The Fear of the Lord's Judge..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. The second letter of Peter. We are going to continue with our study on this second letter of the Apostle Peter, given by the Holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ to his disciples.

In this case, the Apostle Peter writing to the church. And beloved of Christ, we're going to be addressing by God's grace, verses four through eleven in chapter two, verses four through eleven in chapter two. And the topic that I want us to meditate upon, based from the portion of the scripture that we have in front of us, is the fear of the Lord in His judgment. The fear of the Lord in His judgment. The fear that is the beginning of wisdom.

The fear of the Lord that is the beginning of knowledge. The fear of the Lord. in his judgment, the judgment that is to come, the fearful thing that is to fall in the hands of the living God, the judgment of God. So I want us to meditate by God's grace through his spirit, in the fear of the Lord, in his judgment. And that take him from that portion of his scripture there in 2 Peter chapter 2 from verse 4 to verse 11.

But in order for us to give the context to the study that we've had in the recent weeks, we're going to be reading the whole chapter together. 2 Peter 2, so beloved of Christ with reverent hearts, paying attention to each one of the words. If the grace of the Spirit of Christ is within you and you value the words that He has revealed and given to us, everything that is needed in His Word. And then when we come together by faith, we read together the Word of God so that He will be the one that edifies the soul. It's much needed that we are edified in our souls, beloved.

So let's read together chapter two of 2 Peter with Reverend Hudson paying attention to each one of the words. But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in distracted heresies, even denying the master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality. And because of them, the way of truth will be blasphemed and in their greed They will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle.

Their destruction is not asleep. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned by cast them into hell and committed them to change of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment, If he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly. If by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly. And if he rescued righteous lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked. For as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over the lawless deeds that he saw and heard.

Then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment. and especially those who indulge in the last of defiling passions and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones. Whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, suffering wrong as they wage for the wrongdoing.

They counted pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in the deceptions while they feast with you. They have eyes full of adultery. insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls.

They have hearts trained in greed, accursed children. Forsaken the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, but was rebuked for his own transgressions. A speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness. These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm.

For them the gloom of darkness has been reserved. For speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.

For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness. then after knowing it, turn back from the holy commandment and deliver to them what the true proverb says has happened to them. The dog returned to its own vomit and the soul, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire. Amen. This is the glorious Word of the Lord.

And as I said, beloved of Christ, the portion that I want us to address this evening by God's grace, and I hope with His Spirit and His presence among us, it is that which is contained in verses 4 all the way through verse 11. And as I said in the beginning, before we read, what I want us to think about and meditate upon is the fear of the Lord God of Israel, the fear of the only God of the universe, the fear of the one who created the heavens and the earth and everything that is in them, the fear of the Lord in his judgment. It is that fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom and the beginning of knowledge and his judgment, the one that is promised and given as a reality in the Bible is appointed for men to die. And after that, it comes the judgment. Every single soul, independently of their social status, of their social background, of how much money they have in the bank account, or their morality, or whatever they come from, every single soul will stand before the Lord.

The books will be open. Every thought, every deed, Every single thing that has been committed on this life has been written by the one that sees it all and the one that knows it all. And the day is coming in which you and I are going to have to give an account for the life that we have lived. That is the reality of the judgment of God. And that is indeed a fearful thing, a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, a fearful thing to fall into the hands of Jesus if we are not united to Him by His grace.

But that is a reality of what the Bible says and explains very clearly, that there is going to be a day in which everyone is going to have to give an account. I'm the one that hears that? as long as nothing is going to fall on me. I suppose that we are okay. Beloved of Christ, keep your attention with me, please.

This is a very important topic because it's not only that every single soul, that every single soul is going to face judgment. But here in 2 Peter chapter 2, we have specifically, specifically, the topic of the judgment of the false teachers. Their condemnation, their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. Try to keep your mind with me. This is very important that we said this before we continue with the sermon.

In chapter two, Beloved of Christ, In chapter two, beloved of Christ, you can keep your attention with me, right? Let's not pay attention to that. In chapter two, beloved of Christ, we have not the judgment of everyone, but the judgment of the false teachers. And beloved, there is a sense in which we can be so far just to see this reality as something abstract. But the passage that we have in front of us says that the presence of false prophets among us is a reality.

and that many will follow them." Just think about this. Today, in the world, there are places that call themselves to be churches, in which people have gathered together to listen to a person that falls into the category of what we have in 2 Peter chapter 2. And many of the people that are seated in the chairs and are listening to that man, and in worst case scenario to a woman, are following the deception and the destructive ways of false teachers. Beloved of Christ, that is a fearful thing.

We are not to see this thing as something abstract and something that does not take place. Today, many professing Christians in this city, in this country, in this nation, in this world have gathered together to give time and ear and attention to people that fall into the category of 2 Peter chapter 2, whose judgment from long ago has been reserved, whose change is already awaiting for them. And many of those who listen to them will follow their destruction." That is a fearful thing, beloved of Christ. If we have any type of love, If we have any type of compassion or if we have any similitude to the heart of Jesus Christ in us, These should bring us not only fear, but also compassion for the many souls all throughout the world that are just seated, thinking that when the last trumpet sound, that they are going to be from the perishable into imperishable, from the mortal into immortal, but they're here.

