Turn with me to Genesis 18. I want to look at Genesis 18, but probably not for the reason that it was written. Oh, so you are going to take scripture out of context? No. You are getting ready to make scripture mean something that it doesn’t mean? No. It’s just that there so much that we can learn from this passage.
One of the things that I think was an unintended consequence of the Supreme Court legalizing same sex marriage, we see as a result of that, and that was in 2015, there has been an increase of incivility in this country ever sense. Incivility is on the rise. We understand the primary part of that decision and how it made, for all practical purposes, homosexuality acceptable in this country.
When you legalize sin, you are pushing God farther and farther away from how you are living as a country. And it is painfully obvious to me that Satan is working overtime to get the United States of America to look like Sodom and Gomorrah. He’s working overtime. And he’s doing a really good job of it ladies and gentlemen.
This really struck when I listen to a minister who lives in Florida. Pastor He talked about how young children are the most susceptible to being taught things. He talked about their innocence. He talked about how they will hear someone say something and agree with it. And I thought about Florida, where he’s located, and how the governor took a stand against teaching about the LGBTQ+ lifestyle in kindergarten through the third grade. Such teaching has no place for children that age and, more importantly, it promotes a lifestyle that is in disagreement with God’s Word.
This message is not about the LGBQT+ agenda, but I had to preface it because of what I’m about to read. In a recent Pew Research study the percentage of teenagers who identified as transgender or gender fluid or so other way than their biological birth, exceeded 20% for the first time in the history of this nation. Ladies and gentlemen, this is astounding. And the only way that this could happen is that they were taught this as they were coming through the school system. They were taught to question who they were biologically and then they also they taught to ask themselves how do you feel about who you are.
We all should know that this was an intended consequence of Satan getting homosexual marriage legalized in this country. This was an intended consequence because now he has people who are in our school system promoting this, pushing that. And it breaks my heart that many a school systems are forbidding parents to know that this is happening.
It’s easy for Barry to get bent out of shape when I hear things like this. It’s easy for me to want to find someone who living that way and promoting their lifestyle, especially to children, to find them beat the tar out them. But I also know that that is the worst thing to Barry could do. That is the absolute worst thing the best thing Barry can do. The best thing I can do is lift them up to the Lord. That’s the best thing I can do.
I want us to see an example of how this can happen, how we can lift those practicing this lifestyle, and we see it in Genesis 18. It’s the story of the Lord and two angels coming down and spending some time with Abraham and Sarah. They let them know that in a year’s time they’re were going to have a son. After this, as the three men are getting ready to leave, the Lord turns to Abraham to talk about His plans for Sodom and Gomorrah.
We’re going to begin in verse 16, but before we do that, lets read what it says about Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 13:13. “But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.” They were wicked before the Lord exceedingly. In other words, they knew what they were doing and they knew God didn’t approve but didn’t care. They were wicked exceedingly.
Now let’s pick the record up in Genesis 18:16 and we’re going to read through verse 26.
(16) And the men rose up (the Lord and the angels) from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.
(17) And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
(18) Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
Verse 19 – the first four words: “For I know him”
God knew Abraham as much as He could a person who is not born again. There are at least two chapters in the New Testament devoted to Abraham – Romans 4 and Galatians3 – devoted to Abraham and how it was his faith that made him righteous.
(19) 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.
God knew that Abraham was going to teach his children to be just and to make righteous judgments.
But the thing that jumped out to me as I read verse 19 is “For I know him.” That is something that God should be able to say about each on of us as His sons and daughters. He should be able to say that I know Barry. I know MJ. I know Neal. I know Kathy. I know Michelle. Why? Because our hearts are supposed to beat with His heart. How He thinks is the way we are supposed to think. How He would respond to situations is how we are supposed to respond to situations.
But like I was using myself earlier when I said sometimes I get so frustrated and angry with what I see going on – there are so many in the church who respond to situations just like I me instead of responding like God and this is the example that we’re going to see in Abraham.
(20) And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
(21) I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto Me; and if not, I will know.
So the Lord tells Abraham that He’s going to visit Sodom and Gomorrah to see if what He has been hearing is actually true. Now there are many in the Church, if they were Abraham, they would jump in and tell the Lord that the things He has heard are true. They would tell Him you don’t have to go look. They would readily jump in and confirm all the nastiness. “Lord it is absolutely true. You’re wasting your time. I mean listen Lord, Lot and I have lunch at least once a month. He tells me all the stuff that’s going on in that place and how this is happening and that is happening. Lot tells me that every time we meet and I just leave those lunches more depressed than I was when I got there>” Doesn’t that sound like many Christians? It should not be this way.
