Back to 2 Peter 2, and as I mentioned before I switched the Bible reading, it's been three weeks since we were here in chapter 2. And I need to remind you the text that we ended at, and I promised we would take a whole sermon to preach. And that is verse 9. Chapter 2 of 2 Peter, verse 9. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished." This is an absolutely great statement. God's ability to deliver the righteous. And you can see immediately how this statement on God delivering the godly is embedded in the whole history of Lot. Indeed, right here in this passage, Lot is a mean example character that God is using that he can judge the wicked But on the other side, he also delivers the righteous. And on the day when God visits, it will matter if you're a Christian. It will really, really matter. And that's the message that we have here tonight. Now, it turned out that Lot was the only man in Sodom who was righteous. The whole lifestyle of the Sodomites was so debauched so depraved, so wicked, that continually Lot was grieved with their lifestyle, and he was vexed, we are told. Now, left to themselves, of course, they were living miserable lives. Sodom may have been advertised as the glory city. It may have been advertised of as glamorous place, but the life of men and women in that city was absolutely miserable. And when men and women turn away from God, it always leads to cruelty, to violence and to misery. And we read of that, how the crowd came around the door, the violence, they were ready to murder that they might pursue their own lust. Now, verse eight in chapter two gives us, and you'll notice that it's in brackets. Our translators have put verse eight into brackets because it's like a little commentary on the man Lot. And we're told here that righteous man dwelling among them in seeing and hearing. Now, you can imagine the pressures that were brought to bear on Lot to conform. He stuck out, as we would say, like a sole thumb. He was a man out of step, out of sync, out of lifestyle. And therefore, he was a man under tremendous pressure as people turned away from God. Now, while the story is horrid, and the life of Lot is not to be commended, and we would warn anyone, young people or older, Do not do what Lot did. Don't make decisions based on the green pasture of merely eyesight. But be sure that you're in God's will, and be sure you're making the righteous choice, not just the fleshly choice. But nevertheless, Lot, even though he walked into this situation, God was faithful, and God declares now that he is able to deliver the righteous. Now, it'd be very hard for us to imagine a Christian being the only one in a whole city, but maybe not. I'm sure there might be some here tonight, and you find that being a Christian can be a very lonely experience at school, college, university, workplace, and you seek to walk and live for God. You will be mocked. You will be reproached. And you will find that it might be a very lonely walk indeed. And perhaps what's even more distressful to the Christian today, you will find that there will be those who will profess the name of the Lord Jesus. They say, Lord, Lord. but they don't do the things that he says. They take maybe a neutral position and say, well, if that's the way they want to live, let them be. They take a very laissez-faire approach, and they say, who are we to judge? And they fall into the very trap of toleration to all things. Now, the pressures of being a lone Christian in an increasingly oppressive world that we're living in today can be very oppressive. It can even be soul-destroying. What are the odds of anyone doing today what Lot did and still remaining righteous and have anything like a testimony? Maybe you feel at times like giving up and say, what's the point? We're losing ground on all scores, whether it's general society, government, education. It seems that the Christian, no matter how he protests or stands up for truth, loses the battle. And even in religious circles, the markers are being reset. And that firm line that used to be between right and wrong, good and evil, is more and more blurred and obscured. How do you keep going? And the answer, of course, is only with God's help. only with God's delivering, keeping grace. Now, see Peter's message of encouragement. And I want you to see this, that he is encouraging his readers. Now, he spent some time warning the false prophets, the false teachers, the seducers, those who will corrupt in so many ways, and then he gives these examples of corruption in Lot and the city of Sodom. But the message is one of encouragement. The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations. And you might think that, well, God has to send in a SWAT team of angels, as he did to Sodom, and get his man out, and that's the way he's going to keep you in your daily walk in this world. Well, we know that's not going to happen. So how does God keep His people in a sinful and increasingly wicked world? What are the odds for the church and for the Christian who wants to have a testimony for Christ and live in the center of God's will? Well, let me give you a few pointers that I think come out of this very text tonight. Firstly, God delivers His people with an all-seeing eye. God's eye was upon Lot every single day that he lived in that wicked city. And God put a difference between the righteous and the wicked. It is obvious from these statements that God had knowledge of Lot. He had a testimony. It says in verse 8 that he was a righteous man. Then it also says that he was the just man, verse 7. So, God had his eye upon his man Lot. God marked him. God tracked him. God pursued him every day that he lived in that evil city. And