Watchman Radio Hour

David Schalter: Welcome to the Watchman Radio Hour, coming to you from Portland, Oregon, here in the beautiful Northwest. This is David Schalter, announcer. The Watchman Radio Hour is a production of Watchman Radio Ministries International, an evangelistic ministry reaching out to the peoples of the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And now here's our speaker Alex Dodson to bring you this week's message from God's word.

Alex Dodson: We're living in an age where sexual immorality in all its forms pervades the nation. There have been sex-crazed societies before, who went on their way, and God made an example of them to warn us today.

Our text is Jude verse 7. "In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire."

In the English Standard Version, it says, "Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire."

Remember the example of Sodom and Gomorrah. This is a time to remember and take heed before it's too late. The axe lies at the root of the tree and is about to fall. Repent and turn back to the God of our fathers.

Let us see in the first place their sin. Verse 7 again says, "In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion." They gave themselves over to sexual immorality. That is, they indulged in it. They were saturated in it. They delighted in it.

Their society was given over to sexual immorality in all its forms. They had become hardened to their sins and could not stop. In Ephesians 4:19, it says, "Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality, so as to indulge in every kind of impurity with a continual lust for more."

In 2 Peter 2, verses 4 through 10, it says, "For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if He rescued Lot, the righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men, for that righteous man living among them day after day was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard. If this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. This is especially true of those who followed the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority."

Sodom and Gomorrah were a society given over to sexual immorality, much like our own society today. There's no doubt about it. The same thing that happened then is happening now, and we need to realize that before it's too late.

Let us see then that they pursued unnatural desire. Again, verse 7 says, "In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion or unnatural desire." They went in search of it. They pursued their sexual immorality to the extreme. They were doing extreme things.

In Genesis 19 and verse 1, it says, "The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. And when he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. My lords," he said, "Please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night, and then go on your way early in the morning." "No," they answered, "We will spend the night in the square."

But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them. He baked bread without yeast, and they ate. Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom, both young and old, surrounded the house. And they called out to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."

Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said, "No, my friends, don't do this wicked thing. Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof."

Then they replied, "Get out of the way!" And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien. Now he wants to play the judge. We'll treat you worse than them." They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door. But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. And then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness, so that they could not find the door.

The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here, sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here. Because we're going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against this people is so great that He has sent us to destroy it."

These men of Sodom had only evil on their mind. They were pursuing their sexual immorality and would do anything to satisfy their immoral lusts. For this reason, God would bring great judgment on this society.

Romans 1, verses 24 through 27, it says, "Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator, who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion."

Sexual impurity comes from a sinful heart. Men commit sexual immorality because they have sinful hearts. Jesus pointed this out very clearly in Matthew 15 and verses 19 through 21 where He said, "For it's out of the heart that come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man unclean. But eating with unwashed hands does not make him unclean."

Sexual immorality has its root in the heart of man. It comes from a sinful heart. Those who commit sexual immorality need a heart change. They need to repent from their hearts and turn to Christ for forgiveness and cleansing.

Then let us see their punishment. Again, verse 7 says, "In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion, they serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire."

He destroyed completely Sodom and Gomorrah by fire from heaven. Sodom and Gomorrah, along with the surrounding cities, were completely destroyed because of their sin. In Genesis 19:24-25, it says, "And the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. And thus He overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities and all the vegetation in the land." God poured out His wrath on Sodom and Gomorrah because of their great sin.

In Deuteronomy 29:23, it says, "The whole land will be a burning waste of salt and sulfur. Nothing planted, nothing sprouted, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in fierce anger."

There were no survivors other than Lot and his family who were rescued by the angels just before the cities were destroyed. In Isaiah 1:9, it says, "Unless the Lord Almighty had left us some survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah."

In Jeremiah 49:17-18, it says, "Edom will become an object of horror. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff because of all its wounds. As Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown, along with their neighboring towns," says the Lord, "so no one will live there, no man will dwell in it."

In Luke 17:29, it says, "But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all." God's fierce anger came against them because of their great sin, and they all perished.

Let us see also that this serves as an example to all future generations. God punished Sodom and Gomorrah as an example to all future generations, and as a warning of what can happen to any society that turns against God.

In Romans 9:29, it says, "It is just as Isaiah said previously, unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been like Gomorrah." It also serves as a reminder of what will happen to all who reject God.

The Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible says this: "In verse 6, it refers to traditions associated with Genesis, or if verse 6 refers to traditions associated with Genesis 6:2-4, the phrase 'similar way' refers to sexual immorality in general, and to unnatural sexual unions in particular. But since Genesis 6:2-4 probably does not refer to angels, it is preferable to understand this verse as comparing the two cases by pointing to flagrancy of violation and pride and disobedience, sexual immorality and perversion. The sexual perversion in view is the homosexuality described in Genesis 19:4-9. An example of punishment of eternal fire, the fiery destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns in Genesis 19 serves throughout the scripture as a paradigm of God's judgment on sin."

This one incident in Sodom and Gomorrah is a warning to every generation since that God punishes sin. Any society that rebels against God will suffer the consequences. Today our society is in danger of great judgment because of its great sins. We cannot go on in our rebellion against God and His moral law and think that we can get away with it. A payday is coming.

Our only hope is to repent of our sins and turn back to God before it's too late. Let us see in the third place then a call for national repentance. Our sins are great. Our nation is steeped in sexual immorality in all its forms. From sex outside of marriage to various forms of sexual perversion, to pornography, and sexually explicit movies and music, sexual immorality is everywhere.

Sexual immorality has its root in a sinful heart. Jesus made this clear. In Mark 7, verses 20 through 23, it says, "He went on, what comes out of a man is what makes him unclean. For from within, out of men's hearts come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man unclean." People commit sexual immorality because they have sinful hearts.

We have a heart problem in this nation. Our hearts are inclined towards sin. We commit sexual immorality in all its forms because we want to. And until our hearts are changed, we will continue to commit sexual immorality in all its forms.

First Peter 2:11 says, "Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and strangers in the world to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul." Today so many give in to their sinful desires and sink deeper into sexual immorality in all its forms.

Sexual immorality is a spiritual problem and needs a spiritual solution that only the gospel can give. Our nation has given itself over to sensuality. Ephesians 4:19 it says, "Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality, so as to indulge in every kind of impurity with a continual lust for more."

Not only do we commit sexual immorality as a people, but we also as a people approve of these sins. In Romans 1:32, it says, "Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also they approve of those who practice them." We may not ourselves individually commit sexual immorality, but we approve of others who do.

Sexual immorality is not only an outward act, but it is also an inward act. Jesus makes this plain. In Matthew 5:27-28, He says, "You have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart." That's why looking at pornography or sexually explicit movies are also acts of sexual immorality.

And then let us see, God's warning judgments are falling on us. God is there and He's not silent. We wondered why bad things happened to our nation. Why do we have calamities? Why do we have droughts, violent acts, destructive storms? Could one reason be that we are a sinful nation?

God is not pleased with our rebellion against Him. His wrath against us is being revealed in many ways. In Romans 1:18, it says, "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness."

Though in our sophisticated society we do not recognize or refuse to recognize God's wrath against us, nevertheless, His wrath is being revealed against us because of our great sins. In 2 Chronicles 7, verses 13 and 14, it says, "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

This was directed at the nation of Israel as a people. The same goes for our nation as a people. God's wrath is coming against us because of our great sins. And we need to humble ourselves as a people, as a nation, and repent and turn back to the God of our fathers.

It's a time to turn back to the God of our forefathers. Our Pilgrim Fathers experienced a severe drought in the summer of 1623. It lasted 12 weeks, and not even the oldest Indians could remember anything like it. The crops were withering away.

Edward Winslow wrote, "There scarce fell any rain, so that the stalk of that planting, which was first set, began to send forth the ear before it came to half growth, and that which was later, not like to yield any at all, both blade and stalk hanging the head and changing the color in such manners we judged it utterly dead. Our beans also ran not up according to their usual manner, but stood at a stay, many being parched away as though they had been scorched before the fire. Now were our hopes overthrown and we were discouraged, and our joy had turned into mourning, because God, who had hitherto had been our only shield and supporter, now seemed in His anger to arm Himself against us. And who can withstand the fierceness of His wrath? These and the like considerations moved not only every good man privately to enter into examination with his own estate between God and his conscience. And so to humiliation before Him, but also to humble ourselves together before the Lord by fasting and prayer."

"To that day, a day to that end, the day was appointed by public authority and set apart from all other employments." They saw this drought as from God, and it caused them to examine themselves to see where they had sinned and to repent before God. And as a result, God answered.

