Fan or Follower? | Why Being A Good Person Isn't Enough To Get Into Heaven

Now, I'm glad that you're sitting down because I've got something to share with you. Now, if you're at home and you're getting another cup of coffee or something, I want you to make your way back to the couch or to your chair because I want you to sit down as well. If you're driving your automobile, you might want to pull to the side of the road because I think what I'm going to share, initially, it's going to trouble you, irritate you. You might even come to the conclusion that, like, theologically, Mark has lost it. I don't agree with what he just said, so here it is. Good people don't go to heaven. There won't be one good human being in heaven. Now, on earth, we all look at the word good subjectively. Your opinion of what good on earth might be different than your opinion of what good is. We also have a tendency to measure up good compared to somebody else, normally somebody else who maybe isn't as good as us, so that we feel a little bit better about ourselves, so that at least we walk away and say, I mean, I'm not that good. I'm not that bad. I'm not a murderer. Heaven isn't populated by human goodness. Heaven is the perfection of God's holiness. Since May 10th, this is what we've been talking about, looking at the words of Jesus in what many call the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is teaching us, he's not raising the bar of behavior so that you can save yourself. Rather, he raises the bar so you'll run to Jesus. This is this graphic that I have shared with you over the weeks about the blessed life. The blessed life begins when you admit that you need God. We're going to see here in chapter 7, this gospel message, as he begins to land it, it concludes with the same idea that no good people go to heaven. The gospel begins with this challenging thought, and it also concludes. Before you write me off, stay with me, because I think we're going to see, and perhaps our

minds and our eyes will be opened in a fresh new way. We have a couple problems as human beings. Our first problem this morning is simply this. We really haven't come to the conclusion that believing the gospel is the most important area of our life. I think we look at other areas like our education, our marriage, our relationship, our hobbies, politics. We look at a lot of other areas and spaces, and we would say, that's more important. But it's problematic for you and I not to listen to the words of Jesus and come to the singular conclusion that the gospel of Jesus Christ is most important in our life. The second problem that we have is most of us in this space, we are fans of Jesus more than we are followers of Jesus. You're a fan. You wear the jersey. I mean, you've got the cross on, right? You're not antagonistic. You're not an atheist. I mean, you show up for the game. You're cheering Jesus on. Yeah, the Bible, all that. You're a fan, but you're not a follower. What I hope is to show and outline the difference as we go along the way. In your Bibles, in Matthew chapter 7. For the previous two chapters, in our language, the previous three months, Jesus has been speaking to religious people, Jewish religious people. These are not people who were against God. On the contrary, they were very interested in God. They knew the Torah. They had followed the words of the prophets. Likewise, this morning, the challenge that's before me is not for the person who's sitting

or watching online and you're like, hey, listen, Mark, I know that I need Jesus. Listen, I know what I did last night. I've got this addiction that I just can't seem to get free from. I mean, what I've done in previous relationships. I mean, I've been incarcerated. Our friends who are watching, God behind bars. You don't need convinced. My challenge this morning is church going folk, you, because for the most part, you're not convinced that you need Jesus that much. Oh, you've dabbed him into your life. You've sprinkled some Jesus on the stake called your life. But at the end of the day, there's this idea that you're not that bad. That certainly when you kind of come to the end of your life and God looks at you and squares things up compared to them, you're not that bad. Again, I wanted to put in play. Good people do not go to heaven. So let's look at the words of Jesus. Look how he begins to land this message in verse number 12. He says, so whatever you wish that others would do to you do also to them. For this is the law and the prophets. Unfortunately, we have moved this from a gospel statement to what many call the golden rule. But in reality, this is the gospel because followers of Jesus don't treat people the way they've been treated. They treat people the way that Jesus treated them. That's what makes us different as Christ followers. As a Christ follower, I treat people the way that Jesus treated me here. Look at verse 13. Jesus talks about a narrow gate and a wide gate into the narrow gate for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction. And those who enter by it are many for the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads

