Good morning. If you will turn
in your Bibles with me to Matthew chapter 7. Matthew chapter 7. Our text will be verse 21 through
verse 23. Here the Lord Jesus Christ is
concluding his sermon on the mount. And I say that so we will
be mindful as we read this. These are not my words. These
are God's words. And it's crucial that we hear
them. May God enable us to hear what he has to say. Matthew 7
verse 21 says, Not everyone that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will
say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in thy name? And in thy name have cast out
devils? And in thy name done many wonderful
works? And then will I profess unto
them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. I hope we can see how important
this is. I hope we can see the urgency declared right here. I've titled this message, Who
Goes to Heaven? I'm interested in this, and I
pray you are too. Who goes to heaven? And the first thing we see here
in verse 21 is not everyone. Not everyone. There is a real
place called hell where many people go. And this is a statement
that may shock somebody, but this is exactly what our Lord
here is declaring. Many professing Christians will not enter into
the kingdom of heaven." That's what he's saying here when he
says, when these men are going to come saying, Lord, Lord. To
me, that's a professing Christian, is it not? Lord, Lord. He says
that's not enough. That's not enough. It's not enough
to say, I believe in Jesus. It honestly breaks my heart when
I hear about, I'll have a young relative somewhere along the
line, someone who's young in my family, and I'll find out
that they're like eight, nine years old and they were baptized
and decided to follow Jesus, gave him his heart. That's not
enough. That's not enough. It's not enough
to read our Bible every day, though we should. It's not enough
to go to church every week, though we should if we're going to hear
the gospel. It's not enough to pray before you eat, though we
should. It's not enough to fast twice in the week and give tithes
of all that we possess. That's not enough. That's not
salvation. It's not even enough to be a
preacher. That's not a free pass to glory,
not at all. And I tremble to say this, but
there are many preachers in hell. I think that's obvious from this
text, is it not? Many. It's not enough to spend our
whole life doing what this world believes to be many wonderful
works. And I'll just point out, I hear
about, you know, other churches, they'll go on these mission trips
and they'll feed the poor and do all these admirable things
that are good things to do. But the problem is they're trusting
in those things. They think that that's God's
work. That's not God's work. That's
not God's work. We cannot trust in these things. The fact of the matter is you
and I can never do enough to atone for our sin. We've sinned
against the Holy God. And I can't atone for one sin,
let alone the infinite sins I've already committed. It's utterly
impossible. And I'll show you why. Turn to
Isaiah chapter 64. Here we see the reason why anything
we do is just not enough. please the Holy God. Isaiah 64
and look at verse 6. But we are all as an unclean
thing and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags and we all
do fade as a leaf And our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us
away. You see, our works are anything
but wonderful. Our works, our righteousness
is our best works. God says they're nothing but
filthy rags, and that's what we must see them as. Filthy rags,
garbage. Turn over to Matthew chapter
5. Matthew 5 verse 20. This was towards the beginning
of our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. Look what he says here in Matthew
5 verse 20. For I say unto you that except
your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness. And notice
the righteousness there is in italics. It's a self-righteousness. Now the scribes and the Pharisees,
they were the religious leaders of their day. If anyone was saved,
as far as men were concerned, it was them, all right? Well,
our Lord said that This is the exact people he was
talking about in Matthew 7 when he said, here they are pleading
our wonderful works. I never knew you. That's who
he's talking about here. And here he tells us, you have to
have a righteousness greater than that. What's he saying? You must be perfect. Be ye therefore
perfect. How good do we have to be to
go to heaven? Perfect. And we've not achieved that,
and we never can. We can't. We can't. We must be
perfect. We cannot work our way to heaven.
It's sad that that's even a phrase, isn't it? Working to get to heaven.
Working hard to get to heaven. That's in a song. We can't. We can't. The wages of sin is
death. And that's all we've earned.
That's all we can ever earn. Death. Well, who then goes to
heaven? Somebody goes to heaven, and
therein I rejoice. Well, who is it? Look back at
Matthew 7. Again, verse 21. Not everyone
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father, which
is in heaven. Well, who's done that? Let's
be honest for a moment. Who here can honestly say, I've
done the will of God the Father? Can we dare? Oh no. We don't have the ability. We
don't have the will. God is holy. We are sinful. You
and I cannot do that which is holy, the holy will of God. We
can't. We can't do it. But here's the good news of the
gospel. There's one who has already done it. Turn to Hebrews chapter
10. Hebrews 10 verse 7. Again, this is speaking of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 10 verse 7, Then said
I, Lo, I come. In the volume of the book it
is written of me to do thy will, O God. Who has done the will of God?
