GOOD PEOPLE GO TO HEAVEN, RIGHT?
MARK 10.17-31
I remember once having to do a funeral of someone who had no church connections at all. To my knowledge they had no faith in Christ Jesus. Yet at the graveside several members of their family came and asked me if I thought the deceased would be in heaven. I politely said that that decision was not mine but God’s to make. One person in particular got quite cross with me for that answer and they said “Of course they will be in heaven they were a good person.” Such a question arises often at the time of a death and is often asked of the pastor.
So this morning I want from God’s Word to put before you the way of salvation so that you have assurance about heaven as your eternal destiny. I want to say at the start that this will be an uncomfortable sermon for some of you and for some it will, I pray, open your eyes to the fact that you are not saved and have no assurance of heaven.
If I were to ask you to put up your hands if you want to go to heaven I am sure all hands would go up. If I then asked you to put up your hands if you were certain you would go to heaven when you died I am also certain fewer hands would go up and a few hands would go up that shouldn’t go up. Over the past week I have spent some time listening to a preacher called Paul Washer, you can find him on sermonaudio.com – I emailed the web link to a few people because I just found the sermon very powerful. In his sermon Washer states that many people within our churches are deceived as to how you become a Christian and about salvation. When I listened to him I was deeply challenged about just such a fact being true of HTW. So this morning I make no apologies for the straight teaching that I am about to deliver. Turn with me to Mark 10 verses 17-31.
Context – Jesus has just started on his journey again (verse 17) after blessing the children (verses 13-16). You know the incident – the disciples wanted to prevent the children coming to Jesus because they were tired. Jesus, despite the physical tiredness, has time for each child and blesses each of them. It is not one general blessing for all but each child is taken into his arms and blessed. Having blessed the children Christ begins to walk away and that is where we pick up our reading from Mark’s gospel this morning.
Then in verse 17 we read that a young rich man comes running up to Jesus and falls at his feet. Maybe, just maybe the young man has been watching Christ with the children and realises he will not be turned away by Christ. He speaks to Christ – read verse 17. He is taken aback a little by the initial response of Christ – verses 18-19. I was always troubled by the response of Jesus here. At a superficial reading it would appear that Christ is saying that he is not good and the title ‘good’ should not be applied to him. Yet when I read a little deeper I realised that what in fact was happening was that Christ was challenging this young man to think through the cost of what he had just asked. If ‘good’ can only be applied to God and this young man has applied it to Christ then he had better take seriously what Christ is about to say. His running after Christ and falling on his knees before him show an emotional response, an impulsive nature but Christ wants him to have eyes open to the cost of eternal life and all the implications of it.
Christ goes on to set before this young man the moral law of God. Now look at the list here – I am sure many, if not all of you, could say I have kept these laws myself or at least I don’t habitually go around breaking them. Measuring yourself against these laws, as this young man did, you might be able to respond as he does in verse 20 – read. This young man, on his knees before Christ, confidently asserts that he has kept these laws and yet his first question to Jesus reveals that he is not assured of salvation, of eternal life. This young man, morally upright before men and here before Christ, has no assurance of eternal life because somewhere in his heart he knows that keeping the law, being morally upright, good and all as it is, does not bring salvation or assurance of eternal life. His reply, all these I have kept… reveals the longing in his heart. Is there something more I need to do? What is there that is missing and leaves me unsure of eternal life? Then Christ puts his finger right on the very precise point of this man’s life – read verse 21. This young man is challenged to give up his riches and then to follow Christ. What is the response – verse 22 – he walks away downcast, head bowed and face sullen and all because he would not give up his wealth for Christ.
The disciples are amazed (verse 24) at this but even more shocking is to come when Christ tells them it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven – he illustrates it by a ludicrous illustration - taking the largest of animals (the camel) and asking how difficult it would be to thread a needle with it. The illustration leaves the disciples wondering who then can be saved (verse 26). Christ answers their query by stating that man cannot save himself, in fact it is impossible, but with God all things are possible – salvation is impossible for man and possible only with God.
It is this point I want to linger on this morning. Here before us is a picture of ourselves this morning. You may not consider yourself wealthy but you are. Materially this morning you are wealthy compared to two thirds of this world, but that is another issue entirely. Look again at verse 19. The list of commandments shows a man who is morally upright in character and in life. You would fit in there, wouldn’t you? You seek to live a good life. You like to think that you are a good person. A morally upright person and yet it is to such a person, and to you, that Christ says give up everything you have and follow me. He says it to you this morning and what are you going to do about it?
Turn with me to Matthew 7 verses 13-23. I want to take a moment and read these to you and we will finish the sermon on these words of Christ.
