Amen. Well, take your Bible this morning. Let's go to Genesis chapter 13, if you will, the book of Genesis chapter 13. Great to see some today that were not able to be here yesterday and glad to have you on this Saturday. Thanks for giving up this time in your schedule to come together as men. And we're here because God can save souls and God can bring revival to us. And he certainly can. meet the needs in our nation. And we desire that, that's why we're here. Genesis chapter 13, look with me at verse number seven. And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle. The Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. And Abram said unto Lot, let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee. Between my herdmen and thy herdmen, for we be brethren, is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If thou take the left hand, then I'll go to the right. Or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left." Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan. It was well watered everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zor. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan. Lot journeyed east, and they separated themselves, the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan. Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent towards Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked, and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. We know the story of Lot. We know the timeline perhaps of his demise. Let's flip a few pages to Genesis chapter 19. And look with me at verse 24. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities and all the plain and all the inhabitants of the cities and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife, Lot's wife, looked back from behind him and she became a pillar of salt. And Abram got up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord. And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace." The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah become a poster child of wickedness throughout the Bible. Historians have studied this time period Archaeologists have studied the area in which Sodom and Gomorrah believed to have once stood. It was called the Valley of Sidon, on the south end of the Dead Sea. It is believed that in the 21st century BC, there was a great conflagration. This area was filled with sulfur pits, It also lies right on an earthquake fault line. It is believed by the archeologists that at some point in time, there was an earthquake combined with this sulfur and the salt from the Dead Sea and created this violent explosion, expelling fire and salt and sodium and all of these things up into the air. almost like a volcano, I suppose, if you please. And the salt and the sulfur and the fire settled upon these cities and utterly destroyed them. Josephus, who writes of these cities during his time, said that these cities were still visible in the New Testament era, but today they are covered with water. These cities become the poster child of wickedness. Many times we perhaps talk about pain and we say, well, there's nothing more painful than a kidney stone. Or some might say there's nothing more painful than a migraine. Or someone might say the worst pain is a toothache. And once you've established that particular threshold of pain, the ultimate pain, everything else is sort of related to it, right? If that kidney stone is a 10, then maybe for some of us, a toothache is a nine and a half. Or maybe a migraine is an eight and a half. We think about God, who is absolutely holy, absolutely perfect. And when we compare ourselves to him, we all come short. of the glory of God. In fact, when Paul looked at his own life, he said, I'm the chiefest of sinners. When we look at wickedness, I believe the Bible would place these cities at that 10. They are mentioned throughout the Bible, three times in the book of Deuteronomy, three times in the book of 1 Kings, four times in the book of Isaiah, three times in the book of Jeremiah, Lamentations mentions Sodom and Gomorrah. Ezekiel mentioned these cities six times. One time in the book of Amos, one time in the book of Zephaniah. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all refer to these cities. Romans, second Peter, Jude, Revelation, all mention these cities. They become the poster child of wickedness. What were these sins that came up to the nostrils of God that he would destroy them in such a fashion? What was present in these cities that angered God to the place of massive destruction? What made them the epitome of sin, the picture of God's wrath pouring out fire and brimstone upon them? Anyone with common sense would want to avoid these sins. If we could identify the sins of these cities, it would just make perfect sense to stay away from those areas in our life. They would be something that we should avoid at all costs. They would be on our radar to say, no, I'm not going there. I've seen what God does. I've seen the response of God to these kinds of sins. What were they? Well, the Bible is the best commentary on the Bible. So let's turn to Ezekiel chapter 16, if you will. And see one of these six times where Ezekiel mentions these cities, Ezekiel chapter 16. And I call your attention to verse 49. Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom. Pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and her daughters. Neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and the needy. They were haughty. and committed abomination before me. Therefore I took them away as I saw good." Three horrible sins that angered God and made Sodom and Gomorrah the poster child for wickedness. We see first a chief abomination, pride. When God makes a list of the things he hates, he put pride at the top of that list. These six things that the Lord hate, seven are an abomination unto him, a proud look. Now why? Pride compared to some of the sins that we would look at today does not seem to be that serious. Pride seems to be more of an inward sin than an outward sin. Certainly the sin of murder or the sin of adultery, the sin of some kind of expression of the heart would have far more residual effect than simply a proud look or a proud heart. But pride exalts us above God. It is rooted in heaven with the angel Lucifer. