The 18th chapter and what a marvelous day God's given us here today at the Cleveland Baptist Church and certainly thankful for every Aspect of it thankful for certainly the baby dedication tonight the beautiful music What a treat it was to have father and son sing together on Father's Day. I think that's pretty special and Older song probably most of us. It's been a while since we heard that one but certainly we can see it ring true in our lives. It certainly took a miracle to do all that God did, but the greatest miracle, there's another song that's sung, the greatest miracle the Lord ever did was save our soul. And we believe that to be true, and certainly we're grateful, again, for just the emphasis here today at the Cleveland Baptist Church. We're gonna be looking in Genesis chapter number 18, and we're gonna begin reading in verse, I believe verse number 19, or actually verse number 17. Genesis chapter number 18, we'll begin reading in verse number 17. The Bible says, And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do, 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 him 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 hath 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 and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which has come unto me. And if not, I will know. And the men turned their faces from thence and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before the Lord. And Abraham drew near and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be 50 righteous within the city, wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the 50 righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked, and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee? Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? And the Lord said, if I find in Sodom 50 righteous within the city, that I will spare all the place for their sakes. And Abraham answered and said, Behold, now I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes. Peradventure there shall lack of the fifty righteous. Wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty in five, I will not destroy it. And he spake unto him yet again and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake. And he said unto him, O let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it if I find thirty there. And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord. Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake. And he said, oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once. Peradventure 10 shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for 10's sake. And the Lord went his way. As soon as he had left communion with Abraham, and Abraham returned unto his place. I don't know about you, but as I read this passage of scripture, I can almost see some humor in it, can't you? Abraham, treading lightly, but recognizing this is my best shot. And he starts with 50, knowing there's not 50 there. He starts there, and he goes all the way down. 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, 10. There weren't even 10 there. But bargaining, in some respects, with the Lord. Tonight, I'd like to preach to you a message that I've entitled, Sodom, a Vacuum of Righteousness. Sodom, a vacuum of righteousness. Father, would you bless the reading of your word tonight? And Lord, would you help me as I preach this message? Thank you for the members of the Cleveland Baptist Church, so many of them that are here tonight and make Sunday night a priority. Thank you for guests and visitors you brought our way. We're always honored and delighted to have some sitting on the service that maybe this is not their normal church home, but we're certainly grateful that they're with us. We pray, Lord, that you do a work in our service tonight. Lord, we know that many of our young people are looking at a place like Sodom, Lord, and they're thinking about what life might be like there. And may they recognize, Lord, that in Sodom there is a vacuum of righteousness. Lord, may you help us to explain what that means and to talk a little bit about that and perhaps even the impact and the difference that we can make to fill the void that exists in places like this that are so wicked. Help us tonight, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. The word vacuum is defined as a space entirely devoid of matter. A space that is entirely devoid of matter. Synonyms for the word vacuum can be empty space, emptiness, and nothingness. We can say that in our world there is a vacuum of good leadership in the political spectrum, can't we? I mean, I think we'd all pretty much agree on that. that in the political landscape, there's a whole lot of emptiness and nothingness when it comes to good leadership. In other words, people that will lead in the right way, will make the right decisions, not because of a vote or because of pressure of a lobbyist, but because it's the right thing to do. Up until five years ago yesterday, we could say that there's a vacuum of sports championships in the city of Cleveland. Couldn't we say that? There's a whole lot of nothingness there, a whole lot of emptiness there going back many, many years. We can say that in the winter months, there is a vacuum of sunshine and nice weather here in Northeast Ohio, can't we? I mean, there's just a whole lot of emptiness, a lot of nothingness when it comes to beautiful weather in the winter months. I was thinking as I was preparing for the message that among young people, certain age, not all of them, but among a certain age, there's often a vacuum of maturity and common sense. You know what I'm talking about, don't you? You think to yourself, why in the world would they do something like that? Why would they say that? Why would they? And it's just because at that age, oftentimes, there's just a whole lot of emptiness there when it comes to common sense immaturity. As we come to the 18th chapter here in the book of Genesis, we discover, sadly, that there is a vacuum of righteousness in this city called Sodom. Though a righteous man, his