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Subject: We ought not to look back when we are flying out of Sodom.

Christ here foretells his coming in his kingdom, in answer to the question which the Pharisees asked him, viz. When the kingdom of God should come. And in what he says of his coming, he, evidently has respect to two things; his coming at the destruction of Jerusalem, and his coming at the end of the world. He compares his coming at those times to the coming of God in two remarkable judgments that were past. First, [he compares] to that in the time of the flood; ‘and as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man.’ Next, he compares it to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; ‘likewise also, as it was in the days of Lot, even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.’

Then he immediately proceeds to direct his people how they should behave themselves at the appearance of the signal of that day’s approach, referring especially to the destruction of Jerusalem. ‘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.’ In which words Christ shows that they should make the utmost haste to flee and get out of the city to the mountains, as he commands. Mat. 24:15, etc. ‘When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet stand in the holy place, then let them which be in Judea flee to the mountains; let him which is in the housetop not come down to take anything out of the house, neither let him which is in the field turn back to take his clothes.’
If there ever was a serious call to press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:13,14), it is to be found in this sermon by Jonathan Edwards in his exposition of Luke 17:32. It is unfortunately the case that so many are putting their trust and assurance of salvation in a single event... their alleged conversion whether it was the going forward at some evangelistic/revival meeting, raising their hand at the request of some soul-winner during a church service, the reading of a prayer from the back of a tract or perhaps asking Jesus into their heart as they sat in the solitary confines of their own room at home. But the solemn truth is, "...he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved (Matt 20:22).

Peter, in his second Epistle doesn't mince words when speaking of those who profess the Christian religion but whose lives are antithetical with all that Christianity is:

2 Peter 2:17-22 (ASV) "These are springs without water, and mists driven by a storm; for whom the blackness of darkness hath been reserved. For, uttering great swelling [words] of vanity, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by lasciviousness, those who are just escaping from them that live in error; promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he also brought into bondage. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the last state is become worse with them than the first. For it were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered unto them. It has happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog turning to his own vomit again, and the sow that had washed to wallowing in the mire."

And Jesus in fewer words declared:

Luke 9:62 (ASV) "...No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." (note the fallacious translation as found in the NIV).

What is most important to note right from the beginning is that the warning doesn't focus upon a turning back, but rather just a simple looking back that is sufficient to bring God's judgment.

I have to wonder what it would have been like to have been present in Jonathan Edward's congregation when he preached this sermon back in May of 1735? But the truth is, one doesn't have to go back in time to experience the preaching of Edwards. You can do it right here and now reading his sermon today. grin

It is available here: The Folly of Looking Back in the Fleeing of Sodom.

In His service and grace,

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simul iustus et peccator

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