Main idea: Trust God’s message to escape God’s judgment.
Applications
0:13
Well, good morning. Good morning, brothers and sisters and friends, good morning to our guests. I want to add my welcome with John. To all of you. It's good to see, and I would love to have an opportunity to connect with you and get to know you a little bit. Today, we're going to be looking at Sodom and Gomorrah. Probably the only humorous thing that will come today is from Nathalie, who is another one of our mission partners. She is in Tenerife, and every week, she funds a snack for whoever's preaching on the morning. And every once while, there's something really interesting in it, via her mom. So thank you, Andy for tuna creations, Hickory Smoke flavored. Did you pick smoke flavored? Because we're talking about Sodom and Gomorrah today. Yikes. I'm going to be a great lunch tomorrow, though I can tell you that there we go. We're going to be looking at Sodom and Gomorrah today. And we love the Bible. The Bible is a word of grace. Even the warnings out of it are a word of grace that we would heed and listen and have a compulsion for our city and our community. Please stand with me for the reading of God's Word. I'm going to read 19, one through 29 this sobering passage, and it is something referred to many times in the Bible. We'll talk about that in a little bit, but let's let's listen through and let's pray that God would attune our ears to hear this, and then what he wants to say out of it to us, the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom when Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth and said, my lords, please turn aside to your servant's house and spend the night and wash your feet, then you may rise up early and go your way. They said, No, we will spend the night in the town square, but he pressed them strongly, so they turned aside to him and entered his house, and he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house, and they called to Lot, where are the men who came to you tonight. Bring them out to us that we may know them. Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him and said, I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof. But they said, Stand back. And they said, This fellow came to sojourn and has become the judge. Now we will deal worse with you than with them. Then they pressed hard against the man lot and drew near to break the door down, but the men reached out their hands and brought lot into the house with them and shut the door. And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out, groping for the door. Then the men said to Lot, have you anyone else here, sons in law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place, for we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before us, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it. So Lot went out and said to his sons in law, who were to marry his daughters, up, get out of the place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city. But he seemed to his sons in law to be jesting. As morning dawned, the angels urged lot, saying, up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city, but he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. And as they brought them out, one said, escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley, escape to the hills, lest you be swept away. And Lot said to them, oh no more. Oh no, my lords, Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight. And if you have shown me great kindness since you have shown me great kindness in saving my life, but I cannot escape to the hills lest the disaster overtake me and I die. I. Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there. Is it not a little one, and my life will be saved. And he said to him, Behold, I grant you this favor that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. The sun had risen on the earth. When lot came to zoar, then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah, sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven, and he overthrew those cities, and all the valley and all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew on the ground, but Lot's wife behind him looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace. So it was that when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived, this is the word of the Lord God. We thank you because you have such mercy and kindness to us that we undeserving, rebellious sinners might be warned to have our eyes opened to just judgment, to have our eyes opened to the only way of escape in Jesus Christ, We thank you for that. We have sung it. We are going to read it. We pray that you would do powerful work through it. We pray for our nation. We pray for our president, for his cabinet, we pray for you to be at work in our Congress, in our in our judges, we pray that you would be at work in our governor, in our state senate and congressional representatives. Open their eyes to see the whole of the gospel, to turn to you. We want to live peaceable, quiet lives in this world, to give testimony and to boldly proclaim the gospel. So be at work. We do not know when the final day will be. You say in your word that it will come like a thief, and before that, we pray that you would, as you have been, patient with us, that you would draw many to yourself. We pray that you would be at work in our church here, giving us awe and reverence and urgency in this message of the gospel. We pray for our city, that there would be an urgency. I pray for Randy at the Congregational Church on on 29th that you would help him faithfully preach and proclaim, and that their church would be a testimony. And we think of churches around our city that that would be the case, that we would proclaim the full gospel, the judgment that's coming, the Mercy found in Christ, the salvation that we have until the final day arrives where you set all things in justice and equity. We ask this in your name. Amen. You may be seated today. I want to talk about God's just judgment, about God's justice, and I want to talk about the only way to escape it. The account of Sodom and Gomorrah is set as the object lesson. One of my team called it the iconically horrifying story. It is the iconic story of judgment in the Bible, the Old Testament refers to this scene 18 times about temporal judgments on on Israel, and it usually served one of three ways. Don't be like Sodom and Gomorrah, or you'll receive judgment you are like Sodom and Gomorrah. So prepare for judgment. You're worse than Sodom and Gomorrah. Your judgment is going to be worse like that's often how it unfolds in the Old Testament, times those, those 19 times. And then in the New Testament, it's also used, sorry, 18 in the old nine in the new Jesus will use it the same way of Bethsaida and chorazin, for instance, places where he ministered, and the apostles preached the gospel. Jesus says it will be worse for you chorazin And Bethsaida than it will be for Sodom and Gomorrah on the Day of Judgment, which is a pretty heavy statement, considering what we just read, because they. Had the King who gave his life and they rejected Him, something much worse was going to fall on them.
