WE’VE ALL HEARD THE LINE – GOD IS LOVE – AND FOR MOST OF US, WE FEEL GOD LOVES EVERYONE AND WILL NOT CONDEMN US.  HOWEVER, DO YOU ALSO KNOW THAT IN THE BIBLE WE’RE TOLD THAT GOD DOES NOT LOVE EVERYONE? IN FACT, IN HIS ANGER HE SENT AN ENTIRE TOWN TO HELL!

I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World, the Word & You! Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk about this for your understanding and hope for today and tomorrow…

…How much do you know about God? Probably as much as most people do, which may be very little; that is, unless you’ve taken the time to study the Bible, God’s holy Word. You see today millions of people have formulated their own comfortable idea of who God is, and what He does in relationship to us. However, remember friend, God gave us the Bible so we could all “KNOW” Him and learn His plans for our world and His creation. So after we take another moment to rest and enjoy some good music, I’ll return to open God’s Word for you and show you the “other side” of God, we all had better come to know and understand. Stay tuned…

…Today I want to look at a true story that comes to us from the Old Testament book of Genesis. It’s a story that happened long ago, and was included in the Bible, God’s revelation to the people whom He created. Now it’s reasonable to assume we’ve all have heard something about this story, but we many not have really grasped the fundamental meaning God wants all to know.

You see, it’s the story of Sodom & Gomorrah and a man named Lot . Let’s read a text pertaining to it right now. I’ll read selective verses,

2 Peter 2:4-10 (NLT)  “For God did not spare even the angels when they sinned; he threw them into hell, in gloomy caves and darkness until the judgment day. 5 And God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah and his family of seven. Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment. Then God destroyed the whole world of ungodly people with a vast flood. 6 Later, he turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into heaps of ashes and swept them off the face of the earth. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people. 7 But at the same time, God rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was … a righteous man who was distressed by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day… [Yes,] 10 He is especially hard on those who follow their own evil, lustful desires and who despise authority…”

You see we discover in God’s Word that the God of the Bible is a God who has “limits” for the practiced sinfulness of His created beings. Here in this text we’re given three examples.

#1 GOD CAST INTO HELL A MYRIAD OF SINNING angels - 

Apparently a portion of the angelic world, the bible says a “third of Heaven,” (Rev. 12:4) were grossly disobedient to God and as a result, God cast them down to “Hell” where to this day, they are incarcerated awaiting their sentencing judgment. Secondly, Peter tells us God’s patience ran out and His love and mercy ended for the Pre-Noahic world. Indeed,

#2 GOD INUNDATED THE WORLD WITH WATER, DESTROYING EVERYONE, SAVE EIGHT SOULS – 

Yes, God had had enough of the wicked sinning and bold disregard for His laws for life by the antediluvian world of Noah’s day and completely destroyed all land life, except Noah, his family, and selected land life who were saved in the Ark.  Finally, Peter reminds his readers that God’s patience ended one day when,

#3 GOD DESTROYED AN ENTIRE CITY AND ITS PEOPLE -  

Yes, the Bible tells us God sent an entire town to Hell for their wicked filthy sins which greatly offended the holy God who created them.

Now this is a lot different from the popular teaching that God is love. Indeed, God is love as the Bible says,

1 John 4:16 (NLT)  “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in him. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.”

But God is also a holy and just God who will not pass by the repeated wanton sins of His creatures. For the Scriptures also say,

Habakkuk 1:13 (NLT)  “You are perfectly just in this. But will you, who cannot allow sin in any form, stand idly by while they swallow us up? Should you be silent while the wicked destroy people who are more righteous than they?”

1 John 1:5 (NLT)  “This is the message he has given us to announce to you: God is light and there is no darkness in him at all.”

You see we cannot fashion a God of our own making. God reveals who He is, and tells us that any violation of His Person and Being, will be met with what is called the Wrath of God. Again Scripture warns us,

Rom 1:18 (NLT)  But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who push the truth away from themselves.

Psa 1:5 (NLT)  They will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly.

Luke 12:5 (NLT)  But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill people and then throw them into hell.

1 Th 1:10 (NLT)  And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God’s Son from heaven—Jesus, whom God raised from the dead. He is the one who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment.

Now I realize, this is a side of God we do not want to know about, nor do we want to experience. So for many, they simply refashion God to their likening and make Him to be something He isn’t. God notes this too for the Scripture says,

Psa 50:21 (NLT)  While you did all this, I remained silent, and you thought I didn’t care. But now I will rebuke you, listing all my charges against you.

Millions of disobedient people think because God has not struck them or their nation because of sin, that He either doesn’t exist or doesn’t care. But God cares and God will step in when His mercy and grace runs out.

