SERMON VIDEOS - VIMEO // YOUTUBE
TEXT - Genesis 18:16-19:38
In Genesis 18 and 19, the time of God's judgment upon the wicked city of Sodom has come. God reveals his plans to Abraham who pleads for God to spare the city for the sake of a few righteous. There's only one problem- There are no righteous people there. Only Lot is "righteous", yet even he lingers, revealing a heart that is attached to the pleasures of sin. In these verses, we learn an essential gospel truth: God’s justice will only punish the guilty. The trouble, of course, is that before God’s eyes none are truly righteous. How then can anyone be rescued from God's righteous judgment? Only by the righteousness of Christ.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
HEAD: QUESTIONS AIMED AT OUR MINDS TO HELP US UNDERSTAND GOD’S WORD.
Do some Bible work. There are several other passages that reference the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. How do they help us understand what’s happening in Genesis 18-19?
How does Abraham’s prayer point us to Christ? What New Testament passages help us see this?
HEART: QUESTIONS AIMED AT OUR AFFECTIONS TO HELP US LOVE GOD
Abraham’s relationship with God allows him to ask questions of God and shows a remarkable persistence. What lessons can we learn about the nature of prayer from this?
Read verse 16 again. Why did Lot linger?
God’s punishment of sin often comes under attack by critics of Christianity. Why? What do we lose if we remove this reality from the Bible?
HANDS: QUESTIONS AIMED AT OUR HANDS TO HELP US LIVE FOR GOD (PERSONALLY, COMMUNALLY, AND MISSIONALLY)
Describe and discuss a time when you have struggled with believing God’s righteousness. What truths from God’s word have been helpful to you?
How would you rate your prayer life? In particular, do you spend time interceding for others? How can you grow in this area?
John Owen wrote on the importance of fleeing from and killing our sin - “Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work; be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you.” Discuss what this looks like in the every-day life of the Christian.