Here I stand, along side the proverbial cliff, I remember my Dad saying, “Son...just because your friends are all walking to the edge and stepping off, doesn’t mean you have to!” And I also remember wanting to be included with my friends! And again, I am able to hear my Dad ask me “If it’s going to hurt you, then why would you want to continue?” He was endeavoring to make a point with me and he was also asking me to think.

So I do think now more than ever before, I take a moment and look down the path that I am presently on. The unending question is, where will I end up? My Dad was asking me to stop for a moment and look down each and every path available to me, try and see the end result and then choose the correct one, the one with the least pain and suffering. I learned how to do this and subsequently avoided a lot of problems in the future!

What bothers me the most is to watch and see a lot of people do things without examining the path that they are on. Oh! Their having such a good time!! Enjoying themselves immensely! And you don’t dare ask them what they think will be the final outcome within their activity! No sir-ee, that’s none of your business! And in the end, you have the opportunity to watch all the pain and suffering!

Now...if you stop and think about it, had you said something to your friend, they may have changed their path and thus, side-stepped the ominous end result, but you didn't, remember?Also remember, this was supposed to be your friend, right?! YOU let your friend down, big time! YOU were able to see they were on a path of misery and yet, regardless of any excuse, you watched and said nothing! Their guilty of their actions and you are guilty, right alongside them, for not advising them. I don’t care what anyone says or thinks, there is NO excuse!

What would your friend think of you if they found out that you had known better, but said nothing? There goes a friendship! “Oh...well they knew exactly what they were doing! They knew it was wrong and still they continued! It’s not my fault!” And this happens to be the usual response from those sitting on the sidelines, but is this true?! I was taught, that a friend looks out for the other, no matter what! friends help each other out, look out for each other, are always there good or bad, is this not so?

The question is still, “Where were you in all of this and why didn’t you say something?” Let’s be honest here. No matter who the people are in this, someone always ends up getting burned for it! So, if it wasn’t your friend, does this make it better? If so, then how is it better? Let’s say the offense was burglary! They robbed from one house and got away with it, so they decided that because the first was so easy, they’d try a second time. Unfortunately, this time the homeowner was home, had a gun and shot your friend and he or she died as a result!!

Do you really think it was just your friend that got hurt in this? What if you had stepped in and convinced your friend that this was a really bad idea?! You would be sitting together laughing and having a great time, right?

But you didn’t, and your friend is dead.

Still think your friend was the only one hurt by their action? It matters little what the offense was, just knowing it’s an offense is enough to know that you should have intervened! Of course in this day and time, the quality of a “friendship” is different than it used to be. Tell me I’m wrong and how!

Let’s say for a moment that your friend didn’t die! One day soon, your friend will have to stand up and accept the consequence for his or her actions, maybe time in the pokey, for the burglary! They got shot and went through all that pain during their recovery and then they will do hard time in prison. Still think you should have kept your mouth shut?! An offense, is still an offense, it matters little what it was...for the lack of a better word, it is still SIN!

Here is something everyone should know: The Lord knows what is and what isn’t SIN and innately...so do you and everyone else! God deposited this knowledge within us when we were created! Knowing the difference in SIN does this alone make things right or wrong. SIN is simply SIN...there is no better word for it and God says, just don’t commit it, don’t SIN! There is a consequence for committing SIN! As the Bible says in Romans 6.23: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

 

So now you know! Committing SIN results in death! Does this change anything for you or with your friend?? If you belong to the world, then the answer is NO, it doesn't matter!! The Bible says that the world is condemned to death for their SIN already! And the reason for that is, they have never come to the cross of Jesus Christ and asked HIM for forgiveness for their SIN! That one action my friends,is the only action that changes everything!

It says in Colossians 2.13, emphasis added:

“And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened (made alive) together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.”

In other words, if YOU have never come to Jesus Christ and asked HIM to forgive you of your sin...YOU are already dead! That means, if YOU want to have eternal life, YOU must come to Jesus Christ first...before YOU die!!! This life here on earth is just like prison! You come out of prison in one of two ways: Free as bird or in a pine box...dead! That's it!! Still, you have a choice, you can choose at anytime while your still alive, it’s a “free will” gift and it’t the ONLY one you get! And here again is that big black line: Jesus Christ on one side and Satan on the other side, these are the ONLY choices you get!

Wanna know something truly sad and disturbing?! The vast majority of people are going to be headed for hell...and what’s worse than that...they will choose to do so of their own free will! Then they will spend eternity in hell, begging the Lord to get them out!!

I’m telling you right now...when the Rapture of the church of Jesus Christ takes place, there are going to be millions upon millions of people....surprised...that they are still here and are left behind!! They are going to be wondering “How did this happen”...especially to them!

 

They were members of the clergy, or they went to church or their synagogue, mosque, whatever...every week! Or they thought of themselves as “very good people.” They volunteered and gave in tithes and yet they too were left behind! Do you KNOW why that is?! They NEVER came to the cross of Jesus Christ and asked HIM to forgive them of their sin! That’s the one action, that will save YOU to eternal life and there is NO other way!!

 

It is proven in John 14.6-9, emphasis added:

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?”

So according to this passage in the Scriptures, will YOU be left behind after the Rapture? Will YOU die in your sin? Where do YOU stand when it comes to Jesus Christ?

This brings us to your friend, if you are one of those that stands with Jesus Christ. Have you said anything to your friend about Jesus Christ? So then...are YOU truly a friend or do you simply talk the talk?!

John 15.12-15, emphasis added:

“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.”

WOW!!! That...sort of puts everything into perspective, doesn't it?! So, what does this mean to us today? Maybe that we need to be paying attention to our actions, following Jesus Christ in everything we do and that includes how we deal with our friends as well. If your friend is having too much fun in their particular sin, does that make it alright to say something just once?!

Or should you go the entire mile for them and keep working with them, without fail?? If we get only three score and ten years (70 years or so) on this earth...is that going to be enough time for YOU and your friend? What else is there for you to be concerned with anyway?! If YOU know Jesus Christ as your Savior, then YOU know...nothing else matters!