Silent in Sodom — E.A. Johnston

A Neighbor's Witness Leads a Teenager to Christ

I became a Christian because a pastor, who was my neighbor, wouldn't let me go to hell. He reached out to me, he prayed for me, he witnessed to me, he loved me with the love of Jesus, and he gave me my very first Bible, which I still have, 52 years later.

He saw an awkward teenager who was growing up in a godless home, and he became a burden for my soul. He was a flaming witness for Christ and his community. He cared about the souls of men. I want you, friend, to take a moment right now and reflect on how you became a Christian.

Who was the person? God used in your life to point you to Christ. Was it a family member? Was it a friend? Was it a stranger? Was it an evangelist? Who was that person that was instrumental in getting you saved?

Where would you be today had that person failed to witness to you? I have a very solemn message for us this evening, friends. It is entitled, Silent in Sodom, and my text can be found in the book Genesis, in chapter 18, beginning in verse 20.

You can turn in your Bibles there now, friends. Hear now, use the word of God, and may the spirit of the Lord attend the reading of his holy word. And the Lord said, because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it which has come unto me, and if not, I will know.

Abraham Intercedes for the Righteous in Sodom

And the men turned their faces from thence and went toward Sodom. But Abraham stood yet before the Lord, and Abraham drew near and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city.

Wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked, and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee, shall not the judge of all the earth do right?

And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes.

Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous. Wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it. And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there should be forty found there.

And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake. And he said unto him, O let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Peradventure there should be thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it if I find thirty there.

And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord. Peradventure there should be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake. And he said, O let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet.

But this once, peradventure, ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake. And the Lord went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham. And Abraham returned unto his place.

I will stop there. Well, we all know what happened after that. But I believe Sodom could have been spared, had Lot been a light in his community. Instead of being a poor missionary, than Abraham supposed, failing even to witness to his own family.

Lot's Influence, Social Advancement, and Compromise

He held a important job, sitting at the city's gate. But the gate of a city was the place where the town elders met. It was a place of prominence. Lot had advanced socially in the life of the city, that he had become a ruling elder.

This gave him influence and information. For his face became familiar to his neighbors, and he became familiar with his neighbors from having this seat of authority. Lot was on a first name basis with most of the citizens of Sodom.

He knew them, and they knew him. Each day, he would sit at their gate and talk to folks. He would talk commerce with them, he would talk politics with them. He would joke around with them to gain their trust, so he could do business with them.

He ate in their homes, and they ate in his home. For as soon as he chose the watered cities of the plain, his religion went out the window as he sunk into compromise. Lot wanted to be liked and accepted by his fellow citizens, even though their lifestyle turned his stomach.

Instead of using his position of authority for God in the good of his neighbors, he just used it for his own advancement. When it came to the things of God, Lot was silent in Sodom. And all his friends and associates and neighbors were burned alive in the coming conflagration that overthrew their city and burned it to the ground, reducing it all to smoke and ruins of rubbish and scorched flesh.

A Personal Failure to Witness to a Dying Neighbor

I'll never forget his face. He was a construction worker on my house. He was part of a three-man crew I hired to do construction work on my home. He always arrived before the other two, and I'd have to stand there to make small talk with him until the other man arrived on the job site.

We would talk sports or tell some jokes to pass the time. He was a likable, outgoing young man in his early 30s. One morning, while sitting at my kitchen table, I was reading the newspaper. And as I turned the page to the obituary section, my eyes fell on a photograph of that young man.

I was shocked. He had been killed in a tragic accident. He was 33 years old. I felt horrible. I felt guilty. I had no excuse. I had ample opportunity to talk to this young man about his soul, but I failed miserably to witness to him.

I had been silent in Sodom. And now he was suddenly dead, and his soul had been removed to another world in eternity. His face still haunts me today because I had been silent in Sodom. My city was a Sodom for sure.

The Corruption of a City Where Believers Remain Silent

There were strip clubs and liquor stores and massage parlors up and down that city. Prostitutes stood on the corners, and violent crimes and murders were frequent in that Sodom of a city. But I was silent in Sodom.

A Call to Bold Evangelism and Self-Examination

I want you, friend, to take the time now to evaluate the town that you live in. And I want you to think about all the vice and corruption and sin and evil in your town tonight. Then I want you to get down on your knees before holy God and tell him that you have not been silent in Sodom.

That you have been a constant voice in your community to reach the loss with the gospel, that if God looked at your city tonight, he would spare it for the ten righteous you have led to the Lord these many years.

Can you do that, friend? Can you do that now? Or is your tongue tied and your mouth stopped? Is it true perhaps that you have been silent in Sodom?