# Three kinds of death and the narrow way

Key Passage: Matthew 7:13-14
Date: June 11, 2023

Where Jesus said, there’s a broad road leading to destruction. If you get on that, you’re going to wind up dead—a kind of dead. There are three kinds of death: spiritual death, physical death, and eternal death. Adam and Eve were warned that if they touched the tree of life, they were going to die. The devil told them, “You won’t die. Go ahead.” And they did, and they died, but they could still talk and walk and eat and sleep.

But they died spiritually. The Bible says in Ephesians 2:1, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sin.” The Bible says that by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin. And so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. So everybody is born dead. We are sinners.

The sin of Adam has been passed along by inheritance. We call it inherited sin. David said, “In sin did my mother conceive me.” I didn’t have anything to do with being a sinner. I got it from my mother and dad, and they got it from their folks, and it went back to Adam. So we are all sinners by inherited, or original sin, as we call it. Now then, there is also physical death. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.”

The Bible says that the soul that sinneth, it shall die. And it’s the point that the man wants to die, then the judgment. Everybody dies. There have been 8 billion plus people on the face of the earth up to this time. With the exception of two people, Enoch and Elijah, everybody has died. There are going to be 8 billion more people die if the Lord doesn’t come first, or if we don’t have some kind of an intervention. And so that’s original sin, and that’s physical death.

And then, of course, there is eternal death. “Whosoever’s name is not found written in the book of life is cast into the lake of fire.” This is the second death, or eternal death. So now we are talking about three kinds of death here. Solomon says there is a way that seems right, looks right, everybody thinks it’s right. As I begin to go through this, I realize that the Bible is given to us with two basic factors: one is facts, two is principles.

The facts of the Bible. You take the story of David and Goliath, and we have some people here who could stand up and give us 25 or 30, 40, 50 facts out of the story of David and Goliath. There was a little boy—fact one. He was an Israelite—fact two—and on and on and on. You can come up with 40, 50 facts.

Now, there is one underlying principle in that story, and sometimes more than one, in every one of the stories or illustrations or experiences or exposures in the Bible. When you are reading through the Bible, as you get familiar—in the kindergarten, you learn some things about Daniel and the lions, the Hebrew children, and the crossing of the Red Sea. We built up facts from these. Some of us can stand up and just spill out these facts.

But subconsciously, without realizing it, we heard that story in the kindergarten. We heard it again in the beginner department, then we heard it with flannelgraph, then we heard it with video, then we heard it in sermons, we heard it in Sunday school, and we read it in our own devotions. Every time we did it, without knowing it, that principle was being embedded deeper in our Christian life. The more you absorb Christian principles, you become more and more scriptural.

That is why Joshua 1:8 says, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate”—soak up, absorb, pull into yourself—all of the scriptural principles. Now, there are thousands and thousands of facts, but one preacher said you will only find about 35 principles all the way through the Bible, and it just runs through every story.

The more those principles make impact on us, the more spiritual we are. And the more spiritual we are, the more we understand the Bible, the more prayers we get answered, the longer we live, the more money we will have, the better house we live in, the better car we drive, the better clothes we can have, and the more friends we’ll have, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. The benefits and blessings of God opening up the windows of heaven and pouring out His blessings in all the different areas that I named this morning: spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, social, domestic, financial, material, and eternal benefits. All absorbed. So we are becoming more and more like God without realizing it. That is why we come to church three times a week, and that is why we read the Bible and pray. We are working on building that spiritual man up.

So he says, “Now, there’s a way that seems right.” And that way is the end of death—that’s a principle. The principle he has taught is a basic philosophy called the broad road philosophy and the narrow road philosophy. “Many there go in that way, and few there be that find this one.” So he says, now, there’s a way. If you happen to get involved in this way, you’re going to have some trouble. He is not telling us about a road; he is telling us about a philosophy.

We call this broad road philosophy man’s wisdom. First Corinthians chapter 2 talks about the contrast between the wisdom of man and the wisdom of God. There are two different philosophies. This we call worldliness—worldly-minded, world government, world army, world Bank, World Church, world everything. Over on this side, we have the spiritual, the local church that the Lord works through.