Now today, our case in point is the town of Sodom . Sodom was one of five cities of the Plains, located near the Dead Sea . The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia says of Sodom ,

“Tradition locates Sodom at the south end of the Dead Sea . The barren desolation in this area gives mute testimony of judgment by “fire and brimstone.” Geological evidence in this region of salt formations, asphalt, sulfur, and petroleum support the biblical record.” [1]

Although Abraham’s nephew, a believer named Lot , moved his whole family to Sodom , he accomplished nothing in any way of witnessing the truth of God’s Word, nor his example converting any sinners there. In fact, Lot is a contrast of everything God expects from those who trust Him. For example because of Abraham’s faith and obedience, He was a blessing to his home and to the whole world. But, because of Lot ’s worldliness and carnality, he had no spiritual influence either in Sodom or in his own home. The Bible reveals that when Sodom was about to be destroyed by God, Lot ’s married daughters and their husbands laughed at him and mocked him refusing to flee the city. What’s more, Lot’s wife was so in love with Sodom that upon her leaving, she lingered in the danger zone, to take one last look, and it was that lingering look that killed her (Gen. 19:26; Luke 17:32).

Upon leaving the city behind and losing everything, Lot ’s two unmarried daughters who did accompany him out of the city; together they ended up in a cave. There the sin that had so consumed Sodom , had also taken deep root in the hearts of Lot ’s children. Both daughters did an unmentionable thing. They got their father drunk. Which apparently wasn’t to difficult, and then commit incest with him. What a fate and ending for one who began with such promise. All because Lot , a believer, moved into the town of Sodom that went to Hell for its sins, and almost took Lot with them! But what did Lot have left for all his compromising with the world? Nothing my friend nothing, but a life of disgrace. 

Now all this happened because Lot decided earlier, to separate from Abraham his Uncle. After separating from Abraham, Lot had allowed his character to be compromised; and his influence on everyone including his family declined with it. That’s the sad story of Lot . But what exactly was the reason why God destroyed an entire town? The answer is one which we need to hear afresh today.

Contrary to popular opinion and politically correct thinking, the Bible clearly tells us God destroyed Sodom and every living being in it because of their wicked depraved lifestyles and open approval of homosexuality! I know this message will not be popular and will in fact be criticized greatly, but I must speak the truth.  I read in my Bible that homosexuality is one of the more severe sins for which God often acts more quickly against. The danger we should fear the most these days, is our nation’s increasing tolerance for a sin that destroyed five cities of the Plains as found in the Book of Genesis. Now, I love America , and all the variety of people in it. Red or yellow, black or white they are all precious in God’s sight and mine too! But, the Bible promises us by example and precept that the WRATH OF GOD is revealed from Heaven against ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, and that seriously includes the endorsing and practice of the wicked lifestyle of sexual perversions such as, Homosexuality and Lesbianism. 

You see, the story of Sodom and Gomorra is that any homosexually lenient society, city, town or nation, will in time incur the wrath of God upon it. Now all one has to do is travel the world to see how by comparison, God has super blessed this nation. Yet know this --  God didn’t bless us because we were a Christian nation, no He blessed us because --  we, as a nation, set out to and practiced MORE Biblical principles than any other people or country in history! But the day our nation fully legalizes and promotes, protect, and encourages homosexuality as a normal acceptable lifestyle, I believe America will have CROSSED OVER THE LINE that will spark the Wrath of God which long ago, absolutely destroyed Sodom and the other cities of the Plains.

You see, we must realize the mercy and grace of God can reach a breaking point, and that the Bible says this can come when “homosexuality” and other sexual perversions reach the level of acceptance as Sodom had achieved. Putting it another way as Tim LaHaye, a popular Christian author says,

“When sodomy fills the national cup of man’s abominations to overflowing, God earmarks that nation for destruction!”

Homosexuality is not a new sin; it is as old as man as seen in the days of Abraham and Lot more than 4000 years ago. The Bible tells us in graphic detail how the men of Sodom tried to sexually molest the angelic visitors to Lot ’s home. We read in,

Gen 19:1 (NLT)  That evening the two angels came to the entrance of the city of Sodom , and Lot was sitting there as they arrived. When he saw them, he stood up to meet them. Then he welcomed them and bowed low to the ground.

Gen 19:4-5 (NLT)  as they were preparing to retire for the night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house. 5 They shouted to Lot , “Where are the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out so we can have sex with them.”

Gen 19:9 (NLT)  “Stand back!” they shouted. “Who do you think you are? We let you settle among us, and now you are trying to tell us what to do! We’ll treat you far worse than those other men!” And they lunged at Lot and began breaking down the door.

The story is told that the entire town of Sodom was overrun with practicing homosexuals, who were in a sense burned out, looking for new flesh to violate. Apparently, the government of the city of Sodom approved of this life style which now was running rampant. The Bible shows, it was God’s time to destroy every living human being, apart from those who were willing to repent of this evil lifestyle. The angels declared,

Gen 19:13 (NLT) “… we will destroy the city completely. The stench of the place has reached the LORD, and he has sent us to destroy it.”

