It is good to be with you folks this Lord's Day morning. We have a great appreciation for you at Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Enumclaw. You are on our prayer list and we pray for you at least once a month. And I have a great, great appreciation for the ministry here. Over the years, I have benefited greatly from the council of Pastor Don Lindblad. He's been a great help to me in the ministry that the Lord has given us in Enumclaw, so we're greatly appreciative of that. Let me encourage you to locate, again, in 2 Peter 2, 2 Peter 2, and so I can put that. In verses four through 10, it's one long conditional sentence. And the theme, as I understand it, the theme that gives cohesiveness to verses four through 10 is that God is able to keep the wicked until the day of judgment. He is able to keep the wicked until the day of judgment. And the corollary to that is he is able to preserve or protect the righteous, and that is evidenced by the case of Noah and his family with respect to the flood. And it's evidenced by the case of Lot and his family with respect to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. And so you have these two themes, it seems to me, that holds together this section in verses four through 10. And when you get to verses 7 and 8, the spotlight shifts and there is a bit of biographical information about Lot. Unlike Noah, there's reference made to him as a preacher of righteousness. But when you arrive at verses 7 and 8, a bit more information is given about the experience that Lot had when he was in Sodom. So our focus this morning is going to be more particularly devoted to Lot, and as Pastor Lindblad indicated, I don't normally entitle sermons, but it would be something like the biography of a miserable Christian. So what I want to do in preparation for our time this morning, I'm going to reread these verses, and then I'm going to draw your attention to Genesis and we'll read from chapter 13. And then I'm going to read much of chapter 19, which is more reading of scripture that I normally do at the beginning of a sermon. So I hope it's not too tedious, but I also hope it will be helpful in preparing our time together. So to begin with, I want to we read verses 7 and 8, then we'll be going to the book of Genesis. In verse 7, and I possibly, unfortunately, I'm working from a New American Standard version of the Bible, so I hope that is not too much of a difficulty. But in verses 7 and 8 of chapter 2, if he rescued righteous lots oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men, for by what he saw and heard, that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds. And now turn if you would to Genesis chapter 13. Genesis chapter 13. Genesis 13, I'll be reading verses eight through 13. Genesis 13 and verses eight through 13. "'So Abram said to Lot, "'Please let there be no strife between you and me, "'nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, "'for we are brothers. "'It's not the whole land before you. "'Please separate from me. "'If to the left, then I will go to the right, "'or if to the right, then I will go to the left.'" Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere. This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar. So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other. Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley and moved his tents as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord." And now if you would turn to Genesis chapter 19, Genesis chapter 19, beginning in verse one. Genesis 19, beginning in verse one. Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he arose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. And he said, now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant's house and spend the night and wash your feet. "'Then you may rise early and go on your way.' "'They said, however, no, "'but we shall spend the night in the square.' "'Yet he urged them strongly, "'so they turned aside to him and entered his house, "'and he prepared a feast for them, "'and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. "'Before they lay down, the men of the city, "'the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, "'both young and old, all the people from every quarter. "'And they called to Lot and said to him, "'Where are the men who came to you tonight? "'Bring them out to us, "'that we may have relations with them. But Lot went out to them at the doorway and shut the door behind him, and said, Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly. Now behold, I have two daughters who have not had relations with man. Please let me bring them out to you and do to them whatever you like. Only do nothing to these men inasmuch as they have come under the shelter of my roof. But they said, Stand aside. Furthermore, they said, this one came as an alien and already he is acting like a judge. Now we will treat you worse than them. So they pressed hard against Lot and came near to break the door. But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. They struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the doorway. Then the two men said to Lot, whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place. For we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the Lord, that the Lord has sent us to destroy it. Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, up, get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy the city. But he appeared to his sons-in-law to be jesting. When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city. But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand, and the hand of his wife, and the hands of his two daughters. For the compassion of the Lord was upon them, and they brought him out and put him outside the city. When they had brought them outside, one said, Escape for your life. Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley. Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away. But Lot said to them, O no, my lords, now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving my life. But I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me, and I will die. Now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please let me escape there. It is not small. Is it not small that my life may be saved? He said to him, behold, I grant you this request also not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken. Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there. Therefore, the name of the town was called Zoar. The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. The Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities and all the valley and all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew on the ground. But his wife from behind him looked back and she became a pillar of salt. He dropped down to verse 30. Lot went up from Zoar, stayed in the mountains, and his two daughters with him, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters. Then the firstborn said to the younger, our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come to us after the manner of the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine. Let us lie with him that we may preserve our family through our father. So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father. And he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. On the following day, the firstborn said to the younger, behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine tonight also. Then you go in and lie with him that we may preserve our family through our father. So they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him. And he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. Thus, both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father, the firstborn, a son, and called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. And let us take just another moment and have a word of prayer, shall we? Father, we thank you this morning for the opportunity that we have to come into your presence. We thank you for the worship that we have enjoyed already. We thank you for your mercy and your beauty and your glory and your grace. We thank you for your precious word. We thank you for its purity. We thank you for its power. And I would pray these moments that we have together, I would ask for the presence and the help and the activity of your Holy Spirit, helping me to be pleasing to thee, to bring honor to thee, to bring glory to thee, and to do good to the souls of those who are here this morning. So I would just pray for a clear working of your blessed presence in our hearts together at this time. And we ask these things in Jesus' name, amen. The high school that I went to in the city of Tacoma, next to the gym, had a wall with pictures of young men who excelled in athletics from year to year. If you're a sports fan, two of the names that you may be familiar with, one was Ahmad Rashad, who went on to play with the Minnesota Vikings. Another was Ron Say, who went on to play with the Los Angeles Dodgers. But in successive years, there was pictures of young men who excelled in various sports, except for one. There was a picture of one fellow that I knew, and I could never quite figure out why his picture was up there, because he was involved in sports, but he was really not that athletic, and he really didn't excel like the other men whose pictures were up there. And it may be that when we read about Lot, and he is referred to as a righteous man, not once, but three times he is referred to in these two verses as a righteous man, we may wonder or not whether that's the appropriate word to apply to him. That may not be the first word that comes to our mind, especially as we read the passages that we have just read in the Old Testament. And part of the difficulty I think that we encounter is when you look at Genesis chapter 13, he seems a bit opportunistic, to be driven by covetousness, seems oblivious to the moral danger of the decision that he is making. He is willing to sacrifice his own daughters to this lust-driven mob. He has to almost be drug out of Sodom. when it's going to be destroyed, he ends up drunk, having an immoral relationship with his daughters. So righteous does not seem like it's quite the right word to apply to him. We might think of other people in the Bible, the righteous is the appropriate term, but when it comes to lot, we may not figure, or it may not seem like that is the right word to describe him. It refers to able, and that makes sense. John the Baptist is referred to as a righteous and holy man. That makes sense. Others may come to our mind. But the word righteous, especially when it's a little bit fresh on our minds. We've read chapter 13 and chapter 19. It may not seem like it's quite the appropriate word to describe a person like Lot. Nevertheless, it is. We don't have any option but to believe that it's true. It's in the text. And as we noted, in verses 7 and 8, there is this shift of emphasis from this overall theme that God is able to rescue the