to life. And those who find it are few. See many, most people choose comfort. Few choose Christ. The wide road that you're traveling on, you believe you're like, yeah, I'm a fan of Jesus. But the reason the road is wide because it's the story of Jesus on the road that you're traveling, but it's also the story of your preferences and your opinions. You're for Jesus, but it's also you're for you. You're for my opinions and how I think and how I feel. And you've decided this is what I want to do along the way. There's no room on the narrow road for your opinions, for your preferences. I think many of us have traveled on the wide road and we've exchanged. And really what we need to do is to exchange a casual attraction for Christ to complete allegiance to Christ. That's what Jesus said in John 14. He said, I am the way, the truth, the life. No person comes into the father except through him. Here, let your eyes go to verse 15. He begins now to talk about your personal responsibility. Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from the thorn bushes or figs from thistles? So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, you will recognize them by their fruits. I covered this topic about judging in a previous message, but you can see clearly Jesus is saying, it's your responsibility to listen to the people around you

and how they're influencing you. the shortcut on the wide road to champion your comfort or to travel the narrow road following Christ. See, you cannot afford to be spiritually lazy in a culture that is spiritually loud. Everybody's kind of for Jesus today. Athletes are for Jesus. Actors are for Jesus. Politicians will tell you for Jesus. Hey, Joe Rogan is attending church. I mean, everybody, it's all about God, right? You can't afford to kind of just outsource your relationship with God to somebody else. See, the enemy rarely arrives looking dangerously. He usually arrives sounding reasonable. That's how he did it with Eve. Eve, did God really say this? Is that really what God means? I mean, maybe you're looking at it the wrong way. Now, verse 21, 23, and this is the core part of our time together in our Bible study today. And if you want to know, if you're interested to know why I do what I do, I would tell you it's rooted in these three verses. Some would say, you know, Mark, why haven't you retired? I mean, you've been doing this for 36 years. I don't know how long you've been in your profession, but for 36 years, every single Sunday I've woken up and done this. Monday through Saturday has been the life of a pastor. I certainly have the savings and have the ability to go ahead and retire and kind of just… You say you love Sanibel so much, Mark, why don't you just retire and go to the beach and just kind of enjoy life? It's these verses. I'm pretty committed to my sleep. I sleep well. I do my best to understand good sleep hygiene and climb into bed at night to get a good night's sleep. But if you wanted to know what keeps me awake at night, if you wanted to know what troubles me, it's in these three verses. It's what has me very concerned about you and those who are joining us online. Again, I ask you the question, are you a fan or a follower? It's heavy on my heart that in my own mind, I've come to the conclusion that I pastor more fans of Jesus than followers. I'm here to tell you there won't be one fan of Jesus in a real place called heaven. Here's what the word of God says. Here's what Jesus says in verse 21. Not everyone, you can put your own name in there. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. I don't point this to scare you. Jesus isn't teaching this to create fear in you. He's teaching it because he loves people. He left heaven. He's

come to earth, and he wants you to understand that the gospel of Jesus Christ is foundational to everything. That cute little prayer that you prayed at vacation Bible school, that youth group moment back in the day, your kids, whatever it might be, listen, that had a moment in time, but what matters is how are you following Jesus on a random Tuesday afternoon? On Friday night when the temptation is to follow the comfort of what you want compared to trusting and obeying what God has said in your life, which path do you choose? He understands our humanity. He understood that these Jewish people, they were experts at making it look good on the outside, but being far from him on the inside. And so he says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father who's in heaven. Let me just pause for a moment. If I were to ask you to tell me to stand and tell me what is the will of God, do you know the answer? Now, let me just help you. If the conclusion of the will of God is that you go to church, the will of God is that you've read your Bible. I'm here to tell you, you've come short. A person who doesn't follow Jesus can come to church. A person who doesn't follow Jesus can read their Bible. If I were to ask you, what is the will of God? Now, if you were to tell me, I know what the will of God is, but then you choose not to do the will of God. Could we come to the conclusion? Conclusion that potentially probably you do not know what the will of God is because to know the will of God Dictates that you would do the will of God because you understand the weight and the gravity and the authority of the will of God What Jesus is saying is that listen? Those who call him Lord Lord those who say I'm a fan, but do not do the will of God He's saying you've got a problem and we've got to deal with this We've got to address this notice verse 22 on that day many will say to me Church going folk Lord Lord did we not prophesy in your name didn't we teach a class in your name? Didn't we cast out demons in your day? I mean didn't we work with like the middle school kids I mean, I mean God look at all this stuff. Look at all the stuff that we did Didn't we do many mighty works in your name we were in the parking lot and then Will I declare to them?

