WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:04.639 Our passage this morning in our sermon series on the life of Abraham. 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:07.599 Living by faith. 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:09.839 Do you struggle with that? 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:11.119 I do. 00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:15.759 Living by faith, lessons from Genesis. 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:19.199 We're in a series. 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:22.800 We're asking God to teach us how to live by faith. 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:26.640 This morning the passage comes from Genesis 19. 00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:29.519 I'm not going to read this long text. 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:31.199 I'm going to tell you the story. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:42.719 We left Abraham off last week, interceding for people he loved and for people he didn't even know. 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:45.200 The city of Sodom and Gomorrah. 00:00:45.679 --> 00:01:03.759 Lot, his nephew, was living there, and his wife and daughters, and we see Abraham, a friend of God, pouring out his heart on behalf of people that he loves in a city he doesn't even know. 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:06.079 We thought about that. 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:07.599 We consider that. 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:13.200 What does that look like in our lives today for the city of Alexandria, Washington, D.C.? 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:15.120 Our church. 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:21.519 And so now we saw, and last week we saw Abraham with the three angels that came to his house, came to his tent. 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:23.120 He entertained them. 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:29.680 And then he's walking with the angel of the Lord we saw last week, who is Jesus himself pre-incarnate. 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:32.159 And then there were two other angels. 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:35.840 And the two other angels are now headed towards Sodom. 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:38.879 And that's where we pick up this story. 00:01:39.680 --> 00:01:50.480 These two other angels go to this city, Sodom, next to Gomorrah, and they go to warn Lot. 00:01:51.760 --> 00:02:00.159 And they have much to warn Lot about because of God's coming judgment, because there were not ten righteous people found in that city. 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:06.000 And so God said, I'm going to destroy this city if there are not ten righteous people found here. 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:09.599 And this is the story today before us. 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:20.719 And so the two angels go to Lot's house in Sodom, not the suburbs of Sodom, in Sodom. 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:23.599 And they say, We have a message for you. 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:24.800 Get out. 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:33.199 God is about to destroy the city in which you live because of the great wickedness in this city. 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:35.120 God is about to do this. 00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:37.199 It's time for you to flee. 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:41.759 And Lot struggles with this. 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:43.759 He doesn't want to go. 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:46.240 He doesn't want to leave. 00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:48.400 We'll get into that more. 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:59.599 And the angels said, who appeared as men, said, no, no, God's judgment is coming soon, like within hours. 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:03.120 And we're going to go outside and we're going to wait. 00:03:03.199 --> 00:03:05.599 And Lot says, Oh, no, no, don't do that. 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:14.319 It's not safe in these streets, especially at night, because of the wickedness of the men of the city. 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:18.000 They would want to abuse you. 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:22.800 They would want to take advantage of you. 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:26.000 Please don't go sleep out there. 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:30.000 You stay inside with me and my family tonight. 00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:35.680 And so the angels are persuaded and they accept the invitation. 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:40.080 And soon there's a loud noise and there's a ruckus outside the house. 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:42.240 And there's a mob. 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:50.319 It's a mob of wicked, violent men who are intent on satisfying their own lust. 00:03:50.479 --> 00:03:54.479 And they're knocking on Lot's door and they're pounding on Lot's door. 00:03:55.520 --> 00:03:59.120 And Lot thinks that he can dissuade them from this. 00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:02.159 He thought he had the power of persuasion. 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:03.280 He did not. 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:10.159 And so pretty soon as Lot is out there saying, please don't abuse my visitors. 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:11.840 Please don't. 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:16.480 And he's getting increasingly worried and anxious. 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:19.040 And he does the unthinkable. 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:21.199 He does the despicable. 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:25.360 He says, look, I'll give you my daughters. 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:28.639 Do with my daughters as you will. 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:31.759 Can you imagine? 00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:37.519 Can you imagine any father saying that? 