This is not the first time we've seen language here in these 18 chapters of man and God drawing close together. We can recall that when God was done with creation, He creates Adam and Eve there on that sixth day, that there is a nearness of God with Adam and Eve. There is a closeness There is a relationship that is as intimate as it ever has been between the divine and His creation. And yet, we see that God has been pursuing man to come near to Him ever since man fell. So we have here for us a reminder that God is pleased when we draw near to Him. So I would begin by asking a question. When is the last time you drew near to God? Now this, at one level, seems like, well, that's an audacious question to ask, dear preacher, because, listen, we already know that God is everywhere. There's nowhere that I can go, the psalmist David would say. There's nowhere I can go that God is not. Whether to the heights of the heavens or to the pits, whether it's separated by the widest bodies of water, or the tallest mountains to the peaks, or to the lowest of valleys. Everywhere that I go, there God is. And so how is it possible for man to draw near to a God who is everywhere? Well, at one level that's a fair question. But then I would venture to say that if we're asking this question, We're not realizing that God has invited us to draw near to Him. And that even though God can and God is everywhere, present, this is what the ancients would call omnipresence. This word omnipresence. Everywhere, no matter where you go, God is present. There's nowhere, no time in your life that God will not be present. And yet we see that God invites man to draw near to Him. Why is that? How is that? Well, I think we can begin to see part of this, the glory of the narrative of Genesis 18 is that this is a real relationship between God and man. And that man is drawing near to the Lord. So we think of this, there is, it is possible to be distant from the Lord, isn't it? It is possible. I'm gonna think of this for just a moment. The last time that you were with someone, either traveling or at the dinner table or sitting in your homes, and it appears as though the one that you're with is as distant as can be. To some degree, you can't really get much closer than you already are. And yet it appears they're in a totally different world. They're somewhere altogether different. They're in a conversation somewhere far and distant from where you currently reside. So it is possible to be near somebody and yet to still at the same time be quite separated. We know this by experience. We know this in reality. What we have here in this 18th chapter is a picture of what nearness to God looks like. Nearness to God includes, now we've not re-read the previous verses in this chapter, but we should conclude that nearness to God includes eating and drinking. That doesn't make us near, but it would certainly include communion. fellowship, closeness. We're at the same table together. We're in the same room together. We're at the same moment in time and space. We're together. There's a togetherness. And I think that it's right for us to think that that is part of what nearness to God should have some of that capacity So it's a visual for us, but that again, as we've already said, it's possible to be at the same table with somebody and to wonder, where in the world are you? Have you ever, husbands, wives, have you ever had those kind of conversations? Like, where in the world are you? It's not like they think you're lost. They know exactly where you're at. You're in the driver's seat. This happened to Renee and I yesterday. We're driving. and I missed a turn here, or I was in the far lane, and we needed to be making a left-hand lane turn, and the question comes up, where are you? What are you even thinking about? I don't know. I may have been thinking about ice cream, but I can't blame that one even on ice cream. It is possible, though, isn't it, to be breathing the same air in the same space at the same time together and wondering I don't think this just happens to men, but I'm a man, so I know it happens to this man. Have you ever been in a conversation with your wife and questions are being asked, and the questions are being asked are, what did I just say? And it's like, Yeah, I don't know. Were you talking to me? I mean, there's nobody else in the room, so apparently you were. And so distance doesn't have to be described by great distances, hundreds of miles, thousands of miles. It can be experienced while breathing the same air in the same space. And I think that this is right for man to see here, that there is a nearness that God is is calling us to that is different than the nearness we're practicing. The nearness that God is calling us to is different than the nearness we are currently practicing. All throughout the New Testament this language of draw near to God is present. I'll just give you a few. James chapter 4 in the 8th verse, draw near to God. and He will draw near to you. That's a clear instruction. Draw near to God. This while believing that God is present everywhere and yet the Bible is instructing us to draw near to Him. Hebrews chapter 4 in the 16th verse. The writer says, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace. So let us draw near. Let us go near. Let us venture in. Let us journey toward this nearness of God. Let's commune now. Let's be in this same place. And let's go together with confidence to this throne of grace. In the 11th chapter of Hebrews, we are instructed this way in the 6th verse. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. For he who draws near to God must believe that He is and that He is the rewarder of those who seek Him. God is the rewarder of those who seek Him. It is undeniable that it is possible you may be as far from God right now as you ever have been. While He's currently, presently, immediately with you. You know full well that it is possible You know full well, both by your own journey with the Lord, whether it be current or in days past, this nearness is not exactly, it's not merely physical. This really is spiritual. So in this 18th chapter of Genesis, we see Abraham really as close to God as man can get in this temporal age, in this temporal era in which we live. Being near to God is imitated, it is imitated by God in the Gospels. Think of this from Peter in his epistles. 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 18, For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that he might bring us to God. So again, there's this picture, there's this narrative of the Bible, that we've been distant from God, we've been separated from Him. This is the language of the Gospel again and again and again. And this also is connected with the Gospel, that not only have we been separated from God, but we've also been brought near to Him. This on the account of the blood of Christ. This is how man has access. This is how man draws near. This really is the epicenter of the Gospel. God has done astonishingly and costly things to draw us near to Him, hasn't He? I mean, just think for a moment. We don't need to labor here because, listen, if you've tasted the goodness of God, you know that your salvation is secure in Christ. This is not a call for you to wonder and question, have you lost your salvation? This is to have the confidence that the writer of Hebrews talks about. This would be for us to realize that the finished work of Christ, as Peter would describe it in 1 Peter 3.18 again, the just, the righteous God has acted on your behalf. Glory be to God. This really is where it all comes from. Every ripple of breathing in the spiritual realm comes from the work of Christ on the cross. This indeed is an astonishingly and costly thing. which God has done to draw us, to bring us near to God. This is the first question of the ancient catechisms. What is the chief end of man? It is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Coming close to God is described here again as communion. The larger context, the larger narrative of the 18th chapter, that there is a eating and a drinking, there's a breathing, there's a closeness. It's John Owen who would often write, and by often I think this was, this had to have been one of my readings of John Owen. This had to be one of his favorite things to talk about. In it, he will talk about eating and drinking. This is a normal pattern of those who are close together. This is how you know that you are close to somebody, that you are eating and drinking with them. Now it's possible that you can be thousands of miles separated from each other and still be close. Let's not suggest that that can't happen. But this would definitely be one of the things that would describe the actions, the behavior of those who are close together. They enjoy getting together at the table. There's eating and drinking. There's speaking. There's hearing. There's commanding and there's obeying, would further describe what this closeness would be described as. It would be rewarding and receiving. We can observe here in this text that we've read this morning that God has revealed to Abraham, though we didn't read this verse this morning, but we've read it in the previous weeks. In the 20th verse, you let your eyes go back up there to that 20th verse, there's the Lord has said, The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. This follows the dialogue of the narrative where the Lord is wondering, not because he's not sure, but he's contemplating, should I let Abraham in on what we're really doing by coming by his place? This is not our final destination. Really, the sights are on Sodom and Gomorrah. The outcries of the city have reached the heavens, and the Lord has come to see, to investigate. Not because He's not sure about it, but He's behaving like a true judge. He's going to investigate. He's going to hear out. He's going to compare what He's heard with what He sees. So this is going on. This is what John Owen would say, that God has revealed to Abraham what He's doing, and that this is a sign of the closeness between man and God, that God would reveal to us what He's doing. This would be, again, the kindness of God to give us a reliable word that God is telling us who He is, He's telling us what He's doing, and He's showing us what He expects from us. And then as we come near to this and see this in its closest observation in that 23rd verse, we see that Abraham has responded to the Lord. The Lord has revealed to him what he's doing, where he's going, and Abraham now in verse 23, we begin to see that he is responding. So verse 23, in those first couple of words of that verse, is really the piece