Sermon Central
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What If There Is No Re-Vote
Contributed by Marty Baker on Nov 15, 2000 (message contributor)
Summary: A contemporary message on the pain of spending eternity without Jesus Christ
What If ... There is no Re-Vote?
Dr. Marty Baker / November 12, 2000
They said it would be close. The closest in 40 years. They asked what if: what if it's a tie (the tie goes to the runner, right)? What if Gore wins Florida but not Michigan? What if Bush wins Pennsylvania but not Wisconsin? What if one wins the popular vote, the other wins the electoral college?
And then there was Florida. Gore wins! No, its too close to call. Then, Bush is declared the winner. Gore prepares to concede. Then, the concession is called off and a recount begins. What a week! The recount is tallied and Bush squeaks by with a 327 vote edge, and now there's a hand count. But, what about the Absentee Votes? What about the Palm Beach Ballot Crisis, the invalid votes, and the good of a nation. The spin begins.
The Bush Campaign says "The Democrats who are politicizing and distorting these events risk doing so at the expense of our democracy.
The Gore Campaign says, "Technicalities should not determine the president of the United States, the will of the people should."
The Bush Campaign says, Let's get on with the transition."
The Gore Campaign says, "Let's have a re-vote."
Yesterday, I would have enjoyed a re-vote on what players Florida used against Carolina. If we could have voted Spurrier, Palmer and Moody out of the stadium then maybe we would have had a better chance.
A re-vote? Hmmm ... It sounds fair and it sounds proper. I mean the ballot was confusing. It must have been confusing for so many people to punch the wrong holes. I wish it were that easy.
You know life can be like a Palm Beach County Ballot. It can be confusing and you can punch the wrong holes; you can make the wrong choices; and once you are placed in a box, then what's on the card will be counted.
One day all of the cards will be gathered up. Those that have placed their faith in Jesus Christ will go to live with him; those that have rejected the message will live a Christ-less eternity. The Bible says, Matthew 13:47-51
47 "Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish.
48 When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away.
49 This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous
50 and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51 "Have you understood all these things?" Jesus asked. "Yes," they replied.
Let's picture a couple of men stretching a dragnet that reaches from top to bottom and drags along the lake. The fishermen would start on one end and drag across to the other side of the lake.
Then, they pull the nets up on the peninsula, sit down, and pull every single fish out of the net. They determine which fish are marketable and they put them in one pile. Then, they throw the garbage fish on another pile. The good fish go to some useful purpose; the junk fish are burned.
Jesus was saying, you can learn some truths about the afterlife by a simple illustration about a dragnet, a lake and some fish.
Truths About the Afterlife
1. All people will be brought to judgment some day.
Every fish in the lake will be gathered up and placed on the beach. Every person will come and stand before a holy God in the day of judgment, even you.
Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,
2. There will be a separation process.
The fish are sorted out and people will be sorted out. Every person will end up in one of two places.
3. The saved will be assigned a place for eternity in heaven. (A place so marvelous that it defies the imagination)
2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
4. The unsaved will be assigned a place in hell for eternity.
The unsaved, the people that rejected the message of Christ, will receive condemnation for their offenses against a holy God.
If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
