Tragedy in the Twin Cities, Part 3

God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, yet he will not let the guilty go unpunished, as Nahum 1.3 says. And to the believer, that's a very bitter, bitter result. Because we don't want the unbeliever to perish in their sins. Yet, they will. And so when we come to Genesis chapter 19, I'm reminded of what God told John, and what our responsibility is to tell people of impending judgment upon our lives. Upon the life of the wicked. Upon the life of the ungodly. It's not a popular message, but it's a true message.

And we would not cover it if it wasn't the next series of verses in the chapter, in chapter 19. But to be faithful to our duty, to proclaim the Word of God in its entirety, we need to talk about Genesis chapter 19, and the tragedy in the Twin Cities. We've already looked at the mission from the messengers. We've already looked at the lingering of Lot. Now we're going to look at the consumption of the cities.

It's a very brief statement, but it's a very potent statement. Sometimes the brevity of a statement, the simplicity of a statement, is like an exclamation point that God wants to get across to our lives. And so today, as we look once again at the judgment of God upon Sodom and Gomorrah, we know that it's sweet because it's the Word of God. Yet, we know that it is also bitter because people suffered tremendously because of it for all eternity. And Sodom and Gomorrah stands as the example. For no less than 20 times in the Bible, Sodom and Gomorrah is stated as the classic example of what will happen to the world because of their unwittingness to subject themselves to the kingship of God.

Let me read it for you, Genesis chapter 19, beginning with verse number 23. The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And He overthrew those cities and all the valley and all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew on the ground. Then down to verse number 27. Now Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord. And he looked down towards Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley.

And he saw and behold the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace. Thus it came about when God destroyed the cities of the valley that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived. Four things I want you to notice with me this morning about the consumption of these cities.

Number one is the moment of the destruction. Number two is the means of that destruction. Number three is the magnitude of that destruction.

And number four is the meditation about that destruction. First of all, the moment. And three things I want you to understand. Number one, it was specific.

Number two, it was sudden. And number three, it was severe. The moment of destruction. The text says, The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the Lord reigned on Sodom and Gomorrah. When did the Lord reign on Sodom and Gomorrah? When Lot was safely in Zoar. A very specific moment. A very specific time. Because God is going to protect His people. And God protected Lot. Peter talks about the fact that God knows how to rescue the godly from destruction. I wonder if you listen to the words of the Lord.

The Bible says if you listen, you'll live securely. And you'll be at ease from the dread of evil. Very specific moment. It was a very sudden moment. No one in the city knew the judgment was coming. Except for the sons-in-law. And they thought that Lot was joking when he came to them and told them about the impending judgment. But nobody else knew. They should have known. Lot should have told them. Lot should have spent that night running through the cities telling people about the judgment that was going to come.

He went back and went to bed. We talked about that last week. He should have screamed at the top of his lungs that God was going to destroy the city. But he didn't. In fact, who would have believed him? He had lived such a carnal worldly life. The moment of destruction was very specific. The moment of destruction was very sudden. They knew not that they would be judged on that day. Lot was at fault. He should have told them, but they did not know. I wonder if there's somebody you know that needs to understand about the judgment of God, and yet you have not told them.

If the Lord Jesus Christ was to return today, the judgment upon their lives would be swift, would be sudden, and would be severe. For these cities were destroyed, devastated. Let me remind you of the words in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 about the coming of the Lord.

Now as to the times and the epics, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. How does a thief come? Suddenly. Severely. Unexpectedly. No warning. While they are saying, peace and safety, the destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pains upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. That's the judgment of God. The moment of His judgment is swift, is sudden, and it is very specific because He knows the day, He knows the time, He knows the hour.

For the moment of destruction, I want you to see the means of the destruction. The means of the destruction. It says, then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. Fire and brimstone. We know what fire is. Brimstone is a yellowish rock that when ignited by fire streams forth sulfuric gases. So, falling from heaven, you had these rocks, you had this smoke, you had this gas, you had this fire, and in a moment of time, the city was consumed. Just like that.

Boom. It wasn't a long pouring out of rain of fire and brimstone. It was just an instantaneous pouring out of fire and brimstone in a one brief moment of time. And all of a sudden, it was gone. The Bible says in Lamentations 4, verse number 6, that Sodom was overthrown in a moment.

