Part 6, Sodom & Gomorrah

We’re not turning to Genesis. I should have told you that at the beginning. We’re not—Genesis 18 and 19 are the Bible story this morning, but Jesus actually summarizes it in Luke 17. So yes, we’re going to be looking at Genesis 18 and 19, but to begin, we’re going to look at Luke 17.

Luke 17, beginning in verse number 28. Luke’s Gospel, chap 17, verse 28. When you get there, if you are able, stand with me as we honor God and the reading of his word. Luke’s Gospel chapter 17, verse 28. These are the words of Jesus. Now hear the word of the Lord.

"Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;

but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed [them] all.

Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods [are] in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back.

Remember Lot's wife.

Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.

I tell you, in that night there will be two [men] in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left."

May the Lord add his blessing to the reading, the preaching, and now your hearing to understand his holy word. May our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ forever be praised. And all of God’s people say, “Amen.” You may be seated.

Imagination time for a bit. Imagine with me if you can a society, a culture, a nation where public morality has collapsed, where you can’t even go to Walmart without hearing constantly what used to be bleeped on the television. Can I get a witness? Where arrogance parades in the streets, violence stalks the neighborhoods, sexual boundaries are mocked, God’s design is despised, and sin is celebrated as progress. Where the vulnerable are exploited and where hospitality once learned and taught in every household has been replaced with selfishness and cruelty.

Sounds familiar. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Could be the evening news I’ve described. Could be your social media news feed. It could be a conversation at work. It could be something that you’re talking about in just a little while sitting around the Sunday dinner table and that you’re shocked about. You’ve heard about and it’s just unbelievable.

But I’m not describing our headlines. I’m not describing our modern world. I’m describing the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. One of the oldest cities on record. And it became one of the oldest cautionary tales—cautionary to every generation—because folks, wickedness is not new. Wickedness is not new. People are the same sinful people today that they were back in the Sodom. Sodom and Gomorrah, all the way back to Noah and the flood, all the way back to when Cain killed Abel. People are sinners.

But in every generation, every culture is tempted to drift away from God. Every culture and every generation is tempted to become Sodom and Gomorrah. And in every one of those generations, God calls some faithful people to stand up and stand out from the culture. Not stand up and stand out in self-righteousness, but in holiness, in compassion, but with courage.

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah isn’t just tucked away. And you saw this morning, it’s not an obscure episode in the book of Genesis, as sometimes we are blamed for picking out one little piece of the Bible and emphasizing it. We evangelicals get blamed for that and accused of that. It’s not obscure. Sodom and Gomorrah and its warning are all throughout the Bible. Genesis 18 and 19 are the original account. But then Moses in Deuteronomy refers to it as a warning to Israel. The prophets all throughout the Old Testament—Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel—these prophets in the Old Testament used Sodom and Gomorrah as the warning to the people of their day.

In Matthew chapter 10, Jesus uses Sodom and Gomorrah as the warning to the people of his day. The apostles Peter and Jude cited Sodom and Gomorrah as examples of God’s judgment and rescue. It’s not just one little tucked away Bible story, friends. It is literally all throughout the Bible.

This is not just a dusty story about an ancient city lying in ruins. It’s a mirror. Listen to me. Sodom and Gomorrah is a mirror held up to every generation in history. We look in that mirror and if we look like Sodom and Gomorrah in that mirror, we’ve got a problem. Amen.

But Sodom and Gomorrah is not just a warning. It’s also a promise. God takes sin seriously, but he also takes his mercy seriously. Amen.

So today, and by the way, if you haven’t noticed this yet before, on the back of your bulletin, there’s this great big blank page, and it’s a perfect thing to take notes on. I would recommend that highly to you. Okay.

Today we’re going to retell the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, but we’re not going to do it as I cautioned you earlier about the children. This is going to be a PG sermon. We’re not going to gawk at their sin. Our main purpose is to see the heart of God. We’re—I want us to see the heart of God more than we see Sodom and Gomorrah sin. Amen. I want us to see the patience of God, the justice of God, the mercy of God. And then we’ll ask what it means for us to live in a world that’s like ours but like theirs, and how we live in that world with faith and courage.

So number one, we begin with retelling the story. Listen care—listen carefully. Listen fast. That’s my phrase. You got to listen fast. Okay.