10:10
This is used as the object lesson to remind us of the final judgment. Jesus refers to this final judgment in these references before God judges, he anticipates a question. He anticipates a question from Abraham. We looked at it last week, and there is this statement, Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just Yahweh opened his heart to Abraham, telling him what he was about to do. And if we understand how the New Testament relates to the Old Testament. In the New Testament, statements are made like no one has ever seen God but his only son has made him known. So when we look back at the Old Testament, when God shows up in human form, visibly, we consider that a theophany, more specifically, a christophany. That means that Jesus was the one who told Abraham what he was about to do. Will Jesus do? What is just? Abraham negotiates. What if there's 50 righteous What if there's 45 he gets all the way down to 10, because it would not be right for God to sweep away the just in condemnation. The story is going to prove out what's going on in the hearts of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. But this is an objection that Abraham has. It might be an objection that you have about your loved ones, about the people that you know, the people in your neighborhood, the people at your workplace, many don't like judgment and the idea of it, or even to talk about it, because they have loved ones that will be judged.
11:57
As we look at this and as we look at the Scripture, there should be a sense of urgency. The angels urge lot to leave. So being a loving community making disciples of Jesus Christ demands us to show the most important kind of love we can the most difficult, the greatest suffering anybody could possibly suffer is the suffering under final judgment. And so if we're going to be a loving community, if I'm going to be a loving pastor, some of you are here today who have not submitted to Christ's lordship and trusted him for salvation. And what kind of loving pastor would I be if I didn't tell you to flee from the wrath of God to the salvation in his son? And so all of you should feel that way about your neighbors, about your coworkers, about the people that you come across. And I know that every conversation can't be a gospel conversation, telling people to flee from the wrath to come. But there should be an urgency that presses those kind of conversations, that moves toward them. And if you have not submitted to Christ, don't wait another day Jesus tells us that he is going to return at a time that you do not expect, or, as Peter told us, like a thief in the night, unexpected hour you could die any time have to face judgment in hell, waiting for the final judgment to the lake of fire, where Jesus could return. This brings a sense of urgency. The main idea, the big idea for this morning is this really is a call to trust God's message to escape God's judgment. Trust God's message to escape God's judgment. I take that because two angels, verse one came to Sodom with a message for lot and lot was to take the message to the anyone he knew in the city, any of what were his people. We're going to look at this as we unfold it. We need to trust God's assessment of sin. We need to believe the announcement of pending judgment. We need to keep focused on the deliverance or the grace that's set before us. We need to keep our hearts focused and we need to remember that any salvation, any offer of salvation, any security of salvation, is from God's sovereign and good grace alone. This will become transparent as we take a look through this so let's take a look at this first one. How do you trust God's message to escape God's judgment? Well, we need to trust God's message related to the assessment of sin. If we're looking at the context, we jump back to eight. 1820 where Jesus opens his heart. Yahweh says this because the outcry against Sodom. This is 1820 because the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave. I will go down to see whether they have done altogether to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know. Let's put this to the test. It's not that God doesn't know, but he wants to make it very clear to all of us, this isn't random. This isn't capricious. He's going to put it to the test. The angels make quick work of the 40 mile walk to Sodom. They leave early day, they make a 40 mile walk. It's about to be sundown. Two angels came to Sodom in the evening, two messengers from God, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. Commentators note that lot's made a lot of social progress. He put pitched his tents nearby, and had his flocks nearby. Now he was a city dweller. Means he had some means, some influence. Possibly, he sat with the Council at the city gate. The city gates were a very important set. At least the wealthy would be able to sit there and pass the time. Something has happened. He has made social progress, and he only, he's the only one who offers hospitality. Some suggest that everybody should have been clamoring to support the angels, but it was only him says, come stay with me. My Lords, please turn aside to your servant's house. Spend the night, wash your feet, then you may rise up early, go your way. They said, No, we'll spend the night in the town square. And notice this, he pressed them strongly so they turned aside to him. They he was insistent to them come stay with me. Perhaps he knows the men of the of the city, and what would be what would fall upon these men if they slept at the in the Piazza, so to speak, I now we find out how grim this turns very quickly. He brings them in. He made a feast baked unleavened bread. They ate verse three, verse four. But before they lay down the men of Sodom, you want to see how pervasive the sin was. The writer here, Moses, can't get more explicit. It's thorough every single man before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom so everybody in town, everybody in the region, both young and old boys to old men, all the people to the last man surrounded the house. How many righteous people do we have? Remember, he's negotiating. Are there 5045? Are there 10? They called to lot. Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them. They want to have intimate relations with the men. Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, and said, I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. And here we we see lot pleading, don't do this. This is a horrible thing to do.
