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The sermon text for this morning
is Genesis chapter 19. And I believe I need to correct
what's in the bulletin. It's chapter 19 verses 30 through
38. Chapter 19 verses 30 through 38. As we continue our series, preaching
through the first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis, on
page number 14 of your Pew Bibles, I invite you to stand out of
respect for the reading of God's inspired and inerrant word. Now Lot went up out of Zor and
lived in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid
to live in Zor. So he lived in a cave with his
two daughters. And the firstborn said to the
younger, our father is old. There's not a man on earth to
come into us after the manner of all the earth. Come, let us
make our father drink wine. And we will lie with him that
we may preserve offspring from our father. So they made their
father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and
lay with her father. He did not know when she laid down or when
she arose. The next day the firstborn said
to the younger, Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let
us go make him drink wine tonight also. Then you go in and lie
with him, that we may preserve offspring from 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
became pregnant by their father. The firstborn bore a son and
called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites
to this day. The younger also bore a son and
called his name Ben Amin. He is the father of the Ammonites
to this day. The grass withers, the flower
fades, but the word of our God abides forever. Amen. You may be seated. How do you preach a passage like
Genesis chapter 19 verses 30 through 38? I wrestled over this
text this week a lot. There are some scholars that
I opened and saw what their books, saw what they had to say about
this text. And one of them, the first thing they said is this
is not a passage that I advise you to preach at all. Wow. Well, if that's true, I put myself
in a bad situation. So here it is, right next. And
I think you know why he would suggest that. This is a dark
text. There are dark things which are
difficult to speak about here. There are shameful acts that
take place here, that take place in a cave at night. But scripture doesn't shy away
from these sensitive matters. Scripture takes us to the dark
cave. Scripture shows it to us. Scripture
speaks about sensitive issues and exposes compromise. Second Timothy 316, what did
we hear read this morning in the first reading from God's
word? It says all scripture is breathed out by God in profitable
for training and righteousness. All scripture, and that includes
the dark cave of Genesis chapter 19. We must preach this text. We cannot skip it. We cannot
go around it just because it's difficult to talk about. And
yes, it is difficult to talk about. I know a church, I was
there, this passage was being preached, and several people
walked out and never came back to church because they were worried
about what their kids were going to hear. And I want to assure
you this morning that I will be delicate, I will be careful
as a preacher of God's word, but we must talk about these
things. We must preach God's word to God's people. The cave is here in Genesis chapter
19 for us all to learn from. God included this in his inspire
word because it really happened and because there's a lesson
for you here, several lessons for you here. And the main idea
that stands out in this passage, as I wrestled over it this week,
there are lots of different ideas, but the central message which
I want to impress upon your hearts this morning is this. You can
take God's people out of Sodom, but there still may be the spirit
of Sodom in God's people. You can take God's people out
of Sodom. You can pull them out of Gomorrah. the spirit of those
cities, the spirit of the wickedness of this world may be present
among God's people and it must be dealt with. And we're going to go into the
darkness of the cave and see what's there, but I want to assure
you, because we're going to spend some considerable time there,
but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We will walk out
of the cave and see the light of redemption, and we will see
the promise of the gospel. For God's word includes this
as well. I want you to notice, first of
all, what's going on here in the dark cave. Lot and his family
fled Sodom and Gomorrah at the last second. Do you remember
that earlier in the chapter, how God sent two angels to seek
out Lot and to warn him and really to inspect the city and see if
what was said about it was true? Well, it was true. And it was
full of rampant wickedness. Yes, in hospitality, but also
homosexuality of a violent nature. And there were men who surrounded
Lot's house and said, send out those angels that we may know
them. Of course, they said, send out the
men because these angels were disguised as sojourners, as ordinary
men, and they wanted to take advantage of them in this perverse
manner. Well, because of this, God's
judgment comes with fierce and rapid succession upon the city.
But first, he pulls Lot and his family out. And as they're heading
towards salvation, towards survival, Lot's wife lingers and she looks
back and she is caught up in the judgment on the plane and
she is taken and becomes a pillar of salt. But Lot and his two
daughters then become the only survivors. That's it. You say,
who was saved from Sodom? Just Lot, just his two daughters.
