“Because no matter who God created you to be – straight, gay, bi, trans, or any of the other diverse and beautiful orientations and identities out there – you should not be afraid to go to a party downtown that celebrates who you know yourself to be.”
“The fundamental reason for pride month is to advocate for human rights, to insist that to acknowledge your sexual or gender identity is good, that you carry the same worth as every other person. For Christians to attack LGBTQ persons celebrating pride month is for those Christians to participate in the true vice and sin of superbia [pride]—believing their cisgender and heterosexual experience is the one that should be privileged as normal, that those who do not conform should change to become cisgender or straight.” -Care With The Cure, Jared Cramer, Rector, St John’s Episcopal Church, Grand Haven.
Jared Cramer, the rector of St John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven is a household name in our area. His mission it seems is to give the PRIDE movement a Christian authentication. Jared is the man behind the first ever PRIDE festival in GH last year. While we were down there last year telling people of Christ and handing out tracts, Jared was preaching a message blaspheming God, praying prayers blaspheming God, and then drag queens followed his performance. We saw the drag shows and I was more horrified by Jared’s message. I dare say that he has worked harder to justify the sins of the LGBTQ+ than I have to save people from their sins by preaching Christ.
Jude says in verses 3-4…
We are traveling under 3 headings today: Similar To Sodom, The Sin of Sodom and the Suffering of Sodom.
#1: SIMILAR TO SODOM
Our first heading is “Similar To Sodom.” Notice verse 7 begins, “In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah…” What is similar?
First, Jude is connecting the angels in verse 6 with Sodom and Gomorrah. “In a similar way” is comparison language, its a phrase connecting the previous thought with the next thought and showing likeness. There is a likeness between the death row angels of verse 6 and Sodom and Gomorrah – another reason why we may consider the particular sin of these angels like we did last week.
Second, the flow of Jude’s letter connects the false teachers of verse 4 with Sodom and Gomorrah. Notice verse 8 is similar: “In the very same way on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies…” Now Jude is moving from Sodom and Gomorrah back to the false teachers of verse 4. In the very same way that Sodom sinned these false teachers in your ranks are sinning. They openly blaspheme God by twisting his grace to be “a license for sexual immorality” (v4) and they “pollute their bodies” (v8).
In history God has called wicked cities and peoples “Sodom” and “Gomorrah” to point out how evil they were. (Ezekiel 16…Revelation11… Isa 1:9-10; 3:9; 13:19…Dt 32:32…Jer 23:14…49:18…50:40…Lam 4:6…Ezek 16:48…)
APPLICATION: Be an example. You are an example whether you see yourself as one or not. Others are watching. Sodom was an example for the surrounding towns to follow. Who “surrounds” us? Be an example leading people to God – not away from Him. Husbands to your wives. Parents to your children. Older siblings to your younger. To your friends. To your co-workers. To each other here in the church! Pastors to your flock! Let each of us be an example FOR God – lest we are made an example BY God.
APPLICATION: Separate. Separate from Sodom. Separate from those who would lead you into Sodom. God forbid it could be said of any of us who belong to Christ “In a similar way…” When we stand in Christ’s glorious presence (v24) would he see Sodom in us?
APPLICATION to the APPLICATION: Don’t listen to false teachers who would justify the sins of Sodom to you. Keep your biblical beliefs, convictions, and practices pure. Do not forsake Christ for Sodom.
If your child or sibling or some loved one becomes “like Sodom” do not follow them. What I mean is do not change your biblical beliefs to “support” them. There are two kinds of parents in this situation: those who worship Christ and those who worship their kids. Those who worship Christ won’t abandon their faith to condone their kids. On the other hand, those who worship their kids will abandon their faith to condone their kids. Of course, like the false teachers of verse 4 these parents twist the grace of God and the Scriptures to justify what their kids are doing.
