I was thinking as Scott brought
up that about the Baltimore riots, that they came out in zeal like
they did because one of their own was unjustly, allegedly,
one of their own was unjustly murdered. Our Lord was unjustly murdered
by this world. I pray the Lord give me and His
people that much zeal to come out together to preach His name,
what He's done. Let's look now in Genesis 19. Our subject is Lot's deliverance
from Sodom. This is our next popular story,
popular account in the Lord's Word. in our series, this is
a true story. Let's begin reading in verse
27, read down to verse 29. It says, And Abraham got up early
in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord. And
he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the
plain, and beheld. And, lo, the smoke of the country
went up as the smoke of a furnace. And it came to pass, when God
destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent light out of the midst
of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which light dwelt."
We're going to jump right into this. I want to be brief with
my introduction, and I just want to give you the main point of
the message. God has a people in this world that He chose by
His grace, that Christ redeemed, and God will call those people
out. He will regenerate them. He will
give them faith in Christ. He will call those people out.
And every believer He has in this world, God will deliver
every one of us out of this world before God destroys the whole
place and everything in it. He is going to save His people
and deliver us out, and then He is going to destroy the whole
thing, but not before. Not before He delivers His people
out. First of all, Sodom is like this
present world we live in. Sodom is a big city, a huge city,
but it is a little example, a little example of this evil world in
which we now live. It was full of God-hating, vile,
wicked sinners. Sodom was full of it. Now among
their many sins, you know, was homosexuality. When God separated
them at the Tower of Babel, scattered them into the world, confounded
their languages, they went forth and they were wicked and they
sinned. And with every generation they
sinned. And with every generation they sinned more. And then they
began to realize there was homosexuals among them. And then they began
to accept it a little bit, and a little bit more, until they
finally legalized it. And then they began to practice
it, and everybody started practicing it. It became fashionable. And
everybody then just became used to it, and they condoned it.
It was just another part of life. Everybody there was homosexual. Men with men, women with women.
Now many in our day, I want you to hear me, many in our day have
a tendency, especially so-called Christians, have a tendency to
be very, very harsh against sodomites. Very harsh against homosexuality. And I think it's because homosexuality
is one of the few sins that so-called Christians don't have as much
trouble with. So everybody can jump on that
bandwagon. Everybody can get mad at and
a sodomite. But most are guilty of a sin. Most. Most. Even those that call
themselves Christians. Most are guilty of a sin that
is far more spiritually wicked than homosexuality. In fact,
the sin is the mirror image of homosexuality. It's spiritually
what homosexuality is carnally. This sin is. And this sin is
what led God to turn sinners over to reprobation to the lusts
of their hearts to commit that sin of homosexuality. Man, this
sin must be bad. What is it? Look at Romans 1.
Romans 1. We don't hear people being harsh
about this sin. This sin is worse than the other.
Look here, Romans 1, verse 25. Let's begin in verse 24. God gave them up to uncleanness
through the lust of their own hearts. He gave them up to what
was in their own hearts, brethren. He didn't put it in their hearts.
He gave them up to what was already there. Why did He do that? He
gave them this lust to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. Why? Because they changed the
truth of God. They changed the body of God's
truth. They already did that. They changed
the body of God's truth into a lie. They dishonored the body
of God's truth with a lie. And worshipped and served the
creature more than the Creator who is blessed forever. Therefore,
for this cause, God gave them up to vile affections, for even
their women did do what? They changed the natural use.
