Genesis 18:20-25 & 19:12-17 - Where Wickedness Rules

Genesis 18:20-25 & 19:12-17
Where Wickedness Rules
November 8, 2015
First Baptist Church
Jackson, Mississippi
USA

What’s the number one thing?

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The Glory of God!

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1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink,
or whatever you do,
do all to the glory of
God.

November Memory Verse
Acts 1:8
8
But you will receive power when the
Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will
be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in
all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends
of the earth.”

Please Pray For
The Pastor Search Committee
Ross Aven Rodney DePriest
Laurel Ditto Susan Lindsay
Chris Maddux JoeYoung
Paul Moak, Jr.(Chairman)

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French Camp Academy

Sunday school members who
volunteered to make homemade treats
for Operation Christmas Child
Collection Center, November 16-23.
Bring the goodies you made to a table
located outside of Fellowship Hall East
on Sunday, November 15th or
Wednesday, November 18th.

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Share your faith with one person each month
and build a relationship with them, so they will
not only become a disciple – but a disciple
maker themselves.
Luke 19:11-27

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How have you seen God at work
during the week?

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Sunday

Genesis 21:1-8
Keeping His Promise
November 15, 2015
First Baptist Church
Jackson, Mississippi
USA

Today
Genesis 18:20-25 & 19:12-17
Where Wickedness Rules

Genesis 18:20-25 NKJV
20 And the LORD said, “Because the outcry
against Sodom and Gomorrah is great,
and because their sin is very grave, 21 I will
go down now and see whether they have
done altogether according to the outcry
against it that has come to Me; and if not,
I will know.”

22Then the men turned away from
there and went toward Sodom, but
Abraham still stood before the LORD.
23 And Abraham came near and said,
“WouldYou also destroy the righteous
with the wicked?

24 Suppose there were fifty righteous
within the city; wouldYou also destroy
the place and not spare it for the fifty
righteous that were in it?

25 Far be it fromYou to do such a thing
as this, to slay the righteous with the
wicked, so that the righteous should
be as the wicked; far be it fromYou!
Shall not the Judge of all the earth do
right?”

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed
12Then the men said to Lot, “Have you
anyone else here? Son-in-law, your
sons, your daughters, and whomever
you have in the city—take them out of
this place!

13 For we will destroy this place,
because the outcry against them has
grown great before the face of the
LORD, and the LORD has sent us to
destroy it.”

14 So Lot went out and spoke to his
sons-in-law, who had married his
daughters, and said, “Get up, get out
of this place; for the LORD will destroy
this city!” But to his sons-in-law he
seemed to be joking.

15When the morning dawned, the
angels urged Lot to hurry, saying,
“Arise, take your wife and your two
daughters who are here, lest you be
consumed in the punishment of the
city.”

16 And while he lingered, the men took
hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and
the hands of his two daughters, the
LORD being merciful to him, and they
brought him out and set him outside
the city.

17 So it came to pass, when they had
brought them outside, that he said,
“Escape for your life! Do not look
behind you nor stay anywhere in the
plain. Escape to the mountains, lest
you be destroyed.”

http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4939299503409857&pid=1.7
Ray Stedman 1917-1992

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In the first part of Genesis 18
Abraham welcomes Jesus and two
angels during a surprise visit and we
see a Divine encounter where God
renews His promise to Abraham.
Then in Genesis 18:17 we read…

Genesis 18:17
17 And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from
Abraham what I am doing,

Abraham’s conversation with Jesus
(Prayer)
Genesis 18

True Prayer
Prayer always begins with God.
The next step in prayer is justice.
Then comes the pleading of man.

Prayer always begins with God.
Ephesians 3:20-21 NKJV
20 Now to HimWho is able to do
exceedingly abundantly above all that
we ask or think, according to the
power that works in us,

21 to Him be glory in the church by
Christ Jesus to all generations, forever
and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21 NKJV

That is where prayer functions, in the
exceeding abundant realm.
God proposes and then enlists us in
the carrying out of the thing that He
proposes.

Paul expresses in amazement that
God allows us to be co-laborers with
Him as He works out His purposes.
We should never get over it and
always be grateful that He enables us
to be involved in His kingdom work!

We should be about building His
kingdom, not all about building our
own little empires.

Ray Stedman says that:
“Our prayers should be based on a
promise of God or a warning from God
or on some deep conviction by His
Spirit. If not, we have no basis on
which to pray.”

Prayer is not me deciding what I want
God to do and then hounding Him
until He gets it done.
That’s not prayer – that’s nagging and
we are not called to nag God, we are
called to cooperate with God.