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:42.879 That's how clueless Lot was. 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:55.279 The men, the angels inside the house, had to pull him back inside and close the door and bar the door, and even that wasn't enough because then God had to strike the mob with blindness. 00:04:55.519 --> 00:04:56.480 Blindness. 00:04:57.199 --> 00:04:58.879 That was the only way to stop them. 00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:01.680 That was the only way to restrain their evil. 00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:05.199 He strikes them with blindness. 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:13.279 So they're now helpless to inflict this wickedness on these two righteous men. 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:18.639 And then the early morning hour comes. 00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:21.759 And the angel says, flee. 00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:23.360 Now's the time. 00:05:24.399 --> 00:05:28.639 Is there anybody else righteous that needs to go with us? 00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:38.959 And Lot says, Well, I've got my two sons-in-law, and they weren't technically married yet, but they were engaged, which is as good as being married back in that day in culture. 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:41.199 But they refused to go. 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:43.279 They said, no, no, we're not. 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:44.480 What is that all about? 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:47.279 No, we're safe, we're fine, we're good. 00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:49.360 So it's time to flee. 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:51.279 No more arguing. 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:53.279 No more persuasion. 00:05:53.519 --> 00:05:54.800 It's time to flee. 00:05:54.959 --> 00:05:56.160 And so they do. 00:05:56.639 --> 00:06:01.199 Lot, his wife, his two daughters. 00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:04.319 They get out by the skin of their teeth. 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:06.800 They just get out. 00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:12.959 And the angel, the angels are holding them by the hands and dragging them. 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:17.759 That's how close to disaster they came. 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:21.759 And the angel said, flee to the mountain. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:25.120 And Lot says, I can't get to the mountain. 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:26.720 I don't have the energy. 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:27.920 I don't have the strength. 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:28.879 Whatever. 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:35.680 And so he negotiates and they settle short of the mountains, but they get out of the sea. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:39.279 The danger. 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:45.680 And sure enough, let's pick up with Abraham from last week. 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:50.879 Abraham, after all this pleading with God, but no, there were not ten righteous people found. 00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:53.199 Abraham comes back to the same spot. 00:06:53.279 --> 00:07:07.199 There's this vantage point on a hill where he can look down over the cities to see if, in fact, what God is going to do, and sure enough, God sent sulphur and brimstone, it says, from heaven, just in case there's any doubt. 00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:08.560 Was this a coincidence? 00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:10.000 No, it wasn't a coincidence. 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:14.879 This was divine judgment on these wicked cities. 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:18.560 And God destroyed these wicked cities. 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:23.120 God said, get out, get up. 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:30.160 The Lord is about to destroy as the morning dawned. 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:36.800 But then the text tells us this even up to the last minute, Lot lingered. 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:38.800 Is he nuts? 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:40.720 Is he crazy? 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:43.920 Does he not believe God's word? 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:46.720 Lot lingered. 00:07:47.199 --> 00:07:50.879 Because Lot had set his heart on a compromised life. 00:07:51.040 --> 00:07:52.399 The word of God tells us. 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:56.399 Let's go back and trace our histories of this series of sermons. 00:07:57.519 --> 00:08:00.000 Remember, first he looked toward Sodom. 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:01.519 There was something very attractive. 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:05.279 It was the rich, fertile green fields, pastures. 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:09.759 First he looked toward Sodom, and then what? 00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:14.480 He settled in Sodom. 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:17.519 He made his home in Sodom. 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:20.000 And then he didn't stop there. 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:30.720 The passage before us tells us that he had a place at the gate, at the city gate, which is a euphemism in the Hebrew culture. 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:34.639 He became kind of on the town council. 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:40.240 He was understood to be somewhat of a leader among these people. 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:53.279 Lot was way more influenced by Sodom than he ever influenced Sodom, which is oftentimes the case, still today. 00:08:53.600 --> 00:08:56.399 He wasn't ready to leave this life. 00:08:56.879 --> 00:09:01.200 What was it we have to ask ourselves that he was so attracted to? 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:10.159 On the one hand, he rejected some of the culture, yet on the other hand, there was something there that drew him in he could not let go of. 