As the Apostle Paul waited in Athens for Silas and Timothy to join him after he was chased out of Berea by the Thessalonians, his spirit, in Acts 17, verse 16, was grieved and vexed when he saw the idolatry of that city. Although seeing idolatry would have been no new experience for him, he was filled with grief because this particular city of Athens was wholly given to idolatry. And so zealous were these people for idolatry that they actually had an altar to the unknown God so as not to leave or miss any false god out. As Paul walked around and did a survey, his heart and his soul was grieved within him. There have been particular places known in this world for their particular vices. Certain cities, certain countries that are known for a particular sin and for particular wickedness. We could think of the sin of idolatry and certain nations that are known around the world such as Nepal and India for giving themselves to idolatry. We could think of the sin of fornication and certain nations that are known for their particular vice and for their looseness in this regard, such as Brazil. We could think even about drugs and how there are certain even cities in the world known for the iniquity of selling drugs such as Amsterdam. But it seems to be that with the dawn of the internet, and even more particularly social media, every city and every place has tried to be a microcosm of the collective vices of the world. There has, of course, been great benefits to the sharing of knowledge and information and experience, but so much wickedness has also been spread as well. And you see this, how the different places around the world are beginning to adopt and have over this past couple of decades, adopted certain vices and sins that they were not previously known to be involved with. It seems to be that wherever we go, Whatever city that we are in, it is filled with the vices of the world. Filled with the vices of the flesh. And no longer do you have to go to some foreign country to engage in whatever your flesh would want to indulge in. You simply have to go to your nearest city, and there it is. All that you would ever want, you could embrace and have. How have some Christians responded to the rise of wickedness and immorality in society? Well, some have decided, well, I'm going to become a hermit. And they go and they buy themselves a plot of land in the middle of nowhere, and they enter themselves and their families into a time of isolation. They remove themselves from society. They remove themselves even at the expense of a church. And they remove themselves from any of the outside influence and seek to cut themselves off. And they live the life of a hermit. Others have said, well, I cannot move, I cannot get away, but I'm going to eradicate any infiltration or exposure to these things in my life. And while there's much to be commended for that for, it seems to be that it is simply not possible to do that in the day that we live. You can shield your children from screens, from internet, You can protect yourself from the various things that are online and are on TV and everything else, and yet simply walking through a city, walking through your town, you are confronted with some of the most maddening and bizarre sins flaunted in public view that you cannot plan for or even prevent that you would see. As we, as Christians, would grow in holiness, we become even more sensitive to sin. We become more aware of sin, without us and within us. And this can intensify the grief in our souls when we are exposed to that wickedness. And so the question that we must ask tonight, in light of all that has been said, what are we to do? What are we to do when we can no longer simply go for a walk without being exposed in advertising? Without being exposed by the people around us? By being exposed just in conversation to some of the most debase and vile things that humanity has ever known? What is our hope? What is our confidence that as we are living in the midst of all of this, that we will actually be kept from this? Even more than that, what is our hope and our confidence that while our children grow up in this, that our children will be preserved from it? Well, the answer this evening is found in the verse number 9. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations. What hope do we have? that we will be preserved from the wickedness around us? What hope do we have that we will continue on to pursue and to grow in holiness and in sanctification? What hope do we have when we look at our children and we can look in our lifetime at the increase of wickedness and we look ahead for them and say, what will become of them? What is our hope when we view and we consider all of these things is that God will be able to keep and to deliver his people. that God will preserve us, and God will sustain us, and God will always and has always been able to keep His people even in the midst of wickedness. Now, in this second chapter in the book of 2 Peter, Peter has been warning in this chapter number 2 about the danger of false teachers. And we'll just step through some of these opening verses. In verse number 1 he talks about the false prophets that existed among Israel. And he's saying there was false prophets in Israel, there will