Luke chapter 17 let's read our
text Luke 17 28 Likewise also as it was in the
days of Lot They did eat and they drank They bought, they
sold, they planted, they built it. But the same day that Lot
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. In that day, he which shall be
upon the housetop and his stuff in the house, let him not come
down to take it away. And he that is in the field,
let him likewise not return back. Remember, Lot's wife. Let's pray. Gracious Father, thank you again
for your precious word. For your family, Lord, what a
privilege it is to gather together in your name, hear your gospel,
and to fellowship with you. You've promised to be where we
are in your name. And I'm thankful, Lord, for your graciousness
to meet with us, Lord, all these years. And I pray that you'd
meet again this morning and bless our hearts, teach your people,
comfort your sheep. Save your elect as it pleases
you. Save our children, Lord. Save us all by your grace, for
your glory. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Now our Lord uses the same illustration
here about the days of Lot as he did about the days of Noah.
People will be going about their usual business, that's what he's
simply saying. They'll be eating and drinking,
I thought about this this time. We tend to pass over things like
that, but think about this. People will be eating, but they're
not going to eat again. Never again. Not ever again.
In the day when the Son of Man is revealed, that'll be it. At
least on this earth, in this body, in this life. Buying and
selling, you'll Make your last click on
Amazon.com one of these days. I wonder what it will be. It doesn't matter, does it? It's
not going to matter. It's not going to make any difference. People think about when the Lord
returns and they say things like, well, I hope I'm praying. It's not going to make any difference.
And is it really going to matter? If you're his, you might be fishing. Is there anything wrong with
fishing? No. But do you know how spiritual
people are? They want to be... It's all about
the outward. What difference does it make
what you're doing when he comes back? Are you looking for him? Are
you trusting him? Do you believe on him? Doesn't make much difference
what you're doing. They'll be building things. People
will still be building things. Nothing wrong with that. I enjoy
building things now. One of these days I'll turn my
last screw. In the days of Noah and in the
days of Lot, so shall it be in what he calls two different things
in the days of the son of man in the illustration where he
talked about Noah and he calls it this in this one the son of
man is revealed when the son of man is revealed in those days people were going about their
business and here's the thing about that very very few believed
God in those days You think he's referring to that when he says,
as in the days of Noah and Lot? I believe that's part of it,
don't you? Only a handful believed God. Everybody that believed
God was in that ark. In the days of Noah, turn to
Genesis 18, I wanna show us that. Genesis 18, 20, looking at the
days of Lot and Lot. And there's a lot about a lot
that we won't see this morning. But just thinking of this now,
in the days of a lot, what was going on? Our Lord says that's
how it's gonna be. Genesis 18, 20, I believe, sheds
some light on our text. And that's what we're looking
for in the scripture. We're not trying to prove a point,
we're trying to see what God said. But nothing sheds light
on Scripture like Scripture. Always remember that when you're
studying the Word of God. People can come up with some
great sounding theories from the Bible. And make you feel
all warm and, oh, that's a beautiful sentiment. Yeah, but is it what
God said? That's the thing, you see. Is it what God said? Genesis
18, 20. The Lord said, The Lord is speaking to Abraham.
And the Lord said, because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is
great, and because their sin is very grievous, I will go down
now and see whether they have done altogether according to
the cry of it which is coming to me. And if not, I'll know. And the men turned their faces
from thence. These men were angels of the
Lord, and went towards Sodom. But Abraham stood yet before
the Lord. And Abraham drew near and said,
will you destroy also the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure,
there be 50 righteous within the city. Wilt thou also destroy
and not spare the place for the 50 righteous that are therein?
