Judgment Day Has Arrived Genesis 19:23-29

The Bible as Real History and the Evidence of Judgment

What emphasis that I've made is we have been going through Genesis is that the Bible is real history. Every event that the Bible describes took place and these were written down For future generations to learn how God interacts with his people and the world.

The Bible was written for us. And one question that may arise in our minds is that if these events did indeed take place We would expect to see some evidence on planet Earth. And we have seen Over our sermon series through Genesis a few major world events.

We've already talked about how the world we live in Evidences that there was a global flood. One example of this would be that there are billions of dead things below the ground which we would call fossils.

Another major historical event that we looked at was the Tower of Babel. There are two documents outside of scripture from the region where this event took place that detail a deity who confused the language and These sources back up the biblical account that at one time the world had one language and God confused the language.

To restrain mankind's sinfulness on earth. Today we are going to see another major world event happen. And this of course is the destruction of The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding region the text that we are going to look at Detail into detail today.

Is that fire came down from heaven and that there was a massive earthquake. Archaeological archaeologists have found evidence for both of these near the region south of the Dead Sea they have found evidence of houses burned and What what's interesting about the evidence of this is that there's actually They can tell that the fire started on the robes of these houses.

Which which which actually points the fact that this fire came down from heaven. There's also evidence of a massive earthquake That took place in this region and what we'll see in the text today is that it wasn't just fire that came down from heaven.

But it was also an earthquake. So we can see the archaeological evidence that supports the reality of this event. But our confidence that this happened is not in the archaeological evidence. But rather that the Word of God says it occurred.

The Bible is trustworthy the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit and without error and Everything that it says should be trusted. It has that authority over over the entire earth. And this event is not recorded merely to tell us about a major Historical event in world history this is meant to have a tremendous impact on us as we read it.

And so I hope you can feel the impact of this today. This is telling us That judgment came on this earth. And this is one of the examples of the Lord's just judgment on this earth on a godless world. And as we saw last week this judgment that is coming on our world is certain.

So I encourage you to turn with me in a Bible to Genesis chapter 19. We'll be looking at verses 13 through 29, and if you're using a red Bible in the pews. It's on pages 16 and 17. This sermon is titled Judgment day has arrived.

And what we're gonna see in our big idea in our proposition is that God's just judgment is Fully felt in the valley region, and we're gonna see three parties that experience three different aspects of God's judgment.

The Wicked Experience Total Destruction

In the first aspect the first party that experiences this aspect of God's judgment is the wicked experience total destruction and We'll see this in verses 23 through 25. But before we get there and let me give you a little bit of a recap from last week last week.

We looked at the rescue before the storm. The angels were going to Sodom and Gomorrah to rescue a lot before they brought judgment on this place. And the angels offered that lot could save his family.

This included his soon-to-be sons-in-law and when lot told his soon-to-be sons-in-law that the city was going to be destroyed. They thought he was joking and this was a grave mistake a grave sin.

Because they would be a destroyed along with the wicked and the application that I made is that we see this today people mock the fact That Jesus is coming back. When Christians tell people Jesus is coming back people mock that but those who mock will be those who are swept away in judgment and Now what we saw with lot was that?

His response was not spectacular it was far from spectacular, but it was much better than his soon-to-be sons-in-law. He lingered in fear and even protested the escape route. But he did believe the disaster was coming and he did obey by desiring to leave this place.

And the application for us was that God is Merciful to us as he was mercifully committed to lot. And as he had the same commitment to lot to spare him so he has the same commitment to spare followers of Jesus Christ and If you belong to him this commitment the Lord has for you is forever.

Now let us focus on our text this morning before I jump in you might say this is really doom and gloom. Pastor Seth. Why don't we do something more cheerful today? It's Father's Day, isn't it? Well, we're just going right right along with the text here and it's impossible to preach this text and to be cheerful.

Okay, so you should not see me smile Throughout this sermon. That's hard for me because I like to smile. Okay, but this is this is a very gloomy text. And so I just want to set the stage for that. Nothing's beautiful about destruction.