They first changed the spiritual use, so God gave them up to change
the natural use. They changed the spiritual use
of His body, He gave them up to change the natural use of
their own body. They changed the use between
God and themselves, so He gave them up to change the use between
their own selves. And it says here, And they changed
the natural use into that which is against nature, and likewise
also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, the natural
use, burned in their lusts one toward another. God didn't put
either of our sin in either heart. No, He didn't put it there. God He didn't put it there. He didn't
make them do it. Man, out of his own vile heart,
changed the truth of God himself into a lie. And then God took
the restraints off and gave him up to what was already in his
heart. And what was already in his heart
was to change the natural use of men with husbands and husbands
with wives so that they went with men with men and women with
women. That's in you, that's in me. For anybody who wants
to get all hearty and act just like any other sin, that's in
you and in me. If God took his hand off you,
there's no telling what in the world you'd do. That's right. We don't need to get on our high
horse against sodomites because it's in you and me. But the point
I want you to see here, brethren, is both of these are vile sins.
In fact, the sin of changing the truth of God into a lie and
worshiping man more than the Creator, that's worse. And that's
exactly what homosexuality is typifying. Just think about it.
What's homosexuality? It's a man lusting after a man. Well, what's a false gospel?
It's a man lusting after a man. He's lusting after man's will,
after man's works, after his own will and his own works. What
is homosexuality? It's man lusting toward man's
own flesh and it's against God. And that's what spiritual homosexuality
is. It's against God. Neither one
of them bring forth any fruit or children. Homosexuality doesn't
bring forth children, neither does a false gospel. It brings
forth no children, no spiritual fruit. And it's just as vile
and more vile than homosexuality. But you don't hear folks saying
everything against it, against the false gospel. Now, think
about this too, brethren. Isn't that what Lot did when
he turned his back on the altar of God, when he turned his back
on the worship of God and went down to Sodom to increase himself
in earthly riches and serve his belly? Isn't it very much like
changing the truth of God into a lie and worshiping and serving
the creature more than the Creator? Isn't it very much like that?
It's certainly what you and I did while we were dead in our sins
and we served our own belly. We didn't have any thought for
God, and we constantly were changing the truth of God into a lie,
and we were serving ourselves all the days of our rebellion.
And as we see in Lot, it's what a believer will still do. What
he'll still do. So why in the world didn't God
destroy Lot with everybody else there? Why didn't He destroy
Lot like the rest of them? Why didn't He destroy you and
me when we were in our rebellion? Why don't He restore us when
we rebel against God now? There's one reason. God's grace. That's the only reason. God's
grace. God put Lot in Christ before the foundation of the
world and he stood in Christ's surety a righteous and just man. And that's saying that's true
of all God's elect, of every child that God's going to save.
We're not righteous and just in ourselves. We're righteous
and just in Christ. And it's because God put us in
Christ and Christ has been our surety from before the foundation
of the world. Peter called Lot a righteous
and a just man. It wasn't him because of something
he did. It's because he stood in Christ.
He was in Christ. Now, that's the first thing. This thing of this world is sin. It's just as wicked as Sodom
was. And you know it's so self-righteous to point the finger at sodomites
and condemn them and man exalt himself and point the finger
at Sodom and all that. We live in Sodom, brethren. And
men are more guilty of this spiritual homosexuality and changing God's
truth and worshipping man than there are more of those kind
of homosexuals than there are of the carnal kind. All in this
world. Now here's the second thing.
A word about God's long suffering. God's long suffering. Now the
Lord told Abraham he's going to destroy Sodom. God's going
to destroy this world one day too. This world has a big red X on
it. It's marked for destruction.
Everything and everyone in it that aren't God's is going to
perish. It's going to be burned up. You can just bank on that,
brethren. It's going to happen. It's going to happen. Now, God
told Abraham this, and Abraham knew Lot was there. And so he
got to asking some questions. Look back at Genesis 18, 23.
Abraham drew near, and he said, this is after the Lord and these
two angels came, and they had dinner with Abraham, and communed
with Abraham, and then the two men headed off to Sodom. And
the Lord stayed behind. And he's talking to Abraham.