I know you all have heard this story and read this before. And
think about this. Now, the Lord, what the Lord
could have said And Abraham knows this because of the way he presents
himself to the Lord. He says, who am I to even speak
to you? We're going to see that in a
minute. To even question, to even raise an issue with you. Who am I to even do that? And
that being true, the Lord could have said, Abraham, I'm going
to go down there to Sodom and Gomorrah and I'm going to do
my business. Whatever that is, and it's none of yours. He could
have said that. He could have said, are you questioning
me? Do you think I'm going to destroy the wrong people? Is
that what you're saying? Are you suggesting that I might
destroy somebody that ought not to be destroyed? Is that what
you're saying? But God doesn't deal with him that way. He listens
to what he says. And he answers him graciously. Listen to it. If there be 50,
if there be 50, God said, I'll spare it. I'll spare it. Look at the way in verse 25 that
Abraham argues, Be that 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? You see how the Lord could have
said, Are you questioning that, Abraham? You question whether
I'm going to do the right thing or not? Is that what it is? But
Abraham makes it clear that's not what he's doing. He's not
saying that. And the Lord said, if I find in Sodom 50 righteous
within the city, then I will spare all the place for their
sakes. You notice the way he worded
that? Sounds like the Lord had 50 or more somewhere, but not
there. You see that? In that city. Very
specific about it. Then I will spare all the place
for their sake. You think about what that teaches
us about our God. I will let this horrible, obnoxious,
evil debauchery go on for the sake of my elect, if that's where
they are. Well, that's comforting to me.
That's comforting. And Abraham answered and said,
Behold, now I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, who
am but dust and ashes. You see, Abraham understands
this could be taken as me questioning God. I know God's going to do
the right thing, but see Lot is down there, and Abraham knows
that. Lot pitched his tent towards Sodom when they divided up the
land. Eventually, Lot ended up in Sodom with his family, and
Abraham loves him. And so he's got to plead for
him, doesn't he? He's got to plead. And that's us before God,
is it not? We know God's going to do the
right thing. But can you plead for your children? Is your attitude
in prayer, well, God's going to do whatever's right? Well,
I understand that. I believe that. But are you going
to plead for your children anyway? I recommend it. He teaches it. He commands us to. You see this
now? We're not questioning God, but
we sure would like to see God have mercy on those that we love.
That's where Lot is here. That's where he's at now, and
God knows that. And Abraham knows that God's gonna do whatever's
right. Verse 28, peradventure there shall lack five of the
fifty. Righteous wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five
and he said if I found there forty and five I will not destroy
it and He spake unto him yet again and said peradventure there
shall be forty found there And he said I will not do it for
forty sake you remember God knows all along Who's there and who's
not and what they are to their very heart to the very thoughts
of their hearts? To every hair on their head But
notice again, Abraham says in verse 30, let not the Lord be
angry and I will speak. Let not the Lord be angry at
us for pleading for those that we love, even though we know
he'll do what's right. We know it's in his hand. We
can't change it, wouldn't if we could. But may the Lord not
be angry with us for pleading for those that we love. Reventure there shall be 30 found
there and he said I will not do it if I found 30 there You
see how gracious the Lord deals with him. He's teaching him here
something about His love and his justice He's teaching Abraham
something about who he is who God is And how he deals with sinners
and his people and And he said, behold, now I have taken upon
me, verse 31, to speak unto the Lord. Peradventure, there should
be 20 found there. And he said, I will not
destroy it for 20's sake. And he said, oh, let not the
Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once. Peradventure,
10 shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy
it for 10's sake. Why did Abraham start with 50
and wind up at 10? I don't know. But I suspect he's
probably thinking, I have good hope for Lot, my family. I have good hope for them. But
I don't know. That's a horrible place. There
may not be many. There may not. It would probably shock us if
we knew a number right now in this entire world that know and
love the Lord Jesus Christ. I imagine it would shock you
to your core. to hear the number. I don't know. That's not my business. But I know where Abraham started
and where he ended up and I kind of understand that. And the Lord
went his way. The Lord went to do what he came
to do. I'm glad of that too. I'm glad he not just invites
us, but commands us to plead with him, to make our supplications
known unto him, to bear our heart before him, our desires, our
wants and needs, to lay them at his feet, to bear our hearts
before his throne. I'm thankful for that privilege.
