LIVING ON THE VERGE

Proverbs 6:27-28

(Prov 6:27) "Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his
clothes not be burned?"
(Prov 6:28) "Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not
be burned?"

INTRODUCTION:
Our text warns us of such a thing. If one plays around with
danger, then danger will eventually win.

There are not very many retired Russian Roulette winners.

Samson lived on the edge. He died young.

Absalom lived on the edge. He died young.
Belshazzar lived on the edge. He died before his time.
A person driving an automobile 80 or 90 miles an hour is
living on the edge, and he may die before his time.
A person flying in an airplane is living of the edge. (That’s
my opinion.)
A sky diver is living on the edge.

Living on the edge is to push life to its fullest. It is, as my

generation said, “Living dangerously”. Another term may be,
“Going for all the gusto.”

It seems that this present society has taken a totally

different look on life itself. Life is not sacred like it once was.
Life is not valuable like it should be. Life is not eternal as
the Bible teaches. Let me challenge you today to take a
closer look at your life and see if you are living too close to
the edge. If so, then get back away from the edge before
you fall off.
I. Living on the VERGE of CLOCK [Time]

I’m thinking of those who are always running to make it on

time.
It’s high time to wake up.

I used to tell our daughter, Tammy, “If you are 15 minutes

late for church today, it would stand to reason that next
Sunday you need to get up a little earlier than today. If you
do the same thing next Sunday, you will be 15 minutes late
again.” I don’t know if it ever helped her or not. She is still
15 minutes late every Sunday.

A. This Kind Of Life Will Produce Carelessness.

1. People who are always on a dead run.
2.They are always late or behind schedule.

B. This Kind Of Life Will Cause You To Miss Out On

Some Of What God Has Prepared For You.

Some of what you miss will never be offered again.

Don’t live on the edge of time. Get yourself into the habit of
allowing plenty of time for whatever you do.

It is not a sin to get to church early. Someone has to be the

first one to church. Someone got here first, was it you?
Have you ever been the first one to church. Next Sunday
the first one who gets here first will get a great big prize.
How’s that? By the way, if I’m here first I get the prize. I get
here at 7:30 AM. Are you going to try for the prize?

All I am saying is, don’t live your life on the edge of time.

II. Living on the VERGE of CURRENCY

I received an application for a credit card the other day that
offered a $100,000 limit. I trashed the application. That
would be living on the edge. Do you know how much
interest on that limit would be. At the standard Credit Card
Interest, it would be $1438 a month just on interest. I know
people who have run their credit cards up to $25,000 and
more. That is living on the edge.

Most Christians have credit cards just in case God doesn’t

answer their prayer, they can then turn to plastic and get it
anyway.

I heard an economist say the other day that America’s

economy is being controlled by credit cards. If you are
going to live with credit cards you had better stay away from
the edge, or you will fall off.

About 11 years ago I made a decision that I was going to go

into evangelism full time. (Notice I said “I made the
decision.” God didn’t.) During the next 18 months we lived
primarily on credit cards. You don’t have to be very smart to
know that you can’t do that long. I wasn’t very smart. I
borrowed money from the bank against our home to pay the
credit cards off. I am still paying that debt, and will be for the
next 4 or 5 years. When you live on the edge you will be
met will all kinds of catastrophic happenings.

A. Failure To Have Needs Met Is Because Of Failure

To Be Faithful In All Areas To God. (Mal 3:10) "Bring ye all
the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in
mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of
hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and
pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room
enough to receive it."

Is God serious in this promise, or is He just joking?

If He is serious, what will take place in your life if you are
faithful to keep this promise. You will have your needs met,
plus.

B. (Luke 6:38) "Give, and it shall be given unto you;

good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and
running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the
same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to
you again."

Some of you will remember the popcorn illustration Bro. Jim

Whitcomb used here several months back. You can hold a
half-cup of unpopped popcorn in one hand, but when it is
popped it makes nearly a half bushel of popcorn. That’s the
way that God blesses.

If you are going to be tight-fisted, so will God.

Notice that Luke 6:38 doesn’t tell you what to give. It just
says, “Give.” You will be rewarded accordingly as you give.
Had He stated what the gift was to be, then the results
would have limited to that one thing. Whatever your need is,
that is what you give:

If you need money, give money.

If you need love, give love.
If you need friendship, give friendship.
If you need more time, give more of your time.

That is the way it works. I can’t explain it.

You give to get.

C. Giving Will Cure Selfishness.

D. Giving Will Measure Your Spirituality.

 E. Giving Will Cause You To Have A Greater
Concern For God’s Work.

A Christian that has been saved for any length of time and
is just still giving ten-percent hasn’t grown very much. I
learned 30 years ago that the more, I give the more God
gives back.

(Prov 13:22) "A good man leaveth an inheritance to his

children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for
the just." Think about this: Donald Trump and Bill Gates,
two of the richest men in the world, are laying up their
billions for you and I. I want them to know I appreciate it.

There are Christians in this room this very moment who

could alleviate a good bit of your financial pressure if you
would just get things straightened out with God in this
matter of giving. Either God meant what He said, or He is a
liar. Which is it? You know that He cannot lie. He said He
would open up heaven and pour out a blessing so great that
you would not have enough room to receive it. Do you
believe that? Do you really?