righteous, or God is able to deliver the righteous to this report about Lot's moral and spiritual experience in Sodom. That's brought out in verses 7 and 8. So the spotlight in these verses is on Lot in Sodom. We have a portrait here, it seems to me, of a righteous man in an unrighteous place. The word that I have used to describe Lot is misery. The propriety for that is these two verses together. In verse 7 he is referred to as one who is oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men. And then in verse 8, he felt his righteous soul tormented day after day. So the term misery seems to me like it's the right word to describe his existence. He's a Christian, he's a regenerated man, but he's enduring a wretched existence. And the question that may come to our mind is, does it have to be this way? Or should it have been this way with Lot? Can we learn something from this short biographical account that will help us from having such an existence ourselves? So I trust and I hope that this short exploration into a theme, this theme of a biography of a miserable Christian, will help us not to be miserable Christians, will help us to avoid some of the decisions that Lot So I want to explore this theme in your hearing this morning under three major headings. The first heading is this. I just want you to consider a description from verses 7 and 8, a description of Lot's condition, which I'm referring to as miserable. And again, I believe that's because of the combination of language we have in verse 7, as well as verse 8. He was oppressed, we are told in verse 8, by the sensual conduct of these unprincipled men and then he felt his righteous soul tormented in verse 8. So what I want to do under this first heading is take these two verses in order and I think they're marked by some development of thought. So if we look again at verse 7, notice this word oppressed. It can have the sense of being worn out, The King James translation is vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked. The ASV translation, which is what you probably have, is distressed by the lascivious life of the wicked. And the reason he felt this anguish of soul is because their life is described as sensual. That's a term that conveys the thought of indecency or debauchery or filthiness. It already occurred in verse 2 with respect to the false teachers that many were following them. And one commentator that I think was very helpful says it points to a form of liberty in behavior lacking moral restraint. So the main idea, as I understand this term sensual, is it goes beyond the bounds. It's lacking moral restraint. You might recall that Jesus in Mark chapter 7 verses 21 to 23 talked about a number of sins that originate from the heart that have a defiling effect. This is one of those sins. Paul makes reference to it in Romans chapter 13 and verse 13 as a sin that does not constitute proper behavior for a Christian. It's found in Galatians chapter 5 and verse 19. It's one of the sins of the flesh. In Ephesians 4.19, Paul speaks of those who, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality. And then the term conduct, as you're probably aware, has reference to way of life or manner of living. It is translated behavior in 1 Peter 1.15 and reveals the kind of conduct that is necessary for a Christian, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves in all your behavior. It occurs also in chapter 2 and verse 12. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles. And then a helpful usage is also found in 1 Peter chapter 3 and verses 1 and 2. It occurs in both those verses. In the same way, you wives be submissive to your own husbands. so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior." And so we see here that one's behavior, one's conduct, either for good or ill, has an effect on others, has an influence. on other people. And here, it's the sensual conduct or this unrestrained immorality that has the effect of oppressing Lot. And I believe that's because of two points that conspire together. On the one hand, he was a righteous man. He was a converted man. He had some sense of the holiness of God and the glory of God and the purity of God moving across the face of his soul on the one hand and the effect of this extreme sinful behavior on the other. These two things together are what caused him to be under such oppression. Genesis 19 pictures of the kind of people that he lived among. We saw a little bit of the activity of this debased mob who came to his house and reveals the low level of morality or the society that he was engulfed in. In verse 8, there's some further development about the level of turmoil that existed in his soul And there's some additional factors here that are helpful. He is a righteous man. He's living among these people. And what is added in verse eight, there's an emphasis on the close proximity to the extreme form of moral degradation. We are told by what he saw and heard while living among them. So it brings us out this idea of the close proximity he has to this form of moral degradation, and also his continuous or repetitive exposure to this excessive display of indecent behavior. Peter brings this out while living among them. It's in the present tense, which means it's ongoing. So there was this relentless day-to-day pressure of seeing this kind of ungodly living, and the results that is he felt his righteous soul tormented or his righteous soul vexed. It's a term that occurs in the question from the demons who possessed the