Sermon Illustrations

THEY'RE NOT READY FOR HEAVEN

The movie The End of the Spear tells the true story of five missionaries who gave their lives to reach the violent Waodoni tribe in the jungles of Ecuador in the 1950s. Led by Nate Saint, the missionaries were eager to reach the Waodoni people before they all died off from their intertribal warfare and vicious revenge killings.

As Nate prepares for his adventure, his family gathers around him on the dirt airstrip in front of their house. As he kisses his wife goodbye, his son, Steve, looks at the gear in the plane and notices a rifle. Obviously worried, he turns to his father and asks, “If the Waodoni attack, will you use your guns? Will you defend yourselves?”

Nate looks his boy dead in the eye and responds, “Son, we can’t shoot the Waodoni. They’re not ready for heaven. We are.” (End of the Spear, 00:32:30—00:33:48, Every Tribe Entertainment, 2006, directed by Jim Hanon, written by Bill Ewing and Bart Gavigan)

Nate Saint understood the fate of the unbeliever as compared to his own fate. He knew he could withstand some temporary pain, but he didn’t want the Waodoni people to experience the eternal pain of hell, at least not before they had a chance to hear the gospel.

(From a sermon by C. Philip Green, In the Fire! 7/30/2011)

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