And this has caused your heart rate to Your blood pressure to beat up a little bit Jesus says to you I Never knew you Depart from me you workers of lawlessness See many people spend their lives working for Jesus without ever walking with Jesus That's got to change today. Everything's that everything is at stake When my girls were young we lived in Northeast, Ohio and they would listen we would listen to a moody moody radio station WCRF 103.1 in Cleveland and They had a program for children from Focus on the Family Adventures in Odyssey And so I would listen with them But then they would go on and play and following that there was a a Scottish pastor His name is Alistair Begg and I would enjoy listening to him teach and preach he had that Scottish accent and just kind of made me think that's maybe what the voice of God sounded like and And one day he was talking about and it so caught my attention I remember it all these years later about the importance of the gospel and Reminding yourself every single day that it's the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's foundational to your life Otherwise you begin to look at all the good things that you do in your business Good things you do in your marriage good things you do with your kids good things as you do in your church Good things you do in the community and somehow you begin to come to the conclusion that you're good and the reason that you're going to heaven one day is because you're good and he used as an illustration a Question that was popular in those days Dr. D. James Kennedy a Presbyterian pastor down in Fort Lauderdale, Florida Used to ask people if you were to die Today and you were to stand before God and he were to ask you why should I let you in? what would you say and Alistair Begg he would say that any answer in the first person

You've immediately gone in the wrong direction if you answered why you get to go to heaven by and you say well because I I Because I believed Because I have faith Because I am this because I didn't do that Every answer is wrong and You're in trouble the only proper answer is in the third person because he Because he Christ left a perfect place called heaven and he came to earth and because he was tempted in all points like I've been tempted but he never sinned because he allowed a trumped-up trial to come against him because he allowed them to Crucify him on the cross because he said father forgive them They do not know what they're doing because he took his last breath and said it is finished because he was Buried he buried in a barrel grave because he was dead for 30 days and because he came alive again. I Is the first person and it's irrelevant it's third person it's always he and and and I got to thinking about that and in particular thinking about the The thief on the cross remember the scene remember there were three crosses on Calvary in the center is Jesus and on both side are our two convicted criminals they have lived a life of Sin, there's a part of me that when I get to heaven, right? I know I'm gonna see God I'm gonna see Jesus, but like, I wanna skip past the prophets and I wanna skip past the apostles and I wanna go talk to this guy. I wanna kind of ask him, you know, how did it all work out for you?

Like, dude, you never attended church. I mean, you never went to a men's Tuesday night Bible study. I mean, you never served anybody other than yourself. I mean, you never got baptized. I mean, you never gave to God. You never did anything. I mean, you weren't a member of a church. You weren't a partner of a church. I mean, you never prayed. And yet, look at you, dog. You made it, you made it. You're like, you're here. How did you make it? Could you imagine, no doubt in heaven, right? There's like this angel and here comes this old thief from the cross. I mean, for his entire life, he is not living for God at all, doesn't care. And like at the very last moment, he sees Jesus, his buddy's on the other side, he's cussing up a storm. This old boy never goes to church, never does anything good. He just looks over at Jesus and says, hey, Jesus, will you remember me when you go in your kingdom today? And Jesus says, yeah, man, yeah, I will. And so the angel's like, hey, dude, what are you doing here?