But we can rejoice That God everything that God does is right. And so in that sense we can we can see the good in it, but this is a very serious text. So as we as we jump in here to remind you where we are in the narrative Lot and his family were outside the city and the angels agreed to give him time to get to the small town of Zor.

The town Zor actually means small and once they arrived at Zor the angels would pour out destruction on Sodom and the Surrounding region. So that's what we are here in verse 23 and we will see that lot has reached his destination.

The Sun had risen on the earth when lot came to Zor. And we'll stop right there. So a lot arrived in the small town in the valley and as a reminder this town called Zor Was scheduled to be destroyed until a lot pleaded to the angels that they let them go there instead of the hills.

Now this place destined to be destroyed came to be a safe zone. In verse 23 tells us the time of day the Sun had risen. So we know that this was the beginning of the day. Genesis 19 one says that the angels had come to Sodom in the evening.

It was the next morning that the urgently commanded lot to take his family and leave the region and it took a lot in his family a full day to reach Zor and we know this because it was not until this morning described in verse 23 that destruction was coming upon this region and Now that lot and his family the righteous made it to Zor.

There was no reason for God to hold back his wrath on this place. And as we look at our world The Lord has withheld his wrath on planet earth for several reasons. 2nd Peter 3 9 tells us that the Lord is slow to pour out his just wrath.

Because he is waiting for people to repent. He's patient. He's saying I Will judge you. I It says the Lord is gracious and merciful abounding in steadfast love. But he will by no means clear the guilty.

To let the guilty go free would make God unholy. But we know that God is holy. Act 1730 says that God calls all people everywhere to repent. When people wake up today they need to realize if I don't know Jesus I need to repent because this horror this destruction is coming upon me.

And once the Lord is done saving the full number of people he plans to save then there will be no reason To keep this world going as it is. We have to remember that God Has this master plan for this world?

Once Adam and Eve fell into sin Long ago and the entire human race plunged into sin people needed to be saved in order to be reconciled to God and this plan of reconciliation between God and men took place when the God-man Jesus Christ died as a substitute for sinners and God keeps this world going until the full number of the saved reaches its limit and Once that happens the end will come.

But.

God is not going to keep this sinful world going on forever. And you might you might look And see all the horrible things happening on this world like where is the Lord? Why is he not stepping in? He's patient He's waiting for people to repent He's waiting.

And if you read the end of Revelation what you will see is.

That.

It's a there's a place where people will be perfect. The dwelling place of God will once again be with mankind. Revelation 21 3 describes it and the Holy God will be with his holy people. Now in Sodom and the surrounding region there was no one righteous there.

So the angels would now pour out the just judgment of God upon this place and we see this in verse 24. Then the Lord reigned on Sodom and Gomorrah. Sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. So the Lord destroys Sodom and Gomorrah by means of fire and sulfur coming from the heavens.

And this verse Says that the fire came from the Lord in our previous passage. The two angels were sent by God to bring judgment on this place. So as God's agents it could be said that the Lord himself Destroyed this place by sending fire on it to burn it to a crisp.

And we see the extent of the destruction in verse 25 and.

He.

Overthrew those cities in all the valley and all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew on the ground. We can see that this was a complete.

Annihilation.

The mention of the overthrow of the cities highlights the massive earthquake that hit this place as I mentioned in the introduction and we see how Devastating the destruction was the city of Sodom was destroyed.

This is where a lot used to live. We see that the neighboring town of Gomorrah was annihilated the surrounding valley was destroyed. There may have been other small towns like Xor that met their end as well in verse 25 makes it clear that Every person in this region died.

Might say well, I thought isn't God a loving God. Yes, he is a loving God, but he's also a just God. And we see that here. We know why these people met their end. These people had a reputation of being an especially wicked people.

Genesis 13 13 says that the men of Sodom were wicked great sinners against the Lord. Genesis 18 20 says that the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave and The sins that were specifically highlighted in the last two chapters were sins of injustice.

