Introduction
Let me begin with a discipleship question: will we trust and obey Jesus in the real decisions of everyday life? Christ forms us through truth received, repentance practiced, and obedience lived out.
Main Points
Grace and Justification
we're working our way through the book of genesis and now we're in chapter 19. and i want to really pick up where we left off last week for those of you who are here last week you know that we had dr john whitaker share with us from a message from the book of acts and really left with one really important question as i listened to that sermon uh it was a question that kind of stood out to me and then followed me throughout the week and i know in speaking to many of you who were at the service it was an inspiring question with the examples that were shared and i want to re-share it with you and then really try to answer the question again through the lens of a very challenging situation the question was this what would look what would it look like for you and i to live for what it is whatever is best for the gospel to not just be christ-centered but to also be cross-centered and the idea being that god is going to call us to be faithful to him in circumstances that will require us to really take a stand make a sacrifice to love our neighbor to love our enemy and sometimes ways that cost us our own things and possessions and bits of our life that we really like and so the whole question is are we so in love with god are we so faithful to the call of god in our lives that we would live in whatever way we had to for the call for the gospel for our hope in eternity regardless of what it costs us in this temporary life and i was inspired to answer yes in all circumstances and then as i was looking at the word and preparing for this week i realized that tom velasco passed the baton of genesis in genesis chapter 19. and if you're familiar with the book of genesis you know that genesis is full of stories that teach us that the bible is really kind of an r-rated book isn't it there's so much of us that want the bible and christianity and following god to be easy in a sense and we don't have a title for this series that we're going through other than the book of genesis but if we did have a title it might be appropriately titled does the bible really say that and there's going to be stories that we read today that we can pause and say does the bible really say that and then as you continue to read the bible you realize that it's not comfortable and it's not easy and there's all sorts of verses and stories and commands and exhortations that make you feel very uncomfortable in the version of christianity that comes to you in a meme or in a poster on a social media platform or in a message that tames everything down to something that you can easily digest with a smile maybe isn't really the bible because what we find in this story especially in answering the question would we do anything for the gospel as we find another story that makes you feel uncomfortable it makes you wonder about how easy it is to really live this out and so for those of you who don't know genesis chapter 19 and a refresher for all of us it can really be summed up in three words two cities sodom and gomorrah and as i was past the baton of the journey in the book i thought really do we really need on a sunday morning in the spring of idaho to think about god's judgment god's wrath and the wickedness of humanity and the reality is the bible comes to you in ways that you sometimes don't like but it doesn't matter if you like it or not what matters is are you willing to receive it and really allow the spirit of god to use his word to shape you to shift you because if you're already in the shape and the direction and the momentum that you want then you're dismissed you don't need the bible to be who you are right now but you do need the bible to be who god wants you to be and so for the purposes of this study we're going to read through as an overview the first 29 verses and as we read through them we're going to then come back and i want you to journey with me as we study this through the lens of a couple of different things first we're going to look at three temptations that this city and the story of its destruction will unfold and these are three temptations that i do not believe live simply in ancient times in a wicked and evil city that's no longer on the map we're gonna look at three temptations they're gonna look at two failures as the temptations unfold why is it that sometimes they overtake us and then we're gonna look at one solution so three temptations two failures and one solution given to us through this incredible story that as we read it can really be broken down into two acts and that is the city of darkness and the city of light or the god of light because really this is a story about sodom and its destruction that will unfold in a story about what happens at night and then a story about what happens during the day so we start now in the dawn of the night in verse one it says now 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 he bowed himself with his face toward the ground so just a little bit of setup we were first introduced to lot as a travel companion and the nephew of abram and he is now living in sodom a place that he chose for himself because as his life was unfolding god blessed him with a lot of riches and it was required that he and abram part ways and so he chose for himself a lot and we are introduced also to two angels that we know from previous chapters are coming to take a survey of this wicked city that is continually crying out to god for justice so he sends two angels into the city and they greet lot who is living there and in verse two it says he said to them hear now my lords please turn into your servant's house and spend the night and wash your feet then you may rise early and go on your way and they said no but we will spend the night in the open square so lot greets them and he gives them a very common active courtesy for ancient times that when there are strangers that you're introduced to are travelers of your