entire family live within the confines of this city. Now think about this, they have made no impact for righteousness whatsoever in this place. They're there. They have an opportunity to make an impact. They have an opportunity to change some things in a righteous and in a positive way. We don't know how long they've been there, but several chapters have gone by between the last time we saw Lot and now. And we would assume that perhaps maybe several years have transpired between that point. So several years, Lot and his family have lived in Sodom, and at the end of the day, there can't even be found 10 righteous souls dwelling in this city. This vacuum and God's response to it, I believe, teach us some very important lessons. And I want us to look through the scriptures together tonight and discover God's response to this city that was entirely devoid of righteous and holy living, though it was that a righteous man dwelled within its city walls. As we read through this text, you cannot help but notice with me, number one, we discover God's compassion. We see that very clearly, specifically in verses 23 to 25, but really all the way through the end of the chapter as Abraham begins to bargain with God. The Bible says in verse 23 that Abraham drew near and said, Will thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city. He says, will you not destroy it for that? Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? Verse 25, and the Lord said, if I find in Sodom 50 righteous within the city that I will spare all the place for their sakes. So we see here God's compassion, don't we? And I want you to notice that we see it in two completely separate or two completely different ways. Number one, we discover that he has compassion for the lost. He does have compassion for the lost. In verses 16 to 22, Abraham is communing with God, and God says, you know, I can't hide what I'm getting ready to do from Abraham. I need to communicate to him one of the reasons why I'm here. I'm not just here to renew my covenant with him and to promise him that within a certain amount of time that he will have this long-awaited son, but I'm also here to tell him that if I get down to Sodom and I find there what I think I'm going to find there, that I'm going to destroy the city. The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah was great, according to verse number 20, and their sin was grievous. And as Abraham and God communed together, God could not withhold from him what was to be the next step in dealing with Sodom, which is destruction. And yet, though it looked like destruction was inevitable, the Lord, listen, the Lord still made plans, listen, to visit this place, to walk around it, and to observe its activity. I find that interesting. God knows everything, doesn't he? I mean, there's nothing that's hidden from him. He knew exactly that things in Sodom were as bad as they were, and yet, listen, before destruction was gonna fall on this city, God was gonna give the residents of Sodom every last opportunity to repent. In other words, he was not hasty in raining fire and brimstone from heaven down upon this place. He was patient with them. He was long-suffering to them. If miraculously there might happen to be a last-minute conversion and revival, and things were to change maybe during the Lord's visit, then he would gladly spare this city from the destruction that they were slated for. In other words, listen, God is not this being in the sky that is just ready to shoot lightning bolts and zap people and take people's lives and destroy people. No, listen, God gives people plenty of time to either make the right decision or to continue in their wicked ways before his judgment eventually falls. God takes a long time before he destroys sinful and wickedness in people. prior to destroying Nineveh. You know the story that God called his prophet Jonah to go there and to warn the people about what was coming? When Jonah finally went, you know the story about how he ran from God for a time, but when he finally went, the Bible tells us that the people listened and they repented, and God's response is found in the scriptural account. In Jonah chapter three and verse number 10, the Bible says, and God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way, and God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them, and he did it not. The Lord prophesied through Jeremiah these words, in Jeremiah 18, verses 7 and 8, "'At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to pluck up and to pull down and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I fought to do unto them.'" In other words, listen, there can be a track record of wickedness and evil activity for a long time, but so long as God has not yet judged that wickedness and that evil, the person who's involved in that, in this case, the city, the community, the nation that's involved in that, if they decide, hey, what we've been doing is wicked, what we've been doing is evil, therefore, we repent of the wickedness and we repent of the evil, And we don't want to go that way anymore. Listen, God, God is willing, He is eager to stay His judgment on places like this. The Lord is long-suffering and full of mercy. He loves people. He loves all people, including lost people. Here's what He especially loves. He loves when lost people repent and become saved people. when they turn from their wicked ways, when they recognize the evil that they've been involved in, and they turn from that, oh, that's music in God's ears. And in that moment, even though perhaps he's pronounced judgment, God's saying, I'm gonna go down, and I'm gonna walk among the streets of Sodom, and I'm gonna observe the place. And if it's as bad as I know it to be, then I must destroy it. But if I go down there, and while I'm there, perhaps there's a spirit of revival, perhaps there's one or two that begin to turn from their wicked ways, then in that moment, in that moment, I will be glad to withhold or withstand the judgment that I have pronounced upon them. So we see His compassion