives and the lives of those around us and can think of the persecutions and the trials and the afflictions that we've all been through. You can look at your brother or sister across the room and remember when they went through a tragedy or a crisis, but they never gave up on God. They're continuing in their faith and in their patience. So verse 17 sometimes doesn't seem readily applicable to us, though it's something we take very seriously and challenge our own hearts with.

Verse 18 and verse 19 is the one that gets us, isn't it? "And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful." That's the one that we battle with the most in this society, in the age in which we live. These thorns that come in. Interesting thing, we have some common ground behind our backyard and we have these thorns, those wild thorns that grow there. How many of you have been walking through the words, ever, and come across a patch of these wild roses or thorns? Nasty things aren't they? Hurt! Sometimes you enter in and you just have to back out because you know you're not getting through. You're already snagged several times and you know it's just going to get worse the deeper you go. And this is what Jesus is referring to here, those thorns. And it's a gradual choking. It doesn't happen immediately, it doesn't happen overnight. That's one of the things that makes this aspect so dangerous because it occurs over the process of time. And over the process of time, you can get acclimated and get used to pretty much anything. And that's the scary part about this. It comes in and it slowly starts to choke. First it begins to grow and first it just begins to rob some of the water from the good plant, from the good seed. Then it starts to rob some of the minerals and nutrients. And then it grows bigger and all the time the good plant, the good seed is getting weaker and weaker, little by little. The thorn grows more and now it's actually blocking some of the sunlight and slowly it begins to take over. And if you ever have noticed these thorns out in the woods, it just climbs all over everything. And pretty soon it kills that seed and kills the plant because the plant has no place to grow. It chokes it out. It crowds it out. And it's done over a process of time, to the place where sometimes you don't even know it's happening. Most of the time you don't even know it's happening.

Look over at 2 Timothy, chapter two. This is what Paul was warning Timothy about, encouraging Timothy to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 2 Timothy, chapter two, verse three, "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." He's saying, "Timothy, you're not going to use this world the way that the heathen do. The heathen have no hope in God. They have no other hope but in this world. They trust in this world. They find their pleasure in this world. Timothy, good soldiers of Jesus Christ are different. We find our hope and treasure in the invisible, not the visible. In the spiritual, not the natural." And he says, "So you're not going to become entangled and involved in this life the way that those that are without God do." He says in verse four, "No man that warreth [does what?] entangleth himself." That's a phrase there that just means to intertwine, to in-weave. Again, referring to these tentacles, these thorns that just kind of gradually grow and become more and more a part of your life and heart without you even knowing it. And he's saying a good soldier of Jesus Christ is very careful that these different aspects of the world and trust in the world and finding pleasure in this world don't start to choke out the word of God and become entwined.

Let me ask you a question this morning about your own heart. How many tentacles are in your heart? How entwined has the world become around the word of God that's in your heart? How many little shoots and branches? What has started to crowd your heart and rob you of minerals and nutrients and water to where your plant, this morning, is still green, it still appears to be growing but slowly the life is being ebbed away? "No man that warreth entangleth himself." If you're going to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ, then you're someone that makes sure that the affairs of this life, those thorns are always pruned and cut way back so that the seed of the word of God that's in your heart gets full sun, full nutrients, full minerals, full water and nothing is stolen and robbed from the seed growing in you.

How does it happen? I think Luke 14, if you'd look over there for a moment. Luke 14 gives a great example. We're going to look over at Acts in just a moment. Acts 24 with Felix gives another great example, but here in Luke 14, this kind of illustrates how it happens in the practical. Luke, chapter 14, verse 16, he says, "Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come." And slowly but surely the word of God is crowded out in your life. You still come to church, you still come to prayer, you still come to Young Adults. But now in worship service, when you lift your hands your heart is somewhere else, and your thoughts are preoccupied instead of being before His throne. And it's all these little things that come up, the excuses, the affairs of this life, the cares. And we're just so preoccupied with other things that our heart is no longer given wholly to the Lord.