It would be presumption, not prayer,
to put myself way out on a limb and
then ask God to prevent someone
from coming along and sawing the
limb off.
Scripture warns us in Psalms 19:13…

Psalms 19:13 NKJV
13 Keep backYour servant also from
presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over
me.

I don’t decide for God and then ask Him
to do it.
• First comes our obedience, then God
reveals to us through His word or
through a deep conviction by His Holy
Spirit in agreement with His word
(never apart from it) what He wants.

Then God enlists us to join Him in His
work. (See 2Timothy 2:3-4)

2Timothy 2:3-4 NKJV
3You therefore must endure hardship
as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No
one engaged in warfare entangles
himself with the affairs of this life,
that he may please HimWho enlisted
him as a soldier.

“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am
about to do?”
No, because I have chosen Abraham
to be My partner to become the
father of a great nation.

“Abraham has a right to know what I
am doing.” Genesis 18:17
It was not Abraham who earned that
right but GodWho gave it to him.
God let His friend in on His secrets.

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James 2:23 NKJV
23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which
says, “Abraham believed God, and it
was accounted to him for
righteousness.” And he was called the
friend of God.

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In the NT Jesus said:
John 15:14-16 NKJV
14You are My friends if you do whatever I
command you (obedience). 15 No longer do I
call you servants, for a servant does not
know what his master is doing; but I have
called you friends, for all things that I heard
from My Father I have made known to you.

16You did not choose Me, but I chose
you and appointed you that you
should go and bear fruit, and that
your fruit should remain, that
whatever you ask the Father in My
name He may give you.
John 15:14-16 NKJV

You don’t tell strangers your secrets,
you tell your friends your secrets.
Friend of God as Abraham was, God
let him in on what He was doing.

Abraham’s part was to obey God so
that God could bring to him what He
had already promised him.
Our part is obedience through faith –
our human response to Divine
provision.

Our obedience makes it possible for
God to give all that He has promised
to us and that is also the basis for our
praying.
God will not bless disobedience.

20 And the LORD said, “Because the
outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah
is great, and because their sin is very
grave,

21 I will go down now and see whether
they have done altogether according
to the outcry against it that has come
to Me; and if not, I will know.”

The partnership of God and man
based on justice.
What a wail must be going up to God
today from the USA due to the
breakdown of morality in the home
and in the Church.

Mothers killing their own offspring both
before and after they are born, parents
abandoning their children, folks
murdering people almost every day of the
week over just a few dollars, corrupt
judges, dirty cops, persecution of fine
Christians just because they are not
politically correct,

television preachers ripping innocent
citizens off and leading extravagant,
immoral lives…
God sees all, He visits our homes (the
Omniscience of God) even discerning our
motives and viewing our thought lives.

Our inner feelings are naked before
Him ofWhom we must give an
account.

Hebrews 4:12-13 NKJV
12 For the word of God is living and
powerful, and sharper than any two-
edged sword, piercing even to the
division of soul and spirit, and of joints
and marrow, and is a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart.

13 And there is no creature hidden from His
sight, but all things are naked and open to
the eyes of Him toWhom we must give
account.
Hebrews 4:12-13 NKJV
Men can’t see everything we do but God
does.

God didn’t tell Abraham that He was going
to destroy the cities but when God said in
verse 21 - “I will go downnow and see
whether they have done altogether
according to the outcry against it that has
come to Me; and if not, I will know”,
Abraham knew what God would do
because He is just.

So the next step in prayer is justice.
God does not allow evil to run
rampant without limits.
He sets limits and when those limits
are reached, He acts in justice.

The next step in prayer is the pleading
of man.
God proposes and man responds with
pleading.

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Genesis 18:22 NKJV
22Then the men turned away from there
and went toward Sodom, but Abraham
still stood before the Lord.

That is when Abraham began
pleading with the Lord on behalf of
Sodom and Gomorrah: 50? 45? 40?
30? 20? 10?

Abraham said to God:
Genesis 18:25 NKJV
25 Far be it fromYou to do such a thing
as this, to slay the righteous with the
wicked, so that the righteous should be
as the wicked; far be it fromYou! Shall
not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

Abraham is not more compassionate
than God is, that is a
misunderstanding of this passage and
of the character of God.
The same was true when Moses
interceded for Israel before God.

Moses was not more compassionate than
the Lord!
God is the Source of all compassion.
Moses and Abraham both were
responding to the compassionate Spirit of
God praying within them.

This was Abraham’s heart awakened
by God’s Spirit that God was going to
judge this city.
Then Abraham appealed to the mercy
of God, that was the basis of
Abraham’s plea.

Abraham is not reminding God of His
character, God’s Holy Spirit is
reminding Abraham of the character
of God.
You are the kind of GodWho has
mercy on people.