Jesus Christ and Him alone. Who will enter into heaven? Jesus
Christ. Heaven is His. Heaven is His
throne, the earth is His footstool. Heaven is His. He came into this
world for one reason, to do the will of God the Father. Well,
what is the Father's will? I pray that you can rejoice in
this. Turn to John chapter six. May God enable us to hear John
chapter six. Go ahead and keep a bookmark
here in John 6. What is the Father's will? This
is gonna show us who will go to heaven, okay? The Father's
will. John 6, verse 38. Again, this is Christ speaking.
He said, for I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will,
but the will of Him that sent me. And this is the Father's
will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me,
I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last
day. What was the Father's will? He
chose a people for his son. He chose a bride for his son.
That's the Father's will. Before the foundation of the
world, God the Father chose a people to give. to his son. Read about it in Ephesians chapter
1. Chosen in Christ. Now turn over with me to John
chapter 17. John 17 verse 1. These words spake Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son that thy son
also may glorify thee. As thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. Verse six, I have manifested
thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were, and thou gavest
them me. And they have kept thy word.
Verse nine, I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine, and all
mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them. Verse 11. And now I am no more
in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee.
Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast
given me, that they may be one as we are one. Verse 24. Father,
I will, that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me
where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given
me, for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world.
O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee, but I have
known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me, and I
have declared unto them thy name and will declare, that the love
wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I am in them. The people that God the Father
chose to give to his son, God's loved them from eternity. He's
loved us with the same love wherewith he loved his only begotten son.
He gave his son a people, all right? Well, who are these people? I gotta show you this. Turn to
1 Peter chapter two. God sent His Son, He gave His
Son. He did not send Him, He did not
give Him for everybody. Christ did not come here for
everybody. He came for His particular people. He came for His bride.
Look here in 1 Peter 2, verse 7. Unto you therefore which believe,
He is precious. But unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made
the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense,
even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient,
whereunto also they were appointed. Verse nine. But ye are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar people,
that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called
you out of darkness into his marvelous light, which in time
past were not a people, but are now the people of God, which
had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Is that not amazing to you? Oh,
what God has been pleased to do. God's will was to give his
son a people and God's will was to do exactly what we just read.
To make us a holy nation. Holy unto God. Perfect before
him. God's will was to send his son
to redeem his people from their sins. Turn back to John 6. Christ came here on purpose.
He came here to actually save. Isn't that what it says? Call
his name Jesus, for he shall save. Not try to save, maybe
save. Save who? Who will let him save? No. Call his name Jesus, for
he shall save his people, a particular people, from their sin. That's
why he came. That's why he came. I shouldn't
have had you turn. Turn back to 1 Peter. First Peter chapter one. First Peter 1.18. For as much as ye know that ye
were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last
times for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him
up from the dead and gave him glory, that your faith and hope
might be in God. Brethren, we've been redeemed. We have been redeemed. It is finished. Christ finished
the work the Father gave Him to do. And we read it in John
6. You can turn back there now,
John chapter 6. Look at verse 39 again. Said, this is the Father's will
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
We've been redeemed. He has saved us. And he's not
going to lose a single one of his people. Not a single one.
Not a single one can be lost. This is the Father's will which
hath sent him. Look at verse 40. And this is
the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the
Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life, and I
will raise him up. At the last day, the Father's
will was to send His Son to save His people from their sins, and
the Father's will is that all whom Christ came to save will
believe on Him whom God hath sent. That's the Father's will,
too. Must we believe on Him to be saved? According to the Scriptures,
yes, we must. Absolutely, we must. We must
see the Son of Man lifted up. We must look unto Him and live. Look unto Me and be ye saved.
But praise God, our faith is the gift of God. 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. Even
our faith, especially our faith, is God's work, God's free gift
to all his people. In Hebrews 12, verse two tells
us that the Lord Jesus Christ is the author and the finisher
of our faith. He started it and he finished
it. He did it all. He did it all. Salvation's work is His from
first to last. Look at verse 37 here in John
6. It says, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. The
Father's will is that all His people, they're going to come.