I never knew you. Depart from me, ye workers of inequity. Send to hell, beloved of Christ. That is a fearful thing. And that's why the Spirit of God is very clear to speak of the judgment of false teachers.

those who I said last week, reprobate. They have been chosen before the foundation of the world for this very specific purpose, that they will be within the context of the church to manifest the deviated ways, the crooked ways of doctrine. These people chosen from long ago, whose condemnation is not idle, whose destruction is awaiting for them. These people whose teaching are deviated, crooked, destructive heresies, as the Apostle says here in 2 Peter 2, whose fruit it is sexual immorality, love of money, division and love of self. These men and sadly many women denying the Lord God who they profess to be their Lord with their works.

professing godliness, yet slaves in their hearts of unrighteousness." That is the judgment that we have here. And beloved of Christ, the terrifying thing about this reality is not so much what is awaiting for them, which is terrifying, but the fact that these people are fearless. They have been enlightened. They have read the Word.

They have been instructed. Many of them have been confronted by genuine Christians. Many of them have been confronted by the Word and by the truth. Many of them have been called to turn from their crooked ways. Many of them have been warned, yet they remain fearless of the judgment of God.

Hence, I want us to meditate upon the fear of the Lord in His judgment, because these people are fearless. Their hearts and their consciences are seared by and through their unrighteousness. And when they hear and when they read about the reality of the judgment that is to come, they remain indifferent. They remain dull. Their hearts remain cold.

When they hear about that which is to come, they are indifferent and cold, just as a wall, just as a stone, just as something that is not alive. Their hearts are empty. Fear of the Lord is absent. Reverence to the Creator of heaven and earth is not there. They have not experienced.

They do not know. They are utterly absent of this fear of God, which the Bible describes not only as the beginning of wisdom, but as a requirement and as a qualifier of genuineness of our faith. Job was a righteous man who feared the Lord. Abraham found favor and grace in the eyes of the Lord. He was a man who feared the Lord.

The fear of the Lord is a qualifier of the spiritual condition of those who profess to be in union with the Lord. And these men, these false teachers, being completely apart from the person of Jesus Christ, they are fearless of this reality. And even naming the judgment of God causes absolutely nothing because their hearts and their consciences have been seared and completely hardened. And this is the burden of the Apostle Peter in this section here. Now, beloved of Christ, we are to understand that the fear of the Lord, it is a qualifier of the spiritual state of the soul.

The fear of the Lord. How much we fear of the Lord speaks of the spiritual state of your soul. You see, fearing the Lord is not something abstract that is in the mind. Something that you don't want to see because you're just simply fear because of what could happen to you. But fear of the Lord is a qualifier that speaks of the spiritual state of a soul, an eternal soul.

This is the burden of the Apostle Peter here in 2 Peter, and it's the same burden that had the prophet Malachi in chapter 4. Actually, in that chapter there in chapter 4, the prophet Malachi is speaking of the day of judgment, gives us insight into the nature of the heart of those who do not fear the Lord. Come with me to Malachi chapter 4, and you will see why I'm taking you there when we return to 2 Peter. In Malachi chapter 4, you may remember this chapter there, speaking of the great day of the Lord. Of course, there are things here that apply to the first coming of the Lord and, of course, to the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the great day of judgment, the great day in which every single soul is going to be presented before the Lord.

This is Malachi chapter 4, and I want you to see here the comparison, beloved of Christ, between those who are in the spiritual condition of the false prophets of 2nd Peter, chapter two, and those who are righteous and are united to Christ. And let's see how the prophet compares them here. Chapter four, verse one, it says, For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven. When all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble, the day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of Hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, The sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.

You shall go out leaping like halves from the stall, and you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet. On the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts." Beloved of Christ, I want you to see here the clear comparison that the prophet is giving between two different types of people. And those two different types of people are differentiated by one component, and that is the fear of the Lord. There is on one hand those to whom the son of righteousness shall rise with healing in verse two.

And those are the ones who fear the name of the Lord. The ones that fear the name of the Lord on that great day will be the ones that the son of righteousness shall be on their side and in their favor. They will be the ones that will rejoice, and they will be the ones that will be instrument of judgment for the others. The others that do not have any fear for the name of the Lord, but rather they are described by the prophet here in verse one as arrogant. and evil doers.

Fear of the name of the Lord is antithetical and contrary and opposite to the heart of the unrighteous that is filled with arrogance, with pride, and with evil in his heart. We have people on one side, the ones that are going to see the burning wrath of God on that day, whose hearts are taken captive by pride and evil works. And on the other side, you have those who fear the name of the Lord, beloved of Christ. Fearing the Lord God Almighty is not only something, it is a qualifier of the spiritual state of a soul. Those who will rejoice when the last trumpet sound are the ones who in their hearts fear the Lord, fear the name of the Lord, and the sun of righteousness will shine upon them, and they will rejoice in Him that they will be taken, that the wrath of God will not be upon them.

