Did you know that there are a lot of people in life who are trying to run from God and do not even know it? We know that the Bible teaches us that you cannot run from God. "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee" -Ps. 139:7-12.

Have you ever watched people try to run from their sin and the past? People get out here and they get their life turned upside down with sin. Then they get to feeling guilty about that sin. That sin bothers them and they try to run from that sin, but it haunts them. They run and run and yet when they look back their sin is right on top of them. They want to just forget about it and leave it behind them but it haunts them. What they are really running from is God. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse" -Romans 1:18-20. God has made His creation so that it all bears witness of Him. Every where you look God has made a witness of Himself. God's creation is a witness of God unto us. Everywhere you look God has revealed Himself to you and it is a witness against you. God has left a witness on every side. Man is without excuse.

Think about how destructive man gets as he feels more guilty. Man is destructive because every where he goes he is reminded of his sin and he is trying to run from that. What do we do when we run across a certain item that reminds us of some thing wrong that we did? Something that we thought was long since forgotten in our past. Break that thing in a million pieces. Hit it, kick it, cut it up, burn it up. That is our instinct. Think about how destructive a lot of people are today. It is as if they destroy just for the sake of destroying. Deep down inside they are trying to destroy everything that is a witness against them.

"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin" -Romans 3:20. This verse teaches us that by the law is the knowledge of sin. Have you noticed how the land we live in wants to do everything they can to get rid of the law of God? Take it out of the school, the courthouse and everything else. Do you know why they want to do that? They want to do that because it reveals to them what a wicked people we have become. They do not want anything to remind them of their wickedness. They think if they can get rid of every thing that reminds them of it then they will not have to deal with their sin.

Do you know why Christians are persecuted? Because they are a witness against ungodliness. "And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee. And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not. (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.) And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him. And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep. And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered them. Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked. When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and went and told it in the city and in the country. Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. They also which saw it told them by what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed. Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought him to depart from them; for they were taken with great fear: and he went up into the ship, and returned ack again" -Luke 8:26-37. Do you notice anything strange about this? These people did not seem to mind having a mad man running around naked in the grave yard. They had not stoned him to death but Jesus Christ comes and saves this mad man and they ask Him to leave. Why? They did not mind that mad man because he would have made them feel like there was nothing wrong with their sin. At least if they looked at that mad man they could say to themselves, "well, I am not nearly as messed up as I thought I was." They did not want Jesus around because He reminds them of their sin.

"And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver" -Matt. 26:15. Judas Iscariot traded Christ for some silver. Why? Because Judas was a lost man. So he sales Christ, but you know what? Every time Judas looked at that silver he was still reminded of his sin. Even that silver was a witness against him. Judas cast that silver down and went and hung himself but that did not work either. It just brought him to the reality of HELL!

Think about the apostle Paul for a few moments. Before the Lord saved him he was known as Saul. He was a devout Jew. To Paul Jesus Christ was an imposter. He did not believe that Christ was the promised Messiah. "Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you. (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,) I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet wrought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are his day. And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women" -Acts 22:1-4. Paul persecuted saints having them put to death. Paul was a wicked man. Paul like the rest of these Jews thought that if he could destroy all of the Christians he could just make it all go away. I think deep down inside Paul knew something was wrong and he wanted to make that feeling go away. Like man by nature Paul’s answer was destroy. "If I can just destroy all of these people this guilt will go away." I want to tell you why I think some gears were turning in Paul's mind. Did you notice that in (Acts 22:3) Paul said that he was from Cilicia. (Acts 6:8-10) Paul being from Cilicia and being a devout Jew would have worshipped in one of these synogogues that Stephen was disputing with these men at. Paul could have even been one of the men that disputed with him. (Acts 6:10) The men who stood against Stephen could not resist the Spirit and the wisdom by which he spoke. That means they could not win their dispute. If they lost that dispute that tells me they would have to be asking themselves, "is this man correct?" So they set up false witnesses (Acts 6:13). Then they stoned Stephen to death and guess who was there (Acts 7:57-60)? Paul was there. Paul continues on trying to destroy all of these Christians but he was still haunted by his sin. Finally God dropped Paul to his nees. "And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do" -Acts 9:1-6. Paul thought that Jesus was just another dead man. Could you imagine what Paul must have thought when Jesus spoke to him? Paul could destroy and run all day long but that would not take away the burden of his sin.

Have you ever noticed that people who are burdened with sin when they get finished trying to destroy everything else they start destroying themselves? Think about Judas. What did he do? He killed himself. Do you know why they try to destroy themselves? Because God made us a witness even against ourselves. "For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another" -Romans 2:14-15. You can run and hide in a closet some where with a blanket over your head, but you cannot run from yourself. God installed His own little witnesser inside you. Everywhere Paul went that little witnesser said, "Paul, you think maybe that Stephen guy was right?" You cannot run!! So what is the answer? The answer is not "get rid of the witnesser". The answer is "get rid of the sin". You say, "well I tried to stop, but the guilt of the things that I did in the past are there. Have you ever noticed that you continue feeling guilty about some thing until it is made right? You say, "well I cannot right all of the wrong that I have done, even if I tried from now to eternity." Now, you’re beginning to understand. You cannot, but Jesus can. Paul for the first time saw himself as one who had come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). He was a breaker of God's law. All that he could do was repent and believe that the Lord Jesus Christ paid the full penalty for his sins on Calvary's cross. I do not have the guilt of sin any more because God took it from me. "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us" -Ps 103:12.

How could Paul live the rest of his life with the guilt of killing all of those Christians? Because he believed that Christ was the attonement for his sins. "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth" -Romans 8:33. It was God who justified Paul. God righted Paul's wrongs, paid the price and washed him as white as snow. Paul did not walk around still trying to kill people either. He wanted to serve the God who did all of this for him. You cannot run from that old witnesser. God hid it deep within you. Judas might have thought he could run from the witnesser God had put inside of him, but all Judas did was woke up to the reality of hell. One day you will find the only place to run to is the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope that you do not learn this lesson to late. Family, friends and loved ones all have the capability of letting us down no matter how hard they may try not to, but God can never let you down. No matter where you are He will always be there. You cannot hide from God!! One day you will awaken to the reality of what God’s creation has been testifying of all along. It is our prayer that you will not wake up to that reality to late. "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel."