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THOMAS, D.D. Pitching the Tent toward Sodom. ^X\.XVNVN%X\ Gen. xiii. 12. — Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitche«l his tent toward Sf)doni. It may seem strange that we should take a fragment of Old Testament history from which to unfold instruction for the proper guidance of our lives to-day. It is not our purpose, however, to speak of habits and tendencies which have become obsolete. What Lot did thousands of years ago is being done in our very midst. His "nsane course is a graphic representation of the policy of mu Jtudes who will learn wisdom only by an experience, which is bitter and humiliating. Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom. And I am going to speak of those who are doing precisely the same thing in the very circles of society in which we live and move. I. Sodom. We knew what it was in patriarchal days. It was the principal of a group of cities, which on account of their infamous wickedness, were consumed by fire from heaven. But what does Sodom mean to us ? How may we pitch our tents toward Sodom ? What is the practical bearing of this imbecile action upon our- selves in this age of special and distinguishing enlighten- ment ? We have but to enquire into the spirit and character of society around us to get full and sufficient answers to these questions. Sodom is the scene of hcen- tious living, of dishonest acting, of gross and irrational thinking. Wherever you find these characterizing fea- tures you need not hesitate to use the term. The quality of the life determines the fitness, or otherwise, of its ap- plication. Sodom is by no means a city of antiquity. It exists and flourishes upon this continent to-day. What- ever may have been consumed on the Plains of Jordan forty centuries ago, the spirit which cursed its inhabitants survives. I. Licentious living. We do not question the ex- istence, in modern society, of a great deal that is admir- able. The principles of the Christian religion have not operated upon the thought and life of humanity without the most beneficent effects. There is a social morality in every country in Christendom which is beautiful and elevating. And yet it must be admitted, that in spite of all the mighty currents of thought and action which have been making for righteousness, the social degradation, especially in our great centres of population, is appalling. We need not retrace the ages to find Sodom. It is here ! It is here ! Licentious living is not confined to any particular phase of impiety. The term sweeps the whole range of action in which just and reasonable restraint is held in contempt. The drunkard, the Sabbath breaker, the blas- phemer, no less than the lewd and incontinent, are in- cluded in the representation. They do not bring them- selves under the control of those principles which are essential to pure and exalted living. They disregard the laws in obedience to which humanity must ever realize j;,^^ ?„S t3^9 its highest interests and noblest destiny. Every form of lawlessness was found in Sodom, and the same thinf^ is only too true of our own land and times. 2. Dishonest acting. This was characteristic of life in Sodom. We cannot conceive of the infamous inhabi- tants of that vile city, having any scruples in regard to the rectitude of their transactions. Such a virtue as hon- esty could never have flourished in an atmosphere so utterly and hopelessly impure. Where Ciod is not rev- erenced man is not likely to be scrupulously considered. But we need not retrace the ages to find exhibitions of dishonesty. They are found in every variety of manifesta- tion around us. It is the bane of our politics, the curse of our business, the blight of our civilization. It would sometimes seem rs '\i it had gained a stronger place in popular estimation with the advance of intelli- gence. It is not the coarse and vulgar thing it used to be. Men are d: nominated smart that our fathers would have branded with infamy. Fine names are given trans- actions that in both -nception and consummation are disgustingly unprincipled. The spirit of dishonesty has permeated society to such an extent as to blunt the pub- lic conscience to the enormity of some of the most atro- cious and criminal exhibitions of which humanity could be guilty. In its coarser aspects it is held up to repro- bation, but when arrayed in silks or broadcloth, orna- mented with jewels and rendered effulgent with the splendor of a great name, we too often prostrate ourselves before it as the Israelites did before the golden calf in the wilderness. The political and commercial immoral- ities of the age are the legitimate but humiliating outcome of this state of things — Sodom is not a city of antiquity. i .... o.