How to Almost Get to Heaven - William Blackburn — From the Pulpit & Classic Sermons

Welcome to From the Pulpit and Classic Sermons. Each week we bring you a different message from some of today's greatest speakers in the Christian faith and powerful sermons from modern preachers too.

This week we have William Blackburn with his message, How to About Get to Heaven. There are a lot of people.

Felix Almost Reaches Salvation

Who are going to almost make it to heaven. There are going to be a lot of people who almost get saved. You see, there are a lot of folks that are satisfied with that. There are a lot of folks that are satisfied.

You talk with them about salvation. You say, listen, if you were to die today, do you know for sure that you'd go to heaven? They say, well, I think so. I hope so. What they're saying is I'm satisfied with almost knowing for sure.

I'm satisfied with almost getting to heaven. Now I read a few verses a moment ago about a man named Felix. Now Felix was a good man. He was a moral man. He knew the Bible. He wanted to do the right thing.

In fact, he did a lot of things that were good. But what we cannot compliment Felix on and what we cannot admire him for is this. Felix almost went to heaven. Now here's the tragedy. When you almost go to heaven, hey, you don't go at all.

You need to go all the way, friend. And there are a lot of people just like Felix. Felix was the governor of Caesarea. He was a man who was the warden of the apostle Paul. Now listen, Paul was out there preaching the word of God and some of the Jews got angry and they had him put in prison and Felix was the governor.

He was the man responsible for keeping Paul in prison. Now he could have let Paul out of jail at any time, but he didn't. But while he had Paul in prison, man, he treated him very well. He treated Paul not like a common criminal, but a man to be respected.

He talked to Paul. He shared his philosophy and his theology with Paul and Paul talked to him. And I would say Felix had a wonderful opportunity to be saved. He had a wonderful opportunity to be born again by the Spirit of God.

But according to the Bible, Felix is in hell tonight. Now I've wondered how could that happen? How could a man come face to face with a great preacher like the apostle Paul, talk with him man to man, hear Paul give his plan of salvation, give his testimony about being knocked down on the Damascus road and meeting Jesus face to face.

How could a man come so close to being saved and yet die and go to hell? Well, it happens all the time. Felix did four things that caused him to almost get to heaven. Four things that many of you are doing, four things that folks do all the time that they think is good enough in the eyes of God.

They think it's good enough to get them through the gates of glory. But the Bible says these four things instead will take you straight to hell. Four things that will almost get you to heaven. Number one, what Felix did was this.

Good Works Cannot Save

Number one, what will almost get you to heaven without really getting there, getting you there is doing good for less fortunate people. Now here's what Felix did. Paul was a prisoner. Felix was the governor and yet you know what he did?

He was kind to Paul. He let his friends come in and minister the gospel to him. They took care of him. They honored him. They treated him like an honored guest. Here was a man in prison and yet Felix, he treated him with honor and respect and kindness and provided for his needs.

I want to tell you friends, there's a lot of people in Laurel, Mississippi that think being good to less fortunate people is enough to get you through the gates of glory. We have a lot of folks that really believe if I'll go out there and I'll do enough, I'll go enough, I'll give enough, I'll be kind enough that somehow God will honor that and take me straight through the gates of glory.

I had a man get furious with me one time. When I told him, I said, listen, if mother Teresa was not born again by the spirit of God, she went straight to hell. He couldn't believe it. He said, she was better than you are.

I said, well, you're exactly right. I mean, she did more things for people than I did. She probably was better than I am, but that's not the point. The point is Jesus Christ said, your goodness is nothing but filthy rags.

The Bible says it's not by works of righteousness that gets you to heaven. It's by Jesus Christ. The Bible says for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.

I want to tell you friends, if mother Teresa, even though she spent her entire life down there in India with those leper, the leper colony, if she was not born again, she went straight to hell, her good works, her good life, and doing good for less fortunate people was not enough to get her through the gates of glory.

And we have a lot of folks that go out there and I'm telling you, our society today has ruined the gospel of Jesus Christ. There was a great, uh, there've been many organizations that started out right.

