Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Outline

1. Arrival in Sodom (Gen 19:1–3)

2. Assault by the Men of Sodom (Gen 19:4–11)

3. Escape from Sodom (Gen 19:12–22)

4. Destruction of Sodom (Gen 19:23–29)

5. Lot and His Daughters (Gen 19:30–38)

6. God’s Justice in the Past (2 Peter 2:1-6)

7. God’s Justice in the Present (2 Peter 2:7-11)

Please read Genesis 19:1-3.

Lot displays hospitality to these angels.

Why do you think he does this?

Ancient Israelite custom was to show hospitality to strangers.

The Didache talks about this practice existing for early Christians as well.

This was unique to followers of God as other religions and people groups often didn’t practice this type of great hospitality.

He does this because it’s the right thing to do, but as MacArthur alludes to, and to protect them from the wicked people in the city itself.

Lot greets his guests and honors them by bowing to them.

MacArthur draws out the idea that Lot had rose to prominence within the city.

He had gained many possessions and resources during his time with Abraham and was wealthy - however, all of that wealth and blessing had led him to a wicked city.

Sometimes people interpret power, possessions, and positivity as signs of God’s blessing on someone’s life.

Is this always true?

No! Earthly comforts don’t automatically mean that someone is in right standing with the Lord.

We read that God causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust.

Some people are blessed with lots of money but they do terrible things while others are not blessed with lots of money but are great Christian people.

We can’t look through an earthly lens to view a heavenly gift.

Lot was rich, but he was in a wicked place and was being corrupted by outside influences.

We know that we are living in a wicked world.

Regardless of where we live, we are surrounded by sinners because we ourselves are sinners!

How can we fight against temptations to go along with idolatry and unrighteousness?

Romans 12:1-2 share with us that we must have a renewed mind.

If we are surrounded by ungodly people, we are probably going to be influenced by them to some extent.

We can fight against this by surrounding ourselves with Christlike people who encourage us to dive into the Word and live a Christlike life even in difficult times.

Please read Genesis 19:4-11.

Why does sin make us do silly things like what Lot and Abram do in the early part of Genesis with their family members?

Abram gave his wife to the Pharoah because he was afraid of being killed.

Lot offered up his daughters to the mob because he was afraid for his honor - if the visitors had been harmed it would’ve reflected poorly on his honor in the eyes of the city.

Fear makes us do silly things because it gets our eyes off of what is right and onto ourselves and our idea of what we need most.

We read in this passage a disturbing scene begin to unfold.

The city of Sodom was blinded by sexual immorality - just as many in our world are as well as we will study later tonight.

We read that the people were driven by their own lusts and desires… Whenever we are driven by our sinful urges, are our actions godly?

No, they are self-serving more often than not.

We see in these verses a serious problem for Lot.

Either he succumbs to the mob and the visitors are harmed which will harm his image in the eyes of the city or, as he suggests, the mob can take his daughters and abuse/kill them so that he can maintain his honor and standing.

Living next to evil is never a good thing because it will always bring about a cost to us - the day of reckoning had come for Lot.

He was in the web of vile circumstances and he suggests a way out that illustrates that his moral compass had been severely distorted.

Why are people in our world so confused about basic moral situations like sexual immorality and the protection of children?

Because we have not only lived in sin but we are practicing sin left and right all around us.

How can we offer a Biblical corrective to our culture on such issues?

We can stand on the Word!

Standing on the Word will likely make you unpopular to the world.

This is terrible, yet we see the mercy of God on full display as page 84 of our text shares with us.

God pours out his grace on this situation and demonstrates His divine mercy rather than allowing Lot’s silly action to bring about harm on innocent bystanders.

Please read Genesis 19:12-22.

God extends mercy to Lot.

How does Lot’s past impact others in these verses?

We see that Lot’s future son-in-laws think that he is joking around because they do not follow him.

He had lost his credibility in the eyes of others because he had benefitted greatly from the “wicked” people of this city as an elder of the city.

Now he is calling everyone here wicked and evil?

That seems very hypocritical.

Because of Lot’s past, other people perish because they refuse to believe his message of the coming judgment.

Our actions and words have consequences, friends!

We see in these verses that God is bringing about His divine judgment and destruction upon these wicked people.

We know that God will bring about His divine judgment on the world one day in the future.

We read in the final 2 verses that God grants Lot’s request and brings about great mercy and grace.

Kenneth Matthews shares this, “The divine timetable for destruction is temporarily suspended for the outworking of divine grace.”

Think about that statement for a moment.

Isn’t that how things are in our world right now?

We are living in a period of grace, whether people realize it or not.

We know that God at any moment would be just to bring about His divine justice on our wicked, sinful world, yet He doesn’t.

Why is this the case?

Why does God not bring about His wrath against sin right now?

Because there is still work to be done.

Because there are still more yet to hear the Gospel.

Because He is still extending His grace and love towards sinners.

There is still time, but that time is running out, just as it was for Lot and the people in Genesis 19.

MacArthur notes on page 86 that many people think that we have full control over our environment and destiny.

Why do so many people feel this way?

Is this true according to the Bible?

It makes us feel good!

We love being in control… Yet, we see in the Bible that this isn’t true.

We read in Scripture that God is the One who reigns as King of creation and He is seated on His throne.

He is in control.

This should bring about comfort to our lives.

Romans 8:28, Isaiah 41:10, Proverbs 16:9 and Proverbs 19:21 all speak to this truth.

The Lord is in control.

Once we realize this truth and walk by faith in His Word and plan, then we find our truth purpose and meaning.

Please read Genesis 19:23-29.

Is God’s judgment fair?

In one word, yes.

Yet, we can’t fully understand the severity of our sin in the eyes of God.

That is due to the truth that He is utterly holy and we simply are not.

We are sinners.

We can’t grasp why sin brings about this type of reaction from God.

Disobeying God’s commands brings about serious consequences.

We see this for Sodom regarding their sexual immorality and we see it with Lot’s wife turning around and looking at the destruction and turning into a pillar of salt.

God brings about divine judgment and this is in the form of sulfur - Isaiah shares with us that this type of punishment is directly attributed to God’s judgment against wickedness.

Please read Genesis 19:30-39.

Once again, we see people disobey God’s command and take matters into their own hands.

Do people continue to do this?

Are there repercussions from this chapter in future generations?