There are certain things in most societies that are frowned upon, if you are speaking to someone and offer them a breath mint because they really need one, it will be seen as rude, but if it is truth, you are simply attempting to help them because more than likely the next person they meet will not, yet the average person will take offense. If someone says to you that they believe they need to lose some weight, the last thing most people would do is agree, “Yes, you are starting to get rather chubby,” would not go over well. People do not want truth, truth requires actions, it requires the acknowledgment of a lie, it forces us to see things as they truly are.
Try initializing a conversation with a stranger by saying right at the start, “Are you aware that someday you are going to die?” The ultimate truth for every person alive today, the ultimate realization of truth for all that are dead today. We cover ourselves in lies, we hide behind what we know as falsehood, we accept deceit willingly because the truth requires action, acknowledging the truth means that we must adjust our lives, our concept of reality, and that brings us out of the known, it removes us from our comfort zone.
My friends, anyone should know that there is no continuing rest outside of the truth, because then “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32) Free from what? The deceit of lies, the covering upon almost every soul of sin. To be free, you must first realize that you are a sinner, this is why the lost hide in lies, it is why they fear death. God has put eternity in their hearts, (Eccl. 3:11) at the very core of their being they know that sin against God demands judgement, His perfect love is balanced perfectly by His perfect judgment, and He has set before all of mankind only one path to His perfect love, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:44)
No works, no happy thoughts, no good deeds toward the poor and indigent, no visiting of those in prison without first acknowledging that Jesus Christ is Lord will bring you into the eternal rest of heaven, without Christ you will go to hell. Why so seemingly harsh a way in the eyes of so many, why only one true path, why can’t good, honest, caring people be admitted in, why are those who cast out demons and prophesized in His name (Matt. 7:22) cast out into eternal darkness, why don’t works count? Because “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) Because “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) Because sin demands a penalty, a perfect unblemished sacrifice, given willingly with no hesitation save for the love to the Father that it is offered up with.
Only One could do that, perfect, sin free, unspotted by the world. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” (Romans 3:23) except for One.
There is one very important fact that the lost will not comprehend, two in fact, they are going to die and be held accountable for the actions of their lives, and two, that God is Sovereign, He is the Almighty, Creator of all reality, He sets all rules, and it matters not one bit what we think of those rules. Thus Sovereignty is the greatest hindrance of all, for it says to each individual that they are not in charge, that God alone reigns supreme in the spiritual realm and in the world, and this truth, this knowledge is the beginning of every persons chosen path, that of submission or that of pride.
Here is truth, the One who judges, the One who loves, the One to whom all things, everything, every soul belongs has determined that love should not be taken, but offered freely, and so He has given every man free will to choose how he will live, but in that right, He has determined because of love where they will spend eternity. The price that was paid for us is and always will be incomprehensible to us, but to those who will die in their sins, it is an offense, for pride will not allow the entrance of truth into the heart of man. Because God is Sovereign, because He loves us, we have been given a choice, something He was not required to do, it would have been just as easy to create beings who love Him because that is how He made them, nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1:37) The response to that love offered to us has been left entirely up to us, God does not force love, the blessing of knowing that our lives are “a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” (James 4:14)
The truth that we will one day die is the path of contemplation of the eternal, and the truth is the only path that leads to the knowledge of the Sovereignty of God. Pride or submission, love has offered you the choice, refusing the love of God that is offered to us in Christ is like refusing to take a breath mint when you know that your breath stinks, but your pride will not allow you to admit it.
When the truth is offered to those who will not accept it as truth, they are offended, and will remain in the life of deceit and lies until they come to the realization of the truth, which for many will be far too late. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” (Heb. 9:27)