This we call humanism, or this is man’s way we are looking at it. Basically, humanism is what we call an egocentric philosophy. This is: the world revolves around me. Okay? “I think.” “Here’s the way I believe.” “This is what I think.” “This is the way I look at that.” “This is my idea.” “This is my view.” “This is my opinion.” “Will it help me if I do that?” “What is in it for me?” That is basically where almost everybody in the world is, and that’s where most Christians are dabbling in that and having an awful lot of trouble with it.

The other side is what we call a Christocentric philosophy, and this is Christ-centered. Everything I do ought to be Christ-centered. What does the Bible say about that? You want me to get involved in something you’re involved in? I want to know right now what the Bible says about that. What is the spiritual vein there? What does the scripture have to say about it? What is the will of God in the matter? Should I buy that house or should I trade cars? Which church should I go to? What college or Bible college or what university or college should I go to? Am I going to make that decision based on how much more money I’m going to make now, or am I going to do it according to God’s will and God’s leadership? “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” Acts 9:6 says, when Paul came up off of his knees with a bright light shining in his face and blinding him, he said, “Lord, what is it You have for me to do?” From then on, we have the greatest Christian who ever lived outside of Christ Himself, because every decision he made was, “Lord, what’s Your will?”

Now, how do we get to that place in our life? Because you know and I know almost everything we do is wrapped around decisions for us. That is basically the humanistic philosophy. The more we live there, the less we are going to understand, the less we are going to get prayers answered, and the less we are going to be able to really cope. I was reading an article one day, about page 16, in a Sunday paper. There was a little column back there, buried way back in the back. It was a story of two men who were sitting on a log on the side of a real steep mountain out in Arkansas.

One fellow had on a pair of cowboy boots, and subconsciously, without thinking, he was scraping in the dirt while he was talking to his friend. The article said that the heel on his cowboy boot hooked onto a little root that was running along from a tree over there. When it did, he pushed on it. When he did, his body pushed the log and caused it to push back. When the log moved, the other fellow jumped off the front. When he did, that log rolled back again into its original position, but it didn’t stop. It rolled out and started rolling. The other fellow had fallen off the back, and when he did, it pushed the log even more. That fellow who had fallen off the back got up and brushed himself off just in time to look down the hill and see his friend running as hard as he could, with the log rolling after him. The log rolled over top of him and killed him.

I thought when I read that, “What a freak thing!” Two guys just sitting up on the mountain talking, and the next thing you know, one of them is lying there dead, and the other is up there scratching his head and trying to figure out what happened. I never thought about that anymore for several years. Then I was reading through the Bible, and I came upon this story of these two fellows. These guys were brothers. They had the same mother, the same father, the same environment, same hereditary factors. We all know them: they are named Cain and Abel.

They were little boys. As I was meditating and thinking, here are these two little boys around the breakfast table. Cain or Abel one said, “Hey, Mommy, hey, Daddy. Is this the day we do that?” Adam and Eve said, “Well, yes, it is. This is the day of the annual sacrifice. Are we going to go out in the field and get one of the lambs? Are we going to take a knife and cut the throat and let the blood come out of it like we…?” “Yes, and we’re going to do that. And then we’ll cut it up in pieces and put it on the altar and put some fire there and make it burn.” “Yes, we’re going to do that.” Then I think a little Cain or Abel one said, “Why do we kill a little lamb?”

“Well, boys, it’s because God said that’s what He wanted us to do.” There is no explanation. They didn’t know, they didn’t understand, that this was going to picture the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was going to be sacrificed on the cross of Calvary hundreds of years later. But they were just doing what God had taught them to do when they were passing it along to their boys. The little boys just kept asking them: “Why do we let the blood all drain out? Why do we put the fire in? Why? Why? Why?” “Because God said.” “Because God said.” “Because God said.” “Because God said.” “Because God said.” “Because God said.” These boys went through this year after year. They asked all kinds of questions, and Adam and Eve were explaining.