for the lost. Notice secondly His compassion for the righteous. The judgment of God on sin we know is reserved for sin and for sinners. Jesus said in John 5 24, Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. The Bible tells us in Romans 5.1, therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Listen, as a believer, I'm not at war with God. And listen to me, He's not at war with me either. We're at peace with one another, not because of my actions and my deeds, but because of what Jesus Christ has done. because of Jesus Christ's righteousness. Romans 8 and verse number 1, the Bible says, There is therefore now no condemnation of them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. In Galatians 3.13, Paul was inspired to write these words, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law. Here's what I'm trying to say tonight. Listen, God always provides a way for his people who have been made righteous to escape the coming judgment. God provided a way for Noah to escape the judgment that was coming by way of the ark. God spared Joseph and his family through the seven year famine by allowing Joseph to be sold into slavery and cast into prison so that he'd have an opportunity to meet the chief butler who would remember Joseph at just the right time. God provided a way of escape and spared the Israelites from the worst of the ten plagues in Egypt and then provided a way for them through the Red Sea by making a highway as Pharaoh's approaching army was coming upon them. God provided a table for the Israelites in the wilderness and he produced rivers of water for them in a desert and a wasteland. God protected Elijah from Rahab's evil threat and sustained him during the darkest days of the famine with food from ravens and a never-ending supply of oil from a widow woman in Zarephath. Listen, the Lord has promised in this book, the word of God, to catch away his bride before the judgment on this sin-cursed world begins to fall. And the Lord, listen, the Lord would never have destroyed the city of Sodom if he would have found 50. if he would have found 45, if he would have found 40, 30, 20, or 10 righteous people living in it, why? Why, because the judgment of God, listen, the judgment of God, the wrath of God does not fall on righteous people. I ought to make everyone in here tonight that's born again, I ought to make you want to shout. I know we're a northern church, but inside, there ought to be something welling up and you say, praise the Lord. I don't have to worry about God's wrath falling on me because I've been born again. There is therefore now no condemnation. I'm at peace with God. There ought to be, perhaps if there are some tonight who are lost, maybe sitting in this service, and perhaps maybe watching online in their home, listening to this message at some point or another, and you know that you've never made peace with God, that ought to scare you to death. Because while God, listen, while God withholds His judgment and His wrath from the righteous, God does not hesitate, if it comes to it, to pour out His wrath, and by the way, that day is coming for every person that rejects Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. And we take no delight in that, and I want you to know something, God takes no delight in it either. But that day is coming. And I want you to know something, that God is full of compassion. He has compassion on the lost. He gives them every last opportunity to repent and to get right with Him. God is full of compassion for the righteous, refusing to pour out His judgment, His fiery judgment upon righteous people. As it stood in the city of Sodom, we said that there was a vacuum of righteousness here. From what we can tell, there was only one righteous man, and the Lord led him out before the judgment fell. Why? Because of God's compassion on the righteous. Notice, we see secondly, as we look at this particular text, it just sort of jumps off the page at me as I read it, and I think of this. Number two is this lot, the only hope for Sodom. Lot, the only hope for Sodom. I want you to know that the Lord never intended for Lot to be in Sodom to begin with. But I do want you to know this, Lot's presence there could have been a real help to the city and its chances of long-term survival. Had Lot let his righteous light shine, there might have been a spark of revival, don't you think? A revival in Nineveh broke out simply because a stranger, a man by the name of Jonah, appeared one day and marched up and down the city streets and basically said, 40 days and God's gonna pour out his judgment unless you repent. They'd never seen this guy before. They didn't know who he was or where he came from. And yet, as he preached and as he warned of this coming judgment, the Ninevites listened closely. They thought to themselves, what if this guy's telling the truth? What if judgment from God is going to fall on our city because of the way that we've been living? Something happened and they began to change. They began to turn from their wicked ways and revival fell. Imagine, imagine with me for a moment how much more effective a righteous man and his family could be in a city full of debauchery and wickedness. In other words, Jonah was a stranger. He was a visitor. He appeared for a day or two, and he preached this message of judgment. But here's Lot and his family. They're living within the city walls, and they have an opportunity not only to preach with their lips, but also to preach with their lives. Lot had certainly been there long enough, don't you suppose, to have made 50 disciples? But listen, even 10 disciples would have done. to spare the city from the judgment that was coming? Can I say that many times we get enamored, don't we, with numbers and we feel as if numbers are important to God? But I want you to know something, this passage would seem to indicate that the Lord, listen, the Lord can spark revival and reformation with as little as 10 in a very wicked place. If God were going to destroy or spare a community, Would you be capable, would