What a privilege. I'm also thankful that he's going
to do exactly what he purposed from all eternity to do. As soon as he had left communing
with Abraham and Abraham returned unto his place. Where else are you going to go?
You're going to go to your place. God's going to go his way. When
it's all said and done. But aren't you glad God doesn't
present himself to us the way he might have? Shut your ugly
foul mouth and watch me do what I'm supposed to do. Watch me
do what's right and quit questioning me. I'm glad he doesn't come
to us that way. Now this is not a blanket promise
that applies in all situations at all times. But it does teach
us something about the Lord, doesn't it? If there's ten, I'll
spare it. I'll spare the whole place. You
reckon that's why God hasn't destroyed this world yet? Am I stretching that too far?
Well, in case you think I am, turn to 2 Peter 3. Why has the Lord not destroyed
this wretched world? Is it less wicked than Sodom?
You see people dancing in the streets, expressing with great
pride their horrible depravity. You think we're less wicked than
Sodom? This world now? 2 Peter 3. Knowing this first, that there
shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own loss
and saying, where is the promise of his coming? For since the
fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the
beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant
of. That by the word of God, the
heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the water and
in the water. Willing ignorance. You ever think
about that? Are there people that just don't
know any better? Come on. We give people too much credit
sometimes. They don't believe that God made
this world and runs this world because they don't want to believe
that. The truth is obvious. The truth is undeniable. People
don't believe it because they refuse to believe it. It makes
them sick to think about it. Whereby the world that then was
being overflowed with water perished, but the heavens and the earth
which are now, that's the days of Noah he's talking about as
in our text, by the same water kept in store. The word that brought them into
being, the word that destroyed them, and the word that restored
them. That same word keeps everything
as it is right now. Thank God. that he's the one
reserved under fire against the day of judgment and perdition
of ungodly men. That's what our text is talking
about. He's going to wrap this thing up before too long. He
said I come quickly. He comes right on time. But beloved,
be not ignorant of this one thing. There's a couple of things you
need to know about the Lord's return, and that's what we're looking
at here, the days of Lot, as in the days of Lot, so it shall
be when the Son of Man is revealed. A couple of things we need to
know about that. God made this world, he spoke
it into being, he destroyed it once before, and then he restored
it, and everything is kept in store right now by that same
word, and it's reserved unto fire. But here's what you need
to understand about the Lord's return. First of all, one day
is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years is
as a day. People are talking about, well,
it's been a long time, you know, the Lord hasn't come back. Long
time to who? And you need to understand this
too. Verse 9, the Lord is not slack concerning His promise.
as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to usward."
There are two promises involved in that statement. The promise
that he would come back and burn this thing up. That's going to
happen. He's not slack concerning that,
but also he's long-suffering to usward. He also promised this,
of all that the father gave him, he's not going to lose a single
one. He's not slack in that one either. And that's why he hadn't
come back yet. Is that what Simon's telling
us here? He's long-suffering to us, we're not willing that
any should perish. What us? He's been saying brethren all
along here, right? God's sheep. He's long-suffering
to his sheep. He's not willing that one of
those that he bought with his precious blood that God chose
from eternity should perish. But that all should come to repentance. And what does our text say? In
the day, in that same day that Lot came out of Sodom. What did God do? In that same
day. He didn't give him another chance.