Then one day, they got out of bed and were having breakfast, and probably Cain said, “Hey, Dad, Mom, isn’t this the time we’re going to do that sacrifice thing?” “Well, yes, it is, boys. It’s going to be different.” “What’s going to be different?” “Well, you see, when boys get up to your age, they have to have their own relationship to God. You can’t go to heaven on Mom and Dad’s religion. So, boys, when your mom and dad and I build our altar and make our sacrifice, you’ve got to go out there and make your own sacrifice. You’ve got to build your own altar over there, and you’ve got to get your sacrifice and make your own sacrifice to God.” So Adam and Eve explained the whole thing to them, and they went outside. Cain said, “Abel, yeah, well, what are you going to do?” “Do what?” “Are you going to make a sacrifice like the—” “What else do you think I’d do? Sure, that’s what Mom and Dad said we have to do.” Cain said, “Well, I’ll tell you, buddy, now I think…”

“…you hear that? I think the way I look at this: it’s awful easy for you, buddy, to go out there in the field and get one of your sheep.” The Bible says that Abel was a keeper of sheep. He had a whole field full of them. He could go out there and just pick any—he could pick the prettiest one—and that’s what he had to do. He said, “But listen, I don’t have any sheep.” Cain was a tiller of the ground; he was a farmer. He had rows and rows of corn and beans and potatoes and cucumbers and lettuce and anything else you’d plant. He said, “Now, the way I figure it, I’ve got to get a whole wheelbarrow load of produce, and I’ve got to bring it over here and swap and trade, finagle with you to get one of your lambs to sacrifice on my altar. It looks to me like God would be willing to accept the work of my hands, the same as He is willing to accept the work of your hands.” Now, if we are going to go by logic and reasoning, Cain has got a point, except for one thing: God didn’t say do it that way, because there is no bloodshed, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. They couldn’t understand that, but they had to make the decision with the word they had. Abel might have said, “Now, Cain, you better do it the way Mom and Dad said.” Cain said, “Now look, you mind your own business, buddy. You go ahead and do what you are going to do. I am going to do what I think is right.” And they offered their sacrifice.

Mom and Dad, Adam and Eve, offered their sacrifice, and God received it. Abel offered his sacrifice, and God accepted it. When Cain tried to offer fruit and vegetables and all kinds of produce out of his garden, God rejected it and made him so angry that he was furious all day and all evening. He didn’t sleep well at night. He got up in the morning, and he was out in the field tending to his crops, and his brother Abel came out and said, “Hey, Cain, how did everything go yesterday?” “What do you mean? What about your sacrifice?” “Mind your own business, buddy. If you take care of your sacrifice, I’ll take care of mine.” Abel might have said, “Well, boy, it must not have turned out very good. You wouldn’t be so tight about it.” The Bible says that Cain got so angry that he rose up and slew, or killed, his brother and buried him out there in the field.

Can you see that one of these boys is on the wrong side of the philosophy? He is on the wrong side of the log. He is going by, “What I think. Here’s the way I look at this. This is the way I feel.” I kept reading the Bible and came to another story in Genesis 25. I found the story of two more boys born in the same family. They had the same mom, same dad, the environment and hereditary factors were the same. But they turned out as different as day and night: Jacob and Esau.

In the story of Jacob and Esau, the Bible says that Esau was an outside kind of guy. He liked to run into the woods and pick up rocks and chase deer and throw rocks at squirrels and rabbits. He probably took off his shoes and got down in the creek and waited until he could see a crawdad. You try to catch crawdads. Then he would get up and run around and play in the fields and all. Esau would do all that. Jacob, however, liked to stay in the house and help his mother cook. He was making this big bowl of red pottage. Don’t you love red pottage? You don’t even know what it is, do you? Everybody loves red pottage. It is chili.

He was making a big bowl of chili, and the aroma of that was filling up the kitchen. Esau came running out of the woods, tore across the field, jumped over the fence, ran up over the backyard, climbed up on the back porch, opened the screen door, and walked in. If you read Hebrew, you will see every bit of that. When he walked into the kitchen, the aroma of that red pottage went right into his nostrils, and he was famished with hunger. He said, “Man, Jacob, give me a bowl of that red pottage.” Jacob, the conniver, said, “Okay, a bowl of that is going to cost you, buddy.” “Yeah, how much is it going to cost me?” He said, “The birthright.” Birthright! Listen, if I don’t get something to eat, I’m going to die. What good is the birthright going to do now? We don’t call them birthrights; we call them wills.

