Introduction:     Beloved, we are living on the “edge of eternity”…right here on the edge of the soon return of our Savior, Jesus Christ! People who live on the edge must live like people who live on the edge. I believe there should be urgency about the way that they live everyday. There should be a deepening of commitment and a holy consecration seen clearly in their lives. Jesus may come again before we close this service today…are you ready for His appearing? We are living on the “edge of forever”…in light of that fact the Bible deals here with three important truths.

I.          FACE GOD WITH OUR SINS (V.17)

I’d rather face God in grace (sin judged at the cross) than to face God in eternal judgment (at the Great White Throne).

            A.        A Call To Revival (1a)

Judgment begins in the House of God. Notice that the Bible doesn’t say punishment begins (because Jesus took our punishment) but the Bible implies that in this last day the church will not be all that it should be.

·        How can we be so casual and half-hearted in our commitment when Jesus may return at any moment?         

B.         A Call To Believe (1b)

·        (Mat 24:37)  "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." They acted as though they had all the time in the world and rejected the message of God (Illus: only those in the ark of God’s grace will escape! But, they continued playing golf, going shopping, going to the beach, and doing their own thing…then suddenly!) They were living on the edge of eternity and they didn’t know it.

·        “Obey not” God is not asking you to be saved…He is telling you to be saved. To not receive Christ as Savior is an act of disobedience (expound). (Illus: what will the end be of those who obey not the gospel? The yawning mouth of hell is waiting to swallow up all unbelievers into the blast furnaces of eternal punishment.

II.         MEET GOD WITH OUR FAITH (V.18)

            A.        Speaks Of Receiving Christ.

·        “Scarcely” = with difficulty. God has called us to walk a narrow road. You cannot pass through that strait gate with all those sins and false religion. You get on that narrow road by faith! It also means that we are saved only by the grace and mercy of God! (Illus: saving a drowning man waiting until he stopped struggling saying, “I could not save him as long as he was trying to save himself.”) When you stop trying…and start trusting, God will save you!

            B.         Speaks Of Rejecting Christ

·        “Ungodly” = without God. (Illus: But I’m not ungodly…without Jesus as Savior you have reject God’s only way to come to Him…you are without God.

·        “Sinners” = un-forgiven, unredeemed, separated from God, without hope in this world or the world to come.

Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear? Before the JUDGMENT BAR OF ALMIGHTY GOD! (Expound on the Book of Life - no faith…no favor) to be condemned to eternity separated from God in hell. Why would you not meet God with your faith? My friend, we are living on the edge of eternity. Will you:

III.       TRUST GOD WITH YOUR LIFE (V.19)

“Commit” = a banking term meaning to deposit. Where does the Bible say we are to commit our lives? Where does the Bible say we are to place out souls? In man-made religion…in doing the best we can…in some false religious system? No! The Bible says we are to place the keeping of our souls to an almighty, all-knowing, all-loving God. This is what Jesus said, (Luke 23:46 ) "…Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit…" It is the same word as here, “Into thy hands I deposit my spirit” Where should I commit my life…where should I deposit my soul?

Conclusion:       We are but one heart-beat from eternity. As you stand of the edge of eternity, would you commit your soul to God by receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior?