“God condemned to ruin and extinction the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, reducing them to ashes and thus set them forth as an example to those who would be ungodly; and He rescued righteous Lot, greatly worn out and distressed by the wanton ways of the ungodly and lawless—for that just man, living there among them, tortured his righteous soul every day with what he saw and heard of their unlawful and wicked deeds. Now if all these things are true, then be sure the Lord knows how to rescue the godly out of temptations and trials, and how to keep the ungodly under chastisement until the day of judgment and doom, and particularly those who walk after the flesh and indulge in the lust of polluting passion and scorn and despise authority.” (II Peter 2:6-10a, Amplified Bible) “Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. In that day, he who is on the housetop and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife.” (Luke 17:28-32, New King James Version) Those last three words are ominous! The margin note to Genesis 19:26 in the Amplified Bible reads, “Lot’s wife not only looked back to where her heart’s interests were, but she lingered behind; and probably overtaken by fire and brimstone, her dead body became encrusted with salt.” Y’all can see many things to be grieved about these days, “wanton ways of the ungodly”—in government, entertainment and in everyday life. But it’s GOOD to be grieved about those things! The Bible gives examples of people spared from judgment because they were sick of the evil around them. See Ezekiel 9:4, Zephaniah 2:3, Amos 5:15, and Revelation 3:10 for example. Mind you, I’m not sitting here as the Grand Inquisitor of who deserves judgment. I’ve got my own load to bear (Galatians 6:5). What I’m presenting is a kind of Self-test of readiness for what lies ahead: Are you grieved over the state of the world? From what I see on my wall here, it appears most of you ARE grieved. So in the words of Dylan Thomas, “rage, rage against the dying of the light.” (I know this was kinda long.)
Posted on: Tue, 12 Nov 2013 16:56:58 +0000
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