Just in a very brief moment. This was a supernatural disaster. It was not a natural disaster. It was a supernatural disaster. It was Matthew Henry who said these words, that hell was rained from heaven upon them. That's a true statement. Hell was rained from heaven upon them. The means by which Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed was that God rained hell upon them. As an example to what would happen to all those who come after them and act as they acted. The moment, very specific. Very sudden. Very severe.

The magnitude, the text tells us. It says, and he overthrew those cities and all the valley and all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew on the ground. Revelation, excuse me, Genesis 19, verse number 25. What was destroyed? The villages. The valley. The villagers. And the vegetation. Everything was destroyed. In one brief moment. There were five cities around Sodom and Gomorrah. Deuteronomy chapter 29, verse number 23, Hosea 11, 8. Speak of the fact that Zeboiim and Adma were also destroyed along with Sodom and Gomorrah.

Zoar was the only city that was not destroyed. Because God promised to protect Lot. And Lot went to that city. And that city no more than three, maybe four miles from Sodom was preserved. Because God knows how to rescue the godly from destruction. Peter says in 2 Peter chapter 2, verse number 6, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were turned into ashes. All the valley. Back in Genesis chapter 13, it says this about that valley. Verse number 10. And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere.

This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar. It was a beautiful, fertile, plush valley full of vegetation, greenery, the opportunity to succeed in business. It was the most beautiful place to live and now it's a wasteland. To stand as a monument for all those who see it. As to the swift and sudden destruction of God upon man for His rebellion. We'll see just a point number four, the meditation upon or about the destruction.

It says, verse number 27. Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord. He looked down towards Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley. He saw and behold the smoke of the land that stood like the smoke of a furnace. Thus it came about when God destroyed the cities of the valley. That God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived. God includes Abraham in the narrative because he was part and parcel to all that took place in Sodom and Gomorrah.

He went to Hebron and overlooked the valley some 4,000 feet above sea level. And being able to see the smoke ascending into the heavens. I wonder what went through his mind. I wonder if he doubted whether or not Lot was even spared. Did he know? I don't think so. I don't think he knew. And maybe he sat and thought, wait a minute. You mean to tell me, Lord, there wasn't ten righteous people in that city? Not even ten because that's what he prayed for. Would you spare the city if there were ten righteous guts?

He said, yeah, I'll spare the city. But as he arose early that day, overlooked the valley, he knew there were not ten righteous in the city. And look what it says. It says, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow. Our prayers work in conjunction with God's sovereignty, God's compassion, God's mercy. Is it not true? It's because of his mercies, because of his compassions, because they fail not, we are not consumed. Right? So, God is faithful and God was merciful to Lot.

And Abraham stood on that mount overlooking the valley and would think a lot about what happened in that city. And it brought his prayer life and what would take place in the future if man rebelled against God. Which leads us to this. I told you before that no less than 20 times it's referred to in Scripture as an example. It says over in 2 Peter chapter 2, these words, verse number 6, And if you condemn the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly thereafter.

This is the example. Sodom and Gomorrah is the example given to all those who desire to live ungodly thereafter. We read about it in the book of Revelation, fire and brimstone. It says over in Jude, verse number 7, Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. Sodom and Gomorrah is the example, is the prime example of what God is going to do to the ungodly unless they turn from their wickedness and fall before Him and worship Him as the Lord God of the universe.

How about you? Listen to the words that Christ gave to His men. The 70 when He set them out. In Luke chapter 10. Listen as I read. God says when you go to preach the gospel and someone slams the door in your face and someone rejects the gospel, whatever house you go to, whatever city you go to, you tell them the kingdom of God is near.

And it is more tolerable in Sodom than what's going to happen to you. Sodom had it easy compared to the way you're going to have it. When was the last time you said that in an evangelistic presentation? Not very often, but God said, this is what you tell them. You dust your feet off and you tell them that if you don't listen to God, Sodom and Gomorrah had a party compared to what you're going to receive as a result of rejecting the gospel. You say, how can that be? Follow with me. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 1.

Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah prophesies to Judah. Helping them to understand that they need to follow God. Look what it says in verse number 9 of Isaiah 1. Unless the Lord of hosts had left us a few survivors, we would be like Sodom. We would be like Gomorrah. Now why did God leave a few survivors? Because God made a covenant promise to Abraham, right? That through him the nations of the world would be blessed. And God will save a remnant. If you've been with us in our study of the book of Revelation, you know that God will spare a remnant and God will save Israel.

