From The Desk Of Pastor Toby Powers
Truth Baptist Church
Bremen, GA
Eternity Has But Two Options
Luke 3:15-18
Intro: John the Baptist was preaching repentance of sins and preparation for the coming of Christ. Some heard his great preaching and supposed him to have been the Christ. He sets the record straight in these verses. Furthermore, he reminds them that the Messiah will not simply come as a genie from a bottle to grant them their greatest wish, but he will come to baptize. He will either baptize with the Holy Ghost or with fire. For those who would repent, he will baptize with the Holy Ghost, and those who would refuse him, he would baptize with fire. Notice in verse 17 that his fan is in his hand. He is ready to fan the flames of the fire for those who will not receive him. The Messiah’s message and purpose was really simple- to gather the penitent as wheat into the garner and to curse the unrepentant to everlasting fire. It is the simple question of heaven or hell. These are the only two options that Christ gave us for eternity. Every Gospel preacher since has preached the same truth. Life has many decisions; eternity has only two. To one of these two eternal destinations the soul is bound. Nobody stays here forever; you will have to choose for yourself.
I. YOU MUST MAKE YOUR CHOICE: Nobody can make this decision for you. Phil 2:12 sates that you must “work out your own salvation before the Lord with fear and trembling.” Be under no illusion that you work to be saved, but you will have to work it out with God for yourself. No man can say your prayer, do your repenting, confess your sins, or trust in Jesus for you. YOU MUST MAKE YOUR CHOICE:
A. Between Two Masters: It will either be the Lord or Satan. You cannot serve both. Matt 6:24
B. Between Two Lives: The Christian Life or the Sinful Life. James 3:11-12 “Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.” There is really no such thing as a Very Worldly Christian… Those are lost people! Matt 7:17-20 “Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”
C. Between Two Roads: It is the broad way and the narrow way. Matt 7:13-14 “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
D. Between Two Deaths: The death of the righteous or the death of the wicked. Ps 116:15. Ez 33:11, “As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked.”
E. Between Two Destinies: It’s heaven or hell.
II. YOUR CHOICE COVERS THREE REALMS:
A. Realm of Life: This is a dressing room for eternity.
B. Realm of Death: This is an appointment that you will meet and we better be ready.
C. Realm of Eternity: Whether you go to heaven or hell, it will be forever!
III. YOUR CHOICE WILL DETERMINE THE DESTINY OF THE SOUL: The matter of what will you do with Jesus is what determines your eternal resting place.
It is not determined by riches. You can’t buy your way into heaven, and you can not be to rich to go! Riches are irrelevant at the foot of the cross and at the judgment!
A. It is not determined by education. Many wise men of the world are fools in eternal matters! But the way of salvation is simple. Is 35:8
It is not determined by religion. Matt 7:22-23. Baptists who have never been saved go to the same hell that unsaved Mormons, Muslims, or Buddhists go to!
B. It is not determined by social standing. You can be on top of the world and spend forever in the bottom of the pit of hell! There is only one level at Calvary.
C. Your eternal destination is determined by what you do with Jesus. This decides your eternal destination.
John 3:18 “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” I John 5:12 “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” If you have received Jesus in your heart by faith, you are heaven bound. If you have not, there is nothing else that will save your soul. Eternity has but two options, and the only way to decide on them is to answer, “What will you do with Jesus?”
Hear the audio of many sermons like this and see other Bible Outlines at www.trumpetoftruthonline.org