you personally be capable of pointing to 10 people saying, Lord, Lord, hold off your judgment because through my influence and through my life and through my testimony, the life of my family, we've impacted at least these 10 folks right here. We've made some righteous disciples in this place through your power, certainly, and through your strength. We've not done it on our own. But Lord, if you are willing to spare Sodom for 10, Would you look at the 10 that the Lord has allowed us to reach? And would you withhold and would you spare the judgment that's going to fall because you're a God full of compassion? Would you be capable, would I be capable of pointing to even 10 people and saying because of my life, because of my testimony, because of my witness, I have reached these people for you? I've personally been involved in their growth and development spiritually. I'm thankful, listen, I'm thankful for those who use their lives to win hundreds or even thousands to Christ, but could you even point to 10? Lots, listen, lots placed in Sodom should have yielded, listen, should have yielded at least 10. Probably more like 50 or 60, why? Because listen, the light often shines brightest in the darkest places. And in a city that was completely devoid, there was a vacuum of righteousness. Don't you suppose if Lot would have walked into that city and just lived a righteous life, and would have just proclaimed the truth of God to those people, that there probably would have been some that said, you know, I'm sick and tired of this life that I'm living, of this way that I'm going, therefore I'm gonna turn from my wicked ways and I'm gonna follow you, Lot. I'm gonna follow the way that you're living because it seems to be a whole lot better and leading me to a whole lot better place than my life has ever led me. So if Lot, listen, if Lot was the only hope for a place like Sodom, don't you suppose that we as believers, God has left us in this place to be a hope here in the city of Cleveland and in the state of Ohio and in the United States of America and in our world? Don't you suppose that God is looking to see how many disciples are you making? How many righteous people have you made through your life and through your testimony and through your witness? How many people are you helping to grow and develop in their faith? If Lot, I'm just simply saying, if Lot was the only hope for Sodom, don't you suppose that you and I as Christians and as believers function in a similar role as being the only hope for those who live here in the United States of America? Notice thirdly and finally tonight. You determine, I determine, whether there will be a vacuum of righteousness where we live. We determine that. How do we determine that? Well, I would say number one, that you can choose to live like Lot in Sodom. That could be your choice. It would seem as though Lot moved into Sodom and he completely blended in with the culture. He was righteous, the Bible tells us that. But his righteousness did not shine forth. His righteousness made no discernible difference in that community. And you can choose to live your life that way. Here's what I'm saying, Sodom put more unrighteousness into Lot than he put righteousness into it. Lot's presence in Sodom, again, made no difference for righteousness and made him even more unrighteous. I often ask the question, why is it that the world often has a much greater effect on God's people than God's people have on the world? You ever wondered that? Why is it that you get a good Christian young man, loves the Lord, loves his Bible, loves his church, and he starts hanging around with some unsaved individuals, and before long, his love for the Lord, his love for the Bible, his love for his church is suddenly not nearly as strong as it once was. I ask myself, why? Why is that? Why does the world seem to always drag us down? Why can't we ever reach down and bring the world up to our level? Why can't we ever make a difference? Many Christians live life just like Lot did. They're in this world in which there's a vacuum of righteousness. We would all agree to that tonight, and yet they are content to allow it to stay that way. Rather than influencing this world in a righteous way, they actually allow the world to influence them and make them more unrighteous and more unholy. And I want you to know something, it doesn't have to be this way. But sadly for many Christians, it is. They're living in this world, and they're allowing this world to stain them, to drag them down, to pull them down. They have righteousness. They have the righteousness of Christ. And yet, Being influenced by the world makes them more unrighteous, makes them more unholy, makes them more wicked when the reverse should be happening. So you can choose, if you want to, to live like Lot and Sodom. Then I thought to myself, well, there's gotta be an example in Scripture of a person or a group of people that were living in a pretty unrighteous place and determined, you know, we're not gonna go that way and we're gonna make a difference. And I found that group of people in Acts chapter 17. And I want you to turn your Bibles with me there if you would. We'll finish here tonight in Acts chapter number 17. And look at me in verse number six. The city I'm talking about is Thessalonica. It's a Greek city. And Paul had gone there and spent some time there. The Bible tells us in verse number two he'd been there for three Sabbath days and reasoned with them out of the Scriptures. Bible says in verse number four that some people there believed and consorted with Paul and Silas, and of the devout Greeks, a great multitude, and of the chief women, not a few. But the Jews, they had some problems with the message that was being preached, and they began to stir some things up in the city. The Bible says in verse number six, and when they found them not, They drew Jason, talking about Paul and Silas. They drew Jason and certain brethren under the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also, whom Jason hath received. And