So Lot went out and spoke to the sons-in-law who were pledged in marriage to his daughters. "Get up," he said. "Get out of this place, for the LORD is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. Sermons
(1) understanding of God's acts; (2) that he should become a mighty nation; (3) that he should be ancestor of the promised Seed; (4) that he himself should be a blessing to others. Of these points two at least are not confined to him personally, but belong to all who will. To know what God doeth a man must be taught of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:14; cf. Isaiah 7:12). There is a wide difference between seeing an event, or even foreseeing it, and understanding God's lessons therein. To be able in everything to mark the love, and care, and wisdom of God; to walk with him as a child, accepting what he sends not merely as inevitable, but as loving; to learn lessons from all that happens, and through the works of his hands to see our Father's face - this is peace, and this is what the wisdom of this world cannot teach (Matthew 11:25; 1 Corinthians 1:20, 21). Again, Abraham was to be not merely the ancestor of a nation, but the father of a spiritual family by influence and example (Matthew 3:9; Galatians 3:7). In this his calling is that of every Christian (Daniel 12:3; Matthew 5:13, 14). Text connects the godly rule of a family with both these blessings. Christianity is not to be a selfish, but a diffusive thing (Matthew 5:15; Matthew 13:83); and the influence must needs begin at home (cf. Numbers 10:29; Acts 1:8), among those whom God has placed with us. I. THINGS NEEDFUL FOR THIS WORK. 1. Care for his own soul. If that is not cared for a man cannot desire the spiritual good of others. He may desire and try to train his children and household in honesty and prudence; to make them good members of society, successful, respected; and may cultivate all kindly feelings; but not till he realizes eternity will he really aim at training others for eternity. Might say that only one who has found peace can fully perform this work. A man aroused with desire that his family should be saved. But he cannot press the full truth as it is in Jesus. 2. Love for the souls of others. Christians are sometimes so wrapped up in care for their own souls as to have few thoughts for the state of others. Perhaps from a lengthened conflict the mind has been too much turned upon its own state. But this is not the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:24). It is not a close following of him. It tells of a halting in the "work of faith" (2 Corinthians 5:13, 14; cf. Romans 10:1). 3. Desire to advance the kingdom of Christ. When a man has this he sees in every one a soul for which Christ died (cf. John 4:35), and those with whom he is closely connected must chiefly call forth this feeling. II. THE MANNER OF THE WORK. Family worship; acknowledgment of God as ruling in the household; his will a regulating principle and bond of union. Let this be a reality, not a form. Let the sacrificial work of Christ be ever put forward in instruction and in prayer. Personal example - constantly aiming at a holy life. To pray in the family and yet to be evidently making no effort to live in the spirit of the prayer is to do positive evil; encouraging the belief that God may be worshipped with words, without deeds; and tending to separate religion from daily life. Prayer in private for each member - children, servants, &c.; and watchfulness to deal with each as God shall give opportunity (Proverbs 15:23). Let prayer always accompany such efforts. - M.
He seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law. I. LET US ATTEND TO THE EXHORTATION ADDRESSED BY LOT TO HIS SONS-IN-LAW. THERE IS A CLOSE PARALLEL BETWEEN THEIR SITUATION AND OUR OWN.1. We are living, like them, amongst wicked men. 2. We are exposed, like them, to Divine judgment. 3. We are plied, like them, with overtures of mercy. II. LET US ATTEND TO THE MANNER IN WHICH THE SONS-IN-LAW OF LOT RECEIVED HIS EXHORTATION. THERE IS A CLOSE PARALLEL BETWEEN THEIR CONDUCT AND THAT OF MANY OF OURSELVES. 1. Like them, we reject as mockery the demonstration of our danger. 2. Like them, we reject as mockery the offer of a method of escape. 3. Like them, we reject as mockery all earnestness in pressing on our attention the means of deliverance. III. LET US ATTEND TO THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE SONS-IN-LAW OF LOT RECEIVED HIS EXHORTATION. THERE IS A CLOSE PARALLEL BETWEEN THEIR DOOM AND OURS IF WE DIE IN A STATE OF UNBELIEF. Here we may appeal — 1. To the declarations of the Almighty. 