He didn't do a countdown. He didn't say I'm going to count
to three. In the day that his elect was gone out of there,
he burned it up. God is not willing that any of
his elect should perish. And I hear people say, boy, I
wish the Lord would come back today. And I'm thinking, I used
to say that. I used to say that now. So I'm
not mad at anybody for thinking that or saying that. I'm not
mad at you. But hold on a second. Is there anybody that you'd like
to see him saved before he comes back? I've got a couple. I've got a couple. I want him to come back exactly
when he has purposed it. I wouldn't meddle in that. But
today, if it pleases him, even so come. But let's not get too
hasty about picking a day. You see what I'm saying? How
about us having him come back today? Wait a minute. Let's leave
it to him. let's leave it to him. And I'm
talking to myself because I think that and then I get to thinking
boy I sure wish I pray that all the sheep are
not in yet because there's a couple I sure do want to be sheep. Look at Genesis 19 the next chapter
in Genesis there he's not willing that any of his elect should
perish Thinking about that wonderful
thought, that wonderful truth. Let's read Genesis 19-12. And the men said unto Lot, hast
thou here any besides? And these men, of course, these
are the angels that came with the Lord as the Lord was speaking
to Abraham in chapter 18. These men were with him, these
angels. And they said to Lot, are there
any here besides son-in-law and thy sons and thy daughters and
whatsoever thou hast in the city? Bring them out. of this place. I noticed that his wife wasn't
mentioned there. I don't know if that's deliberate. Sure seems
like it when you know the whole story. For we will destroy this
place because the cry of them is waxing great before the face
of the Lord and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it. Now the Lord had already sent
them. Why did he even bring those angels
with him? To destroy it. And some would
say, well if he was going to, why did he even talk a lot about
it at all? That's what we've been talking
about. The Lord could have said, shut up, I'm going to do what
I came to do. Aren't you glad he doesn't say that? Present
himself to us that way. He's gracious, he teaches us. And Lot went out and spake unto
his sons-in-law, which married his daughters, and said, Up,
get you out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked
unto his sons-in-law." Now, I've heard it preached here that
Lot didn't have much influence with anybody because of his own
sin. Why was he even living in Sodom
to begin with? Nobody would take him seriously
because of that. I don't know if that's what it was or not.
They didn't think much of him, obviously. When he told them
what God said, it didn't mean anything to them, for whatever
reason. Verse 15, and when the morning
arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy
wife and thy two daughters which are here, lest thou be consumed
in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men
laid 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. Now Lot lingered, he lingered
in that place, and boy we could say a lot about that. We've experienced
that ourselves and we see it in those that we love. Though
we know what we know. We linger in places we ought
not be. And that's where Lot was here,
but I tell you what, I'm glad my salvation, I'm glad my avoiding
the wrath of God doesn't depend on what I decide. Aren't you? God sent those angels to destroy
that place, but you know what else he sent them there for?
To have mercy on Lot. You see that there? That's kind
of important to me. To have mercy on Lot. They laid
hold of him. Because God told them to. He's
coming out of there. The Lord being merciful unto
him, and they brought him forth and set him without the city. And it came to pass when they
had brought them forth abroad that he said, escape for thy
life, look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain. Escape
to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. And Lot said unto them,
oh, not so, my lord. Lot's still arguing, isn't he? God's determined to save him.
God's going to save him anyway, in spite of him being an absolute
idiot. He's going to save him anyway.
But here he is again. Oh, not so. Really, not so? God's had mercy on you and pulling
you out of this wretched place to save you. Not so? You're still
arguing about it? I believe that's got to be a
lesson for us now. Where was I? What verse am I
in? Verse 19. Alright. Behold now thy servant hath found
grace in thy sight and thou hast magnified thy mercy which thou
hast shown unto me in saving my life and I cannot escape to
the mountain lest some evil take me and I die. Well come on. Think about that argument. I
can't go to the mountain, that's just not a good place. Sodom
is a good place? God didn't come to burn up the
mountain, He came to burn up Sodom. And you're choosing Sodom
over the mountain? And now, listen to what He said,
Behold, now this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little
one, O let me escape thither. Is it not a little one, and my
soul shall live? And he 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. Haste
thee, escape thither, for I cannot do anything till thou become
thither. So there was a little city that
was considered part of Sodom and Gomorrah. And Lot said, let
me go over here. Do you think he was really worried
about what was going to happen in the mountains, or is he still
clinging to that wretched, evil place? Listen to what the angel said
all right you go over there, and we'll spare that part. We'll
spare that little insignificant place and Burn the rest of it
up for your sake, but here's the thing I can't do anything
until you're out of here get out of here What a blessing It
can't be destroyed until you're safe Thank God for his mercy
his mercy is relentless We've tried every way that we know
how to destroy ourselves and land ourselves in hell. And He's
not going to let it happen. He's not going to let it happen.
