Will The Witness Take the Stand

Introduction

Lot and Abraham go way back. Lot is the nephew of Abraham and like any good uncle you are going to look out for your nephew. I imagine there are many people that are in or have been in a place in which you wanted to witness but you were apprehensive or afraid to in fear of backlash. It was evident that from a place of peace and not wanting strife Lot and Abraham separated, and then we move into the classic idea that everything that glitters ain’t gold. The bible tells us that Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord. Quite interesting enough God’s promise to destroy this city was not the first trial that Lot had experienced living in this neighborhood. We all have humble beginnings, I remember moving to Arizona and the first house we had was in West Mesa, probably one of the move impoverished, drug infested areas in Maricopa county. We witnessed helicopters, police chases, and break-ins, Valentine’s evening 2015 we heard a gun shot in which a man was murdered on our street it is safe to say we did not renew our lease. Many people on the block knew my profession, they witnessed my actions as did I witness my beliefs but some places you just have to leave and never look back. Even prior to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, a war had ensued in which Lot’s possessions were seized because he lived in Sodom. Sometimes it’s not about who you are but who you are around that can cause detriment to your life as well. Nonetheless, no matter where you are as a Christian or a believer in God in the courtroom of life He expects you to take the stand and take a stand for those who do not know who God is. Lot’s refusal to do so not only hurt him, but it hurt his family and the legacy therein.

Evidence

Typically evidence and investigation will play a role into the witness choice. Biblical evidence shows that Lot could have possibly known that Sodom was a very evil place. states “Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the LORD”. Nonetheless when we get caught up in the way things look and do not inspect the heart of a place we might end up in a toxic environment.

The bible said that Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere - this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah - like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar.

Do not let the physical beauty of a situation prompt you to disregard the mess going on inside.

Lot chose this as a dwelling place, then we see further down the line he failed to witness to people that he probably could have helped.

Beginning in Chapter 18 verses 16 through 21, The Lord questions if he should reveal to Abraham what he is doing. Although he wants to examine the hearts of the people. He says, I will know, because God knows are hearts which is typically expressed through our actions.

God states he wants to know, essentially know by experience. This is the God we serve he’s a witness to our lives, we know this by the fact that he provides for our every need. He witnesses what we go through and typically tries to send something or someone to intercede on our behalf when we are caught up in some stuff we really shouldn’t be in.

Lot should have been on his way out when all of his belongings got stolen but apparently that was not enough.

So beginning at verse 22 in , Abraham begins to bargain with God.

Question he ask is will the righteous and the wicked be destroyed together? This is a tough question, imagine you had family in a turbulent situation that you wanted to get them out of but they had no desire of leaving or trying to change the hearts and minds of those there, there may be a situation in which they are a casualty of war being guilty by association.

I remember as a child my mom would come home and see the kitchen dirty, now typically someone had those duties, but if it wasn’t done we all got in trouble. We have to recognize when a place or situation is toxic, we can love the people their, we can appreciate the work we’ve done but if it is toxic beyond your control sometimes you have to leave.

Abraham knows his nephew is there, He has a conversation with the Yahweh, in which he bargains to find 50 and then diminished his number of righteous people to 10, in which he was unsuccessful. God confuses Abraham, God only punishes the wrong? God only comes down with the hand of wrath on the wicked, right?

How do you respond when your intercession is ineffective? This is truly evident of ineffectiveness when we refrain from witnessing the way God would desire. God doesn’t place you somewhere for you to be ineffective. He puts us in places to be purposeful. If God has allowed us to go somewhere we should try our best to be effective. Sometimes ineffectiveness is not our fault but it is our fault when we fail to be a witness to those in need.

Why Lot is Not a Credible Witness

The number thing you look for as a lawyer for a witness is credibility.

It was really difficult and heart breaking to see Lot go through this, because in his heart he was a man of humility and willingness to serve. In verse 1 and 2 of chapter 19 we know that he knows what it means to serve. It’s interesting to note, Lot is sitting at the gate of a city that God is not pleased with. We have to be careful trying to protect folks that do not want anything to do with the God we serve.