these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying, There is another king, one Jesus. So a moment ago I said, listen, you're gonna determine whether you're gonna live and whether the city that you live in remains a vacuum of righteousness or whether you turn up the spiritual temperature in that place. And how are you gonna determine that? You're gonna determine that, number one, by choosing to live like Lot and Sodom, and some people choose to do that. Or, number two, you can choose to live like Jason and the other believers in this place called Thessalonica. In the New Testament, the book of Acts chronicles the growth and the spread of the gospel and the development of the church The good news of the gospel begins in Jerusalem and spread, by the way, primarily through two things, through the persecution that fell on the church and through the ministry of the Apostle Paul. It spread all over the known world and eventually, listen, it landed in this place called Thessalonica. Can I tell you that Thessalonica was a sinful place like Sodom? Thessalonica was a place where there was a vacuum of righteousness as well. It was full of unbelievers. It was full of people who had no time for God and his word. And Paul led some of these people to Christ and began, listen, they began to make a difference because, listen, they knew what they believed, they knew why they believed it, and they were determined, listen, they were determined to live out their faith. The Bible says in our text that they literally turned the world upside down. Why? Why? Because they said, we serve only one king, his name is Jesus. The text reveals that instead of the world influencing Jason and the other believers in Thessalonica, they influence the world. Would you hold your place in Genesis and would you go with me very quickly to 1 Thessalonians 1. 1 Thessalonians 1, look in verse number three. So Paul's writing to this group of believers in Thessalonica. Look what he says in verse number three. He says, remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God and our Father. Look at verse number six. And ye became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost, so that ye were in samples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. Now look at the statement that he makes in verse number eight. For from you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God were to spread abroad, so that we need not to speak anything. You know what Paul said? Paul said, you live the faith so well. He said, I don't even have to travel places now and tell them what I believe and what I teach because you've lived your life in such a way that everybody knows it already. I mean, this is the testimony that this group of people had. And what I'm saying tonight to the members of the Cleveland Baptist Church living in the city of Cleveland where there's a vacuum of righteousness, here's what I'm saying. I'm saying it can be done, and it must be done. I understand the world is a wicked and an evil place where there is a vacuum of righteousness. I get all of that, but I also understand that as the Lord has called us and he has equipped us to make a difference in this world, as opposed to what so often happens, and that is the world making a difference in us. The Lord loves people more than we can possibly comprehend, doesn't he? But I want you to know something, in spite of his compassion, eventually, eventually, judgment will fall. In other words, his love is balanced by his justice. You and I might be the only thing You and I might be the only thing that's keeping that judgment from falling on our generation and on our nation. Here's the question tonight. If the Lord determined to destroy your city or spare your city based on your ability to make disciples, what would be the lowest number? Abraham began to bargain with God. He says, 50? I know there's not 50. 45, Lord? That's probably not 45, but 40? 30, 20, 10? What about for you? Five? Four? Three? Are there a couple people at work that you've influenced, that you've shared Christ with, and to the best of your knowledge, they've repented of their sins and they've trusted Christ? Are there some people sitting in this room tonight, and they're here because you reached them? Because you shared your faith? Maybe they're not in this church, but they're in another church in the area. They're faithfully serving the Lord. You know they're saved. They may not do everything just the way that you do it, but you know that because of your testimony, because of your words, because of your life, God used you to impact them for the cause of the gospel. Abraham got down to ten and still Lot could not produce ten righteous souls as a result of his time there. Some of you have lived in Cleveland, Ohio, a whole lot longer than Lot lived in Sodom. And yet, is it possible that you've reached just about as many people as Lot reached, which is seemingly none other than his own family? You and I, as God's children, listen, we will determine if our communities have a vacuum of righteousness or if our communities are full of the gospel, like the city of Thessalonica that was reached by Apostle Paul, certainly, and Silas, but continued by the example and the testimony of the believers there, Jason and the other believers in Thessalonica. What will it be, Christian? Are we content to allow Cleveland to remain a vacuum of righteousness? Are you content to allow your community to remain that way? Are you determined to say, hold on a minute, I'm going to stand up and I'm going to live a righteous life? I can't change everyone, but I can perhaps change a few. I'm going to start carrying tracts, and I'm going to start being bold in my faith and in my witness, and I'm going to start being a man of integrity and a man of honesty and a man who is righteous and holy. I'm going to start being those things in my workplace and in my neighborhood and in my school and wherever it is that I walk and among other people. I'm going to be the real deal. Our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed here.