here's something that we need to take note of tonight, that no one can get lost in the crowd. Now, if you're in a big city, And I suppose our city is included as a big city. But if you're down in the streets of Vancouver or any other city, and there's just hundreds and thousands of people around you, you may get the notion, I can do anything I like. Nobody knows me, nobody sees me, and I can just get lost in the crowd. And maybe the tempter came to lot and would have said to lot, in this culture, who cares? Just go with the flow. Just do what everybody else does. Stop swimming against the current and just relax and do what everyone else is doing. But we see here that God marked this righteous man and noted that he was vexed. by the things that he heard and the things that he saw. God read his heart. He knew the attitude, the mindset of his heart, as Lot witnessed these devilish, debauched things before his eyes. You can imagine the advertisements in the city. You can imagine the open, flagrant sin that was to be witnessed. It grieved his heart, and God noticed. God noticed. And that's one of the first things, if you know that, in your school, workplace, wherever, God's eye is upon you, and he witnesses whether you are cheering on the wicked or whether you're burdened and you are distressed in the midst of it. The other thing we know about God seeing Lot is that God heard Abram's prayer for the righteous. You remember how he prayed for the 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, 10, and he was praying for the righteous. Can you destroy the city if there be 10 righteous? And Abram, for some reason, left off praying at 10, but there was still one man. And God could not destroy the city until Lot was out. God saw him. And God heard prayer for the righteous in that city. We can learn from this that God takes note of every believer's position in this world. He notes the struggles. He notes the burden, the grief that we bear. And as parents, we see this in our children. We see their sins. We see their love of the world. We see the lust that creeps into the heart. And it brings tears to parents. It brings a great burden. And God notes, and God hears the prayers of parents as we plead that God will not destroy them, but rather God will have mercy on them. Now, God delivers us by teaching us that his eye is ever upon us. And that in itself is a curb to evil and an encouragement to maintain a testimony for God. The second thing I will draw from this text tonight is that God delivers his people by the application of the moral law. We have read two times here, verse 7, that he was just lot, and then in verse 8, that righteous man dwelling among them in seeing and hearing vexed his righteous soul. Now, what is it that makes a man righteous? That means he's right with God. How are we made right? Well, we know in salvation we're made right by the work of Calvary. We are justified by faith, and we are made just in God's sight. But we're talking here about lifestyle. We're talking here about a man who lived for God in the midst of iniquity, and he was called a righteous man. What was it that made Lot cease from evil and persevere to do good? the moral law of God. And it is that law that keeps us when we are in the midst of temptation. So we read here that God saw that he was just, God saw that he was vexed, and God saw that he walked uprightly. He was a law keeper. And in that situation of Sodom, where everything seemed to be upside down, topsy-turvy, where the place had gone mad after sin. The thing that kept Lot was the law of God. Without the law, Lot would have been in confusion. He would have no standard. He would not have a platform to know what is right and what is wrong. And we see this now, Peter, When he is expounding on this, he lays down this principle, the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations, but the unjust, there's the opposite, the godly versus the unjust, they are reserved to the day of judgment to be punished, and then you'll notice their lifestyle. And very much the remainder of this chapter is a commentary on the lifestyle of men and women without God. They walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, despise government, presumptuous self-will, they're not afraid to speak evil of dignities, and so on. And verse 13, they shall receive the reward of unrighteousness. Verse 14, eyes full of adultery. Verse 15, which have forsaken the right way. Now, how do we know what is the right way? And in a world of immorality, a world when people say there is no right and wrong, how does a Christian know what is the right way? Well, we're back to the moral law. We're back to that inflexible, that sure, fixed, concrete, absolute truth of God's law. And of course, it's summarized in the Ten Commandments. You want to know what's right or wrong? Well, those Ten Commandments, when they're all fleshed out, they give us to know the law of God. Now, how do you know what is right in a lawless age? It's the law of God. And we must not, the church must not fall into the slippery slope of saying, well, we're under grace, we're no longer under law. And that's the Apostle Paul's argument. Romans 6, God forbid, that's his response. And that ought to be our response tonight. We must not, as we see sin encroaching and evil advancing, we must say, well, it must be okay. No! God forbid! And because we're Christians, because we're redeemed by the blood, and we're justified by grace, It does not mean that we now have a license to sin. God forbid! Never let it happen! That's the response of the Apostle Paul. And in Romans 7, repeatedly, the Apostle... And here's the man that preached justification. He is the expositor of the doctrine of justification by faith alone. But in Romans 7, he expounds that the law of God is good, it is necessary, it is right. And I want to just go back to that with you, and just lay that foundation here tonight. Romans 7, verse 7, what shall we say then? Is the law sin? And this is the moral law. This is not the ceremonial law. It's not the civil code. It is the moral law. The issue here is pleasing God. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law. For I had not known lust, except the law had said, thou shalt not covet. Now, if Lot was preaching that in Sodom, you can understand that he was all alone, because Sodom is certainly the example par excellence of lust at free range. Men following their passions, their sinful notions, instead of what is right. And Paul is saying here in this passage that the law—for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. And that, obviously, is one of the Ten Commandments. Then on down in that chapter 7, verse 12, wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, just and good. Verse 14, for we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. Now that doesn't mean we don't struggle. Doesn't mean that we don't have times when we feel to reach the mark of God's standard. That's why we confess our sins. That's why we acknowledge our shortcomings and that we do not reach that holy standard of God's law. And even we as Christians plead the cleansing blood every day for our shortcomings. But the law is the standard. The law of God is the rule of life for the Christian. And once you move from that, once you step away from that absolute of God's moral law, you're going to become weak, and you're going to become open to other ideas of how to live, what is good, what is evil, what is right, what is wrong. And so, in an evil day, we need the Ten Commandments like never before. We should have the Ten Commandments in our homes. Our children in our Sunday school should learn the Ten Commandments thoroughly. If we want to fortify and equip young people on how to live against a sinful age, we need to give them the Ten Commandments and say, this is God's standard, nothing less. And by that we are equipping them. to stand against the temptations. Because what happens? People come along—if you think of young people—and they're tempted into lust. And they say, come on now, you're not going to be one of those old people that believe in the law of God, and you're not free, and you don't have liberty to do what you want. That's the moment that young people need to be sure and grounded in the truth of God's Word. And the last thing that the church needs in a day of iniquity and lawlessness is to abandon the Ten Commandments as our standard of gospel church ministry. And here I want to say a word about the leaven of antinomianism that is in so many church ministries. Antinomianism is an ancient heresy that has plagued Christianity from the first century. You will read in Ephesians 2 about the Nicolaitans. And the church at Ephesus was commended because they did not give place to the Nicolaitans, which thing the Lord hates. Now, the Nicolaitans were licentious. They believed in some kind of a profession of Christianity, but giving license to sin at will. Whatever's your good pleasure, you have liberty in Christ to do it. Now that antinomianism has arisen again and again in the history of the Lord's Church, and it is in place today. It will destroy the church. It will bring into the church worldliness and a lowering of the standard that will eventually destroy the church. And it is to say that if you just rejoice in your justification, this is what antinomians will say, just rejoice in your justification. Just rejoice that you are right with God through the blood. Don't worry about how you live. Grace will take care of that. Well, that leads to every man doing what is right in his own eyes. That leads to diversity, disunity, and it leads to loose living. A lowering of the standard. And we need to be assured tonight that God is well pleased when we strive for holiness as marked by the Ten Commandments. How often do you pray through the Ten Commandments? You want to please your Heavenly Father? You want to do His will every day? Well, then pray through the Ten Commandments. And as you pray through them, if there's one that you have fallen short on or broken, confess your sin. If there's one that you're battling, and you say, Lord, I need help and power, surely the Holy Spirit will give you power. We're not ruling out the power of the Spirit and the work of grace. Grace and law are not enemies. They are working together. Because the law is the character of God, and the help of the Spirit is the power of the gospel. Now, back to Lot. Lot was a godly man. He was a righteous man. A man who hated sin. And because he was Abram's nephew and left Ur of the Chaldees at the same time, we can place him under the covenant of Abraham. He was a man that was living by God's grace in the same standards as Abraham was called to live for God. And so Lot Because of that covenant of grace, because of the law of God that was written on his heart, that's what happens when you become a Christian. That's the promise, I will write my law upon their hearts. And when the law of God is written on your heart, You're spoiled for the world. You can't enjoy the world anymore. You can't enjoy sin anymore because your conscience is so acute. There's such a conviction when you would even think and dwell upon that sin that you hate it. And that's where Lot was. God had done a work in his heart. He was a just man. He was a man under the same grace as Abraham. And you'll notice God did not condemn him for a wrong decision. God did not damn him for a wrong decision. And that's a great thing for us to know. We as Christians may make mistakes. We may get out of the will of God at times. But we'll be vexed. And we'll hate it. And we'll find it miserable. But we'll not be beyond the grace of God. as we see here in the life of Abram. Now, some will say, but we don't need the law. Let's just see one more example of the apostle Paul on this question. Does the Christian really need the law of God in his life? I want to take it to 1 Corinthians 10. 