12 - Matthew 10:15

’Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.’ -Matthew 10:15. As the responsibility shall be the judgment; and as the light is the responsibility. The people of Sodom had a law written in their own hearts, and knew well that they were transgressing it. Their responsibility was increased when Lot took up his residence among them. This preacher of righteousness testified strongly against their evil ways. They might refuse to listen to the still, small voice within; they might argue that if God really so hated their actions, he would not commit his testimony to a still, small voice that they could scarcely hear, or could easily refuse to hear; one little faint voice within the heart against a thousand voices without loudly proclaiming that God had given men liberty to do as they liked; and they might refer to the course of providence which suffered them to go on, not sending upon them such destruction as, if their ways were really so odious, might naturally be expected. But when Lot lifted up his voice in the cause of God’s insulted majesty, and set forth in all fidelity the law of God, and assured the people of coming judgment, and when God, in some adequate way, bore testimony from heaven that Lot was indeed his truthful messenger, then their conscience recovered from the repression put upon it, and spoke out loudly and ominously of coming wrath. But they repented not. Instead of giving their chief attention to the testimony actually borne from heaven to the truth of Lot’s words, they busied themselves rather in finding out evidence that Lot himself was not so irreproachable as he should be, and that they were accordingly under no great obligation to conform to his instructions. Then came destruction upon the guilty region, not merely for the sake of Sodom and Gomorrha, but in order to increase the responsibility of other cities and nations, by showing that the objection drawn from their temporary impunity has no validity. That objection lured the Sodomites to their destruction, and they are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. If we look round the world we see enough in the way of temporal punishment to show that God does not overlook the sins of men, and to admonish, in that the unjust are reserved into the day of judgment to be punished. The judgment upon Sodom expresses not merely the Divine wrath against the sins for which that place was conspicuous; but for this superadded and crowning sin, that a servant of God dwelt for a while among them, holding out the word of life, and they rejected his words..

Twenty centuries, with their successive contributions to the revelation made of himself by God to man, came and laid down their gifts and went, after Lot had ended his ministry, before Messiah came. He sends forth those who have heard him and been fitted by him, to preach his Gospel among men. With every one of them goes light such as the fathers had faintly dreamt of. The Sermon on the Mount, with all its expositions of the length and breadth of God’s law, and all its testimony to his holiness and purity, went with each of them; the Gospel of Christ’s holy life and benignity and gracious works and words went with them; Christ went with them in the word which told of him, in his promises and invitations and offers of eternal life. The word of God which men hear is the word that shall judge them in the last day. It is what they reject that shall witness against them then. What they reject, what they refuse to be influenced by, is not much in their thoughts; it is excluded from their thoughts; if they think of the judgment day, it is in connection with those expressions of the Divine will that are not so much disregarded by them; and what they have most to dread is what they least dread. The Jews of the present day, for instance, are chiefly occupied with sundry laws of the Old Testament and rabbinical traditions; what they dread is the punishment due to the transgression of those laws and traditions; how far are they from thinking that they are to be tried by a word which they put completely away from them, the word of Christ’s Gospel! They trouble themselves about the condemnation due to a multitude of little things which are of no account whatever in comparison with the grand question. What reception have you accorded to Christ? And as it is with them so it is with all who hear his Gospel. The refusal to submit to this will place them in a worse category than the people of Sodom were placed in by their revolting sensuality.

Find the nation, find the age on which has been bestowed the largest measure of light, and you will find those on whom the heaviest judgment shall fall. Was ever an age more favoured in this respect than ours is? If you insist that they who actually saw Christ were more favoured, your attention may be called to the fact that Christ’s veil of human flesh screened him from the recognition of men; that the greatest evidence was furnished when he died and rose, and ascended on high; that Christianity has created the capacity for becoming best acquainted with its claims; that the accumulated evidence of all past ages is with us. Never, surely, was there more light in the world than there is now; never was there greater responsibility.

"Whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet." Your visit and your reception have been noted in heaven. The missionary who, in this year of grace 1869, tells the story of Christ to the heathen, is to bear in mind that the rejection of Christ’s words is the sealing up of their fate. It must however be understood that Christ’s very truth, in a form in which they can understand it, in simplicity and godly sincerity, is to be preached to them; and that they are to be furnished with such evidence as is proper to the Gospel, and suited to affect their darkened minds. A part of this evidence is in the influence which the Gospel has over the lives of those that preach it; in their disinterestedness and freedom from worldly ends and sordid motives; in their life of faith; in their meekness and readiness to suffer; in their manifest love to men and desire for their welfare. See the instructions (Matthew 10:8-10) that introduce the words of our text. There is reference also to works of a supernatural character, fitted more than aught besides to impress the minds of carnal men and secure their attention to the Gospel thus accompanied. The modern missionary knows nothing of such evidence; and the absence of it is to a certain extent a counter evidence against him. How does this affect his responsibility? These works no man, by virtue of any endowments of his own, through any mere force of will, ever could or ever can perform. It is God only that can perform them. Yet the command is addressed to the disciples: "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead." The command was addressed to their faith. The servant of Christ does not now believe that Christ is willing to work such miracles through him; they cannot then be wrought. He is responsible to give those whom he addresses all the evidence he can; and it is possible that his want of faith may be the cause that less evidence is given than might be given. Perhaps if he were more careful to give men such evidence as would be furnished by a more apostolic simplicity of life, self denial, and unworldliness, by faith in God for all that we ourselves need, by a more perfect conformity to Christ, by more of mutual love, by the power of its spirit put forth on our own characters, God might bear testimony from heaven by such displays of his power as are best fitted to impress the minds of unconverted men.

We must bear in mind that the light is as the evidence; as this is obscured, so is that. The apostles were commanded to tarry in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. We have undertaken this great work of carrying the Gospel to the heathen; have we sufficiently felt the great need of being endued with power from on high? What if we should come together in prayer, and continue in prayer, until the Spirit should descend in power such as we have not known? This power would be first felt in ourselves, and would demonstrate its presence by convincing us of many sins that we have hitherto shut our eyes to or glossed over; by giving us victory after victory over the monsters, Selfishness and Unbelief; by uniting us in mutual love according to the prayer of Christ, "As thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may know that thou hast sent me."