I think of one right now, the Salvation Army. They started out with William Booth, winning men to Christ. That was their number one goal, win men and women to Christ. Tell them about Jesus, be born again, be born again, be born again.

And they use those soup kitchens and they use those things to through food and gifts to get folks to come in so that they could hear the gospel. But now they've turned 180 degrees and their main thing is to provide food and shelter and not share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Friend, I want to tell you, being good to less fortunate people, it's nice, but it's not enough to get you through the gates of glory. The Bible says you must be born again. You see being good to less fortunate people, it'll almost get you to heaven, but it won't get you through the gates of glory at all.

Interest in Religion Is Not Regeneration

The second thing that will almost get you to heaven is this, showing an interest in things of the Lord. Now here's what it says in verse 24, it says, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. Now friends, listen very carefully.

There was not a greater preacher on planet earth than the apostle Paul. Other than the Lord Jesus Christ himself, there was no greater preacher of the gospel than the apostle Paul. And Felix had the greatest evangelist the world has ever known in his own house.

And he knew he was a preacher. And he invited Paul to come and talk to him about Jesus. He sat him down. He said, Paul, tell me about this man you call Jesus Christ. He wanted to know what kind of faith it was that Paul had that would cause him to be willing to go to prison for his faith.

I mean, he was interested in the things of the Lord. He even heard the gospel, sir. Paul told him how to be saved. Paul told him, listen, hey Felix, you're a sinner. You're a rebel. You've broken God's law.

You've broken God's heart. And the Bible says the penalty for sin is death and hell, but Jesus has come out of heaven. He's paid your sin debt. He's died so that you could live. He was buried, raised from the dead.

Felix, he had an interest in things of the Lord. He was convicted. He, he heard the gospel and he almost got saved. Now, friend, I will tell you, we have a lot of you that are interested in things of the Lord that you're not saved.

Our churches on Sunday morning are filled up with people who have an interest in things of the Lord, but they're not born again by the Spirit of God. I am convinced that on Sunday morning that the vast majority of people who sit in our church on Sunday morning in all denominations are lost just like Felix.

They will go straight to hell when they die. Friend, just because you come to church, just because you carry a Bible, just because you teach a Sunday school class, just because you're a deacon, just because you've walked an aisle and prayed a prayer, just because you have an interest in things of God does not mean you're born again.

It does not mean you're going through the gates of glory. Friend, I will tell you, I see it all the time. I see revival after revival. I see folks come to church. They sit there and they hear the message and they'll nod with you.

Yeah, I agree with you, preacher. That's right. They know you're telling the truth. They know in their heart they've not been born again. They know they ought to make it right with God. They know they ought to get serious about God.

But when you give that invitation, they grab hold of that pew and they will not give up. They will not surrender their will. They will not come down and humble themselves before God. They will not get saved.

They will not go to heaven. They refuse, even though they have an interest in things of the Lord. I'm telling you what, friends, it's amazing how many folks out there are studying their Bible and these Bible fellowships and, and Bible study groups.

I want to tell you, I've got, I know folks that know the Bible better than I know the Bible that are lost on their way to hell. I want to tell you, you can memorize this Bible from cover to cover and go straight to hell.

Don't you understand, sir, that the Pharisees were the most religious men of their day? To be a Pharisee, you had to memorize the Bible. The first five books of the Bible, you had to memorize word for word.

These men, they loved the Bible. They loved church. They loved the ceremony. They loved all the things that went around the church house. They had an interest in things of God. Hey, but buddy, when Jesus came, they didn't even recognize God.

Just because you have an interest in things of the Lord, hey, it'll almost get you to heaven, but instead it'll take you straight to hell. Old Felix was good to less fortunate people. He had an interest in things of the Lord, but it was not enough to save him.

You know, attending church is better than not attending church. Reading your Bible is better than not reading your Bible. Being good to your parents is better than being mean to them. Being nice to little children is better than kicking them around, but none of that stuff will get you to heaven.