And the Bible says, unless the Lord of hosts had left a few survivors, we would be like Sodom. We would be like Gomorrah. We would be wiped out. We would be a wasteland. We would be a desert area. And then he says this, hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom. Is he speaking to Sodom? No, he's speaking to Jerusalem. But the leaders of Jerusalem were acting like those in Sodom. Give ear to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah. Was he speaking to Gomorrah? No. But were the people, the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem, acting like those in Sodom and Gomorrah?

Yes. Did they live in unbelief? Yes. Did they rebel against God? Yes. Did they reject his sovereign rule in their lives? Yes. So he says, you're likened to Sodom. You're likened to Gomorrah because that's what they did. And then he says, what are your multiplied sacrifices to me? Says the Lord. I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle, and I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. When you come to appear before me, who requires of you this trampling of my courts?

Bring your worthless offerings no longer. Incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies. Now here's the key verse. I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. Here you come to me. You come to worship me. You come to offer your lambs. You come to offer your sacrifices. You come to sing your songs. You come to give money in the offering. You come to take communion. You come to praise my name, but you live in sin. And God says, don't do it.

Don't come to my house living in sin and expect to worship me. I don't want anything to have to do with it. Oh, that's by the way why you can't have a seeker sensitive friendly church. So I'll let you know that. Why? God says I don't want it.

Don't come and worship me and live in iniquity. Read on. I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts. They have become a burden to me. I am weary of burying them. So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen.

Your hands are covered with blood. I'm not going to listen to you. I'm not going to hear you. I don't even want to see you because you're living in iniquity. Don't do that. And come to my house and offer lambs and bulls and goats to sacrifice to me because you've got blood all over your hands. Verse 16. Wash yourselves. Make yourselves clean. Remove the evil of your deeds from my sight. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Reprove the ruthless. Defend the orphan. Plead for the widow.

Come now and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool. If you can sit and obey, you will eat the best of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword. Truly the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Folks, that chapter ought to be read in every church every Sunday morning. I'll cleanse you, but you've got to come to me on my terms. You've got to turn from your sin.

You've got to cease to do evil. You've got to come after me. Seek me and I will cleanse your life. And if you obey, I will feed you. I will satisfy you. But if you refuse and you rebel, I will destroy you. That's what God says.

There are many people who go to church and live in iniquity. They come, they want to partake at the Lord's table, and they live in immorality. They come and they want to partake at the Lord's table, and they want to continue in their sinful attitude. And God says, don't do that.

I have nothing to do with you. I don't listen to you. I don't hear you. I don't want to even see you. So come. Let us reason together. Come to me. Obey me. Follow me. Serve me. I'll satisfy you. That's what God says.

Don't be like Sodom. Don't be like Gomorrah. Don't act like those people. They didn't know me. Are you too going to act like you don't know me? Let me read to you one more passage.

Hebrews 10, verse number 26. For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. Listen very carefully to what I'm going to say. If you come and you go on sinning willfully, you know of willful sin in your life, there is no sacrifice that will atone for your sins. The writer of Hebrews says if you come and you live in sin and you have no desire to turn from your sin, having received the knowledge of the truth, there's only one sacrifice that atones for your sins.

And that's the sacrifice of the blood of lamb. And if you're unwilling to accept that sacrifice, and if you're unwilling to appropriate the blood of the cross on your behalf, there is no other sacrifice for your sin. You will die in your sin. Listen to what he says. But a certain terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified and has insulted the Spirit of grace?

For we know him who said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, and again the Lord will judge his people. It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. It's not an easy message to preach. Somebody's got to preach it. If you leave comfortable this morning, I have not done a very good job at presenting the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and its example for the future. Let us come together. How do we do that? One way, through which we're about to partake. The bread and the cup. Designed specifically for us to rejoice in the fact, aren't you glad that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus?

We preach about the fiery fury of God, but we'll never experience that judgment because there is no wrath for those who are born again. Our job is to tell people that they need to turn from their sin to God, for if they don't, God will judge them. It is inevitable. It's a very specific judgment. It will be a very swift and sudden judgment. It will be a very severe judgment because God said so. Let's pray.