I'm not sure you belong. And the old boy answers, yeah, I don't know. Yeah, I didn't do anything really that good and anything that great. And you can just see, you can see the angel getting flustered. He's looking at his papers, he opens his iPad. There's not a rule, there's not a policy for this. He calls the heaven HR director and comes over and says, what are we gonna do? This is out of protocol. And the HR director in heaven kind of looks at him and says, on what basis, young man, are you here? I don't know, I didn't. On what basis are you here? To which finally the young man simply says, all I know is this, is the man on the middle cross said I can come. The man on the middle cross said I can come. That's the only answer. That's the only answer to remind yourself over and over and over. The only reason that I can come to a real place called heaven is because a guy on the middle cross said that I can come. So I ask you again, are you a fan or are you a follower? You know, in life there are terrifying words. Some of us have heard those terrifying words, you're fired. We have no idea how we're gonna pay our bills.

The rent is due and if we don't pay the rent then our family won't have a place to stay. Some of us have heard those terrifying words from a doctor. You have cancer. Stage four cancer. No cure. Put your affairs in order. Some of us have heard life shattering words. I don't love you anymore. I found a younger, cuter, wealthier person to love. Some of us have answered the front door and we've seen Marion County Deputy Ocala police officer ask if you were the parent of, only to hear the deputy say, your son, your daughter is dead. It's horrific of all of those words. The seven most terrifying words in the universe. I never knew you, depart from me. I'm convinced, with every ounce the fiber might be, that there are men and women in this space, just like the two other times this morning and how this message will live forever on the internet, that there are men and women who are listening to my voice right now. If you don't change, if you don't repent this morning, you're going to hear Jesus, the Son of God say to you, I never knew you, depart from me, and I don't want that. That's why we're looking at the words of Jesus, and I want to give you three steps of God's will so that you will never hear those words. I'm not saying this to try to scare you, to create fear in you. I'm trying to prepare you. I know what's happening. The Bible says it's appointed unto men and to women once to die.

You will, at some point, die in this life. The next moment is you and God. Number one is, this morning, you must examine the direction of your life. Am I following Christ? Jesus says there are two roads. There is a narrow and there is a wide. There are two gates. There is this narrow gate and there is this wide gate. How are you following Jesus? Where are you following Jesus? Andy Stanley said it best, direction, not intention, determines our destination. Many of you have really good intentions. You have good intentions in your marriage. You have good intentions in your business. You have good intentions, but intentions doesn't do anything. It's the direction, the direction that you're taking that leads, that determines our destination. It's true. The easiest road usually leads to the hardest endings. Religion can teach you about Jesus without bringing you to Jesus. Not every path leads to life. He's teaching that. Listen, you look at these trees and you examine the fruit. Is this fruit that would nourish your body and give strength to your body, or is this fruit spoiled and rotten? The truth isn't something that you study on Sunday. It's someone named Jesus that you walk with every day. That's the difference between a fan. A fan shows up on Sunday. Yeah, give me some more Bible trivia. I want to know something about Jesus, but then do nothing with it Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,

Thursday, Friday, Saturday. The truth is more than studying about Jesus on a Sunday. It's walking with him 24-7, 365. God's will, you examine your life. You look and see, where am I? How am I? Am I just a fan, or am I following? Second thing I would tell you is that test every voice in your ear by the voice of Jesus, including mine. In the book of Acts, we learn about a church. The apostle Paul was teaching them. See, for some of us, this is our high-water mark as far as God and the Bible this week. You're going to come in, you're going to assume, and you know what happens when you assume. But your role and your responsibility is to lean in and to see, to know, and to do God's will. And we see and know to do God's will when we are part of God's word. People who know God's word aren't easily led away from God's ways. It's your responsibility. You work out your own salvation. Who do you say that Jesus is? What's the conclusion that you've come to? Remember, all the serpents said to Eve is, has God really said this? That's what he does. He comes and he just reshapes God's word. He reframes it. He softens it. He adds a little bit here. He subtracts a little bit there. So that you'll feel comfortable. We have been learning and looking since May 10th. Following Jesus is uncomfortable. When somebody slaps you, you turn the cheek.