Hey, Zacchaeus was a man who had an interest in things of the Lord. Hey, remember Zacchaeus? He heard Jesus was coming to town, so old Zacchaeus, he climbed up in a sycamore tree, and Jesus Christ came by, and old Zacchaeus said, hey, Jesus, Jesus, hey, I'll sell everything I own and give my money to the poor.

That's pretty good. He said, Lord, if I've done anybody wrong, I'll return four times the amount I've wronged them. That was pretty good too, but it was not enough to get Zacchaeus into heaven. You know why?

Because Jesus Christ had made it very clear in Luke 19 verse 10. He said, the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. You know what Jesus was saying? He was saying, Zacchaeus, hey, you sell everything and give your money to the poor.

Hey, you return four times the amount of how you've wronged people. Hey, Zacchaeus, you even climb up a tree if that's what you want to do. But when it's all said and done, you are either saved or you're lost, and I have come to save you.

Friend, it is the same way today. I care not how good you are, or how moral you are, or how religious you are, what you've done, what you've given. If you want to go to heaven, you must be born again.

There must be a day in your life when you do what the Bible says to do, and that is to repent of your sin, surrender your will to the will of God, and are changed by the Holy Spirit. Because being good to less fortunate people, it's good.

I mean, having an interest in things of the Lord, that's good. They'll almost get you to heaven, but they won't get you through the gates of glory at all. Being convicted of his sin, that's what Felix did next that almost got him to heaven.

Conviction Is Not Conversion

I find this very amazing. In the 25th verse it says, and as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled. Now, think about that, fellas. Felix heard the Word of God. He heard how he was a sinner against the most high God.

He heard how he was doomed and damned to hell. He heard how Jesus was the only way to be saved. And you know what happened, young friend? The Bible says he trembled. He trembled. He was under conviction.

He knew he was lost. He knew he wasn't saved. He knew he wasn't right with God. But what did he do? He put it off to a more convenient time. I see it all the time. I see men come down there. They'll sit back there and tears will be in their eyes.

They'll be squeezing that pew so hard their knuckles turn white. People will be praying for them, begging them to come down. They're under conviction. They know they ought to get saved, but they say, no, God, no, God, no, God, no, God, no, God.

And I want to tell you, sir, one time you're going to say no to God one time too many, and he's going to leave you. You're never going to be saved. You see, you can have conviction. You can come here and if you're under conviction for your sin, that's a good sign because you cannot get saved until first you are convicted of your sin.

Now you know what conviction is? Conviction is when the Holy Spirit shows you you're a sinner. The Holy Spirit shows you you're lost. The Holy Spirit points you to Jesus. You must be convicted of your sin before you can get saved, but conviction is not salvation.

You can be convicted of your sin and still die and go to hell. You can come to church and hear the message. The Holy Spirit can speak to your heart. You can know that you're a sinner. You can know you're lost.

You can know that Jesus is the only way to be saved. Your heart can be beaten fast. The palms of your hands can be sweated. You can know that you need to give your heart to Christ, but if you don't do the right thing, it means absolutely nothing to you.

You see, conviction is not salvation. Conviction is God trying to save you, but you must be willing to do the right thing. You must be willing to come to Christ and be born again by the Spirit of God.

Excuses and Procrastination Reject Christ

And the final thing Felix did was this. Number one, he had an entry. He helped folks who were less fortunate to him. Number two, he had an interest in things of the Lord. Number three, he was convicted of his sin.

But number four, he made an excuse to say no to Jesus Christ. I tell you what, I wish I could take you with me sometime and hear the excuses that men make not to be saved. I know all the excuses. You know why, men?

Because I made every one of them. I didn't get saved till I was 36 years old. Oh, I walked an aisle when I was 12, got baptized, joined the church, but I wasn't saved. You know how I could tell I wasn't saved?

I didn't have the righteousness of Christ. I didn't have a hunger for God. I didn't have a passion for the things of God. I walked that aisle, joined that church, got wed, but I was not born again by the Spirit of the living God.

But I'm here to tell you, friends, that they used to send people over to visit me, and I'd hide, and I'd run, and I'd talk about the hypocrites, and I'd talk about the phoniness. I made all kind of excuses, but there came a day when God, He took away the excuses.