You won’t destroy the righteous along
with the wicked –You are not like that
and I know that the God of all the
Earth will do the right thing.
God has always spared the wicked for
the sake of the righteous. (Noah)

God is still sparing the wicked for the sake
of the righteous to this day.
Jesus says to us: “You are the salt of the
Earth.”
One of the characteristics of salt is that it
preserves.

If it were not for the presence of the
righteous in the world today, it would
already have destroyed itself not to
mention having faced the wrath of
God long before now.

Not because we are righteous within
ourselves but we have been given the
gift of righteousness.
• We are to seek to obey Him, live
righteous lives, be the salt of the
Earth and preserve it from the
wrath of a just God.

His mercy operates to curtail and limit His
justice and has all through human history.
He made us righteous and scattered us
into all the nations of the world to
preserve it & because of our presence He
does not destroy the Earth.

Before the final judgment of this
Earth (in Revelation) God must
remove the righteous – the Great
Snatch, the Rapture.
• He does not judge the righteous
along with the wicked, He first
removes the righteous.

This is the basis for Abraham’s prayer.
The second note of true prayer after the mercy
of God is the awareness of the weakness and
ignorance of man.
Who am I to argue with God? (Job)
I can’t challenge what He does.

In Romans 9, Paul addresses the
sovereignty of God and the free will of
man – that paradox!
God is far greater than we are so instead
of disagreeing with God, I should ask,
“What is wrong with my thinking if it does
not line up with His thinking?”

God is not wrong, the Scriptural text is
not wrong, I am wrong.
People say, “I’ve tried that promise in
Scripture and it doesn’t work for me.”
They are calling God a liar!

Instead of questioning themselves as
they should do, they are challenging
the Almighty God!
The recognition of true prayer is that
we are dealing with a BeingWho is
infinitely wiser than we are.

Paul wrote:
Romans 11:33-36 NKJV
33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of
the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are His judgments
and His ways past finding out!

34 “For who has known the mind of the
Lord?
Or who has become His counselor?”
35 “Or who has first given to Him
And it shall be repaid to him?”

36 For of Him and through Him and to
Him are all things, toWhom be glory
forever. Amen.
Romans 11:33-36 NKJV

Then Paul wrote:
Romans 12:1-2 NKJV
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by
the mercies of God, that you present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable to God, which is your
reasonable service.

2 And do not be conformed to this
world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind,
Romans 12:1-2 NKJV
That’s man’s position.

We are on holy ground when we try to
argue God into something.
He is always right!
Abraham was aware of that as he
prayed before the Lord.

The third factor in prayer is that God’s
compassion was reflected in Abraham
when he expressed concern for the
righteous.
Abraham has Lot and Lot’s family in
mind.

Surely there are ten righteous people
in Sodom since Lot, his wife, their two
daughters and their husbands account
for six folks not to mention Lot’s
servants and those others he has had
time to influence.

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http://biblebios.com/lot/sodom.jpg
Only three were found righteous out of all the
population of Sodom – Lot and his two
daughters (who were already tainted with evil).

The fourth characteristic of true
prayer is illustrated by Abraham’s
compassion for the wicked.
He is trying to save the whole city
even though the evil of Sodom was
certainly revolting to Abraham.

So we see four aspects of true prayer:
1) God’s mercy
2) Man’s uncertain wisdom
3) Protection of the righteous
4) Concern for the wicked.

God’s purpose is seen in verse 33.
Genesis 18:33 NKJV
33 So the Lord went His way as soon as
He had finished speaking with
Abraham; and Abraham returned to
his place.

Does that read a little strange to you?
Abraham had been doing almost all of
the talking but it says “Jesus went His
way as soon as He had finished
speaking with Abraham”.

The Holy Spirit had been speaking in
Abraham, what Abraham had been
saying had been planted there by God
Himself.

As we see in Romans 8;
Romans 8:9a, 11, 26-27 NKJV
9a But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if
indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.
11 But if the Spirit of HimWho raised Jesus from
the dead dwells in you, HeWho raised Christ
from the dead will also give life to your mortal
bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you.

26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our
weaknesses. For we do not know
what we should pray for as we ought,
but the Spirit Himself makes
intercession for us with groanings
which cannot be uttered.

27 Now HeWho searches the hearts
knows what the mind of the Spirit is,
because He makes intercession for
the saints according to the will of God.
Romans 8:9a, 11, 26-27 NKJV

God (the Holy Spirit) praying to God (the
Father) in the name of God (the Son)
through man!
That’s true prayer!
It is GodWho puts ideas in our minds and
in our hearts and leads us in prayer.