I like what it says over here in Acts 24, when Felix sent for Paul to come and share the gospel with him. Acts, chapter 24, verse 24, "And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife, Dressily, which was a Jews, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, [these words are interesting] Felix trembled." I want you to see that as this choking is occurring in your life, you're not spiritually dead. Your heart can still be touched, your heart can still be pricked, your heart can still be terrified by the judgments of God. You're not spiritually dead at all. And a lot of times we mistake that pricking and when we come into the service and the Spirit of God moves and we're moved, many times we mistake that into thinking, "I'm spiritually okay." But we're not. The seed is slowly dying and so just because you can tremble and be pricked, don't take that as a sign that spiritually you're right with God.

Felix trembled. He knew that what he was hearing was the truth, but then he answered so sadly, "Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee." New American Standard says it this way, "When I find the time, I will summon you." Are you in that place this morning where your heart can be touched, but you're just too preoccupied to pursue? Your heart can still be touched by the Lord, but you're just too preoccupied with life, with the cares, with the business that has to be conducted. The vines and the thorns have intertwined and in-weaved themselves in your heart and you know what's right and you're going through all the motions, but something's missing? You're going through all the motions but there's a deadness on the inside; something has left, something has died.

Look over at Hebrews, chapter two, verse one. How has this happened, what's taken place? Why is the word being crowded out? Why am I going through the motions but very little life? How come my mind is so distracted when I'm supposed to be here worshipping the Lord with singleness of heart? Hebrews, chapter two, verse one, "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them [what?] slip." New American Standard, again, says it this way, "For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we've heard, so that we do not drift away from it." {Back to KJV} "For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; How shall we escape, if we [what?] neglect..." "...if we neglect so great salvation." Do you know what neglect is? Neglect is not opposition, neglect is not rebellion, neglect is when you just do nothing. And this is one of the greatest ploys of the enemy. Satan knows. He doesn't have to get you to rebel against God. He doesn't have to get you to oppose God. All he has to do is to get you to do nothing. All he has to do is to get you so preoccupied with everything else that He's last on your list, and many times left off your list. He knows that if he can just get you to neglect the salvation, the rest will take care of itself and you will drift away from it and your heart turns cold, lukewarm to be more Scriptural.

You're not opposing the Lord; in fact you're living a good, moral life. In fact, you still apply biblical principles to your life. In fact, you can still discern and judge what's wrong in someone else's life and you can actually exhort them and help them. And you can still come to church and lift your hands and go through all of the motions, but something's dreadfully wrong inside, in your heart. And you've lost the first love and you've lost the pursuit and it's because you've been distracted and preoccupied and the affections of your heart have been stolen away. All Satan has to do is to get us to neglect. We can still call ourselves Christians. We can still pride ourselves that we're members of Calvary Temple. But as long as you're neglecting, you're drifting. Every moment that you're not climbing forward, you're falling backwards. Every moment that you're not drawing from His presence, every moment that you're not living and moving in the Spirit of God. Every minute that you're not praying without ceasing, your spiritual edge is becoming dull and the things that God has spoken to your heart are slipping away. The flesh is gaining ground. Sad state to be in, isn't it?

Look over at Deuteronomy, chapter four. This is one of the warnings. We just went through, with Pastor, the teaching on spiritual warfare. We learned from Ephesians, there, that we need to be able to stand in the evil day and having done all to stand, and what did that word, "stand," mean? To set out against. If you're not climbing forward you're slipping backwards, you're drifting away. If there's not a pursuit, you are actively drifting away. No such thing as standing still. No such thing as maintaining. If you're not advancing, you're being defeated. Not all at once, but slowly and surely you're being defeated. Here in Deuteronomy, chapter four, look down at verse nine, the Lord is speaking and He says, "Only take heed to thyself..." "Take heed to thyself..." It reminds you of Proverbs, "Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life." "Keep your heart with [what?] all diligence." How much diligence? All diligence. The presence of the Lord is the priority. Your house can fall down around you, you can get fired from your job, all the groceries gone, no food, no water, it doesn't make any difference. THE priority of the moment is the presence of the Lord, your relationship with Him. Everything else and anything else takes 2. Keep your heart with all diligence. "Take heed to thyself and keep thy soul [how?] diligently..." Guard your heart against these tentacles that want to come in. "...lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life...Specially the day that thou stood before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words...And you came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone."

Now wouldn't you think if you had experienced that, think about this, these are the people who gathered around the base of Mount Horeb who saw the mountain shake, felt the earth moved, heard the tremblings, heard the thunderings, saw the smoke, saw the fire. If you had lived through something like that, don't you think that you would remember it? He's not saying, intellectually remember it. Intellectually you can always think back and remember the events that happened, but he's not talking about intellectually. He's saying, "lest thy depart from thy heart." Yes, you can remember the events, but is your heart, today, all of these years later just as terrified as it was when you stood at the base of the mount? Or after all of these years, after you've drinking from wells that you didn't dig and now that you're living in houses that you didn't build and now that you're living in this prosperity, you can still remember, "Yes the Lord spoke to us from the mount, but something's different, something's missing." You've forgotten how it terrified your heart on that day. You've forgotten-you've lost the simplicity of just being smitten on your face and crying out, "Holy, holy, holy." Something's missing. You remember the event, but you've lost the spirit. He's saying, "make sure lest these things depart from your heart, guard your heart with all diligence and make sure nothing steals from you what you've heard and seen on that day. Don't neglect the salvation, feed it, fertilize it." How can you forget something like that? It's amazing the power of prosperity. It's amazing the addiction of your own pride. It's amazing how motivated you can get toward self-gratification. And it's amazing how fast you can lose the spirit of that day and what happened on the mount. Guard and keep your heart with all diligence. Though everything passes away there's nothing more important than your pursuit your relationship with God. How closely have you guarded His presence in your life?

Look over at 2 Corinthians, chapter 13. 2 Corinthians, 13, verse five sums it all up what we're saying here. "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith." Examine yourselves. This is a daily process. Everyday when I wake up I'm examining myself. Am I drawing on the Lord more today than I did yesterday? Do I need Him more today than I did yesterday? And you all know what I'm saying with that. Am I staying in touch with His presence? Am I abiding in the vine more today than I did yesterday? "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" Again, the New American Standard says it a little clearer. Let me read it to you. He says, "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith." Am I abiding in the vine today? Is Jesus Christ alive and well and growing in me today? Examine yourselves. {NASB continued} "Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-unless indeed you fail the test?" It says it a little differently. It's asking this question, If we put a test to you today, if we tested you this moment to see if there is viable fruit that would remain, is there fruit in your life today, is there evidence that Jesus Christ is living in you and living through you? Is there evidence today that you are in communion with His Holy Spirit? Is there evidence today that you're praying without ceasing? Is there evidence today that Jesus Christ is living His life through you? Or would you fail the test? Examine yourselves. It's a daily process.

I like what Galatians six says. It says, {Verse three} "If a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he [does what?] deceiveth himself, but let every man prove his own work." What does your work prove about you today? What does it reveal and show about your heart? Look over at 2 Peter, chapter two. That's the introduction; we want to get into what I really want to get to this morning. We want to talk a little bit about Lot and we're going to turn back, after we get through with 2 Peter here, we're going to look at the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and what Lot went through in his life at that time. You can really begin to see how the cares of this life, the deceitfulness of riches, the lusts of other things, how those thorns and tentacles began to grow around his heart. 2 Peter, chapter 2, Peter is here recounting the story down in verse six. It says, "And [God turned] the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked." "Vexed" there simply means to wear down. It's very much the same process that we've been talking about. To wear down, to have these tentacles start to grow and choke out. You're being worn down; you're getting weaker and weaker spiritually. "For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds."

