Sodom & Amazing Grace

Hey, hey, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This is where every day you and I, we get together, we have a little bit of coffee, we get into God's Word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2023, Lord willing, we'll make it from the book of Genesis to Leviticus. This morning, we're at Genesis chapter 18. And I know it's a Monday morning and this is a hard place to start, but we're going to finish that story of Sodom and Gomorrah I just got to be honest with you. These are hard stories, but God gives them to us for a reason. So why don't we have some coffee?
We'll pray and we'll get into the Lord's word. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We pray, Lord, that as we read your word, that you would please bless us and watch over us. Father we pray that you would please allow us to understand, rightly perceive what you're saying in your word by the teaching of your Holy Spirit and that by your Holy Spirit you would allow us to live our lives how you would order them for us in Jesus's name. Amen. Alright so we are at Genesis chapter 18. Genesis chapter 19. Sorry Genesis chapter 19. And we are going to finish that story about Sodom and Gomorrah. So we'll begin at verse 12 and we'll go through verse 29. Here we go.
Then the men said to Lot, Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, take them out of this place. For we will destroy this place because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it. So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, Get up, get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city. But to his sons-in-law, he seemed to be joking. When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.
And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, he said, Escape for your life.
Do not look behind you, nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed. Then Lot said to them, Please know, my lords, indeed, now your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy, which you have shown me, by saving my life. But I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die.
See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Please let me escape there. Is it not a little one? And my soul shall live. And he said to him, See, I have favored you concerning this thing also, and that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.
Therefore, the name of this city was called Zor. The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zohar. Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of the heavens. So he overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew on the ground. But his wife looked back behind him and she became a pillar of salt. Then, and Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. Then he looked towards Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the plain. And he saw and behold the smoke of the land, which went up like the smoke of a furnace. And it came to pass when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham and sent law out of the midst of the overthrow When he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.
Well, we need to ask ourselves, A, what's this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do in response to these words? So A, What's this about? Well, we pick up the story where we left off, where the Lord had, or the angels had protected Lot. And now they save Lot.
They warn him, they tell him in verse 12, right? Have you seen, have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, whomever you have in the city, take them out of this place. for we will destroy this place because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it. They warn him. You have any family? You got any kids? You got any in-laws? You got anyone?
Go and get them, tell them to get out of here. We're about to destroy the city. This is mercy, right? They didn't need to tell Lot this, but they do. And so they tell Lot this, and Lot goes and he tells his son-in-laws, but they won't listen. I don't know which way to say that. Sons-in-laws or son-in-laws. I would say son-in-laws, but they want to say sons-in-laws or sons-in-law. That's fine. But the point is that he tells them and they think he's joking, right? They laugh it off. They brush it off and they keep going doing whatever they want to do. And the Lord's not being merciful to them. They think he's joking.
And they in the morning tell him in verse 15, get up, right? Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment. And the point of this is verse 16, right? Lot lingered. He didn't escape right away. The men took hold of his hands, his wife hand and the hand of his two daughters. The Lord being merciful to him and they brought him out and set him outside the city. He takes them out of the city. He's merciful. The Lord takes them by the hand and drags them out of the city, makes them flee.
No more lingering, no more waiting. You got to get out of here. Don't turn back. Don't you're going to be consumed. But we find us. That's exactly what happens. Lot, well, first Lot says, I can't go all the way up to the mountains. He's worried about some type of disaster or evil that will come upon him. And so he asked to go to a small city nearby and they say, that's okay. So there's still mercy and grace being shown. There's still accommodations according to his weaknesses and fears. But what we find is Lot's wife looks back.
She longs for the days of Sodom. She's worried about the city in which she has made her home. And instead of fixing her eyes on the rescue and escape, which is in front of her, her heart longs for Sodom. The place where her husband had betrayed her, where the city wanted to do despicable acts toward the guests that were in her home. And she turns into a pillar of salt.
Once again, this is a devastating story. And there in the high country, Abraham goes to that place where he had overseen the city. where the angels had told him, where the Lord had told him what was going to happen. And he sees the smoke coming up from the valley as the fire is raining down from heaven. And he sees the place destroyed, as God had said.
There hadn't even been 10 righteous. Only people who were rescued Lot, his two daughters, and his wife. Four. What we're gonna find out is they're not even righteous. I hate to break this to you again on a Monday morning, but there is none righteous, no not one. This is the judgment that all of us deserve. There's mercy found here, and I think that's one of the things that we should underline here is verse 16.
And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of the two daughters, and the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. The only reason why God is saving Lot is because he's merciful. What is mercy? Mercy is getting what we do not deserve. Mercy is we deserve The brimstone and the fire. And God saves us. He is merciful to us. We don't get what we deserve, mercy. Grace is getting what we do not deserve. Him giving to us what we have not earned. God is merciful to lots.
And he shows his justice to Abraham. I wonder what psychological and spiritual effect this had for Abraham. As he had interceded for the city, pleaded with God in his heart, thinking, maybe, maybe there's some righteous people in that town. I know my nephew Lot is there. And then he sees the city destroyed. Is his nephew still alive? Had God judged them? But what are we called to do? Are you sober in your estimation of who you are?
I just saw a quote by Burke Parsons in which amazing grace does not stun us until we see what a wretch we are. This is what makes the gospel so precious. It's not that we love God, but it's that he first loved us. That each and every one of us live in our hearts of Sodom. Every one of us are citizens of Satan's dominion and kingdom. And it is only by his mercy that he takes us by the hand and rips us out of the city of our own wickedness and brings us into his marvelous light. Do you rejoice that Jesus Christ has saved you? That his mercy has rescued you?
And I gotta plead with you, Christian, don't look back. Forget those things which lie behind and press forward for the upward call which is in Christ Jesus. Don't long for those days in your past. Don't look back to Egypt. Don't look back to Sodom. Don't wish that things were better before you were a Christian.
But look to God's mercy. Look to his rescue for this world will always tempt us with the pleasures and desires that are transient and fleeting and will be burned away. But we have been shown mercy. bask in the Lord's mercy, cling to his mercy, trust in his grace, go to Jesus Christ and remember the grace that he has shown you. For it's not by our deeds, but by his grace that we are saved. It's by his mercy that he has grabbed us by the hands and rescued us from destruction. Rejoice in him. Praise him. Walk in his ways.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. And we thank you for the mercy that you have shown us. Father, we pray that we would follow after you, love you, hold on to you. Please, God. Forgive us for how often we look back. train our eyes to be fixed upon Jesus. Please, Lord, let us marvel at your grace in Jesus's name. Amen. Well, may the Lord bless you. May you rejoice in the work of Jesus Christ. And I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith and your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue. Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.