He's in the form of a man here. A pre-incarnate vision of the
Lord Jesus as a man talking to Abraham. And Abraham says, Abraham
drew near and said, Will thou also destroy the righteous with
the wicked? Verse 23. Peradventure there
be fifty righteous within that city. Will thou also destroy
and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous
with the wicked? And that the righteous should
be as the wicked? That be far from thee, shall
not the judge of all the earth do right? And the Lord said,
now listen to this, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within
the city, and look at these words, then I will spare all the place
for their sakes. I will spare all the place for
their sakes. Abraham kept asking. He narrowed
this thing down to ten men. In verse 32, and the Lord said,
I will not destroy it for ten's sake. And as we see, the Lord only
had one man in Sodom. And the Lord wouldn't destroy
it for that one man. He wouldn't destroy it for that
one man. Look over at Genesis 19 and look
at verse 23. I'm sorry, verse 21. Lot, remember,
he said, let me go to Zoar. Now look at this, and the angel
of the Lord said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning
this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for
the which thou hast spoken. He said, I won't overthrow it
because you're going to be in it. Now look at this next verse.
Haste thee, escape thither, for I cannot do anything till thou
become thither. He said, I can't destroy Sodom
until you become out of Sodom. You see that? God said, if I
find one man there, I will spare the whole place for that one
man. For that one man. Abraham stands
here as a beautiful type of our Lord Jesus Christ. Long before
Lot knew what was happening. Lot's down there living his life. He don't have a clue what's going
on. And that place is just about to be destroyed the next day.
It's about to be destroyed. And Lot, the Lord tells Abraham. And Abraham intercedes for Lot. Abraham begins to intercede between
Lot and the Lord. And now that's what the Lord
Jesus Christ does. He ever lives to make intercession. He's between God and His people. Ever living. When God would destroy
this world, when Adam sinned in the garden, our Lord said,
If you find fifty righteous in there, will you not spare it
for the righteous? That'd be far from the judge of all the
earth, to spare the righteous with the wicked. Well, they're
certainly not righteous in themselves. Yes, Father, but they're righteous
in their surety. They were righteous in the Lord
Jesus. That's why God didn't destroy this world when Adam
fell. When you were born and you came
forth rebelling against God, Christ stood between God and
His elect child and He said, Father, there's one that's righteous. He'd be far from you to destroy
the righteous with the wicked. Righteous in Christ. Righteous
in Christ. And He interceded for His people.
Now be sure to get this point. Be sure to get this point. Men
err right here. Men err right here. That whole
place was spared. Everybody in it was spared. A
lot came out of it. But brethren, God's long-suffering
is not toward all sinners. No sir. God's long-suffering
in this world is for the sake of His elect alone. It's for
their sake alone. God said, then I will spare all
the place for their sakes. That's what he said. When he
begged him to go into Zohar, the Lord said, see, I've accepted
you on this thing. Go there. I won't destroy it
for your sake. He said, but now you come out
of Sodom because I can't touch it till you come hither. You
got to get out of there first. All those people benefited from
that. Was that grace to them? No. Was that mercy to them? No. Was that longsuffering toward
them? No. It was for a lot. It was mercy
and grace and long-suffering toward Lot is what it was. God,
long as he's got one elect child in this world, he's sparing the
whole world. Not for the benefit of the fat
and prosperous and rich and wicked that hate God, he's doing it
for his people that he's calling out. They may hate him till he
calls them out, but he's doing it for their sake. doing it for
their sake. He won't destroy it till they
be brought out. Turn to 2 Peter 2.9. I want to spend a little
time here because the world butchers this thing of God's long-suffering
grace. They say God's long-suffering.
He's suffering long, and He's doing this with the wicked, and
it's mercy to the wicked, and He's just waiting and begging
that they'll come out and take the opportunity He's given them
to repent and believe on Him. That's not what God's long-suffering
does. No, it's not an inactive thing
where God just stands back and suffers in His own heart because
He's so sad that folks won't repent and believe on Him. That's
not God's long-suffering. We're fixing to see that with
light. Let me show you what God's long-suffering is. 2 Peter chapter 2, it says, verse
6, God turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned
them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that
after should live ungodly. And he delivered just Lot. That doesn't mean only Lot, although
he did deliver only Lot, it means he delivered that justified man
named Lot. They vexed with the filthy conversation
of the wicked. Look at verse 9 now. The Lord
knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation. and to reserve
the unjust until the day of judgment to be punished." Do you see that? That's God's long-suffering.