and they escape and they go to the city called Zor, which was
like a little Sodom. But apparently after a while,
they became uncomfortable with living there. It says that fear
dominated Lot's mind. Perhaps he was always afraid
that God's judgment would come upon that city. And he pulls his family,
and where do they go? They go into the hills, and they
live in a cave. And that's where we find ourselves
in this dark cave. Now after a time, Lot's daughter started
to wonder ordinary questions. How will we find husbands if
we're all alone out here? How will we have children and
raise them? How will we carry on the family legacy? How will
we perpetuate our father's name? These are good desires. These
are natural desires. But you wonder, did they think
that maybe no one on earth is living anymore? I mean, they
had just seen God's fire rain down on Sodom and Gomorrah. Maybe
they thought we're the only ones, we're the last ones on earth. And so they hatch a plan and
it is a shameful plan. This is about as much as I'm
going to say about the plan. They got their father drunk and
they bore children through incest. Here's the disturbing irony. Lot's daughters survived Sodom
only to bring Sodom back to life, far from the city, in the cave. It's like, to use another metaphor
that's used in scripture, it's like they ran away from a lion
just to run straight into a bear. to try to flee from one form
of wickedness just to run straight into the jaws of another. These
were survivors of Sodom and Gomorrah. You think, wow, they figured
it out. They understand. Well, they don't. You can take God's people out
of Sodom, but there still may be the spirit of Sodom in God's
people. And this should hardly surprise
us if we're really reading our Bibles, because this happens
in the New Testament as well. Did you know that? 1 Corinthians
5.1. In fact, I'm gonna turn there. 1 Corinthians 5.1 says this. To God's people, to the church,
Paul is writing, he says, it is actually reported that there
is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated
even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. And you
are arrogant. You see, you understand that
God's people can flee from one form of worldly wickedness and
say, we're out, we're safe, we got away from it, look at us,
we're pure. And then run straight into another. And they can be
so blinded by it that they can brag and think it's fine. They
can think they're doing something good even. And then along comes
God's prophet, along comes his ambassador and says, no, this
is shameful wickedness, do not do this. flee from sexual immorality.
And there is a lesson for us here. We fool ourselves if we
think we're safe from perversity just because we don't hang pride
flags in our windows. Just because we don't go to nightclubs
and participate in debauchery on weekend nights. Sexual scandal can and does happen
in both cities and in caves, in nightclubs and in churches. We need to be sober-minded and
aware of this. Because if we think, if all we ever think is,
oh yeah, the perversity, oh, it's over there. Yeah, I know
where you can find that. I'll give you an address. And if we don't understand that
it can find its way into our own homes, into our own churches,
then we fool ourselves because it happened in the New Testament.
And God warns us that this can happen to God's people. He warns
us. We have to be alert and aware.
I have seen churches, reformed Presbyterian churches, broken
down by scandal. And do you know why they were
broken down? Not because of what happened, but because they tried
to hide it. Because they buried it in a cave.
And they left it there in the dark cave. They thought no one
would ever find out about it. Let's leave it there, this will
affect us, this will break us apart if people, if the public
finds out. And guess what? It always finds its way out of
the cave. This is one of those sermons where I'm pleading with
God's people to be sober minded and aware. To know that we cannot afford to
keep sin hidden away in the dark. We cannot afford to live in a
cave. We must speak up and bring sin to the attention of proper
authorities. Or else we smear the witness
of Christ Church. And so that's the first lesson
here, is to look at what happens in this dark cave and say, you
know, this is uncomfortable, but it's true, that this stuff
just doesn't happen out there. Things like this happen way closer
than we are willing to admit. Some of you may even have stories,
some that are personal and hurtful of how this got close to you.
I want you to hear that God sees that, God knows, and he doesn't leave you with
that. There's another lesson to be
learned here, especially for parents. We must guard our children
from Sodom's perverse influence. That's really important. You know, where on earth did
Lot's daughters come up with this scandalous idea? Where did
they hatch this plan? They learned it from Sodom. They
learned it in Sodom where they grew up. Homosexuality was certainly one
form of unnatural desire that festered in Sodom. But it wasn't
the only unnatural desire at work in Sin City. And we know
this because if you were to turn to Leviticus chapter 18, we didn't
read this as our first scripture reading, but I leave it to you
to read this later. And what you'll notice is that
there are different forms of unnatural desires that God says
are going to find their way in sexual immorality amongst the
pagan people whom Israel is a neighbor. And this, Yes, Leviticus 18 mentions homosexuality. Guess what it also mentions?
Incest. Improper relations with one's
relatives and relations outside of marriage. God-defined marriage. And it mentions these side by
side. Why? Because these were the kind of
perverse things that you would see amongst cities like Sodom.
Where did Lot's daughters learn to do this? Why was this the
tool that they turned to to deal with a frustration, an obstacle
in their way? Well, because they saw this kind
of thing in Sodom. They learned this kind of mentality
in Sodom. Lot's daughters did in the cave
what they first learned in the city. You see, Lot put his children
in an atmosphere where they were absolutely inundated, just barraged
by the worst of this world. He didn't protect his daughters.
He threw them at the world. And we see this earlier on in
chapter 19. He literally did this. Look at
chapter 19. He says, He says, I have two daughters
who have never known any man. Take them and do with them what
you want. See, this was Lot's fear-focused
response when Ben come knocking at his door. He says, take them. Don't bother me. Don't bother
these men who have come into my home. Take my daughters. And if this was his response
in a moment of serious fear, we know that Lot's attitude.
