DON’T LOOK BACK NOW
This is a story of survival of both you and I, and we also learn from the deeds of others. Jesus Christ said, in Luke 9:57-62 that, “No man having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” As the Lord was walking with his disciples from one village to another between Samaria and Jerusalem a man came up to him and said, “Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.” And the Lord told him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath no place to lay his head,” (verse 58). And the Lord said to another, “Follow me,” but he said Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father, (verse 59). Jesus said unto him, “Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God,” (verse 60).
And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee, but first let me go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house, (verse 61). Then Jesus said unto him in verse 62, “No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Your desires and promises do not translate into realities in many cases. Ask yourself, examine yourself and see how many times even as a Christian have you wanted to follow the Lord all the way, but you lied to yourself. You may have promised to help a needy person or widow or orphan; but you put your hand on the plow but looked back. Your family priority or your wife’s lack of support or your personal comfort overshadowed your desire and promise to do what you said. We are not perfect but Jesus Christ should be our priority. We are in the last hours of the last days and we still cannot make up our minds to follow the Lord without looking back. This is not the time to look back with your hand of the plow.
In verse 59 Jesus Christ said to you “follow me.” Are you going to follow Him or do you have excuses to make? A look at Luke 9:23, presents the actual words of Jesus Christ to all men, which states, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” This is soul searching. First you have to deny yourself, which many of us are struggling with. To deny yourself means you relinquish all thoughts, imaginations and authority to someone else. You ignore your priorities and totally surrender to another person and authority in the person of Jesus Christ. This calls for repentance and conversion. You become a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly, He said take up his cross daily, which implies, that when you come to the cross of Jesus Christ and ask for forgiveness and Him coming into your life as your Savior and Lord; you are changed from death unto life; old things are passed away all things become new, (2nd Corinth.5:17); and you are a new creation. You lose your old life and find a new one of joy, peace, persecutions and tribulations, which are all found in the cross of Christ. You resist evil desires that often lead to sin. They occur in your mind, but if you take up your cross daily, it means that you resist sin daily and yield to the Lord daily in all things. Paul said, I bring my body into subjection daily, (1st Corinth.9:27), else the old man will try to come into prominence in your new life again. Then thirdly, if you have fulfilled the first and second conditions, then you come to “follow me.” This is the main job of every true believer. Jesus said, ‘FOLLOW ME.’ The disciples or apostles followed Him daily; not to farming or carpentry but fishing (Fishers of men). Soul winning was his main job, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, delivering those possessed, blind, deaf, dumb, and dead and all manner of sicknesses. Angels were rejoicing on a daily bases as the lost were saved. This is what we are supposed to do if we follow Him like the brethren in the book of Acts of the Apostles. Where do you stand it is not late yet, deny yourself (what is taking you captive, education, employment, money, popularity or family?). Pick up your cross and separate yourself from friendship with the world. Then follow Him to do the will of the Father, (it is not the will of God that any should perish but that all may come to salvation). Do not put your hand to the plow and start looking back, else Jesus Christ said, “No man having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
In Genesis 19, we are confronted with another struggle to deny our self, pick up our cross and follow me situation. Lot and his family were residents of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham, (Genesis 18:17-19) was his uncle a man well spoken of by God. The two cities were deadly in sin, that their cries, (Genesis 18:20-21) reached the ears of God. God told Abraham face to face saying, “I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it which is come unto me (God standing side by side with Abraham); and if not “I”(I AM THAT I AM) will know. God came down to earth to talk with Abraham (the elective bride) and put him aside, after Abraham’s intersession, (Genesis 18:23-33) a kind of being caught away after reviving Abraham with the visitation. The two men who came to see Abraham with the Lord headed for Sodom and Gomorrah.
In Sodom the two angelic men were confronted with the sins of the cities. Men of the cities were not interested in the daughters of Lot that he offered to them; but were bent on sodomizing the two angelic men that Lot persuade to come into his house. The two men told Lot to go get his family members together, as to leave the city, because they have come from God to destroy the cities because of sin. His sons’ in-law did not listen to him. In (Genesis 19:12-29), the two angelic men in verse 16 acted, “And 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.” And He (the Lord, had arrived to join the two angelic men) in verse 17 and said to Lot, “Escape for thy life, look not behind thee.”
Lot was given the final instructions of mercy. Escape for thy life, look not behind thee. Deny thyself, which here means, forget everything in your mind, behind in Sodom and Gomorrah. Count it all loss that you may win Christ (Philippians 3:8-10). Cling to God’s mercy and unchanging hand and love. Pick up your cross, this involves gratitude to God for your unmerited favor and deliverance, submit totally to the Lord. Appreciate been saved as by fire in the case of Lot. Follow me: this requires obedience, Abraham followed God and it was well with him all round. Lot’s test of obedience at that time was, “Escape for your life and Look not behind thee.” We are at the end of time now, some are running and relating with God like Abraham while others are running and relating with God like Lot. The choice is yours. Angels will not force you into obedience, God will not either; the choice is always that of man to make.
Lot suffered loss and was saved as by fire, but 2nd Peter 2:7 called him, “Just Lot.” He was obedient not to look back, his two daughters did not look back but his wife did (sister Lot) for some unknown reason, disobeyed and looked back for she was behind Lot, (it was a race for life, escape for thy life, you cannot help someone at the last minute, as during the translation moment) and verse 26 of Genesis 19 reads, “But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.” To follow Jesus Christ is a personal decision, because you have to deny yourself; but you cannot help someone deny themselves, because it has to do with thought and is personal. Each person has to carry their own cross; you cannot carry yours and that of someone else. Obedience is an issue of conviction and is very personal. That was why brother, Lot could not help his wife or children; and surely nobody can save or deliver their spouse or children. Train your child in the ways of the Lord and encourage your spouse and co-heir of the kingdom. Escape for your life and look not behind. This is the time to make your calling and election sure by examining your faith (2nd Peter 1:10 and 2nd Corinth.13:5). If you are not saved or backslid, come to the cross of Calvary: repent of your sins and ask Jesus Christ to come into your life and be your Savior and Lord. Look for a small bible believing church to attend and get baptized in the Name, (not names) of Jesus Christ the Lord. Escape for your life and do not look behind for it is judgment of the great tribulation and the lake of fire, not pillar of salt this time. Jesus Christ said in Luke 17:32, “Remember Lot’s wife.” DO NOT LOOK BACK, ESCAPE FOR YOUR LIFE.
079 – DON’T LOOK BACK NOW