p. 1 | The Sermon by D. T. Bourdeau

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 19, 1867

The Sermon.

By D. T. Bourdeau

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom.

PREACH THE WORD. 2 Tim. iv, 2.

ADVANCES OF GOD'S PEOPLE

Under the Messages, and the Dangers of Backsliding.

BY ELD. D. T. BOURDEAU.

TEXT. “Remember Lot’s wife.” Luke xvii, 32.

These words were spoken by our adorable Redeemer, and they come to us in the form of a command. They point us back to Lot’s wife. We are thereby commanded to “remember Lot’s wife;” and as the Saviour can enforce no duty upon us but what would be conducive to our welfare, it must be important for us to heed the injunction of our text.

In order to see the force and full import of the words which we have selected, let us notice, first, their chronology, and secondly, the history of Lot’s wife, and some of the practical instructions that are derived therefrom.

1. The chronology of our text. When does it apply? By reading the connection we learn that it applies, 1. When it is as it was in the days of Noah and in the days of Lot; and 2. In the day, or at the time, when the Son of man is revealed. Thus read verses 26–31: “And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 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. In that day, he which shall be upon the house-top, 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.” Then follow the words of our text.

The question now arises, Have we reached days like the days of Noah and like the days of Lot? If so, then our text applies at the present time, and we have an additional reason for heeding its injunction. This can be ascertained by comparing the days of Noah and the days of Lot with the present time.

In the description of those days as given by our Saviour, it is said, “They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage.” But says the objector, “This is nothing new. They have always done this. How can you, therefore, ascertain by this whether the text applies in our day and age?” To which we reply that our Lord evidently gives the words we have quoted as indicating some of the sins of the age that he is describing, and for which the antediluvians were destroyed. Consequently those who lived immediately before the deluge sinned in eating, drinking, and marrying. It was not wrong for the antediluvians to eat and drink to maintain their existence; and marriage was as sacred and honorable in the days of Noah as it was when God instituted it in Eden. But the great object of the antediluvians was not to promote, in eating, drinking, and marrying, their health, and prolong their lives to glorify God. Their aim was to gratify self, and satisfy their perverted appetites. They went to excess in these things. Their eating improperly, developed their animal propensities unduly, and opened the way for them to give full sway to their passions. Hence it is that Moses, in describing their wickedness, says, “That the sons of God [or descendants of Seth, Gen. iv, 26, see margin] saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.” Gen. vi, 2. They made their choice in harmony with the promptings of appetite and passion; and reason and their Maker were not consulted.

And is not the history of the antediluvians, in these respects, acted over by the masses of the present age? Look at the excess in eating and drinking. Look at the late banquetings, and at the almost endless list of unhealthy articles of diet used at feasts and on common occasions. Look at those persons of good health whose exquisite taste accepts only the nicest of food, and often cause much perplexity to those who are called upon to satisfy it. Look at the pains taken, and the means expended, and worse than thrown away, to suit the taste and palate, as though the great object of life was to eat, and drink, and enjoy the pleasures of the appetites. And the evil does not stop here. As we might expect, unsanctified marriages, with their trail of evils and misery, are the result. Parents and the Creator are not consulted in many of the unions that are formed, and, as a consequence, many are brought together, who, owing to their organizations and characters, should never be united by the marriage ceremony; and the records of eternity alone will reveal all the unhappiness, suffering, and wickedness, consequent upon such marriages.

The same is said in regard to the days of Lot, as far as eating and drinking are concerned; and the Saviour adds, “They bought, they sold, they planted, they builded.” The evil here also consisted in going to excess in these things, and overlooking the destruction that was coming; and so it is at the present time. Men buy and sell, plant and build, as though destruction was not coming, and the Lord was not near. Never was there an age when as much eagerness and anxiety in these things was so general as now. Who, that has given this subject serious attention, cannot see the truth in the following paragraph from Dr. Griffon:

“The world! the world! the world! This is the object which engrosses every care; this is the supreme deity that is adored. Buy and sell and get gain—out with the thoughts of death—away with the judgment and Heaven—my farms, my merchandise; I will have them, though the earth trembles under my feet, and Heaven weeps blood upon my head!”

And how appropriate is the following caution of Christ to his people now: “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.” Luke xxi, 3, 4. There certainly would be no need of this caution if people ate and drank right, and were not engrossed with the cares of this life.

In harmony with the Saviour’s caution, we read the following extract from 2 Esdras xvi, 35–48, which cannot fail to interest our hearers:

“Hear now these things, and understand them, ye servants of the Lord. Behold, the word of the Lord, receive it; believe not the gods of whom the Lord spake. Behold, the plagues draw nigh, and are not slack. . . . O my people, hear my word; make you ready for the battle, and in those evils be even as pilgrims upon the earth. He that selleth, let him be as he that fleeth away; and he that buyeth, as one that will lose: he that occupieth merchandise, as he that hath no profit by it; and he that buildeth, as he that shall not dwell therein: he that soweth, as if he should not reap: so also he that planteth the vineyard, as he that shall not gather the grapes. . . . And they that occupy their merchandise with robbery, the more they deck their cities, their houses, their possessions, the more will I be angry with them for their sin, saith the Lord.” Apocrypha to the Old Testament.