God's long-suffering is Him knowing how to actively deliver His righteous
people out of Sodom. and at the same time, reserve
the ungodly for destruction. Look over at 2 Peter 3.9. 2 Peter
3.9. Peter goes on talking about how
the world is going to be destroyed, but he says this, if you want
to mock, scoff, and laugh at that, he says this, remember
this, verse 9, the Lord is not slack concerning His promise.
Our God is not a slacker. He is not waiting around and there's a
purpose to the reason this world's still in existence. What is it? He's long-suffering to us-ward. You see that? He's long-suffering
to us-ward. Peter's writing this. You know
who he's writing it to? He's writing it to other believers.
He says he's long-suffering to us-ward. To us-ward. Not willing that any should perish.
This is Him who works all things after the counsel of His own
will, saying, I'll do all my pleasure. He's not willing that
any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. What
does that mean? Does that mean that He's sitting
back then? Should I count then that He's sitting back and saying,
I'm not willing that they die. I don't want them to die. I wish
they'd come to me. Understand, God takes no pleasure
in the death of the wicked. He says, why will you die? Repent,
believe on the Lord. But now understand, this doesn't
mean God's sitting idly by and saying, I'm giving them space
and I pray they'll just turn to me. Well, how should I count
it then? Look here, verse 15. And account
that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation. Oh, so you
mean the longsuffering of the Lord is going to save His people. Yes, it sure shall. Look at this. Even as our beloved brother Paul
also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto
you. as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things,
in which are some things hard to be understood. And those that
are unlearned and unstable wrestle with these things as they do
all the scriptures to their own destruction." You'll hear a lot
of men saying just the contrary to what I'm saying because they're
unlearned and unstable. But now let's hear what Paul
said. Go back to 1 Timothy 1. He said Paul wrote about these
things. What did Paul say about God's long-suffering? 1 Timothy
1. Let's begin where God began with
Paul. 1 Timothy 1. Look at this. While Paul was dead in trespasses
and sins, spiritually dead with no will for God, only an enmity
against God, look at what he said about himself. Verse 13.
He said, I was before a blasphemer. That means he was blaspheming
God's name. He said, I was a persecutor,
killing Christ's people. He said, and I was injurious,
but I obtained mercy. God gave me mercy because I did
it ignorantly in unbelief. What he means there is this.
It wasn't his ignorance that was the cause of God's mercy.
He means that he had not heard the gospel and turned his back
on God and forsaken God and become a reprobate. He was just, he
was ignorant of the truth in his heart. God hadn't taught
him the gospel in his heart. And so God still had mercy on
him. What he's saying there, if a man comes in and hears the
gospel, forsakes the gospel and says, I will not hear it. He's
forsaken the only salvation there is. He's not in ignorance anymore. He's heard it, knows it, everything
else, and he's left it. God said, Paul said, I had not,
he had not told me the truth, I had not rejected it yet. Like
that, I wasn't a reprobate is what he's saying. But look at
this. He says there, in the grace of our Lord, was exceeding abundant
toward him. He's saying, with faith and love. And where is that? It's in Jesus
Christ. What was that exceeding great
grace? What was it? What did it do? What did that
long-suffering do? Did it just sit there and say,
watch Paul on the road to Damascus and say, I just wish that he
wouldn't go and kill my saints. I wish he'd believe. I wish he'd
turn to me. Pretty please, Paul, would you
come to Christ and let him have your heart? No. Christ said,
bam, and knocked him down in the dirt and said, what are you
doing persecuting me? And he gave him a brand new heart
and opened his eyes and made him behold the Lord of glory.