Abraham had just received the astonishing promise of a son in his old age. And as the Lord prepares to depart from Abraham, he paused. And God told Abraham of his plan to investigate a terrible outcry rising from the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Their reputation for evil was no rumor. Their sin was, as the Bible described, very grave.

These weren’t sleepy towns with a few bad apples. They were societies that were rotting from the inside out. Greed flourished. Pride strutdded. Violence lurked. And sexual immorality had become so public, so celebrated that even strangers in the city were not safe.

Yet before the Lord acted, he gave the patriarch Abraham the opportunity to intercede, to intercede for Sodom and Gomorrah. He was like a man standing between a great hurricane and a coastal city and trying to hold it back.

Abraham pleaded with God for the righteous. He says, “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What God? What if there are 50 righteous people in that city?” And God says, “I’ll spare them.”

Abraham says, “Well, there may not be 50. What if there’s 40?” God says, “I’ll spare them.”

Abraham says, “Well, I’m not even sure about 40, Lord, what if there are only 20 righteous people in that city?” God says, “I’ll spare the city for 20.”

And Abraham became so bold as to say, God, if—what what if what if—there is only 10 righteous people in that city? And God says, look at the mercy of God. God says, “I will spare the entire city my judgment. If there are only 10 righteous people in that city, I’ll spare it.”

But there were not even 10.

Meanwhile, two angels—and I wish I had more time to talk about this. Maybe we’ll do it Wednesday night. You got to come on Wednesday night. By the way, we still have Wednesday night adult Bible study. Some of y’all have forgotten that, but we still do.

Meanwhile, two angels disguised as travelers arrived at Sodom at dusk. Lot is Abraham’s nephew. And he saw them at the gate and he remembered what hospitality should be. And he urged them to come under his roof because Lot knew what would happen if they stayed in the open square overnight.

But before long, the men of that city surrounded Lot’s house, and their demands were wicked and vile. If you know, you know. It was a shocking display of lust, power, and contempt for God’s design.

Lot tries to reason with them. Lot tries to reason with the mob. He tries to reason with the crowd, but the mob only grew more intense and more violent.

At that moment, the angels intervened. The angel pulls Lot back inside and he strikes the crowd with blindness and he tells Lot, “Judgment is coming. Judgment is imminent. Get your family out of here. Get them out of here now.”

But Lot’s son-in-law, sons-in-law, they laugh it off. They literally, it says in the text, they they think he’s joking.

Dawn breaks the next morning. And Lot is still hesitating. The angel said, “Get out of here now.” Said it to him at night. Dawn is now—the morning is coming—and Lot is still there hesitating. And the angels literally took him, his wife, and his two daughters and drugg them out of the city and say to them, “Run for your lives. Whatever you do, don’t look back.”

As Lad and his family reached a small town called Zoir, the sky above them erupted and fire and burning sulfur brimstone rained down from heaven. The fertile plain once compared to the garden of the Lord became nothing but a wasteland.

But Lot’s wife, her heart still clinging to that city she left—Lot’s wife thinking, “I left all my dresses in the closet. I left all my jewelry on the counter. I left all my shoes under the bed. All of my society, all of my friends. I’m supposed to be at the club Tuesday at 10:00. I’m supposed to do all this.” She’s remembering all she’s leaving behind. And she turns back.

And when she turns back against the command of the angels, when she turns back in disobedience, she’s turned into a pillar of salt, a monument to the danger of looking back when God’s calling you forward.

By sunrise, the smoke of the cities rises like a furnace. God had remembered Abraham’s intercession. He had spared Lot. But the cities that were once symbols of prosperity and progress now were a burning smoking heap—a warning to all generations. A warning that God is patient, but his justice is real and his patience will run out.

Are you still listening to me? Folks, sin may be celebrated, but it is never safe.

And yet, in the midst of God’s judgment, God’s mercy still reaches for the one that’s been interceded for. Even then, Lot was hesitating and the angels drug him out. Amen. Thank God that sometimes the Lord just drags us kicking and screaming. Amen.

So, we retell the story. Then number two, and this is where I hope you’ll take some notes, remembering those truths. Here are the truths we learn from the story.

Number one, God’s patience precedes his judgment. And that’s the pattern of God. That’s the way that God operates. God’s patience precedes his judgment. Before a single flame fell from heaven upon Sodom, God revealed his plan to Abraham. And he allowed Abraham to intercede.