city that it's customary to bring them into your house to care for them to make sure that they rest well and then they continue on the journey they say that they would not take him up on the offer that they would just rather sleep out in the open square at the part of the story that i really appreciate about ancient times is that you used to just apparently go from place to place and be sleeping anywhere out in open squares but we find in lot's response to them he urges them he says to them in verse three he is he insisted strongly so they turned in with him and entered his house and then they he made a feast and baked unleavened bread and they ate so the inference here is that we are now aware that lot is fully aware of the depravity of the city it's not safe for you to sleep outside you really do need to come into my house because this is not the kind of city that treats strangers out in the open well and we'll find out more as the story unfolds so they take him up on the offer they go in they eat and as the night is darkening it says in verse but before they lay down the men of the city the men of sodom both old and young all the people from every quarter surrounded the house not a useless bit of information and we'll come to this later but what's being communicated is that everyone in the city who's got word that there's newcomers young and old every quarter all the men they have some evil intentions that are about to unfold and it's important that we realize that the depravity of the city is all-encompassing and it says in verse 5 and they called to lot and said to him where are the men who came to you tonight bring them out to us that we may know them carnally in other words we want to have sex with them we want to we want to have a physical interaction a carnal fleshly night of pleasure with these people and lot went out to them in a in a way to fend them off it says that he went out through the doorway shut the door behind him and said please my brethren do not do so wickedly please this is my responsibility these men need to stay safe will you please curb your intentions curb your desire to be with these guys and it says in verse 7 or verse 8 so now i have two daughters who have not known a man please let them bring them out to you and you may do them as you wish only do nothing to these men since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof and here we can now pause and appropriately say does the bible really say that we are introduced to a character that will later be called a righteous player in the narrative of god righteous lot will be spared and in his version of protection of the host of the house or the guest of the house that he's hosting he offers his daughters the bible does really say that this is not being uplifted as a heroic act or a righteous act in it and of itself or even as an example but as an example of the depravity even of law that he would be so bent on curbing their appetite that we would offer them his virgin daughters let's keep reading and they said stand back and they said the one came in to stay here and he keeps acting as a judge so the scene shifts slightly the angels that are sent the messengers of the lord are now calling the angry and lustful mob to stand back to which the mob says they came here and now they're acting as our judge so we're going to do worse with you than we were going to do with them and they pressed hard against the man lot and came near to break down the door this is the collision of darkness this is the overwhelming darkness of the city that has an unquenchable thirst and appetite for sin that cannot be stopped in fact we'll see a picture of that because it says the angels or the men reached out their hands and pulled lot into the house with them and they shut the door this is a picture in a preview of the angel's desire to do whatever it takes to spare lot or to put lot under the protection of mercy and so they pull lot into the house and then it says in verse 11 they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness both small and great so that they became weary trying to find the door this is a physical blindness also a picture of spiritual blindness or the depravity of the soul that is completely unstoppable even as they're struck with blindness it doesn't say they turn and scatter and they turn and run or they start groping for the exit it says now they're growing tired looking for the door to get in the wickedness as is described of this city is coming to no end in and of itself something has to come to intervene the wickedness and it says in verse 12 then the men said a lot have you anyone else here son-in-law your sons your daughters and whomever else you have in the city take them and get them out of this place this is their mission is to be messengers of coming wrath on wickedness which is good just wrath and also what we would call an evangelistic message to say but there is a way of escape which is also good and the message always comes together because it says in verse 13 for we are going to destroy this place because the outcry against them has grown grow so great before the face of the lord and the lord has sent us to destroy it so they're coming with a mission to deal with wickedness but also a an invitation of the mercy of god we are coming to destroy it but please before that happens for you and your household the representation of the household of faith please take our word and find your way away from the wrath and we'll come to that as we try to apply this to our own lives but it says in verse 14 so lot went out and spoke to his son-in-laws who had married his daughters and said get up get out of this place for the lord will destroy this city but to his son-in-laws he seemed to be joking when the morning dawned which is now the beginning of the second act everything we've read so far is really a picture of the darkness of this city and now we are going to see the work of god not only sending messengers to warn people but also destruction to deliver judgment starting in verse 15 it says now morning comes and in the light we will see the work of god representing