Against the weak there people were preying on the weak the sins of homosexuality and pedophilia and What Genesis makes clear is that these sins were against God? We need to remember that every sin that you commit every sin that I commit every sin that everyone in this world commits is ultimately against a holy God and Therefore God is going to judge each sin.

It's become popular in recent years to psych up to psychologize Sins. What this means is that sin is seen as a personal defeat? Where one does not reach his or her full potential and as a Victim people people kind of victimize themselves and in personal suffering and it is true that sin is a personal defeat and Keeps one from reaching their potential and sin does does lead to personal suffering.

But what makes sin so horrible is that every sin is an offense against a holy God? And what a holy God does is he brings just judgment upon the offenders? So we need to remember that no one should look at Sodom and Gomorrah and say what the Lord did was excessive.

The Lord was right and he is 100 right in all of his judgments. Abraham said in Genesis 18 25 will not the judge of all the earth do right and the answer is yes. He will do right always does and the people in our world will experience the Lord's judgment if repentance does not take place.

And there's so many people who have no idea the danger. They're in as they wake up today. The Lord's not going to keep this world going on forever. And the Bible makes it clear that what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah is intended as a warning for our world.

And I say that on the authority of Scripture 2nd Peter 2 6 says that God By turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction. Making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly.

The Bible talks about several ways that God is going to show his judgment towards sinful humanity. And by the way, this is besides the general judgment that that he delivers right now. The world really is under judgment right now.

But but here's some specific examples in the end in chapter 6 through 19 of Revelation God's just wrath Is being poured out on the ungodly of this earth and that's mentioned that's a future event that's going to happen during the great final seven-year tribulation right before Jesus Christ returns.

Another way that God is going to show his judgment towards sinful humanity is by destroying this present world. 2nd Peter 3 10 says that the day of the Lord will come like a thief and then the heavens will pass away with the Roar and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved and the earth and the works done on it will be exposed in.

Some ancient manuscripts actually say that the earth and the works done on it will be burned up. So this place is going to be burned one day. And the Lord is going to burn up this present world because of the wickedness done on it.

And what the Lord will do is create a new universe with a new earth. That is holy clean and pure. That's what we're working towards right now, that's what history is working towards. If you look at world history, it's just one tragedy after another.

But those days will be in the past. When the Lord sets everything, right? And what second Peter 2 6 has specifically in mind when it says that what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah is an example. It's a warning of what is going to happen to the ungodly.

What it specifically has in mind is the final judgment. The judgment that people will experience when they die in their sin. Second Peter 2 9 says that the Lord keeps the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment and You might look at this verse and say well aren't unbelievers enjoying their life right now.

And the answer is the answer is well, yeah. They are. I mean they are enjoying their life and God is gracious by the way in that sense. It's called God's common grace where he he lets you know He the rain falls on people to see who causes the Sun to rise.

He he feeds people and all those things happen. But it doesn't change the fact that he's he's going to judge those who reject him. He's going to judge those who stay in their sin. And when second Peter 2 9 says that they are being kept under punishment.

What this means is that punishment has not yet been poured out, but it hangs over them. John 3 36 says that the wrath of God hangs over Unbelievers the wrath of God the unbelievers will face at the final judgment is to be thrown into the lake of fire.

Forever we're a church that believes that hell is real. The Bible's never been wrong and the Bible makes it crystal clear that hell is real. And there's people out there today. Who are false teachers who who say that it's not a real place.

There's people this very day who are dying and going to this place this place of torment. And we need to understand that Revelation 2015 says that if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life.

He was thrown into the lake of fire. And you can tell a good way to tell if you're going to a true church or a false church is do they preach on?

Hell.

If you go to a church and they never talk about hell you have to wonder Is this really biblical Christianity? Is this really a true church? You can tell I'm passionate about that. Because there's a lot of churches out there that don't preach the truth.