-. » 3. Gross and Irrational Thinking. — Such deep rooted and all dominating; depravity as was found in this ill famed city could not be possible under any other conditions. All the fountains of being were corrupt Their gross wickedness was the legitimate result of their groj-s thinking. There is very much that bears re jmblance to this state of things existing at the pre- sent time. There never was a period of the world's history when the liberties of human thinking were more fully recognized, and in this we most heartily rejoice. But liberty has developed into libertinism. Men fear- lessly and wantonly [)ervert the truth. God is openly insulted, and his Word held ui) to ridicule before ap- plauding multitude!;. The most absurd theories of life and destiny are received with favor, if they are only sufficiently novel to captivate the erratic thinking of a fas- tidious scholarship. There are wise men in all our com- munities who would rather believe that the most exalted of terrestial existences came into being by a process of evolution, than that he proceeded directly from the hand of the Creator. They account for their own existence upon the well known Topsian principle "that theygrowd." Anything to get rid of God ; anything to unsettle faith in a direct personal agency in life which is divine, seems to be the policy of much of the world's wisdom. To my humble thinking all this is the extremest folly. In the presence of that stupendous mechanism in which design is regnant and beneficent utility comraandingly conspicuous, the position ot the infidel is inexplicable. I should have to experience a blight in which perception, reason, intelligence, all, in fact, that distinguishes me as a rational and immortal being, were withered and des- i troyed before I could say, "No (lod." Who reared this iTiiglity fabric of the universe ? Who built the heavens and lUid those pillars of light on which the firnianuiit is balanced ? Who made those stars and planets that people the immensity, and that are so stupendoi" in size and magnificence as to beggar the loftiest concep- tion. Who painted the empyrean and measured out the ingredients of the atmosphere. Is all this accident, chance, the mere outworking of blind and unintelligent forces ? The thought is too absurd to admit of respect- ful consideration. There is but one answer to the problem of the universe, and that is, (lod. And yet we find the perverse human mind yielding to the dominance of ideas which are materialistic and speculative The tendency betrays itself wht e the open avowal is not indulged. It is seen in hooks, in maga- zines, in newspapers. It crops up in ordinary conversa- tion, on the lecture platform, in fact wherever there is opportunity for the effervescence of human thinking to express itself. With all these facts before us, you will, I am sure, feel that I am more than justified in speaking of Sodom as something actual and near. II. Pitching the Tent toward S©dom. There is a very solemn significance in this expression. Lot did not enter Sodom. Nothing was further from his mind than to settle down amongst that godless community. His whole soul revolted at their wickedness. But "he pitched his tent toward Sodom." He did the very worst thing possible. He voluntarily placed himself in the way of temptation. It makes all the difference in a mountainous country as to what aspect the land has. A southern exposure means warmth and genial atmospheric conditions. A northern exposure means bleak winds and almost perpetual shadow. The result in the one instance is fruitfulness and beauty, the result in the other is barrenness and sterility. It is even so in the mora! domain. The aspect of the life is of unutterable signifi- cance, but when may it be said that men are pitching their tents toward Sodom ? I. IV/ien worldly pleasures and gratifications are per- mitted to have an undue influence over the mind. Lot saw the beautiful Valley of the Jordan and his heart yearned for its delights. He did not stop to think of all the evil influences to whi h he and his children would be exposed. His own personal gratification was the supreme thought. Here are fruitful meads and well watered valleys, why should I not occupy them, and so, " he pitched his tent toward Sodom." How many are there who are lured into important decisions in the same way ! They profess to be followers of Christ, but " they pitch their tent toward Sodom. ' They approve of practices and indulgences that are nei- ther healthful nor elevating. It would be most unreason- able to question the need of recreative enjoyments. 1 have no manner of sympathy with that supercilious sane tity that casts its disapproving frown on all mirth and gaity and gladness. Enjoy life — why, certainly; who has a better right to such enjoyment than the children of the King ? But you may be thoroughly happy without being frivolous. Sunshine may be plenteously experienced without imitating the flutter of the butterfly. You may i f \ 1 quaff sweet draughts of life and drink from golden gob- lets at the very fountain of enjoyment without indulging in any of those inanities which please but cannot satisfy, which give the cheeks a lurid flush but cast a withering influence around the heart. You know what I mean by worldly pleasures, and to permit them to exercise an undue fascination over the mind is to do just wh-'t Lot did, "pitch your tent toward Sodom." This is tu. case also. 2. IVAen the getting of gain becomes a supreme pas- sion. Lot seems to have forgotten that there were other things to be considered in a decision so momentous, beside