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nations? For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into the heavens. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also in the mount of the congregation of the sides of the north. I will rise above the clouds. I will be like the Most High. Lucifer had an eye problem. And that I problem brought him to a place where he wanted to take the place of God. I is the middle letter in the word pride, it's the middle letter in the word sin, and pride is sin. High look and a proud heart and the plowing of the wicked is sin. Everyone that is proud in heart is an abomination unto the Lord. Pride, arrogancy, the evil way, and a fraud man will I hate, saith the Lord. You see, we have gotten to the place, not only in our world, but in our churches where we worship the creature rather than the creator. We can't take a picture of anything without ourselves in it. People see a flower, oh, look at this beautiful flower. I'll take a picture of it. We have self-care days now. Man, I wish my dad had heard about those. Said to those milk cows, we're taking a self-care day today. You're on your own. We have a passion today for our rights. Emotion today rules our day. my rights, my body, my choice, my money, my kids, my church, my ministry. What hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now, if thou didst receive it, why didst thou glory as if thou didst not receive it? A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. I love the quote of Martin Luther who said, God made the world out of nothing, and it is not until we become nothing that God can make something out of us. Every step we take in pride is a step away from God. Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly, but the proud he knoweth afar off. How well does God know me? Well, that's up to me. God wants an intimate relationship with me. God redeemed me. God made me his child. I'm adopted into his family. God loves me. God is preparing a place for me to live forever. God wants to know me, but it's up to me how intimate that relationship is. Because the proud, he knoweth Far off. As has already been said, God resisted the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Pride goeth before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Jesus said, two men went up into the temple to pray. The one was a Pharisee and the other a Republican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. I love that phraseology. There he stood and prayed with himself. How many of our prayers are praying to ourself? He stood and prayed thus with himself, I thank thee, O God, that I'm not like other men are, extortioners, adulterers, unjust, or even as this publican, I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I possess. But the publican stood afar off, would not so much as lift up his eyes unto heaven, said, God, Be merciful unto me, a sinner." Jesus said, I tell you, that man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For he that exalteth himself should be abased, but he that humbleth himself should be exalted. To this man will I look, even to him that is of a poor and a contrite spirit. and the trembleth at my word. I don't know how much we realize this, but we need God to look our way. We need God to give us a look this morning. We need his favor. These pastors know that stood a moment ago that we cannot go into that pulpit tomorrow without God. We cannot do ministry without him. Gentlemen, you cannot lead your family, you cannot raise your kids, you cannot do anything without God. We need him to look our way, but God looks to them who are of a contrite spirit. And so he says, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time. Did you notice it's a do-it-yourself project? Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. God can humble us. He could send something into this room right now to humble us. But he's saying, humble yourselves. If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves. God can bring us down, but he desires that we lower ourselves. Here is a chief abomination, pride. But notice not only the sin of pride, but we see a comfortable affluence. Verse 49, it says, pride, fullness of bread. These cities were enamored with their possessions. I think of Solomon, a man who had been granted great wisdom by God, but a man who did not live very wisely. Solomon had it all. He had power. He had possessions. He had pleasure. Solomon had it all. He describes himself in Ecclesiastes chapter two. I made me great works. I builted me houses. I planted me vineyards. I made me gardens and orchards and had trees in them of all kinds of fruits. I made me pools of water. The water were with the wood that bringeth forth the trees. I got me men's servants and women's servants and had maidens within my house. I had great possessions of small and great cattle above all that were before me in Jerusalem. And whatsoever my eyes desired, I kept not from them. I withheld not from my heart any joy. And then I looked at all that my hands had wrought. And behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. There is no prophet under the sun. Solomon had everything this world had to offer, but at the end of his life, he said, it's all empty. It's all vanity. We live as though our possessions are our status. We live as though our possessions are our security, that they are our strength. And God says, therefore, consider yourselves. You sow much, but you bring in little. You eat, but you're never full. You drink, but there's none filled with drink. You clothe you, but there's none warm. And he that earneth wages putteth it into a bag with holes. Therefore, thus saith the Lord, consider your ways. You see, gentlemen, there's more to life than just stuff. There's more to life than just things. There's more to life than just the potential, the temporary possessions that you and I may have. Godliness with contentment is great gain. We brought nothing into this world. It is certain we're carrying nothing out. Having then food and raiment, let us therewith be content. They