But the lesson we learn in serving one another is the same people we serve might be the people that have to protect us, and the same people we protect might be the same folks we need protection from. Lot was even willing to sacrifice his own children in effort to protect their “morality”.

As witnesses, we have to be credible, inconsistency can damage the credibility of the witness. In a courtroom, it may be your witness but the defense or the prosecutor may cross examine. When we cross examine the credibility of Lot, we see that he sat at the gate like a judge but did not minister to the people as such. When a witness is faulty, we leave the fate of folks in the hands of a jury that really only cares about the law and not the person!

You can finally see that Lot has not witnessed unto the people of Sodom, because when he tries to correct their wrong, at the end of verses 6 through 9, “This one came in as an alien, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them”.

This is why we have to be pleasing unto God and not man, Man is real quick to pull the “who do you think you are” card when things are not going their way.

And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.

When things get so bad that you are forced to witness now you frustrate folks even further. So now these men are so upset they try to attack and force their way in. I’m unsure that it was for fear, but why live in a place because of riches and resources if you have no peace and have to live in fear of your life.

When you fail to witness and testify to how great God is, you lose credibility when people see you living for a God you won’t even talk about. So much so, that when Lot told his sons in law in verse 14, they thought he was joking. Lot may have found favor because he himself did not engage in activities contrary to the will of God, but what good is righteousness if you do not share the goodness of God with anyone.

King James Version Chapter 41

Fear thou not; for I am with thee:

Be not dismayed; for I am thy God:

I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee;

Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Lot may have found favor because he himself did not engage in activities contrary to the will of God, but what good is righteousness if you do not share the goodness of God with anyone.

We come to church every week, Wednesday night bible class, fellowships. We see the goodness of God but we refuse to witness on his Goodness? It's hard to bring anyone to God when they do not see anything wrong with the place they are leaving. It's even more devastating when they do not see anything wrong because we failed to tell them about the goodness they were looking forward to (Lot's wife) God gives us a chance to save those closest to us, but when our life and our words have never been a witness to them it is very hard to get them to see the urgency of it all.

* It's hard to bring anyone to God when they do not see anything wrong with the place they are leaving.

* It's even more devastating when they do not see anything wrong because we failed to tell them about the goodness they were looking forward to (Lot's wife)

It will be very difficult to bring someone to a new place with a new mindset if they have no idea or reason why they are leaving behind. Lot’s wife turned to a pillar of salt for looking back, we can get some dependent on the people dragging us we never appreciate what it is front of us.

We have to be upfront and honest even with our children. I believe that it’s not the generation behind us that does not appreciate the gospel, God or Jesus. I believe we make a mistake when we drag our children, friends and family to stuff but never provide an example or show them why it’s important. Of course they’re going to look back.

* God gives us a chance to save those closest to us, but when our life and our words have never been a witness to them it is very hard to get them to see the urgency of it all.

We have put too much faith in the idea of “well I am here so it must be enough”. Christianity and following God is deeper than a Sunday message from the pews. Sometimes we get to comfortable with hoping someone get us to a place of righteousness, not understanding that we have to workout our faith, no one can work it out for us. This is why Lot’s daughters although in a new location do not have a changed heart because physically they may be out of Sodom but spiritually they are still there.

Will You Be A Credible Witness For The Lord

Will You Be A Credible Witness For The Lord

Has God done anything for you? Will you be a witness for the Lord?

Has God brought you out of a problem that you got yourself in? You have something to witness about!

Were you going through something last year that God removed you so far from that you forgot about it? You have something to witness about!

You have been spiritually in a Sodom and Gomorrah situation and God got you out? You have something to witness about!

Everyone counted you out, everyone doubted you, but God made a way! You have something to witness to about!

All have sinned, but thank God for the sacrifice of Jesus! We have something to witness about!

Single parent, but everything is alright! You’ve Got something to witness about!

Cancer survivor, sickness did not kill you, You’ve got something to witness about!

I haven’t always been a good man or good woman, but God blessed you with a great spouse, you’ve Got something to witness about!

How can we live our life, out of all the good things God has done, and we witness all the terrible things going on in the world and refuse to take the stand and be a witness for the Lord?