That's why the apostle says in Romans chapter 5 that we also rejoice in that glory that is going to be manifested, Romans chapter 8. That is the righteous. But the one that is not in God, united in Christ, is both arrogant, prideful, and also is an evildoer. And beloved of Christ, I think and I consider that the Spirit of God in His wisdom and uniting all the Scripture in 2 Peter chapter 2 is going to present these two similar characteristics in the heart of those false prophets that will receive the final judgment. Pride or arrogance, and evil works.

Come back to 2nd Peter, please. I want you to see that so that you will understand my argument and then I will tell you about the text. Go to 2nd Peter chapter 2, please. This is exactly the same burden of the apostle Peter. Speaking of these false teachers, speaking of the false prophets that will be in the context of the church in verse 9 of the passage that we're going to be addressing tonight, he says, The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, that is in judgment or in temptations or in difficulties or in trials.

The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment. He has no escape. He's under judgment unto or towards or going until the day of judgment. And it says, and especially those. And then we have the two characteristics that Malachi gave in chapter four.

Indulge in the lust of defiling passions, that is evil doers, those who do things contrary to nature, those who rebel against God, those who indulge in the lust of defiling passions, the passions of the flesh, those who do things according to the Adamic passions that control them and despise authority. In other words, those who are arrogant and prideful, those who do not resist the authority that is above them, as he's going to explain in the following verse. Beloved of Christ, fearlessness of the Lord will bring to every single soul defilement of the flesh because that person is taken to evil deeds and arrogance. or the old word, arrogance, pride in the heart of that person, that person becomes the authority of his or her own life. There's no one above them.

And if there's someone above them, they are going to despise authority. There's no one who has the right to tell them, to guide them, to instruct them because they have been taken captive by pride, self-sufficient in their own eyes. They are fearless of God. They are fearless of themselves and what the world thinks about them. They are fearless of their benefit and their condition in the world.

They'd want to be good and they want to have and they want to obtain and they want to move. They are concerned about self and therefore they have removed every single thing or every single aspect of the fear of the Lord. What a fearful thing, beloved of Christ, indulge in the lust of defiling passion. fearless of the judgment of God. They have in their minds freedom to transgress the law because in their minds there's not such a thing as a God who they will have to give an account for the things that they have done so they can please themselves in their sinful desires.

They are evil doers and they rejoice in that and they have peace in that. And they are filled with pride, the pride that comes before destruction. And that pride is manifested in what it says in the next line, they are bold and willful. If a person does not fear the Lord, then that person becomes the authority to themselves. And they're always right.

And they are bold and willful. Those who enter into the kingdom of heaven are those who do the will of the Father. Those who are outside of the kingdom of God are those who do their own will. Those who are bold, those who are filled with certainty that their ways are the ways And because of that, there's no one that can say anything to them. They are their own authority, always willing, always active to despise authority because they cannot bear someone teaching them, instructing them, guiding them, not submitting to anyone.

While submission, it is a characteristic of the spirit of Christ in a believer. Submit to one another. Wives, submit to your husbands, the churches to submit to one another, and so on and so on. Despise authority, bold and willful. They do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones.

Those who are in higher authority. And here the apostle gives us the example of the angels who are greater in power and in might. Men have been made a little lower than the angels. But these men, Sadly, as I said before, sometimes even women who are in this, they are the authority unto themselves. There's no one who will bring correction.

There's no word that they will listen to. They are their own standard and they are willing to despise every single authority. And even the angels who are greater in power, even the angels who are mightier, even the angels, they do not revile or they don't do anything against higher authorities. That's the example the Jew gives in the parallel passage to this, that when the Archangel Michael contending with the devil for the body of Moses, he dared not to open his mouth in reviling accusation, but he said, the Lord rebuke you. The Archangel Michael He knew his position greater in power, but those who have been taken captive by the deceitfulness of their hearts and who consider themselves to be the final and ultimate authority for the life, according to 2 Peter 2, bold and willful.

In Colombia, we have horses that go through the streets, and they put certain things here so that they will not see to one place or to another. Their wickedness and their unrighteousness has blinded them. So they have become the standard, and they become the rule of how to proceed and how to move. Pride, arrogance, according to Malachi, evildoers for whom The burning oven is waiting for whom the day of the judgment is waiting. So the apostle, knowing the importance of this, of this particular reality, the apostle is now going to speak to the church about the severity and the justice of the judgment of God, the severity and the justice of the judgment of God.

I'm beloved of Christ. I was tempted for one second, even as I was approaching to this pulpit, to apologize for the difficult words that we read constantly here to Scripture. And I said, Oh, Lord, I'm sorry. This is the Word of God. Never to be ashamed and always to speak his words are they are written.