also be false prophets even in the New Testament church as well. They will bring in damnable heresies. Verse number 2, he warns that many will follow these people. Many will be deceived by them. In verse number 3, he warns of their destruction. And then from verse number 4 onwards, he gives examples of how these false teachers and how the ungodly have been destroyed. In verse number 4, It records for us how that God judged the treasonous angels. In verse number five, he judged the old world, but preserved Noah and his family. In verse number six, he speaks about how God judged Sodom and Gomorrah, but preserved Lot. And so as we read through this this evening, there's actually a two-fold application. And it's only the latter application that we are going to consider. The first application that we draw from this is that God destroys those who would seek to destroy His kingdom. That God does not let the wicked go unpunished. That God will bring judgment upon these false teachers who will seek to pervert and to corrupt his church. Those men who would seek to indulge their fleshly passions, as it said in verse number 10. The second application is this. And it's more of the undercurrent, but nonetheless it's here. That although God's people are surrounded by false teachers, Although God's people are living in wicked times, and always have lived in wicked times, although they are surrounded by the corruption of the world and by the enticement, things that can entice their flesh, God always preserves his people. He preserved the angels, he preserved Noah's family, and he preserved Lot. God preserves His people and keeps His people from ever being destroyed. So that's the subject that I want to consider with you this evening. The godly delivered. And we're going to focus in tonight just upon Lot. And I find these verses from verse 7 to 9 absolutely fascinating when it describes about Lot and how God delivered him. If these verses were not in the Bible, Could we really with great confidence say tonight that Lot was a Christian, that Lot was actually converted? I don't believe so. And we'll come to see why we would be in fear and trepidation about saying that when we go through the book of Genesis. But yet God speaks about Lot as one that he delivered, as a man that was godly, as a man that was just, and as a man that was righteous. Now, there's three things that I want you to consider with me this evening. First of all, the environment of wickedness. Secondly, the epithet of Lot, how he is described here in these verses of Scripture. And then finally, the encouragement for us, the saints. Now, we're aiming tonight to get to verse number nine. But we have to provide the background, the context of Lot, Sodom and Gomorrah, in order to get there. And so let's first of all consider this evening the environment of wickedness. That Lot was in the environment of wickedness. Now we could spend a great deal of length upon this, but let me just walk you through the Scripture. reading several verses that will help you to see the notoriously wicked place that was Sodom and Gomorrah, a place that was renowned for its wickedness, a place that would be known for its vices, perhaps if Somebody said to you, you know, they're going to go on spring break, and they're going to go to Palm Beach in Florida. You would say, really? Is that a place a Christian really should be going to, especially at spring break? It was that type of place, known for its vices. But Genesis chapter 13. Genesis chapter 13, and I'll just read through these verses and turn to them if you can. In verse number 12, Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent towards Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners exceedingly before the Lord exceedingly. Genesis chapter 18 then. Genesis chapter 18 in the verse 18 to 21. It says there, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. For I know that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he had spoken of him. 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. What was happening here? God's people were crying against Sodom. They were raising up in their prayers, Lord, look at Sodom, look at its wickedness. And God would now go down and examine Sodom to see if these things were true. We'll not read the entirety of Genesis chapter 19, but let me summarize the story. God sends his two angels into Sodom. There we have Lot sitting at the gate. Lot sees these men, realizes that these are angels, God's messengers, and quickly, knowing the sinfulness of the men, brings them into his house. Obviously, because of these men and the physiology and physical attractiveness of these men, The men of Sodom gathered around the house, began to beat on the door, and said to Lot, Give us these men, and we would have our way with them. Lot, showing something of the foolishness of his heart, and how the corrupt mindset of Sodom had even corrupted his mind, offered to these men his own daughters. God blinded these angels, and Lot was told to run from Sodom. Lot had to be then pushed by the angels out of Sodom, left his family behind, only taking his wife and his two daughters. And as they ran away, his wife looked back, became a pillar of salt, lost his wife. He goes up into a cave, and there