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:15.279 That's the power of sin. 00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:20.559 He couldn't let go. 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:26.000 So the men seized him and his wife and his daughters. 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:34.480 And the text tells us that the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out. 00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:38.559 I've been thinking about that this week. 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:43.360 I've been thinking about you this week and my own heart, my own journey. 00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:48.639 The Lord being merciful to us. 00:09:50.559 --> 00:09:53.840 How much danger has he brought you out of? 00:09:54.799 --> 00:09:58.320 How much danger has he brought you through? 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:02.879 How have you escaped for your life? 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:15.840 And I think, I suspect, more than I know about my life, and I suspect more than you know about your life. 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:19.840 Perhaps there are situations that we can think of. 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:24.399 Oh, it would he had to take me kicking and screaming, or he had to seize me. 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:25.759 Okay. 00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:30.159 Don't ever forget that was his mercy. 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:33.360 It wasn't because you were so smart. 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:37.440 It wasn't because you all of a sudden became so wise. 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:42.320 It was the hand of God's mercy that draws us out. 00:10:42.799 --> 00:10:44.879 Escape for your life. 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:54.879 Have you ever been seized by God, by his mercy, and delivered from evil and, so to speak, escaped with your life? 00:10:55.759 --> 00:10:57.200 I'll bet you have. 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:01.519 I suspect we all have. 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:08.000 Maybe you know, maybe you don't about these things. 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:22.000 Has the Lord had to pull your hands off of something that gripped you so tightly that doing great harm, that was doing great harm to your soul right now is an act of worship. 00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:23.200 You thank him. 00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:30.879 Right now, as an act of your worship this morning. 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:35.840 You can thank him later if he brings to memory, brings to your mind. 00:11:36.399 --> 00:11:39.039 But whatever you know now, you thank him now. 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:42.080 This is how we worship. 00:11:44.399 --> 00:11:48.000 Something that we just we white knuckle. 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:52.720 What is it that we white knuckle in life, thinking we need it? 00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:58.080 Thinking somehow it's bringing comfort or it's bringing something to satisfy. 00:11:58.240 --> 00:11:59.200 It's not. 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:01.120 It's not. 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:03.279 Jesus does. 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:11.360 Something that gripped you so tightly that in fact was doing great harm to your soul. 00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:13.519 Thank him this morning. 00:12:15.120 --> 00:12:19.039 The first point this morning we've already essentially covered. 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:20.320 Great sin. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:22.879 Great sin. 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:26.159 What was Sodom's sin? 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:34.000 And lest we think we know, well, everybody, even non-Christians, know what Sodom's sin was, it's just so infamous. 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:36.879 The Bible says more. 00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:43.120 So let's just look very quickly at Sodom's sin. 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:51.919 Leviticus chapter 18, verse 22 tells us, do not lie with another man as one lies with a woman. 00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:55.759 For that is detestable to the Lord. 00:12:59.120 --> 00:12:59.759 Yeah. 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:06.000 Jeremiah chapter 23, verse 14. 00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:11.279 The sin of Sodom, they commit adultery and they live a lie. 00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:16.159 Their lying hearts are condemned. 00:13:17.039 --> 00:13:20.080 Ezekiel chapter 16, verse 49. 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:29.200 Sodom is guilty of the sin of pride and arrogance because they did not help the poor. 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:33.600 They did not take mercy on those who were in need. 00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:42.799 And so we see that the sins are many, including sexual immorality for sure. 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:45.039 But not just that. 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:52.080 And then we read the word of God. 00:13:54.000 --> 00:14:00.000 We read passages like 1 Corinthians chapter 6. 00:14:00.879 --> 00:14:02.879 And there is hope in the gospel. 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:05.200 There is hope. 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:07.440 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 9. 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:11.279 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:34.559 Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:37.279 You see, the list is broad. 00:14:40.399 --> 00:14:42.960 But listen to these next words from the Word of God. 00:14:43.360 --> 00:14:46.080 And such were some of you. 00:14:47.519 --> 00:14:57.519 But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:01.440 Some of the most beautiful words in the Bible. 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:05.519 And such were some of you. 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:10.399 But you've been freed by the blood of Jesus Christ. 