And for the first time in his life, Paul bowed and prayed to
God. That's what his long-suffering did. Now look at this. Look down
there then at verse 16. He says, I'm the chief of sinners. He said, Howbeit for this cause
I obtained mercy. He took the chief of sinners,
Paul said, for this cause. He showed me mercy. That in me
first, Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering. So he might show you what longsuffering
really does and what it really is. And he did it for a pattern
to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. Go over to Romans 2.4 if you
can get there quickly. I want to show you something
here. So Paul knew this by experience. He knew what God's longsuffering
does. And so he wrote this in Romans
2.4. He said to them, Do you despise
thou the riches of God's goodness and forbearance and longsuffering? Do you not know that the goodness
of God and the forbearance of God and the longsuffering of
God, it's not an idle thing? Do you not know that by it God leads men to repentance? He takes them and leads them
to repentance. That's what Peter's talking about
when he says God's not willing that any should perish, but that
all should come to repentance. That's why he says account that
the long-suffering of God is salvation. Because when God's
long-suffering to a person, He's going to lead that person to
repentance. And in no possibility He won't
come to repentance. He's going to lead him to repentance.
That's what we're talking about here. God said, I will spare
all the place for their sakes. the righteous in Christ. Do you
see what we're saying? Brethren, don't ever envy those
who reject Christ and live in prosperity in this life. Don't
envy them. They reject Christ and live high
on the hog. Don't envy a man like that. Listen
to the Scripture. The tabernacles of robbers prosper. The tabernacles of robbers prosper. I've seen some robbers' tabernacles
all the way over here. Big places with big giant crosses
on them. Robbing God. You're robbing God.
And they're prospering. I'm telling you they're prospering.
And it's easy to look at that and say, Man, we've been sitting
here for almost 10 years now in a firehouse and them people
done built, they done built and added on twice in that time.
I must not be preaching the right message. He said don't envy them. Why? He said, they that provoke
God are secure. They that provoke God are secure.
God's preserving them. They're secure. And it said,
into whose hand God brings abundantly. God's bringing that abundance
to them. Their eyes stand out with fatness. They've got more
than their heart could wish. Yet He's sparing the whole place
for His elect. and everything he's doing in
the place he's doing for his elect. Everyone up. Now I said
to you, he don't take pleasure in the death of the wicked. If
you suffer in hell for eternity, it's not going to bring satisfaction
to God. And he says to you, repent, believe. But now as far as the
God-hating rebel that goes through this world rejecting Christ,
this is what Scripture says about him. Job 21.18 says, They are
as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carryeth
away. Psalm 92, 7 says, when the wicked
spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do
flourish. What's God's purpose in that?
It is that they shall be destroyed forever. In Romans 9, he said, that's
the purpose for which I raised up Pharaoh. To make my power
known. And to show at the same time
to my vessels of mercy, my long suffering and my grace. and saving
them. That's why he raised them up.
So don't envy the wicked. There wasn't a one in that city.
Can you think? Not a one inside of them. Not
one of them there. Worship the true and living God.
Not anybody. They didn't worship God except
for one man. One man. And that one man was
so weak in faith. He was so weak in faith. He was
so unstable himself. He'd have never come out of Sodom
if he wouldn't have been for the Lord's hand. Never. Brethren,
God has a people in this sin-cursed earth. Dead in sins. I know it
because it's still here. And He's going to bring them
out. And when He returns in that day, before He destroys this
world finally in that day, He's going to bring all His believers
out. He's going to gather them up first. He's not going to let
one perish. He's doing it for their sakes,
for their sakes, for their sakes. It's been so from the beginning
of the world. Now sinner, why do you sit there and say, well,
if He's doing it for their sakes, then I'm just going to be like,
Jeff, me brother! He says, get in the refuge. Get in the ark. Come out of Sodom. Believe on Him. Why will you
die? You see what God's doing for
His people? But you know, sinners are pessimists by nature. You
know? That's what we are. Instead of
hearing the gospel and seeing the positive of it and saying,
oh, I see the light, I will come to Christ. We sit back and go,
well, I guess I'm just not elect. That's just all a pessimistic
smokescreen, not to bow to the need of Christ, is all it is.
