God’s Design and Image
Part 24: Hospitality, Holiness, and Hope

Scripture: Genesis 18:1-33.
1. God’s People are Called to Charity and Hospitality
Ezekiel 16:49 (ESV)
49 Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.
Ezekiel 16:50 (ESV)
50 They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it.
Isaiah 58:6-7a (ESV)
6 “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? 7a Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him…”
Hebrews 13:1-2 (ESV)
1 Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Romans 12:13 (ESV)
13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Matthew 25:35–40 (ESV)
35 “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’”
Luke 14:12–14
12 He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
2. We Can Trust in God’s Promises Even When We Don’t Understand His Plan
John 13:7 (ESV)
7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.”
Isaiah 55:8-9 (ESV)
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Romans 4:18 (ESV)
18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”
Hebrews 11:11 (ESV)
11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.

Proverbs 3:5-8 (ESV)
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. 8 It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.
Hebrews 10:23 (ESV)
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
Genesis 18 (ESV)
16 Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way.
Genesis 18 (ESV)
16 Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. 17 The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”
Genesis 18 (ESV)
20 Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, 21 I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.”
3. God’s Wrath is Rightly Against Sin
Romans 1:18 (ESV)
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
Exodus 34:6-7 (ESV)
6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
Matthew 11:20-24 (ESV)
20 Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.
21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”
4. God’s People are Called to Intercede for the Sake of the Lost
Romans 10:1 (ESV)
1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.
1 Timothy 2:1-4 (ESV)
1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Luke 23:34a (ESV)

34a And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Matthew 9:36-38 (ESV)
36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."