Thank God for that. You see how this is us? As in
the days of Lot. His elect are going to be saved
in spite of Him. They couldn't possibly be more
stupid and idiotic and evil. But God's going to save them
anyway. And you're not going to burn this thing up until they're
saved. Therefore the name of that city
was called Zoar, which means insignificant, because that's
how Lot referred to it. The sun was risen upon the earth.
Now listen, we won't read the rest of it, but let me just tell
you this. Lot ended up in the mountain anyway. Here again, God came to destroy
the place, he destroyed the place. He came to get Lot out of there,
in spite of all of Lot's objection to the contrary, he got him out
of there. He was determined to put him
up in the mountain, he got up in the mountain. And what happened
was when God rained fire and brimstone upon the rest of the
place. Here's a lot over here where he asked if he could stay. And when he saw what God did,
he said, I'm going to the mountain now. That's what God said to
begin with. Why don't you just go there now?
That'd be easier, wouldn't it? This is how it will be in the
days of the Son of Man. Few will believe. But nothing
will happen until that last sheep is called home. Aren't you glad? If the Lord, I want to see the
Lord come back. I can say with John, even so
come quickly. But if he doesn't come today,
I'm glad he didn't. If he does come, I'll be glad he did. How
about that? But I know this, nothing can
happen until his sheep are safe. But notice again in verses 28
and 29 in our text, in the same day, in the same day, God makes
it real clear why this world still turns. It's because of
His mercy, His long-suffering toward His elect. In the same
day that Lot went out, God destroyed it. As in the days of Lot, so
it will be when the Son of Man is revealed. So what does God
have a world for? Do you see how that question
is answered by our text? What does he have a world for?
Well, when his last elect is gone from this place, it's kindling. It's over. I believe that answers
that question. That's what glorifies him. Now
again, God destroyed the world in the days of Noah because of
the wickedness of man was great in the earth, it says, and the
imagination of men's hearts was only evil continually. Why did
God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? Same thing, the Lord said there
in Genesis 18, 20, their sin is very grievous, very grievous. Now everybody knows what Sodom
and Gomorrah, what their particular sin was. Homosexuals are called
in the scripture Sodomites long after Sodom was destroyed. So
that's not a mystery to anybody. What characterized their evil? And this is not insignificant
in this story because sodomy is a picture of false religion
in the scriptures, anti-Christ religion. If God ordained marriage
between a man and a woman is a picture of Christ in his church,
and it is. If the love and union between
a man and a woman in marriage is a picture of the union of
Christ with his bride, his elect, and it is, then it becomes clear
why and how homosexuality is an abomination to God. For the
same reason that marriage is sacred. And it becomes clear how it pictures
Antichrist religion. It demands to be seen as equal.
It's just the same as true worship. You know, it's the same thing.
We're just worshiping in a different way than you do. Homosexuals
say this is just love between two human beings, just like you
love your wife. Do you think God sees it that way? You reckon? Just knowing the word of God,
just knowing a little bit about what God said maybe. You think
God sees it the way they do? That's all I care about. I don't
care what anybody thinks about me for saying it, or does to
me for saying it. What does God say? Likewise, false worship is just
called worship by those who worship the false god. It's not called
that by God, it's called the same thing he calls homosexuality,
an abomination. Read Isaiah chapter 1. Your religion
is an abomination unto me. Sodomy cannot produce life like
true marriage does. If everyone was a sodomite, starting
now, the world, mankind, would be extinguished in a short period
of time. I'm sure that people could make something happen in
a test tube or something like that, but that's not God's way,
clearly. Not the same thing, is it? So it is with false religion. The spiritual picture here, if
everyone believed on the false Christ, a free will, man-centered
religion, nobody would be born again, ever. There'd be no life,
no birth, no salvation. No one would be saved. False
religion goes through the motions and they call it worship. But
no life can ever come of it. And of course the simple plain
truth is that it's an abomination. Both the physical picture of
it and the spiritual manifestation of it. But spiritual sodomy is
much worse. And that's not just my opinion.
