When I was a young boy, I remember my father telling me of some of his exploits in the South Pacific while he was a member of the United States Navy. Those stories still resonate in my mind as I think of the price that so many paid to guarantee that we would always have our freedoms.
One thing I remember is the large picture of men who were in basic training. My father was in the first row as he was an assistant to the commanding officer. Elsewhere in that photograph one can find the image of a man who was from our home town. He and my dad enlisted in the Navy at the same time and were in basic training together. Both my father and his friend settled in our home town of Tifton, GA and knew each other all their lives. Later on, after I became a Pastor, I would make a stop at this man’s service station and fill up with gas as I would be returning to Augusta following a visit in Tifton. This service station also had a small place designated for eating and one could get light sandwiches and hot dogs there.
One day while I was in Tifton, I went by to see this man whose name was Leonard Morris. We always wound up talking about something spiritual and this particular visit was no different. During our discussion he made a statement that I wrote down on the spot. I was caught by surprise that he actually made the comment but it is filled with truth. He said: “People love the trip to hell. They just don’t want to pay the price.” There is a passage of scripture that immediately comes to mind when I think of what Mr. Morris said. It is Romans 1: 21-32 and it contains a listing of the kind of people who will not be in heaven. It talks about how wicked people not only enjoy what they are doing but will try to enlist others to follow them. In verse 32 the passage says: “Who, knowing the judgment of God, that they who commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same but have pleasure in them that do them.”
People who have rejected Christ and adopted the sinful ways of the world like to feel that what they are doing is acceptable if there are a lot of people doing the same wicked thing. That is why they try to enlist others into their sinful way of life. It provides company for them. And, satan tells people that if a lot of people are doing something, that it makes it acceptable. It does not! It just involves more people who have been willing to follow the wrong people in life. When someone chooses to live a sinful debaucherous life, they feel better if they have some company.
My mother used to tell me something very wise when, as a teenager, I would ask to do something that did not meet her approval. I would always say, “Well, mother, everyone else is doing it.” Then she would reply, “If someone stuck his head in the fire would you want to do it too.” Of course, my answer would be that I would not like to do what they did. She had made her point and I had no argument left.
Satan makes sure that the kind of things that will banish a person from heaven will appear full of fun and frivolity. If fun and frivolity are present then it is easy to get one’s attention and at the same time, convince them that no one will ever know and that, if they do know, they won’t care. It doesn’t matter whether they care or not because, in reality, they don’t have to please or satisfy anyone else. We must remember that God is the one who laid down the rules and He is the one who is offended when we sin, no matter how many are doing it with us. He is also the one we will stand before in judgment. A person cannot say “Well, God, there were a lot of people doing it so I assumed it was all right.” How many are involved is not the criterion by which we are judged. Sin of any kind violates the Holiness of God and any sin must be forgiven no matter how small or how many are involved in it.
“Well, everybody is doing it” is the weakest and worst thing that one could say to God concerning a sin that has violated His Holiness. But, the scripture tells us that there are those who will temp a good person to sin just so that sinful person can have some company which makes him feel better about himself, Rom. 1:32. It is a very selfish position for someone to hold. They don’t care if they are causing someone else to violate God’s Holiness and this is the most dangerous thing that they could do.
So, once a person has fallen into this deadly trap, what can they do to undo the damage and get back right with God. If they are a disobedient Christian, they will feel their conscience warning them throughout the experience of sinning. They will come under conviction brought on by God’s Holy Spirit. The thing for them to do at that point is to come to God in true confession of their sin and scripture says in 1 John 1:9 that He will forgive and cleanse a person thereby restoring that person’s right relationship with God that was given to them when they trusted Christ for their salvation. The unsaved and ungodly person will not feel that kind of conviction. They will just look for someone else to be their partner in sin. They will simply deny that their sin is harmful and keep right on doing as they wish. Being unsaved, they are unprotected and in danger of hell fire without even giving a thought to it.
The greatest and only protection for our souls is to be a person who has believed what God said about who Jesus is and put their trust in Him. They depend on Jesus to take them to heaven when this earthly life is finished. A Christian realizes that only Jesus can do that for us and they trust Him to be as good as His Word on the issue of salvation. Jesus has never broken a promise and He will not break the one concerning one’s salvation. He will also fulfill the promise of the eternal heavenly home.
Yes, people are fooled into thinking that sin is fun and that it is the only way to live….have sinful fun. Remember, satan has an army of demons and unsaved people to work his evil way and he wants to entrap as many Christians as he can. He cannot get the soul of a Christian because of God’s promises to them, but he can destroy a life its influence and its service to God. If he can’t get one’s soul and spirit, he will try his best to make them grieve God with their activities and he will strive to rob a person of the peace that passes all understanding which can only be given to us by our Heavenly Father. Satan can and does do people a lot of damage but He cannot get a true Christian unsaved because of God’s Promises to that person when they committed their life to Jesus by faith.
My old friend was correct when he stated: “People love the trip to hell, they just don’t want to pay the price.” And, that price is high, high, high! Satan pays off with an eternity without God which is an unending experience of agony in the flames of hell. That’s what the Bible says and that is what will happen without Christ as the savior of your soul.