18:26
We have here what Peter calls the tormented lot. Second Peter two, seven, we have an interesting statement, because Peter refers to lot as the righteous lot. This is two second Peter two, seven and eight, if he rescued righteous lot, greatly distressed by the central conduct of the wicked. For as that righteous man lived among them, day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard. Where did lot's righteousness come from? Well, it has to be the same kind of righteousness that Noah had where he found favor for his faith in God. Has to be the kind of faith that Abraham had Genesis, 15, six, the Lord or Abraham, believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. And out of a right standing comes whatever versions of righteousness there are. There is another reality that is sometimes described in the Bible as righteous. In comparison, lot's righteous in comparison, doesn't help us a lot, because he is a very compromised righteous man. When we look to the next verses, he takes the lesser of two evils or. Approach in his culture, we would do just the opposite of what he did to we do just the opposite today, but in the ancient Near East, hospitality was one of the premier virtues, and if you hosted someone, you pledged your life to protect them. I So he looked at his requirement for hospitality, and he looked at his situations, and he says this in verse eight, Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you. Do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof. Abraham had prayed for lot. Lot is only a righteous man by faith, and it seems that the only reason he has drug out of the city is because of somebody else's prayer. He is a compromised man. This doesn't seem like a good solution to us. His daughters are compromised. We don't have time to get to it today. But after their rescue, they have children by their father, Moab and Ammon are those descendants, but this tests yet further how wicked Sodom is. Instead of taking something normal, they reject that. They said, Follow along. Stand back. They said, This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge. Now we will deal worse with you than with them. They violently attacked the righteous rebuke of the wickedness. Then they pressed hard against the man. Lot drew near to him. They were getting violent with Him. And God has mercy on lot and lot's daughters, the men reached out their hands. These angels brought lot into the house with them and shut the door, and they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house both small and great, so that they wore themselves out. Remember, Moses is taking pains to tell us how thoroughly wicked the city was, even in their blindness, they didn't say we're blind now we've been judged. We should stop it. No, they are so incensed and insane with their intentions of evil, they are groping for the door, there has to be something supernatural going on, because you should be able to find a door by pressing the walls. And they are groping for it, they exhaust themselves. The sin is great, and here the questions answered in full, isn't it? Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just? Yes, every last man is inflamed with violent, abusive, murderous passion against Holy Angels. We have to just step step back for a moment. We live in a culture that says you do you. It's interesting. We live in a you do you culture everybody can do whatever they want, whatever they seem interested in, whatever pursuits they want. They want to see it as righteous and good, and at the same time, it's the most judgmental culture of any time, isn't it, where everybody is condemned for whatever they do. As long as you don't condemn the whatever I do, then I won't condemn the whatever you do. But the moment anybody calls anything righteous or unrighteous. Now they are the criminal. How would we decide what is right and wrong? We decide it from our Creator, God. The Creator is also God the law giver. He is the one who sets the standards for righteous judgment. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just? The answer is yes, because He is Creator and He is lawgiver. He determines what is just. And if you think that it's only violent, immoral acts that bring God's judgment, sodoms, sins include an array of worldliness. We don't have time to go to Ezekiel 1649, through 50, but Israel and surrounding nations are promised to judgment, and they are told you are like your sister Sodom, who was very wealthy, sat back on her wealth, and had no concern for the widow or the orphan or true justice. What will. Will be judged today. Romans, one speaks of the pinnacle of God giving over to sin. Closes with this. Sinners are filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless, disobedient to parents. That's in the list. Listen to what Paul says. That's worth we know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Every sin in the book is worthy of righteous judgment. We have to trust God's message about sin to escape just judgment, to turn from the sin to the only one who can save us from it. Second, we need to believe the news of judgment. So after a thorough catalog of how wicked the city is, he gives news of judgment. Verse 12 says this, Then the men said to Lot, have you anyone else here? Do you have any people, sons in law, sons, daughters, or anyone else you have in the city? We commonly use this idea of your people. Everybody has people. You're my people. Do you have any people, like any close, precious people who you share life with that you consider as good as family to, you need to go to them. You need to bring them out of this place. So instantly, lot is turned into Jonah. You need to go tell what's going to happen. Unlike Jonah, he does go, but he doesn't have a lot of people, although he loves the city. What's the warning we are about to destroy this place? Because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it. Here is the news of this judgment. Ian, I've got to go tell them. So a lot went out said to his sons in law, who were to marry his daughters, who were just minutes before at the door, trying to break in. Every man in the city was at the door, including his sons in law, good choices, Pops. These are the guys that you're going to have your daughters marry. There's a lot of Sodom carried out of this city, and lot's daughters as well, get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city. But he seemed to his sons in law to be jesting.