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:15.360 You've been washed, you've been cleansed. 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:20.799 The Westminster Confession of Faith. 00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:23.360 The chapter on repentance. 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:27.200 By the way, the chapter title is not simply repentance, okay? 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:28.639 I want you to hear this closely. 00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:31.840 The title is Repentance Unto Life. 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:37.360 Repentance always leads to life. 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:39.519 Not penance. 00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:42.159 Repentance. 00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:45.679 Not what is repentance? 00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:48.960 Martin Luther said it's despairing of our righteousness. 00:15:50.639 --> 00:16:03.600 It's despairing of our righteousness, our alleged righteousness, and running to God for his righteousness, for his forgiveness, for his mercy. 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:10.960 So let's let me go back to Westminster Confession of Faith, the chapter of repentance unto life. 00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:16.720 As there is no sin so small, but that it deserves damnation. 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:24.960 So there is no sin so great that can bring damnation upon those who truly repent. 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:26.559 Did you hear that? 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:31.919 As though there is as there is no sin so small. 00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:35.919 So we don't sit here today and just judge Sodom and say, oh, I would never do that. 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:36.399 I couldn't. 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:37.600 No, that's horrible. 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:38.960 God give it to him. 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:44.879 What about my unrighteousness? 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:46.559 You heard the list. 00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:50.480 I think the list covers all of us. 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:58.639 As there is no sin so small, but that it will bring damnation for those outside of Christ. 00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:00.639 But here's the second part of that. 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:03.039 There is no sin so great. 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:06.960 Your sin. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:08.640 My sin. 00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:24.160 There is no sin so great that it will bring damnation to those who truly repent and flee to Jesus Christ. 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:29.680 Oh, this morning we're looking, we're we see great sin in front of us. 00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:35.119 We see great sin in front of us. 00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:40.079 Do we see great sin within us? 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:45.519 This is why we structure this worship service as we have this day. 00:17:46.160 --> 00:17:57.119 Including that those moments, not seconds, to come to God in confession and to say, God, show me my own self-righteousness. 00:17:57.519 --> 00:17:59.440 Show me my own unbelief. 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:02.000 Show me my pride. 00:18:03.599 --> 00:18:08.880 Second point, this morning, not only is there great sin, but there's great judgment. 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:10.960 Great judgment. 00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:13.119 We saw in the text, verse 27. 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:27.200 And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord the day before, and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked, and behold, the smoke of the land went up like a smoke of a furnace. 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:35.599 And we know, we know from history that that once fertile green pasture field is a desert land. 00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:36.880 It's a wasteland. 00:18:36.960 --> 00:18:40.480 It's been that way ever since, including the Dead Sea. 00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:52.640 This great judgment that's coming. 00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:55.119 In the Gospel of Luke. 00:18:57.680 --> 00:19:01.920 Jesus, listen to the words of Jesus in chapter 17. 00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:04.400 This is the word of Jesus. 00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:07.920 These are the words of Jesus in verse 28. 00:19:10.079 --> 00:19:15.519 He says, just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man. 00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:22.880 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage until the day when Noah entered the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all. 00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:30.240 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot, they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:39.119 But on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:41.759 But Jesus isn't done talking to us. 00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:44.880 So will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:49.839 On that day, let the one who's on the housetop with his goods in the house not come down to get them. 00:19:50.079 --> 00:19:53.440 Likewise, let the one who is in the field not turn back. 00:19:54.079 --> 00:19:57.200 Remember Lot's wife, Jesus said. 00:20:01.279 --> 00:20:03.200 Let's go back to another gospel. 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:05.759 Matthew chapter 11. 00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:17.839 Right before some of the most precious words in all of the Bible that many of us know, many of us find comfort in, which we should, right before those words, let me read other words that we may not be as familiar with. 00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:21.599 In verse 20 of chapter 11, Matthew, then Jesus began. 