Think about who he gave his daughters to be married unto. They were
betrothed to two men who never made it out of Sodom because
they weren't righteous. He gave his daughters to be betrothed
to two men who were so corrupt that they never made it out. What about your own children? Are you raising them in an environment
that teaches them about the perversions that are out there but carefully?
Are you teaching them that God's design is truly better than what
the world would offer up and the shortcuts that the world
would give? Are you protecting your children from the sexually
charged media or are you plugging them into its powerful influence?
Are you aware of what they're watching on YouTube, on television? It's amazing what our world will
have. Two made up creatures saying
to one another on a cartoon screen. I've seen it. I've watched this.
Frasier Lewis will watch something. I said, oh my, they cannot watch
this anymore. I need to look into this more
carefully. And that's on me. The warning here, this is the
warning I'm giving you from this text. Don't raise your daughters
in Sodom. Don't give your sons over to
Gomorrah. Don't check out and just let
them be passively influenced by this world. You have a responsibility
to do what? To give them God's truth, to
tell them about the bad that's out there, but especially to
tell them about the goodness of God's beautiful design for
our bodies and relationships. and to feed them with these things
so that they're not hungering and thirsting for the perversity
of this world, but they say, I'm full with God's goodness.
I love what God's made. I love his design. Yes, I can't
wait to enjoy these things in marriage. I can practice this
properly because it's better. If our kids don't hear about
these sensitive matters from the church and from their parents,
then they'll hear about it from culture. And what's culture gonna
tell them? I was in a conversation once
about with a young man who told me, he said, yeah, I learned
about all of this sensitive stuff from kids at my school who showed
me images, who showed me things on their phone, who told me dirty
jokes. That's how I learned about this
stuff. But then I heard another kid in the same room, and he
said, you know, I learned about this stuff from my parents. And they sat me down, they told
me about it. Or when it would come up naturally in conversations,
or while we were going about life, they'd share with me and
say, you know, you're gonna hear about this in the world. This
is what this is, but here's how God's design is better. And there's
something about being prepared for this and not saying, oh,
my parents are hiding this from me. That's, oh, my parents love
me enough to talk to me about the difficult and sensitive things
in this in this world. Now, parents, I charge you with
Thanking care of knowing your own children and in a way that
is proper and natural and goes along with your family to do
this and do this well. And I charge you children as your parents
talk to you about anything. But yeah, you know, there are
those conversations that are a bit more of a serious nature. You feel, whoa, mom and dad hasn't
talked to me about this before. I want to. Counsel you children
to listen and to give your parents the honor that is given unto
them and say, hey, if God would have my parents speak to me about
something, it ought to be important. And I should listen to them because
they really know what they're talking about and God, God has
put it upon their hearts and put it in his word to have my
parents talk to me about important things. Fathers. We need to acknowledge
a special responsibility here. You see, Lot led his family into
Sin City. Why? We need to see why Lot did
this and his motivation so that we might be able to see them
in ourselves and cut them off before it goes too far. Lot led
his family into Sin City because he elevated the cultural gods
of comfort and wealth above the spiritual needs of his family.
We talked about this before, Lot traded fellowship with Abraham
and God's people for companionship with Sodom. And when he did that,
all the way back in Genesis chapter 13 and 14, he made this grave
error because he never asked, where will I receive, where will
I find fellowship and accountability and the blessings of God's people?
What church will I attend in Sodom? He never asked that. He
just dove in and threw his family into the fire. Why? Because he
was so captivated by the riches that could be obtained by living
closer to that city? Are we being pulled fathers by
the cultural God's wealth and comforts? And are we subtly denigrating
the importance of the fellowship of God's people, the accountability
of believers, the importance of a good and godly church. Lot dealt with the stresses of
fatherhood by drowning himself in alcohol, distractions. Being a parent is stressful,
isn't it? And I'm making it more stressful for you this morning
by telling you about what you need to be doing and how do you
need to be thinking about these things. I'm not going to say
I'm sorry, but it is stressful. It's stressful to me. Now, how
do we deal with that stress? I know fathers who have loved
their children, but when push comes to shove, they have failed
to love their children because they have been so distracted. They have chosen distraction
over duty. and they've drowned themselves
in alcohol, you'd find the dad glued to video
games in the key moments when the parents, when he needs to
be engaged and talking to his kids. And why is it that when
the kids say, hey, I heard so-and-so say this at school today about
some perverse thing, and dad's not there, or dad's distracted,
or dad's not jumping on the moment, why? because he's checked out
from his duties and he's chosen distraction. It's easier, I know that. But
it's not what God calls us to do, man. And of course, that's what happened
with Lot in the cave. He turns to alcohol. How did
he have all this with him in the cave? But it's what he turns
to, it's what his daughters give him. in order to get him right
where he needs to be, to be taken advantage of and shamed. Parents, there is help to be
found when you are stressed out by the weight of raising godly
children in this world, but that help comes to those who humbly
ask for it. and I want you to know that there
is help to be found. Talk to any of the elders of the church,
talk to any in the church who model this well, and I'm sure
they will jump on it and help you to know how to navigate this.