So you can see the seriousness of this. The Lord judge Sodom and Gomorrah and he will do the same To anyone who remains an unbeliever to the end of their life. Let everyone in this room heed this warning.

You will stand before the Lord one day. And if you die apart from Christ, you will face the Lord's just wrath much like Sodom and Gomorrah did. But the beautiful reality thankfully, we don't have to stop there.

The beautiful reality is that anyone can be spared from this if they find their refuge in Jesus Christ. And we will talk about the good news and the position of the righteous in our third point. But before we get that we'll go to the second point.

But to wrap up the first point here God's just judgment is fully felt in the valley region and the first aspect of God's just judgment is the wicked experience total destruction. The second aspect of God's just judgment is That one still in love with the world experiences doom.

The One Still in Love with the World Experiences Doom

One still in love with the world experiences doom in verse 26.

But lots wife.

Behind him looked back and She became a pillar of salt. Okay, so we just saw Every inhabitant in this region perished when the Lord through the two angels sent fire from heaven to destroy this region for their wickedness.

Now We are going to see here the party that escaped to Zohar and of course that party that escaped to Zohar was lot his wife his His two daughters and what we just read here is that lots wife looked back toward Sodom and Gomorrah toward the valley region and She turned in to a pillar of salt and the text says when it says that she turned into a pillar of salt.

This means that her body became a statue of salt. This was fitting because this was near the salt sea. So the Lord used a natural resource in this area to bring judgment upon lots wife. The statue of this woman's body would be there to remind people of the great sin that lots wife committed and The people who passed by would be warned not to do the same.

One of the reasons lots wife look looking back is significant is because the angels told lot and his family not to look back as They ran away from the coming destruction. They were to keep their eyes on the goal and not to be distracted by looking back.

The text I read this morning from Proverbs 4 remember it said don't look to the right or to the left. Keep your eyes forward. There's so many ways we can be distracted. Keep your eyes looking forward and she looked back.

But why the severe punishment of being turned into a pillar of salt? Disobeying the word of the Lord was bad enough. But there seems to be more going on than that and we see two clues in this verse that reveal lots wife's heart.

Number one is that she legged behind and number two is that she looked back at the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah that were to be destroyed by fire and Looking back is more than just disobeying the angels command of verse 17.

The author Moses included these details in this narrative for a reason. You don't get the impression that lots wife legged behind because she was slower than the rest. That may have been true, but it's not why it's included here.

The author Moses inspired by the Holy Spirit Includes these details to show us that lots wife was still in love with Sodom and Gomorrah. She was still in love with these sinful worldly cities in The Gospels.

Jesus told us of lots wife as a negative example in Luke 17. Jesus talks about his return to the earth and what he says in Luke 17 32 is to remember lots wife. He tells us to remember lots wife's poor example because those who love the world will meet God's judgment.

And I say that because in the following verse in Luke 1733 Jesus said that whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life will keep it and what Jesus means by that is that those who seek to Preserve their life in this world.

So wholly on to the things of this world. Those are the people who are going to lose it and those who give their lives fully to him are those are the ones who are going to live forever with him and lots wife Met God's judgment by being turned into a pillar of salt in Anyone who loves this world more than God shows themselves to be an unbeliever and they will meet God's eternal punishment.

Now one question we need to ask is can believers be those who love the world more than God a.

True believer.

Cannot be characterized this way. Ultimately, they love the Lord more than they love the world. But can believers love the world more than they love God at times? Can believers wrestle with worldliness with the sin of the world and the answer is yes.

They can. Yes we can. I Think that lots wife is an actual believer who showed herself to love the world at times and it showed here. Part of her heart struggle was shown here. The sinfulness of the world had a pull on her.

But she appears to be one who loved the Lord more than the world since she was counted among the righteous.

But.

Because the strong pull the world had on her lots wife experienced God's judgment in a temporal sense. But not an eternal sense. Okay, so my so she was. Frozen into a pillar of salt here a layer of salt a statue of salt over her.

