“But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom, in the day of judgment, than for you (vs24).”
Not believing Christ will cast us into eternal hell, hotter than the Sodomites will experience. People say things against loose living, homosexuality, and every evil under the sun. And yet, unbelief is the GREATEST crime imaginable, and to not believe the Son of God is to stand before the Consuming Fire without hope, pardon, or a mediator; it is to be punished forever in the hottest place in hell.
I’d rather not perish, so why not believe the gospel of His grace? Why will you die when salvation is free? Is it because it is hard? Your Father knows what things you need, pardons sins, remembers the frame of His people, and delights in mercy. He will cleanse you of your sins, giving you power from above. Your hope is grace.
To escape this place, Christ teaches us:
1. Don’t be ashamed that Christ’s kingdom involves sufferings and torment for you – “And blessed is he who is not offended by me” (Matt 11:4-6). Don’t turn back from Christ because you thought following Him was easy and glorious, that people would receive you, and that sin would be easy to handle. He told you the costs of discipleship, and He GRACES people as weak as you to make it continually – “But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they” (Acts 15:11). He gives sight to the blind and graces us to obey, when we cannot. He lifts up the fallen, helps the faint, and blesses us continually, not by what I deserve, but by what Christ earned, by God’s love, and according to my need. God is faithful to sinners, as John the Baptist proves by his unbelief.
2. The gospel is for those that have ears to hear - “He that has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt 11:15). If you can believe and receive the truth, knowing it is God’s, then believe and receive it. Many cannot understand because He speaks in parables, but if you’re able to see the light, then believe in the light, and walk while you have the light. Receive the salvation of God.
It may be strange that so great things have been given to sinners like yourself, but why not you? God has taught you things you would not know, and if you receive them, then you have what Christ earned (Matt 10:40-41).
He didn’t come telling us what we must earn; He DECLARES what He earned for sinners by His death. Why not be someone He saves, if He’s preached salvation to you? Why not enter the kingdom, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matt 11:12).
3. The issue is repentance; it is not the past – “Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: Woe unto you, Chorazin! woe unto you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes” (Matt 11:20-21).
You can’t change your past, and Christ isn’t preached to condemn. You come to Christ as you are, fresh in sin, not WORRYING about the past. Why would I worry about what I cannot change and what Christ says will not keep me from Him?
Sin is why the Savior has come. Don’t let your failures and fears KEEP you from Christ, because He SAVES sinners like this.
It matters not that Sodom and Gomorrah were evil beyond words, God would have SPARED the same people He DESTROYED if they’d REPENTED (Matt 11:23). Repent because God pardons sins and you have no where else to go, and you shall be saved. He will be glorified in you, pardon you, love you, and empower you to good. He will save as promised.