of closest observation. In relationship to all that will happen in this conversation, Abraham came near. I wonder where you are today. How near are you to the Lord? Is the Lord just something that passively happens? You acknowledge, you give a tip of the hat to Is your nearness of God like that of a close relationship of a husband and a wife, and yet the conversation is just floating right by? Abraham's put all of his attention here. He's come with the Lord. He's journeying with Him. He's literally listening to Him. He's just not hearing syllables being spoken. He's hearing. And what is it about Abraham here that we can notice as he's come close to God? We can see this, his thoughts have been stirred. We've observed this in the previous weeks. He really has a genuine concern, not just for Lot and his family. Lot is concerned for the wicked residents of Sodom and Gomorrah. He's stirred. Are you stirred by the wickedness of your nation? Do you realize the danger of praying what we would call or what the theologians have called imprecatory psalms? Psalms where we pray for fire to come down from heaven upon the wicked. Those are legitimate prayers to pray. But whenever you're stirred for the concern of the wicked in the city or the state or the nation. Are you near enough to God to pray out to God for mercy? Abraham was. Again, I don't believe this is the first time that man has ever had this kind of a prayer with God, but it is the first time we see this much detail. in the conversation between man and the Lord. And he's stirred. He's provoked by God. Notice he's not provoked by his own motives, by his own emotions. He's provoked by the actions of the Lord. He's responding to what the Lord has revealed to him. And he's provoked by it. This is what, in the language of the church, we call interceding. This is when we pray for other people. We appeal to God on the behalf of those who are far from God, interceding. We also can see that Abraham, as he's drawing near to God, he's in a meditative state. This really shows as the conversation develops. He's not at all negotiating with God. He's not looking for a number in which God will say, OK, we'll call it good. I'm not going to go and destroy the city. We really do see here, though, that Abraham is in a meditative condition, in a relationship with God. He's looking. I don't think we have any reason to believe Abraham is not aware of how wicked Sodom is. We were reminded of this last week as we were examining the same area of the text. The first time that Sodom is mentioned in Scripture is whenever Abraham and Lot part ways. And you recall, don't you, how the narrator of the text tells us that the sin of Sodom was great back in the 13th chapter. several chapters, several years, we can even draw to conclusions where we may be two decades ago, the city of Sodom, the first time that Abraham would have come into contact with the city of Sodom, that he would have been mindful and aware of how wicked this city was. So Abraham's not just saying, well, wow, I knew it was bad, but I didn't know it was that bad. No, Abraham has known it's bad And then I think it's important, as we see him really narrowing in in his appeal, interceding for the residents of Sodom, and his appeal to God on behalf of the righteous, we also would see that he is relentless. Can't you see that when we start with 50 and he begins to appeal to God to 45, to 40, to 30, to 20, to 10. He's relentless. He's coming into greater understanding of where God's at in this journey that he's on to go and to judge the city of Sodom. Abraham is not seeing how wrong God is in comparison to how compassionate Abraham is. What we're seeing here is that Abraham, as he's drawing near to God, he's seeing more and more exactly how wicked the city is, and how compassionate and full of grace God is. that he would not destroy the city if there are 50 righteous. And he's willing in the appeal in the interceding of Abraham for that number to come all the way down to 10 people. This is just this just stirs the heart. And really, it should provoke us to pray in a whole new way for the wicked as well as praying for the righteous. We see here in this 18th chapter is a model if you will, of all prayers that will follow in the scriptures. Find a prayer where there's not an appeal to God for God to show his glory by being merciful. It is true, Abraham knew this about God. Abraham already knew that God was full of mercy. Lest we forget, Abraham has not always been a high living example of one who does everything and obeys everything that God commands him to do. At best, when we examine the history of a guy like Abraham, he's called out of this region called Ur of the Chaldeans. Everything we know about that region, it is packed full of idolatry. Now that doesn't mean that Abraham was given to idolatry, but this much is true. Abraham is strongly influenced by idolatry. All of his family in Ur of the Chaldees is riddled up and tangled up inside of a love for idolatry, creating a God in their own minds for themselves to make them feel good about their own wickedness and their own lies. So it is true. I'm convinced of this. Abraham knew this about his own heart. And Abraham is pleased to appeal to God on the same means in which he was a recipient of the mercy of God. We see in the 27th verse that