28:15
It's often thought that young men are the ones who are inflamed with immorality. But it's clear in the passage young and old, city or country. Usually you think of the city as being more liberal and the country being more conservative. Here every last man is guilty, young or old. Here is an interesting thing, the sons in law are young men. And very often, young men don't believe that there is a judgment. Young men want to push it off. Young men think that there's time and it's to them, it just seems like a joke. This is a joke. Man, lot's what's lot drinking. They totally rejected it. I want to plead with you, young men, there is a day of judgment coming. Jesus refers to this in Luke 17, as people who think that it's just going to keep going on just like this forever. This is likewise, just as this is Luke 1728, just likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot. They were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. So it will be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. There is a day coming that will be a like a thief, like a thief, like we have been reading in our scripture readings out of Second Peter, the day will come like a thief. So it will be when Jesus returns in glory to judge.
29:57
And who knows how long you. Will live. Who knows that your life wouldn't be exacted to you from this very moment? Luke 12, verse 20, God says in this parable to the rich fool, fool, this night your soul is required of you. You don't know the day of your death. You don't know the day of the Lord's return, and it is absolutely imperative that you turn to God's Savior before God's Savior comes to be your judge. So to trust God's message to escape judgment, you need to trust God's assessment of sin. You need to heed his warning of judgment. Third, you need to keep your heart focused. You need to keep your heart focused. You need to turn from the sin and all its trappings, you need to turn to the mercy and grace and kindness of God, and this is just what the angels bring to Lot and his family. Verse 15, as morning dawned, the angels urged lot, saying, up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city. You could circle the word urged. There should be a sense of urgency.
31:10
It's important for our own souls, the souls of others in our lives, this sense of urgency about the pending judgment, there's a host of things we could say about turning to Christ, finding forgiveness, walking Christ like in righteousness and true justice. How beneficial it is for a city when there are many Christians who follow Christ and live according to his ways. But underlying this is this dread notice lot's response, verse 16, it says, But he lingered. Look at it in Hebrew, there's a Hebrew punctuation mark right after. It looks like a really, really big colon, and it's the stop of a sentence. Stop and pause. But he lingered, pause. He was hesitant. He it doesn't say why he lingered, although we could supply some things, sad for his sons in law, sad for the city, unwilling to leave what he had built there. Who knows? And a lot of times when it doesn't give any information. It's really helpful for us, because we could just simply ask the question, what made you linger? What makes you linger? What makes you hesitant? I knew I was a guilty sinner pretty early. I heard the gospel. Stood up for an altar call, but didn't want to leave my immorality, my success. I didn't want to leave my earthly, sinful passions. I lingered. God was gracious and merciful gave me a Solomonic understanding of the pleasures of the world, that they were bankrupt and I was still going to head for Christless eternity. There are some ways I could feel like lot drug out by the hand. I
33:45
It reminds us how we need to stay focused on what the Lord offers. He's focused on what he leaves. He needs to be focused on what the Lord offers. And God's mercy is astounding. Here. We could stay focused on four things, if you notice it. First, there is God's mercy. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand. And we have the reversal. Lot strong arms. The men into his home to give them hospitality. They seize lot, his wife, his daughters by the hand. There's four hands for the angels, and two are grabbing lot, and his wife and the other two from the other angel are grabbing the daughters. They grab them by the hand, and they they pull them out of the city. Notice what it says the Lord being merciful to him, compassionate to him. You need to keep your eyes on the mercy and compassion of Christ, the mercy and compassion of God. God is offering you salvation now, mercy to flee now. Ian.
