On the Edge of a Cliff

“And as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, without sin, unto salvation.”  Hebrews 9:27-28

 

“And many of those sleeping in the earth’s dust shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to reproach and everlasting abhorrence.”  Daniel 12:2

 

“There is a way which seems right to a man, but the end of it is the ways of death.”  Proverbs 14:12

 

There are a lot of cliffs in Montana.  Some could consider them to be dangerous, others could see no problem with them.  Whenever my family and I are out in the backcountry, we will not go up to the edge of a cliff, yet I have seen others who will sit right on the edge of a cliff that has a freefall that would cause instant death. 

 

There isn’t necessarily anything wrong with sitting on the edge of a cliff.  However, from time to time you hear of people who lost their footing and fall from the cliff, to their deaths.  Accidents certainly do happen and from my family’s perspective, if you stay several feet away from the edge, there is no chance of accidentally falling off.  Sure the view isn’t as great, the awesomeness of looking down and seeing the sights from the edge of the cliff are missed, but the danger is avoided.  Now the problem that people fail to recognize is that each individual, without Christ, is on the edge of the cliff.

 

In these instances, every person who refuses to accept the free gift of Salvation, is not only dangerously close to the edge of the cliff, but they are guaranteed that their soul will descend into Hell upon their death.  This isn’t simply a risk, this is a reality and this is what the Bible warns about.

 

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”… Romans 3:23

 

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 6:23

 

“I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”  Luke 5:32

 

Who knows the number of days of their life?  Certainly God who Created your soul does.

 

“Man who is born of woman is of few days, and full of turmoil.  He comes forth like a flower and is cut off; he flees like a shadow and does not remain.  And do You open Your eyes on such a one, and bring me into judgment with Yourself?  Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one!  Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with You; You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass beyond it.  Look away from him that he may rest, so like a hired man he may be satisfied with his day.  For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and its tender shoots will not cease.  Though its root grows old in the earth, and its stump dies in the ground, yet at the scent of water it will bud and bring forth branches like a plant.  But a strong man dies and is laid away; indeed man expires and where is he?  As water evaporates from the sea, and a river wastes away and dries up, so man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens are no more, they shall not awake nor be aroused from their sleep.”  Job 14:1-12

 

“Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the flying creatures of the heavens, and over the beasts, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that moves on the earth.  So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”  Genesis 1:26-27

 

“My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.”  Psalms 139:15

 

So what happens?  A first point to be made is that there is either one of two things going on.  Either what God has told mankind in the Bible is true or else it is not.  Either people believe God or they don’t.  Unfortunately much of our societies in the world have manipulated the Holy Scriptures, by not only watering it down (or changing it), but by allowing false doctrine to creep into the churches.  This is nothing new, though it is escalating.

 

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, being devoted to corrupting spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be partaken with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.”  1st Timothy 4:1-3

 

This is equivalent to leading a blind man on a hike and telling him that there is no cliff ahead of him, yet there is.  In front of the path of the blind man there is a deadly cliff, yet he continues on, falling to his death.  The reality of such a scenario is that people who refuse to believe what God has told humanity through His Word are like those who say there is no cliff up ahead.

 

“Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: Hearing you will hear and shall not at all understand, and seeing you will see and by no means perceive; for the heart of this people has grown dull, their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, that they should not see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears, nor understand with their heart and convert, and I should heal them.”  Matthew 13:13-15

 

“But He answered and said, Every plant which My Heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.  Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into the ditch.”  Matthew 15:13-14

 

Consider what the Bible teaches:

 

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh does not profit; not a thing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who were not believing, and who would betray Him.  And He said, Therefore I have said to you that no one is able to come to Me unless it has been granted to him from My Father.  From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  Then Jesus said to the twelve, Do you also want to go away?  Then Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the Words of eternal life.  And we have believed and understood that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  John 6:63-69

 

For a lot of people they can not even make it through reading or listening to these articles.  Why?  Many reasons, but one is that they don’t like to read Scripture.  They might read some vague references, but they don’t desire to look them up.  Well the Holy Scriptures are the only absolute Truth that we can count on.  Certainly I might be wrong on certain things, others may be wrong (Acts 17:11), but the Word of God is never wrong.  Understanding the source of the Bible is imperative to knowing that it is not to be watered down or compromised in any way or form.  Putting Scripture in the articles that is fitting, rather than a reference, is a good way to make sure it is readily available to be read or heard by those who may choose to do so.

 

“All Scripture is breathed by God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”  2nd Timothy 3:16-17

 

“For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.”  2nd Peter 1:16

 

For me and for everyone who has repented and by faith believed into Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, we know that the Bible is God’s Word, that the words contained therein are truth and through them there is life.  We also know that the Holy Spirit teaches those who are Christians.