He said, I was lost, and doomed, and damned. And I will tell you, you can run from a preacher, sir, but you cannot run from God. And all the excuses in the world are not worth going to hell. You know what Felix said?

Felix said, listen, I'm interested, but I'm under conviction, but why don't you go and come back at a more convenient time? He said, let me think about it for a while. I mean, that's pretty interesting, Paul, but let me think about it.

I mean, come back later, and we'll talk about it later. And he put off the most important decision in the world. I want to tell you, friends, I've heard men make excuses like this, too many hypocrites in the church.

Well, sir, would you rather come to church and be with a few hypocrites or go to hell and be with all the hypocrites? I'm telling you that the fact that there are hypocrites in the church is not a good reason not to be saved.

You say, well, you know, when I was a little boy, my mother, she just made me go to church. And that's why I don't want to be saved. I say, fellas, hey, did mama make you take a bath when you were a little boy?

Are you still taking baths? See, it doesn't make sense to say, I don't want to be a Christian because my mama made me go to church when I was a little boy. I had an old boy who said, well, you know, I just think there's too much to give up.

That's why I don't want to be saved. And I said, buddy, that's kind of like a guy in the hospital dying of cancer. And he said, you know, I'd like to get well, but I don't really want to give this cancer up.

You see that stuff you don't want to give up, sir, that sin in your life, it's like a cancer eating you up. It's going to destroy your life, destroy your home, destroy your family, and drag your soul straight to hell.

It doesn't make sense to say, I don't want to go and live in heaven and be with God because I've got all these dirty, rotten sins that I don't want to give up. I want to tell you friends what the devil will do right now tonight.

There are many of you that need to be saved. God, you know it in your heart. You've not been born again. The Holy Spirit is going to draw you to salvation and you're going to make up some crazy excuse not to get saved.

And the devil would love to drag you into hell with some kind of silly excuse of putting off God. Do you know what the main excuse is? Procrastination. Procrastination. That's what Felix did. He procrastinated and he missed God.

And if tonight somehow we could bring old Felix back from hell, and if we could bring him to this platform tonight and let him speak to you, I promise you he would say, I wish I hadn't put it off that day.

He would have said, I wish I had done more than just be good to people. I wish I'd done more than just have an interest in things of the Lord. I wish I'd done more than just be convicted. He said, I wish I'd have come and made it real when I had the chance.

And some of you are going to procrastinate yourself right into hell. There are many of you men here tonight. You're just like I was. You walked an aisle when you were 10 or 12, but you've not been born again.

You know how you can tell men? You were never changed by the Holy Spirit. You walked an aisle, you prayed a prayer, you come to church on Sunday, but Monday through Friday you're out there living like all the other men.

That means you're lost. Teenager, you come to church on Sunday, but on Friday and Saturday night you're out there living in sin like all the other teenagers. That means you're lost. You see, my friends, the Bible teaches this.

Evidence of the New Birth

When a man is really born again, he gets the Spirit of God in his heart. It produces a change. Now, men, look at me. Are you trying to tell me that the God who created the universe can come into your life and it not change you?

Are you trying to tell me the God that just by speaking put the stars and the planets in the orbit can come into your life and it can't cause you to put that alcohol and cigarettes down? Are you trying to tell me the God that reached down and picked up a handful of dirt and breathed on it and made a man?

Are you trying to tell me the God that did that can come into your heart and it not change the way you live? On the authority of God's Word, men, if you were never changed, you were never saved. I'm telling you, when a man gets the real thing, you don't have to send a committee to find him.

When a man gets the real thing, what he has is a passion for God. If you're a preacher, he'll be beating on your door 24 hours a day wanting to talk to you about Jesus. He'll worry you to death wanting to know more about Christ.

He'll be telling his friends how to be saved. He'll be reading his Bible day and night. When a man really gets saved, it produces a hunger for the things of God. Men, do you have that hunger? Do you have a hunger for the things of God?

Do you have righteousness in your life? If I were to get your wife to stand up, could she say that you're a real born-again Christian? Would your wife stand up and tell this crowd that you have a passion for God?

