I'M Not Bad Enough for Hell — E.A. Johnston

Human Goodness Cannot Earn Heaven

When you go out and witness the folks and talk to them about death, eternity, heaven and hell, you'll soon learn that the majority of the people out there maintain a hope of heaven because they do not believe they are bad enough for hell and they don't believe God would send them to hell.

Hell in their mind is for the really bad people like serial killers and mass murderers, rapists and sociopaths, that hell is full of the refuse of society and good, honest, hardworking people don't go to hell.

When you talk to folks about their soul, they will soon tell you, I'm not bad enough for hell. They'll say, God wouldn't send someone to me like hell. Hell is for Hitler and really evil people. Then when you ask them if they think they will make it to heaven, nine out of ten people will say, sure, I'm a good person.

I believe God would let me into heaven. I've done good in my life. And the majority of the people out there believe that God has a heavenly scale and he will weigh their bad deeds against their good deeds.

And if the good outweighs the bad, then he will let them into heaven. And most folks believe they are not as bad as they could be and that they've done more good than bad in their life. Most folks maintain a pretty good opinion of themselves and really believe that if they died, God would throw open the gates of heaven and let them waltz in because they've done some good things in life because they're not bad enough for hell.

Just go out and talk to folks and see for yourself. Most people don't believe they're bad enough for hell, but the trouble is they are not good enough for heaven either. About 15 years ago, I was watching Larry King on television interview Billy Graham.

And Larry King asked Billy Graham if good people went to heaven. And Billy Graham said, yes, I believe good people go to heaven. That's what the man said. And when he said that, I cringed in my chair.

Listen, friends, I have a shocker for you. Good people don't go to heaven. Only forgiving people get to go there. The title of my message this evening is I'm not bad enough for hell. And my text can be found in the Gospel of Matthew in chapter 19.

The Rich Young Ruler and the Need for Eternal Life

You can turn in your Bibles there now, friends. It's a familiar story about the rich young ruler who comes to Jesus and inquires about eternal life. In this passage, Jesus gives us some good examples of how to witness to folks.

Jesus dealt with sinners in a way that exposed the sin in their lives that they were covering up. We can learn much on how to witness to the loss by studying how our master dealt with sinners. I want to first read us this familiar passage of scripture and then elaborate on some aspects of how we should witness to folks.

Let me read us our passage from the word of God. And behold, one came and said unto him, good master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? Let me pause there, friends. Notice this young man is looking for a way into heaven through good works.

A lot of folks today are trying to gain heaven the same way, through good works. That's why many churches in certain denominations in your town will do good things for their community. They'll feed the poor, help the homeless, and volunteer to clean up a run-down section of the city through good works.

This young man calls Jesus good master and asks, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? Well, let me continue with our passage. And he said unto him, why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God.

But if thou will enter into life, keep the commandments, he saith unto him, which Jesus said, thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, honor thy father and thy mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

Let me pause there, friends. Here is a missing ingredient in our modern evangelism of our day. We just invite folks to accept Jesus without first showing them the reason why they need him in the first place.

How can you see your need of a remedy if you're not aware of the malady? People need to be shown the badness of their heart. Most folks have a pretty good opinion of themselves, as we see from our next verse in our passage.

The young man saith unto him, all these things have I kept up from my youth up, what lack I yet? Let me pause there again, friends, and bring to our attention that this young man has a pretty good opinion of himself.

In his mind, he's never once broken the strict law of God. He's led a perfect life from his youth up. And do you know what, friends? There are a good many in our churches today who feel the same way about themselves.

They view themselves as good people who deserve heaven because of their goodness. There are many church members today who are like the rich young ruler because they maintain a good opinion of themselves for the hope of heaven.

Yet Jesus said, they that behold need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice, for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Listen, friend, your good opinion of yourself won't make a hill of beans when you stand before the judge of all the earth, and he holds you up to the utter strictness and severity of his holy law. If you stand there in your own merits, you will fail that test.