1 Corinthians 10, verse 12. applicable text, wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." Now, that's a warning to us all, and it's applicable in the life of Lot. And when he and Abraham parted ways, I'm sure Lot thought that he was invincible. He thought that he would never get into such trouble. And so in his pride, in the lust of his eyes, when he saw the green pastures of Jordan, and he went towards Solomon, pitched his tent in that direction. But Lot needed to be kept. And verse 13 says, There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful. God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape. that ye may be able to bear it. And then verse 14, don't miss this one. Wherefore, here's the link word, here's the conclusion, here's the punchline of the apostle. Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. Are we not in need to keep the law and obey this law? Flee from idolatry? Any Christian who claims to have a license because I'm under grace, I don't need the law, I can do as I please, and I can still walk with God, needs this warning, needs to understand, yes, God can keep you from all temptation, but when you walk into sin, you might very well be on your own. And so two things we've learned tonight. God delivers his people by an all-seeing eye. God delivers his people by the application of the moral law. Thirdly, he delivers us by his angels. Now sadly, contrary to all warning that were given to Lot to get out, he had to be dragged out. While he lingered, Genesis tells us. And though he had warned the city was going to be destroyed, he just could not get himself out. And the angels that were sent by the Lord to destroy Sodom, the sin had reached such proportions that God was going to destroy it. And we read here, while Lot lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand. and upon the hand of his wife and his two daughters, and they brought him forth and set him out of the city." Did God deliver him? It wasn't Lot's fortitude. It wasn't Lot's strength of character. He was lingering. He was risking all. But the Lord dragged him right out and delivered him out of that city. Now, Peter's message also includes here that there's going to be another day of judgment. And in this whole book, he warns that just as God destroyed the angels that sinned and destroyed the people in the day of Noah that sinned and destroyed Solomon Gomorrah, there's going to be a day of judgment when he will destroy the world by fire. How will God deliver his people on that day? By the angels. When the trumpet sounds and the glory of Christ appears, he will send his angels into the four corners of the earth to reap and to gather together the saints. And the Lord Jesus taught in Matthew 24 that there shall be two in the field, one will be taken, the other left. Two shall be grinding at a mill, one taking the other left. Two shall be in bed, one taking the other left. How's that going to happen? How is God going to deliver His redeemed people so that the righteous are preserved and the ungodly are left to their judgment? God's going to use the angels, and He's going to work by His invincible power. And it's going to matter that you're a Christian. We might walk this sinful world and say, well, there's such a sin abounding, doesn't matter what you do nowadays. It does matter. Your testimony matters. Your character matters. And God's eye is upon you. And the day when the trumpet sounds, it will matter. Because the Lord will gather the righteous, the believers in Christ, and the wicked will remain to be destroyed. I wonder, are you ready tonight? Are you in the household of faith? Maybe you're not yet a Christian. You've got a lot of religion, but Christ is not in your heart. Lot was a just man, a righteous man, because he was in the Lord. Now, that's also true at our death. Maybe we will die before the Lord returns. Well, in our death, the Lord is able to deliver the righteous from the wicked. There's a text in Psalm 116, verse 9 or 13, and it says, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of a saint. The first time that that text was written in my heart was at the passing of Beulah's grandmother. And that was a text that was read and quoted in the home at our funeral. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of the saints. Does it matter how we live? Does it matter that we have a testimony? Yes, it does. Because when we leave this world, either in natural causes or however death may come, the Lord will be there. He will gather us home. and that will bring glory to his great name. It will be absent from the body, present with the Lord. One final thought here about Abraham. It tells us about Abraham that he was gathered home to his people. Same is said of Jacob when he died. He was gathered home to his people. And yes, the church of Christ, the people of God, every one of us, redeemed by the blood, will be gathered home to be with the Lord's people. The Lord will not forget his own elect. And from all corners of the earth, the angels will gather the people of God and bring us home to glory. And so there's a great hymn that we need to sing tonight. Yes, we'll gather at the river.