2. To the facts of history. The old world. The cities of the plain. 3. To the dictates of reason. 4. To the attributes of God. His truth and holiness. (G. Brooks.) Homilist. The context strikes several things forcibly on our attention.1. The incongruity between the material and moral departments of existence in this world. In Sodom we find natural beauty and harmony in conjunction with moral deformity and discord. 2. The amazing power which prayer has with the Governor of the world (Genesis 18:23-33). 3. The existence of a moral government in connection with the conduct of man. 4. The deep interest of angelic intelligences in human history. I. LOT'S MESSAGE TO HIS SONS-IN-LAW WAS ALARMING IN ITS NATURE. "The Lord will destroy the city." 1. Their peril was great. 2. Their peril was the result of sin. 3. Their peril was just at hand. 4. Their peril at this moment was unavoidable. II. HIS MESSAGE TO HIS SONS-IN-LAW WAS FOUNDED ON THE DIVINE AUTHORITY. 1. The danger of which the gospel preacher warns the unconverted is not a dream of his own; it is a fact of Divine revelation. 2. The proclamation of this danger to the unconverted is not optional on the preacher's part; he is bound by heaven to do it III. His MESSAGE TO HIS SONS-IN-LAW WAS SCEPTICALLY RECEIVED. 1. The appearance of things remaining unchanged. "Since the fathers fell asleep," &c. 2. The force of old associations. 3. A false trust in the mercy of God. (Homilist.) I. NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT AND SERIOUS, AS NOTHING IS MORE CERTAIN, THAN ARE THE TRUTHS WHICH RELIGION PRESENTS TO OUR CONSIDERATION. II. And yet, secondly, THERE ARE MANY WHO TREAT RELIGION WITH DISDAIN AND DISREGARD. In worldly affairs persons are seen to act usually with attention and earnestness; they made a due use of their reason, and consider what they are about. Thus they act, not only in things of great consequence, relating to their life, their health, their liberty, their fortunes, their family, their honour and credit, but even in slighter matters, to obtain a small profit, or to escape a small inconvenience. Nothing is neglected, nothing is put off to an uncertain day; instruction is attentively received and put in execution. But as to religion, there is not this zeal and activity; it is not carefully weighed, scarcely can it obtain a fair hearing; favourable opportunities are neglected, opportunities which slip away, and are never to be recalled, and everything that should be done is left undone. III. Let us consider, thirdly, WHENCE PROCEEDS THIS STRANGE INDIFFERENCE AND NEGLECT. It proceeds in a great measure from want of faith, which is an evil more common than is imagined. Some men there are who have received good natural abilities, which they employ to bad purposes. Of these talents God giveth them the use, and the devil teacheth them the application. They argue themselves out of their religion, and then apply themselves to debauch the minds of others, and to treat serious and sacred things with levity, licentiousness, and ridicule. Pernicious books and corrupt conversation spread the contagious disease. (J. Jortin, D. D.) I. Let us, in the first place, ATTEND TO THE EXHORTATION ADDRESSED BY LOT TO HIS SONS-IN-LAW. "Up; get you out of this place: for the Lord will destroy this city." Consider what was the situation of these men. They dwelt in a city subject to the dominion of sin. They dwelt in a city which, in consequence of its sinfulness, deserved immediate destruction; in a city which, when time and opportunity abundantly sufficient for trial and repentance had been afforded, was devoted to immediate destruction. The Divine mercy still extended to them one respite, one opportunity, one warning more. Such, then, is your situation. Such is the situation of every one who hears the sound of the gospel. Contagion surrounds you; destruction lies before you. You are defiled, miserable, and helpless. Yet still there is a call of mercy; still there is a way to escape. The God whom you have offended places deliverance within your reach. The Son of God becomes man, and gives His life to purchase your salvation.II. Consider, in the next place, THE MANNER IN WHICH THE SONS-IN-LAW OF LOT RECEIVED HIS AWFUL ADMONITION. He seemed unto them as one that mocked. Their conduct discloses to us their character. They had evidently set their hearts on the worldly advantages which, in their apprehension, attended the place where they resided; and they made little account of its wickedness. In many respects the conduct of a large portion of