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One
morning when I was a boy the preacher preached a sermon which I think now
must have been on the subject, "The Gates of Heaven." In the sermon
he asked: "If the gates of heaven were opened, would you enter?"
The question startled me. I knew that if the gates of heaven were opened that
day I could not enter, because I could not claim to be a Christian boy. That
night, the preacher's text was, "What then shall I do with Jesus who is
called the Christ?" He said very simply and earnestly that to accept
Christ as Savior meant heaven, that to reject Him as Savior meant hell. |
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I went
home that night with the most wretched feeling. I could not sleep. I got up
during the night, slipped out of the window that opened on the back porch,
and went down to the moonlit watermelon patch. It was a beautiful clear
night, and I thought of the heaven beyond the stars and of the hell somewhere
in some vast region below. |
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At the
breakfast table next morning, my mother said, "Son you look like you
didn't sleep much last night." "No, ma'am," I said, "I
didn't." "What is the matter?" "I feel awfully
sinful," I admitted. |
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I had to
plow all that day. My misery grew until finally I drove out to the end of a
long row and dropped the plow down by the side of Barney, my old white mule.
I got down in the fence corner, the corner of an old rail fence, and told God
I felt awfully bad, awfully sinful, and that I wanted to be saved. "If
one must accept Jesus to be saved," I prayed, "then I accept
Him." There in a fence corner the Lord saved me. |
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That night
-- the text of the preacher's sermon I do not now remember -- I walked down the
church aisle and let it be known that the Lord had saved me. I do remember
the hymn they sang: |
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Out of my
bondage, sorrow, and night; |
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Jesus, I come! Jesus, I come! |
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Into Thy
freedom, gladness, and light; |
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Jesus, I
come to Thee. |
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Rev.
Robert G. Lee |
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From:
2700-PLUS SERMON ILLUSTRATIONS By Duane V. Maxey |