All throughout scripture, from Genesis all the way to the Revelation, God’s judgment is never rash. It is never impulsive. God’s judgment is always deliberate, measured, righteous, and preceded by an opportunity to repent.

If you want to look for the harbinger of God’s judgment, if you want to look for the coming of God’s judgment, look for some opportunities. Look where God is giving a nation a chance to repent.

If you wanted to look at a nation and say, “What would God do before he brings about great judgment on a nation?” He would give that nation some kind of monumental event, some zeitgeist in history that galvanized a generation, something where maybe hundreds of thousands of people would gather in a stadium and millions and millions more would watch on television as the gospel was proclaimed in great fervor and power. That’s the kind of thing. That’s the kind of a call to repentance that God always does for a nation before he’s about to judge its wickedness. His patience always precedes his judgment.

Number two, intercession matters. Abraham’s bold prayer for the cities shows that one person’s boldness in prayer can move the heart of God and change the course of history. God still invites his people to pray—to pray for their families, to pray for their communities, to even pray for their enemies.

Folks, when you feel powerless, when you feel powerless, prayer is your first and best, not your last resort. Amen. Intercession still matters.

Number three, listen fast. Righteousness can influence a whole community. Righteous can influence a whole community. God’s willingness to spare Sodom for 10 righteous people reminds us how powerful a small but faithful witness can be. In a dark society, in a dark culture, in a dark place, a few lights can shine very brightly.

Young person, middle-aged person, senior adult. Your quiet faithfulness at work, at school, on your team, at home, at your hunting club, at your fishing place, at wherever it, all of it, it’s not wasted. That little, that little light of yours. Amen. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine.

I got to move more quickly. Number four, sin corrods societies from the inside out. The Bible doesn’t dwell on the lurid details of their sin, but it’s clear what their sin was. If you know, you know. And that unchecked sin, especially especially when that sin is normalized publicly, destroys individuals and communities.

Listen carefully, folks. What we will tolerate will eventually dominate. Nod your head like this. What we tolerate will eventually dominate. Sodom’s story warns us to guard our hearts and our culture from casual compromise.

Number five, we must live in this world, but we don’t have to be of this world. Lot, Abraham’s nephew, Lot pitched his tent near Sodom. Then he moved a little closer. Then he got inside of Sodom. Then he bought a house in the nice neighborhood of Sodom. Then he became part of their culture, part of their society.

Folks, being close to sin without spiritual vigilance dulls our senses little bit by little bit. We’re called to be present in our communities, but we’re called to be distinct. Come ye out from among them and be ye separate, sayeth the Lord. We’re called to be distinct. You may have you may have to live in this world, but you don’t have to live like this world. Amen.

Number six, compromise. confuses our witness. Lot’s hesitance and he hesitated, his sons-in-law mockery and his wife’s backward glance—all these echo the same theme that halfhearted faith sends a mixed message. If Lot had been living right, when he said, “We got to get out of here and we got to get get out of here now,” if when he said that, his wife would have snatched up the daughters and said, “Come on, if you want to, sons-in-law, but we’re out of here.” They would not have hesitated if Lot had been living right.

Folks, our families and our friends, your household, notice when your convictions began to shift because of convenience.

Number seven, got to move. Looking back endangers your future. Lot’s wife turned back to look at what she was leaving behind, and she was warned not to, and she’s turned into a pillar of salt. Nostalgia for sin. Longing—listen—longing for the sin that you’ve left behind, nostalgia for sin, or reluctance to let go of the past can derail God’s blessings for your future. Faith and faithfulness look forward, not backward. Amen.

Number nine. Number eight, God is both just and merciful. In one hand, he holds the fire of judgment. In the other, he extends the arm of rescue. Both belong to his character. Both are good. We must never pit God’s holiness against his love. In him, they meet perfectly.

We got to move to the next thing. Last thing, responding with faith.

Here’s how we respond with faith. When Jesus looked ahead to his return, we read earlier, he didn’t just mention Noah’s day. He looked at Lot’s day. In other words, he reads there. Let’s look again at verse 28. Verse 28, chapter 17. Jesus said, “It’ll be the same as it was in the days of Lot. People went on eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, and building. But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rain from heaven.”

The people of Sodom weren’t simply doing bad things. Listen, the pe—they weren’t simply—they weren’t—they weren’t just doing bad things. They were living as if God didn’t even matter. They were busy with normal life, ignoring the reality of coming judgment. Jesus’s warning is not just about them. It’s about us.