But she would have passed into the presence of God safely. That's my interpretation of this.

And.

The Lord's goal in your life is to Sanctify you to pull you from the world and to make you into a holier godlier person. Loving the world is a major problem among Christians today. And I see I see this I see this in my own heart and I see this in other believers.

I think there are many Christians out there who genuinely are saved. But the world still has a strong pull on them and what scripture means by the world is the sinfulness of it. The temptations that are out there to be drawn away from God the sinful things that our world loves, but God hates.

And one question we need to ask ourselves is does the world have a pull on us? Ask yourself this question today. First John 2 15 says do not love the world or the things in the world if anyone loves the world.

The love of the father is not in him for all that is in the world. The desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life is not from the father. But it's from the world in verse 17 tells us that it is so Dangerous to fall in love with the world as it says the world is passing away along with its desires.

But whoever does the will of God abides? Forever. So what should be happening in your life as a Christian is that you should be gradually pulled further and further from the world. You should feel like an alien here.

You should be like a stranger. You should feel like I don't fit in. And though and you should feel like the people I fit in with are those who are also be pulled away. That's that's one thing. I enjoy about spending time with Christians is that we you you get it.

You're not in love with the world and you and it's awkward when you're in a worldly environment. So, what are some worldly temptations that we might have. Do you love your property more than God. Do you love your home more than God.

Do you love money? More than God. Do you love? Your favorite drink more than God. Do you love your job and more than God? Do you love your hobbies more than God? Are you in love with worldly music that dishonors Christ?

Are you in love with a worldly TV show that dishonors the Lord or a worldly movie that dishonors the Lord? And I need to stress this. We know that property is good in itself. But treasuring the above God is worldliness.

We know that a home is good. But treasuring that more than God is worldliness. We know that food is good. But finding joy in that more than God is sin. We know that enjoyable drinks are good, but treasuring it more than God is sin.

We know that work is good. But living for your job is sin. We know that hobbies are good, but living for those is sin. We know that music is good. We sing them every Sunday morning, but there's music we should avoid that very much dishonors the Lord.

We know that movies and TV shows are not bad in themselves. There have been, it may be hard to remember this, but there have been times where there's actually some good TV shows out there that would be okay to watch, and some movies.

And today, it's very, very hard to find one. It's like finding a needle in a haystack. Worldliness is a problem among Christians. My wife and I have some dear friends of ours who got married a number of years ago, and we went to their wedding, and the ceremony was very honoring to the Lord.

We felt like the Lord is present here, and the Lord was honored, and it was beautiful. And then, the ceremony was over, and the reception happened. And you wouldn't even know you were at a Christian wedding.

The music that was played. The amount of alcohol that was drank. Now, drinking alcohol in itself is not sin, but drinking too much of it is. And I was outraged as I saw it, because it did not look like a Christian wedding once the reception happened.

And it really undid the ceremony, because people are going to think,.

Well, you know what?

They're just like us.

They listen to the same music we listen to. They do the same things we do. They don't have self-control like I don't have self-control. And it was troubling to see that. People pursue worldly things because it makes them feel good for a time.

And every one of us has spent time with worldly things,.

If we're honest.

And every one of us sins by giving in to worldliness because we find pleasure in it. But worldly things are passing away. The Titanic sank in 1912. And this was a ship that everybody loved. They called it the unsinkable ship.

And it hit an iceberg. And this massive Titanic ship sank. Being in love with the world is like being in love with the Titanic. You're in love with something that is passing away. You're in love with something that is sinking.

Because there's a day coming when all of this will be history. Do not be like Lot's wife and dream about the world and be tempted to miss it as you follow Jesus. Sometimes you hear a testimony of someone who came to Christ and it sounds like they missed their old life.

We should talk about our old life in regret. I wish I didn't do those things. Not as if those were good times. Not to say that everything was bad when you were an unbeliever, but we should have this regret of the sins that we committed.

