20230611 Genesis 18: Will the Righteous Be Swept Away?
Genesis: Looking Back in Order to Move Ahead Spiritually • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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16 Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. 17 The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” 20 Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, 21 I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.” 22 So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. 23 Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” 26 And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” 27 Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. 28 Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” 29 Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” 30 Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” 31 He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” 32 Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” 33 And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.
Introduction:
This morning’s message is about one simple truth:
the promise of eternal life for those who are in Christ is not just a promise, it is a certainty.
Genesis 18 - speaks of God’s sovereignty. God’s omnipotence. God’s omnipresence.
All that exists in God is under the control of God.
Now in chapter 18 the LORD appears to Abraham and Sarah, and we need to go back to the Garden where the Lord appeared to Adam and Eve
In the Garden, the serpent, the devil, asks the question: Did God actually say?
And in chapter 18 we are confronted with a number of questions, some ask by the Lord, some by Abraham, all of which are reminiscent of the Garden and Satan’s desire to diminish the glory of God by challenging His word, His promises, His power, His holiness, His goodness, His trustworthiness, His character...
Everything God is is challenged by Satan in the Garden.
And so each question is recorded for eternity by Moses with a purpose
9 They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.”
13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’
14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”
17 The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
23 Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”
(1) The Sovereign Lord Separates the Righteous from the Unrighteous
Genesis 18:19-25
The teaching of Jesus: the broad road and the narrow path, the sheep and the goats
Now the Lord begins to move toward Sodom, and he reveals to Abraham his plan
19 For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”
In verse 19 the Lord states that he has “chosen” Abraham. The Lord will enable Abraham to do this
Abraham has been declared righteous by the Lord
6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.
In contrast is the unrighteousness of Sodom
We now see a dialogue between the Lord and Abraham
Abraham asks the Lord essentially one question: will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ( 18:23)
23 Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
The wickedness of Sodom - Abraham pleads with God
God’s mercy is evident in His willingness to spare the sinful majority for the sake of even ten righteous people. Fewer than ten can be saved individually
Can the Lord be swayed by Abraham? Does the fate of Sodom depend upon the persuasiveness of Abraham
Does the fate of the souls of people today depend on the persuasiveness of the preacher today?
25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”
Of course the Lord will do right
RC Sproul:
He asked the Lord a rhetorical question: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” (v. 25). The question is rhetorical because we all know the answer: of course the Judge of all the earth will always do what is just. He can do nothing else.
(2) The Sovereign Lord preserves the Righteous from Eternity Past to Eternity Future
The conversation shows us the depth of unrighteousness. There were fewer than 10. God would save them individually.
The Lord would not be just if He did not punish sin, for the essence of justice is that evil gets what it deserves.
Were this all that the Bible had to say about the Lord, we would be in an awful state indeed, for our sin makes us liable to judgment.
If God were only righteous, there would be no hope for us.
But Scripture tells us also that the Lord is merciful (Luke 6:36).
He has provided a way for our sin to be punished and for Him to remain righteous without destroying us.
That way is the cross.
26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
As the world spirals down, the Lord continues to save those who are His.
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
Jesus came to seek and to save the lost
Jesus gave his followers a mission. to go into the world and preach the gospel
4 “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.
“The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he” (Deut. 32:4).
Our Creator is perfectly righteous, and everything He does flows from and confirms this righteousness.
As a consequence of this perfect righteousness and holiness, God can by no means “acquit the wicked” (Ex. 23:7).
All have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of the Lord (Rom. 3:23), and the Lord cannot simply overlook this.
Our transgressions constitute cosmic treason against the Most High God, and they violate His justice.
The Lord would not be just if He did not punish sin, for the essence of justice is that evil gets what it deserves.
Were this all that the Bible had to say about the Lord, we would be in an awful state indeed, for our sin makes us liable to judgment.
If God were only righteous, there would be no hope for us.
But Scripture tells us also that the Lord is merciful (Luke 6:36).
He has provided a way for our sin to be punished and for Him to remain righteous without destroying us.
That way is the cross.
Original sin does not refer to the first sin of Adam and Eve, but refers to the consequences for the human race of that first sin.
Augustine: Pelagius was not opposed to grace, only to the idea that grace was necessary for obedience. He maintained that grace facilitates obedience but is not a necessary prerequisite for obedience. There is no transfer of guilt from Adam to his progeny nor any change in human nature as a subsequence of the fall. The only negative impact Adam had on his progeny was that of setting a bad example, and if those who follow in the pathway of Adam imitate his disobedience, they will share in his guilt, Pelagius asserted, but only by being actually guilty themselves. There can be no transfer or imputation of guilt from one man to another according to the teaching of Pelagius. On the other side, Augustine argued that the fall seriously impaired the moral ability of the human race. Indeed, the fall of Adam plunged all of humanity into the ruinous state of original sin. Original sin does not refer to the first sin of Adam and Eve, but refers to the consequences for the human race of that first sin. It refers to God’s judgment upon the whole human race by which He visits upon us the effects of Adam’s sin by the thoroughgoing corruption of all of his descendents. Paul develops this theme in the fifth chapter of his epistle to the Romans.
The key issue for Augustine in this controversy was the issue of fallen man’s moral ability — or lack thereof. Augustine argued that prior to the fall, Adam and Eve enjoyed a free will as well as moral liberty. The will is the faculty by which choices are made. Liberty refers to the ability to use that faculty to embrace the things of God. After the fall, Augustine said the will, or the faculty, of choosing remained intact; that is, human beings are still free in the sense that they can choose what they want to choose. However, their choices are deeply influenced by the bondage of sin that holds them in a corrupt state. And as a result of that bondage to sin, the original liberty that Adam and Eve enjoyed before the fall was lost.
The only way that moral liberty could be restored would be through God’s supernatural work of grace in the soul. This renewal of liberty is what the Bible calls a “royal” liberty (James 2:8).
Semi-Pelagianism teaches that grace is necessary to achieve righteousness, but that this grace is not imparted to the sinner unilaterally or sovereignly as is maintained by Reformed theology. Rather, the semi-Pelagian argues that the individual makes the initial step of faith before that saving grace is given. Thus, God imparts the grace of faith in conjunction with the sinner’s work in seeking God.
I have been consumed with a certain verse these days:
28 for “ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
This verse speaks of God’s sovereignty. God’s omnipotence. God’s omnipresence.
And all that exists in God is under the control of God.