Sunset in Sodom Luke 17:20-37

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1 Sunset in Sodom Luke 17:20-37 Abraham was sick of all the arguing. His herdsmen were forever fighting with Lot s. So the old man stood his nephew on a high hill. On the left the barren boulders and alkali wastes of the Judean Desert sweltered in the sun. On the right, a lush green valley stretched to where the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were etched against fields and forests. The old man told Lot he could take his pick. He could lead his flocks right or left. And Abraham would take what the young man did not want. Lot smiled and nodded toward the valley. So the two men parted. Lot settled in Sodom, a wealthy, anything goes city. And each evening when the setting sun gilded the glittering towers of Sodom, Lot would marvel at the majesty of the city s marble pillars, shimmering statues, and towering temples. But neither Lot nor the Sodomites realized the sun really was setting on Sodom. The splendid city was living out its last days. In one afternoon all the mosaic courtyards, perfumed brothels, and busy markets of Sodom would be smoking ruins. We live in a terminal society too. This world of steel skyscrapers and bustling business, of engagement parties and wedding showers will not last much longer. The Jews lived in their own terminal society. In forty short years, Roman legions would reduce Jerusalem to scorched stones. And God s people would be scattered to far-flung shores. The only kingdom that will endure for all eternity is the kingdom of God. And somewhere Bethshean, the Pharisees asked Jesus about that kingdom. Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, Verse 20 The Pharisees did not ask what God s kingdom would be like. They had already decided it would be all palaces, power and peace. Jesus knew that was wrong. And then as now, He wants both His enemies and His friends to know what it will really be like. The Person of the Kingdom I doubt the Pharisees really understood our Redeemer s reply. But then, many of us do not either. He answered them and said, The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, Look, here it is! or, There it is! Verses Our Lord said God s kingdom does not come with observable signs. Physicians used that word to describe watching the symptoms of a sickness develop. The Pharisees looked for a kingdom they could see: stallions strutting, armies marching and bands playing. But Jesus said that was all wrong. In this age God s kingdom, like His Spirit, is like the wind. We cannot see it, just the outward the results it produces. Neither is God s kingdom tied to any geographic location. It is centered around one pure and powerful Person. For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst. Verse 21

2 That statement can be translated two ways. It can mean among you here and now. Or it can mean within individual human beings. Bible scholars disagree which is correct. But that does not matter. Both are true. God s kingdom was indeed in the very midst of those Pharisees. That was where His sinless Son stood. And God s kingdom on earth is indeed within the hearts and lives of those who trust in Jesus today. That is where the Savior s Spirit is. The Master s message is simple, really. God s kingdom is not a government or a world system. It has no borders, board members or bureaucracy. God s kingdom rules and reigns wherever His beloved Son resides. It is Person, not a place or a parliament. Right now the only palace of God s kingdom is the human heart. When Paul was a prisoner in Rome, he led a number of Caesar s elite praetorian guard to Christ. So God s kingdom ruled right within Caesar s palace. And if you and I love and live for Jesus Christ, God s eternal kingdom is also within us. The Promise of the Kingdom Pontus Pilate was frustrated. The small town Carpenter who stood before him was battered, beaten and bruised. Yet in spite of being accused of the leading a rebellion against Rome, He seemed strangely serene. His voice was soft and His spirit steady. Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm. John 18:36 Yes, Christ s only kingdom in the world both then and now is in the hearts of those who love and live for Him. But it will not always be so. One day, Christ will return to this world. Not as a helpless baby, squalling in the straw of a manger, but as a conquering King. When the Pharisees drifted off, our Savior spoke to His disciples in detail about God s kingdom. And as He did, He also outlined the order of events. At that moment, Christ was indeed the King of Glory. Both His words and His works testified that He was God s Sinless Son. And soon He would offer up His blood as the sacrificial Lamb of God. But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. Verse 25 After that, He would be absent. His disciples would long for the days when they walked with Him. And today, we still do. And He said to the disciples, The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. Verse 22 But those days will not last forever. Without warning, He will return to this earth one day. And all of mankind will see it....just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day. Verse 24 The book of Hebrews says God s Word is a two-edged sword. It cuts to life and to death, to blessing and cursing. And the same is true of Christ s coming. It will also be both a blessing and a curse. With that in mind, Christ compared His coming to two Old Testament stories....just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed

3 them all. It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Verses Both Sodom and the society in which Noah lived were soiled and soured by sin. But our Lord did not mention any of the many sins of those people. Instead, the Savior spoke of simple, everyday activities. In the example of Noah, He spoke of family life: marrying and giving in marriage. In the case of Lot, our Lord spoke of business life: buying and selling, planting and building. Yet, God s wrath was poured out upon both of those societies so savagely, they were utterly and suddenly destroyed. The Savior insisted it will be the same when He returns. His coming will be sprung as a trap, ensnaring a world full of people. And their greatest sin will not be lies, lusts or larceny. The sin that condemns them will be living their lives in utter disregard for the God who loves them and gave His Son that they might live. Both the people of Noah s world and Sodom shared the same mind set. They worked and played, ate and drank as if their world would endure forever. They lived on the very edge of disaster and doom. Yet never for a moment did they realize it. It was not as if they were not warned, either. Each day while his sons worked on the ark, Moses proclaimed that God would soon judge the world. He begged his neighbors to turn from their wicked ways and serve God. But not a single man, woman or child responded. So they were all destroyed when rain poured down from the sky, flood waters churned, and desperate survivors clung to mountain peaks. And Jesus said our day is just the same. God s Word repeatedly warns this world that a day will come when the Creator will not come to people with pleading but with power and judgement. Preachers proclaim it. Books describe it. And faithful Christians witness of it. Both the people of Sodom and Noah s neighbors were caught by surprise when that judgement came. And people in this world will be stunned and startled in the same way when God pours out His wrath upon all who scorn the sacrifice of His Son. That coming event is neither fiction nor a fable. It is God s firm promise. He will judge sin. And no man will escape. As surely as vultures find rotting carrion, God s judgement will find every sinner. No matter where they are. He said to them, Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered. Verse 37 No doubt, when rain began to fall, Noah s neighbors beat on the closed door of the ark, begging to be let in. And when the first burning coals of brimstone rained down upon Sodom, those people regretted their arrogance and iniquity. But it was too late for them to repent. The day of acceptance had passed them by. And nothing was left but to endure the wrath of God....the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand? Revelation 6:17 (NKJV) The lesson is stark and stern. There is a time to turn to God and trust only in His Son s blood as the full and final payment for sin. There is a time to confess our sins and commit our lives to Christ as our Lord and Savior. And that time is now.

4 The People of the Kingdom Our Savior painted a picture of terror. And the world would be wise to take heed. But those who trust in Jesus are not to fear. It is not a coincidence that our Savior selected the two stories of God s wrath He did. In both examples, Christ was careful to include wonderful words of promise to His people. In the first illustration, our Lord spoke of the day Noah entered the ark. In the second, He spoke of the day Lot went out of Sodom. In both examples, God poured out fierce and fiery wrath upon sinful people. But before the first drop of rain or hot coal fell, our loving Lord delivered those people who trusted in Him. And He did so by taking them out. That is precisely what Jesus said God will also do before judgement comes to this world. I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. There will be two women grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left. Verses In less than a second, people all around the world who are committed to Christ will be caught up to be with their Lord....the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 It will happen all around the globe. Some will be sleeping when one of them is taken. Others will be doing morning chores. And still others will be working during the afternoon. Our Savior promised us that He will deliver us from the terror and terrible judgement He will pour out upon this world. He offered us that pledge because He does not want us to fear and fret. Indeed, we dare not waste time worrying. The work Christ our King has for us to do is far too important. Like Noah, we are to proclaim God s warning. We are to plead with people to come to Christ and be saved in this calm hour while there is still time. And we cannot do that if we indulge a love for this world and all the things in it. Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1 John 2:15 That is why our Redeemer reminded His disciples about Lot s wife. It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back. Remember Lot s wife. Verses Lot s wife looked back at the smoldering ruins of Sodom with longing. She remembered the tapestries that hung on her wall and the carved furniture in her parlor. Her look revealed that while her body had been delivered from God s wrath, her heart was still in Sodom. And if we are like a man who rushes back into a doomed city or a burning house to retrieve some treasure, our hearts are still in this Sodom. No, we cannot hang onto this life and still cling to the life our Lord would give us.

5 Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. Verses 33 There is nothing in this world that is worth our love or loyalty. We are to love our God and Him only. And we are to be faithful to Him alone. We are not to be gullible and easily fooled, either. We are not to be deceived when false Christs and pretending prophets appear. We are to be wise and wary. It is sunset in Sodom. Soon our Savior will return to take us away to His Father s throne. That means our time short. A world full of people wake and work and sleep without a hint that judgement is coming. We are watchmen on a wall. It is our job to warn people that God s wrath is coming. And there is safety only in Jesus Christ.

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