he is with his daughters, and the wickedness that ensues is absolutely vile. Isaiah chapter 3 talks again about Sodom. Isaiah chapter 3 in the verse number 8 and 9, "'For Jerusalem is ruined and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord to provoke the eyes of his glory. The show of their countenance doth witness against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom. They hide it not. Woe unto their soul, for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.'" We'll skip a few verses and just turn to the book of Ezekiel. The book of Ezekiel, the chapter number 16, and the verse number 49, it says, Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom. Pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her. And in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty and committed abomination before me. Therefore I took them away as I saw good. Sodom and Gomorrah were consumed with self. They were consumed absolutely in their entirety with themselves. And one of the most abominable manifestations of that was in their homosexuality. Was that they had perverted even the course of nature because that act in and of itself is completely selfish. Provides nothing for humanity. No reproduction, no furtherance of children, no benefit to society. And so their selfishness manifested itself ultimately in that term, abomination, that is used. It's the same word that is used there as in Leviticus 18, when prohibiting that particular sin. It's the same type of word that is used in the New Testament book of Jude. In Jude, in the verse number 7, where again it talks about Sodom and Gomorrah, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Here we see the reality of Sodom, the reputation of Gomorrah, The place where Lot was, the place where this godly, righteous, just man had taken his family and surrounded them in wickedness. Now, although Lot had purposely went there and taken his family there, you and I in many ways today are surrounded in an environment of wickedness. The environment is wickedness. Again, you want to be sensitive when preaching from the pulpit. But you can't even go out into society now with your children without them being presented with confusion of gender and everything, right in the very shops and stores wherever you go. Perversion is everywhere. You have the pre-aids that go through the town, and the wickedness is just everywhere. Constantly being assaulted, an environment of wickedness. Secondly, consider with me then the epithet of Lot. Now, if all we had concerning Lot was the account of Genesis, it would be very hard to imagine this evening that Lot was actually a converted man. I would struggle greatly with it. And in fact, whenever I remember reading 2 Peter, and I came to exegete and expound this passage, I was reading this going, really, Lord? You'd obviously given some revelation to Peter, but this was Lot? This is how you're describing him? And yet we see here that Lot was a Christian living in an environment of wickedness. He was a godly man who was being grieved by the sin around about him, even in the cities that he was living in. Now let me just break down some of the events here. Again, for time's sake, we'll not read all of the scriptures, but I'll reference them and we'll just step our way through them. Some of the events that led up to this in Lot's life. His first error was Genesis chapter 13. In verse 12 it says he pitched his tent towards Sodom. So there was actually a slow progression with Lot into Sodom. And I actually believe that over time, Lot began to rationalize his move to Sodom. He began to rationalize it. It would have been too much to have left the godly family of Abraham, where God would have been worshipped, where family worship would have been practiced and so on, because Abraham led his household after God. It would have been too much to go from there immediately into Sodom. And so he turned his tent, and he begins to slowly make his move. He becomes desensitized to wickedness, becomes desensitized to the sin around about him, and eventually, in Genesis 14, he is now in Sodom. Genesis 19, he is sitting at the gate, and he has authority over Sodom. That's a warning to you and me tonight, that we very easily become desensitized to sin. We're not intending it to happen, but it happens. Could you imagine taking somebody from like the 1920s and 30s and bringing them into modern-day Canada, letting them walk down a street? I think their minds would just be completely blown. They would wonder what planet they had been dropped on when they would see just the recklessness, the carelessness, the signs of paganism in people's bodies, the immodesty and so on, it would just be completely baffling to them that these things would be happening in public. But what happens to us? We become desensitized. Desensitized. Genesis 19, in verse 1, he bows himself. There's an element of reverence for God's messengers. Verse 7 of chapter 19, he knows the wickedness, but he tries to stop that from happening. He brings him into the home. In verse 8 of that, we see here something of his own sin, and just the madness and the mad mindset that he had towards sin in offering up his daughters to spare these men. As he's told to flee, in verse number 15, in