Mary and I both have our wills made out. At our age, you have to. Okay? I have it worked out. I have four children. Each one of them is going to get exactly the same. I wouldn’t dare give one of them more than the others—exactly the same: $2.26 a piece. But in the day of Jacob and Esau, it wasn’t that way at all. The oldest boy had the birthright. That meant if Isaac and Rebecca died, Esau would get the entire farm. He would own all the buildings, two or three barns. He would own those, 200 acres of barley over there and 100 acres of wheat down here and rice, and he would have 250 or 300 cattle over here and 500 sheep, and all of it belonged to Esau—called the birthright. Jacob says, “If you will sign over the paper and hand all the birthright over to me, I will give you a bowl of chili.”

Now, you say—you and I would say—what idiot, what stupid idiot, what stupid idiot would make a deal like that? Esau said, you know the story: “Man, if I don’t get something to eat, I’m going to die. It’s important. Give me, give me. You want the birthright? You have the dumb old birthright.” Really? Would everybody here agree that that is stupidity? Now, let me apply that. Do you know anybody playing around with drugs? Same old story: “I want what I want right now.” Anybody drinking liquor? Anybody smoking cigarettes, messing up your lungs, messing up your liver, messing up your brain? Anybody playing around with illicit sex? Anybody doing this and this and that and the other things that we preach about? Same story: “Give him that bowl of chili. Give me what I want right now. I don’t care what it does to my future.”

That is the same. That is why God put that in the Bible. You see, Jacob and Esau—one of them is on the wrong side of the log, and one of them is on the right side of the law. There is a guy who is a humanist from the word go, and this guy is playing out the Christian principle. I kept reading through the Bible and found two more fellows who were going to build a house. Jesus was telling about them in Matthew chapter 7 in the Sermon on the Mount. He said this one fellow was going to build, and the other fellow was, and they met.

One said, “Hey, I hear you are going to build a house.” “I am, and I hear you are going to build one, too.” “Yeah?” “Where are you going to build?” “Man, I found a spot down here that is level, right down near the water. I won’t even have to bring in excavation equipment, no bulldozers or earthmovers, and I will be able to just go right down there.” “God said, man, you can’t be serious! That is sand down there. The first time it rains, your house will sink out of sight.” “Yeah? Well, where are you going to build yours?” “Man, I found this place on a big rock slab, and I am going up there, and I am going to put my concrete blocks on this big rock foundation up there.”

Remember, 1 Corinthians 3:11 says there is no other foundation laid than that which is laid, which is already laid and given to us as a free gift. It is called eternal life, and it is Jesus Christ, 1 Corinthians 3:11 says. So we are built on the Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us a free foundation, and He says in the next verse, “Now take heed how you build thereon.” Put some windows in that house so you will have some daylight. Now, windows cost money, and you can get around with Adam if you want to, but you are going to live in the dark. Put some electricity in that house, but, man, you are going to have to buy some copper wire, and you are going to have to hook up with the electric company. It is going to be real expensive. You can just avoid that. Don’t bother about that, because that is really going to be a lot of trouble, a lot of work, a lot of money, and everything. But I tell you, when you go there in the evening, and it is dark, and all you have got to do is flip a switch and get some light, you are going to be glad you did.

Okay. And I will tell you what: put a heater and air conditioning in that house, and all kinds of plumbing in that house, because one of these days you would like to turn a little spigot instead of carrying a bucket and going way up out of the well. He said, “Well, I don’t want to put all that into it.” Okay, go ahead and live in that place that you are building on that foundation. Many Christians live in a sloppy house, and they do not bother to pay the price of having a house that has all of the wonderful conveniences that we have. All they have got to do is flip a little switch. I can flip a switch and take advantage of a $100 million hydroelectric plant down here, hundreds of thousands of man-hours, and hundreds of millions of dollars, and all I have got to do is flip a switch, and I have lights all over my house. I am going to take advantage of it. Well, this guy built on the sand, and this guy built on the rock. Jesus said, and the winds came, and the rain came down, and the floods came up, and the people in Vacation Bible School say, “And the foolish man’s house went back.” You remember that?

