The Biggest Gambler Of Them All!

Gambling has become accepted by many, and has become a widespread problem in our society. Sad to say, you can even find it among some churches.

Illus: Did you hear about the man that heard a knock at the door. Opening the door he noticed a boy from his church selling raffle tickets. The boy said “We’re selling raffle tickets for the widow down the street. Would you like to buy a ticket?”

The man looked the boy in the eyes and said “I’m afraid not. Even if I won, my wife wouldn’t let me keep her.”

They have discovered one thing about gambling. Those who gamble are not the smartest people on the earth.

Illus: This reminds me of the two friends, Smith and Jones, who went together to play the slot machines at the casino in Las Vegas. Each agreed that when his allotted money was gone, he would go to the front of the casino and sit on the bench to wait for the other. Jones quickly lost all of his money and went to sit on the bench. He waited and waited. After what seemed an eternity, he saw Smith coming toward him carrying with him a huge sack of quarters. "Hey, Jones," said Smith, "how'd you do?" "Well, Smith", said Jones, "You see me here on this bench empty handed - what do you think? It looks like you hit it big, though." "Oh yeah," said Smith, "did I find a good machine! It's way in the back. I'll show it to you - you can't lose! EVERY TIME YOU PUT IN A DOLLAR FOUR QUARTERS COME OUT!!!"

Again, I remind you, those who gamble are not the smartest among us intellectually. Have you noticed for example, they have the “Educational lottery” in South Carolina? In about every convenience store in the state, they sell lottery tickets. WHY DO THEY SELL THEM THERE? Because they know this is where a lot of the uneducated people do their daily shopping.

Smart people are not going to gamble their hard earned money when they only have one chance out of a million or more to get anything back.

However, there are some people who will say, “I do not gamble!” But yet they are the biggest gamblers of them all.”

WHO ARE THEY? They are lost people who are gambling with their souls. The lost person is THE BIGGEST GAMBLER OF THEM ALL!

HOW DO THEY GAMBLE WITH THEIR SOULS?

I. THEY ARE GAMBLING WITH THEIR TIME

They have convinced themselves that they are not going to die any time soon, and they have plenty of time to give their hearts to the Lord later.

HOW DO THEY KNOW THAT? They do not know that! In fact, they do not know if they will be living the next minute. This is why the Bible says that when we make plans, we should say, “The Lord, willing.”

I can tell someone that I will meet them somewhere next week, but the fact is, by that time next week I might be dead and buried.

We should always state our intentions as, “The Lord willing!”

Illus: Did you hear about the old farmer who was walking down the road with his cow? His neighbor said, “Where are you going with your cow?” He said, “I am going into town to sell my cow.” The man said, “You mean, if the Lord is willing!” He said, “No, I do not know if the Lord is willing or not, but I am going into town to sell my cow!” About an hour later he came back down the road and he was bleeding profusely! The same man said, “What happened to you?” He said, “I was going to town to sell my cow and some fellows jumped out and beat me up and took my cow!” The man said, “Where are you going now!” He said, “Lord willing, I am going home!”

Listen, the lost man is the biggest gambler of them all, he is gambling that he has plenty of time to give his heart to the Lord. BUT HE DOES NOT KNOW THAT!!! But what he does not seem to recognize is this, only a few win but most lose!

Hell is full of people because they kept gambling that they had plenty of time, and they did not.

• Some of them went to sleep and woke up in hell

• Some of them went into surgery, went into a coma, and woke up in hell

• Some of them were driving down the road and crashed their car and died, and they landed in hell

They gambled with their life and they lost BIG TIME! The lost man does not have the slightest idea of the odds that are against him.