Listen to what our Lord said in Mark 6, 10. He said unto them,
in what place soever you enter into a house, there abide till
you depart from that place. He's talking to his disciples
there in Mark 6, 10, telling them to go and preach the gospel
to every creature, everybody that'll listen to you. And whosoever
shall not receive you, verse 11 of that chapter, Mark 6, nor
hear you when you depart then shake off the dust under your
feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you it
shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment
than for that city." So you see again how this applies
to our text. In the days of Sodom people hated
God. They hated his way. They hated
his will. They hated his word. God wasn't
unclear about what they were doing and why. But they did according
to their own will and that happens now spiritually. Same thing. People know what God said. Atheists,
what a joke. You can't hate somebody that
doesn't exist. Will you ever wonder why? They sure do hate him a lot for
somebody that doesn't exist, don't they? A judge gave somebody a bible.
You've seen that I'm sure in the news. And everybody got a
big problem. Atheists got a big problem with that. Why? What
for? How is that bothering you? Really, honestly. That keeps
you up at night? Somebody gave somebody else a
bible? Unbelievable isn't it? And yet,
that's our nature. That's every one of us by nature. What passes for love in religion
is impotent emotion and lust. It's lust that they heap unto
themselves, teachers having itching ears, that's a spiritual lust. God's love is salvation. God's love is in Christ. God's
love is His choice, His election of His people in free and sovereign
grace. Paul said that the purpose of
God according to election might stand. He said, Jacob have I
loved, and Esau have I hated. That's what God's love is. God's love is distinguishing.
God's love is electing. It's free. And it's salvation. It's not impotent emotion and
just fleshly desire. It's salvation and that love
is defined according to the Word of God. It's defined by Christ
crucified. Herein is love. Now our Lord said in our text,
and let's close with this thought, remember Lot's wife. We don't know much about Lot's
wife, do we? What he's referring to there
is Genesis 19. Let's turn back over there one
more time and look at verse 15. Genesis 19, 15. Read a little bit further. In
fact, let's stop. Let's read where we left off last time.
Let's look at verse 23. Remember, they let him stay in
Zoar because he Still objecting. The Lord, let's see, verse 23,
the sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom
and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. That word then is equal to what
our Lord said in the New Testament that same day. And that's as
soon as Lot was gone. 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. But his wife looked back from
behind him, and she became a pillar of salt." If you read the rest of that
chapter this evening sometime, I think it'll be a blessing to
you. But this is all we're really told about Lot's wife in the
scriptures. We don't know what her name was.
We know she looked back. She looked back. And that word
looked is more than just the direction of her gaze. It means
to look intently at, to regard. In verse 28, just two verses
later, it says Abraham looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah. But
not like she did. Not like she did. It's not even
the same word in the original Hebrew for look. Now why did
our Lord say, remember Lot's wife? It becomes clear as we
read this story and see what God did and why and how he did
it. Listen to 1 John 2.15. Love not the world. This describes how she looked.
And look, let's face it. As they were leaving there, you
picture Lot's wife in your mind looking back at Sodom and Gomorrah
and wishing, boy I'm sorry that we can't live there anymore and
whatever was going through her mind and heart at the time. But
you can't read that story without seeing that Lot looked back too.
He looked back over and over again didn't he? He did not want
to leave there. He questioned the whole necessity of leaving
there. So why didn't he turn into a
pillar of salt? I just suspect it's because God loved him, don't
you think so? From what I know of this book, I believe that's
why. Mercy. You see the word mercy?
There wasn't any mercy for her. There was for Lot. Was it because
he didn't look back? Come on. He was arguing the whole way
out, wasn't he? Oh my. Why did he say remember lots
of what? Love not the world, neither the things that are in.