For the parent who worships Christ whose kid has gone to Sodom I say: tangibly and verbally love your child, pray and fast for your child, witness to your child. If you are married then constantly communicate with your spouse so you are both on the same page when it comes to what you will and will not do, what your boundaries are with your wayward child; you must pray together regularly for your child; you must invest even more in your marriage so that this doesn’t cause division between you two – because it very easily can; you must support each other because one day you will be weak and need the other to be strong and the next day your spouse will be weak and you will need to be there for them; and I would say you must be ready for heartache, you must be ready for rejection and abandonment, and you must be ready for a long road. Most importantly you have to trust your kid into God’s hands, and you have to be able to trust God no matter what happens or doesn’t happen. I would also add: you must find your heart going into the depths of Jesus’ words, “Who are my mother and my brothers and my family? Those who do God’s will are my family.” (Mark 3:35)
What would I counsel to a parent who worships their child more than Christ? Who is following their kid down the road of Sodom, parading around in pride flags and supporting a Sodom lifestyle to show support for their kid? I would say look long and hard at Jesus’ words: “Whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Mt 10:37) “I did not come to bring peace but a sword. I came to turn son against father, daughter against mother. A man’s enemies will be within his own household.” (Mt 10:34-36) “What does it profit you to gain the whole world [you kids’ approval] and forfeit your soul?” (Mk 8:36) “Anyone who would follow me must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me.” (Mk 8:38). “If your hand causes you to sin cut it off. If your eye causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter the kingdom with one hand and one eye than to be thrown into hell with both hands and both eyes.” (Mk 9:42-47)
#2: THE SIN OF SODOM
Next we see the sin of Sodom, “…gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion…” Turn with me to Genesis 19:1-9…
Progressives will try to convince you that they were not very socially conscious, and that they didn’t take care of their poor and needy, and they didn’t show good hospitality – as though that’s why they were burned to ashes. Certainly they were guilty of all that, as Ezekiel 16 shows. And they were guilty of other things as well:
- Then in Isaiah 3:9 God compares Israel again and describes their brazen and open wickedness, indicating the shamelessness with which Sodom and Gomorrah conducted themselves.
- In Jeremiah 23:14 God describes Israel’s adultery, hypocrisy, encouraging of evildoers, and stubbornly continuing in their wickedness. He says “they are like Sodom and Gomorrah to me.”
- Finally, in Ezekiel 16:48-50 God describes Israel’s arrogance, gluttony, indifference to needy, and their immorality, which he reminds them and says, “you know what I did to them, so why are you doing the same things?”
Here’s the thing: Sodom was guilty of all these things, but what they were “notorious” for in history was their sexual perversion and immorality. Their sexual sins were maxed out, which was a sign of their complete degeneracy. They were utterly corrupted and corrupted utterly. They couldn’t fit anymore colors on their flag. They threatened Lot and said, “Get out of our way and let us rape those men or we’ll do something worse to you!” What could be worse!
The very nature of sexual sin has deep down in its core a powerful narcissistic hedonism. Sodom added violence to it. Sexual sin is SELFISH. Someone who is given over to sexual sin is utterly selfish. They don’t care about anyone else but themselves and feeding that monstrous sexual appetite they have. The reason Sodom was guilty of indifference to the needy, arrogance, gluttony, stubbornness, hypocrisy, adultery, strengthening evildoers all while pretending to worship God is because their character was so wicked that it showed in all of those ways, but most powerfully it showed in their sexual corruption.
This is what the NT authors point out. Notice the phrase Jude uses: “Gave themselves up.” It is a Greek word that is only used here in the whole NT. Its a word that means “to be utterly unchaste,” (Strong) or “a lust that gluts itself and satisfies itself completely.” (Thayer). Think about that. “Utterly.” “Gluts itself completely.” It has the idea of someone who feeds every wicked appetite they have – and they keep having more. And the more they have the more they feed it. They have lost all control and plunge themselves into whatever lustful obsession they have. And they love it, and they justify it, and they feel no shame whatsoever about it. Psalm 12:8 says, “When what is vile is honored, the wicked will strut about freely.” They never say to themselves “This is too much – I have to stop. I won’t do that.” Sexual desire grows upon sexual desire, and each successive desire is more evil than the one before, and they are consumed with gratifying everything they want – and they want everything. They are “UTTERLY” perverted. They allow their lust to GLUT itself COMPLETELY.