Because you won't come that one way, that one way. Alright, third
thing. The Lord's going to bring His
child out by irresistible grace. He's bringing His child out.
And it's irresistible grace that does it. What I mean by irresistible
or invincible grace, I mean that no sinner can resist it. God's gonna, He's gonna succeed.
Alright, look. The Lord sent a messenger to
call out His child. That's what He always does. Verse
1, there came two angels to Sodom at evening. Genesis 19, verse
1. There came two angels at evening. I don't know, I don't know if
these men were preachers or if they were really angels sent
down from heaven. They were in the form of men.
I don't know which they were. I do know that God calls His
preachers angels, and I do know that while His true preachers
are preaching the gospel, He uses His heavenly angels to protect
His people and to protect His preachers and to minister to
His people. It's the Spirit of God that regenerates
us, but He does use But I do know this, He does send the gospel
through a man, through a preacher, just like they came there. Lot
thinks He's going to save them. They came to save Lot. He didn't
know that. He didn't know that. And right
now He's using angels to protect us all around about. If He opened
our eyes like He did that young fellow that time, we'd see a
heavenly host. We'd be amazed by it. And in
that last day, He'll certainly use angels to gather up His people.
He's going to gather them up with angels. And then look, by
His Spirit, the Lord works His will. Are you with me? By His Spirit, the Lord works
His will. And when He's working His will,
He's saving His people, and at the same time, the same Lord
is going to stop His enemies. This gives me great confidence
as a preacher because the Lord is going to save His people and
stop His enemies. Look at this, verse 10. The men,
those men in this house, remember all those sodomites, they are
going to kill a lot. They gather around that house
now and they are about to kill a lot. They are going to rip
a lot limb to limb. And it says, but those men that were in that
house, Those angels of God, they put forth their hand, and they
pulled Lot into the house to them, and they shut to the door. And look at verse 11. And they
smoked the men that were at the door of the house with blindness,
both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find
the door. Same one, same hand did this
twofold work. He grabbed his child and pulled
him in through the door. Christ grabs his child and pulls
him in through Christ the door. He always does it. And shuts
that door so that others that he don't want in can't get in.
And those enemies that are fighting against him and wrestling against
him, He just with the same hand blinds
them so they can't even find the door. You can't even find
the door. I'm telling you, sinner, this
is what you should hear in that. I'm going to tell you what you
should hear in that. I had better not fight against God. I had
better bow the knee to Him. This is not some punk we're talking
about here. This is God we're talking about
right here. He don't play. You better bow to Him. Bow to
Him. And if you're His, He's going
to make you bow to Him. Alright, look here then. And
our God will not allow us to wait around when it's time to
come out of darkness. When it's time to come out of
Sodom, He don't let us wait around. Verse 15 says, When the morning
arose, then the angels hastened Lot. They said, hurry up. Don't you sit around here boy,
hurry up. They hastened him. And look at verse 16. And while
he lingered, while he was trying to wait, The men laid a hold
upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand
of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful unto him. And
they brought him forth, and they set him without the city. The
Lord's power is the cause of our willingness, brethren. His
power is the cause of our willingness. Now that's what, that's what
sodomite religions got backwards. They worship and serve in the
creature more than the creator. They are saying your will is
going to determine what His will does. That's not so. His will
determines what our will does. It's His power that puts a new
will in His people. It's not even the will we had
to begin with. It's a new nature, a new will,
a new affection. And it's by His power. They hastened
Lot, and then he hurried up. Lot tarried, and that's what
he'd have done. He'd have tarried, he'd have
lingered, he'd have just sat there if they'd left him there. They
took him by the hand and they made him to come out. And then
he came out. You see that? We don't worship
and serve lots hastening. We don't worship and serve lots
coming out. He willingly hastened. He willingly
came out. They weren't dragging him out
of there. He walked out of there on his own two feet. Ran out
of there rather. What made him run out of there?