the morning, the angels had to take him and drag him out and push him away from Sodom and Gomorrah. Verse 14, he lost his family. His son's-in-law mocked him and laughed at him. And yet, the Lord was merciful to him. And yet, in the Lord's eyes, he found grace in his sight. In Genesis chapter 19, in verse number 19, It says, "'Behold, now thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy which thou hast showed unto me in saving my life, and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me and I die.' He found grace in the sight of God." Now, some would say, well, lots conversion, and the descriptions that are given of him here actually come after he escaped from Sodom. But I want to present to you tonight that there was evidence that Lot was converted even while he was in Sodom and Gomorrah. And the reason why God delivered him from Sodom and Gomorrah was because he was the Lord's child. He belonged to the Lord. If you notice with me here in the verse number 7 of 2 Peter chapter 2, it says that he delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked. for that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with all their unlawful deeds." Now, I know that they are difficult statements to grasp. They were difficult statements for me. How could this man be described as one who was being vexed by the sin of Sodom? Who was looking at the sins that were happening, hearing the things that were being said, and his soul was actually being grieved. How could such a man go to give his daughters away? It's perplexing. We remind ourselves of what our justification is. Romans chapter 5 and verse number 1, in our justification, God pardons our sin, and we are given the righteousness of Christ. God accepts the sinner then as one who has been declared forgiven, and not just forgiven, but as righteous in the sight of God. That righteousness that is imputed to us is a legal righteousness. It does not make us morally righteous. We're not made morally perfect when we are justified. But the evidence of our justification is in our works. James chapter 2 and verse 24. Our works prove our justification. And if there is no works, our faith is dead. So here I submit to you this evening that Lot was converted while he was in Sodom. He was converted even in the moments of his madness, because he was vexed by their sin, grieved by their iniquity. He felt it in his own mind. And who knows the reasons for his going there? Perhaps Lot went there and says, I'm going to change the city. Perhaps Lot went there and says, I'm going to influence this place. You just never know. But here was a man, as he walked about, he was grieved in his heart at the sin that went on." Now, I believe that this teaches us a few things. Let me give them to you here, what this teaches us. First of all, it is possible for a believer to commit terrible sin. but impossible for them to continually abide in it." God delivered just Lot. He took him from Sodom and he took him from Gomorrah. And although Lot was living in the midst of that wickedness, being grieved by it, and although we have that moment of madness and terrible sin and what he said about his family and so on, yet it is possible for a believer to commit a terrible sin, but impossible for them to continually abide in it. are those today, and they would seek to say that because they went to a church and raised a hand, walked an aisle, prayed a prayer, signed a card, that they're converted. There's no evidence of that conversion. They've continually abided in sin. My friends, such a person is not converted. The sign of true conversion is that God brings you back to Him. The sign of true conversion, that you truly know the Lord, is that the Lord will not let you abide in sin. Oh, He may do it as a chastisement for a season, but He will always deliver His people. Secondly, it is possible to overlook personal sins. It's possible to have blind spots, but it is impossible to be completely ignorant of sin. Lot had his moment of madness. Lot had his own blind spot, the fact that he had taken his family to live in such a place, but he was not completely ignorant of sin. He was grieved and vexed by the filthy conversation of the wicked. My friend, God's people will be sensitive to sin. There will be an awareness of sin. And for those who would say, well, they can go out and they can engage in things that the Bible forbids, and there's nothing like an alarm going off in their soul, such people are not converted. Thirdly, it is possible for a time that your works will not declare your justification, but impossible for you to be justified by your works. As I said, if all we had was the book of Genesis, could we really say that Lot was converted? With all the wickedness that was going on, the sinfulness of his life and so on, and yet it is possible for a Christian for the time that their justification would not be proved by their works. But we must always remember this, that it is impossible for us to be justified by our works, and that is why Lot is called just. That is why Lot is called righteous. That is why Lot is called godly. It's because he was saved by the grace of God. It's because he had the righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to him. That was the only basis upon