I want you to see here and I want you to understand what I'm saying, but Lot's problem really was not seeing and hearing. Everyday that goes by you and I see and hear a lot of junk, don't we? And if seeing and hearing all by itself was the problem, then we all need to build a monastery and just go and totally separate ourselves from this world. Now, you have to keep that in balance, because we all know seeing and hearing can be a problem, can't it? We need to be careful with what we see and hear. But seeing and hearing is not the underlying problem of being vexed. The problem is you. That's why you're vexed. You're not vexed by anything external, you're vexed by your own spiritual failure. And this is what Lot was experiencing. Notice in verse eight, it says, and you kind of have to take out some of the prepositional phrases and look at the grammar here, but what it's saying here was that Lot vexed his righteous soul from day to day. Yes he was vexed through what he saw and heard, but ultimately he was responsible for the vexation. Why? Because when he saw and heard, he tolerated it, he didn't set out against, as Pastor was teaching in the spiritual warfare. And because he didn't oppose what he saw and heard, and because he didn't attack what he saw and heard, he started to be worn down. And the thorns started to grow and crowd in around his heart. So let's talk a little bit about Lot and being vexed and being worn down spiritually. See, Lot here is guilty of spiritual neglect, just what we're talking about. Lot vexed his own soul by doing nothing. And so, what he had heard was slipping away. He was becoming spiritually weaker and the thorns were crowding in and choking the life out of his heart.

Look over at Genesis 19. Let's go back and actually see what happened here in this story. The fact of the matter is Lot would have been vexed even if he had nothing to see and nothing to hear. And you and I would be vexed if there's nothing to see and nothing to hear. We're vexed by our own flesh, aren't we? We can be vexed by the evil that's residing by the sin that's in our own members. Now, don't get me wrong. Be careful what you see and hear. But again, the problem is not what you're seeing and hearing, the problem is you. The problem is the spiritual neglect. The problem is that you're not setting out against. Now, here in Genesis chapter 19, as we go through this I want you to begin to see the different signs of vexation. We just read the verse to examine yourself, to test yourself. Well, we're going to use this account here in Genesis 19 as the test and I want you to compare yourself to what happened to Lot and see if you're in the same boat or see if you're in the faith. Genesis chapter 19, verse one, "And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he [did what?] bowed himself with his face toward the ground." He bowed himself. He knew that these were not two ordinary men. He knew that these were spiritual messengers, spiritual beings, angels sent from God. He could recognize that and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. Just like Felix in the book of Acts. When you're vexed, you're not spiritually dead, you can still recognize truth, you can still recognize the messengers of God, you still bow yourself down to them. In fact, as it goes on it says in verse two, he says, "Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night. And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat." Even though he was vexed, Lot still had a desire to serve and minister in the things of God and so will you. You can be serving and ministering in the community of God and be very vexed. "But before they lay down, [verse four] the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: And thy called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them. [And they didn't want to just shake their hands] And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, and said, I pray you, brethren" Oooh, there's a bad sign isn't it? What in the world was he doing calling them brethren? Sounds like he had become a little bit too much like them, too much a part of them. "Do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes." I don't know about you but I can't even fathom doing that, can you? Why in the world? Sure you're not going to turn over the angels, but why in the world would you turn over your daughters, virgins to be defiled and polluted and raped? "Only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof."

You know you're vexed when you concede to sin in any way. You know you're vexed when it seems normal to give into evil. And this is what Lot is doing, he's bargaining with evil. He's conceding. In his mentality, he had come to the place of saying, "This is too strong for me, this evil is too great, I have to give in somehow." When what he should have done is stood up and said, "Look, you're not getting the angels, and you're not getting the daughters. God is on my side and he'll protect me, so get lost!" That's what a man full of faith would have done. But you see Lot is vexed. Spiritually he has been worn down and weakened and his faith is not strong. And so his faith is not strong in the protection of the Lord so now he has to start cutting deals. And the moment you start to think that it's normal or that it's expected for you to sin or that sin---"You know this is just my besetting sin and it's just greater than I am so after all it's going to be a part of my life forever" And you know what? Maybe it will be but you should never concede to it. And every time you do you should hate it with a fresh hatred. The moment it starts to seem normal or expected, or the moment you start to concede or give it any ground or give it any right to exist, you're vexed.