It is evident, from what we have seen, that our text applies to this generation, and comes to us as meat in due season, and that we have reached the days of the Son of man; for the days which Christ compares with the days of Noah, and the days of Lot, are “the day,

or time, when the Son of man is revealed.” Having now established the chronology of our text, let us consider,

2. The brief history of Lot’s wife, and the practical instructions that are derived therefrom.

The history of Lot’s wife naturally divides itself into two parts; first, that part which relates to her experience in leaving the city of Sodom; and second, that part which relates to her experience after she had left the city. When the Lord was about to destroy Sodom, he sent two angels to Lot and his wife, to inform them and theirs of his design, that they might make their escape. And they said unto Lot, “Hast thou here any besides? 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 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. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law. 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. 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 them; and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.” Gen. xix, 12–16.

This portion of the history of Lot and his wife, well represents our experience in moving out on the doctrine of Christ’s second coming. Instruction was as surely coming when we first heard this doctrine proclaimed, as it was when Lot was first informed of the fate of those who would remain in Sodom. And, doubtless, angels were as literally sent to influence our minds in the right direction, as they were to Lot for the same purpose, though we did not see them. For of unfallen angels we read: “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister unto those who shall be heirs of salvation.” We do not speak of evil spirits, who come to us purporting to be the spirits of dead men, while their object is to lead away from God and his truth. But we refer to those holy beings who rejoiced when the foundations of the earth were laid, Job xxxviii, 7, who excel in strength, and keep God’s commandments, Psa. ciii, 20, and exert their influence and mighty powers in carrying out God’s wise plans. And just here we would appeal to your own experiences, beloved hearers. Were not your minds gently and gradually led toward the truth, before you heard it preached, perhaps, on the wickedness of the age, as you read scriptures applying to the present time, or on man’s nature, on the tangibility of the saints’ reward, and on the perpetual obligation of the true Sabbath. And who that has had this experience can doubt that the angels and Spirit of God were preparing your minds to receive the truth?

Like Lot, and (doubtless) his wife, you invited your relatives, friends, and neighbors, to go with you. Some heeded your invitations, but others did not. Your words seemed to them like idle tales. The world, and its honors, and friends, eclipsed their mental vision, and shut the coming of the Lord, and a preparation for that event, the dreadful wrath of God, and realities of the judgment, from their minds. How could they believe when all these things were between them and the truth? To use the language of Christ, How could they believe when they received honor one of another, and did not receive the honor that comes from God alone? And was it not even difficult for some of us to leave these things behind us, and get loose from our former associations? It was like plucking a right eye, or severing a right arm. And how some of us lingered, querying whether we could not be saved at the coming of the Lord by remaining as we were. We looked tremblingly at the cross, even waiting for the blessing of the Lord to enforce the evidence he had been pleased to give. The Lord was merciful unto us. He met us on our own ground, and showed us the print of the nails in his hands and feet, and the place of the spear in his side; and with his winning and wooing voice, blended with pity and mercy, he said, “Can ye now believe?” “This is the way, walk therein.” We exclaimed, “My Lord and my God! I will believe.” Thus we were compelled, by the evidence and Spirit, to move out on the sanctifying truths for these last days. But our work was not then done, and we were not beyond danger, as the second part of the history before us represents.

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 mountains, lest thou be consumed.’ Then Lot asks of the angel the favor of occupying a certain city on his way to the mountains, which is granted unto him, with the earnest exhortation, ‘Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither.’” “But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. Verse 26. Thus ends the history of Lot’s wife; and she is left as a monument of the dangers of backsliding.

Lot and his wife were not safe for having been placed outside of the city. In leaving Sodom behind them, they had only moved thus far toward the place of safety. They must now escape for their lives, and not stop in all the plain. If they remained in the plain, they would as certainly perish, when the burning fires of God’s wrath would destroy the cities of the plain, as they would if they were in the cities themselves. They must not then look behind them. In doing this they would also perish. They have no time to lose. Their case is an urgent one. Life or death depends upon the course they now pursue. They are safe only as they hasten toward the mountains.

And how applicable are the words of the angel to us, as we have moved out to meet the Bridegroom and to escape the awful wrath of God, which will soon be the winding-sheet of this present evil world. But our work was not accomplished, neither were we safe in the sense of being fully prepared, when we first moved out and sacrificed in this direction; though some then acted as though their work was done, and would move out no further. We had to still press forward, and make advances in the direction of safety, by walking in the light, which was to shine more and more unto the perfect day. We cannot be justified before God, while remaining on the low grounds of sin. We must, as we often hear it expressed in prayer and social meetings, come up on higher and holier ground. We must escape for our lives, by walking in the path of duty, and overcome every sin, by living out the whole truth, that we may be able to pass through the time of trouble without an intercessor, and be found of Christ without spot and blameless at his coming.

We have no time to look back at the vain things that we have left behind us. If we do, we shall be likely to be attracted by them, and to return to them, and perish with them. “No man,” says Christ, “having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke ix, 62. He loses precious time, his mind is divided, if he still wishes to press forward, and his efforts are so weak that he cannot reach the place of safety. We should not be satisfied till we have escaped to the mountain, till we have reached the pinnacle of holiness.

It is the sanctifying truths of the messages by which God has been, and still is, as truly calling us away from sin and danger, as though he spoke to us by an angel from his august presence, and resplendent and ineffable glory, or with his own voice amidst the lightnings and thunderings of Sinai; for these truths come to us by inspiration, as if God were speaking to us and calling us now. And though we have not time to examine them in all their minutiæ, yet we will call attention to a few of them in some of their leading features, noticing, as we pass along, how that, as we have been called upon to make advances in the development of truth, at every advance step, some, like Lot’s wife, have halted and looked behind them, while others, like Lot, have pressed forward.

(Concluded next week.)