Wickedness and Misery

I. Introduction

Would you please get your copy of God’s Word…and go ahead and turn to Genesis Chapter 19 and we are going to read verses 1-29.

Today I want to talk to you about what we have been working up to…and that is ultimately God’s destruction of one of the most wicked civilizations in history....and that is made up of the people of the two cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Now we don’t know exactly how far apart Sodom and Gomorrah were…they were perhaps a few miles apart from one another and on the Eastern coast of the Dead Sea…but we of course don’t know for sure.... however they were apparently close enough that they had had a close relationship and an affect on one another. Both cities had become exceedingly wicked.

a. Scripture: Genesis 19:1-29

I’m going to ask you to stand with me, if you are able, as we read from God’s Holy, Perfect, Sufficient and inerrant Word.

<Pray>

Thank you, and you may be seated.

II. Major Points

Note the Contrast

Note the Compromise

Note the Kept Promises

III. Point #1: Note the Contrast

Explanation Now I want you to note the contrast between what is good and what is evil. There is a major contrast between good and evil....Now the world we live in today would have us to believe that there are vast shades of grey and only a few spots (if any) that are clearly black and white. But when it come sto the things of God, there are many moments of contrast between good and evil and we should be able to discern them.

Here we have a prime example of the contrast between good and evil....Now we have two angels....not men....angels. Now we learned in Chapter 18 that these angels apparently “looked” like men, but this chapter verifies that they were, indeed, angels right there in verse 1:

Genesis 19:1 NASB95

Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.

....and if you’ll remember from a year or two ago when we did our study on angels, we learned that angels are not given in marriage. In fact, if language is any indicator, the word Greek word “angelos” which is the word used in the New Testament for “angel” is a masculine word....in fact a femanine word for angel in Greek does not exist. So how we have the word “man” and for females we have “woman,” there is only a male version of the word angel....so it is reasonable to assume that all angels are actually male in their character....but we know that angels aren’t getting married in heaven....angels arent having babies....there aren’t any angel babies flying around. These are the warriors of God.

But whatever the case, it is possible that these particular angels were simply in human form and simply looked like men. These angels clearly didn’t have their normal appearance because no one was afraid of them....what do angels normally say when they meet somebody? “Do....not....fear.” Right? Why? Because they’re scary-looking! These are God’s warriors, right?

So apparently they looked different....and these wicked men of Sodom wanted to have realtions with them...

So pay attention here....this is not fallen man wanting to have relations with fallen man....this is fallen man wanting to have relations with unfallen angels....with the pureness of something only found in heaven....the contrast is striking, isn’t it?

That these wicked men wanted to have ungodly, unbiblical, extramarital homosexual relations with some of the purest of God’s creations....God’s own angels.....the contrast is almost laughable, isn’t it? That God would EVER allow such a thing or that the angels would ever submit to such a thing.

The contrast could not be more stark here....there is no grey area here. Evil wanting to corrupt what is good.

Illustration You know often times I think we have a misunderstanding of what evil is and what it isn’t.

The great theologin Ausgustin wrote “Evil is not attributed existence in its own right, but is described as the privation of good – the corruption of God's good creation.”…listen to that last part again “EVIL is simply the corruption of God’s good creation.

What does that mean? It means that evil is not actually a “thing,” instead it is the absence of a thing. You see God makes eveything and God makes only good things....it is only through sin that His good things are corrupted.

So this whole idea that God “needs the devil” or that good “needs evil” that popular culture and movies try to sell is absolute nonse.

It is best compared to light, I think. When you go into a perfectly darkened room....what do you see? Darkness? Blackness? Maybe in your mind....but what you actually see is....nothing at all. Darkness is not a thing....it’s the absence of a thing…and that thing is light. Darkness is what happens when you take away light.

Evil is what happens when you take away good. Corruption is what happens when you take away God and His perfect Will.

Application

So you’re sitting there thing: Vic what is that supposed to mean to me today?

Listen....the world has done so much to try to blur the lines between good and evil....they have done so much to try and teach your kids that there is no “wrong”....there is only what you feel. If it feels right, do it, right?

If I “feel” that way, then it must be OK. That is what the world teaches today. We see this example of this perfect contrast between all the is good (the angels) versus all that is bad in Sodom and what was the desire of the Sodomites?.....it’s really simple....it’s the same desire that all evil has: To corrupt what is good.

Know this church, especially you young people: There IS a standard for right and wrong…I don’t care who tells you otherwsie. And if you begin to believe that there isn’t one, then you begin to let sin into your life and into your heart…and it begins to corrupt....that’s all sin does is corrupt. Sin can make NOTHING better in your life.

Saying capitulation to sin can help you or can be justified is like saying you’re going to shine some darkness into an already dark room to help yourself see better. It doesn’t work! It can’t!

Friends: Deny this lie of the world that there is no good and evil…and steer CLEAR of sin. Call it out....stand up for what is right.

