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One of the most beautiful illustrations in scripture is the comparison of salvation to coming into the "light" or restoring of vision. Perhaps the most famous song in the entire religious world, "Amazing Grace," uses this analogy in the line "was blind but now I see." Peter wrote in the beloved scripture:

What a fabulous comparison of salvation! We were in darkness and like a blind man stumbling about without any true direction and true perception until Jesus Christ found us and then He called us out of the darkness and like the blind men in Jesus' day, instantly found ourselves clearly able to see this man named Jesus of whom we had heard so much about! We have responded to His voice, and now we see Him in a different light! He has changed us and now we can see that we needed Him all along! I thank God that God could see further than we could! In the story of the prodigal son, the father saw the rebellious son coming home from "afar off" and ran to meet him! Paul wrote to the Roman church:

God had great vision toward us! He had a plan for us before we even knew He existed! When we were still sinners, He paid the price for our salvation and liberty! What a marvelous work that God has done in taking people who were in darkness and turning them into a people of the light. Of taking eyes that were either blind, closed, or both and opening them to the marvelous revelations of His Word! What man could not see in us, God saw! What we could not see even in ourselves, God identified and when you responded to His Word and Spirit, He did a miracle within your life! The old song says:

When they talked about potential, they did not refer to me,

'Cause everyone could plainly see, what I was I'd always be.

But He saw not what I was He saw what I could be!

When He reached His hand to where I was, He took a chance on me.

All He had to hope for, was just a possibility;

Still He saw not what I was, He saw what I could be!

Hallelujah! We serve a God that views situations further than we can comprehend! The work that God has done in some of your lives is beyond what even you could have hoped for or dreamed about. You didn't even know enough to ask for it, but God -- who sees so much more than man sees -- saw what you could be and did abundantly, above all that you could ask or think! ________________________________________________________________________

The story is told of my wife's younger brother, Jonathan, that when he was a little boy he loved nothing more in life than to eat at McDonalds. Never mind that his father was a terrific cook: if you wanted to make little Jonathan happy, then you had to take him to McDonalds. Some of your kids are like that. It seems that all of your money goes to the place with the golden arches, and it seems that there is a franchise everywhere you turn! My little brother-in-law was particularly adamant about eating there, so much so that anytime the family were to get into the van for any reason he would immediately begin to try to get them to go to a McDonalds.

One particular day, the family was traveling somewhere and Jonathan began his usual, persistence nagging to stop at McDonalds. Someone said "I don't see a McDonalds close by." To which Jonathan replied "oh there is one, I can see it." And then someone else in the family said "well, I can't see it" and the banter went on like this for some time with Jonathan stating every mile "there is one ahead, I can see it." After a few more miles, they did pass a sign and the family van headed for the exit and another "Mcburger" meal. Delighted at seeing that they were going to McDonalds, Jonathan gleefully cried out "see, I told you that I saw a McDonalds." And when someone said "when you said that I didn't see one." Jonathan triumphantly responded: "that's because I've got long eyes!"

So we could say that God has "long eyes" because He is able to see more in us than we see in ourselves. And I think God that He has removed our blindness: it is important to be able to see, and I wouldn't trade sight for anything in the world, but seeing is not just all there is to it. Sometimes people get the attitude "I once was blind but now I see and so I'm finished in God." But regaining spiritual sight is just the first step in serving God! You can't stop growing! So you can see now, that's great, but how far can you see?! Do you still see your situation as you always did? We've got to allow God to continue touching your eyes! We've got to have spiritual "long eyes" for ourselves. Let me show you what I mean with a scriptural example that illustrates far better than my own words:

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In our text, we read about Abraham and his nephew Lot. Because we know the end of the story -- how that Lot's wife is toasted and destroyed with Sodom and Gomorrah, we automatically tend to take a negative view of Lot. But I want you to realize that at first Lot answered the call of God along with Abraham. Lot also left idolatry for the promises of God. Lot packed up and left Ur with Abraham in order to sojourn in the land of promise, and accordingly the scriptures say that God blessed both Abraham and Lot so much that their wealth increased and their flocks grew to the point that their servants began to fight over the available water for their sheep. Lot chose to sacrifice and serve God just as Abraham was doing and Lot was not an inherently bad guy like so many people make him out to be. In fact, writing years later Peter called Lot "just" or "right with God." Lot started out serving God and just as "saved" as Abraham was.

But then came the fateful day upon which Lot would probably look back later with regret. Abraham and Lot met and they decided to divide up and each take a different part of the region so that their families and servants would not quarrel. Graciously, Abraham gave Lot first choice of where he wanted to live. Wherever Lot chose, Abraham would take the remainder. A little greed came out in Lot, because the scriptures say that Lot looked toward the "well-watered plain of Sodom" and chose "all the plain." It was good ground and well cultivated and groomed. It would be easy to build a home and plant crops and live there. Of course, there were also two large, extremely wicked cities nearby named Sodom and Gomorrah, but Lot didn't worry about that. In fact, the scripture specifically says that he "pitched his tent toward Sodom." He had no plans to move there, of course, but it would be convenient whenever he needed some entertainment or supplies. And so, in his planning, he purposefully got as close to the city of sin as he could without being a part of it.

Many a sermon has been preached from this part of scripture and there will be many more. What started as Lot "pitching his tent toward Sodom" ended with his moving in and becoming a permanent inhabitant. Just as Eve set herself up for failure by hanging around the forbidden, so Lot did end up losing everything precious to the effects of sin in his life. Peter wrote later that "just" Lot was "vexed with the conversation of the wicked" (2 Peter 2:7). In other words, despite his commitment to God and despite his intentions, rather than influence them, they influenced him! It could be said that Lot lost his family when he first chose to pitch his tent toward Sodom. And it is at this point in the story that we begin to see a difference between the spiritual vision of Abraham and Lot. Lot lacked spiritual "long eyes," if I can say it that way. He had answered the call of God and was even in the promised place of God, but he failed to see the danger in living close to ungodliness. He failed to see the long range effects of his simple actions that he was making today. What seemed at first glance to be the easiest way actually had the hardest consequences! What seemed to be the most convenient path of life ended up being the most inconvenient when sin had run it's course! I wonder if Lot had been able to see further down the road, if he would have still chosen the plains of Jordan. I wonder if he had been able to see that his home would be destroyed and his wife killed in her unbelief and that his daughters would resort to rape and incest if he would have still "pitched his tent toward Sodom..." Both Abraham and Lot started out living for God together. They both traveled the same road of life and yet because Lot didn't have "long eyes" he ended losing everything that he had!

We must develop spiritual "long eyes" when it comes to sin and this world. Hebrews 12:1 tells us that we must lay aside "every sin and weight" that would cause us to lose out with God. A sin is something that brings immediate spiritual death of your relationship with God. It is something that is absolutely wrong and is "black and white" in scripture. I've heard people say "well, I don't know why the Bible makes a big deal about that, I don't see anything wrong with it." You're looking with "short eyes." You're looking at the immediate. Not all sin brings immediate, noticeable results in your life. It may even seem right at the time, but if the Bible labels it sin, then you can "bet your last dollar" that it will end in destruction and hurt and pain. We cannot choose our spiritual course by what we feel at the moment and by what we can see in the short term, but if we are to make it living for God, we need to develop "long eyes." Someone with "long eyes" says "Even though I can't see what's wrong with this now, if the Word of God says it, then I'm going to lay it aside because I know that it will eventually bring pain!" The memory verse for the youth class a couple of weeks ago was:

Moses chose the desert and the journey with Israel rather than stay and enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season! And I can sum up verse 26 by simply saying this: Moses had "long eyes!" He knew that even though he was comfortable where he was, that it wouldn't last forever and so even though the Red Sea and the wilderness and giants loomed ahead, Moses chose to do things God's way! And the scripture says that Moses did these things "by faith." That is, he was so convinced that God's way would bring greater riches that he was willing to move from his comfort zone and palace of sin and obey God even though he had never seen the promised place that God was talking about! We need "long eyes" that will cause us to change our life to be more like God's even though we may not see instant results!

Hebrews 12:1 says to lay aside "every weight and sin." A "weight" is something that at first doesn't affect your running, but if you don't drop it, will eventually cause you to slow down and even quit! Listen carefully: a "weight" is not necessarily a sin, but it is just as important to get rid of according to scripture!