00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:30.640 Jesus began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done because they did not repent. 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:43.039 Woe to you, Corazan, woe to you, Beth Seda, for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:51.519 But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:56.480 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? 00:20:56.880 --> 00:20:59.119 You will be brought down to Hades. 00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:06.240 For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 00:21:06.400 --> 00:21:09.119 Some of the most sobering words in the Bible. 00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:19.519 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you. 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:24.240 Did you know that there are degrees of punishment? 00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:29.200 The Bible is very clear, there are degrees of punishment in hell. 00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:32.079 That's another day, another sermon. 00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:35.839 Oh, let me finish the words of Jesus. 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:44.480 At that time, Jesus declared, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, revealed them to little children. 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:45.839 Let me paraphrase that. 00:21:46.079 --> 00:21:46.960 Lord, I know. 00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:52.640 Jesus says, Father, I know that many who hear my words will ignore them, will just wash them off. 00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:57.920 They will scoff at the threat and the promise of judgment. 00:21:58.079 --> 00:21:59.359 They will say, Come on. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:01.680 That's not gonna happen. 00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:03.519 And they still do. 00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:08.880 Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:21.440 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 00:22:21.759 --> 00:22:22.480 Now the words. 00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:24.480 Now the words that you know. 00:22:25.039 --> 00:22:33.440 Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:39.599 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart. 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:41.440 And if you're thinking, wait a minute, what? 00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:44.720 The juxtaposition. 00:22:46.799 --> 00:22:48.160 So you see that. 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:51.039 Severe warning. 00:22:53.839 --> 00:23:02.319 Promised judgment followed by the most tender words we could expect from Jesus. 00:23:02.960 --> 00:23:10.640 How do we make sense of severe judgment and rich mercy? 00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:15.039 I want to tell you this morning, they're not contradictory. 00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:17.039 No, they're not. 00:23:19.599 --> 00:23:29.599 It will be far more bearable for Tyre and Sidon in hell than for the cities that house Jesus. 00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:31.200 Capernaum. 00:23:31.440 --> 00:23:33.839 Isn't that what wasn't that his home base? 00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:38.160 Yeah, that was Jesus' home base for ministry. 00:23:38.559 --> 00:23:46.319 Why would Capernaum be more judged more strictly than the old with Sodom and Gomorrah? 00:23:47.359 --> 00:23:48.880 Because they knew more. 00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:51.839 They knew more. 00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:59.119 Heaven came down through the word of God. 00:23:59.279 --> 00:24:01.599 Listen to Jonathan Edwards preached the great sermon. 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:02.640 I'm not going to preach at all. 00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:04.799 I'm just going to preach a paragraph or two. 00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:12.720 The destruction of which you are in danger is infinitely more dreadful than the destruction of the literal Sodom from which Lot fled. 00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:21.279 The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in a storm of fire and brimstone was but a shadow of the destruction of ungodly men in hell. 00:24:21.759 --> 00:24:26.240 The misery of hell is set forth by various shadows and images in Scripture. 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:28.319 He goes on talking about that. 00:24:28.559 --> 00:24:36.480 You have therefore much more need to make haste in your escape and not to look behind you than Lot and his wife had when they fled out of Sodom. 00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:45.440 For you are every day and every moment in danger of a thousand times more dreadful storm coming on your heads than the people in Sodom and Gomorrah. 00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:47.200 Why? 00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:51.279 Because they knew more. 00:24:55.680 --> 00:25:00.720 Verily I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for you. 00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:04.240 You got this, right? 00:25:05.440 --> 00:25:08.559 To whom much is given, much more is required. 00:25:09.599 --> 00:25:13.839 How much more have we in this country, many of us, heard the gospel? 00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:19.119 It's not against the law for me to preach the gospel in this country. 00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:20.960 It is in many countries. 00:25:22.160 --> 00:25:24.480 How many times have you read your Bible? 00:25:24.880 --> 00:25:26.480 How many sermons have you said under? 00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:41.519 It makes me stop. 00:25:43.599 --> 00:25:44.960 It makes me stop. 00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:46.960 Does it make you stop? 00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:50.960 Are you spurning the grace of God? 00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:55.599 Have you taken grace for granted? 00:25:56.960 --> 00:26:03.039 Have you fallen into the heresy that God owes us his mercy? 