Okay, yeah, you can have it that way if you want to be humanistic and self-centered, egocentric—me, I, mine, us, our—instead of Him. I kept reading and came to two more men. This is right outside Islam. There is a great big log sticking up in the ground, and a man nailed to that log. Over here is another log, and the man nailed to that one. Over here is another one. They have cross pieces on them. Here is a man over there, and a man over here, and then a big log in the middle with Jesus hanging on it.

This man over here says, “Hey, You there in the middle, why don’t You work one of those miracles and get us down off this cross? I don’t want to die. I want to go on and live. I’ve got some things I want to do. I want to do some things. I want to.” The other guy said, “Lord, would You remember me when You come into Your kingdom? I’m not worried about houses and cars and lands. Man, I want to go with You to paradise.” The Bible says Jesus said, “Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise.” That man died and went to hell. This guy died and went to heaven. That guy is on the wrong side of the log; he is a humanist, he is egocentric. This guy went to heaven because he is spiritual.

There it is again. I could go to the two men in the field where one is taken and one is left—there it is again. I can go to the two women who were working at the mill, grinding at the mill, Matthew 24, and there it is again. I could go to the Pharisee and the publican who prayed, “Oh, Lord, I’m glad I’m not like that guy,” and the old publican said, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” That shows the same thing there. We could go again to the story of the two men who died. The rich man died; he lived in fine linen and purples, and then he died. In hell, he lifted up his eyes. Poor old Lazarus, whom we saw this morning, he died. The angels carried him away into Abraham’s bosom. There it is again.

I was making hospital calls. We lived in a little town that had 70 hospital beds, and I would go every day. I had a morning broadcast that ate something. After I got through with my broadcast, I would go immediately to the hospital. Usually I would have one or two people in there whom I would visit. But then I would go to every room. Some of the rooms had three people in them, two people in a room, four and five—up to five, no more than five. But there were only about 30 or 40 rooms. In an hour’s time, I could cover everybody, and I would ripen them up. I could find a little woman who was brand new there, introduce myself, and she would say, “I don’t care anything about Baptist. I’m a Catholic. Now get out and leave me alone.” I said, “Man, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you. I’m sorry.”

I would go out in the hall and call my secretary and say, “Would you call about 12 of our ladies and ask them to send a card to Mrs. So-and-so in room so-and-so and tell her that we are praying for her, that the pastor shared with them that she has a lot of burdens right now?” They would all send these beautiful cards. I would wait a day or two, and then I would go back in again. She would say, “Oh, there you are. I’m so glad you came back.” She said, “I got these beautiful cards,” so we would tear down all the walls and the barriers.

I did this every day. I was visiting one of my men, and there were two men in the room. My man was over next to the window, and I had to go in the door by this bed, over to that bed next to the wall for the outside. This man in this bed had his head covered up with his sheet. I couldn’t see who he was or what was going on. I went over there, talked with my man, and had prayer with him. When I got ready to leave, he said, “Preacher,” he said, “would you see if you could help that poor guy?” He said, “He’s got more troubles than anybody I’ve ever talked to. See if you can help him.”

So I went over, tapped on that sheet, and he ripped that thing back as if to say, “What do you want?” I said, “Buddy, excuse me, I don’t mean to bother you. My buddy over here tells me you have a lot of problems. I’m a preacher. Is there anything I can do to help you?” He said, “No, I don’t think you can do anything for me. Maybe you can help my wife if you want to.” “What about your wife?” “Oh, she has some hairbrained idea that she’s found a boyfriend, and she is going to take our daughter and run away with that crazy guy. Here I am, my ulcers are bleeding now, and I am all upset. I want you to go see if he can help her.” I said, “Well, I might do it.” He told me she was a waitress at a local restaurant, and I said, “But how about you?” I said, “You know, according to the Bible—” He said, “Don’t you go getting the Bible involved in all this, buddy.” I said, “Man, do you understand that God—” He said, “Now, don’t get God in on this.” I said, “Okay, okay.” So I turned around; I walked out.

