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If you were on a highway and saw that the bridge ahead was out, wouldn’t you race back and wave people down so that they wouldn’t go into the abyss? What kind of person would you be if you didn’t want to warn other people of the danger ahead?

This tract was written because of an even greater peril that lies ahead for everyone. You must understand eternity. It is forever. It is trillions of years compared to the 80 or so we might get here on earth. What if I told you that I would give you all wealth and power you ever dreamed of for one day but you must then live the remainder of your life after that day in misery, pain and darkness? Would you take that deal?

Well, that’s exactly what many of us do when we ignore the reality of eternity because we want to live our own way in this brief life. The Bible contains prophecies that predict a coming time of judgment: the end of the world as we know it. Since there are also dozens of prophecies that have already been fulfilled and no other book can boast such a record of truth, shouldn’t we pay serious attention to what it says? This knowledge that time is running out is the reason that so many Christians are working to spread the news that salvation is so readily available.

I didn’t always accept these things. But there came a time when I realized that I was lost and needed a change in my life. I realized that I was a sinner and that God had sent His only son, Jesus, to pay the price for MY sins. I decided to try “salvation” and found that it was true. God lifted all the weight and guilt of my sins and cleaned me up. I began studying the Bible and learned that eternity is real. We will live forever, either with God in heaven or Satan in hell. 

The Bible says that all people are valuable and each of us is known by a loving God, but that we all have failed to live up to His Commandments. It says in the book of Romans that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (3:23) and “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (6:23).

We are all either going to be sinless and dwell in heaven for eternity or pay for our sins forever in Hell. That’s the abyss—the DANGER! The problem is that we have all broken all or part of God’s commandments.

Have you ever told a lie or stolen anything? Perhaps most of us have not committed adultery but the Bible advises that to look at another with lust is the same as the act and that hatred is the same as murder. So you see that none of us is perfect. But did you notice the last part of the quotation above? “The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.” This is the good news that God has for everyone; no matter how bad or good we think we are, we are all in need of—and can receive—the gift of salvation through Christ.

We also read in Romans that “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” (10:9-10).

We can’t earn heaven by our works but that’s not a problem because this is a free gift. You don’t have to earn it; just be willing to accept it. We read in Ephesians “for by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (2:8-9). The book of Titus further explains “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy” (3:5).

Jesus is quoted in the book of Revelation “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me” (3:20).

If you don’t know Him now, I pray that you will repent of your sins and accept Him and His great gift of forgiveness and salvation. —Michael Oakes

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