00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:07.279 May you be delivered today if you do. 00:26:08.400 --> 00:26:09.519 That's a lie. 00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:12.319 That's a lie. 00:26:13.359 --> 00:26:18.480 Judgment is sometimes delayed, but judgment from God is certain. 00:26:19.119 --> 00:26:25.519 In these word pictures of sulfur and fire and burning, it's dreadful symbols. 00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:27.920 But hear me. 00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:38.720 Did you hear that? 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:48.240 There is not adequate language for our human minds and comprehension to fully understand how dreadful hell is. 00:26:49.599 --> 00:26:55.680 Nor are there do we have the ability to fully understand how glorious heaven is. 00:26:56.640 --> 00:26:59.200 So God gives us symbols. 00:26:59.839 --> 00:27:04.000 And the symbols for hell and destruction are dreadful. 00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:13.920 They're intended to wake us up, that we believe the word of God and we flee to the mountain of refuge. 00:27:15.200 --> 00:27:16.400 Are you with me? 00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:20.640 The reality always exceeds the symbol. 00:27:21.200 --> 00:27:33.119 And one day we will know how much more glorious heaven is than even the most descriptive language in the Bible conveys. 00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:39.440 What's the second point we've been on? 00:27:39.519 --> 00:27:41.279 There's a great judgment coming. 00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:45.279 The last point is a great warning. 00:27:47.039 --> 00:27:52.880 A great warning to flee to Jesus for refuge. 00:27:54.559 --> 00:27:56.240 Flee to Jesus. 00:27:56.880 --> 00:28:01.519 You're hearing through this series some of my favorite Bible scholars. 00:28:03.039 --> 00:28:07.920 I find myself oftentimes going back to people before my generation. 00:28:08.079 --> 00:28:12.000 I think there's good things, but I like to go back hundreds of years ago. 00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:17.200 Sometimes I think those people had more time to think. 00:28:17.359 --> 00:28:18.400 I don't know. 00:28:20.400 --> 00:28:20.640 F. 00:28:20.799 --> 00:28:20.880 B. 00:28:21.039 --> 00:28:22.400 Meyer is one of them. 00:28:23.839 --> 00:28:36.960 The course of every sin is against a succession of menacing red lights and exploding fog signals, warning of danger if we continue on the path of destruction. 00:28:37.200 --> 00:28:50.240 Just as the quivering of the nerves tells us when the system is overstrained and demands immediate rest at the risk of certain paralysis if we disregard the signals. 00:28:50.960 --> 00:29:02.319 So has God arranged that no downward step can be taken without setting off a vast number of shrill bells that tell of the danger ahead. 00:29:08.799 --> 00:29:11.359 It's a necessary warning device. 00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:14.079 It went off Thursday night. 00:29:14.720 --> 00:29:16.400 You remember Thursday night? 00:29:18.960 --> 00:29:20.240 The storm? 00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:26.960 I heard reports that maybe a tornado touched down in DC. 00:29:27.440 --> 00:29:28.720 Great damage. 00:29:29.759 --> 00:29:34.240 This member, they lost their power Thursday night, about midnight. 00:29:34.559 --> 00:29:38.160 Sharon and I were just in our house and it was like a light show. 00:29:39.039 --> 00:29:41.759 The lightning was just lighting up the sky. 00:29:41.920 --> 00:29:44.799 The rain was beating against our window. 00:29:46.960 --> 00:29:48.480 His power went off. 00:29:49.680 --> 00:29:59.599 Thankfully, he had a device that was so loud it woke up people two floors up in his house. 00:30:00.640 --> 00:30:15.440 And they came running down with their cell phone lights, flashlights, and they were able to help him change the batteries, which was critical to do in a timely manner. 00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:20.319 Let me tell you a little more from Netflix Meyer. 00:30:20.799 --> 00:30:24.559 To regard these alarm tokens is to be saved. 00:30:24.720 --> 00:30:35.920 To disregard them, persevering in spite of all, is to deaden the soul and harden the heart and run the risk of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. 00:30:36.240 --> 00:30:49.200 For the unpardonable sin is not a single act we commit, but it's a state of the heart, the condition of the soul that does not and cannot feel what we ought to sense. 00:30:49.759 --> 00:30:51.839 And so we ignore the signal. 00:30:54.720 --> 00:31:01.119 I'm here this morning by the Spirit of God to tell you from the Word of God, don't ignore the signal. 00:31:03.440 --> 00:31:07.599 It doesn't matter whether you grew up in the church or not. 00:31:12.079 --> 00:31:15.680 Is there a reason for your assurance of your salvation? 00:31:18.240 --> 00:31:22.079 Don't rest in the fact that you made a profession of faith. 00:31:22.319 --> 00:31:24.559 It's not professing faith that saves you. 00:31:24.720 --> 00:31:25.839 Did you know that? 00:31:26.079 --> 00:31:28.799 It's not professing Jesus that saves you. 00:31:29.039 --> 00:31:32.880 Jesus said on that day, many will come to me and say, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? 00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:33.599 Did we not do this? 00:31:33.759 --> 00:31:34.319 Did we not do that? 00:31:34.400 --> 00:31:35.839 And he's going to say, What is he going to say? 00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:36.960 Depart from me. 00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:38.240 I never knew you. 00:31:38.400 --> 00:31:41.680 And you say, but look what all I did for you in the church. 00:31:41.839 --> 00:31:43.759 He says, get away, I don't know you. 00:31:44.240 --> 00:31:44.880 What? 00:31:46.319 --> 00:31:53.279 It's not simply professing the words that saves anybody, it's possessing faith in Jesus Christ. 00:31:53.759 --> 00:32:03.680 And anyone who has faith in Jesus Christ and runs to Christ for mercy will be saved. 00:32:04.400 --> 00:32:06.160 And that includes you. 00:32:07.359 --> 00:32:13.119 But don't give yourself false hope by how much you've done in the church. 00:32:14.960 --> 00:32:16.240 Don't do that. 00:32:18.720 --> 00:32:20.559 This is a great warning. 00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:28.720 God does not always act with justice, in other words, getting what we deserve. 00:32:29.039 --> 00:32:31.680 Sometimes he acts with mercy. 00:32:32.960 --> 00:32:33.839 Listen to this. 00:32:34.160 --> 00:32:40.000 Mercy is not justice, but neither is it injustice. 00:32:40.880 --> 00:32:49.440