But, we’re going to see how Abraham responds when the Lord tells him what He is about to do.
(22) And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.
Abraham stood in the Lord’s way because he wanted to talk to Him about His plans for Sodom and Gomorrah.
(23) And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
(24) Peradventure (Suppose) there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
(25) That be far from thee to do after this manner [Abraham says “Lord, surely you will not destroy the city if fifty righteous people are there.], 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?
The thing that caught my attention is that when Abraham stand before the Lord and appeals for Sodom and Gomorrah, he first appeals to God righteousness. He appeals to God as being just and one who renders righteous judgment.
Sodom and Gomorrah, as we saw earlier, didn’t deserve righteous judgment. But Abraham stood before God and said you are the judge and you’re judge of all the earth would you not do right will you not give them that city an opportunity?
And we know the story. Abraham continues to subtract five people until the Lord agrees to spare the city for10 righteous people. Abraham is trying to find a way to save Sodom and Gomorrah.
Now, I want you to understand something ladies and gentlemen. God told Abraham He was going to destroy that city because of how wicked it was. The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah’s wickedness had reached heaven. He was going to destroy that city.
But Abraham says to the Lord, “There are people in that city who may be righteous. There may be people who are living that lifestyle who may want to get out of it if they had a chance. So God, are you going to destroy the whole city when there is a possibility you may have fifty people who could be righteous?”
I say that to say this: It’s easy for us, when we know where we’re going, when we know what we have the eternity that we know that we have, to not care too much about people who are living that lifestyle. And I understand that most of the people who live in that lifestyle are not going to repent. They are going to live that lifestyle until they die.
But there is always the possibility that you can pull someone out of the pool. When we hear things like that – what they are doing in the school system and what churches are allowing to happen within their walls – we often want to wash our hands and let them spend an eternity in the lake of fire.
There was a church in Florida that was having a drag queen day, a homosexual day, so that the people who are members of the congregation and identify with that behavior would have an opportunity to express themselves freely and without any condemnation. That is a church that needs our prayers. That is a church that Abraham would pray for.
We need to hold them up before God. We need to hold every single person who lives that lifestyle up before God so that He will have someone who is standing there, who are willing to stand in the gap for those who are living that lifestyle.
When we stand for those people, when we stand for those living that way and when we say to God “whatever little piece of nugget of life that You can find in their lives that could possibly give an opportunity to turn away from it, Father find it! Find it! That’s my heart’s desire. Find that little piece of nugget. Turn that person’s life around. That is our heart’s desire Lord.” God will use that. He will use every advantage that He possibly can.
Abraham gave Sodom and Gomorrah a chance. Ladies and gentlemen, each one of us when we stand before God on behalf of a person living that lifestyle, on behalf of a person who approves of that lifestyle, on behalf of a person who is willing to fight us over that lifestyle – when we stand before God, we are giving him our authority to at least go after that person as much as He possibility can.
That’s what we see here in Abraham. He God the opportunity to go after people. Unfortunately, there were no ten righteous in the city.
Now turn with me and we’re look at one more example and this is an example that helps me understand why there are some in the body of Christ who should not have “Daddy’s car keys”. In Luke 9, we’re going to begin with verse 51.
(51) And it came to pass, when the time was come that He (Jesus) should be received up, He stedfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem,
(52) And sent messengers before His face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for Him.
(53) And they (the Samaritan village) did not receive Him, because His face was as though He would go to Jerusalem.
They knew Jesus was a teacher. They knew Jesus was a rabbi. The Jews believed that the temple in Jerusalem was the true temple and the place to worship God. The Samaritans believed that the temple at Mt. Gerizim was the true temple. Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem; He was not stopping at Mt. Gerizim to worship and they didn’t like that.
And what we must understand is that the only way to get to Jerusalem was to go through Samaria. Most of the travelers who went to Jerusalem didn’t have any problem because most were going for the purpose of conducting business or to visit family. Because Jesus was a “religious man” they took offense and denied Him a place to lodge on His way to Jerusalem.