All true prayers start in Heaven.
We are treading at the edge of
mystery here but through the mist
(myst) several things are made clear.

1. Prayer makes possible the joy of
partnership with God.
Ray Stedman tells about his five year old
grandson, Luke, who loves to help Luke’s
Dad (who is a professional carpenter) with
projects around their house.

Luke gets the nails in the wrong
places and often pounds his own
fingers as he tries to hammer them
into place but it is a joy for both of
them to work together.
• That’s the way true prayer is
between God and His children.

We are probably putting things in the
wrong places in incorrect ways and
pounding ourselves along the way but
what a joy it is to us and to God as we
do His work together!

The more we do it the better we get
at it.
James wrote;

James 5:13-18 NKJV
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him
pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing
psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let
him call for the elders of the church, and
let them pray over him, anointing him
with oil in the name of the Lord.

15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick,
and the Lord will raise him up. And if he
has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
16 Confess your trespasses to one another,
and pray for one another, that you may be
healed.The effective (true), fervent prayer
of a righteous man avails much.

17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours,
and he prayed earnestly that it would not
rain; and it did not rain on the land for
three years and six months. 18 And he
prayed again, and the heaven gave rain,
and the earth produced its fruit.
James 5:13-18 NKJV

2. Prayer enables us to release great
power.
• Prayer opens minds and ears to hear
God’sWord and His power is released.
• Without prayer, everything comes to
nothing because it does not have God in
it. We left God out.

It does produce eternal, good fruit
when the power of God is focused on
an event (Carols by Candlelight) or a
project (Mission First) or a ministry.
Open HisWord and allow HisWord to
speak.

James 4:2b-3 NKJV
2bYet you do not have because you do
not ask.3You ask and do not receive,
because you ask amiss, that you may
spend it on your pleasures.

3. Prayer enables us to appropriate
the character of God.
Abraham was never so much like
God as when he was praying for
Sodom and Gomorrah.

Prayer didn’t save the cities - it wasn’t
designed to - but his prayer made
Abraham manifest the mercy and
compassion of God in his own heart.

Paul wrote;
Philippians 4:6b-7 NKJV
6b let your requests be made known to
God; 7 and the peace of God, which
surpasses all understanding, will
guard your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus.

We become peaceful people, not
anxious and worried but calm and at
peace even in the midst of a crazy
world.
That’s where true prayer brings us.

Philippians 4:6a NKJV
6a Be anxious for nothing, but in
everything by prayer and supplication,
with thanksgiving,
Pray about everything, worry about
nothing.

Anxiety is visualizing the future
without God in it.
He promises to never leave you nor
forsake you, He will be in your future
so see it that way.

We can’t comprehend prayer but we
are to use it.
God’s Holy Spirit will instruct us as we
go. (Psalm 32)

Psalm 32:6-11 NKJV
6 For this cause everyone who is
godly shall pray toYou
In a time whenYou may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters
They shall not come near him.

7 You are my hiding place;
You shall preserve me from trouble;
You shall surround me with songs of
deliverance. Selah
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the
way you should go;
I will guide you with My eye.

9 Do not be like the horse or like the
mule,
Which have no understanding,
Which must be harnessed with bit
and bridle,
Else they will not come near you.

10 Many sorrows shall be to the
wicked;
But he who trusts in the LORD,
mercy shall surround him.

11 Be glad in the LORD and rejoice,
you righteous;
And shout for joy, all you upright in
heart!
Psalm 32:6-11 NKJV
End Ray Stedman

The Plan of Hope & Salvation
John 3:16 NKJV
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life.”
John 14:6 NKJV
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the
life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Romans 3:23 NKJV
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23a NKJV
23a For the wages of sin is death,
• Death in this life (the first death) is 100%.
• Even Jesus, the only one who doesn’t deserve death, died
in this life to pay the penalty for our sins.
• The death referred to in Romans 6:23a is the second
death explained in Revelation 21:8.

Revelation 21:8 NKJV
8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable,
murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and
all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns
with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Romans 6:23b NKJV
23b but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.

Romans 5:8 NKJV
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in
that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Revelation 21:7 NKJV
7 “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will
be his God and he shall be My son.”
•Romans 10:9-10 explains to us how to be saved.

Romans 10:9-10 NKJV
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus
and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from
the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one
believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation.
Romans 10:13 NKJV
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be
saved.”

If you have questions or would like to know more,
Please, contact First Baptist Church Jackson at
601-949-1900 or
http://firstbaptistjackson.org/contact/

Genesis 18:20-25 & 19:12-17 - Where Wickedness Rules

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Genesis 18:20-25 & 19:12-17 - Where Wickedness Rules