I'm just saying for you, you need to check it out. Because having an interest in things of the Lord, being good to less fortunate people, even being under conviction, but if you make excuses for yourself, you'll die and go to hell.

Personal Examination and the Danger of False Assurance

My friend, I want to ask you, if you were to die tonight, what would happen to you? If on your way home tonight, you get in your automobile and suppose death gets in that automobile with you, and suppose tonight you have an automobile accident, or suppose you go home tonight and you lay down and death puts his hand on your heart and you die.

Just suppose for a moment that tonight you die. What would happen then? You say, William, I believe I'd go to heaven. Well, let me ask you, why do you believe that, sir? What makes you think you're going to heaven?

What makes you think that you're going to heaven when you die? How can you be so sure about that? You say, well, when I was 10 years old, I walked an aisle and made that profession of faith in Jesus Christ.

That's the biggest lie the devil's ever told. The Bible never says make a profession of faith. You know what Jesus said about a profession of faith, men? Jesus said there are many men in Mississippi who've made a profession with their mouth, but with their heart and their life, they're a long way from me.

See, a profession of faith means absolutely nothing unless your heart has let go of sin and it has been converted by the Holy Spirit. You say, well, I believe in Jesus. That's another trick of the devil, men.

You can believe in Jesus and go straight to hell. Don't you understand the devil believes in Jesus while the devil has talked to Jesus? The Bible says repent and be converted by the Holy Spirit. To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ does not mean to have a head knowledge.

It means to commit your heart and your life to the Lord Jesus. Men, it means to turn from sin. Repent. If you have not turned from sin, you have not been saved. If you have not repented, you have not been saved.

If you have not surrendered your life and your will to God, if you have not made Jesus the boss, the God, the owner, the Lord of your life, you are not saved and you'll almost make it to heaven one day, but you're not going to make it all the way.

Blackburn's Testimony of Conversion

When I was 36 years old, I came to a point where I was just empty on the inside and I tried it all and I'd done it all. I'd even tried to turn over a new leaf, men. Tried to reform my life. I'd gotten back in church with my wife and daughter.

I was teaching Sunday school. I was singing in the choir. Now, Brother Phelps, you'd have liked that, brother. I was singing in a choir, teaching Sunday school, teaching church training, going on visitation, tithing, had a new Bible, trying to clean up my act and live for God.

But on a Thursday night at a CWT meeting, I sat there and I was sitting there and reading that presentation and God spoke to my heart. Here's what he said. He said, William, you've received me, but I've not received you.

You've called upon my name, but I have not done my part. I've not come in and created a new heart. You see, friends, the question is not what have you done? The question is what has God done? You may have walked an aisle, prayed a prayer, been dunked in some water, but if God has not come into your heart and changed your life, you are not saved.

See, it's not what you do that saves you. It's what God does that saves you. And I got on my knees and with a broken heart, I said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I said, God, I've lived, I've lived my own life.

I've rebelled against you. I've tried to clean up, but God in my heart, I know I'm a rebel, but I believe you died for me. And I said, God, the best I know how, I turn away from sin and I surrender my life, my heart, my will, everything I have, I lay it at your feet, God.

You come in and be the boss, the master, the God of my life. What happened? I stood up after praying that little prayer, and I'm telling you something supernatural had happened to me. I got up the next morning.

I'm telling you, friends, don't tell me about being saved. I woke up that next morning and I'm telling you, I just looked out into the world and I saw things differently. I was a different man. The way I saw things, I mean, the world was different.

The sky was bluer. The grass was greener. My heart had been changed. Nobody had to tell me to stop drinking. I ran into the kitchen. I took all the beer. I poured it down the sink. Nobody preached to me about drinking.

Nobody had to preach to me about abortion. Immediately, I knew it was wrong. Nobody had to preach about homosexuality. Immediately, I knew it was wrong. Nobody had to beat me over the head and say the Bible's the word of God.

I knew immediately it was the word of God. I'm telling you, I went out, bought me a brand new Bible. Here it is, right here. I bought it. When I got saved, I wrote my name in it. The only guy I've ever had sign my Bible was J. Harold Smith.