It’s a picture of what sexual perversion becomes when it is fully grown in a person. Sin starts small. James 1:14-15 says, “But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” Satan’s strategy in tempting is to start small, getting you to compromise an inch at a time until you’re more comfortable with compromising a foot, and then a yard and so on. Remember before tempting Jesus to worship him he tempted him to eat bread. Satan started small, “Hey, whats the big deal about turning this rock into bread and eating it? Go ahead, you’re hungry, you haven’t eaten in 40 days.” The idea is getting you comfortable with small acts of evil so when he starts introducing bigger acts of evil you’re not so opposed to it, your defenses have eroded, your more conditioned with compromising repeatedly on smaller things so you’re more vulnerable to compromising on something a little bigger.
APPLICATION: Do not sin with Sodom. Do not let lust rule in your mind and body so that you glut its every appetite. Ephesians 5:3 says “Let not even a hint of sexual immorality be among us.” “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in a passionate lust like the pagans who do not know God….for God did not call us to be impure but to live a holy life.” (1 Thess 4:3-7).
APPLICATION to the APPLICATION: Sodom is marked by utter lack of self control. Holiness is marked by self control. And holiness is not outward religion. Colossians 2:23 talks about outward religious or spiritual rules based on man’s teaching and not God’s word and it says this: “Such regulations indeed have the appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.” Self control in sexual matters is the mark of holiness. Its the opposite of sinning with Sodom. And it is not done by man’s spirituality but by the Holy Spirit, “The fruit of the SPIRT is love joy peace patience kindness goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and SELF-CONTROL.” Self control is the product in your life of walking with and keeping in step with the Holy Spirit. He produces self-control.
APPLICATION: When it comes to sin you must kill it in the egg. There comes a point where sin that has been indulged for a time ends up becoming your master. In other words, you were in control early on and chose to keep sinning. But now youre not so in control. You’ve given yourself over to sin so much that you are now in that sin’s bondage. A little indulgence leads to a little more bondage. Not confessing and repenting today makes repenting harder tomorrow. You must kill sin in the egg. Kill it off while it is small and you are in control of yourself.
Ezekiel 16…Revelation11… Isa 1:9-10; 3:9; 13:19…Dt 32:32…Jer 23:14…49:18…50:40…Lam 4:6…Ezek 16:48-50…
#3: THE SUFFERING OF SODOM
Finally the suffering of Sodom, “They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire” Second Peter 2:6 says the same thing, “God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly.” Lets notice a couple things.
First, their suffering is eternal fire. The reason “hell-fire-and-brimstone” preaching happens is because hellfire and brimstone are real. We saw last week that the final, permanent place of the wicked is the lake of fire. Revelation 20:14-15 say, “The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” Jesus said in Matthew 25 that this lake of fire was prepared for the devil and his angels, and all the wicked humans who reject God. The very last words of Isaiah describe people in heaven being able to go look out on those in the lake of fire, “And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.” The final destination for all eternity is eternal fire.
APPLICATION: Is your name in the book of life? If so then the second death will never touch you. Deuteronomy 32:29 says, “If only they were wise and would understand this and discern what their end will be!” Are you wise? Can you see what your end will be unless you repent?
Second, notice that what happened to Sodom was an example to all the ages of humanity of what God is going to do to the ungodly. “They serve as an example…” Jude and Peter say. Ever since the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire God has repeatedly pointed back to that destruction when speaking to wicked peoples (Ezekiel 16…Revelation11… Isa 1:9-10; 3:9; 13:19…Dt 32:32…Jer 23:14…49:18…50:40…Lam 4:6…Ezek 16:48…)
- “Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah.” (Dt 32:32)
- “The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves.” (Isa 3:9)
- Turn to Ezek 16:46-50 with me….
APPLICATION: Who is your example?
APPLICATION: Who are you an example for? Who are you leading away from Sodom and to Christ?