35:08
As they brought them out, one said, escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away. It's interesting that lot negotiates here. It's an interesting perspective, like the angels have come, don't you think you could make it to the hills? He doesn't think so. And God is enormously patient with him. Lot focuses on the grace of God here. Immediately, lot said to them, Oh no, my lords, Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and that word favor is the Old Testament, word for grace. You have given grace to me. I can't make it out to the hills. They're too far away. They're too far away.
36:01
Lot had received an undeserved blessing, and God is patient. God is patient. Your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. We see God's mercy, we see God's grace, we see God's kindness. This word for kindness is that he said the steadfast love. And here there is something elevated going on in the story that is above lot's story. Lot notices God's kindness, His steadfast love. But steadfast love is a very common word about God's covenant promises to his people, and there is something going on above lot's specific situation that applies to lot, and that is this steadfast love to answer the promises given to Abraham, his uncle, Ian. I can't escape to the hills lest the disaster overtake me. By your steadfast love give me another option. So he says, What about Zoar? It's not very far. You could see it there. It's a little tiny town. It certainly could be small enough that you could overlook its little bit of wickedness so that I could house there. And God is patient, and he answers this request and leaves us with the fourth, fourth thing to focus on, which is the destination or the salvation? Well, then escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there. The city's name is called zoar from the story little town receiving the mercy of God. What what has been said? Verse 17, do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. The son had risen. On the earth when lot came to Zoar. Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah, sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. Molten rain comes out a sulfuric fire from heaven. I remember, oh so vividly, learning about Mount St Helens blowing we had been watching it on the news. I was in sixth grade. I found out about the explosion in the morning and the afternoon, when I'm mowing the lawn on our rider mower, I see the dark clouds coming in, and it's only some days later where the video footage of the eruption happened, and within minutes, the mountain explodes and cascades and just careens down the mountainside across 1000s of acres, and anybody who was foolish enough to Stay was encased in ash in a matter of minutes. This is not a volcano. It's not a volcano. Fire from heaven, sulfur and brimstone pouring down like meteor showers. Sulfur being something at these quantities, searing the flesh, stinking up the ground. Verse, 26 but Lot's wife behind him looked back and she became a pillar of salt. I now, what makes you look back longingly? Something did we're not told why she looked back here and again, probably the same kind of questions. Very relevant. God's offering you. Sal. Salvation. Maybe you have taken him up on it and started the way, but there is a turn back to something that suddenly seems more valuable to you. Why did you become a pillar of salt? Two guesses, nothing grows on salt. It will never be covered by weeds. Why a pillar, it will always stand out as a monument to a heart that did not want the salvation of God, but looked back with an idolatrous longing affection. Jesus gives us the comment on what was in her heart from Luke 17, the passage I referred to earlier, talking about his great judgment day. He says, on that great judgment day, when the Son of Man comes, let not the one who is on the housetop with his goods in the house not come down to take them away. And likewise, let the one who is in the field not turn back, just get out of the house. Judgment comes, get out like there is an opportunity for repentance. Get out, an opportunity for salvation. Get out. And then Jesus says, Remember Lot's wife, Remember Lot's wife. Remember Lot's wife. What did she love? She loved her house, she loved her goods. She loved her societal life. She loved her place again, proving that it's not just immorality that brought God's judgment, but also materialism. Materialism made Sodom and Gomorrah as guilty as their immorality. What's your money good for? What's your money good for? It is good for one thing, a service to the king, a service to the poor, a service to the needy, a service to get and keep Joe and Hannah on the field, or Mike and Vanessa on the field, or any of those people who have given up their life here and the comforts of close family and friends here to go make sure you heard Joe say it. 7 million people in Madrid, they are headed to hell, to eternal judgment, and we're here, leaving all kinds of comforts at home so that we can be there. That's what your money is good for. God gives us things to enjoy. I'm not saying that, but which would you choose? All the material and comfort over Christ Lot's wife did, trust God's assessment of sin, believe his warning of judgment. Keep your heart focused on God's message, and finally, recall sovereign grace. How do you trust God's message to escape God's judgment? You also need to remember sovereign grace. What is praiseworthy about lot in the passage, very little. He did go tell his sons in law. He did offer some hospitality.