 

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”  John 14:26

 

“But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it dawned upon the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.  But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.  For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us by God.  These things we also speak, not in words which human wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.  But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he is not able to know them, because they are spiritually discerned.  But he who is spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is discerned by no one.  For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.”  1st Corinthians 2:9-16

 

So humanity, without Christ, is like those on the edge of a cliff.  The only problem is that without Christ, there is no safety, there is no chance taken that does not result in a deadly error.  While many may sit on the edge of the cliff and look at that the pristine views, there are none who will stand before their Creator at the great white throne judgment guiltless, unless their name is written in the Book of Life.  Take serious note:

 

“And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heavens fled away. And there was found no place for them.  And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God. And books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, out of the things which were written in the books.  And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one, according to their works.  And Death and Hades were cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death.  And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire.”  Revelation 20:11-15

 

So one of the roots of the problem is that mankind does not see that there is a cliff.  In fact there are many more out there that say there is not.  For those who are uncertain, but not willing to believe atheism, there are tons of teachers who twist the truth so that it appears to fit into the beliefs of the world, plus the beliefs that those who listen want to hear.

 

“Preach the Word. Be ready in season and out of season. Convict, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own lusts, desiring to hear pleasant things, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to myths.”  2nd Timothy 4:2-4

 

Let me reiterate herein the problem.  You, dear reader (or listener) are on the edge of a cliff.  You are certain to go over, you are certain to end up in the Lake of Fire for all eternity, if you do not accept the free gift of Salvation. 

 

“For by grace you are saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not of works, that no one should boast.”  Ephesians 2:8-9

 

The problem is here is that sin entered the world.  All have sinned and the wages of sin is death (Rom. 3:23 & 6:23).  This includes you, yes you. 

 

“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”  Psalms 51:5

 

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to every person, because everyone sinned.  For until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not accounted when there is no law.  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.  But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.  And the gift is not like it was through the one who sinned. For the judgment from one offense was unto condemnation, but the free gift from many offenses is unto justification.  For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who are receiving abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.  Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment was to every person unto condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift is to every person unto justification of life.  For as through one man’s disobedience many were declared sinners, so also through one Man’s obedience many will be declared righteous.  Moreover the Law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Romans 5:12-21

 

Jesus Christ is the solution.  Each individual is on a path leading to the edge of a cliff.  Without repenting and believing the Gospel, there is no hope. 

 

“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under Heaven given among men that is required for us to be saved.”  Acts 4:12

 

“Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”  John 14:6

 

“There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.  Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born from above, he is not able to see the kingdom of God.  Nicodemus said to Him, How can a man be born when he is old? He is not able to enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?  Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he is not able to enter into the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born from above.  The Spirit breathes where He wishes, and you hear His voice, but do not know where He comes from and where He goes. So is everyone who is born from the Spirit.  Nicodemus answered and said to Him, How can these things be?  Jesus answered and said to him, Are you a teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?  Truly, truly, I say to you, We speak what We know and bear witness to what We have seen, and you do not receive Our testimony.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you Heavenly things?  No one has ascended to Heaven but He who came down from Heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in Heaven.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that everyone believing into Him should not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:1-15

 

“Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has established a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has appointed. He has given assurance of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”  Acts 17:30-31

 

God does not want it to be that way.

 

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone believing into Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  The one believing into Him is not judged; but the one not believing is judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the Light and does not come to the Light, lest his deeds should be reproved.  But the one doing the truth comes to the Light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been worked in God.”  John 3:16-21

 

“But, beloved, do not be unaware of this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  The Lord is not slow concerning His promise, as some count slowness, but is longsuffering toward us, not purposing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”  2nd Peter 3:8-9

 

“But what does it say? The Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart (that is, the Word of Faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”  Romans 10:8-10

 

So the job of any good preacher is to simply preach the truth, no matter how unpopular and warn those who are willing to listen.  I hope that you are willing to consider the seriousness of these things and realize that without Christ your life is literally as if you are walking on the edge of a cliff.  At any time, at your parting breath, if you refuse to repent and believe the Gospel, there is no hope. 

 

Right now as you are alive and breathing, why not consider these things.  Why not take out a good copy of the Bible, a King James Version, and begin to read it, believing what is contained in the pages.  For some they do believe, but they refuse to yield unto God, for others they refuse to believe and refuse to yield unto God, finally there are those who want it their way and by and large refuse to yield unto God.  Are you of those who refuse to yield unto Him who Created you or will you consider carefully your ways and acknowledge Him whom you should fear, your Creator. 

 

“And do not fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul. But rather fear Him who has power to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.”  Matthew 10:28

 

“The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom; and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”  Proverbs 9:10

 

“The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise stands eternally.”  Psalms 111:10

 

“Jehovah is righteous in all His ways, and kind in all His works.  Jehovah is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.  He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them.  Jehovah preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.”  Psalms 145:17-20

 

 

Amen!