And if he speaks of judgment and to be fearful of it, then so be it. We are to read it and to take it as what the Lord says. Chapter two, he presents the severity and the justice of the judgment of God. And what he's going to do, the apostle presenting this reality to the church is using examples of the Old Testament or using examples of the past. Executions of judgment in the past are shadows of the judgment that is to come for the false prophets.

Execution, manifestations of the judgment of God in the past teaches us, they teach us what is the judgment that is going to come, not only in general, but the judgment that is to come for false teachers. So the apostle is intending here to demonstrate and to present to us the severity one side of the judgment of God and also the justice of the judgment of God. And this severity of the judgment of God, it is given to us in verse four and five. And the reason why I call that the severity is because those two verses start with a couple of words saying that God did not spare. that God did not spare the angels, in verse 4, God did not spare the ancient world.

That is the severity of the judgment of God. That is the strictness of the judgment of God. That is the completeness, the fullness of the judgment of God. that He did not spare the angels, in verse 4, and that He did not spare the ancient world, in verse 5. And then onwards, He speaks about the justice of the judgment of God.

Now, beloved Christ, pay attention to this, because we're told, in verse 4, of something very important. that God did not spare the angels when they sinned. And here the apostle is wanting to bring to the attention of those who read this and who received this, the severity of the judgment of God coming from the greater to the lesser. Not even the angels who are mightier in power, who are greater. Men have been made lower than the angels, but not even the angels who were created to worship God, to be ministers of God and ministers of the redeemed.

Not even the angels escape the absolute severity and strictness of the judgment of God. And when they sinned, they were cast into judgment. Pay attention to something very interesting, beloved of Christ, here. And this is that every single creature is under obligation to submit in obedience to the Creator. You see, sin or obedience, or if you want disobedience, is not something that pertains only to humans who are or were made in the image of God and who were given the law of God to be obeyed.

But every single creature by virtue of its nature, a creature, enters automatically, organically and naturally in a relationship of obedience and submission to the Creator, so that everything that God has created is to respond in obedience to that which they were made for. In this case, even the angels. The angels were also submitted to obedience to the Lord. Even the angels were to be in the standard of righteousness of God and to remain in that standard of righteousness. And we are told, beloved of Christ, that some angels sinned and that because they sinned, they were cast into hell and committed to chains.

Many controversies have been fought, I suppose, or discussed about this verse. But I'm going to focus on what I think is the main purpose of the Apostle, not so much addressing whatever controversies there may be about who are these angels and what is the hell that they are now captive there. But the important thing that the Apostle wants to communicate here, I think, is Beloved of Christ, this already not yet aspect of judgment, but it is similar in the angels and similar for the false prophets of whom we are speaking to. We are told that these angels who seemed that they were cast into hell and committed or kept or preserved in chains or pits of gloomy of darkness to be kept, to be preserved until the judgment. That is that they are partaking of an already judgment now, but there is a judgment that is yet to come.

Some people, based on the parallel passage of Jude, say that this is speaking of the fallen angels that committed sexual immorality in Genesis chapter 6. And then when they committed this sexual immorality, they were thrown into hell because they were after estranged flesh. So these fallen angels that committed sexual immorality with the daughters of men, they were cast into hell, reserved in chains until the day of judgment. Or some other people might also say, well, at least this is what they think they thought that I have in my mind. Also, the angels that had been cast into the abyss through a redemptive history for different dispensations and different decisions of God.

And Christ himself also thrown into a temporal place of judgment, awaiting for the judgment that is to come. I had to say that just because I had to say, but beloved of Christ, The important thing here is that you see the severity of the judgment of God, even on angels who sinned against him. Greater in power, they dwelt in the presence of God. They saw God, the presence of God manifested to them in a different way to humans. Yet when they sinned, they were cast into hell, waiting for the judgment that is to come without any hope of redemption.

At least humanity has the hope of redemption in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The angels receive the fullness of the judgment, and they are kept in chains. At least some of them are waiting for the judgment that is to come. And the other ones, the ones that are not kept in chains, are the demons that are just trying to destroy the work of God before the Lord comes. The apostle then progresses, beloved of Christ, to the second argument to show us the severity of his judgment, and that pertains to the world that was created, or as he says here, the ancient world, it says in verse five, for if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly.

This is the apostle tells here the ancient world. Beloved of Christ, this is very interesting because this ancient world speaks of the original world, the original world that was created, the world that God created, that He said that it was good, that He created everything, everything was good. Then sin came and entered into the world, disobedience and death spread throughout people because all of them sinned. But that was the ancient world. That was the world of God.

The world of God that was taken over by the presence of sin and the presence of death. And now the apostle here tells us that this is the world of the ungodly, beloved of Christ. The Bible says that when God saw the evil heart there in Genesis chapter 6, the evil, continually evil in the heart of people, the amount of violence and the amount of terrible things that were happening in that world, that He repented, that He had created the world, that He was grieved, that He had created the world. And because of the grief that was caused because of the unrighteousness that he saw in the world, he said that he was not going to strive with the soul of man. And the judgment will come not only upon men, but upon the whole world.