Every statement that Jesus has been teaching us, we forgive even when inside of us we want to extract revenge from them. Along the way we have seen this is a narrow road. The enemy rarely arrives looking dangerous. He usually arrives surrounding sounding reasonable. The best defense against deception is daily devotion. Moms and dads, I know you want your sons and daughters to do great on the SAT and that's wonderful. I want them to excel academically. But are you giving as much time to the development of their SAT scores as they are they're following Jesus from his word? Here's the last thing I would say to you is this. Evaluate your relationship with God. Before you pivot and get on with this day, before you go on with whatever activities, before you go on with summer, before school shopping, evaluate your relationship with God. Again, go back to the scriptures. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. But the one who does the will of my father. Again, what is the will of God? See, here's what you want the will of God to be. And most often we ask about the will of God. You really want it to be about your life. What is it? Will this girl, that guy, this job, that car, this house, the will of God. What we want is some formula. We want a formula. We want an outline primarily so we can control it. Even in saying that we're pursuing the will of God, in many ways we're still inserting ourselves into the space of God. Following Jesus is not a formula that's prescribed. Following Jesus is a personal relationship that you have with God. And you follow him. And along the way you have conversations. And along the ways you talk. And along the ways you stumble. And he picks you up. And along the ways you get off the the path a little bit.

And then he corrects you and brings you back on the path. It's a relationship. Not one marriage is healthy built on a formula. That's called a transaction. And usually ends in divorce. If she does that and he does this then we're happy. But the moment she doesn't do this and the moment he doesn't do it, we want the will of God to be some formula that we can control. Manipulate. God's will is that you trust him more than you trust yourself. The narrow gate. I will trust God at his word even when I don't understand. I will trust God at his word even when it's not my preference. I will trust God at his word even when my friends around me criticize me. I will trust God at his word even over my opinions. That, my friends, is a narrow road. So not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven. On that day, many, put your name in there, will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? And then Jesus says, I will declare to you. And I am standing before you because I do not want anybody in this space to ever hear Jesus say, I never knew you depart from me. It's interesting. That phrase, I never knew you, it's the same exact language as when the Bible says, and Adam knew his wife. It's a declaration of intimacy. Do you have intimacy with God? Fans are inspired. Fans are motivated. Congratulations, you're inspired. Congratulations, you're motivated for but followers are imitators. Followers are obeyers. One of the biggest challenges you have Is the country in which you were born

Some of you are more in love with the stars and stripes than you are with the stripes that were on the back of your Savior I Promise you no politician will die for you Jesus Christ exclusively Gave his life for you But as Americans you are convinced that there's always a plan B That there's always an appeal It's just not fair. I Want you to know after you die, there are no appeals there are no do-overs. There's no mulligan. There's no second chances There's no yeah, but there's no what-ifs. There's no excuses There's no I didn't know this my parents my coach that pastor those people That's what your life is now right now your life is that space where God Wants you to pivot from your ways Wants you to move from being a fan to being a follower in John chapter 6 the Bible says this is the will of the Father that everyone who looks on the Son and Believes in him should have eternal life Let me teach you about that word believes the word believe here requires action That's why in John chapter 3 it talks about being born again. There is a new person I'm not the same person when I believed in Jesus what changed is I'm no longer guiding me I'm no longer sitting in the driver's seat. I have now placed I have inserted Jesus Christ as the controller and the driver of my life Have you Jesus is binary in other words. There's just two choices. I know we live in a pluralistic culture We want multiple multiple choices We want a warm fuzzy mushy Co-exist it doesn't really matter what you believe as long as you believe something We're all in it up in the same place one day you understand how silly of an argument that is