the world bears at this day a close resemblance to that of the sons-in-laws of Lot, and arises from the same principles. When the great doctrines of the gospel are proposed as comprehending and disclosing the appointed method of salvation; what numbers disregard or despise them! When the holy commandments of God are explained and enforced as indispensably and in every particular binding upon every man, what numbers withhold their assent from the strictness of such interpretations of the Scriptures! When the terrors of the world to come are displayed, when the wrath and vengeance of God are revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, what numbers refuse to credit the tremendous truth! The minister of the gospel seemeth unto them as one that mocketh. III. Consider, in the third place, THE CONSEQUENCES OF TREATING AS AN IDLE TALE, AS THE WORDS OF ONE THAT MOCKETH, THE DECLARATIONS OF ALMIGHTY GOD. They brought ruin upon themselves and their posterity. (T. Gisborne, D. D.) 1. Good fathers make haste in midst of dangers to keep their children from destruction, being fore-warned of God's judgments.2. Gracious parents are earnest with children to press on counsels for their good and safety. 3. Near relations in the flesh, though wicked, yet are dear unto gracious souls to save them. 4. Faith concerning God's judgments revealed will put gracious hearts upon hastening others out of them. 5. Places of habitation when they be places of vengeance, as well as of sin, must be abhorred and forsaken by God's saints. 6. Cities though ever so strong and stately cannot secure sinners from ruin. It and they shall perish. 7. Jehovah is the author of destruction upon places of wickedness, who cannot be resisted. 8. God sends messengers of salvation sometimes to the vilest of men, to Lot's sons, &c. 9. God, His messengers, and His messages of vengeance, are all but scorns and derisions to wicked men. 10. Secure scorning of destruction from God is the immediate forerunner of it, as here. (G. Hughes, B. D.) If you had been in Sodom on that solemn, awful evening you would never have suspected it. There was nothing outwardly to show that terrible scenes were at hand, even at the door. No weird omens were observed that night; no strange sounds disturbed the superstitious. No fiery sword was seen hanging over the city, in token that the sword of the Almighty's wrath was at last unsheathed. No signs appeared in the sun as he sank peacefully to rest. The cattle came lowing home from the fields, and the sheep-dogs barked, and the voices of children at play were heard. And then darkness fell; and the chirping of a myriad insects rose on the stillness of the Eastern night; and the stars looked down upon the quiet scene; and the moon shone, for the last time, on the great doomed city. But within Lot's dwelling a solemn conference was being held, and Lot's heart was heavy and disturbed. Full of sadness was he for the heedless, unrepenting people; full of anxiety for those dear to him in that place. And then he hurried out in the darkness to warn his relatives, and to urge on them immediate flight; and they — how true to life it all is! — laughed at him! They treated the matter as a fine joke, and the more earnest his entreaties, the more boisterous grew their mirth. And so the night wore on, and then the day began to break, and the angels hurried, nay, forced Lot out of the city. But with the morning light the scoffer waxed bolder still. "What of thy coward fears of the night, O righteous Lot?" he mockingly begins, but the words die away on his lips. Ah! what means this strange, unearthly gloom — this lurid, awful flame, in which earth and heaven seem joined in one? What this terrible sense of suffocation — this scorching, choking downpour? The lightning plays, and the thunder rolls — shock upon shock is felt — shriek rises upon shriek — confusion, horror, uproar! Woe! woe! woe! ... A few hours later, and a silence still more awful .... And the sun, as he rides high in the heavens, looks down upon a smoking mass of desolation — "And the smoke of the city went up as the smoke of a furnace!"