Here’s how we respond with faith.

Number one, live with eyes wide open. Sodom’s citizens were too distracted to notice the storm clouds. Sodom’s citizens, the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah, were too entertained every moment, too galvanized by things that didn’t matter, too up with stuffing culture, too indulged with everything that was set before their eyes.

Every single—folks, listen to me. I’ll just skip some stuff so we don’t get over time, but listen to me. You need to have some times in your life where there’s not something right here in front of you. You need to learn how to be bored. You need to learn how to get along with nothing else going on. No, leave it all. No, look, leave it all to the side. Maybe you need to go to a place there’s not even any cell phone coverage. And you just get along with God and say, “God, what have I been so distracted by? What has distracted me so much? What have you been saying, Lord? But I’ve been so distracted that I haven’t heard it. What are you consuming? You got to live with your eyes wide open to God.”

Teens, what are you consuming in social media and music and your friend groups? Listen to me. The Bible says—listen to young people, listen to me. If you’re 11 to 19, you got to turn it up to 10 right now. 11 to 19. Turn it up to 10. Ready? You there?

The Bible says, “Do not be deceived. Bad company corrupts good character.” The stuff that your friends are talking about, they don’t need to be talking about. You don’t need to be listening to it, and you certainly don’t need to be repeating it.

We got to move. I’m sorry.

Number two, travel light. Don’t look back. Lot’s wife is a one-s sentence sermon. She looked back and it cost her everything. Look at verse 32. Jesus says, “Remember Lot’s wife.”

Folks, when God calls us forward, don’t anchor your heart into what he’s calling you out of. This means cutting off sin before it chains you down. It means holding on to possessions loosely. It means leaving behind grudges and old wounds when God says forgive.

A good selfch check for all of us is if God told you to move, or if God told you to give this particular thing up, or if God told you to quit this or start this, would you hesitate? Would you resist? Or would you obey?

Remember Lot’s wife. Don’t look back.

Number three, make urgency personal. Lot’s sons-in-law laughed. They had time. Or so they thought. Jesus says, verse 33, “Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will preserve it.”

Folks, faith is not just believing that God is real. It’s acting on his warnings. Teenagers, don’t wait until you’re older to obey God. Young parents, your children are learning their priorities and their urgencies from you and what you’re urgent about and what your priorities are. Older adults, your testimony of faith now can inspire the generations who will come after you.

Folks, in a world in 2025 that looks a lot like Sodom and Gomorrah, Jesus’s words still stand. Remember Lot’s wife, don’t look back. Whoever loses his life for my sake will keep it.

Responding with faith means staying spiritually awake, traveling light, living urgently, interceding boldly, and clinging to Christ our rescuer.

Let’s conclude. That be all right if we concluded.

Jesus ends his warning about the days of Lot with a picture that should stop us cold. Jesus says, “I tell you that on that night there’ll be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other one left. There’ll be two in a field. One will be taken and the other one left. There’ll be two grinding at a meal. One will be taken and the other one left.”

It’s a vivid way of saying God’s judgment and salvation are personal. Listen, God’s judgment and God’s salvation are personal. It cuts right through our groups, our families, our workplaces. Two people, two people can be side by side doing the same thing, living under the same roof, sleeping in the same bed, but responding to God totally differently. And when the moment comes, one is clinging to Christ and saved, the other hesitates, looks back, left behind.

It’s not meant to terrify us. It’s meant to clarify us. The choice that must be made, folks—the day of the Lord, the time of the coming of the Lord. When the trumpet sounds is not the time to get ready. The day the trumpet sounds will not be the day to get ready. That will be the day that just shows who was ready.

Like the ark in Noah’s day or the hand of the angels snatching them out of the city, God’s provided a way, a way of rescue, and his name is Jesus. So the question becomes deeply personal. Am I holding on to him? Am I holding on to Jesus or am I holding on to the world? Am I ready if that moment came today? Am I living as though he might come at any moment?

Friends, don’t look back. Don’t wait for a more convenient time. Don’t assume you’ve got more time. Call upon the name of the Lord, repenting of your sin today, while the mercy stands open, while the ark, the door of the ark is still open. The true shelter from our judgment that we deserve is Jesus. So turn your eyes upon Jesus today.