I know I am a sinner, and I need a sin substitute in the person of Jesus Christ. And so do you, friend. So do you. The rich young ruler thought too much of himself to be saved. He didn't have a need. He was self-sufficient.

He ended up walking away from Christ because he did not want to count the cost and forsake all and take up his cross and follow the Lord Jesus. But notice, friends, how Jesus deals with sinners. He let the young man talk.

Using the Law to Expose Sin

He discovered how the young man viewed himself, that he had a pretty good opinion of himself and a good hope of heaven through good works. But Jesus uncovers the sin in his life. He roots it out, the sin of covetousness that the young man refused to let go and part with to follow Christ.

See how Jesus uses the law as a schoolmaster to bring someone to him. Jesus lets the young man boast of his goodness and then confronts him with the utter severity and strictness of God's holy law, which every mother's son has broken through sin.

Jesus confronts him with the law, the Ten Commandments, the strict and severe law of God. Only perfection will get one into heaven. God requires perfection to get into his holy heaven. But no one's perfect save Jesus Christ.

All are guilty rebels who have broken the strict law of God. A man must be shown the badness of his heart by being held up against the strict and severe law of God. And when man is held up against that strict law, friend, he will fail that test because a man is a sinner who's broken the law of God time and time again.

So many times it cannot be humanly counted for. For all man's sins, a commission and sins of omission stack up high against him, indicting him and declaring that man is a sinner who cannot save himself.

So the young man tells Jesus how perfect he is and how deserving he is to go to heaven. I like what Vance Havner had to say about this passage. He said the rich young ruler was a good boy, but he wasn't God's boy.

And that sums it up in a nutshell, friends. How about you? Are you God's boy? Are you God's girl? Or are you trying to get to heaven some other way? Notice how Jesus dealt with sinners. He did not try to hard sell them.

He did not offer himself to someone like a free stick of chewing gum like we do today when we witness to folks. Rather, Jesus brought the young man to see his need, to see what was standing between him and God, but see how Jesus deals with him.

And we should do the same with those whom God puts in our path throughout the week. Listen, dear fellow Christian worker, the gospel is not a pat formula. That's a pat presentation for all people. You don't run through a few scriptures and try to prove to folks that because Jesus died on Calvary, he opened the way to heaven and all you have to do is to accept him.

Take my Jesus. That's not how Jesus dealt with sinners. If Jesus used our modern day evangelistic techniques, he would have patted the young rich young ruler on the back and said, welcome friend into God's kingdom.

And then he would have gone and made him chairman of the deacons. No friends. Jesus didn't deal with folks like we do today, but we can learn from him. Notice that Jesus is kind toward him, straightforward with him.

Patience and Kindness in Personal Evangelism

He lets the young man talk a while to see how he views himself. We see that the rich young ruler had a pretty good opinion of himself. He's not as bad as he could be. He's led a pretty good life. He feels eternal life should be his for the taken.

He's earned the right by his good behavior, but his good opinion did not win him a hope of heaven. But Jesus was patient with the young man. He let him talk and Jesus demonstrates how we should witness to folks.

We should be kind, be patient. Let them talk. Let them tell about how they view themselves, how they view God in eternity. Don't ever make a mistake friend. And witnessing where you do all the talking like a insurance salesman who's trying to hard sell his customer, the gospel with one argument over another.

No, look at how Jesus dealt with centers and then model what he did. Jesus let the young man talk. And then Jesus uncovered the one thing, keeping the young man from coming to Christ and taking up his cross and following him.

Jesus uncovered the fact that the young man had put a stake in the ground with a keep off the grass sign, so to speak. And this one thing that the young man would not part with was the security of his wealth.

He wanted heaven, but he wanted it on his terms. Like most folks today, they want heaven, but they want it on their terms, even if they have a stake in the ground with a keep off the grass sign, telling God to keep his hands off this particular area in their life.

And this one thing which was keeping the young man from coming to Christ was the one thing he was most unwilling to part with. Look at the next verse. Jesus said unto him, if thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shall have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me.