Gen 19:24-25 (NLT)  Then the LORD rained down fire and burning sulfur from the heavens on Sodom and Gomorrah . 25 He utterly destroyed them, along with the other cities and villages of the plain, eliminating all life—people, plants, and animals alike.

Yes, here is a case of an entire town that went to Hell, save Lot , and only two daughters who safely left with him before God destroyed the city. What a striking testimony to the love of God for those who repent, and the wrath of God for those who do not.

Today we Christians who speak out against homosexuality and its societal approval, are often vilified and condemned, but we must not be silent, for this national sin is the one that can take us all down to the grave as witnessed to by the Bible. Now the latest statistics report that there are more than 10 million persons in the United States alone, who are practicing homosexuals. This minority group has captured some states government’s approval and worse our national education system, and labors there to infect its lust and sick lifestyle on children at an early age. Our response must be to rise up in public protest and say no! Now this doesn’t mean persecuting those who are homosexuals, nor harming them in any way. 

But it does mean that we must say no to any public display, acceptance, promotion, and or approval. It’s not right for a practicing homosexual or lesbian to teach our children in schools. It’s not right for them to adopt children, or be representatives of the public. Such forefront positions afford them the ability to recruit impressionable children and young people to experiment with their nefarious lusts, which soon enslave them in the same sinful ways. Just as we do not allow child sex offenders access to children, we should not allow homosexuals access to the mind and bodies of our children and young people. It’s that simple.

Now am I a “homophobic,” the pet word of homosexuals? Am I one who discriminates? The answer is yes to both. A homophobic is one who fears homosexuality. I fear it because God has declared it wrong, sinful and under His wrath and judgment. God tells me He destroyed an entire town among others, for practicing this sin and snubbing their nose in the face of God.

Am I one who discriminates? The answer is “yes,” again. But remember this, our society is paranoid today about the subject of discrimination, carrying the idea to illogical extremes. But the idea of discriminating is not evil. There is nothing evil, nor is it un-American to discriminate against destructive sinful practices that defraud our majority rights to a wholesome society of heterosexuality which alone is God’s approved way of relationship. We all discriminate every day, shielding our children and our own selves from things that are bad for us, or hurtful and harmful. It’s time to stop believing the LIE – HOMOSEXUALITY AND ITS PRACTICE IS NORMAL AND ACCEPTABLE! 

Rather, it is a physically, emotionally and spiritually harmful action that can permanently ruin lives, ravage and destroy our bodies, and corrupt the future of our children. Yes, there was more than 4000 years ago, a town that went to Hell! And, all because it allowed the wicked abomination of homosexual defilement to be acceptable in the sight of all who lived in the town of Sodom .  Well, God finally answered – and Sodom and Gomorrah were scoured from the face of the earth. To this day there remains no trace, except that the area where these cities once existed is the place of complete ruin. This is a lasting testimony that God will not be mocked! The Bible warns, “Whatsoever a man sows that is what he will reap.” 

God help us to turn this nation back to the righteous lifestyles that God delights in. Friend, remember we have been warned by God, and our righteous response is our only hope to maintain a future as a nation. However, we may have already “crossed that line” God has struck; and, God’s judgments are just around the corner. I truly hope not, for our sake and our children’s. May God’s grace, mercy and love be extended for yet awhile, that we who know Him and begin to call for change; and, that we may be instrumental to save alive our homes, our towns, cities and our nation’s future.

You know although Sodom went to Hell and every resident in it, save those whom God extracted, things might have been different if Lot , the believer, had been the witness and influence for righteousness God had intended him to be! Might his whole family have been saved if Lot would not have compromised himself and his walk for God? Rather than laughing at him, his son-in-laws, his daughters and their children would have lived. But alas, the fire fell when the sun rose – and God’s ways prevailed. I hope you who are listening will become strong in your faith, uncompromising in the truth I spoken about here, and filled with a burning desire to rescue the lost before God steps in. May it be so for Jesus sake, Amen.

 

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[1] Pfeiffer, Charles F., Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia, ( Chicago , IL : Moody Press) 1975.

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·         Radio talk #4305

·         Broadcast date: October 22, 2005

·         Speaker: Dennis L. Finnan, Commentator

·         Program: The World, the Word & You! Radio Broadcast

·         Address: P.O. Box 60033 Grand Junction, CO 81506

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The World, the Word & You! Broadcast is a non-denominational ministry based on the historic fundamental evangelical interpretation of the Scriptures. A copy of our doctrinal statement is available upon request. These weekly radio commentaries are not exhaustive studies of any particular subject due to the time limit of broadcasting. Actual broadcasts can be heard in selected areas around the nation, as funding provides. Dennis Finnan has been the speaker for over 25 years, and serves as General Director.

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