man of Gadara. Remember he had his existence among the tombs and they said have you come here to torment us before the time. From a physical perspective it's found In the centurion's description of his servant when he implored Jesus to heal him, he refers to his servant and said he was lying paralyzed at home and he was fearfully tormented. So high level of physical pain. Now here it's descriptive of the mental, spiritual slash psychological pain that Lot is going through. living in Sodom. So it's a combination, it seems to me, of these various factors. He's a righteous man, close proximity to this ungodly, debased kind of living. And these things conspire together to cause his existence to be one of misery and one of wretchedness. So here we have Lot. He's a picture of misery. He's residing in Sodom. And the question is, should we feel sorry for him? Here he is, he's in Sodom, he's tormented, he's in misery. Should we feel bad for Lot? Should that evoke our sympathy? When we read about the centurion slave, that evokes our sympathy. When we read in the Bible about one who journeys from Jerusalem to Jericho, he falls among robbers, he's beaten, and he's left half dead at the side of the road, that evokes our sympathy. Well, here's Lot. He's in Sodom, he's tormented, and my question is, should we feel sorry for him? Well, in the second place, having considered this description of his miserable condition, in the second place, what should we consider the decision that led to this level of misery. The decision that led to this level of misery. How did he get here in the first place? What led to this kind of existence? And here, I want you to turn back to Genesis chapter 13. Genesis chapter 13. Genesis chapter 13 and three points. I read this earlier, but just three points from Genesis chapter 13 in these verses, verses eight through 13. First of all, in verses eight and nine, Genesis 13, eight and nine. So Abram said to Lot, please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers. It's not the whole land before you. Please separate from me. If to the left, then I will go to the right. If to the right, then I will go to the left. in these particular verses is the wealth of both Abram and Lot led to this need for separation. Abram was concerned about the contention that would exist among their respective herdsmen, so he defers to Lot and he gives him the opportunity of making this choice. The whole land is before you. You can go to the right or you can go to the left. Then, secondly, we notice in verses 10 and 11 that Lot makes a choice. He lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere. This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar, Solot chose for himself. all the valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other." So what stands out in these verses is the choice that Lot makes. It's a decision that will have profound, wide-ranging effects on him as well as the rest of his family. And it's interesting to notice here or observe that the language that describes Lot's decision very much replicates the language of temptation. I don't know if you notice that when you, as I am just reading through this, he lifted up his eyes and he saw the Valley of the Jordan, that it was like the garden of the Lord. Then he chose all the Valley. Then he journeyed eastward. So there's this progression. He saw, he decided, and then he acted. You might recall when Eve was tempted by the enemies of our soul, the dynamics that were operating. She saw the tree that it was good for fruit. She made a decision. She took it. She ate it without any apparent thought about the consequences of her action. Achen, when he was in Jericho, he took some of the things that were under the ban that resulted in the defeat of Ai. And then when he confesses his sin, the process comes out. He says, I saw the spoil that included 200 shekels of silver and a bar of gold. And he makes this decision, he coveted, he took them, he hid them. So he saw, he coveted, he took them without any apparent thought about the consequences of those actions and where they would lead to. And in the progress of thought here, there's an eerie similarity with Lot. He saw, he liked what he saw, he desired it, he moved there with no apparent thought about the consequences of his choices, either for himself or for his family. Well, then thirdly, in verses 12 and 13, we see Lot, he's in a new location. In verse 12 says, Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley and moved his tents as far as Sodom. Verse 13 says, now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord. So in verses 12 and 13, he's made the decision. Now he has made the move. He has settled in the cities of the valley and moved his tents as far as Sodom. And what stands out here is this clear description of the moral condition of the city. They were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord. So here he is, the place that will influence his wife and his family. in Sodom. Matthew Henry wrote, though all are sinners, some are greater sinners than others, the men of Sodom were sinners of the first magnitude, impudent, daring sinners. One commentator wrote, Genesis makes clear that Sodom was already a notoriously sinful place when Lot made his choice. Probably the closest parallel in our world would be a city like Las Vegas, sometimes it's referred to as Sin City. which is not to say that you can't sin in Kirkland or Yakima or anywhere else. You don't have to go to Las Vegas to sin. But nevertheless, it's