But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. In other words, although this young man had a pretty good opinion of himself, it proved he was a self-righteous individual.

He was looking for just another good work to do to gain heaven. The rich young ruler did not know the badness of his heart. Jesus had to confront him with it. It had to be revealed to him, but the young man was unwilling to part with his covetousness.

He had broken the law of God through this sin and was completely ignorant of it. Jesus had to show it to him. He did it by confronting this young man with the law, but the young man had a stake in the ground, with a keep off the grass sign, so to speak.

He was saying, God, you can have every area of my life except this one. I'm going to hold on to this one. I'm putting a stake in the ground, and I'm putting a sign that says, God, keep your hands off this area in my life.

And that's what many do today, and they never come to Christ savingly because they put a stake in the ground. That's their point of rebellion. They won't give it to God. How about you, friend? Do you have an area in your own life that you've told God to keep his hands off?

Is there a point of rebellion in your own life that's keeping you from an utter and complete surrender to the king of kings? Jesus must be a complete master, friend. He will not accept a partial surrender.

Complete Surrender to Christ

I know a teenage girl who was going through counseling with a so-called Christian counselor, and the lady counselor told this teenager that they had a young man in her church who was a drug dealer, and he was caught in the church restroom having sex with his girlfriend.

But everyone in church was glad he came back to church next Sunday because Jesus only wants part of us. And as long as that young man was willing to come to church and be there and want to Jesus, then that's all that Jesus wanted from him because Jesus only needs a part of us to save us.

That's what this so-called Christian counselor told this teenage girl who related the story to me. But that counselor should not be a counselor for she's dead wrong and given false advice. Jesus won't accept the partial surrender, friend.

If he did, he would have accepted the rich young ruler. Listen, friend, it is not your acceptance of Jesus that gets you into heaven. It is his acceptance of you. And he will not accept a partial surrender from you.

He wants all of you, or he will leave you alone like he did to that rich young ruler. Jesus did not run after him and beg him to come to church next Sunday. He let him go on in his sins and go on to hell.

And he will do that with you as well, friend. If you put a stake in the ground with a keep your hands off sign on it. And if you are unwilling to part with that one thing, which is keeping you from Christ because you think you're not bad enough to go to hell.

Guess what, friend? You're not good enough for heaven either. You must have your sins washed in the blood. You must be born from above. God will have no rebels in his heaven, but there are plenty of rebels in a devil's hell.

If you want Christ, friend, then you must throw down your shotgun of rebellion and come to him and utter surrender. Now you won't hear that from many pastors today because many have brought in the way to heaven and your day and mine through a diluted gospel and an easy-to-believe methodology.

But that will only send you to hell. You must possess Christ to have your sins pardoned. You must be savingly united to a living Lord through faith. He is Lord. And if you want him, you better be willing to uproot that stake in the ground and give your place rebellion to him in utter and complete surrender.

It's a forsaken of all to come to Christ. Well, I hope we learned a little bit about sharing the gospel this evening. Hopefully, we won't be in such a mad rush to get somebody to take our little Jesus before we get them to see their great need of him by seeing the badness of their heart as they're held up against God's strict law.

Presenting the Gospel in Its Proper Order

Listen, friend, only the Holy Spirit can convict a sin. But if we are not presenting the gospel in its purity and proper order as laid out in our Bibles, then we are merely hindering the Holy Spirit's activity when we do witness and try and share our faith.

Do you see the danger here, friends? I hope this little study tonight has helped us better understand how to witness to folks and to be more like Jesus as we share with the lost about the one who came down here so we can go up there.

The rich young ruler wasn't bad enough for hell in his mind. But from God's perspective, he wasn't good enough for heaven either. He couldn't see himself as God saw him. He had to be confronted with the badness of his heart.

And so do you, friend. You have to see your malady before you see your need of the remedy for sin in the person of Jesus Christ. Let us go to the Lord in prayer.