Changing Your Course

Separation from Friends Is Difficult

Some years ago, I stood in a terminal in Philadelphia waiting for a train to take me to Chicago. A huge crowd of people was waiting to board the train. Standing close to me was a young man in an army uniform, and with him an attractive young lady. Quietly, they talked. Occasionally, there was an embrace and a kiss, and she would wipe the tears from her eyes. The time came to board the train. She walked as far as she could with the young soldier, and then there was one final embrace. I saw him hasten for his seat, and then he looked for the young lady from the window. Finding her, he waved, and continued to wave, time and time again, until the train took him from her sight.

Separation from God Is Deadly

Separation from a loved one is never easy. Many of us know what it is to be separated from dearest loved ones. But let me tell you of another separation that is far worse. It is separation from God. And do you know what it is that separates us from God? Sin. Listen to God’s word, as recorded in Isaiah 59:1-2. Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither is his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. There you have it. Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

Until something is done about our sins, we do not have access to God. We cannot pray. We cannot go to Him in a time of need. We are destitute: without hope, and without God. Thus realize with me, will you please, the awfulness of sin. Not only does it bring misery and unhappiness to our lives, but look at the end of the matter as recorded in James 1:15. And sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death; that is, eternal death which is eternal separation from God. My! What could be worse than that—never to know the joys of heaven, but to suffer the torments of hell forever and forever? Why? Because of sin. Someone has said, “When the human race loses its consciousness of God, it is genuinely sick.” And be sure, dear friends, we live in a sick world today. God says, in Proverbs 14:34, Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people. Sin brings sorrow and unhappiness upon a nation and all the individuals in the nation. That’s why it is so important that we do something about our sins.

What Can Be Done?

There’s only one thing to do. We must put them under the blood of Jesus Christ. We read, in Hebrews 9:28 that Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. That’s why He came—to bear your sins, and mine, and everybody else’s on the cross, that we might be made right with God. Look at 1 Peter 3:18, For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. Christ had no sin of His own. He died for yours and for mine that we might turn to God. Have you trusted in Him as your sin-bearer? Have you acknowledged Him as your Lord? You need Him, if you haven’t, for everyone is a sinner and in need of the Savior. Some people think they are the exception. They go to church. In their own eyes they think they’re all right. Many churches have nothing to say about sin and are ignoring the truth of the Word of God.

Clergymen Are Compromising

I read of a bishop in a major denomination who said he wouldn’t condemn pre-marital sex. Then there was another pastor working on a university campus who condoned pre-marital sex when there is (as he put it) a “covenant of intimacy.” Another minister recommended a trial affair as a kind of “little marriage” in preparation for the great marriage which is to last. Well, what does the Bible say? The Bible teaches that sex relationships out of wedlock are sinful. Those who are parties to these illicit relationships are under the judgment of God.

Sin Is Like Fire

We read, in Hebrews 13:4, Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. It doesn’t make any difference what a clergyman says. The word of God is the authority. Maybe I’m speaking to someone who has persisted in continuing in a known sin. God asks in Proverbs 6:2, Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Why I’m sure you know the answer to this. You can’t play with fire without being burned. Sin is like fire. Some there are who seek how far they can go and still escape the burning. A 15-year-old boy was killed by a railroad train when he tried to see how long he could stand in its path before leaping to safety. He was thrown 35 feet by a fast train. His 15-year-old stepbrother told police that this incident occurred when the two were walking along the tracks near their home. Many are playing with sin in the same manner. God says in Numbers 32:23, Be sure you sin will find you out. That means it will catch up with you. Some are drawn into sin because they chose the wrong companions. They brought tragedy to their life by running with the wrong crowd.

Beware of The Judas Goat

There is a story told about a Midwest packinghouse that had an animal that became an institution, a goat named Judas. For many years, he did his work, faithfully, leading sheep to the slaughter. Unsuspectingly (sheep-like), the sheep followed the traitor's prancing feet to their own destruction. Judas knew when to dart into an escape gate to safety, returning to lead more victims down the shutes to their slaughter. He led millions to their destruction.

Choose Your Friends Carefully

Judas is so much like the god of this age, the Devil, who leads the unthinking masses to their unspeakable doom. But, oftentimes, Satan works through humans. That’s why God says in 2 Corinthians 6:14, Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Choose the right kind of people: those who love the Lord Jesus, who are seeking to follow Him. You won’t get into trouble if you stay with the Lord’s crowd. The Devil’s crowd will bring ruin into your life. Maybe ruin has come already.

The Way Out

Let me tell you, there’s a way out. There is a way of escape. It is through Christ the Son of God who died for your sins, so that you might have deliverance. If you are willing to ask Him to come into your life at this moment, He will come in. He will save you for all eternity, and give you the peace you have desired for a long, long time. Repent and ask the Savior to come into your life and forgive you of all your sins?

J. Allen Blair

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