more noted for concentrated, overt sinning. And that would be at least the closest thing that comes to my mind about the world that you and I are living in. But what in my own study of this, what stands out is a lot. He makes this choice. to move his family here and the well-known moral degradation of this city, it doesn't seem to factor into his thinking at all. It doesn't seem to affect his thinking process. So he moves to this place where he will have his wife, where he will raise his children in an environment that is known for sin. that is known in a unique way for sin. And it seems to me he makes a major decision based on an inordinate preoccupation with the material to the exclusion of the spiritual. He makes a major decision with an excessive concern about the material and the temporal as opposed to the spiritual and the eternal. It doesn't seem like he's thinking at all in those terms. But it seems to me like his mind is moving in that direction. at the end of point two. And before we get to point three, I want to offer this point of application in connection with our consideration of lots. And it would be this, labor to be content with the material blessings which God in his wisdom has given you. Labor to be content with the material blessings that God has been pleased to give you. Baptist, Shorter Catechism, Question 82. What is the Tenth Commandment? And the answer is, you shall not covet your neighbor's house, you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his maidservant, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's. Question 84. What is forbidden in the Tenth Commandment? The 10th commandment forbids all discontentment with our own estate, envying or grieving at the good of our neighbor, and all inordinate motions and affections to anything that is his. So we need to guard ourself of being overly concerned with the material and allowing that to displace the interest that we should have on the spiritual and the eternal. So I would argue that we need to regularly evaluate the stream of our affections and seeing if they are being diverted from landing on the Lord of glory to things that are temporal and things that don't satisfy the needs of the soul. We have to be careful because we live in a culture that easily fosters discontent. Easy to be discontented with almost everything is it not your house your car you could make a list. It's very easy to become discontented with the things that we have and Jesus says no man can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other and or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. You cannot serve God and money has to be one or the other. So what we have done so far is consider this description of Lot's miserable condition in verses 7 and 8 of 2 Peter chapter 2, then the kind of decision that led to this existence, and in my view, Lot made this decision based on the material, to the exclusion of the spiritual. He didn't think about the consequences of the decision. Then in the third place, I want to elaborate a bit further on the description of his condition as it comes from Genesis 19. So point three is very much like point one, except we're looking at it from the perspective of Genesis chapter 19. So I want to look at Lot's character under this third heading by means of two observations that come from Genesis chapter 19. And the first one is a reiteration with some development of what we read about in 2 Peter chapter 2. And that is he was a righteous man. Observation number one from Genesis chapter 19. He was indeed a righteous man. He was a Christian. Our text affirms that, that he was a righteous man. He did not lose his salvation when he went to Sodom. In fact, I would suggest to you that in Genesis 19, his righteous character is brought out in three different ways. His righteous character, the fact that he was a righteous man, is brought out in three different ways. In Genesis chapter 19-1, he immediately demonstrated the spiritual grace of hospitality. to these visitors who came to Sodom. He immediately demonstrated the spiritual grace of hospitality. We see that in chapter 19, verses 1 through 3. The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. And he said, Now behold, my lords, please turn aside unto your servants' house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise early and go on your way. They said, however, no, but we shall spend the night in the square. Then, verse 3, he urged them strongly. So they turned aside to him and entered his house, and he prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread for them, and they ate. So he exhibits the grace of hospitality. I believe this is a great illustration of Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 2, do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers. For by this some have entertained angels without knowing it." So Lot was concerned about these people. He knew the city. He protected them because he was aware of the impending moral danger. A second way in which his righteous character is brought out here is he showed courage in trying to stop the progress of this morally debased mob. He exhibited courage in trying to stop them. You notice in verse 6, Lot went out to them at the doorway and shut the door behind him. And then in verse 7, he says, please, my brothers, do not act wickedly. And then in verse 9, we see that he was putting himself at some level of risk. Stand aside. Furthermore, they said, this one came in as an alien and already he is acting