This afternoon, while studying for a sermon, I was able to find and want to share an unbelievable illustration about the need to make one more move with your eternal life, before its too late. One of the things a lot of people don’t know about the former World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer (American) is that his favorite hobby is visiting art galleries and museums. Once while on vacation in Europe, he became captivated by one particular painting called Checkmate. It was the picture of a chess game. On one side of the board was Satan with a smug and sinister smile on his face. On the other side of the board was a young man with tears running down his face and sweat pouring down his forehead. He was biting his fingernails. Satan was reaching out to make the last move. The young man looked terrified. Apparently, he thought he had lost the game to Satan. Again, the painting is called Checkmate. Satan smiled. The young man was panicked. And as Satan reached out to make the last move, things seemed hopeless for the young man. After six hours of staring at the painting, Bobby Fischer said, “Bring me a chess board.” He set up the board exactly as it was depicted in the painting. After a few moments, he began to smile. “Young man,” he said, “I wish you could hear me because I have some good news for you. Things aren’t as dark as they seem to be. I have studied this game for more than six hours, and I have discovered that it’s all right to allow the devil to make his move. Because after he makes his move, I’ve found that there is one more move on the board! Let him make his move. You’ll be the one who says, ‘Checkmate!’ There is one more move on board.” Some of us have never made the move left to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Literally, Satan is smug and laughing at your life. Friend, as a preacher of the gospel, you have one move left! Take it and accept Christ as your Savior and beat Satan for eternity. If you desire heaven to be your final home, there are several steps you must follow. First, you must understand that your are a sinner. The Bible states, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God:” (Romans 3:23) All people are sinners and do not deserve to go to Heaven. Secondly, you must realize that your sin has deadly consequences. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death...” Here, death refers to an eternal separation from God in hell. Thirdly, you need to recognize that your sin debt has been paid. The Bible states, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) Jesus Christ, the Son of God, took your punishment and died for you! Fourthly, you must repent of your sins. “...God ...now commandeth all men every where to repent:” (Acts 17:30) Repentance is a change of heart which causes you to turn toward God and away from your present way of life. Finally, you must take action to insure the Lord knows your intentions. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raise him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10: 9-10) This passage lists two parts of salvation. You are required to both ask Jesus to save you and also believe God’s word. If you ask for salvation, yet you do not believe with your heart, you are still on your way to hell. When you go to a doctor, you believed the promises made to you by the doctor and you acted upon those promises. To become a Christian, you must believe God’s promises and act upon them by asking Him to save you. God cannot lie! Here is His promise to you: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:36) If you will accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, please pray this prayer or one similar to it: Dear God, I admit I am a sinner, going to hell. I know that I cannot save myself. I repent of my sins and put my faith in the blood that you shed for me on the cross to pay for all my sins. I now accept you as my Savior and trust you to take me to heaven. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus name, amen. If you prayed this prayer please let me know by sending personal message and I can direct you to a good Bible believing Baptist Church. Doug Carragher, Th.D. Doug Carragher
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 20:06:01 +0000
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