Beloved of Christ, we live in times in which we are a fearless church. That when we hear of the things that happened in ancient times, our hearts are cold and indifferent to those things. Yet the Bible says that those things were written and took place for us as an example of the judgment that is to come. Not only an example of what is to come, but also an example for the church. Beloved of Christ, God repented that He had made the world, and He sent a flood to destroy the world that was His.

And then when sin entered the world, it became the world of the ungodly, the world of the evil one, the world of Satan. He destroyed all of them. And in a manifestation of His grace, we have the preservation. and the keeping of Noah, the eighth, or the eighth person, with seven others, the manifestation of the grace of God. He found favor in the eyes of the Lord, and the judgment that was going to come upon the whole world did not come upon Noah.

He was saved and rescued by the grace of the Lord. This is the severity, beloved of Christ, of the judgment of God. When that day comes, all of those who have been appointed for that judgment will not have escape. There will not be a place to which they can go and hide themselves. There will not be thought or not even death is going to be an escape for those people.

Just like in the days of Noah, the waters will come and there will not be a place where they can hide. Judgment of God will come upon them. And He will execute His judgment. And He will remain just. And He will remain good.

And He will remain loving. And He will remain perfect. And He will remain the only God of the universe. And everything that He does and decides is perfect, loving, gracious, and good. And that day will come, beloved of Christ.

The day is coming. What if it's tomorrow? Are we ready? What if it's tonight? What if it's the next word that I speak and utter?

This is the reality of what the Bible says, the severity of this judgment. But this judgment is not only severe, if that is how you pronounce that word. It's not only the severity of that judgment, but that judgment, beloved of Christ, is also a just judgment. No one is going to be able on that day to say to the Lord that he was unjust. No one is going to be able to say that he gave to the wicked that which was for the righteous, or that he gave to the righteous that which was for the wicked.

Nobody is going to be able to open his or her mouth on the day of judgment to bring any accusation to the one who is going to execute judgment upon all, because his judgment is not only severe, But it's also just. And that point is made by the apostle in the next story that is given to us from the old times. And that is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. And you remember the wickedness and the defilements of the flesh that were taking place there in Sodom. Terrible things were happening.

Homosexuality, Sodomites in the land. doing things against nature, things that God despise. And judgment came from heaven, fire from heaven against the ungodliness of the people that were there. And in that city, there was a man. And that man is what Peter calls the righteous lot.

And this righteous lot was rescued. by God from the judgment that was to come. The justice of the judgment of God given to us in verse nine. Please read that because actually that is my whole point of the sermon. Verse nine, it says, the Lord knows, the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials or from difficulties.

and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment. The apostle is now concluding his line of argument that he started in verse four and putting the conclusion to that in a general principle that is taken from the examples that he gave from the angels, from Noah and primarily derived from the story of Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah. And then he writes a principle that teaches the church. And he says the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials. and to keep the unrighteous and their punishment until the day of judgment.

Just as Lot, beloved of Christ, was rescued from the midst of the unrighteousness of Sodom and Gomorrah, So is the godly and righteous who is in Christ rescued from trials until, or even on the day of judgment. Just as the unrighteous and the ungodly in Sodom and Gomorrah were kept in the city, until the judgment of God came, but Lot was the one that was rescued by God out of the judgment that was going to come, so is the godly removed and rescued by God from the trials and from the difficulties. But the Lord also says that just as the unrighteous and the ungodly in Sodom and Gomorrah were kept in the city until the day of judgment, so is the unrighteous kept under judgment until the day of judgment. Beloved of Christ, the glorious thing about this verse is that what he says there, that the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials. That the Lord knows, not only that He's able, but that the Lord knows the way to rescue the godly from trials, or to rescue lot from the fire that is to come, that the Lord knows, that He knows the way, that He knows the system, that He knows the procedure to rescue the godly from the judgment that it is to come.

And beloved of Christ, it is a glorious hope to know that the Lord who executes judgment upon all, and who is just and holy and perfect, has a way and knows how to rescue the godly from the trials and from the judgment, even that it is to come, and that it came upon Sodom and Gomorrah. Because the simple definition of the system, the methodology, the procedure by which the Lord rescues the godly from trials, rescues the righteous from judgment, rescues the soul that is godly from the judgment that the unrighteous deserves, is what Pedro said in his prayer. Mercy. Beloved of Christ, mercy. Mercy.

not given us that which we deserve. Mercy. A mercy that is manifested in the passage even by attributing the word righteous and godly to Lot. A word that is taught just by that fact. that this man is called righteous and that he is equivalent to the godly.