like a judge. Now we will treat you worse than them. So he demonstrates here the grace of hospitality. And then in the third place, He warns his sons-in-law of impending judgment. He warns his sons-in-law of impending judgment. In verse 13, the angels declared the reason why they came. In verse 14, Lot warns them, and he gives the reason why they need to flee the city. So we see, it seems to me, these are factors that help us to understand he was a righteous man. He was not like the others who lived in Sodom. He didn't descend to the same level of evil. His moral behavior was distinguished from the others who were in Sodom. However, my second observation of Lot, based on Genesis chapter 19, Although he was a righteous man, he was a man whose life was marked by glaring moral compromise. He was a man whose life was marked by what I'm referring to as glaring moral compromise. And the reason I say glaring will come out, I hope, in a moment. And here we see that Lot became the sort of person that a Christian does not want to become. And this also, it seems to me, this compromise is brought out in three ways. Number one, and I'm quoting a commentator on the book of Genesis here, he went so far as to offer these lecherous men his two virgin daughters. That's verse 8. Now behold, I have two daughters who have not had relations with man. Please let me bring them out to you and do to them whatever you like. Only do nothing to these men inasmuch as they have come under the shelter of my roof. That's part of my justification to referring to him as a righteous man who's marked by glaring moral compromise. I think most readers, this shakes your moral sensibilities. When you read this and you see what Lot did with his own daughters, I would suggest even unconverted people If you were to tell them what he did, or if they read this, might have the same kind of response. What in the world is this man thinking? How could you do that to your own daughters? And so we see glaring moral compromise, it seems to me, in his life. H.C. Leupold, a helpful Lutheran commentator, wrote, the kindest interpretation of Lot's willingness to sacrifice his daughter to the depraved lusts of these evildoers. stresses that it was done with the intent of guarding his guest. He quotes another commentator who describes Lott's mistake as being an attempt to avoid sin by sin. Avoid sin by sinning. Kylen Dalich, the German commentator, is right. In his anxiety, Lott was willing to sacrifice, to the sanctity of hospitality, his duty as a father, which ought to have been still more sacred. So there's not only this overting of one sin by committing another, but the exchanging of a higher moral duty, the protection of his own daughters for a lesser one. John Calvin is very perceptive, I think, on his remarks here. He says, for being destitute of advice, he devises an unlawful remedy. And then Calvin writes, he should rather have endured a thousand deaths that have resorted to such a measure. So from my perspective, there's no way this cannot be thought of as a morally reprehensible act on the part of Lot, what we read about in verse 8. Now, if we ask the question, how could he do that? We read that he was a righteous man. We believe that he is what you and I would call a converted man. How could he possibly do that? My answer is he has already made a major decision that put him in a position of moral compromise. His mind was already muddled because he had made a significant, weighty, moral decision based on materialism. So he was not operating from a position of moral and spiritual objectivity. The second way in which we see that he was a righteous man that nevertheless was marked by glaring moral compromise. It's at the beginning of verse 16 where it says he hesitated. Or your version may say that he lingered. In verse 13, the angels made it clear judgment was coming. He was persuaded of that. He believed that judgment was coming. He warned his sons-in-law. And then in verse 15, the angels, they urged him to get up and get out of this place and get your family. You're going to be swept away. In the beginning of verse 16, he hesitated. And we asked the question, why in the world did he linger? Why did he hesitate? Was it to say goodbye to all of his friends in Sodom? We can eliminate that one. They were going to do him harm. I think the answer is it's the same reason that brought him there in the first place. Leupold wrote, the thought of sacrificing house and home and his goods makes departure difficult. So he's willing to sacrifice his daughter in the middle of this nail-biting situation, but sacrificing his stuff to the fire of judgment is a much more difficult thing for him. This is Christianity at a very low level that we're reading about right here. Joseph Hall wrote, he still loves his commodity and the sodomites their sins. A third way in which this moral compromise is brought out is in verses 30 to 38. I'm not going to reread those in your hearing. On successive nights, he gets drunk with wine, has physical relations with his daughters, and it's true that they orchestrated this to preserve a posterity, but it shows the low level of spiritual debasement to which Lot had descended. Now, what I would like to do in in closing is offer some lessons. What can we extract from this? Are there any abiding lessons for you and I that we can consider and apply to our own lives? I have three or four of these somewhat briefly. The first one is that Christians are capable of more evil than they like to