Colossians says to mortify your members which are upon the earth. To put it to death. Put it to death. There's a finality about that. Do you ever watch these movies, the action, drama-type movies and there's this guy that's just a monster of a guy, evil, vile and he's coming after the victim and the whole movie has led up to this part of suspense and the victim gets a gun, let's say, and they're confronted and the victim shoots this evil monster, and gets away. And you know what's going to happen, the very next scene-all you've done is now made that monster real mad and he's coming after you. And you're thinking, "why on earth didn't you plug him about four or five times and make sure he stayed down?" Right? Shoot him in the head, shoot him in the heart, shoot out both knees, make sure he never gets up again. And that's the vehemence-and we know why, if he'd done that the movie would have ended ten minutes before it should have. Kill the guy! Do everything you can to make sure he will never rise again. Put it to death! Mortify it! And that's the vehemence that we have to have in our spiritual life towards the philosophies of the world, towards sin, toward the enticements that are seducing our heart. Put it to death! Now are you going to have to put it to death tomorrow? Of course you are.

But see part of this vexation, you know when you're becoming spiritually weak and spiritually worn down when you don't come against sin with the same vengeance that you did yesterday or with the same vengeance that you did when you were first born again. You should hate sin more now than ever before. The closer you get to Father the more you will hate the sin, not less. There must be zero tolerance for sin. You hate it fresh with a new hatred every time you do it and you come against it to mortify, to put it to death. That's what 2 Corinthians is talking about when it describes repentance. It says, after we sin and we come to Father and ask for forgiveness, there's a sorrow, there's a carefulness, there's a clearing of yourselves, there's an indignation, there's a fear, there's a vehement desire, there's a revenge, there's a hatred for what was done. If that hatred for your sin is no longer fervent then you've drifted from your heavenly father, because the closer you get to Father, the more vehement your hatred for the sin will be. And here, Lot's just caving in, cutting deals, it's expected, we have to give evil something. No, never! Zero tolerance! And if you don't have zero tolerance for the sin in your life, you've drifted away. These things, the tentacles have crept in and the life is slowing being choked out.

Verse nine, "And they said, stand back. And they said again, this one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot and came near to break the door. And the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door." Isn't it a shame Lot didn't have the faith to believe that in the first place? "And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? [Where's your family? Who do you have that's in your clan?] son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place: For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it. And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. Be he seemed as one that [what?] mocked..." This is another sign. "...He seemed as one that mocked..." They thought he was jesting, they thought he was joking; they thought he was making fun. Why would they think that? Because his previous lifestyle didn't match with what he was now saying and it was almost as it, "Lot! What are you getting so upset about it now? You've been living here among it all this time. Why suddenly now does it start to bother you?" They thought he was joking. "What do you mean? Yeah Lot you didn't do everything that everybody else was doing, but you've lived here and never opposed it, you lived here and never said anything. What's the big deal now?" They thought he was mocking and joking.

