Destruction of Sodom
139
Said the True Witness to the church at Ephesus: “I have somewhat
against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore
from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or
else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick
out of his place, except thou repent.”
Revelation 2:4, 5
. The Saviour
watches for a response to His offers of love and forgiveness, with a
more tender compassion than that which moves the heart of an earthly
parent to forgive a wayward, suffering son. He cries after the wanderer,
“Return unto Me, and I will return unto you.”
Malachi 3:7
. But if the
erring one persistently refuses to heed the voice that calls him with
pitying, tender love, he will at last be left in darkness. The heart that
has long slighted God’s mercy, becomes hardened in sin, and is no
longer susceptible to the influence of the grace of God. Fearful will
be the doom of that soul of whom the pleading Saviour shall finally
declare, he “is joined to idols: let him alone.”
Hosea 4:17
. It will be
more tolerable in the day of judgment for the cities of the plain than
for those who have known the love of Christ, and yet have turned away
to choose the pleasures of a world of sin.
You who are slighting the offers of mercy, think of the long array
of figures accumulating against you in the books of heaven; for there
is a record kept of the impieties of nations, of families, of individuals.
God may bear long while the account goes on, and calls to repentance
and offers of pardon may be given; yet a time will come when the
account will be full; when the soul’s decision has been made; when by
his own choice man’s destiny has been fixed. Then the signal will be
given for judgment to be executed.
[166]
There is cause for alarm in the condition of the religious world
today. God’s mercy has been trifled with. The multitudes make void
the law of Jehovah, “teaching for doctrines the commandments of
men.”
Matthew 15:9
. Infidelity prevails in many of the churches in
our land; not infidelity in its broadest sense—an open denial of the
Bible—but an infidelity that is robed in the garb of Christianity, while
it is undermining faith in the Bible as a revelation from God. Fervent
devotion and vital piety have given place to hollow formalism. As the
result, apostasy and sensualism prevail. Christ declared, “As it was in
the days of Lot, ... even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of
man is revealed.”
Luke 17:28, 30
. The daily record of passing events
testifies to the fulfillment of His words. The world is fast becoming