(J. B. C. Murphy, B. A.) What a chance (which never came again) the sons of Lot missed that evening! But do you know what they said? They said he was an alarmist! "The old man is in his dotage," laughed one," and some one has been frightening him." "Never heed him," cried another, "he is ever thus, croaking about the wickedness of the place, and telling us we are all going to be destroyed. He has been saying it for years — and nothing has ever happened yet!" Ah, that's just where it is! "Nothing has ever happened yet!" And so, when the preacher warns the open sinner of his danger, and urges him to escape from his sin — to escape for his life — he is laughed at, and he is called an alarmist. But every one who has ever tried to press home a truth that has been unwelcome — to warn people of a danger that they would rather believe to be impossible — has been called an Alarmist. Noah was an "Alarmist." Lot was an "Alarmist." The prophets who foretold the destruction of Jerusalem were "Alarmists," and many a one who foresaw and foretold the Indian Mutiny of 1857 was called an "Alarmist." And so, at the risk of being called an "Alarmist" I would take up and echo this cry. Art thou living in a Sodom of wilful sin — a Sodom of uncleanness, or drunkenness, or not? — then "Escape for thy life!"(J. B. C. Murphy, B. A.) Look at Lot going through the streets of Sodom at midnight to warn his sons of the approaching destruction of the city, only to be reviled and mocked by them. Mr. Moody once said that he remembered being in an American city a few years ago, and there came unto the after-meeting an old grey-headed man, who for years had been wandering from God. In early life that old man had walked with God, and had found fellowship with Him; but for a number of years past he had been wandering in the darkness and agony of sin. He (Mr. Moody) said to him, "God is very merciful, and He will forgive you," and gave him a number of passages of Scripture, and sat up with him until midnight. About that hour the light broke in upon the old man, and the Lord restored to him the joy of his salvation, and the old man went on his way rejoicing. The next night the old man came into the meeting looking the very picture of despair; he did not think he had ever seen a sadder countenance, and he asked him what his trouble was. The old man replied that he had spent the most wretched day of his life. His family had grown up and lived in that city. He had that day wandered from house to house, and had not seen a child who did not mock him. The old man added that he now realized what he had done; he had taken his children into the world, and could not get them out again.People Abraham, Ammonites, Ben, Benammi, Lot, Moabites, ZoarPlaces Gomorrah, Sodom, Sodom and Gomorrah, ZoarTopics Appeared, Arise, Daughters, Depart, Destroy, Destroying, Destruction, Hurry, Jested, Jesting, Joking, Law, Lot, Married, Marry, Mocked, Mocking, Pledged, Rise, Seemed, Seriously, Sight, Sons, Sons-in-law, Spake, Speaketh, Spoke, Taking, TownOutline 1. Lot entertains two angels.4. The vicious Sodomites are smitten with blindness. 12. Lot is warned, and in vain warns his sons-in-law. 15. He is directed to flee to the mountains, but obtains leave to go into Zoar. 24. Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed. 26. Lot's wife looks back and becomes a pillar of salt. 29. Lot dwells in a cave. 31. The incestuous origin of Moab and Ammon. Dictionary of Bible Themes Genesis 19:14 5654 betrothal Library The Swift Destroyer'And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest them be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that He said, Escape for thy life; look not … Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture The Ship on Fire --A Voice of Warning Little Sins Some Man Will Say, "So Then any Thief Whatever is to be Accounted Equal... As Concerning Purity of Body; Here Indeed a Very Honorable Regard Seems to Come... The Heavenly Footman; Or, a Description of the Man that Gets to Heaven: But Some Man Will Say, Would Then those Midwives and Rahab have done Better... The Debt of Irenæus to Justin Martyr The Sea of Sodom How the Married and the Single are to be Admonished. The Disciple, -- Master, what is the Real Meaning of Service? is it that We... Jesus, My Rock. The Apostles Chosen And for Your Fearlessness against them Hold this Sure Sign -- Whenever There Is... Epistle iv. To Cyriacus, Bishop. Letter Xlv (Circa A. D. 1120) to a Youth Named Fulk, who Afterwards was Archdeacon of Langres Triumph Over Death and the Grave Journey to Jerusalem. Ten Lepers. Concerning the Kingdom. The Covenant of Works The Hindrances to Mourning Genesis Links Genesis 19:14 NIVGenesis 19:14 NLT Genesis 19:14 ESV Genesis 19:14 NASB Genesis 19:14 KJV Genesis 19:14 Bible Apps Genesis 19:14 Parallel Genesis 19:14 Biblia Paralela Genesis 19:14 Chinese Bible Genesis 19:14 French Bible Genesis 19:14 German Bible Genesis 19:14 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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