(54) And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
The first thing that jumped out to me is that they ask that particular question. “Would you like for us to call fire down and consume them?” They believed that they could do that, otherwise they would not have asked Jesus if they could call down the fire.
Well Bro. Barry, why would they believe that? Let’s go back to verse one of Chapter 9.
(1) Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.
Not only did the disciples have the power to represent Jesus, they also had the authority to exercise that power.
(2) And He sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.
(3) And He said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece.
(4) And whosoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart.
(5) And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.
(6) And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where.
They knew, based on Jesus’ prior instructions, that when someone didn’t accept them you just shake off the dust as a testimony against them. But James and John wanted to take it a step further. They wanted to rain down fire because how dare the Samaritans not respect Jesus? How dare they not give him lodging?How how dare they do that?
The thing that made me smile was they were getting offended for Jesus. Jesus wasn’t offended. They were getting offended for Him. How many of you have gotten offended for someone?
Ladies and gentlemen, I wanted to read this passage because this is how so many in the Church often respond when someone does not agree with what they want to do. James and John wanted to respond to the Samaritans the way the Samaritans responded to Jesus. So, they were doing the same thing, except they were doing it for Jesus.
Let’s pick it up with verse 54 again.
(54) And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
(55) But He turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.
The body of Christ does not know what manner of spirit they are of. James and John wanted to rain down fire and Jesus said, “Wait a minute. That’s not who you are.” “But Jesus, you gave us power and authority back in verse one to cast out devils, to heal the stick. Then, when we went to a place that didn’t want us we shook the dust off of our feet. How is this different.” Jesus says “It’s because you know not what manner of spirit you are of.”
Now we know that they were not born again at this point. We know that they were in training because Jesus had called them. They were in training. In the next verse, the training, the instruction, the lesson is taught.
(56) For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.
Ladies and gentlemen, there is nothing that we should ever do and nothing we should ever say that’s going to destroy a person’s life and that is not going to give them an opportunity to have a chance to know Jesus. There is nothing absolutely nothing that we should ever do. Nothing! And Jesus says “Understand Me. The spirit that you are of saves lives. It doesn’t destroy them.”
There is a verse in Ezekiel 18 that says in a different way how God views the wicked and how God views the lost. It’s a verse that’s familiar to you. In the process of showing you these verses, I’m getting into you how God sees things and how we should see thing as a result of being who we are as a son and a daughter.
Let’s read Ezekiel 18:21-23.
(21) But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
If the person that we pray for and is living that lifestyle should turn away and repent, he or she will surely live. The person will spend an eternity with Jesus!
(22) All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him [Praise God!]: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.
(23) Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?”
This is God’s heart. He has no desire for the wicked to die. No desire.
Look at First Timothy 2:4, a verse you are very familiar with. It’s like a New Testament parallel to what we read in Ezekiel. Well, let’s also read verses 1, 2, and 3.
(1) I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
(2) For kings, and for all that are in authority [For the President, Vice President, Congress, the Supreme Court]; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
(3) For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior;
(4) Who will have all men to be savedNo, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”
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Let’s end with Ezekiel 22. A verse you are also familiar with and applicable for ending this message. Ezekiel 22 and we’re going to look at verse 30. Up to this point, God has outlined things that the the people of Israel are doing that are against his laws and against his righteousness. He has also identified the things the priests and the leadership were doing that were against His righteousness and He is ready to bring His judgment.
But look at what God says in verse 30. “ And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.”
God’s heart is always to preserve life. He did not have an opportunity to do it in this situation. He says He sought for a man. Today God is seeking a man, He is seeking a woman, He is seeking a young adult, He is seeking a teenager, He is seeking someone who know Him and is willing to stand in the gap, make up the hedge, for what’s going on in this country.
Ladies and gentlemen, each of us in this room is being sought by God. Each of us in this room is being sought by God to make up the hedge, to stand in the gap, for what we see going on in this country today. And the sole purpose was standing in the gap is so that those who want an opportunity to come into the Kingdom can have it. He has sought us out.
So my question to you tonight: we know God’s desire is that all men be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. Is that your desire? God doesn’t want any of the wicked to die? Is that your desire?
If God came looking for you to stand in the gap, would He find you? There are a lot of children who are part of His family who are not “gap ready”. They are not spiritually mature enough to understand God’s heart when they see all of the things that are going on in this world.
Sought by God. That is you ladies and gentlemen. Be the one to make the hedge!
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