You know you're vexed when there's no distinction between your lifestyle and the world's lifestyle. And again, you don't do everything they do, but you live among them without opposing their philosophy. You live among them without opposing what they do. You live among them and in seeing and hearing you watch their evil and remain silent and never say anything. That's when you're vexed, when you've lost your distinction as a Christian. When they stop hating you and persecuting you without a cause you become spiritually worn down and they accept you because there is no light in your life exposing their sin any longer. That light is slowly being extinguished. It doesn't burn anywhere near as bright as it used to. Just isn't any real clear distinction between you and them. Spiritually you're weak, the life is being choked out. Verse 15, "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. [Verse 16] And while he lingered..." Oh, Lord this is getting bad, isn't it? You know you're vexed when your obedience is no longer immediate. And do you know why your obedience is no longer immediate? It's because you're considering other options. You're considering other preferences that you have. But I want to tell you something. When you're in right relationship with God and when you're in the proper communion with God, when He speaks, there is immediate obedience because there are no other options. There's nothing else to even consider. And you immediately obey because you want to please and love and serve your Father. But if you're lingering at your obedience, you're considering other options because the affections of your heart have been seduced away.

Verse 17, "And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. And Lot said unto them, [what?] Oh, not so, my Lord." How many of you realize the Lord is the one person you don't want to say, "No" to? But see, you know you're vexed when obedience becomes just too hard to do. "Just too hard, I just can't do it. I know God said to do it but it's just too hard. How do you expect me to do that?" By being born again, by surrendering your will, by allowing Christ to live through you. Of course, you're not expected to do it on your own, there's no hope in you doing it on your own, but with Christ in you, you're expected to live in obedience. But he says, "Oh not so, my Lord." Why does the obedience seem to be so hard? Number one because you're weak, you've been wearied, the life has been choked out and so you don't know the surge of supernatural supply, you don't know the surge of His life living through you. But it just seems so hard because those tentacles of the world have grown in around your heart and now you actually like this stuff and you like dabbling in it and you like tasting a little bit of the world and "If I obey, then I've got to stop doing this and I've kind of gotten accustomed to it and I like it a little. I don't want to do it all I just want to do a little bit of it." And the power of sin has now gripped your heart and you find yourself in bondage. You find yourself addicted. And obedience just seems impossible, like it seemed to Lot.

Verse 19, "Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die." Now see, logistically there was some truth to this statement. In the cities, there were people that were there, there was safety in numbers. There was water there; there was food there. When you go up to the mountain, you're all alone, you don't have anybody but the Lord, poor you. So in the natural way of thinking, sure there is some legitimacy to what he's saying. But how many of you know it's better to be all alone in the mountain with God, than in the city full of God-haters. It's better to be taken care of by God in the mountaintops than to be surrounded by people who oppose and hate your heavenly Father. Here again you see his faith failing. His faith is weak. He really couldn't believe that God could take care of him on the mountain. That's another sign that you're vexed. You know you're vexed when you begin to trust in man more than God. And here Lot is trusting in man more than God. When you begin to trust in the world, in the world's supply. When you begin to trust in the visible more than the invisible, you're vexed.

He says in verse 20, "Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live." You know you're vexed when you start to categorize disobedience and when you start to categorize unbelief. "Well this unbelief is a little unbelief so it's acceptable. I can tolerate a little sin." Can you? Can God? Let me ask you a question, what in your life right now have you been tolerating? You know it's sin, seems like a little sin, a little bit of selfishness a little bit of pride, but you haven't set out against it, you've tolerated it, you've flirted with it, in fact you actually enjoy it a little bit. You know you're vexed when you start to categorize disobedience and sin. "That's just a little thing." Maybe it's not even sin, but you know that it's sin to you. Maybe it's not even sin, but it's a weight that leads to sin and you've allowed it, and you've accepted it. It's that thorns, it's growing, it's taking up precious minerals and precious water and nutrients and now it's blocking your sunlight a little bit and you're growing weaker. The angel speaks and he says, "See, I have accepted the concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heave; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt."

She was having a hard time leaving the city. She liked the lifestyle. She liked the comfort. You know you're vexed when you love the world more than you love God. This is something I ask myself regularly. If everything, all of my possessions, everything materially, house, property, possessions, if it all went away could I leave it all behind or would I look back? Could I leave it all behind? Is God enough for me? Is God's the treasure of my heart? Is He the lover of my soul? Can I say if I have Him I have everything I need and desire? How big is your God this morning? Is there any part of you that loves this world more than you love God? Or are you able to leave it all to follow Him? "Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord: And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain..." I think it's interesting in verse 29, "God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out..." "God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out..."