This Lot, the one who was when he was with Abraham and he was given the opportunity to choose between the land, he was the one that decided to move towards the land of Sodom and Gomorrah, knowing that this was a land that was evil and that there were many things, horrible things that were taking place in Sodom. These men who not only abide and move his tent towards Sodom in this wicked place, but ended up living in Sodom. The one that willingly decide to go and abide in the midst of all of these unrighteousness. The mercy in this passage starts just by calling him righteous Lord and comparing him to the godly, beloved of Christ. Had we had a greater understanding of the holiness of God and the unrighteousness of our hearts, we will know the abundance and the depths and how glorious is mercy to our souls.

that we are given just as Lot the title of righteous and godly when we did not deserve. What did Lot do in order to receive the concept of this title of righteous or godly in this passage? To follow Abraham, the one who had been given the promise that he was going to be a great nation and to believe in the God of Abraham. These men, just as Abraham had faith, and therefore he was counted as a righteous man and a godly man, just as Abraham in Genesis chapter 15, his faith was accounted to him as righteousness. And even in the midst of his sin, he was seen as the friend of God.

He was seen as one who walked with the Lord, who feared the Lord in the midst of his lies, in the midst of his sin. Abraham, the father of the faith, the friend of God, He was considered to be a righteous man, so Lot, when he believed in the God of Abraham, he became a righteous man, and mercy was poured upon the soul of that man, that even though he continued to be an unrighteous person, the favor of the Lord that was on the side of Abraham was also on the side of Lot, and this is just because He had had faith in the God of Abraham. That is not the first time that Lot was rescued. I don't know if you remember, but in Genesis chapter 14, Abraham hears that some kings had had some certain wars and they had gone to Sodom and Gomorrah and that Lot had been captured and that he had been taken. And when Abraham heard about that, he took some men and he went to liberate his kinsmen because he loved him.

The Hebrew Abraham went to rescue Lot. One would have expected that Lot, the righteous, would have not gone back to Sodom to live there in this unrighteous place. But we know that he went back to Sodom to live in that unrighteous place. And then we are told that the reason why the Lord spared Lot It was not only because of him, but because there was a person that before the judgment of God was going to come upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and I hope that you remember this, a man named Abraham interceded for that city. When the promise of Isaac was given to Abraham, the Lord said, Am I going to hide that which I'm going to do in Sodom and Gomorrah to my servant Abraham, who is going to be a great nation, who is going to multiply and who is going to be fruitful?

Am I going to hide the judgment that is to come, the cry that I've heard and received from the wickedness that is taking place in Sodom and Gomorrah? He heard and he received from the Lord that judgment was coming upon this place. And Abraham, knowing that Lord was there, said, Lord, are you going to do that which is not just? Are you going to judge the wicked with the righteous? What if there's 50 people there that are righteous?

Are you going to judge the whole city if there are people that are just and people that are unrighteous? And the Lord says, I will spare the city if I find 50 people there. And so progresses Abraham in his argument, trying to intercede and trying to rescue the life of Lot and the family of Lot. What about 45 and 40? And if 10 are missing, what about 10?

The Lord says, if I find 10 righteous people in the city, I will spare the whole city. Beloved of Christ, the judgment of God upon Sodom and Gomorrah was righteous, because no righteous person was found. No righteous person was found, so brimstone and fire came from heaven, even just my hair, I don't know what you call this, it just, as I speak about this, and as I consider this, fire from heaven. upon all the ungodliness and unrighteousness." You remember the story of Sodom?

Wicked men wanting to know sexually even the angels who had come to the house of Lot. And then we have a righteous Lot even offering his daughters. That is the righteous Lot that we have in 2 Peter chapter 2. My beloved of Christ, we're told something glorious. I will see in your faces.

I don't know if to read it or just to quote it, but let's read it. Go to Genesis chapter 19. In Genesis, we're told something glorious, and this is the reason why he's actually liberated from that judgment. You have the enduring intercession of Abraham for the soul of Lot. And then, Lord, after receiving the message of the judgment that is to come through the angels, and after seeing the power of the angels, what they did to these wicked men, and after knowing that these were angels coming from the Lord God of Abraham, this righteous lot, we are told that when the morning came, in verse 15, when the morning came, chapter 19, verse 15, as morning dawned, The angels urged Lot, saying, up, take up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in punishment, in the punishment of the city.

And then we're told in verse 16, but he lingered, but he hesitated. He doubted after he saw Lord, the things that had taken place overnight, after he saw the angels and the things and the warnings that they were given, he hesitated, he doubted, he lingered, he tarried, he did not pay attention to the warning of the angels. And they said, if you do not pay attention to this warning, then punishment is going to come upon you. But then we have the Lord. So the men that are the angels, so the men seized him by force.

and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him." How does the Lord rescue? He rescues even if he has to do it by force. Those who by faith have been united to Christ, even if he has to come to rescue us by force, they will be rescued from the judgment that it is to come. Not anything of our works, of our deeds, of our intelligence, because we are even dumber than Lot, if that is a polite word to say from my pulpit.

We are even worse than Lot, yet he sends his mighty hand to rescue the godly from the trials. the Lord being merciful to him. And they brought him out and set him outside the city. And as they brought them out, they said, escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley.

Escape to the hill that you'll be swept away. Then Lot, in what I think is a very uncomfortable discussion, instead of running away, he just asked just to go to a different city. He is given this opportunity, but then he go to verse 21. He said to him, Behold, I grant you this favor, the favor of going to a different city that was requested by Lot. He said to him, Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.

Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there. I cannot execute judgment until this man, this feeble man, this sinful man who has the title or the label of righteous, who has had faith in the son or in the God of Abraham, until you depart, until you arrive to the city of refuge, then judgment will come. ceased by force, reluctant to come. Yet the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials. He knows how to rescue those who are His.

He knows how to pour mercy upon the one that does not deserve. Even if they are blinded, even if they want to remain, they are taken by the forceful hand of God, because mercy has been bought on their behalf by the glorious Christ Jesus. Verse 23. Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.

But Lot's wife behind him looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. And he looked down towards Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley. And he looked and behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace." I don't think that we've seen anything like that, beloved Christ, yet.

Verse 29. So it was that when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrown when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived. The Lord remembered Abraham. And because he remembered Abraham, the one to whom the promise had been given, the one who had had initially faith, the one who had followed the Lord, the one who was the kinsman and brother of Lot, the one who was of the flesh, united in the flesh to Lot, the one who had communicated and spoken of this God, of whom Lot was also a believer, when God remembered Abraham, the intermediary, the prayers, and the intercession of Abraham, He rescued righteous Lot." Beloved of Christ, apart from this little component of genuine saving faith in the God of Abraham, Apart from that minute component of genuine, not fake, but genuine saving faith in the God of Abraham, apart from that, this man Lot and his family would have received the fire that came from heaven upon them, because they deserved it as much as the other people of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Yet when a person, by the mercy of God, is given saving genuine faith, then that person enters into a covenant that is established upon the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. that death will not be upon you any longer, because my beloved Son has taken it all and it is finished. And on grounds and on the virtue of the completed work of this glorious Savior, Jesus Christ, now your soul is not only called righteous and your soul is called godly, but your soul is also kept in the hands of the one that executes judgment. That is the severity of the judgment of God that is going to come upon all. But that is also the hope of the one that is in the person of Jesus Christ, that when that judgment comes, as our brother says, we can indeed by the Holy Spirit rejoice.

They will run into the mountains to hide themselves from the wrath that is to come, the wrath of the Lamb. But the one who has genuine saving faith in the person of Jesus Christ can wait for that day of the judgment that is to come. And the Apostle John says that that hope in that day purifies us. Now, beloved of Christ, having that type of faith, does it mean that we are fearless? Does it mean that we do not consider the seriousness of the judgment of God?

Of course not. Of course not. If the faith that we have in God is a faith that does not give us reverential fear on the judgment that is to come, then there is a problem with your faith. Faith that is genuine and that is established upon Jesus Christ is a faith that in nature does this, looks outside. that looks outside self, and when that faith moves you, please pay attention to this, when saving faith takes you to see outside of you, then what you see is a God that is holy, that is righteous, that is perfect, and that has a perfect law, and that everyone is submitted to that, or is meant to be under that law and in obedience, and that everyone is going to be judged according to that standard.

And that should bring us fear of the Lord. I fear of the Lord, beloved of Christ, that is necessary for your Christian life. Being righteous and fear the Lord is not a thing of the Old Testament. Fearing the Lord is a necessity and it's a need for your Christian life. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter 7, please.

It's not an Old Testament thing, it's rather a New Testament thing. 2 Corinthians chapter 7. After the apostle has spoken about the promises that we have, that we are the temple of God, that we are the dwelling place of God better, and that we are not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers or with unrighteousness. He says in chapter 7, verse 1, something that it would be so beneficial for your soul to meditate upon and to memorize. It says, since we have these promises of being the dwelling place of God, of being the place where God is, since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of the flesh and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of the Lord or in the fear of God.

bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. We have been saved by grace through faith justified. We have been receive this justification in Christ, we have peace with God, legally speaking, but we have been called to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, to die to self and to live in the person of Jesus Christ to be sanctified and sanctification conformity to Christ, according to the Bible is brought to completeness or it is fed or is produced in the fear of the Lord. I fear of the Lord, beloved of Christ. I fear of the Lord that is not abstract, that is not intellectual.

I fear of the Lord that is not just simply a concept that you have never experienced. You think that the Bible speaks about fear as something that you never experienced? If it speaks of love and you have experienced love, if it speaks of joy and you have experienced joy, will the Bible carelessly speak about fear of the Lord? And then your soul can be completely ignorant of what fear of the Lord is, beloved of Christ, genuine biblical faith. The faith of the one that is walking in the Spirit and is united to Christ is a faith that will always look to outside and will look to the person of Jesus Christ and will look to God.

And by looking to God, we will learn who he is, his judgments, his words, his deeds, his holiness, his perfection, and what he is will define who we are. The problem with our faith is that our faith is a combination of looking to Him and looking to ourselves. And then this is what happens, that the fear of the Lord is just simply a projection of the sinful passion of what we understand as fear. So when we experience fear, it is based on who we are. So when we commit a sin and when we are walking in unrighteousness, we have certain type of fear because we are projecting our fear and defining that as the fear of the Lord.