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No, this is all sovereign grace. It's all about God fulfilling his promise. Jump down to 27 Abraham went early in the morning to the place he had stood before the Lord. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and behold the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace. This point, Abraham has no idea what's happened to anybody in the city. But notice this verse 29 so it was that when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which lot lived. This has been all about God's covenant, promise to Abraham. Through Abraham, God remembered. Whenever God remembers, it doesn't mean he forgot. God is bringing to the present the promise that he made in the past, that anybody in Abraham and that promise would be blessed. And how was lot blessed by escaping judgment. This is all about God's sovereign grace. There was nothing savable, so to speak, except a faith. In lot, he had a kind of saving faith, compromised still in his morals. It's all about God's kindness, mercy, grace, kindness. All here were not deserving. The angels initiated the salvation. God initiated the salvation. Lot was reluctant. His wife was double minded. All of the salvation was by grace. We are reminded by this in Paul's words in Ephesians, two, eight and nine. Lest you think there is some kind of offset, some kind of merit in lot. The apostle Paul makes this very clear for all people, For by grace, you have been saved through faith. It's God's free gift undeserved. This is not of your own doing. It is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. As you see this final verse, verse 29 in this section, Abraham had been the priest to pray for the city. As we understand how the rest of the gospel unfolds, Jesus who rained fire down on Sodom and Gomorrah took on flesh, not just in appearance. He took on the totality of human flesh, God man, perfectly together, fully God, fully man and Jesus goes through all of life, all the temptations, does, wonderful works, does miracles, calls people to faith, is betrayed by his closest, murdered by the country, by the Empire, and Jesus, who threw fire down from heaven, allowed himself to be stretched on A cross, brutally tortured, so that the wrath of God, the fiery wrath of God, would be poured on him instead of on us. Jesus took your Sodom and Gomorrah onto himself. He was buried the third day he was raised. The 40th day he ascended to the right hand of the throne of God, where he does what for you, where he prays for you. Abraham could never offer himself. He could offer prayers. Jesus offered himself, and he offers his prayers. The plea for you is to flee to him. And the plea for anybody that you love is to flee to him, the one who bore, who bore the wrath of God in your place,
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the one who prays for you. It should do four things in your life. First, it should drive you to trust Christ's only provision for the for forgiveness in Christ, if you went from this Sunday, last Sunday, to this Sunday without sin, that'd be very surprising. Mortal human flesh, we have a lot of lot still locked up in our bones. And it is only by the mercy and grace of Christ that we have that forgiveness, that we have that justification should drive you to trust Christ. Keep trusting Christ. Second, it should make you humbly grateful. Humbly grateful. There's no room for self righteous disgust or epithets during pride month for a Christian, no room for self righteous disgust, no room for epithets during pride month, sexual sin or materialistic sins plague us all, old or young, there were young men in the city, boys in the city, every 13 year old boy and older, every 12 year Old Boy, they were they were with the crowd trying to get into Lot's house. You need to turn from the crowd to Christ every 80 year old man. There were 80 year old men pounding down the doors. I. You need to turn there was a materialistic woman who loved her things more than God and His salvation. We should be so grateful that he's had mercy, so grateful that he's had mercy, we should pray for our city. You should pray for your neighbors. You should pray for your loved one, anyone in the city who knows which lot he will save. And finally, you do that by staying focused on the mercy and grace and love of Christ, the final destination that he has got for us. These are what drive obedience to His Word, the proclamation in our world, the motivations in our heart, Father, thank You for a sober and serious warning. Oh, we have so many joys, so many things to enjoy. You've given us graduations these weeks, you have given us wonderful things to experience. At the same time, we are reminded there are sobering realities and by the good that you have given, we come to you by the warning we give you give, we come to you. And I pray that You would help us as we are so incredibly thankful, so thankful that you poured your wrath out on Jesus instead of us. For any here who have not done that, I pray that they would call out to you this very moment and say, with the tax collector and Luke 19, be merciful to me, a sinner. It's in Christ's name we pray amen.
Dr. Dan Jarms is lead pastor at Faith Bible Church in Spokane Washington, as well as associate dean at The Master's Seminary in Spokane. He has been married for over 30 years to Linda, and has three adult children. He earned his B.A. in English at the Master’s College, B.Ed. at Eastern Washington University, M.Div and D.Min in Expository Preaching at The Master’s Seminary. His other interests include NCAA basketball, woodworking, and art.
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