Matthew 11:23 - And
thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell:
for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom,
it would have remained until this day.
We know that God wants all mankind to be saved (1
Timothy 2:3-4; 2 Peter 3:9). We
also know that He takes no pleasure
in the death of the wicked. He would
certainly rather see them turn from their wicked ways and live (Ezekiel
33:11).
So, if that’s true, then why did God
NOT send the same gospel message and the same great miracles to Sodom for them
to see and repent, as the verse in Matthew above indicates would have
happened? If He did, they would have repented, right? But Sodom was utterly destroyed. Doesn’t
this seem unfair for a loving God to neglect to send some really great miracles
to that city, if He knew that this would lead to their salvation?
But no, God is not obligated to provide any and every conceivable
chance for the lost to be saved. Not
everyone gets to see the miracles that the people of Jesus’ day did (Luke
7:21-22). And not everyone gets
to see the glorified Jesus face to face like the apostle John did (Revelation
1:17-18), or gets to visit the third heaven, like Paul (2
Corinthians 12:2-4). But remember,
all these great signs and revelations made them more accountable!
Not everyone gets to see this
type of supernatural evidence… but again, God has provided SUFFICIENT evidence to
every human being to turn to Him and
be saved.
Do you think that Sodom
didn’t have enough light or understanding of God to know that what they did was
wrong? The Bible tells us that even the
general revelation of creation (the things of nature, the sun, moon, stars,
etc.) is enough to make us all accountable to Him and sufficient to cause
mankind to reach out to God and search for Him (Acts 17:24-27). This common revelation strips us of all
excuses (Romans 1:18-20). Therefore,
the light that God gives us is sufficient. He owes special revelation or greater
miracles to no one. The people of Sodom had enough light and
enough revelation to know who God is and to know NOT to live the type of life
they did.
So, if God judged Sodom for
its sins (even with their limited revelation), then He must surely judge our
modern society for its sins, with its abundant sources of information, with the
internet, with its multitude of churches, and its ample supply of Bibles and related
information. We are far more accountable
than the ancient city of Sodom. There is
no excuse for any of us in America to be ignorant of the Bible and the things
of God.
Don’t think that you will get
an infinite number of chances to hear the gospel. You don’t deserve it, and I don’t deserve it;
no one does. That’s one reason why the apostle
Paul said that today is the day of
salvation (2 Corinthians 6:1-2). Remember
the foolish rich man who planned to tear down his barns and build bigger ones,
looking forward to a long and prosperous life, only to find that his soul would
be required of him that very night (Luke 12:16-20)?
My friends, the gospel is a
precious thing. It is the simple message
that we are all guilty of sin, and undeserving of Heaven. But God sent His only Son to suffer horribly and
die on a cross to pay for mankind’s sins.
That debt has been paid, but it is now up to us to believe it and embrace
it. This gospel should not be squandered
on those who continually reject its message.
However, God, in His grace, sometimes gives us many chances. But remember, we don’t deserve to hear it more than once before we accept it, and you might not get another chance. Let’s treat it as the precious gift that it
is.