And the path of following Jesus is so much more joyful than following after the world. Worldly things might satisfy you for a short period, but at the end of the day, they will leave you feeling empty.

But following Jesus will satisfy you forever. Psalm 1611 says that in your presence there is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. You'll see that on the sign when you walk into the church building.

That's why we have it there. I want everybody to know that the path of following Jesus is the only joyful path. It is the only path that leads to fullness of joy. So God's just judgment is fully felt in the Valley region.

And the second aspect of God's just judgment was that one still in love with the world experiences doom. And the third and final aspect of God's just judgment is that the righteous experience pardon. The righteous experience pardon.

The Righteous Experience Pardon

And this is where the good news comes in. We'll see this in verses 27 -29. So we just saw the destruction of the Valley region. We just saw the judgment that came upon Lot's wife. And now in verses 27 -28, we'll see the positive here.

And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 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 the smoke of a furnace.

About a month ago,.

We saw Abraham plead with the Lord that the righteous be spared from the coming destruction. And they looked out from a high place. And you can see the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Valley region from a distance on a clear day.

Remember that picture I gave of driving on G? And you can see across the valley into Minnesota. And so that's where they were looking out from. And that's where Abraham is standing here as he looks down over this Valley region.

And he sees the aftermath. He sees the smoke going up. Imagine people at Mount St. Helens in Washington State when that volcano blew several decades ago. The people who looked on it at a distance could see the smoke and smoke go up and up.

And the reason that Abraham is brought into this picture is to remind us of his influence in rescuing Lot. Verse 29 explains this. So it was that when God destroyed the cities of the Valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.

One of the main reasons why God spared Lot and his family is because Abraham interceded for them. Abraham is influential in the salvation of the nations. Remember, Abraham is an Israelite. He's the first Israelite.

But God said in Genesis 12 .3 that through this man, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. And that includes Sodom and Gomorrah. Sodom and Gomorrah represent the nations. And so Abraham was allowed to intercede on behalf of the nations.

And the Lord's way of saving the righteous Lot and his family was through granting Abraham's intercession as he pleaded on their behalf. And they were spared from the coming destruction. And I mentioned at the end of point 1 that the beautiful reality is that the Lord does spare the righteous from His just wrath.

He spares those who find refuge in Him. The Lord is willing and ready to forgive those who repent and believe in Jesus Christ. And the most important thing you can do in your life is to ally yourself with Jesus.

Because when you ally yourself with Jesus, God is for you.

He is for you.

And we all know that life goes by fast. It's a small window. And I know some of you are further along in life than I am. And you can tell me and other of us who aren't as old how fast life goes by. It's a small window.

When you go to a graveyard, it's always sobering because they were just like us. They lived their lives just like we did, and now they're gone. And one thing you must do in this window of time that you live in is make sure that you know Jesus Christ as your Lord, Savior, and treasure.

And I know that many of you in this room have trusted in Christ. And the beautiful reality of it is that you will never experience God's just judgment. But you will only experience the joy of being in a forever relationship with God.

The one for whom you were created. You were created to know God. You were created to be in that intimate relationship with Him. And my prayer is that this very day you would believe in Christ, for those who do not know Christ here, that you would believe in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, that you would believe that He paid the just judgment for you so that you will never have to.

And if you're listening, I know we're on Facebook Live, if you can hear us on Facebook Live, believe in Christ and be saved. So God's just judgment is fully felt in the Valley region. And the third aspect of God's just judgment is the righteous experience pardon.

So to summarize, we've seen three parties today. We've seen three parties. God's just judgment was fully felt by each of them. Some of them in a bad way, some of them in a good way. One, the wicked, experienced total destruction.

One, still in love with the world, experienced temporal judgment as she was turned into a pillar of salt. And the righteous experienced pardon. At Eureka, we teach these two realities, that God will judge the wicked and spare the righteous.

God upholds His righteous character in doing both. He's glorified in both. In Exodus 34, 6 and 7, God says this of Himself. We should rejoice that we worship such an amazing God. A God who always does everything right.