Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
November 4, 2001 AM
Serious Secret Sins Of Sodom
Reading Genesis 19.1-11 & Ezekiel 16.44-51
In setting the stage for our lesson this morning... Let's examine what the New Testament has to say about the Sodomites and their sins.
-- Peter tells us that the people of Sodom were ungodly... oppressive... engaging daily in lawless deeds... and improper conduct.
-- Peter says that God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly.
-- Jude 7 says... Sodom... Gomorrah... and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They are an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
When we think of Sodom... and the sins of Sodom... We usually think of sexual immorality.. Certainly these two cities were noted for their deviant sexual appetites.
Then... In our reading of Ezekiel 16, we find God comparing the people of Judah with Sodom. As if that weren't insult enough, the Lord goes on to say... Indeed, you are worse than Sodom. The first thing which must have gone through their minds is... How can we be worse than Sodom?!! They too must have thought of the sexual sins of the Sodomites, and said... But, we're not doing that ... How can we possibly be worse?!"
But Scripture informs us that Israel was guilty of sins that God found even more distasteful... And it was for these sins that they were destroyed by the eternal fire. And He warns the people of Judah... and us... That unless these sins are turned away from... REPENTED OF... then sure destruction will follow. The Jews didn't listen, and they were soon led away into captivity following the destruction of the city of Jerusalem.
Now audience... We individually... As family units... As a church and a nation... We must listen to God's warning... Lest we experience a similar fate. God takes these sins… SECRET SINS OF SODOM SERIOUSLY!!... So must we!
You see... The point this morning is this... Before the gross sins of Sodom were possible, they had to have some spiritually unhealthy attitudes and behavior which God hated... And that led them down the rosy path to destruction... And will us if we are not careful. You may be surprised at what those sins were! Let us pay close attention this morning! We may find ourselves guilty of some of these same sins... Either individually, or corporately as a family unit... as a church, or a nation.
First... There was the sin of having a SUPERIOR ATTITUDE.
The first sin listed in Ezekiel 16.49 is pride and arrogance. The sin is to assume ourselves to be above... superior... better than anyone else. It is an arrogant... disdainful attitude... the sin of a superiority complex.
You see, when we regard ourselves as better than others... We can't help but look down on them from this better-than-thou perspective... SO...
They soon become a source of irritation to us...
They just can't seem to measure up to us...
And they never will.
After all... They are just not as good as we are. And the things which they do accomplish... Could have been done much better... More efficiently...Or more correctly had we done them.
Now... We must know this morning that... This kind of arrogance will always eventually lead to oppression of those whom we look down upon... Those we disdain. And why not... Because they are substandard... They are not as good as we are... RIGHT? We know this kind of thinking is true because the Bible affirms it...
-Nehemiah 9.9-10 tells us that Pharaoh and the Egyptians acted arrogantly toward the Jews, and the result was they afflicted Israel while they dwelt in Egypt. Their attitude of... We are better than you... led to hundreds of years of cruel slavery and abuse.
-We can see this in the history of our own nation.... the white people said... We're superior to the native Americans and the blacks... So we took the land of the Indians and used the blacks as slaves. And we still have not recovered from the resulting abuse which we laid upon these two groups of people.
-And today we are doing the same thing to millions of unborn babies through abortion. After all, it is the woman's body... Her convenience is more important than the life inside her.
Listen to God from Numbers 15.30 from the NIV... But anyone who sins defiantly... Out of a sense of I'm superior to you (I am better than you)... Whether native-born or alien, blasphemes the LORD, and that person must be cut off from his people.
Then, there is this warning in Deuteronomy 17... Where God says that the individual who regards himself as being superior to the priest or judge will die!... In this way you shall purge the evil from Israel; and all the people will hear and be afraid, and will not act arrogantly or superior again. The Pharisee exhibited this attitude... God... I thank Thee that I'm not like other people! Such arrogance and pride make God sick! Jude 7 tells us that it caused Sodom to undergo the punishment of eternal fire. It caused the Pharisee to go home still with his sins... Unjustified.