And teach our kids to do the same....

And folks....when we allow the lie of Satan to prevail that evil and good are somehow indistinguishable or unknowable....or even worse, that evil is necessary....then we get into the problem of point number two:

IV. Point #2: Note the Compromise

Explanation

These Sodomites wanted to basically rape these men, who were actually angels. A truly horrible act....and now Lot....the one righteous man left in town finds himself trying to protect these men…and he makes a proposterous suggestion in order to do it....

Genesis 19:7–8 NASB95

and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly. “Now behold, I have two daughters who have not had relations with man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them whatever you like; only do nothing to these men, inasmuch as they have come under the shelter of my roof.”

.....did you HEAR that? WHAT!??

Lot said “stop brothers....don’t harm these men…instead....harm my own flesh and blood.....harm my virgin daughters.”

No you do realize, not only was he throwing his daughters out as sheep to the wolves, but that he was willing to ruin them forever? Because you see, let’s assume the girls had survived the rape....let’s assume they lived....you have to remember that to lose your virginity before marriage for a woman in those days made it almost impossible for a woman to get married in those days....and women weren’t allowed to do a whole lot to make money in those days....these girls would’ve been ruined.

WHAT....was LOT thinking?

Well to help you understand this a little bit....it is true that in the ancient Middle East, a man was expected to protect guests in his own house....maybe he thought giving up those girls was the lesser of the two evils....either way, what he did was wrong.

He looked at what was wrong....and he looked at what was right....and he made a compromise.

Illustration

Now anybody in thie room who has been married more than ten minutes will tell you that compromise can often be valuable, amen? You give in on the nonessentials, your spouse does the same, and then hopefully you can come to an agreement on what matters most. That type of compromise is a good thing.

For instance, years ago a pit bull wondered up into our yard when we lived in Claxton…I was determined that we would not have a dog and I put my foot down. I told Hannah: “NO…we can’t a afford another mouth to feed…no dogs.” So…we compromised…she got to keep the dog and I got to be OK with that.

Compromise in relationships is important, right? However, compromise when it comes to good and evil will ultimately lead to pain, misery, corruption, and destruction.

Tryon Edwards once said “Compromise is but the sacrifice of one right or good in the hope of retaining another—but too often ending in the loss of both.”

Application Church: Listen…when we start to compromise on the things of God, what we are doing is blindly opening the doors of our hearts and minds to sin. We’re basically giving up....we’re saying “look, I can’t know what is truly right and what is truly wrong…so who am I to judge?” You happily create these grey areas in your life, just like Lot did here, and the next thing you know you have slipped and slidden so far away from God you can’t even tell the difference anymore!

V. Point #3: Note the Kept Promises

Explanation Despite all of these mistakes....despite all of the compromise....I want you to see this here: God still kept every one of his promises.

Think about it:

God promised to look after Abraham’s family....God had these angels go warn his nephew Lot about the impending doom of Sodom and Gomorrah. He also had the angels directly protect them by causing blindness on the Sodomites....when Lot and his wife hesitated to evacuated, the angels forced them to go physically....did you notice that?

Genesis 19:15–16 NASB95

When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.” But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the Lord was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city.

Promises kept, amen?

What else did God promise? He promised to trun anyone who looked back into a pillar of salt, didn’t He? He did…to Lot’s own wife. He promised to destroy the cities....and he did. He totally destroyed those depraved people and their depraved city.

One was a promise of grace....the others were promises of judgment. All were kept.

Application How many of you know this to be true: God ALWAYS keeps His promises. Amen?

Always.

So when God made Abraham promises and kept them, we can be sure that the promises He has made us today will be kept too.

So we are seeing that come into fruiting: When Paul wrote in Romans 1:25 that “ They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator.”....hey…it’s happening all around us. People worship nature rather than the God that created it.

2 Timothy 4:3 says “The time will come when they will not endure sound teaching and doctrine”....yall you can go to some churches today and the pastor will speak for a solid 45 minutes and never crack his Bible…what a shame....what a shame.

Folks: that’s the copromising world we live in today....

I’m telling you....bless God, THAT is a perfect description of the world our children are forced to grow up in.

I read just yesterday that 52% of all born again Christian students that begin college this year will come out on the other side of college in 4 years either atheists or agnostics....we send them of to college to chase their dreams, get good jobs, make good money, and sell their souls to Satan.

Yall....that’s why I believe in the good work we at at Truett-McConnell University....I try to tell every high school kid I meet about it.

We have to hold on to what is sacred, Church.... How much is your child’s soul worth to you?

How much?

VI. Conclusion

a. Let me ask you this morning: are you aware of what’s going on out there? The atheists are gaining ground....the cults are graining ground…and guess what? We’re losing ground....we’re too caught up trying to decide how to not offend the world and decide what it’s ok to call sin anymore.

Folks....we’d better wake up and see it clearly....before it’s too late for somebody we love.

b. Let’s Pray