I went over there where that girl was. When I walked in, I met with the receptionist and asked her, “Could you help me find Mrs. So-and-so?” She said, “That’s her right there.” I approached her and said, “Ma’am”—her name was Pullen—“I have been over to the hospital visiting with your husband, Charles, and he tells me that you folks are having domestic problems. I am wondering maybe if I could help you in some way. I love people and I would like to help if I can.” She said, “I don’t know.” She said, “I think for the first time in my life, I think I am going to be happy.” I said, “Man, I don’t think you are going to find what you are looking for. You do not find happiness that way.” Well, she said, “I’ll take my chances.” I said, “You know, according to the Bible—” She said, “Don’t you go getting the Bible involved in this.” I said, “But, ma’am, now look, God—” She said, “I don’t get God involved in this.” So I said, “Well, okay.” I had to leave her.

A couple of days later, I was going down the road, listening to some easy music on my car radio, and suddenly it just stopped. The announcer said, “We interrupt this broadcast to bring you a news bulletin. A man walked into the Howard Johnson’s restaurant here this afternoon and pulled out a revolver and shot and killed one of the waitresses and walked back in the kitchen and shot and killed the cook. The police have arrested Mr. Charles Pullen.” My soul, that guy got out of the hospital, went home, got his gun, and went and killed both of them. I went up to the jail, and they let me see him. He was sitting back there in the cell, and you can imagine. I said, “Charlie, what in the world did you do?” He said, “I killed them both. That’s what I did. I killed them both.” I said, “Buddy, that’s not all you did. You sent both of them right straight into the lake of fire to burn in hell forever and forever and forever.” He just hung his head down, and I couldn’t get him to even talk after that. I just had to leave.

About another week or so later, I was in the office, and the phone rang. This lady said, “Pastor Wallace, we have some real, real bad troubles at our house. Is there any way you could come and help us?” I said, “Where is your house?” She named the street right on the main street there in that little town. She said, “If you could come—” I said, “Well, I’m working on—” She said, “Could you come as quick as you can? Please, come right now if you can.” I said, “It’s an emergency.” She said, “Okay.” So I got my car, and I went down. I found the house. When I parked and walked up the sidewalk onto the porch, she was standing there, and she opened the screen door and invited me to come in. Her name was Agnes, Agnes Butcher.

I said, she introduced herself. “Now, Agnes, what kind of problem?” She said, “My husband Denver just left here, and he has a pistol in his pocket. He told me that he is going downtown, getting loaded up on liquor, and he is going to come back here and blow my brains out, and then he is going to put the gun to his head and blow his own brains out. If you knew my husband, he will do just what he said.” I said, “Well, Agnes, look, if he does come here and blow your brains out, are you going to go to heaven or are you going to go to hell?” Time to be practical, right? She said, “Preacher, I got saved when I was a teenage girl, but I never got baptized. I didn’t start going to church. I haven’t read the Bible. I haven’t stopped doing bad things and started doing good. I didn’t do anything that Christian people are supposed to do. But I did understand that Jesus had come into my life.”

She said, “I’ll tell you, preacher, I would be so embarrassed and so ashamed to stand before God.” I said, “Well, Agnes, how about you and I get down on our knees here by the couch, and let me show you 1 John 1:9: ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’” I said, “If you will pray that and mean it now, the Lord will forgive you, and then if he blows your brains out, at least you won’t be so embarrassed and ashamed to stand before God.” She just prayed her heart out and cried. By this time, I heard a car pull up out in front. I heard the door slam, and I heard the guy coming up the sidewalk and coming up on the porch. I said, “Oh, oh, oh man! I hadn’t planned to be here when all this shooting started. I could just read tomorrow morning’s newspaper: man walks in the house, shoots and kills the preacher, and then shoots and kills his wife, and then shoots and kills himself, just trying to let the people figure out what is going on with the preacher and the man’s wife to call him.” Oh, my soul, how did I get into this?