Church... The reason this sin is so bad in God's sight is that oppression always follows on the heels of arrogance. The people of Sodom had no respect... no regard for others... and why should they? After all, they were superior! Thus... all others... including angels sent from God... existed for their pleasure or amusement. We must be careful here... Lest we fall into Satan's trap of feeling superior to others of God's creation... RIGHT?
The second sin of Sodom was that of BOASTING.
Note Ezekiel 16.50... They were haughty... And did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. The word translated haughty literally means abundant with boosting.
You see church.... When one is filled with arrogance and pride... with a sense of being superior to everyone else... boasting is never far behind.... Is it? Recall that the Pharisee praying in the temple, right after reminding God that he wasn't like everyone else, immediately he begins to boast.... I fast twice a week... and I pay tithes of all that I get... He was boasting... RIGHT?
In contrast to this... Jesus teaches us to not do anything in such a way as to be noticed by others... In such a way as to be boasting... Practice your righteousness before God... Not men.... Those who practice their religion to boast, to be seen of others, already have their reward... And can expect nothing... (HOW MUCH?)... NOTHING from their Father in heaven.
Church... This is a pretty powerful statement. The Bible is telling us that BOASTING robs us of God's blessings... BOASTING robs us of His rewards. You see, James tell us that... Some of us have not, because we ask not. This passage tells us that... Some of us have not, because we boast... and God withholds His blessings.
One with an arrogant attitude will always seek to draw attention to himself... ALWAYS!!... Look at me... See what I've done... Aren't I something great? Indeed... Arrogance leads to boasting... And the Bible teaches that... for Sodom... Israel... and for us... both lead to destruction! May God help us to keep a bridle on our boasting... RIGHT?
Sin number three was the sin of FLESHLY INDULGENCE.
This sin is listed in verse 49 of Ezekiel 16.
-The NIV says... Overfed and unconcerned.
-The NASB reads.... Abundant food and careless.
-Our King James says.... Fullness of bread... and abundance of idleness.
-The NRSV... Excess of food, and prosperous ease, without aid for the poor and needy.
These readings are not suggesting that it is wrong to have plenty to eat... or plenty of anything... Nor is it sinful to be filled when hungry. The sin is seen in the fact that Sodom indulged themselves in food and material possessions while being...
Absolutely unconcerned...
Completely insensitive...
To those around them that were starving and had nothing.
The phrase fullness of bread or gratification of bread can mean a number of things.
-It can refer to an abundance in any of the necessities of life.
-It can mean to indulge the fleshly appetites...
-To gratify the sensual demands of the body....whatever they might be.
Paul uses this word as he condemns what is called fleshly indulgence. It is used in a more literal sense in Exodus 16.3 where the Jews in the wilderness desired to return to the slavery of Egypt where they ate bread to the full. You see, the sin of Sodom was that they had become so obsessed with gratifying the desires of the flesh, whether those desires were for food, sex, or things.
Audience, note this progression... The Sodomites obsession for more and more and more drove them to constantly want more than what they had. What they had was never enough, even though it was more than sufficient. A dissatisfaction with our abundance always drives us to want something new…always. And, it was this thirst which eventually led them to seek a new sexual experience.
-The men of Sodom did not want the daughters of Lot... They wanted something NEW!!
-The Sodomites had so much that they had become perverse in their desires.
And it destroyed them! World history also tells us that this also contributed to the fall of Rome. And unless we repent... It may lead to the destruction of our families, our churches, and our nation.
Then fourthly... There was the sin of WANTON WELL-BEING.
The fourth sin of Sodom goes hand-in-hand with the third... The RSV describes it as prosperous ease. It comes from two words which simply mean... To have great luxury.
The Sodomites had become a society of people who had everything... and then some! Like Israel, they were reclining on couches of ivory. Like the rich man... (In the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus)... In splendor daily.