When Lot chose to pitch his tent towards Sodom, that was not sin. It did not go against any prior commandment of God at that time. But it was a tremendous weight! It was something that grew and grew in his life until it caused him to lose his family. I challenge you: find me one place in scripture where it ever says that Lot "sinned." It's not there. In fact, the scripture says otherwise. Peter calls Lot "just" and "righteous" and "Godly!" Listen to what Peter wrote:

Lot was "vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked. How? By living among the heathen, in "seeing and hearing." That word "vexed" literally means "to wear down and oppress" in the Greek. By choosing to pitch his tent toward Sodom, Lot but a tremendous weight upon his walk with God. The people he began to associate with was a weight. The things that he saw and heard was a weight. By choosing to live with the weight of Sodom, Lot doomed his family. Oh, I know that he got out alive and alright, but he lost his married daughters, their families, and his wife to Sodom. His two younger girls got him drunk and committed incestual rape with him. Lot got out but with what? Sodom had a tremendous grip upon his family that permeated into generations of despair!

There are some things that are simply sin. But there are other things that we must guard against that there is no "black and white" scripture for but they violate principles in God's Word. There is no scripture that says "thou shalt not watch pornography." But there are scriptures that say that we should not "lust with our eyes," and that we should be like Job who made a covenant with his eyes that "he would not look upon a maid." It's a scriptural principle. And by the way, it's not just a male problem. Last month a study came out that said that almost half of people who regularly visit porn sites on the internet are women. We live in a generation where we must guard our eyes! And at the same time, we can't just stop with pornography, because what we read, what magazines we buy, where we go, what we watch, who we hang around with in this immodest world, all are weights that hamper our relationship with God! We must have "long eyes" and realize that if something is violating a principle of God's Word, we must remove it from our life!

Can I remind you of what God's Word says about sin and weights? And I'll read it to you in "The Living Bible" so that it is easy to understand:

This was written to the church! It was written to people that were born again of the water and the Spirit: to people whose spiritual eyes had been opened! But they were still approaching life in the "short term." Somebody needs to get "long eyes" about what is going on in your life! Choose a path that will lead to the kingdom of God and not away from it!

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When Lot chose the plain, that left Abraham with the hills and mountains. At first glance, it wasn't the most desirable place to live. I imagine it took Abraham a while to learn to walk on the mountain side: a slight slip and you might hurt yourself. It would take years of cultivation to remove the rocks and level up the slopes to plant any sort of crop. The servants and shepherds would have to take extra care to make sure that the sheep did not injure themselves in the daily search for food, and water supply, so ample in the valley, would have to be located in the craggy bluffs of the hill country. At first sight it would seem that Abraham had gotten the "short end of the stick." It would seem at first glance that he Abraham was the worst off of the two. Human logic would tell you that Abraham was a fool.

But it turned out that Abraham made the right decision! Verse 14 of our text says:

When Abraham willingly chose the mountains, THEN God spoke to Him! When Abraham separated himself from Lot, THEN God made him some promises! Let me stop here for a moment that you will never have the relationship with God that you desire if you are hanging out with people who lack spiritual "long eyes" toward sin. You will never be able to have spiritual revival in your lives until you separate yourself from those who "pitch their tent towards Sodom." And notice that the issue wasn't Abraham hanging around Sodomites, but he had to separate himself from a "just" and "righteous" man who was pitching his tent toward the wrong way. There are people in every church that are going either of two directions, forward or backward. Either toward Sodom or away from Sodom. Holiness is more than just outward modesty, but also includes separating ourselves from evil influences and sometimes that influence can be found in the form of someone who is saved but heading the wrong direction. You'd better learn to recognize the signs of people in church that are heading the wrong way. Such people will be like Lot and try to live as close to the world as possible while still trying to serve God. They'll deny that hanging around worldly people and worldly things affects them. Like Lot, they'll choose the easy road rather than sacrifice. They'll choose to live with the crowd rather than to dwell alone in the mountain of God.

Understand that there were fewer people on the mountain. It was lonely on the mountain at times. It took more effort and work to live on the mountain. There were no homes already built. On the plain, Lot could just find a home and move in to what someone else had done, but on the mountain, each family had to create their own abode.