the light of god in his presence or in his in his kingdom representing the light that breaks forth out of the darkness and it says in verse 15 when the morning dawn the angels urged lot to hurry saying arise take your wife and your two daughters who are here lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city and while he lingered the men took hold of his hand his wife's hand and the hands of his two daughters the lord being merciful to him and they brought him out and they set him outside of the city within the lord's just and righteous punishment of wickedness there is the lord's mercy that will come sometimes forcefully to bring the elect of god the chosen of god those that god has heard the cry and have the seed of faith and he will bring them to a place of safety and it says in verse 17 so it came to pass when they had brought them outside that he said escape for your life do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plane escape to the mountains lest you be destroyed and then it says that lot said to them please no my lords indeed now your servant has found favor in your sight and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving in my life but i cannot escape to the mountains lest some evil overtake me and i die so now this city is near enough to flee and it's little please let me escape there is it not a little one and my soul shall be saved and he said to them see i have favored you concerning this thing also and that i will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken in other words go your way you found favor you have found grace where you want to go you will be able to go hurry escaped therefore i cannot do anything until you arrive there therefore the name of the city was called zoar the sun had risen up the earth when lot entered zoar then the lord rained brimstone and fire on sodom and gomorrah from the lord out of the heavens and he overthrew the cities all the plane all the inhabitants of the city and what grew on the ground but his wife looked back behind him and she became a pillar of saul and abram went early abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the lord and then he looked towards sodom and gomorrah and toward all the land of the plain and saw and behold the smoke of the land which went up like smoke of the furnace and it came to pass when god destroyed the cities of the plain that god remembered abraham and sent lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which lot had dwelled does the bible really say this yes it does we just read it and in this i believe there is something that we grasp from this that will give us an invitation and hope for what god has planned for this generation there is in this generation a picture of the city of darkness and the city of light and there is a tug-of-war between the two and there is messengers coming to take us by the hand to place us underneath the mercy seat of god and how do we get there and why don't we get there and so now we look back at the overlay of the three things we said we would look for there are three temptations that are that are unfolding before us that we cannot tame we can't say that genesis chapter 19 is a study of history and thank god that history is off the map because these temptations will face us as we answer the question what does it look like for us to live for the gospel at all costs and these temptations wait for you and the city that we live in the city of darkness in this generation it cries out with the temptations that push against the kingdom of god and so what are they first let's review one of the most glaring parts of this story as we find lot offering protection for the visitors of this city the messengers that were sent to make a survey and eventually deliver the wrath and it says that as he comes into their house they called lot and said where are the men who came to you tonight bring them out that we may know them this was not a one or two person mob this was the heart of the city on display that they went after what they wanted and the temptation that we review for the day and age that we live in is the temptation to say to those of us interacting with the city of darkness which is all of us and the city cries out and says do whatever you want if you want sexual perversion then do that and that is this is one of the ways this heart of doing whatever you want comes out and it still comes out in that way sexual perversion is one of the ways culture says do what you want it's not the only way of course we live in a culture that says to us do what you want and never mind with the rigidness of this narrow way of religion that you think is a better way and in many ways we're deconstructing everything that we have set up by god's grace to give us any sort of markers towards his will the culture says do what you want with your body do what you want with your money make a lot of it and spend it how you want do what you want with your time do what you want with your relationships and we live in a culture that says do whatever you want and you come in here and even as i preach from the authority of god's word some of you live in a world view that says i do what i want with the word of god does the word of god have the authority to speak over your life whether you like it or not or am i standing here offering some of you good advice am i standing here offering some of you a picture of the god of glory who created the heavens and the universe and he made you with a specific time and place in history that he chose for you nobody else and he says the narrow way leads to life and you say if i want it to i take it or leave it i listen to preaching and then i do what i want i read the bible then i do what i want i worship god and i worship other things and this leads us to the second temptation that we find unfolding before us which is you do whatever you want and you do not fear consequence and we see that in the mob don't we they're blinded the consequence of coming against the messengers of god is that you won't prevail the plan of god that you won't for the will of god that the gates of hell will not overcome the