I got up and walked to the door, and when he walked up to reach for the screen door, I pushed it open. He knew me. He said, “Preacher, what in the world are you doing here?” I said, “Buddy, that’s what I am trying to figure out. Listen, Denver, Agnes told me about that gun you have in your pocket—you can see it sticking out there. She told me that you are going downtown, getting loaded up on liquor, and it looks like you have done just that. She said you are going to blow her brains out, and then you are going to put that gun up there and blow your own brains out. I want you to know if you blow her brains out, she is going right straight to heaven to be with God, and it will be the best thing ever happened to her. But, Denver, what in the world is going to happen to you if you put that gun to your head and blow your brains out?” He said, “Preacher, I would bust hell wide open.” I said, “Denver, do you think it is very smart for a man to blow his brains out and bust hell wide open?”

He said, “Well, I guess it wouldn’t be very smart, would it?” I said, “It is the stupidest thing you could do.” I said, “Now Denver, I realize you have a lot of problems. But look here, would you sit down? Do you know what the Bible says?” He said, “Preacher, what does that Bible say? That is what I need to hear.” I said, “Well, now listen, the Bible says that God loves you.” He said, “Boy, that is what I need to know about God.” I explained to Denver what to do. I told him how God loved him and what the Bible had to say about it. He got on his knees with me at the couch and opened his heart and received Christ as Savior.

I said, “Now, Denver, come over here and sit down right here. Agnes, you sit down right here. I want you to make me a promise. Promise me that before you go to bed tonight, you will get down on your knees by the bed, and you will hold hands and pray together and thank God for helping you get right and helping you get saved.” He looked at her and said, “Agnes, I will do that.” “Few will?” She said, “Well, Denver, I will do it.” “Few will?” He said, “Well, I will.” She said, “Well, I will too.” I said, “Now, something else I want you to do. I want you to promise me that you will be in the church.” He said, “Now, Agnes, I will do that.” “Few will?” She said, “Well, I will do it.” “Few will?” “So, okay, I will.” I said, “Now, something else I want you to do. When I get through preaching, I am going to give an invitation. I want you to come down the front and let me tell the people, and let you explain that you have been saved and you got right with the Lord.”

He said, “I will do that.” “Few will?” She said, “I will do it.” “Few will?” They showed up, and they were sitting back on the back row, right on the last pew. I saw Denver put his arm over on the pew, and then he put his arm up on her shoulder, and then he started pulling on her. Then he did something I have never seen anybody else do: he laid his nose on her ear. He was just pulling her. If it had been some of our teenagers, I would say, “Hey, one of you deacons go sit between those kids back there and make them behave themselves.” But I was just thinking, I hope old Denver kisses her. I gave the invitation; they both came forward. I baptized both of them.

About three months later, he fell off of a piece of machinery into a big rock crusher, and it just tore him into a hundred pieces. He went to heaven. Do you see where I am going with my story? One couple said, “I don’t care what that Bible says. Don’t get God involved in this.” The other couple said, “Man, that is what I need to hear. I need to know about that.” Now, that is a principle.

Let me share with you what that means to us. Before you go to sleep tonight, you will have one, two, or three opportunities to make some kind of decision that will either be self-centered or it will be Christ-centered. You are not going to be able to get around it. You will decide to turn on a television program, or you will make a phone call, or something. Tomorrow, everybody in this room will have 10 or 15 or 20 different times when you will have to make some kind of decision that is either going to be egocentric or Christ-centered, Bible-centered. This next month, it will be hundreds. In the next year, thousands. Everything you do, every decision you make, every purchase you make—if you pray about it, “What wilt Thou have me to do, Lord?” If you live your life according to that principle, you will see a brand new life in front of you. My soul, you talk about finding out what! You can have life, but you can also have abundant life. You can have peace if you want, but you can have peace that passes all understanding. You can have joy, but you could also have joy unspeakable and full of glory. You can have a life, but you can have abundant life.

I do not have to stop here in kindergarten or grade school. I have to get these principles in me, and there are not many of them. If I will soak and saturate myself and become scriptural, then and then only can I be spiritual. If I am spiritual, then I am going to find what I am looking for.

Original File: Bro. Tom Wallace - Sunday PM 06112023