The Life of Faith 09

Faith and a Fallen World

Genesis 19 Story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Verses 6-8 Lot offered his daughters. The issue was hospitality. See Ryrie note. The angels took care of it themselves: verses 9=11. Verse 12 get ready to go. Verse 14 they wouldnt believe him. Verses 15-16 the angels demanded they leave. Lot left with wife and two virgin daughters. The rest refused to believe. Verse 16 Lot hesitated. Verses 17-18 he compromised. I dont think Lot was that intent on living in the town. Once his wife died he went to the mountains. Verse 26 she was trailing behind and was turned to salt. Then his two daughters had incest with him. Verses 32-33. Verses 3536.

Introduction: We live in a post Christian culture.

Two episodes brought this home to me in a strong way. 1. Diane Sawyer on the Pensacola revival. Very wild revival going on. 20/20 did a piece on it this month. Showed scenes. Then Diane Sawyer said, And the really scary part is that these people believe they are commanded by God to tell others about it. They call it witnessing. They then went on to deal with a story where a school principal had invited some troubled kids to the revival. The children were in trouble at school and had gone to the principle for counsel. The principal suggested they attend the revival. The kids went and were saved and as a result gave up drugs and alcohol. Their parents were incensed. How could he push his religious views on those impressionable children? The principle was removed and asked not to have contact with students. Not long after that I saw an article on the show for Ellen. Remember Ellen? She came out of the closet. 2. Ellen Deginerous. Angry about the Disney decision to put a disclaimer on the program. Might not be suitable for children. Ellen said the whole point is that we show them that this lifestyle is normal and acceptable. Do you see the connection? It is scandalous to tell troubled teens about Jesus, but it is not wrong to promote homosexuality with children! Values Vacuum. This kind of environment can have long-term ramifications for your family and your faith.

I. Hard Truths From a Fallen World

A. You will be affected. 2 Peter 2:7. and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men 2PE 2:8 (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day with their lawless deeds), Word meant to torment, wear out or oppress. The constant friction will ultimately deaden your nerves to the wickedness. Our former President had an affair with a woman 30 years younger than him. He then lied to the American public for 7 months, lied to his staff, lied to his wife. Only came clean when the evidence was insurmountable. It was an amazing scenario to watch. At first there was outrage and disgust. Then there was a sense of betrayal. That gave way to a sort of cynicism. Then a weird acceptance. At the end it seemed that people were so desensitized that they were angry with the ones who brought it to the public. Starr and Linda Tripp were the ultimate bad guys.

Genesis 19. Lot in Sodom.

Angels come into town and Lot takes them in. Verse 2. Verse 3. Homosexual community wanted to sleep with them. Demonstrates the kind of city. Verse 4.

Sheer bombardment wears you down. tolerant of things you used to abhor.

You become increasingly

II. What you Can Do with a fallen world.

A. Build a strong sense of moral value. Time in Gods word. Maintaining values. Not to judge, but so you will know. Psalms 119:11 Thy word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against Thee. Allows you to know in advance so you wont be influenced by it. B. Protect you family. Lot went to Sodom knowing the wickedness. Notice what he lost. Went in a wealthy man with large herds and family. Left with only two daughters. I wonder what we lose. How many get it all at the expense of their families? How do you protect your family? 1. Become the primary source of information. The pillars of culture used to be built upon the foundation of Christianity. No more. Today relativism has replaced truth. Public opinion is now the foundation. And it is not very stable. So our challenge is to rebuild the foundation. To do that we must be the primary source of information.

Look at Lot. He offered his daughters as a bribe to get the crowd off the angels. Verses 7-8. Somewhere down the road the conscience had been worn down. See it in us. Remember the scandal of 1939? Gone With the Wind. First movie to ever have a curse word. In the mid 1920s Rockefeller pulled the plug on Oscar Wildes rendition of Salome because it was too steamy for the Metropolitan Opera. The play closed after one day. Last year it ran to packed crowds in Arizona. Conservative, Republican Arizona. We become desensitized to evil. After a while you can no longer tell what is right or wrong. B. Your Family will be Affected. Wife. Kids. They were reluctant to even want to leave. Verse 14 Lot to his future Sons-on-law. Man talk about the sovereignty of God. The Lord not only judged Sodom but he spared Lot the agony of those guys. They had to drag him out of the city. Verses 15-16. But Lots wife didnt make it. Verse 26. I saw a cartoon once, Lots wife said to him, Enough of your fanatical beliefs, Im taking one last look. There was clearly a love affair between Lots family and Sodom. Jaundiced by the lust for sin. Want to really see it read on to verses 30 38. Turn your stomach. Lots daughters righteousness. were totally devoid of an understanding of

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Live in a dirty world and you get dirty.

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Ephesians 6:4 And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Deut. 6:4-9 "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! [5] "And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. [6] "And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; [7] and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. [8] "And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. [9] "And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 2. Limit the flow of information. Deuteronomy 7:1-4 they were preparing to enter the land. God told them what to do with the people and the religions of the land. We cant do that. I know you want to, but you cant. Our model is New Testament. In the world but not of the world. We must work to redeem the Lost and protect our children. The flow of information comes at them from four areas: Schools Peers, Media Internet. Unfortunately our children are bombarded with a steady stream of information. Dr. Saul Kapel states that 14,000 hours of childhood is spent watching television. That is an average of 4.9 years. In one year of watching television the average child will witness 9,000 scenes of suggestive sex. Only 6% will be between married couples. Gerald Looney, a researcher for the University of Arizona, has determined that by the age of 14 the average child will have witnessed 18,000 murders.

Limit Internet and be sure its filtered. Help them choose their friends. 1 Corinthians 15:33. Dont be fooled just because they are church kids. Get to know them. Make your home a center. Protect them.

D. Keep praying. May have a Lot in your life. Verse 29 is so powerful. Unfortunately this is a post Christian culture. Yes, everyone is praying now, but when things settle down they will go back to the vice. What can you do? You cant move. You must learn to cope. If you arent careful it will influence you. It will influence your children. You must protect them

Your job is to become the filter. So you must not allow them the unlimited access to those mediums. Stay in touch with the teaching at the school. We are blessed here to have leadership that is responsive. Limit TV viewing for content and time.