What made him leave there? Look at it again. They brought
him forth and they set him without the city. Do you see that? There's
who we worship. We worship God. We worship God. I'm saying to you this, the Lord's
mercy saves. It saves. He's not trying to
save. He's not trying to get a point
across to you. He's not trying to teach you
something. God does it. He does it. He don't try. He does it. While
he lingered, the men laid hold on his hand, the Lord being merciful
unto him, and they brought him forth, and they set him without
the city." That's irresistible, invincible mercy. That's mercy
that's saved, and that's the only kind of mercy. The only
kind of mercy. Common mercy? I don't know anything
common about my God. You might know something common
about yours. They don't know Him, but I, not you that do know
Him, There's nothing about our God that's common. Not His grace,
not His mercy, not His love, not anything about Him that's
common. It's grace and love and faith which is in Christ Jesus. And it's successful. It always
gets the job done. You know what Lot does to me?
Lot gives me more comfort than I think any sinner in the Bible.
You know why? You know why? He was a weak man
in his disposition. He was full of faults his whole
life. He erred even after repeated warnings. When he stood on the verge of
ruin, he still wasn't resolute. And his faith was about as weak
as you can get. But God, who is rich in mercy,
still saved him. That comforts me. I see myself
in Lot. Do you? I hear men condemning
light, speaking evil of light, and just exalting themselves
over light. I tell you where we need to be
brought. We need to be seen. We are light. We are light. God did all that as if to declare
that salvation is all because of Christ who bore the fire and
the brimstone, the wrath of God in the place of His people. And
then rose victorious to the right hand of God and works His grace
in His people. As if to declare that to us,
look at this. Verse 23, The sun was risen upon
the earth when Lot entered into Zohar. And I'll tell you this,
the day you come out of the pride of your Sodom, the pride and
the rebellion of all loving your earthly riches and all your fleshly
strength and all that, the day He brings you out of that and
brings you down into insignificance, that's what Zohar means. When
He brings you into insignificance, that's when you will see the
Son of Righteousness risen in all His glory. You'll see Him
in all His glory. Well, but I thought the type
here is that the salvation, our complete salvation was for Lot
to flee into the mountain. That's where Christ is. He's
in the mountain of the Lord. He's at the top of the mountain.
He's at the right hand of God. So, by Him just going to Zohar,
we don't see the type completed. Well, brethren, you've got to
be brought down to insignificance before you can be brought to
the mount of glory. And so he was brought to Zohar
first, but then look down there at verse 30. And then Lot went
up out of Zohar, and he dwelt in the mountain. And that's what
all God's people are going to do. By His grace, He's going
to bring us down to insignificance, and then He's going to bring
us out of Zohar and bring us to the mountain. Alright, now,
last, let me give you one or two more things real quick. For
those that don't think, Now, those that don't bow to my God
and worship this wonderful, beloved Redeemer, there's a word for
you. It's a word about the wrath of
God. He says here in verse 24, Then the Lord rained upon Sodom
and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven,
and He overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the
inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
All, all, all, He says, from the least that was on the ground
to the greatest, they all are still burning in the fire that
will never be quenched. Right now. All of them. You just imagine this, brethren.
You just imagine this. I like to try to paint pictures
when I'm reading the Scriptures for myself. You just imagine. Not a single person woke up that
morning thinking, this is going to be the last day, the last
sunrise they ever saw. Not a one of them thought that.
Not a one of them. Christ said, in the days of Lot,
they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted,
they builded. One family got up that morning,
they had dinner reservations that night at a nice restaurant
where they were going to celebrate their anniversary. One guy got up that morning,
he's just so excited because he's got a business deal he's
been working on forever and he's finally going to settle it that
morning over coffee down at the Starbucks. One family was so excited they
just had a big old truck full of lumber that just came up and
was delivered and they built them a brand new house for their
family. They're just so excited. And
not a one of them, not a one of them there is thinking about
God or salvation or eternity. Not one of them. Not one of them. But the same day that light 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. Are you ready to meet God? Are
you ready? Have you wisely spent the time
of this life to prepare for how you're going to spend eternity?