which this man could be called righteous. And it's the only basis upon which you can be made righteous before God. None of our works. None of them. will ever be able to pardon us or to declare us righteous before God. It is only the working of Jesus Christ and looking to Him by faith. The Lord had done that. The Lord had done that. The Lord had believed, and He had received. But also as well, it is possible for sin to pollute you, but impossible for sin to overcome you. It is possible for the Christian to live in society and to have the effect of sin come upon them in terms of how they would think and even act. But that sin will never overcome the Christian. It will never overcome them. As we are reminded in the book of Jude, in that 24th verse, It gives us that wonderful declaration, "...unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy." God keeps his people. So here we have tried to reconcile tonight the life of Job with the fact that he was just, godly, and righteous. Here we've tried to present as an example to you this evening of a man who was born again, a man who was truly converted, but a man who was living in a wicked environment. And the third and final thing I want to bring to you this evening is the encouragement that there is here for us tonight, that with all of the mess of Lot's life, he was a believer. And we have a wonderful example here of how God delivered his child from the sinful temptations of the world. That although Lot was in Sodom and Gomorrah, the things that happened around him vexed him. That God eventually would take him from that so he would not have been overcome by them. That God delivered him, protected him, preserved him. But how does God do this? And how does God do this for you? Again, you're in an environment of great wickedness. You might even be going about, and you see something, or you hear something, and the flesh rises up And you know it's wicked and you know it's sinful, but the old man is there. And you have those fleshly passions of the mind and of the body rising up in your heart and you feel that temptation and you feel the struggle within you. I don't want that sin, but I feel my own body wanting it, but I don't want it. And you feel that wrestle going on within you. What is your hope that you'll be delivered? What is your hope that you will persevere? Is that God delivers his people. that the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations. Robert South, the Puritan, gave four ways that God delivers his people from temptation. I'm going to add a fifth one, my own one. But let this be for your encouragement this evening. Practically, how will God deliver you? When you go out into the week, the week that is to come, and you're faced with the lustful passions in your heart that are being broiled up or incensed by all the wickedness of the world, how are you going to be delivered from that? Firstly, Robert Seuss said, God rebukes the tempter himself. God has power over the wicked one to subdue the attacks of the enemy. Although the devil goes around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, God can close his mouth. God can close his mouth. And so you and I are not simply walking about vulnerable. You and I are not simply walking about in despair. You and I are not simply walking about as if we're lost in the middle of an Alaskan forest with no gun to protect ourselves at the mercy of the bears and everything else. We're not walking about like that. We are walking about under God's sovereign control, the one who is able to stop the one who would come to tempt us. Secondly, he says, God supplies strength to the inward man. The book of Ephesians speaks about this, Colossians speaks about this, how that we are renewed in the inner man, we are strengthened. That fight that happens within you, that holy war that happens in your soul where you feel your flesh being tempted, but you say, no, I don't want to sin. That new principle of life, that new man that is saying no to the sins, God strengthens him, strengthens him. that you might overcome the wickedness and that you might be able to overcome sin. Well, there's times whenever the world would say that, well, you're just at the mercy of your biology. Men will be men with the lusts and passions that they will have. What can they ever do to overcome biology? Women will be women with all of their temptations and so on. And that's just the way that they're biologically framed to be. And you'll just have to endure and just to go on. No! God delivers from the temptation. God so strengthens the inner man that you not just get through things, but you actually overcome sin. You conquer it. Thirdly, Robert South says that God, by His providence, removes the temptation. He removes the temptation. If there's something that has entered into your life, you must pray that God will remove Let's pray that God will take it away. God in his providence can also take you from the temptation too. We're not ignoring here the responsibilities that we have to fight against sin. I remember a man came to me and said that in his workplace there was a woman, this was a married man, he said, this woman has been flirtatious with me, making little comments to me. seeking to get me to engage in very lengthy