Does this remind us of anyone today? We have more of everything... More than any people who have lived before us. Now... We must know that there is nothing wrong with this... In fact it is God's blessing to us. However... We must not be caught up in wanting more and more and more to the extent that we are blind the needs of others.
You see... The sin of the Rich Man was not his having... It was that he was so caught up in his blessings that he failed to take note of Lazarus lying at his front gate. The successful farmer was not condemned for his success... But for his selfishness... I will say to myself... take it easy... for you have plenty for a long... long... long time. We are made to wonder how this parable would have turned out it he had of given some of his success to the needy instead of building more barns... RIGHT?
Listen to these scriptures which affirm this thought...
-- Daniel 11.21 says that... A desire for luxury blinds us to the danger which surrounds us.
-- Psalm 123 reminds us that... Those who live the life of ease become scoffers and contemptuous of others who have less...
-- James 5.5 advises... Those who live luxuriously on the earth and lead a life of wanton pleasure... have fattened your hearts for a day of slaughter.
The fifth sin of Sodom was the sin of NEGLECTING TO RENDER AID.
All four of the above sins of Sodom....
A sense of being superior to everyone else.....
A boastful attitude...
Overindulging the desires of the flesh...
Living in idleness, ease and luxury...
All contributed to the fifth and final sin of Sodom as listed in verse 49 of our text in Ezekiel.
This was the sin of unconcern and neglect... The sin of apathy. All about Sodom and Israel... People were hurting and in need... And they didn't care! They felt nothing for others, because they were consumed with concern for self. In spite of the potential for good that was theirs... Because of their abundance... They did not help the poor and needy. The Sodomites were so intent upon grabbing up everything they could for themselves... That their hands were not free to reach out to others.
-- The apostle John wrote... But whoever has the world's goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?!
-- The rich man in Luke 16 had Lazarus begging at his gate for crumbs from the table, but rather than reaching out a hand to help, he let him die on his doorstep.
-- Paul says... We must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus who said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."
-- Jesus said... "As often as you do it to the least of these... You've done it unto Me."
In the Ezekiel passage... God says there are two types of people that we must help... And that the Sodomites refused them both...
-The Poor... Those who are destitute... Those reduced to begging for survival.
People like Lazarus, who had nothing, are in mind here.
-The Needy... Those who are working, but still in need of some additional assistance.
Church... We still have both of these groups with us today. Proverbs 14.31 says that... Being gracious to the needy honors God. Proverbs 28.27 reads... He who gives to the poor will never want, but he who shuts his eyes to them will have many curses.
The worthy woman of Proverbs 31 was considered worthy, in part, because... She extended her hand to the poor... And stretched out her hands to the needy
The first picture painted of the First Church in Jerusalem was a church of Worship... Steadfast in the apostles doctrine... The second picture was that she was a church rendering aid to the poor and needy... All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. May God help us to resist this sin of Sodom... And at the same time restore New Testament Christianity in this way... RIGHT?
The people of Sodom had been abundantly blessed by God. They were prosperous... They had plenty to eat... They lived well. And there is nothing wrong with that. God has blessed many... If not most of us with the abundant life... And this is indeed good. The problem in Sodom was that the prosperity and the good life had become an end in itself.
God told the Jewish people through Ezekiel... You are worse than Sodom!!
Sodom was destroyed... Judah was led into captivity. Peter and Jude tell us that Sodom is an example of all who would live in such serious secret sins.
QUESTION... What is God's prophet saying to you and me this morning? Is it possible that we have overlooked the Serious Nature of Sodom's Secret Sins? My prayer with this lesson is that we will so heed the Word of God in our hearts, that we will not be guilty of Sodom or Israel's sins.
If you are here this morning and would like to become a child of God... The invitation is to a new life by faith, repentance and New Testament baptism... Immersion in water for the remission of your sins. Perhaps we have behaved as Sodom and Israel and need to seek God's forgiveness. Maybe we need the prayers of the church to help us deal with such secret sins.
Whatever your need... The invitation is for us to become the people and person of God... As we stand and sing this song... Will you come?
