Good People Don'T Go to Heaven

Do you ever think about heaven, friend? Do you ever wonder what heaven will really be like? Do you ever wonder if our loved ones up there can see what's going on down here? Do you long for heaven, friend? I'm going to tell you what I think heaven is like. There was a traveling evangelist who was passing through the city of St. Louis on a Sunday morning and he decided to stop at a downtown church and go in to worship. Once inside the church he realized he was the only white person in that downtown black church and up on the platform stood the elderly pastor of that church and he was just beginning a sermon which was on the topic of heaven.

He said, some folks call heaven paradise. Other folks call it Abraham's bosom. I'll tell you what I think heaven is like.

Here is Jesus coming back from his earthly ministry and he is greeted by the angel Gabriel at the pearly gates and Gabriel smiles and says, hello Jesus. Sure is good to see you, Jesus. Welcome home, Jesus.

But who is that with you? Is that that thief? That thief from the cross? Oh, no, sir. No, sir. We can't have no thieves up here, Jesus.

Then Jesus replies, never you mind, Gabriel. Never you mind. Then Jesus put his arm around the thief and announced to Gabriel, he's with me.

I like that story, friends, because I look forward to the day when my Christ puts his arm around me and announces to the heavenly host, he's with me. I don't deserve heaven, but I sure deserve hell. In the gap between lies a cross with a bloodstained savior who died for me.

Glory to God. I don't deserve heaven, do you? Because I know good people don't go to heaven. That's right, friends.

Good people don't go to heaven. Only forgiven ones get to go there. Sinners that are washed in the blood and born from above.

And that's the title of my message today. Good people don't go to heaven. My text can be found in the Gospel of Luke in chapter 16.

You can turn in your Bibles there now, friends. We will be in verses 19 through 31. I remember a friend of mine years ago once asked me to go visit his dying aunt in the hospital and tell her about Jesus.

I entered the hospital room and introduced myself to this dying woman. And I asked her if she felt like she was ready for heaven. She informed me, yes, she felt she was because she had never robbed a liquor store or murdered anyone.

That's what this lady told me. In her eyes, she was good enough for heaven. And that was good enough for her.

And that's how most folks think. They sincerely believe they are good enough for heaven. But little do they know that when they'll die, they'll split hell right open.

That's right, friend. Good people don't go to heaven. Only forgiven people get to go there.

Those who will stand with Jesus by their side. And he says, she's with me. He's with me.

I want us to take a look at eternity today as we see it described by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. You know the story well, friends, of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus. How Lazarus laid at the rich man's gate begging for table scraps.

And this beggar was so friendless that his only companions were dogs. Dogs that licked his sores as he sat out in the elements of that street by that rich man's gate. But beyond the gate there sat a big mansion.

And inside that mansion there sat a rich man dressed in his purple linens and eating his heart's content out on the best cuisine money could buy. Because this man had plenty of money and he lived in luxury, our text tells us. So he had no room for God in his heart.

And a day came to pass that comes to every mother's son. They both curled up their toes and died. Now up till now we've been talking about the earthly side of their lives.

Now let's take a walk into eternity and see how they made out. Look at verses 22 and 23. And it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels.

Into Abraham's bosom. Let me pause here, friends. There is a story about Charles Spurgeon, the British preacher, that has always stuck in my mind.

Spurgeon lay dying in a hotel in Minton, France. And with him was his personal aide, Joseph Harold, who related a remarkable story. And he said it was true to his dying day.

He said while Spurgeon was upstairs in his room dying, Joseph Harold was standing in the lobby of the hotel looking out the window. And this is what he said he saw. He said, I looked out the window and there in the distance, beneath a cloudless sky, hovered a bevy of angels as if they were waiting on someone.

Well, they didn't have long to wait. The Prince of Preachers died shortly thereafter. And that's true, friends.

I believe we have a picture of what happens to the saint who dies in Christ and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. Carried up to heaven by angels. I also believe that when a person dies outside of Christ, they are dragged down to hell by demons.

There was a story I read about, about a Hollywood actor, that when it came time for him to die in his hospital bed, that a family member said that he had a look of terror in his eyes. And as he lay in bed, he kept thrashing his arms around him as if to fight off someone. And he kept screaming that demons wanted to take him to hell.

So we see that when it came time for the beggar to die, he just rode up onto heaven on the arms of ministering angels. Now, let's see what happened to the rich man when he entered eternity as described by verses 22 and 23. The rich man also died and was buried.

Let me pause here, friends. We can assume this rich man had a big send-off on earth with a lavish funeral where his friends and family gave tributes to his success in life as they eulogized him and lowered his expensive coffin into the large family plot. But we doubt that the beggar had any funeral at all.

He was placed more likely in a beggar's pauper's grave, an unmarked grave. But let's peer into eternity and see where this once rich man ends up. And in hell, he lift up his eyes.

Let me pause here again, friend. If you don't believe in the reality of hell, then you are greatly deceived and on your way there. This rich man who didn't have a care in the world closes his eyes in death to this world, and he opens them in another world, a world he's quite unprepared for.

And in hell, he lift up his eyes, our text says. But what does the next sentence relate to us about this man in hell? Being in torments. He is thrust into eternal region of torments.

Hell is described by the word of God as a place of torment where the worm doth not. It's called outer darkness and a bottomless pit, a place of burnings, a burning lake of fire. Here is a man who finds himself locked up in a prison from which he cannot escape.

And if he still had his money, he couldn't buy his way out. He's in torment. Look at the vivid description we have of his condition in hell.

It's seen in verse 24. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I'm tormented in this flame. This man who once had it all now sits in constant and never ending torments in hell.

He wants relief, but no relief comes. It will never come. And that's what hell is, friend.

A place of torment where you cannot get relief and you can't get out. Well, how does a person end up in hell? Because they died outside of Christ. They had no pardon for sin.

The law of God was broken and the sentencing of the law had to be carried out by a just judge who must punish sin. Well, how does a person get to heaven? By good works? By being a good person? No, friends. Like I said before, good people don't go to heaven.

Only forgiven people get to go there. Let me ask you, friend. Are you washed in the blood? I know I am a sinner and I need a substitute for sin in the person of Jesus Christ.

And so do you, friend. So do you. I know I don't deserve heaven and I only deserve hell.

But when I die, I'll stand next to my savior at the gates of glory and he will announce to the assembly before me. He's with me. Get to Christ, friend, and put your trust in him and throw down your shotgun of rebellion at the foot of a sovereign and surrender to him and believe on him.

The word of God declares in John 3 36. 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.

Good people don't go to heaven, friend. Only forgiven ones get to go there. You must get to Christ and get under the blood.

To where when it comes time for you to die and you stand at the heavenly gates with Jesus by your side and he announces in a voice of authority that's overflowing with love. He's with me. She's with me.

Let us pray.