Verses 13-14. There is a narrow gate or door and there is a narrow way and it is only by entering through that gate and walking on that narrow way that you can be saved. Do you notice the other gate is wide and the way is wide – and we all, we all, started out on that road and some of you are still on that road and pretending all the time that you are on the narrow road. The narrow gate is Christ Jesus and it is by repentance of your sin and faith in Him that you are saved from your sins and enter into eternal life. But note, please, please listen to what Christ says next – read verses 15-23. By their fruits you will recognise them – a good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. When you enter through the narrow gate and are walking on the narrow road there is evidence of it in your daily life. You no longer love the things that God hates. You no longer follow the ways of the world. You no longer have the desires of the world. There is evidence, good fruit, coming forth from your life.
Take a moment and listen again to the end of these verses – read 21-23. Do you understand what Christ is saying here? Look at verse 21 – it is not enough to just call on the name of Jesus Christ – you must do the will of God the Father. You see so many people claim to have made a commitment to Christ but there is absolutely no evidence of it in their lives. Some of you here this morning claim to be Christians but there is no evidence of it in your lives. You claim to have invited Christ into your life but the truth is there has been no repentance of your sin – you are still in love with the world and the things of this world and there is no good fruit to be seen in your life. You come here Sunday by Sunday, you sing His praise and you leave exactly as you came in. You know people could not tell if you were a Christian because you are no different than those around you. When you are here and when you are with other Christians you make all the right noises but there is no reality to it in your daily life.
How awful, how dreadful would it be to hear Christ say these words to you – I never knew you…? Let me be as honest as I can be with you this morning – that is exactly where some of you are right at this moment. Do you notice – these people will claim to know Christ? They will claim to have done work in the name of Christ? Yet, Christ does not know them and on that day He will send them out of his presence to hell for eternity. Waken up this morning to the fact that good people don’t go to heaven – sinners saved by grace go to heaven. Good people, and that is what you are, need Christ Jesus to know them and that only happens when you repent of your sin and turn in faith to Christ Jesus. You have to enter through the narrow gate (Christ Jesus) and walk the narrow way (obedience, good fruit etc). You see it is not enough to say you know Christ, even Satan knows Christ Jesus this morning. It is not enough that you are a good person, that you are morally upright, that you are kind and considerate – those things are good but they do not bring salvation and they do not gain eternal life. Waken up to the fact that as you sit there this morning with all your good deeds piled up you are lost without Christ and bound for a lost eternity.
Friends, it amazes me the number of people who come here week by week and who remain totally untouched by the gospel. What is even more amazing is the number of people who talk a good talk when the pastor is around or they are in the company of other Christians and yet there is no (fruit) evidence in their daily lives. It amazes me the number of people who claim to follow Christ but who remain wedded to the things of this world and it is impossible to distinguish them from this world and this morning you know Christ is speaking to you and challenging you right now about that. You are no different from the world, you are in the world, you are of the world and worldliness directs and dictates your life – not Christ. Ah, but Alan I committed my life to Christ at the mission or at…. You know what listen to me carefully – it matters not a jot that you can point to the time, the date and the place where you prayed that prayer – if today you live in the worldly manner and walk on a wide road of sin. Listen to them: “We did miracles. We prophesied and we cast out demons in your name …we did this, we prayed this, etc” Listen to Christ’s response: “I never knew you.” Listen to the Word of God this morning – you can be a good person and still be on the road to hell. You can talk about Christ and do things in the name of Christ and still be on the road to hell. Why? Because you have never entered through the narrow gate – you have never truly repented of your sin – not just say sorry, not just pray a little prayer of commitment to Christ but truly repented – laid before Christ the sins of your life and begged his forgiveness for them. Repentance is not just saying sorry – it is a turning around, turning away from sin and by faith turning to Christ. Then you walk along the narrow road, not the wide road. The narrow road did not and does not broaden out as you walk along it. It remains a narrow road and some of you have forgotten that this morning and you need to come back on to the narrow road and start walking what you claim to be true with your lips. Some of you say the right things but you are like these men and you will one day hear Christ say “I never knew you, depart from me.” There are some of you here this morning and you are deceived into thinking that you are alright because you are a good person and you do good things but you are bound for hell this morning. Only last week I had a conversation with someone who said how many years they had deceived themselves into thinking they were okay but one good Friday their eyes were opened to the fact that they were not right with God and that was the moment they stepped on to the narrow road. Let me tell you before they came and told me that I thought they were a Christian – they said the right things, they turned up at the prayer meetings and the bible studies etc but there was no spiritual life there. Friends, let me say to you there are some of you in here this morning and that is exactly where you are right now – you are deceiving those around you, maybe even me but you are not deceiving Christ and one day, on that final day, it will all be laid bare and how awful, to your eternal sorrow, will you hear Christ say “I never knew you, depart from me you evil doer.” All because you believed satans lie that you were ‘good enough’ to get to heaven.
This has not been an easy sermon to either write or preach. It may have come across as harsh and uncaring but I pray you know that not to be true of me as your pastor. It would have been easy to tread gently around you this morning but it would not have been the loving thing to do. I pray, truly pray, that this morning all of us have heard Christ speak into our lives and that we come to him the narrow gate and enter the narrow way that leads to eternal life.
Amen.