church of god and yet in the consequences of your attempts to fight god you're left with blindness disappointment a broken down of plans and what do these people do we're gonna it's harder now in our blindness we grope for the door still in our blindness we come for the people that we want still and you get another picture of it in the example of the warning that lot offers to his son-in-laws he says we must escape he urges them as he was urged by the messengers and what do they say to the son-in-laws of lot it seemed that he was joking welcome to our world i'm a pastor so i know full well that the culture looks at me and they superimpose clown shoes on my feet they think i'm joking when i talk about a god who created a god that is personal a god who has breathed life into humanity that one day you will meet face to face to give an account of how you responded to the message i'm wearing clown shoes when i talk about the narrow way the rejection of sin the authority of god's word the culture says you must be joking haven't you read the science and the philosophy of our day don't you know how outdated your message is that sin is something that is destructive that i need a savior that savior's name is jesus christ he really lived and he really died and he really rose again do you know how crazy we sound to be fools for christ the bible says you're a fool for christ and sometimes don't we know it and sometimes don't we get the reminder that they listen to the warning and there is a warning built into this morning that if you don't treat the word of god with authority and you don't listen to the message of god with hearts to obey ears to hear that you will be part of the destruction of the unfolding of this world and yet some of you undoubtedly think it's a joke it's like a good idea it's like good for the kids maybe to have an uplifting sunday school message the songs are great i guess but i'm going to do whatever i want and i do not fear the consequences of this god that i might be offending this morning and this unfolds into the third temptation it's not only do whatever you want and don't fear the consequences it also comes as sin always comes and compromise always comes with a little whisper that says do a little bit more this really is a message about compromise we see in the life of lot a number of small compromises and compromises leading him to this position in his life were first introduced to the picture of lot's engagement with sodom and gomorrah when he first chooses just to dwell in the land of plenty even though the warning was that it was a land of wickedness and he pitched his tenth towards sodom as a way just to get a good view really because what's nicer than living in the country but looking down on those nice city lights and then it says in the beginning of the chapter that he now dwells in the gate of the city not only geographically closer but also the gate of the city representing some sort of engagement with the government of the city that those who dwelled in the gate had a role in the governing of the city and then it says as he pleads with those at his doors he says brethren please now calling his family those who live in the city of sodom and finally we get an example of doing just a little bit more as lot himself receives the warning that god's justice is on its way it says here in verse 16 that while he lingered the angels took his hand lot you and your whole family need to leave got it i'll get right on it eventually and isn't that something we can relate to in the temptations of our life a lot's bed was probably comfortable lot's pantry was probably full a lot had the position of someone well known in the city and the call to leave was a call that was death or life and yet he lingers because the third temptation is to do just a little bit more in the engagement with culture and as we think of this not just on an individual level but on the scale of the church engaging with the culture that we live in it's a parent to me as someone who is a pastor at a church that you cannot make compromise with the culture and think that it will sometimes or some way end if we could just be if we could find some theological gray area to bring people in without offending them and just be a little bit more progressive than authoritative then maybe we could stop there and find this neutral ground with the world there is no such thing as progressive christianity that is not progressing towards christ if your progression and you call progressive christianity you're progressing towards culture you're progressing towards death as a church and as a believer and you can survey this and not take my word for it and watch the fate of churches that make compromise after compromise to be more appealing to the world and less fearful of god and you will see that they slowly go towards death and you want to know where the church thrives the church thrives where believers make a stand on the word of god where believers say this is the line that draw that god has drawn for us to stand for his glory for his good works for the power of his love for the movement of his spirit and we don't cross it no matter what age we live in where you find that church you find a growing church because the spirit of the lord is there and when you find that church you find disciples and growing believers because you cannot make compromises and hope they end at some sort of neutral ground the culture al
Conclusion
We return to the opening teaching: discipleship is not just information, it is transformation through faith and obedience to Jesus. If we receive His Word and walk it out, He will shape us into people who endure and bear fruit.
Lord Jesus, help me hear Your Word, obey it with faith, and grow as Your disciple. Amen.
Conclusion
We return to the opening teaching: discipleship is not just information, it is transformation through faith and obedience to Jesus. If we receive His Word and walk it out, He will shape us into people who endure and bear fruit.
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, help me hear Your Word, obey it with faith, and grow as Your disciple. Amen.