Tell me you want to go to South Florida get on an interstate 75 and travel north you are not Going to South Florida Take a bowl and put some flour in that bowl put butter in that bowl put sugar in that bowl Put some salt in that bowl put some chocolate chips in that bowl stir it all up and put it in the oven And bake it and serve it as steak to your family and friends, and they say that you're crazy There's this idea spiritually that like there's this kumbaya just kind of believe whatever it is and think whatever you want No, it is Jesus is binary. It's up or it's down. It's heaven or it's hell It's life or it's death. It's fruitful. It's unfruitful. It's narrow. It's wide That's why now in Second Peter the Lord is not slow keeping his promises as some understand slowness Instead he is patient with you now Not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance Hear me There are no good people in heaven and second God has never sent one person to hell you do that all on your own You say to God now, I'm hey God listen, I'm gonna live my life now. I don't need you And so the God just honors that he says I'm on earth You said that you didn't want to do life with me on earth. You said you didn't want to be with me So I'm gonna honor Eternity you saying you don't want to be with me God has never sent on the contrary the Word of God says second Peter 3 9 he wants what's the will of God? God wants no one to perish. God wants everyone to come to repentance every single person Repentance requires action repentance requires you to turn to agree with God Repentance means I stop trusting me and I start trusting God Ephesians 2 4 is by grace that you have been saved Through faith and it's not your own doing it is the gift of God Not a result of works so that no one can boast.

It is the gift of God So why, man, dude, how did you get here? What do you do? All I know is the man on the middle cross said, I can come. But notice what happens next in verse 10. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. It's grace. It's what he did that saves us, places us in heaven. But we also need to remind ourselves that we have been created for good works. God has prepared for us to do. He wants us to walk in them. We work not for the reward of salvation. We work as the result of our salvation. So the question, your biggest problem this morning is, are you a fan or are you a follower of Jesus? The cross didn't make salvation possible. It made salvation available to everyone who believes. I wanna give you a little bit of a beta test to see if you really are confused about the will of God. I hear this often from church people. They'll tell me that they're tired. They'll even say that they're worn out, serving God, burnt out. But I'm here to tell you, and I love you and I'm for you, but I'm here to tell you, that boat don't float.

You're not wore out serving, praying, following, you're wore out because in reality, you are a fan, you are not a follower. See, the Father's will is not that you impress Jesus. The Father's will is that you trust Jesus. You're tired because you're trying to impress him. You're doing the human dog and pony show. Look what I did for you, Jesus. Look what I didn't do for you, Jesus. Look at me, look what I'm doing, gold star on my paper. And he's like in heaven saying, like, dude, like, really? Like, what do you think as a human being? Like, really, what are you going to do that the creator of the universe looks down and says, James, Peter, John, come here, look at my boy. He crushing it. You're tired because somewhere along the line, you bit the lie that you thought good people go to heaven. And that's a lie from hell because heaven is not a place of good people. Heaven is a place of God's holiness, where people who are sinners, who have devastated their lives, came to the singular greatest conclusion of their individual life. I don't know why I'm here. It's certainly not because of anything that I did. All I know is the man on the middle cross said, I can come. All I know is the man on the middle cross said, I can come. I don't know about him and I don't know about her,

but the man and the middle cross said a guy like me, Mark, David Cummins can come. I don't know who you're believing in. I don't know what you believed in, but anything short of the man on the middle cross said I can come, you're missing it. Thank you. Being together in this space today is really good. If you've never begun a relationship with Jesus, I'd like to invite you today to start following Jesus. It's not about your behavior. It's not about your church attendance. It's about the reality that Jesus is for you. God's not mad at you. He's madly in love with you. Would you right now pray this prayer with me? Hey God, it's me. I've sinned and I know it and I can't fix me. But today, I receive you, Jesus, as my savior. I believe that you died on that cross for me and that you were buried for three days and then you became alive again. And I invite you into my life to guide me and direct me all the rest of the days of my life. And with that prayer, my friend, welcome to God's family. I'd like to continue our friendship. If you would email me, pastor at hopeinokala.com. I'll follow up with you and together, we'll celebrate Jesus in your life. Peace.