there is a movement of humility inside of Abraham's prayer. He recognizes in his appeals before the Lord that he's He's making this appeal from a position of being dust and ashes. Of being mean and vile. Of being despicable, frail, and dying. Abraham recognizes this when he feels as though he's in danger of facing the judgment of God in his interceding, Abraham acknowledges in his humility his position before God. He is but dust. and ashes. When we draw near to God, it begins with an acknowledging of how unlike we are with God. This really is some of that acknowledgement here. Abraham's appeal to the Creator of the universe, and he is acknowledging, I know I'm making this kind of an appeal to you, and who am I? I mean, I'm on the journey of dying. You're on the journey of always living. I'm on the journey of having a beginning. You, oh God, have never had a beginning, and you never have an end. This is Abraham humbly praying and interceding before God. And he's acknowledging that God is the Lord of glory, and that, as the psalm writers would write, that we are like worms of the earth. This is a humble wonder, isn't it? It's a humble moment. It's a glory for us to see that the Father of our faith, He explicitly knows who He is in relationship to God. In your prayers to God, are you so arrogant and so boastful of your own condition that you don't even acknowledge that God is God and you are nothing like Him. Even though you're created in His image, you and between man and God, we are completely, altogether unlike each other. While yet we still have lots of things that we share in common. This only begins to happen the closer we get to God. The more we draw into Him. God is on the way to destroy the wicked city. And Abraham prays for deliverance of the city. He doesn't ask God to spare the righteous and destroy the wicked either, does he? He asked God to spare the wicked on the behalf of the righteous. His appeal is a righteous appeal. His appeal is not showing how much more compassionate He is than God. His appeal is showing how much more like God He is becoming. This would be an evidence that our prayers would be a reflection of how close we are walking with the Lord. More humility, greater understanding of who God is. Yes, indeed, there will be a judgment. And God will not judge the wicked and the righteous. The same way. And let's be reminded of the gospel again. All of the wicked will be judged on their account. Now that's a fair way for God to judge, isn't it? And it is a gracious way for God to judge when He judges on the account of His only begotten Son. What righteousness do you want to stand before God in in the day of judgment. Do you want your righteousness to be that which God judges and is the standard of which He brings up His justice and His righteousness? Again, the Scriptures tell us none of us are righteous. And yet, how foolish we are to think of how righteous we are without Christ. Our righteousness is only ours when it's credited to us on behalf of His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. where He took our sins, He took our wickedness upon Himself and He transferred His righteousness onto our account. Now, when God judges the righteous, He's judging on the account of His beloved Son. Now there, there you can stand in the judgment with confidence. Not on your own righteousness. I appeal to you today to do not think of yourself righteous enough for God to say, I got nothing against you. The only time God says he has nothing against you is whenever the blood of his son has a covering over your own soul. Abraham knows that God delights in showing mercy to sinners. Again, this will be a reflection of Abraham knowing where he came from, knowing his history, knowing the fall of man in general. So the appeal, the question lays back upon is how, how near to God are you at the moment? You may be, you may, you may be thinking how near you are because look at you. You've come to a church house on a Sunday morning. Look how near to God you are. It's very possible you may be as far from God as you've ever been. What if Christ stopped by your place today? I mean, chapter 18 is this glorious encounter. I think it's reason for us to stop and meditate and think through this. God doesn't do this like this today. To a large degree, we can argue it's so much better today because we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. But if Christ were to stop by your place while He was on His way to bring judgment upon a wicked city, What would that encounter look like? I mean, do you recall the early verses of the 18th chapter? I mean, Abraham is just beside himself. He runs out of his tent to welcome the Lord and these other strangers, these messengers. He's gone. He's gone into the home. He's instructed his wife, listen, we got guests like we've never had before. We need water, we need bread, they need to wash their feet. We gotta pull out all the stops in the hospitality to show toward these because the Lord has been kind to visit us today. What if he were to stop by your house today? What if he were to capture your attention right now? And as He's drawn near to you, you begin to see that He will judge the wicked. What will your response be? May it not be, I don't know what's taking you so long. To some degree, it will seem as though it would be like