Winslow goes on to write, "But, oh, the mercy of our God, who was as ready to hear as we were to ask. For though in the morning when we assembled together, the heavens were as clear and the drought as like to continue as it ever was. Yet our exercise continuing some eight or nine hours, before our departure the weather was overcast, the clouds gathered on all sides, and on the next morning to still such soft, sweet and moderate showers of rain, continuing some 14 days and mixed with such seasonable weather as it was hard to say whether our withered corn or drooping affections were most quickened or revived. Such was the bounty and goodness of our God."

And William Bradford, the governor, wrote, "It came without either wind or thunder or any violence, and by degrees in that abundance, as that the earth was thoroughly wet and soaked therewith, which did so apparently revive and quicken the decayed corn and other fruits, as was wonderful to see and made the Indians astonished to behold."

Peter Marshall and David Manuel write, "The yield that year was so abundant that the Pilgrims ended up with a surplus of corn, which they were able to use in trading that winter with the northern Indians, who had not had a good growing season. A second day of Thanksgiving was planned."

Today in our current hostile environment toward biblical Christianity, such an event is not likely to happen. We now look only at secondary causes and don't even consider that there might be a primary cause of calamities that strike our nation. We go on in our sins as if God doesn't know about them. We don't even recognize our own sinfulness as a people, yet God knows and He is not silent.

We need to turn back to the faith of our forefathers and fear God once again as a people. John Winthrop, the first governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, wrote in 1630 his famous work, "A Model of Christian Charity," as he envisioned the settling of America and establishing the kingdom of God there.

He wrote, "Thus stands the cause between God and us. We are entered into covenant with Him in this work. We have taken out a commission. The Lord hath given us leave to draw our own articles. If the Lord shall please to hear us and bring us in peace to the place we desire, then hath He ratified this covenant and sealed our commission and will expect a strict performance of the articles, lest the Lord will surely break out in wrath against us. Now the only way to avoid this shipwreck and to provide for our posterity is to follow the counsel of Micah, to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God. For this end we must be knit together in this work as one man. We shall find that the God of Israel is among us, when ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies, when He shall make us a praise and glory that men of succeeding plantations shall say, 'The Lord make it like that of New England.' For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us, so that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword throughout the world."

Our forefathers saw their coming to America as a covenant with God. They knew that if they broke that covenant that God would withdraw His blessing from them. They feared God. They honored Him and they sought to please Him in what they were doing.

Today we have dealt falsely with our God in this nation. We have turned away from Him as a people, and we're going to reap a harvest that we will not like. God's wrath is upon us, and it will increase because we have turned our back on Him and His moral law. Yet even now the invitation goes out to us to repent and turn back to the God of our fathers. In Isaiah 45:22, it says, "Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other."

In Psalm 2 and verses 10 through 12, it says, "Therefore you kings, be wise. Be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for His wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him."

Our nation has turned against the Lord. And so we must be warned that those nations that do so will come under the wrath of God and be destroyed. Yet there is hope for those who turn to the Son and take refuge in Him.

Today we invite you to turn to the Son, Jesus Christ, and to take refuge in Him. Those of you who are sexually immoral have turned against God, but you can turn back, be forgiven, and walk in newness of life. In 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Paul says, "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."

He says the sexually immoral will not inherit the kingdom of God. Those who think they are all right in committing acts of sexual immorality are deceiving themselves. They are not all right. They are sinning, and they need to be forgiven and cleansed. And they can find that forgiveness and that cleansing only in Jesus Christ.

God's wrath is real. It affects many people, not only those who have committed the sins for which that wrath is poured out, but also for others as well who reap the destruction caused by others. Sexual immorality brought the AIDS epidemic and many other sexually transmitted diseases upon us. Many have died, many have become sick. The guilty have died and the innocent as well because of the sins of others.

We as a people need to repent of our great sins that our nation may be spared. If we don't repent as a people, God's wrath is going to break out against us even more in the future. This is a call for repentance. Turn from your great sins and turn to Christ before it's too late. The axe is at the root of the tree and it's about to fall. Flee from the wrath to come and come to Christ. Come and kiss the Son and take refuge in Him. Makes no difference who you are, whether you're young or old, rich or poor, educated or not so educated, it makes no difference who you are. Who you may be, whatever your sex is, you're called to repent and turn to Christ today. Come now.

Isaiah 1:18 says, "Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. And though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."