SWIFT DESTRUCTION, SWIFT SALVATION

(am  service)

Text: Gen. 19:1-29

Thesis: God is capable of dealing with a sinful nation and protecting the Christian ~ all at the same time.

I. Lot was concerned about protecting his angelic visitors. (vs. 1-3)

A.     Lot knew visitors in his community were in grave danger.

1. The angels had the appearance of being male. (See Genesis 18:2)

II. The citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah had become so evil they attempted to storm the doors of

Lot’s home.

A.     Protect your home from the intrusion of evil.

1.   The sanctity of your homes can be invaded by the following:

a)      Internet-(install safe guards)

b)      Literature

c)      TV (There is an attempt to normalize same sex marriages)

                        d) Live-in guest

III. Lot found the evil hearts of his neighbors to be perverted and violent.

A.     Immorality and violence characterize an evil society.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.  Galations 5:19-21

B.     The “Downward course of man” is as follows:

            1^st stage-“They fail to give God thanks and the glory.

            2^nd stage-“They worship created things and nature rather than God”

            3^rd stage-“Their hearts will to turn to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies.”

            4^th stage- “They exchange normal sexual desires for the opposite sex for unnatural desires for the

same sex.”

READ ROMANS 1:21-27

IV. Lot in a desperate attempt to save his angelic visitors offered his virgin daughters in place of

            the Angels.

and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) 2 Peter 2:7-8

A.     The Word of God reveals that the depravity of these men was so great they were not even interested in the purist of women.

B.     The Church needs to recognize that we must condemn sin in society without condeming the sinner.

I appointed watchmen over you and said, `Listen to the sound of the trumpet!' But you said, `We will not listen.'  Therefore hear, O nations; observe, O witnesses, what will happen to them.  Hear, O earth: I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their schemes, because they have not listened to my words and have rejected my law. Jeremiah 6:17-19

(pm service)

V. God intervenes and protects Lot and his family.(vs.10-29)

A.     The Angels strike the evil men with blindness. (vs.11)

B.     God offers protection to all those lot invites. (vs.12)

1.   His Sons-in-law thought he was joking.  They could not believe what was about to happen.

C.     The angels literally took Lot and his family by the hand and led them out of the city.

if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot,  2 Peter 2:5-7

"Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.  For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth.  Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."  Luke 21:34-36

D.     God also recognizes the many righteous people in society.

Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel--all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him."  I Kings 19:18

VI. Lot’s wife had developed a love for sin that caused her to look back.

A.     Guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus while we still can.

1.   Sin gives Satan a hold on your life.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.  Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person--such a man is an idolater--has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.  Ephesians 4: 29 – 5: 5