INTRODUCTION:

1. In Genesis 18, the LORD appeared to Abraham. He was accompanied by two angels (18:1, 2).
2. The LORD told Abraham He was getting ready to destroy the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (18:20; cf. 13:13).
3. The two angels left and headed toward Sodom (cf. 18:22; 19:1), but Abraham stood before the LORD and interceded for the people of Sodom (18:22-33).
4. In some ways it might seem that Abraham s prayers were not answered. God did destroy Sodom and Gomorrah (19:24, 25).
5. However, in another way, Abraham s prayers were answered. Abraham was concerned for his backslidden nephew Lot, who lived in Sodom. And God spared Lot (19:12-22). He was merciful to Lot (19:16).
6. There are many lessons here in the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Certainly we see here that God hates the sin of homosexuality (cf. II Peter 2:6-8).
7. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is an example of God s judgment (Jude 7).
8. When the restraints of God s laws are ignored or are removed there are literally no limits to human degeneracy and depravity (Romans 1:24-32). Example: same sex marriage, sex change surgery, etc.
9. When man s sin reaches the point of filth and wickedness, God s judgment is certain (Genesis 19:13). God is holy and cannot be indifferent to sin.
10. And, there are many lessons here in the sad story of Lot. Despite his worldly ways, God was merciful to him (19:16).

I. LOT S ANGELIC VISITORS (19:1-3)

1. At first, the angels declined Lot s hospitality (19:2).
2. Lot insisted he pressed upon them greatly (19:3), and they finally agreed to stay in his house (19:3).
3. But before they lay down (19:4), the howling perverts surrounded the house demanding that Lot bring his guests out to them.
4. There were old perverts and young perverts. Many homosexuals became that way because they were molested when they were children.
5. Illustration: young boys are being raped in Muslim migrant camp in France; boys raped by RC priests or boy scout leaders or neighbors, etc.
6. Lot addressed these lascivious sodomites as brethren (19:7).
7. Lot was willing to sacrifice his own daughters to them (19:8).
8. Lot was treated by contempt by the vicious sodomites (19:9). The Scofield Study Bible says, The world s contempt for a worldly believer.
9. The deranged sodomites were ready to break down the door, when the angels reached out and grabbed Lot, and pulled him back inside the house (19:9, 10).
10. Then the angels smote the sodomites with blindness (19:11).
11. From what we can see in the book of Genesis, Lot does not seem worth saving. But God is merciful. And God answered Abraham s prayers (19:27-29).

II. LOT S TIMELY RESCUE (19:12, 13)

1. Lot had such a poor testimony in Sodom that his sons-in-law did not take him seriously (19:14).
2. For so long, Lot had lived comfortably in Sodom. He blended right in.
3. Lot s sons-in-law saw no difference between themselves and Lot. Therefore, his warnings were ignored.
4. When the testimony of the life does not agree with the testimony of the lips, the latter always goes unheeded. It is the life that is the true light W.H. Griffith Thomas (Genesis).
5. At daybreak, the angels hastened Lot (19:15). They urged him to hurry because they would soon destroy Sodom and Gomorrah (19:15).
6. Lot and his wife and two of their daughters were told to escape to the mountain (19:17). Lot said he preferred the city of Zoar, and the angels agreed (19:18-23).
7. But Lot s wife disobeyed the angels and was turned into a pillar of salt (19:24-26).
8. In Luke 17, our Lord referred to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and in Luke 17:32 He said, Remember Lot s wife.
9. Lot s downfall began when he pitched his tent towards Sodom (13:12, 13). Then he moved into Sodom (cf. 14:12).
10. Then he became a prominent citizen of Sodom (19:1).
11. It s been said, A ship in the water is perfectly right, but the water in the ship would be perfectly wrong. The Christian in the world is right and necessary, but the world in the Christian is wrong and disastrous (W.H. Griffith Thomas, Genesis).
12. We are to be in the world, but not of the world. We must stay separated from the world. This is the lesson we learn from the life of Lot.

III. LOT S CORRUPT DAUGHTERS (19:30)

1. This is the last mention of Lot in the book of Genesis. He is seen living in a cave with his two daughters, who had been thoroughly corrupted from living in Sodom.
2. Lot raised his family in Sodom, and they learned the wicked ways of Sodom and Gomorrah (19:30-38).
3. Sodom was a great place to raise cattle, but a terrible place to raise children.
4. In the Bible, drunkenness and immorality are closely associated (19:32-35; cf. Proverbs 23:29-35, note verse 33; Habakkuk 2:15, 16).
5. This shameful sin resulted in the birth of the Moabites and the Ammonites, implacable enemies of Israel (Genesis 19:37, 38).

CONCLUSION:

1. From the book of Genesis it would seem to us that Lot was an unsaved man.
2. It would seem that the only reason God delivered Lot out of Sodom was in answer to the fervent prayers of his uncle Abraham, not because he was worth rescuing.
3. And yet when we get to the New Testament, we see in II Peter 2:7, 8 that Lot was a righteous and just man.
4. In other words, Lot was saved but he was a compromiser.
5. He was saved, but carnal.
6. He was vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked, but did nothing about it.
7. Let us not be like Lot! Let us learn from the sad story of Lot!