that will be rich fall into many temptations and snares and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drowned men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, have erred from the faith. And they've pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Take heed, a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. When God evaluates our life, he's not looking to see what's in the garage. When God evaluates our life, he's not looking through our closet. He's not checking our bank account. Affluence, because thou sayest, I'm rich, and increased with goods. and of need of nothing. Knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked? I counsel thee, buy of me gold tried in the fire, and white raiment, that thou mayest be clean. Anoint thine eyes with eyesalve that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. By the way, God loves the Laodicean church. And he loves you enough and me enough to tell us your possessions are gonna kill you. Your possessions are gonna ruin your spiritual life. You've got to get back to your dependence upon God. We are more comfortable with our possessions than we are the presence of God. My hell brother Reed's message spoke to me last night. We get comfortable with the promised land without the promiser. We get comfortable with the blessings without the blesser. A chief abomination, a comfortable affluence. But then we see thirdly, a crippling apathy. An abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters. We have become a nation in America of dependence. We depend upon the government. They tell us whether we can have a leaf blower or not. But it's a little more serious than that, isn't it? We've become dependent. The apathy of our world today for life creeps into our churches and into our lives. We come to church because we need the pastor to give us something to eat. We haven't eaten all week, but we depend upon the church or the pastor to somehow fill the spiritual void in our life. I preached for a man years ago who had pastored the same church for 65 years. And he said, Brother Gage, I realized a long time ago, I could not give my people enough on Sunday morning and Sunday night and Wednesday night to sustain them throughout the week. If my people were going to be healthy Christians, I had to encourage them to get into the word of God every day for themselves. We get so dependent upon the church to meet our spiritual needs. We get dependent upon people around us to take care of the spiritual problems. Yes, souls are lost. Yes, the world is a vast harvest field and the harvest is white and the labors are few, but our attitude is, well, that's why we have pastors. That's why we have missionaries. And we do not take that challenge ourself to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that sleepeth and harvests is a son that causes shame. I know the world is wicked and I know the world resists our message and I know that we live in a time where we will be ridiculed and we'll be laughed at and perhaps even persecuted and maybe even imprisoned and our church is confiscated, but the Bible's commands do not change with the culture. In fact, God tells us that knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of our sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Cast off the works of darkness, put on the armor of light, redeeming the time. Why? Because the days are evil. Awake to righteousness and sin not, for some have not the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. The world is on a death march to hell this morning. Have we tried to stop one? We can get overwhelmed by the eight plus billion people on this planet who need Christ, but have we tried to stop one from going to hell? Have we witnessed to one I'm afraid many, when they stand before God at the great white throne, will quote the Bible without even knowing it. I looked on my right hand and refuge failed me. No man would know me. No man cared for my soul. People stand before God one day and say, nobody cared for me. Nobody told me the gospel. Nobody told me how to get saved. And will God turn around and look at the saints enjoying now heaven and say, what? I told you, but you didn't tell them. Why is America being destroyed today? Why is the family, nuclear family, ruined today? Why are churches closing? Why are people abandoning religion? 30% of Americans claim to be atheists. Only some 40% claim to ever go to church. Why, when we turn on our news today, do we see this anti-God and anti-Christian and anti-Israel and all of these things? Why is this whole thing crumbling? Pride, fullness of bread, abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters. Those are three sins that we can do something about today. I don't have any power against the protesters. I don't have a direct line to Joe Biden. I don't have the ability to crush Hamas. But I can do something about my pride today. I can do something about my fullness of bread today, my abundance of idleness. And if those were the things that grieved God, then I certainly should take every step I can away from those three sins that became the poster child of wickedness. Our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed. It's amazing how in this last hour and 17 minutes we've heard so much about pride already today. Maybe that's where God is trying to zero in. It's easy at a conference like this where they feed us more than we need or deserve. to get pretty comfortable in what we have. I'm not sure in 10 more years in America, churches will have buildings. I don't see it trending that way. Better be careful about what we call mine. If we don't do something about the harvest, It's going to rot. A season of harvest will pass. The summer's ended, harvest has passed, and many today in hell cry, we are not saved. And never will be. These are the sins that grieve God. Oh, there are sins around us that grieve us. corruption politically, same-sex marriages, mutilation of our children, brainwashing of our youth, social media that's permeated with filth. They grieve it. These things grieve us. And no doubt grieve God. But when he looks in my heart, he sees pride, fullness of bread, abundance of idleness.