What if today is the last day? One of these days is going to
be the last sunrise. What if this morning was the
last sunrise? What if right now, through this
message, God calls out His last lot out of Sodom? Are you ready? You sitting here right now that
never confessed Christ, are you ready? If not, this is what our
Lord said, for the man that heard this gospel of Christ and His
glorious grace and said, nope, I won't have any of it. That's
not good enough for me. I'm smarter than that. I despise
God's love. I despise God's wisdom and power. I despise God for the man that
says that. Christ said this, Verily I say
unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah
in the day of judgment than for you. You mean it's going to be more
tolerable for Sodomites than it is for a spiritual Sodomite?
That tells me that this spiritual Sodomy is worse than physical
Sodomy, doesn't it? There's a warning here for us
too, believer. Look here, verse 26. His wife looked back from
behind him and she became a pillar of salt. Lot's wife came out
of Sodom in body. She came out physically. Just
like there was folks that came out of Egypt physically. But
she didn't come out in her heart. She didn't come out in her will
and her affection. She was still holding on to all her stuff. back there in Sodom. And she
was behind Lot. He's walking in front of her
and she thought, surely it won't hurt. He won't see me. It won't
hurt just to take a quick glance back. And she took a quick glance
back. And Lot didn't see her. But God
did. God looks on the heart. He knows
the heart. She might not even look back
physically. Maybe it was just in her heart.
But God saw the heart and He knew it. And He's destroyed everybody
inside of them. And even though she's all the
way out of Sodom, she's not far from the kingdom that she's not
in. But even though she was outside of the city physically because
she was still in there in her heart spiritually, God destroyed
her. He destroyed her. You see, a
lot of people came out His wife and his two daughters came out,
but there wasn't but one man that came out because of God's
mercy. That was a lot. That was a lot. Our Lord gives
the application. He said in that day, when He
come, He said, 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's in the field, let him likewise not return back. Don't
let him run back to his house trying to get his valuables.
Remember Lot's wife. Now here's what it means. Whosoever
shall seek to save his life shall lose it. That one look, that
one glance back in her heart at Sodom, she was seeking to
save her life that she left in Sodom. She lost her spiritual
life. But he says this, whosoever shall
lose his life, whosoever shall let go of everything in this
world, say, I haven't given up anything. I count it all but
done that I might win Christ, be found in Him. He's my righteousness.
I will be found in Him and Him alone. He said that man will
save his life. I'll save his life. Alright,
here's the last thing. Why did God do all this? Why
did God do all this? Everything God does, in His mercy
toward His people, as well as in His judgment toward His enemies.
Everything that God our Father does is for His Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Everything. Everything. You remember
how Abraham pictured Christ when He stood before the Lord and
He interceded for Lot in that city? Remember how we saw that
at the beginning? He stood there before the Lord
and He interceded. And what if there's ten righteous
in that city, Lord? Surely you won't destroy the
righteous with the wicked. Well, now look here, verse 27.
And Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he
had stood before the Lord. And he looked toward Solomon,
Gamar, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and
lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.
And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain,
that God remembered Abraham. He remembered Abraham. And for
Abraham's sake, when he overthrew the cities, he sent Lot out of
the midst of that overthrow. God remembered Christ when He
spared you and when you were in all your rebellion, believer.
God remembered Christ when He sent His gospel to you. God remembered
Christ when He made it effectual in your heart. God remembers
Christ every time you sin and rebel against Him now. God remembers
Christ. He remembers His pierced hand
and His shed blood and His righteousness and His holiness. And that's
why He sends you out and won't destroy this place while you're
in it. That's why. Now let's come to
this table and eat and drink and remember our Lord. Amen.