A wicked man was hiding money from his wife in his pick-up
truck. He had it in a strong box. He died before she did.
When he died some of the family were going through the
things in the truck and found the strong box. After prying it
open they found $66,000 dollars in it. He thought he was
keeping the money from his wife, but in reality he was
keeping it for her. He died and didn’t get to use it.

II. Living on the VERGE of CHRISTIANITY

The rich father who wanted a driver, to drive his daughter to
school. One of the requirements was a driver who could
take a horse drawn carriage to the very edge of a high cliff
without falling over. One driver tried it. He got as close as
he dared, and one wheel went over the edge, and he fell
over the cliff. Another driver tried it, and he did the same
thing. A third driver came to take the test. He got into his
carriage and instead of going right to the edge of the cliff,
he stayed away from the edge by about 15 yards. The
father, said, “There is the driver I want.” He stayed away
from the edge.

I lived on the edge of Christianity for 10 years. I thought I

was doing all that a Christian was supposed to do:

I was a good father, I think.

I was a good husband, I think.
I was a deacon at the church.
I was a S/S teacher.
I taught in the Sun. P.M. program.
I worked with the young men’s association.
I worked in the bus ministry.
I was an usher.

All of that and I thought I was one of God’s choicest

servants; however, all of this time I was right on the edge of
Christianity. I never did get into the middle of it. After 10
years of living on the Limit, I saw that God wanted me to get
in the middle and really get to work. I did.

You see, He didn’t want all of that Labor. He wanted my

heart.

I can think of some others here right this moment who did
the same thing.

A. Living On The Edge Of Christianity Causes You

To Miss Much Of The Blessing God Has For You.

B. When You Leave The Living On The Edge And

Get Into The Middle You Will See The Mighty Hand Of God
Begin To Work. (Ezk. 47.) You won’t see much of God on
the outer edge.

Too many want to draw a line between good and evil and
then walk right on the line. That’s too close to the edge.

IV. Living on the VERGE of CONSISTENCY and

Honesty
We want to redefine honesty each time we are faced with it.
Sometimes we define it differently than other times. We
don’t want to give it a blanket definition and have it mean
that every time we use it. If so, then we must always live
honest. (Heb 13:18) "Pray for us: for we trust we have a
good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly."

A. Be Honest With Yourself.

1. You probably are not as good a person as
you
think you are.
2. Being honest with yourself will go a long
way in eliminating a guilty conscience.
3. You are a sinner. Be honest about it.
4. But for the grace of God you might have
been
a harlot, or a drunk, or perhaps a thief.

B. Be Honest At Home.
1. Realize the importance of a good home.
2. Recognize the inconsistencies in the home.
3. Reproduce Godly standards in the home.
4. Honor God in your home.

C. Be Honest With Your Friends.

1. Don’t abuse them. A lot of people want
friends just to use them.
2. Don’t overexpect from them.
 D. Be Honest With God. (Prov 15:3) "The eyes of
the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and
the good." He knows what you are doing.

V. Living on the VERGE of CERTAINTY

Life is real. Your decisions must be real also. Don’t live your
life patterning the fantasy that is portrayed on TV. You had
better face the reality of life.

A. Life Is Tough. God told Adam that by the sweat of

his brow he was to earn his living.
1. If a man doesn’t work, let him starve. That’s
tough. (2 Th 3:10) "For even when we were
with you, this we commanded you, that if any
would not work, neither should he eat."

2. You will reap what you sow. That can be

very
tough.

B. Life Is Not Always Fair.

1. Some have life easier than others.
2. Some get by with things that they should
not
get away with. My older sisters always got by
with things that I got a spanking for. Life just
wasn’t fair. They were always getting me into
trouble. I barely survived the older sister
syndrome. How many of you experienced the
same thing. Life is not fair, is it?

C. It Is A Reality That You Will Reap What You Sow.

(Gal 6:7) "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for
whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
 (Gal 6:8) "For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the
flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit
shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."

D. It Is A Reality That If You Are Going To Live For

God, You Must Do It Now.
1. Don’t wait until you finish high school to live
for God.
2. Don’t wait until your children are grown.
3. Don’t wait until retirement. Live for God
now.

VI. Living on the LIMIT of ETERNITY

Everyone in this room is just a heartbeat from eternity. All of
us are on the VERGE of eternity.

(Rom 13:11) "And that, knowing the time, that now it is high
time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer
than when we believed."
(Rom 13:12) "The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let
us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put
on the armour of light."
(Rom 13:13) "Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in
rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and
wantonness, not in strife and envying."
(Rom 13:14) "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof."

Eternity will be like jumping off the Empire State Bldg. Once
you jump, it is too late to change your mind. Once you enter
eternity, it is too late to do anything about it.

Can you imagine yourself in eternity this very moment.

Where will you be?

Can you hear the songs of the angels?

Or do you feel the fire of hell?

Can you see the happy faces in heaven?

Or do you hear the weeping and gnashing of teeth in hell?

You are on the very edge of eternity. Don’t ignore eternity.

Don’t go over into eternity without Christ.

(Show hands of salvation.)