Remember when Abraham was going through the prayer with God? "Well, what if there's 50, what if there's 40, what if there's 30..." And I probably don't have the numbers right, but you all remember when Abraham was praying for the righteous of the city. Comes down and the final number was ten, "Well Lord what if there's ten righteous in the city, will you destroy it?" And God says, "No, I'll spare the ten righteous." Well, come to find out there were only four righteous: Lot, his wife and two daughters. And so God destroyed the city, he held to His word, but according to Abraham's prayer and intercession He saved Lot. That's why Abraham was praying that. Abraham wasn't being what we would consider a typical Jew and trying to "Jew" God down. That wasn't it at all. Abraham was praying out of love and concern for Lot. He didn't want to see his nephew be destroyed. So he's interceding for Lot, "Well, Lord, what if there's ten, will you spare the righteous?" And we see here, it's saying very specifically that He remembered Abraham and sent Lot out. You just wonder, don't you? A lot of times when it looks like we're prospering and we're succeeding in our life, I wonder how much of it is because of the prayers of others? I wonder what would have happened if Abraham didn't pray for Lot. We don't really know. The bible calls Lot a just man. He had a heart that could still be touched and reached for God. He obviously here did a lot of things wrong, but God calls him just in his generation. You can't wonder about questions like that for long because you really don't know the answer, but it says here that, "God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out." God was faithful to the prayers of Abraham and answered Abraham's prayer and delivered Lot.

And it says here in verse 30, "And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt [where?] in the mountain." I thought you were going to the city! "[He] dwelt in the mountain and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar." He looked at Sodom and Gomorrah and saw them smoking and thought, "Uh, you know a city might not be the best idea after all, I think I'll go to where God told me to go in the first place." You know you're vexed when you're obeying out of fear instead of love. And here in verse 30 Lot plain and simple was scared into obedience. He saw what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah and he said, "No thank you, I don't want any of that. I'm going to go ahead and do what God told me to do after all." Our obedience should be out of love, shouldn't it? When our heavenly Father commands us to do something we should want to obey Him. It's our pleasure to bring Him pleasure. It's our pleasure to please Him to honor Him and so when He speaks, we obey out of a heart of wanting to love Him not because we're afraid of Him. Now there's always that element of godly fear and reverence, we do fear Him and if you can't obey Him out of love, then the next best thing is to obey Him out of fear. But what He really wants is an obedience out of a heart of love, wanting to serve wanting to please. You know you're vexed when you have to be scared into obedience. So you read through Lot and you see here the vexation and you see here the different signs and we're examining our own heart now.

Look over at Luke, chapter 13 as we wind down. What do you say in conclusion to all of this? Maybe this morning as we examine ourselves you say, "You know, spiritually I'm weak. Didn't even realize it was happening, I've been kind of like Samson and I rose up and shook myself and the strength and power were gone and I didn't even know it. I didn't realize how vexed I'd become. I didn't realize how my strength had been eroded. I didn't realize how strong of a hold those tentacles had around my heart. What do I do?" Here in Luke, chapter 13, verse 23, "Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? An he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be [what?] able." Strive. That word "Strive" comes from the Greek word, "agonize." It's going to be an agony at times. It means "to contend, to struggle to endeavor with strenuous zeal." I like what He goes on to say here, "When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence..." Let me tell you something, just being in His presence is not enough. Are you drawing from His presence? Are you receiving from His presence? Is His presence your life? Is His presence your joy? Is His presence your greatest delight? It's not enough just to BE IN His presence. It's amazing. You can come and sing the songs and lift your hands and be in His presence in this place, and as you're lifting your hands you can still be filled with pride, stiff-necked, self-willed and you didn't receive anything from His presence. Oh, you were here, but you never surrendered your heart to His presence. "We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets." We've gotten all of the teaching tapes; we listen to them. We have all of the doctrine, we know it, we just never did it. And He said, "I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity." Strive to enter in. Strive to enter in.

