“28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. 31 In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it” (Luke 17:28-33).

     The message of Luke 17:28-32 was not spoken to the multitudes that followed Jesus. Nor was it spoken to the vast majority of professing disciples who lived on the periphery of commitment to Him. It was inner circle teaching to the twelve (v 22). The teaching centers upon the time of the second coming of Christ at Armageddon (not the rapture). The focus of the teaching is a warning to those living during the tribulation time regarding the enormous persecution that will come upon them at the hands of the Antichrist and his cohorts.

     It seems puzzling to me why Jesus would single out these twelve disciples to teach this. After all, none of them would be alive at the time of His second coming. How could this warning possibly apply to them? The warning is about a broad principle that applies to all Christians throughout the Church Age. It is a warning about worldliness.

     Why than does Christ communicate this warning to His inner circle disciples that are the most committed to living for Him? He does so because He knows they will be faithful in communicating this warning to the lost and to those professing disciples living on the periphery of total commitment. This issue of worldliness raises serious doubt about the sincerity of a person’s salvation. That is a consistent message communicated throughout the Scriptures.

“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. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (I John 2:15-17).

     Literally, I John 2:15 says, “If any man loves the world, he does not love the Father.” Of course, our salvation is not based on loving the Father. Loving the Father is defined as keeping His commandments and we know that has nothing to do with being saved (Ephesians 2:8-9).

“If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

     So why does Jesus give this warning and make such a serious issue about worldliness? The answer is simple. The lack of worldliness is a spiritual barometer of a genuinely transformed life. The worldlier a person is, the more he should question the reality of his regeneration and transformation. Yes, regeneration and transformation are two separate issues. However, they are connected. Where there is life, there is growth. Where there is no growth there is no life. There ought to be visible evidence of spiritual growth and eternal life in the life of every genuine believer.

“11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God” (I John 5:11-13).

“We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not” (I John 5:18).

     Therefore, spiritual growth is measured on a very simple scale. It is measured by the degree we separate ourselves from worldliness and the degree we are dedicated, committed followers of Jesus Christ. The issue here is not about results as much as it is about the direction of our efforts and the motivation behind those efforts. The questions we must learn to ask ourselves are the same questions we will ultimately have to answer at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

1. Is my life preoccupied with a struggle for righteousness (separation from selfish and carnal pursuits and being separated unto doing God’s will)?
2. What motivates me to that preoccupation?
A. Am I motivated to separate myself from worldliness for the purposes of self-promotion or self-aggrandizing?
B. Am I motivated to separate myself from worldly pleasure and pursuits because I genuinely love the Lord and want to be used to His glory?

     The fact of the matter is that many people are concerned about moral issues because they are concerned about impressing their peers or out of fear of being ostracized by their peers. The reality of this person’s faith relationship with God will be simply measured by what he does when he knows his peer group will have no knowledge of what he does in secret. We can say with assurance he does not have a faith relationship with God because if he did, he would know that God knows and sees all that he does or thinks (even in secret). Yet, that person does not live within the realm of that reality. The reality is, he lives like God does not exist.

“1 The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes. 2 For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful. 3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good. 4 He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil” (Psalm 36:1-4).

     God expects His children to learn to hate evil. God expects His children to learn to completely abandon worldliness in every avenue and aspect of their lives. The person who continues in worldliness and worldly pursuits manifests a “double minded” person (James 1:8 and 4:8). To be “double minded” is the same as being “carnally minded” (Romans 8:6). This refers to the direction in which our soul is moving or reaching (or seeking to move; i.e. grow).

     This is like a plant that grows in the direction of the Sun, because the Sun is its source for photosynthesis. We stretch ourselves towards what we think will fulfill us. If we think that pleasure or things will fulfill us, we stretch ourselves towards the world and its resources and become preoccupied with those resources. If we think that we will be fulfilled by spiritual things and a relationship with our Creator, we will stretch ourselves in His direction and become preoccupied with Him. What we stretch ourselves toward is what we really believe will give us fulfillment. That is the measurement of the reality of our faith.

     God emphatically informs us that we will only find “death” when we pursue after worldliness. We may find “the pleasures of sin for a season” (Hebrews 11:25), but there will be no lasting satisfaction or fulfillment. The reality is that “the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12).

“5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:5-6).

     It is to this issue that Christ teaches His disciples and gives this warning summarized in the words, “Remember Lot’s wife.” Why did Lot’s wife turn to look back at Sodom and Gomorrah? She looked back because that was where her heart was. She looked back because she loved the things of this world and was preoccupied with them. She looked back because she was more concerned with the things of this world than she was about being obedient to God. She looked back and God’s judgment fell upon her hypocrisy. She looked back and it ended in her death.

     Christ gave this warning to the inner circle of His most committed disciples because He knew that there is the danger of self-deception in even the most dedicated people. We deceive ourselves about the reality of our faith relationship when we refuse to confront this issue of worldliness and our tendency towards it. We hide behind our self-constructed façade of spirituality because we are not willing to confront our own hypocrisy. We willingly deceive ourselves and we hope we deceive our peers, but the only person that really matters is not going to be deceived.

     Are we going to be like Lot’s wife who never dealt with the issue of the reality of her faith relationship with God until the day she was confronted with the judgment of God? Are we just going to continue to rationalize about our double mindedness and continue to deceive ourselves that we have something we really do not have? Think about the risk involved!

“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22).

     “Remember Lot’s wife.” We think our secret, but habitual sin life is inconsequential. We have our sepulcher white washed and we deceive ourselves into thinking all is right with God. Yet, Christ reminds all of us that it is the sin of the heart that leads us astray. It was the sin of the heart that caused Lot’s wife to take that casual glance over her shoulder that cost her her life. That is where our worldliness must be confronted and dealt with; in our hearts.

     It is in our hearts that we set up the idols of secret fantasy life and those secret sins that we keep hidden from our peers. We hide it from our peers without even considering that our heart is the living room of God. It is in this filth and degradation of the carnal lusts of our hearts that we force God to live. It is in our hearts that sin must be confronted and dealt with in the harshest way. We must learn to abhor it. We must learn that sin in any form grieves the Spirit of God within us. We must learn to weep and be broken about the state of our soul and the condition of the Temple of God.

     Holiness never can exist on the outside of our lives until it exists in the inner sanctum of our hearts. That is the central problem of an externalistic Christianity. We become more concerned with the external spit and polish than with genuine issues of the heart. What do we love? That is the tell of our soul.

“13 If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him; 14 If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles. 15 For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear: 16 Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away: 17 And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning” (Job 11:13-17).

     “Remember Lot’s wife,” who in one small and seemingly insignificant moment of her life looked over her shoulder for one last fleeting glimpse of the treasures of her heart. In that one fleeting moment she revealed the idol of her heart and God built a monument to that moment in a pillar of salt with her at its center. That is what the Biblical story of Lot is all about; worldliness. It is about idols of the heart. That is what worldliness is. It is the most deceptive kind of idolatry. It is about putting anything before God in our lives (Ezekiel 14:1-11).

     That is why we can say that the issue of holiness is not about not going to movies, smoking, drinking, pornography, dancing and etc.. These practices are just the symptoms of a serious heart problem. They are the outward exhibitions of idols of the heart. You can stop all of those outward practices and still leave the idols standing in your heart. That is the definition of externalism. That is why so many professing Christians have just enough Christianity to make them miserable. They struggle with keeping their sepulchers whitewashed, but do not really learn to die to the inner fountain of sin in their hearts.