which luxuriant valleys were as the drop in a bucket. What is wealth to character ? What are the most alluring scenes of earthly affluence to those influ eiices which enrich the soul. Lot was too thoroughly enamoured with the prospect of mere wordly advantage to think of these higher interests. Nor does he stand in isolated singularity. He is a type of multitudes of infatuated human beings. The tempting possibilities of speedy acquisition has led men and women, otherwise good and great, into the worse than folly which is here described. The question, can I with a clear conscience, can I without imperilling my spiritual interests, can I without exposing my family to influences which might prove disastrous to their best and highest well being, are seldom asked when the prospect of gain glitters in the eager eye of greed. Money making is legitimate. The theory that it is necessary to be poor in order to be good, is a fanatical absurdity. If you have the ability to rise into afl^luent 8 circumstances by all means use it. If you have the facil- ities at command to enable you to acquire place and power, there is no reason, human or divine, why you should not avail yourselves of them. But to be rich at any price is the policy of hell. There are roads to for- tune, to walk in which is to lose self-respect, and the respect of all right thinking men and women. To make outward advantage the first consideration is the very per- fection of unwisdom. The man who places gold above character, material acquisition above spiritual endowment, the getting of earthly good of whatever sort above the en- richment of the soul, is "pitching his tent toward Sodom." This is the case once more. 3. When reading and thinking run in the line of the rationalistic and impure. The influence of books is great beyond estimation. They create public sentiment. They mould character, they determine, in no small de- gree, the nature and quality of human living. Impure and rationalistic reading is more to be deprecated than the breath of a pestilence. If a book tends in the smal- lest measure to lessen your reverence for God, to relax your self-government, to intensify your love of sinful indulgences, cast it away from you, even though it be bound in calf and edged with gold ! I would say with the profoundest emphasis of strong conviction, to all those who employ their leisure in reading books on whose pages the serpent has left the mark of his insidious trail ; to all those who read novels, the leading charac- ters of which are coarse or immoral, and the general tone of which is low— to all who delight themselves in liter- ature that is impure, frivilous, sceptical or atheistic, you are " pitching your tent toward Sodom." III. At Homp: IN Sodom. We are not informed as to the time when Lot moved into Sodom. He little thought when he pitched his tent toward it that he would eventually find himself settled down within its walls. He would probably have resented the intimation of such a possibility. He had no love for the Sodomites, but he loved the fruitful plains contiguous to their city. He began by fixing his tent toward Sodom and then he be- gan to do business with the Sodomites, and eventually he was induced by considerations of profit and convenience, and possibly by the persuasions of his wife and children to move in. Lot became a great man in Sodom. It is said that he sat at the gate. He was a Magistrate. He had a place in the Council of the city. The world is always ready to elevate into position men of this type, pro- vided they are not too straightlaced. It gives a glamour of respectability to their institutions. The fact that Lot was made an official in this vile city is not a little omin ous. Il suggests compromise to say the least. He could not have been elevated to place and power in a centre of such wickedness without yielding up much that should have been sacred to him. Like too many in our day he was blinded by the deceitfulness of riches and rendered morally powedess by his compromising pusillanimity. At home in Sodom. Who shall measure the depths of mournful significance which these words suggest. If he had gone there as a missionary the case would have been different, but he was drawn into the unhallowed scene from considerations which were purely selfish. He settled down in Sodom with a view of bettering his worldly circuit :?,tances. He thought of nothing but the lO material gain which the settlement promised, is life in Sodom to such an one ? It is And what I. Morally relaxing. A man, however good he may be, cannot expose himself to the worst influences from mere love of gain without suffering incalculable moral injury. Lot is a melancholy illustration of this fact. He spent years in this wicked city without producing any impression for good. Not a single individual was he instrumental in leading into the knowledge of the true God. He lost power over his own household. Living in Sodom relaxed the fibre of his spiritual manhood and deteriorated all that was noble and manly in his character. Take warning, I beseech you, from this depressing record. You cannot live in Sodom without losing immeasurably more than you can ever ga