Living for God is not the easiest route that you can choose. That's why the pews are not full tonight. Jesus said that to follow Him meant picking up a cross. He also said "he that endureth to the end shall be saved." Learning to endure is not what this generation of Americans wants to hear about. And sometimes it gets lonely on the mountain of God. Take a stand and try to live according to God's Word and you will find that there are few that join in. It's easier to live in the house of sin that our parents handed us. It's easy just to be what we've always been. It's more work to try to become something that we've never reached before. It's sometimes uncomfortable staying on the Potter's wheel and have him squeeze us to get us in the right shape for the Kingdom of God. "Strait and narrow is the way" that leads to heaven and the scriptures say that "few there be that find it."

But wait a minute! We are not choosing our lifestyle based upon immediate satisfaction or comfort. We are choosing it based upon what's at the end of this road, not what it seems like at the start! Some would ask "boy, preacher you make it sound like there is no reason to live on the mountain." No, that's not what I am saying. I'm just being real with you about the hardships of living on the mountain of God. Don't misread me, the benefits far outweigh the hardships.

Just look at Abraham's life for example: after he had separated himself from Lot and chose to live on the mountain of God, look what God told Abraham:

Gen 13:14b-15 Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: 15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

It is a principle in God's Word that God can only bless you as far as you can see. And your placement in God determines how far you can see. God couldn't make this same promise to Lot in the valley of sin because if he had lifted up his eyes, what could he have seen? Just the surrounding hillside of Abraham. But up on top of the mountain, Abraham could see all that God had for him! If Abraham had not been upon the mountain, he would have never been able to receive the promise of God! But from upon the mountain, Abraham got "long eyes" and was able to see even into the future of how God was going to bless Him!

I've heard the voice of people pitched toward Sodom all my life: "what is it about living for God?" "We can't see how you are blessed any different than we are?" "In fact, we have nicer cars, nicer clothes, nicer homes than some of your church folks and we get to have a little 'fun'." From the valley of sin, the only future that you can see is sin and it's a very limited view. It couldn't see the judgment of God coming down. But Abraham, upon the mountaintop, got forewarned! But Lot didn't! God doesn't reveal His plans to those who are pitched toward Sodom!

I'll tell you what I say to those critics: my way of living to you seems foolish to you because you don't have spiritual "long eyes!" But upon the mountain top of God, I can see much further than you can even imagine and I can hear the voice of God whispering "if you can see it, I'll give it to you!" I see an Apostolic ministry and anointing far beyond most men and if I can see it, then God will promise it to me! I see a golden city beckoning for me to live within it's walls for eternity! I see the one who died for me and His holiness and His perfect ness and the promise that if I will keep striving for that holiness, one day He will complete the work in me!

Therefore I choose to remove myself from the valley of sin and live different than the crowd. The pleasures of sin aren't worth reaping the judgment of God over, and even more than that, aren't worth losing my spiritual vision!" Cast you tent toward Sodom if you choose, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord! I'll choose to stand upon the mountain of the Lord. I'll choose to seek Him in the thunder while everyone else bows to the golden calf of no demands. Whatever I've got to change and give up and get beyond, I've made up my mind that I will serve God on the mountaintop! I refuse to limit God! I want to see and possess all that He has for me!

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The scriptures say that "the just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17). In other words, those who are right with God, will walk daily "by faith." It also says this:

So if we are to be saved we must be of faith, and the children of Abraham! But Jesus said this:

If we are to be saved, then we must be like Abraham and Abraham lived his life with "long eyes!" He made his decisions based upon the long range spiritual picture! He separated himself from Sodom and those who pitched their tent toward it and chose to live on the mountain of God!

I'd liked to have preached to you about how that Abraham was blessed excessively by God for the rest of his life. I'd liked to have preached to you about how that God told him to walk through the land that he had seen and to possess it! I'd like to talk about how that Abraham built an altar and that his relationship and family drew only closer to God. But you can't have all of that, until you take the first steps that Abraham took! To get to all of the blessings in God, you've got to take the first steps of turning away from Sodom and from those who pitch their tents that way. You've got have spiritual "long eyes" to ever be where you can experience the promises of God! God give us "long eyes!"