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I. WHAT AN EVIL IS SENSUAL AND SEXUAL POLLUTION. It is remarkable that God has severely punished the cities most chargeable with these sins. Lucknow is said to be the Sodom of India, and it has of late been terribly punished, although through the instrumentality of hands many of them unclean themselves. Some of the cities in the West Indies and South America, which have been destroyed by earthquake, were peculiarly stained by such pollutions; and if accounts be true, Cuba, on this principle, may well stand in awe of the judgments of God. Of all the cities on the continent, the two which have suffered most in war have been its two most licentious cities, namely, Vienna and Paris.

II. How MUCH STILL DEPENDS UPON A FEW IN A LARGE CITY, AS WELL AS IN A COUNTRY. "Ye are the salt of the earth." Even Omnipotence pauses, in its path of just vengeance, till the righteous are out of its way (ver. 22). Let the thought that there are still so few righteous in the earth exert a humbling influence on our minds. We know not what is God's required proportion now, it was in Sodom's day tens to tens of thousands; perhaps it is so still, and how serious the question. Is it because the required proportion of righteous is found, or is it out of mere forbearance that God does not arise terribly to punish the world, and how long, if it be mere forbearance, may this forbearance last?

III. LET US FLEE TO THE ZOAR OF CHRIST.

(G. Gilfillan.)

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KJV: Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;

WEB: Then Yahweh rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from Yahweh out of the sky.