I want you to know that's available. Lot isolates himself. Lot doesn't
ask for help. Lot buries himself with his daughters
in this death-like cave, and he distracts himself from his
duties and he untethers himself from accountability to God's
people. You know, pride was also at work here. Think about that.
He goes from Sodom and he wants to go to Zohar, but then he goes
from Zohar to the hills, and you say, great, that's what the
angels wanted him to do all along. They said, flee to the hills,
and he said, oh, can I go to Zohar? Well, he's ended up in the hills,
but where were the angels wanting him to go? To Abraham, who was
in the hills. Where does Lot go? To a cave.
He is too full of pride and cowardice to flee to God's people where
Abraham is and to get help. And he leaves himself stranded.
I do not want that of anyone in our congregation. There is such darkness here,
and I've been talking about it, preaching about it for so long,
but I want you to see that there is a light at the end of the
tunnel. There is a way out of the cave, there is light on the
other side, and you'll find it in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
But first, let me show you how we get there. The children that
were born of this perverse relationship would become the fathers of who?
The text tells us, the fathers of two tribes, the Ammonites
and the Moabites. Now, who were they? more darkness,
very bad influences on Israel. They were not friends. They were
not good neighbors, bad influences. However, there
is one famous Moabite woman who would descend from this dark
cave. Her name is Ruth. You know, Ruth, whole book of
the Bible written about her. She is the great, great, great,
great, great, great, great granddaughter of one of Lot's daughters. one of Lot's children. And Ruth also had a problem related
to sexual ethics. Because when her husband died,
she was unable to carry on the family name. She had a lot of
the same concerns and desires as Lot's daughters, which were
natural. But she did not turn like them to wicked schemes.
She did not isolate herself from God's people. She sought in all
purity a godly solution to her frustrations. She waited with pure intentions
for Boaz to notice her, to marry her. This Moabite woman and this man
from the tribe of Judah would become the great-grandparents
of David, the king, and then they'd become the great, great,
great, great, great, great, great-grandparents of Jesus, our Savior. Yes, the dark cave has its place
in Christ's lineage, his ancestry. but it's the Savior Jesus who
would come and would lead his people out of the dark cave and
would give them the power to live after the example of Ruth
and Boaz. You see, there is hope for all
who have committed sexual sin to leave that guilt in the past.
And some of you say, that's me, pastor. You don't even know the
darkness that I carry. I don't, but God does. Jesus
knows. You do not need to carry that
guilt with you any longer. Why? Because if you belong to
Christ Jesus, the spirit of Sodom has been nailed to the cross. Fully paid, gone, in the past. Jesus nailed Sodom to the cross,
and guess what? He gives you a new spirit, a
spirit of purity and cleansing, a spirit that says no to sexual
temptation, a spirit that moves forward in all purity, the very
Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God that dwells within you and enables
you to live life. Ruth, like Boaz, yes, you will
struggle. Yes, you may at times slip, but
the promise of the gospel is there is a way forward. There
is a light at the end of the tunnel. Walk in that light. Flee
from sexual immorality. Such were some of you, but no
longer. There's great hope as well for
Christian parents who are convicted of how far they've fallen in
their responsibilities. Jesus says, so you haven't done your duties
up till now, but now you can. Now you can talk to your children.
Now you can discuss things with them. You can even say, I messed
up, I failed. I should have talked to you about
this long ago, but let's do this now. There is hope for new beginnings.
There is hope for purity that comes out of the dark cave and
into the light of redemption because of Christ Jesus. Do you
believe that? Let's pray. Heavenly Father,
we thank you for the very promise of scripture that we are cleansed
in Christ, that we are your people and called to walk in purity,
no longer as the pagans do, but Lord, We fool ourselves if we
think that these temptations and these scandals do not find
their slippery way back into our lives. And Lord, we know
that when we are thinking we are the safest, that is perhaps
when we are at most at danger. So convict us, but also comfort
us. Warrant us, but also show us
the wonders of Christ's gospel. We pray for both of these things
this morning as we pray your blessing upon your people. We
pray this in Christ's name, amen.
Lessons from Lot’s Daughters
Series The Book of Genesis
| Sermon ID | 46251738183223 |
| Duration | 31:19 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Genesis 19:30-38 |
| Language | English |
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