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intervene. If they had gone on, it
would have been improbable they
could ever achieve God's great pur–
pose for them in a future resur–
rection. So God, in His merey, inter–
vened with a catastrophic punish–
ment and cut off their lives.
A Lost Generation?
Were the Sodomites' lives worthless?
Did they live in vain? Is there any
more help from God for the Sodom–
ites? ls there any hope for any who
are caught in similar sins today?
The terrific answer is, Yes!
But it is a matter of understanding
God's plan for man!
The Sodomites, like the vast
majority of mankind who have ever
lived, were allowed by God to be
blinded to the Creator's laws and
great purpose for human life. The
Sodomites were cut off from contact
with God by thei r sins (Isaiah 59:1-
2). God allowed them (as He has
most of mankind) to reap the conse–
quences of their own way under
Satan's sway of selfishness, lust and
self-aggrandizement.
Sin- the breaking of God's law (I
John 3:4)-damages (arrests, limits
or prevents) full human maturíty and
godly development.
lt
damages the
proper development of values, out–
look and go'als in life.
Sin, and sexual sin in particular,
distorts wholesome feelings to one's
own and the opposite sex. It subtly
destroys health and minds.
It
works
to destroy respect and appreciation of
the God-ordained family unit. It
undermines the proper example and
teaching adults should be givíng to
children.
But these evils will all be correc–
ted.
God !oves human beings. He rec–
ognizes their potential as members of
the God Family despite their sins. He
is "not willing that any should perish
[eternally). but that all should come
to repentance"
(ll
Peter 3:9). God's
great master plan for humanity
means all who sinned and died in
ignorance will have their opportunity
to repent and change the way they
think and act.
This is the good news! Even the
Sodomites will have their opportuni–
ty for salvation in a future day of
resurrection and judgment. And they
are going to listen. Jesus Christ spoke
March 1980
of this period of time·. Verbally chas–
tizing a cíty in His time for having
rejected God's message, He said:
"For if the mighty works done in
you had been done in Sodom, it
would have continued until today.
But l tell you, it shall be more
endurable for the land of Sodom on
the day of judgment than for you"
(Matthew 11:23-24, The Amplified
Bible) .
The Sodomites will have more
merey because they sinned in igno–
rance. Whereas many in the time of
Jesus professed to know God's laws
but did not keep them.
The people of Sodom will come to
understand why they sinned as they
did. And they wíll receive from God
the gift of the Holy Spirit to over–
come their sins.
Yes, the Sodomítes wíll live
again-to be resurrected into a world
where Satan will not be allowed to
tempt them and where sínful cultures
will not exist to Jure them back into
sin at every corner. They willlive in a
yet future era when God's Spirit will
be made freely available to all who
want to overcome their sins and go
God's way.
This future time of salvatíon for
most of humanity who have lived and
died is
lit~le
understood. But you can
understand-if you know the mean–
ing of the annual Holy Days God
revealed to ancient Israel. These
divinely ordained days picture an
early small spiritual harvest of indi–
viduals called in this age to have an
opportunity for salvation.
This small spiritual first harvest of
those who are now called to spiritual
salvation is followed by a large, late
harvest culminating in a last great
annual Holy Day. This Great Day
pictures a time of salvation for all
wh()-.!-like the Sodomítes-never tru–
ly had an opportunity to know God's
ways.
Thís astounding good news is con–
tained in our free booket
Pagan
Holidays-or God's Holy Days–
Which?
and in the reprint article " Is
This The Only Day of Salvation?"
Comlng-Fantastlc Era of Learning!
Look at what the Sodomites will yet
learn in their day of salvation!
They will learn that God ís the
author of sex, that He established
right and wholesome marital and
sexual relationships and laws. They
wíll learn how these laws and ways
promete optimum human and spirí–
tual development. They wíll learn
that a proper marriage is a God–
plane relationship.
They will understand why God
gave laws prohíbitíng prostitution,
fornication (or whoredom or harlo–
try), adultery, homosexuality, rape,
incest, transvestism, bestiality and
other sexual uncleanness.
They will understand why God put
humans on the earth. Human experi–
ence ís a testing ground and ultimate
opportunity to develop godlike char–
acter.
Finally they will appreciate God's
ultimate merey to them. They will
learn why God is so concerned about
the dírection of all human sexual and
social development.
An Example for Today
The societies of Sodom and Gomor–
rah did not start out as immorally as
they ended. They became that way
through the increasing acceptance of
values and altitudes that did not
discriminate between good and evil.
It is not exaggerating to say that
many nations today a re well on the
way to becoming new Sodom and
Gomorrahs!
The fate of Sodom and Gomorrah
should be a warning to all. The
events that shattered those cities
more than 3,850 years ago, Scrípture
warns us, are "set forth for an exam–
ple, suffering the vengeance of eter–
na! fi re" (Jude 7).
Saíd the apostle Peter, "And
[God] turning Sodom and Gomorrah
into ashes condemned them with an
overthrow, making them an ensam–
ple [example] unto those that after
should líve
ungodly"
(11 Peter 2:6).
It
is a clear example, not an
unclear or muddied one as sorne are
trying to make the account of Sodom
and Gomorrah appear.
Coming issues of
The Plain Truth
will cover vital topics in this impor–
tant a rca of human sexuality. Topics
such as the purpose of sex and mar–
riage, modern moral trends, altitudes
and problems, prophecies to major
nations because of such trends, how
humans form sexual preferences,
overcoming sin God's way and proper
sex education. You will want toread
them all. o
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