admit. Number one, Christians are capable of more evil than they would like to admit. Lot was a righteous man. He was a saved man. He was a converted man. He exhibited the characteristics of some level of righteousness in Sodom. But I believe that we can learn from him. He teaches us that we retain the capacity for sinning in heinous ways. That's good to know. It is good to know that is true because that way when you get up in the morning, you will pray for the Holy Spirit to mortify the deeds of the flesh. It is good to know that because when we read a verse that says, abstain from the appearance of evil, we know why we should abstain from the appearance of evil. It will motivate us to pray in the morning, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Recognizing our remaining proclivity to sin is very helpful in living a victorious Christian life. Secondly, we learn here some Christians are godlier than others. Some Christians are godlier and more conformed to the image of Christ than others. Now on the negative side, some are worse sinners than others. The men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord. All people are sinners, right? All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But here, by God's own assessment, they were exceedingly sinful. And conversely, some Christians are godlier than others. Some Christians are more interested in holiness than others. There may be other biblical characters that come to your mind like Isaiah or Jeremiah or Ruth or Esther or others that were more interested in holiness than a man like Lot was. Some Christians are very concerned about their own godliness and progress in grace. Some Christians are concerned about being separated from the world and those influences which would affect their growth and grace. Others, it seems to me, they try to be as much like the world as they possibly can and still fit in with the group. And so we would say in the third place, a third lesson, we should regularly evaluate the moral consequences of the decisions that we make. We should regularly evaluate the moral, the moral consequences, the spiritual consequences of the decision that we make. I think that's the key factor in lots descending into this low level of Christian living. This was the beginning of the downhill slide. A wise man or a wise woman always thinks about the consequence of his or her actions. And we are Christians. And the great concern, it's always your soul. It's always the effects of this activity or that activity or this place, the effect it's going to have on your soul and your walk with the Lord. So we need to evaluate the moral and the spiritual consequences of the decisions that we make. In the next place, we are responsible for our current level of spirituality, whatever that may be. We are responsible for our current level of spirituality, whatever that may be. Now we have observed that Lot was tormented, he was miserable in Sodom, and we have said that's because he was a righteous man, he understood something of the nature and the character of God, and in combination with that, this close proximity to evil and debasement caused him to be tormented. I believe in the flow of thought that at least in no small part, his misery was caused by this fact. He made this choice. He called the shot. He was in Sodom because he determined that he would be there. He was reaping what he had sown. Be not deceived, God is not mocked, whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. Joseph in prison, or Joseph in Egypt, I think, could sleep well at night because he knew he was brought there by the hand of God's providence. Lott, on the other hand, knew he was there because of his own covetousness, and I am persuaded that, at least in some measure, that contributed to the fact of his own torment. He made these decisions, and the point I would argue from there is that we are responsible for our current level of spirituality, whatever that may be. I'm just simply saying You determine how much you're going to read the Bible. You determine how much you are going to pray. You determine whether or not you're going to read the Bible. You determine whether or not you're going to obey, abstain from the appearance of evil or flee youthful lust. We determine whether or not we're going to discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness. No one else can make that call for you or no one else can make that call for me. So in the fifth place, we should strive to be holy because we are told to be holy and because It will have a positive effect on others because the product of sin is always misery. The product and the consequences of sin is always wretchedness. But the product of holiness is joy and peace in the Holy Spirit. And may the Lord help us to apply these things for His glory to our own souls. And shall we pray. Father, I thank you for the time together with these saints. I thank you for their love for Christ, their interest in spiritual things, their interest in godliness and holiness. I pray that you who know the hearts of all men and women, and you know the status of all men and women, and you know the patterns of each one of our lives, I pray you might be pleased by the Holy Spirit to make the appropriate application to our lives. It would be a help to us to grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Might it be pleasing to thee and might you be pleased to make the application to our souls for your honor and for your glory. And we ask these things in Jesus name, amen.