throughout all of human history. Has the slowness of God really showing that God does not have any mercy whatsoever? Again, the New Testament answers this. The slowness of God shows that He is full of mercy and He's full of grace. He extended this upon your own life. You should never leave that behind you so far behind you that you never forget that and that you remember that and that you join in that and that it would have an impact in the way in which you intercede for the wicked and for the righteous. Now just suppose that you're in this kind of a conversation with the Lord. You've drawn near to Him. You're seeing that you know that He's going to go and He's and he's going to investigate. And you know when he's done investigating, you know what his decision is going to be. This is a wicked city. You know, Abraham's appeal to God is really tender. His first statement in the 23rd verse is, Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? And you hear His words in verse 24, I mean, does this not sound like the prayer of our beloved Lord in the New Testament whenever He tells us He's not going to remove us out of this world, that He's going to leave us here? And He's going to place us here to be representatives of His kingdom, ambassadors of the glorious kingdom of heaven. And that we would pray for His kingdom to come here on earth as it is in heaven. And that we're going to be required to do that while living in wicked, evil days. And here's Abraham, will you not spare the city on the sake of the 50 righteous who are in it? He continues in his appeal in the 25th verse. He's interceding, far be it from you, O God, to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from you. Now, Abraham's not appealing, he's not begging God to behave outside of his character and outside of his attributes. Abraham's responding to him because he's drawn near to him. He knows God. He knows what he's capable of. He knows that he is completely and purely righteous. Shall not the judge of the earth deal justly? Again, it's not an appeal. Hey, grabbing the Lord by the collar and saying, don't forget who you are. It's not that kind of an appeal. This is an appeal toward the wicked city of Sodom. And of course, the Lord says, now behold, I will not do so on the account Well, there we also have that reminder. That's where Abraham ventures, as he's venturing, as he's appealing deeper and almost even you can see him even hanging on to the Lord. He's acknowledging that he is dust and ashes. Suppose then in verse 28, suppose the 50 righteous are lacking five. Suppose the city doesn't have 50. Now, let me be expressly careful here. We do not need to conclude that how much more righteous the cities we live in are than this city. Because surely there's at least 50 righteous people. But let's suppose for a minute. What is holding back the judgment of God upon the wicked? Is it because there are 50 righteous souls here? You could look around the room and begin to count and think, well, there's at least that many here. And I know other good churches in this city. I think we could begin to say, there's hundreds. of righteous people. We probably can even make a case that there may be thousands. So before I think any longer here in this relationship, let us be grateful to God. Even though wickedness is abounding, even though the city in which this church is planted in behaves at times as wicked as Sodom and Gomorrah, allows events to celebrate that which God destroyed these cities on. But is it on account of the righteous? And then we must venture to ask the question, would you even be considered among those who are righteous? Again, not on your own righteous account, but upon the righteous account of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so then he begins to appeal. Abraham continues his appeal. Suppose the 50 are lacking five. Will you destroy the whole city because of the five? And the Lord says, I will not destroy it for the 45 there. Verse 29, he spoke to him yet again. Abraham speaking again to the Lord. He says, suppose 40 are found there. And he says in verse 29, I will not destroy it on account of the 40. Now you know that you're drawing closer in with God when your appeal to God continues to sound and appear like this. Verse 30, and he said, Oh, may the Lord not be angry. For I shall speak yet again. It's as though the only right response from Abraham at this point would really be for him to shut his mouth. Because he knows that he is dust and ashes before the Almighty. But notice the confidence of the patriarch. This is, the writers of the New Testament acknowledge this. They saw that, they experienced this as they remember the life of Abraham. Oh, may the Lord not be angry in this. Shall I speak yet again? And suppose that there are 30 are found there. The Lord says, I will not do it if I find 30 there. Verse 31, Abraham's still interceding. Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord. It's a wonder the Lord hasn't struck me dead right now. My mouth is still speaking. My words are still coming forward. But I would venture to say that the Lord is pleased with His appeal. The Lord is not fed up with, the Lord is not angry with Abraham. The Lord is pleased that His compassion has come upon Abraham and that He is concerned for the wicked residents of the cities. And that upon the account of righteousness. Now behold, I venture to speak in that 31st verse. Suppose 20 are found there. The Lord says, I will not destroy it on the account of the 20. Oh, may the Lord not be angry. I shall speak only this once. You understand the narrative, right? He's clearly been speaking. He doesn't mean, I should have stopped at 50. He's appealing here. I know I shouldn't go beyond here. I will only speak here. Suppose 10 are found there. And the Lord says, I will not destroy it on the account of the ten. Do you see how intercession works? Man is not directing the actions of God, but the glory of God is being impacted upon the intercessors as they pray. They begin to sound more like God. They begin to act more in His attributes previous times. They're drawing near to God. Is this how it's working with you? Do you find yourself appealing to God for mercy, for grace, to not destroy the city, to not destroy the nation? Really, here's an early example of praying for revival. Revival of the people of God and an awakening of the souls of men. This is an action that God's people, who have drawn near to Him, would be actively doing. Asking God, come and revive us. Come and restore us. Come and place us close to You. Give us Your attributes. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear of how You love to put Your glory on display. So I will conclude with a quick look into the 19th chapter. And I'll just read the text and then we'll pray. And then we'll draw near to God at the table. In the 19th chapter, the narration continues. Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and he bowed down with his face to the ground. And he said, now behold, my lords, please, please turn aside into your servants' house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise early and go on your way. They said, however, no, for we've come here to do other things. No, we shall spend the night in the square. Yet he urged them strongly So they turned aside to Him and entered His house, and He prepared a feast for them, and He baked unleavened bread, and He ate. Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house. both young and old, all of the people from every quarter. And they called to Lot and said, Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them. Lot went out to them at the doorway, and he shut the door behind him. And he said, Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly. Now behold, I have two daughters who have not had relations with man. Please, let me bring them out to you and do to them whatever you like. Only do nothing to these men inasmuch as they have come under the shelter of my roof. But they said, stand aside. Furthermore, they said, this one came in as an alien and already he is acting like a judge. Now we will treat you worse than them. So they pressed hard against Lot and came near to break the door. But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. They struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness. both small and great, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the doorway. Then the two men said to Lot, whom else have you here? A son-in-law and your sons and your daughters and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of this place. For we are about to destroy this place because their outcry has become great before the Lord, that the Lord has sent us to destroy it. Lot went out and spoke with his sons-in-laws, who were to marry his daughters and said, Up, get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy the city. But he appeared to his sons-in-laws to be jesting. When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, Take up your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city. But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand, and the hand of his wife, and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the Lord was upon him. and they brought him out and put him outside the city. When they had brought him outside, one said, Escape for your life. Do not look behind you and do not stay anywhere in the valley. Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away. But Lot said to them, Oh no, my lords. Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight. And you have magnified your loving kindness, which you have shown me by saving my life. But I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me, and I will die. Now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there, if it is not small. Or is it not small that my life will be saved? And He said to him, Behold, I grant you this request also, not to overthrow the town which you have spoken of. Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there. Therefore, the name of the town will be called Zor. The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zor. Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities and all the valley and all the inhabitants of the city and what grew on the ground. But his wife from behind him looked back. She became a pillar of salt. Now, Abraham arose early in the morning. And he went 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 saw and behold the smoke of a land ascended like the smoke of a furnace. Thus it came about when God destroyed the cities of the valley that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.