But then when we are self-righteously without sin, or at least we think we are deceived in ourselves and we are without sin, then the fear of the Lord is completely gone. Because the fear of the Lord depends on looking to ourselves. But the fear of the Lord that is biblical is always looking to God. So whether you are in sin or whether you're walking in righteousness, you're always living a reverential life before the Lord. Even when your conscience is clean and without sin, you still have fear of the Lord because the fear of the Lord is not based upon who you are, but because who He is and who He is does not change.

That's why we have not experienced genuine biblical fear of the Lord. And the only closest thing that we have to the fear of the Lord is just this fear when we do something wrong. Just when a kid does something wrong and they think that mama or papa is going to come and disappoint them. That is the type of fear that we have of God. And that is not biblical fear.

It is looking to who He is, His holiness, His righteousness, His perfection, His Word, never changing. He gave His Son. He is loving. He is merciful. He is apart.

He is other. We are creatures. And then we are like, depart from me. I'm a sinner. Even if you think that you're walking in righteousness, just because of who you are.

Depart from me. It's even wrong that you look at me. It's even wrong that you commune with me. It's even wrong that you save me. It's even wrong, all of those things.

But He does not depart. He says, I love you. I love you. I love you in Jesus Christ. And that is the glory of this, that yet when I should depart from you, because I'm so holy and apart from you, and you're so senior and so small, that when I should indeed depart and execute all my judgment, I love you.

I have loved you. I send my Son, Jesus Christ, to die upon the cross for you. I have loved you. I have redeemed you. and even in the mist, even just beholding the beauty of the love and the immensity of the sovereignty of God, the fear of the Lord is strengthened within you to bring your holiness to completion.

Beloved of Christ, beloved of Christ, there is an urgent need to fear God because the fear that you have of God is measured by the fear that you have of men. How much you fear men is how much you fear God. Because saving genuine faith that is walking in the spirit that fears the Lord above men is the same type of faith that move Noah in the text to be a herald of righteousness, to speak of the judgment that is to come. I'm building my ark. And this is he was fearful of God on behalf of the people.

You see, power to worship or power to share the gospel, fear the Lord, so that you will be like righteous lot who was best or who was distressed, according to the ESB, who was distressed with the unrighteousness of all the people. Why? Because he knew that this unrighteousness deserved judgment. Love is manifested when we fear the Lord. Then we are not self-centered, farisaical and moralistic, judging people by their standards of morality and saying, this world is just so bad.

This world is so corrupt just because they are indeed sinful. But rather the heart of the one that fears the Lord says, Lord, have mercy, have mercy upon them. Lord, have mercy. There is an urgent need to go and preach the gospel, because I know the judgment that is coming. Lord, have mercy upon these souls, the souls of the lost, not with a pharisaical standard of I'm better than them.

And I'm not going to join with the unbeliever or with the lost, but with compassion, saying these souls are under the judgment of God, herald of righteousness. There's a judgment that is to come. It does not matter that you think that I'm crazy. It does not matter that I'm sold out. It does not matter that you think that I'm nuts.

It does not matter. Your soul is at risk. Compassion, not fearing men, but fearing God. You want power when you share the gospel? You want power to speak to everyone when they come across you?

You want power to open your mouth and to speak of Christ? You want power to speak to the tall, to the big, to the multitudes? Fear the Lord. Because the multitudes, the big one, the tall one, the one that is reputable, the one that is rich, those are nothing compared to God. Those are nothing compared to the one that executes judgment, the one that takes the soul of people.

That is nothing. Fear of the fear of men that you have defines the fear of God that you have. Beloved of Christ, time for you. If you're going to forget everything that I've said, forget it. But please remember this.

There has to be a connection between your faith and your holiness. Add that in the middle. Fear of God. Fear of God. You're saving faith that connects with your holiness.

Fear of God. You cannot bring your holiness to completion according to 2 Corinthians 7, verse 1, if you do not fear the Lord. How do you fear the Lord? By having a faith that is empowered, looking outside of you, not looking to self. Because when you look to self, you become the standard of righteousness, of moral.

You become the standard of all of those things. And your fear of the Lord is tainted, and it's fleshly, and it's not biblical, and it's just like a rat running away from the cat. That is not the fear of the Lord. It's the fear that brings you to His presence and says, I'm a sinner, and now I know that the Holy of Holies has been opened for me to enter with boldness. The glorious contradictions of the Bible, contradictions, yes, that an unrighteous man can enter into the Holy of Holies by virtue of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, that the ungodly can be called godly, that the unrighteous can be called righteous.

Beloved of Christ, this is the glorious abundance of life in Christ to us that open our eyes to the God that governs over everything. And even we will say, Lord, please pass this cup from me, but know my will, your will be done. I know what is to come, but know my will, your will be done, because I know I have absolute certainty. that it is You, the One that governs absolutely everything. And I prefer to fear You, O Lord, than to fear empty men, that the worst thing that they can do is to destroy the flesh.

But this One, God, holds our souls in His hand. He's the One that keeps us and protects us, and He's the One that knows how to rescue us. Amen?