In this sermon, the preacher focuses on the story of Lot in chapter 19 of the Bible. Two angels visit Lot in Sodom and warn him of the impending judgment. Lot leaves Sodom with his wife and two daughters, but his wife turns into a pillar of salt. The preacher emphasizes that Lot, despite being a righteous man, made a tragic mistake by moving to Sodom and losing his family and influence. The sermon also highlights the dangerous and sinful nature of Sodom and Gomorrah, drawing parallels to the present day.

Turning now to chapter 19 here, and as I do, I'm reading verse 1. And there came two angels to Sodom at Even, and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom, and Lot, seeing them, rose up to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. Now, these two angels visit Lot and Sodom, and they announce judgment. They warn Lot to escape, and we find in this chapter Lot leaves Sodom with his wife and two daughters. Then we have the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and Lot's wife turns to a pill of salt, and then we have Lot's awful sin. We'll hit high points here, but so far we are dealing with the verses as we go along, and we'll stay with that. Now you have that which is the blasted life, and don't forget it, this man Lot happens to be a righteous man. Hard to believe it. If I had only this record, I wouldn't believe it. But you see, Simon Peter, in his epistle, he talked about that righteous man vexed his righteous soul. Now, he lived in Sodom, but he never was happy down there. You see, Lot, it was a tragic day for him when he moved to Sodom. He lost his family. In fact, the matter is he lost all of them when you look at the total picture, and it's tragic. Many a man today may be a saved man, but by his life and where he goes, where he lives, he loses his family, loses his influence, and loses his testimony. Now, I know Christians like that. I've been a pastor, and I have, in the course of time, talked to some of the children of some of the leaders of the churches I've served. Hasn't been too long ago that the son of a leader of the church that I serve said all he was doing was waiting for his dad to die in order to repudiate everything. He thought the whole thing was phony, that the Christian life was, and all he could see was hypocrisy and everything. All he was doing, of course, was telling about his home, what a phony his dad must be, and he's lost his son. He's lost his influence, I can assure you, in other places, but I wouldn't question his salvation. I think the man trusts Christ, but by his life. It's rather a phony sort of a lie. Poor lot, how tragic this is. Now, let's look at this, and this is a sorted chapter. We get two of them in the book of Genesis that are really sorted. This is one of them. Now, I'll read on, verse 2, and he said, "...Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, tarry all night, and wash your feet." These men must have had dirty feet. Then, of course, if you'd walked from the plains of Mamre down to Sodom with just nothing on but sandals, your feet would need washing also. But again, I call your attention to the custom of that day which was practiced by those that extended hospitality to strangers. And he says to them, you shall rise up early and go on your ways. Now, Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom, and I can't let that go by without calling attention to the fact that the ones who sat in the gate of a city were the judges. Now, this man Lot not only had moved to Sodom, but he got into politics down there, and here he is, a petty judge, sitting in the gate. But he's a hospitable man. When these strangers came in, he invited them to his home, and they came in. And they, at first, though, were reluctant. They said, nay, but we'll abide in the street all night. We'll just stay outside. We don't want any inconveniences. And they did this for a purpose, of course. He pressed upon them greatly, and they turned in unto him and entered into his house. And he made them a feast, and did bake and leaven bread, and they did eat. Now, these men have another feast. They had a feast with Abraham. They now have a feast with Lot. And they brought out something here. They said, we'll stay on the street, sleep in the park. And Lot says, don't do that in Sodom. It's dangerous. Your life wouldn't be worth anything if you did a thing like that. And, friends, may I say that maybe Los Angeles ought to change its name to Sodom. It wouldn't be safe for you to sleep on the streets of Los Angeles. In fact, it's not safe to be on the streets of Los Angeles at night. There are many women who live alone. They won't come out to church at night or any program at night. One dear saint of God told me, she said, I just locked my door at Brother McGee, and I do not open that door until the next morning. But daylight says it's not safe in my neighborhood to even walk. Well, the days of Sodom and Gomorrah again, and practically for the same reason. And so they bring this out. Lot says, no, man, don't stay on the street. It wouldn't be safe for you. And he pressed upon them, and then they came in. Now, notice this awful thing, verse 4. But before they laid down the men of the city, even the men of Sodom compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter. And they called unto Lot and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them. May I say this is a sickening scene. To me, this reveals the degradation of this city, the city of Sodom, and this is the name that's been put on that sin from that day to this, Sodom. Now, there was no attempt made apparently in the city of Sodom to have a church for this crowd and tell them that they're all right in spite of the fact that they practiced this thing. May I say to you that the Word of God is specific on this, and you can't tone it down. This is an awful sin. Now we're going to see what happens at the home of Lot in the city of Sodom that night. We'll have to wait till next time.