conversations. I encourage this man by lot that God delivers from temptation. There's obviously the responsibilities that we have just to cut that off, kill that in that moment, rebuke that woman and say, we're not doing this at all. But believe this, that God is able in his providence to remove the very temptation. Fourthly, God by the Holy Spirit overcomes and delivers the man from the unruly affection. God can actually, and believe this tonight, believer, believe this, that God is so powerful by the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit that God is actually able to take away that lustful passion that you have. Now, we will never be freely and entirely, or we'll never be completely free from sin entirely in this world. That'll only come when we are glorified and given that new body and all the former things pass away. But God is able to deal with specific sins in your life. And God is so able by the power of His Spirit to actually take away the very desire itself. that you would not have a desire for such thing. Now, that does never mean that you play with it again or get too close with it. But my friend, God can lift you above the sinful desires of your heart. Sanctification is real. Sanctification truly works. We truly do become more holy. We truly do become more like Christ. And in becoming more like Christ, we overcome the temptation itself. It's amazing as you trace throughout your Christian life the things that may have tempted you in your youth, or the things that now with great venom you can hate. And you can wonder to yourself, how would I ever be tempted by such a thing? And yet, my friend, God is able to do that. He knows. He knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations. The last one that I added to this, well, God will bring us into a place of no temptation. We will live in this world and there will always be temptation. There will be temptations to the day that we die. There will be temptations even in our older years that we never thought of even in our younger years. We think about the temptation that there is now for older people to commit suicide in the very final moments of their life. We think of the temptation that there is as they're lying there on their bed of suffering and anguish, and instead of enduring the suffering for the glory of God, instead of being a testimony of His preserving grace, they can just get a doctor to sign a form and end their life. That's a temptation. That's a temptation that you will face. That's a temptation and a thought as we're lying in a deathbed suffering that is very appealing. I have met people Spoken with people in the hospital ministry, and Prince George pleaded with them to not go through with mead, to not go through with their suicide. And they just feel so vulnerable and so weak, and the temptation is there, and they just do not want to rely upon the Lord because they're overcome with their pain. What a temptation that we are living in in our day that others have not had to face. And yet, my friend, we have this assurance that God someday will bring us into a place where there is no temptation, where it will all be done away with. When this old body filled with its sinful nature and flesh will someday be taken away and we will have a body as like unto His glorious body. This is our wonderful hope. This is the wonderful future that is ours. This is the wonderful glory that you and I someday will enter into, because Christ has died for us. And remember tonight, this deliverance has been purchased by our Savior. This deliverance that you and I have, has been purchased by Him upon the cross. Because all of our salvation, from regeneration, when we're made anew, made alive in Christ Jesus, to our justification, and our sanctification, and our adoption by God, and ultimately then, our glorification, all purchased by Christ. And so my friend, remind yourself this evening, let this be your encouragement. The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and because of your Savior, He will. It is guaranteed. It is guaranteed that the Lord will deliver you because Christ has secured it for you in his suffering. As you think about yourself, you think about the temptations that you will face this week, remind yourself of your God that is able to deliver. As you pray over your children and think of your children's future, Perhaps, as we all commonly do, begin to fret about the things that they will be exposed to and everything else, things that you cannot prevent no matter how hard you try. Be assured with this that He knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation, that there is a way of escape. The Henriter put it this way, He is able to deliver thee. He is able to deliver thee. Though by sin oppressed, go to him for rest. Our God is able to deliver thee. May you rest upon that this week. And I pray by the grace of God that you will prove it this week, that the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations. We'll sing our final hymn together, 517. Teach me thy way, O Lord, teach me thy way. Thy gracious aid afford, teach me thy way. Help me to walk aright more by feet, less by sight. Lead me in heavenly light, teach me thy way. Let's stand and sing this to God's praise this evening, 517.