He was the man who led, who was the pastor of my pastor who led me to the Lord. I bought me a Bible, man. I burned this thing up. I began reading it every day. I couldn't read enough of the Bible, man.

I began to memorize scripture. I just love God. And I told you several nights, I used to come in the church house during my lunch break and just sit out there in the middle and just sing by myself. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God, I'm telling you.

God became the number one thing in my life. And I began to tell folks about Christ. And I began to seek for God's will in my life. And everything in my life took a second place. My job was boring and dull from that moment on.

All I wanted to do was be around God's people and talk about Jesus. All the guys I knew in town quit talking to me. I didn't want to talk about bass fishing anymore. Didn't want to talk about deer hunting anymore.

When you talk to me, I want to talk about Jesus. That's all I want to talk about. And they didn't want to hang around me. I had an old boy in our church one time. He was one of those guys always joking and carrying on silliness.

He was supposed to be a friend of mine, but one day I just took him off to the Burger King and sat him down. I said, son, I'm a different man. I don't want that joking around me anymore. If you want to talk to me, talk to me about Jesus.

I ain't got time for jokes and play. When I come to God's house, I want to worship God. You know what happened? He didn't speak to me for about three years. I don't care. I'm telling you, man, when you get the real thing, it changes your life.

The Necessity of Being Born Again

And if your life's not been changed, you've not met Jesus. You may have walked an aisle, been dunked in some water. You may have been baptized so many times, you know every frog in the pond by all the first name basis.

But my friend, if there's not been a supernatural change in your life, if you don't hunger for God, you don't know God. And tonight you need to come and make it real before it's too late. You see, my dear friends, listen to me.

I don't care whether you're a Baptist, a Methodist, a Catholic, an Episcopalian, Church of Christ, Church of the Nazarene, charismatic, or as that little girl once told me, one of those other abominations.

It makes absolutely no difference to God. The one thing that will get you to heaven is you must be born again. And that's my question to you tonight. Have you been born again, man? Have you been born again?

I'm not asking you, have you walked an aisle, made a profession of faith? Everybody in Mississippi has done that. I'm not asking you, have you been baptized? Everybody in Mississippi has been baptized.

I'm not asking, do you believe in God? I'm not asking, are you a good person? I'm simply asking you this. Was there a day in your life when God spoke to you personally and God revealed to you for the first time that you personally were a sinner against God, that you were a rebel?

You had done absolutely nothing good your entire life. You had lived a selfish and self-centered life. You had rebelled against the Most High God and because you had sinned against God, you were condemned to hell.

There was nothing you can do to save yourself. You know why do you remember it? Because it was the most desperate moment of your life. It felt like the weight of the world was on your shoulders. Your heart began to beat fast.

The palms of your hands began to sweat. You had sinned against God. You were doomed to hell. What were you going to do? And then somebody took a Bible and told you about Jesus, how he had died on a cross to pay your sin debt, how he'd been buried in a tomb and then raised from the dead, and how if you would make a decision to turn away from your sin and to surrender your will and your life to Jesus, he'd forgive you.

He'd save you. You know what happened then? You got down on your knees and you cried like a little child. Oh God, be merciful to me a sinner. God, I admit it. I'm a sinner. I'm a rebel. I've lived my own life, done my own thing, but God, I'm sorry.

But God, I believe you love me. And I believe Jesus died for me. And the best I know how, I turn away from the world. I turn away from sin. I give my will, my life to you. I want you to be the boss, the God, the master of my life.

God, save me. And man, when you stood up, something supernatural happened to you. You were changed. Your character was changed. Your love was changed. Your vocabulary was changed. You were changed. And from that moment until tonight, you've never been the same.

Have you had such an experience? Have you been born again? Do you know for sure that if you were to die tonight, that you'd go to heaven?

You have been listening to the From the Pulpit in Classic Sermon series. This week, you heard William Blackburn with his message, How to About Get to Heaven. Tune in next week for another powerful message from God's Word on From the Pulpit and Classic Sermons.