What are we really striving for? What does it mean? What are we entering in to? What are we striving for? Well, we know from the Scriptures what we're not striving for. Number one, we're not striving to bear fruit because we can't bear any fruit on our own. We're not striving to be more like Jesus because we can't be like Jesus through our own efforts or through our own self-discipline. There's a lot of things we're not striving for. There are certain things, the bearing of fruit, being conformed into the image of Jesus, those things are things that are exclusively God's work and there's nothing that we can add to His work through our own efforts. So we leave that with God. We're not trying to be more spiritual. We're not trying to stop this sin in our life because we can't through our own efforts. That's God's sanctifying work, I'm going to leave it with Him and trust Him.

What am I striving for? There must be something that I do. What you're striving to do, look over at John 15 and this will be the last verse. John, chapter 15, verse four. "Abide in me, and I in you." You are to strive, you are to earnestly contend, it's going to be agony at times, it's going to be a struggle, but you are to strive to abide. You're striving to enter in, to enter into His kingdom, to enter into His presence. You're striving to stay connected because your flesh, the enemy Satan, this world's system will do everything they can to break that connection. They know that all they have to do is get you distracted, get you preoccupied with something else to neglect your salvation and you will drift away. Satan doesn't have to attack the gospel, he doesn't have to try to fight with your doctrine, all he has to do is to get you to neglect, to look away, to become distracted, to become preoccupied with something else. And the moment he does, the drifting starts. Over in Hebrews where it says to labor to enter into rest. That's the labor. The labor is to be hooked up, to stay connected. To always stay in that place where you're drawing from His presence and drawing from that relationship and let me tell you something, that's a fight, isn't it? The greatest enemy to staying connected is your own self-will, so that has to die daily, early because our own self-will wants to take our life back into our own hands and start doing things our way again. That's one of the greatest enemies. But the fight, the struggle, the striving is to cut our way through and to cut our way clear from all of these distractions and cares. To cut back all of the vines and the tentacles that try to wrap themselves around our heart and it's very simply to stay connected. If we stay connected, and if we abide in the vine, then His life that flows through the vine will take care of everything else. We will be more like Jesus, we will bear fruit that remains, sin will be purged because His life is flowing through us. But staying connected is our fight. It's the striving to enter in, that's the fight. Let's stop there for this morning.

Father, we come to You and by Your Word, Lord we come to understand more of the distractions and the cares. We come to understand the vexations and we come this morning and we want to practically apply there in Corinthians where it exhorts us to examine ourselves to know whether or not we be in the faith. Are we abiding in You, Father? Father, are You the treasure of our heart more today than yesterday? Father, are we preoccupied with You more today than yesterday? Father, are we actively drawing upon Your Spirit more today than we did yesterday? Are we striving to enter in? Are we contending and fighting to stay connected? Father, we want our connection to You to grow. We certainly don't want to be disconnected and more than that we don't want our connected to be slowly squeezed and narrowed, we want our connection with You to grow. We want our communion with You to grow. Father every day that we live is another fight to stay close to Your heart because everyday that we live there are all of these forces trying to tear us away and trying to seduce us away from You. Every day is a fight to abide. Every day is a fight not to be distracted. Every day is a fight to cut away the vines. So Father, we follow wholly after You today and commit ourselves afresh to finishing the race, completing the course, fighting the fight, and we thank You for it, Father.

Let's stand before the Lord and just worship Him before we go. We do worship You, Jesus. Lord, as we go this morning it's our prayer and it's our desire to become so preoccupied with You that everything else grows dim. Let us become so preoccupied with You that You are the sole passion of our heart. That's what we want, Father. Cause us to fall so deeply in love with You that You're all that we can think about. We ask it, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. God bless you. We'll see you this evening.

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