We must come to Christ. God's people will. All whom the
Father gave Him, they shall come to Him. You know why? He makes
Himself irresistible to us. He reveals Himself to us, and
He draws us with His everlasting course of love. And we're gonna
come. Oh, if He ever does that for
us, we will come to Him. I will be their God, they shall
be my people. Is God gonna have His people? If God wants to have
a people, is He gonna have them? Does God have His way or not?
Praise God, he will have his people. Now this, what we're
looking at, this declares the doctrine of election, which is,
depending on who you're talking to, it may not be a very popular
term. However, I want us to look at
verse 37 as a whole, and I pray God will cause us to see the
beauty and the glory of his electing grace. John 6, 37, all that the
Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out. Whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely. Whosoever will. Whosoever finds
a need in their heart, a need in their soul to come to the
Lord Jesus Christ, God, God the Father's will is that He will
in no wise cast you out. That's His will. Look at verse
35. And Jesus said unto them, I am
the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and
he that believeth on me shall never thirst." What a promise. What a promise. Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? Oh, everyone
that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. Blessed are all they that do
hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. The
fact of the matter is, if we're hungry and thirsting after righteousness,
we've already been filled, because God put that hunger and thirst
in us. Oh, if we find ourselves in need of Christ to save us,
we're blessed of God. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Now, I asked earlier, who here
has done the will of God the Father? None of us. But as a result of the grace
of God working in us, some of us have done the will of God. Some of us sit or stand here
today believing on him whom God has sent, the will of God. But
we know and we confess that it is God which worketh in us, God
works this in us, both to will and due of his good pleasure.
So in conclusion, for our last point, I ask, what is your hope? What is your hope of entering
heaven in that day, in that great day of God's judgment? What will
be your plea? What are you going to have to
say? Turn back to Matthew 7. I pray that this will not be
our plea. Verse 22, Matthew 7, 22. Many
will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in thy name? And in thy name have cast out
devils. And in thy name done many wonderful works. If this is your hope, you have
a false hope. If this is your way of salvation,
you're going the wrong way. Look at verse 13. This is the only way we're going
to enter into the kingdom of heaven. The way of this world,
it's not the right way. This world isn't going to save
us. It's not going to bring us to God. The world knew Him not. The world
received Him not. The world believes Him not. The
broad way which leads to destruction is the way of man. Every way
of man which is right in our own eyes. In Isaiah 55, we're
told that God's ways are not our ways. We need to know His
way. We must enter in His way. Look
at it again. Enter ye in at the straight gate.
the straight gate. For wide is the gate, and broad
is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in
thereat. Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way
which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." How
did they find it? By the sovereign, irresistible
grace of God. That's how Noah found grace,
and that's the only way any of us are going to find God's grace,
and that's the only way we're going to be saved. That's why we must not come to
God in the judgment pleading our works. Lord, look at what
I've done. God forbid we stand in the judgment
pleading our works, pleading anything we've done. God forbid we stand in the judgment
boasting of self-righteousness. That's what we're reading about.
Going about to establish their own righteousness, not submitting
to the righteousness of God, which is Christ. God forbid we
plead any righteousness, any sin covering other than Christ. God forbid we die trusting in
ourselves and not in Christ alone. The Pharisee in Luke 18, he went
home not justified because he went home trusting in himself.
We must not stand before God in that day trusting in me. Why is this so important? Why am I bothering taking 30
minutes to tell you about this? Why is this crucial? Look at
verse 23. Again, this is Christ God Almighty
speaking. He said in verse 23, and then
will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye
that work iniquity. I don't know how to say this
like it needs to be said. I just pray God will cause us to see
these words, hear these words, and believe them, and tremble
at them. Again, if we die with hoping
in ourselves and not in Christ, we will spend eternity separated
from God. That's what hell is, separated
from God. If we die trusting in ourselves,
We'll be forever cast out into everlasting darkness. We'll be
forever separated from the presence of God, the love of God, and
God's heaven. We will not enter into his heaven. Notice these people who come
to God with that plea. Look at my works. They thought
their works were wonderful. What did God say about them?
Well, here in verse 23, he said, depart from me ye that work iniquity.
They said are wonderful works. God said they're works of iniquity.
And thou hatest all workers of iniquity. These religious men
claimed to know God, but God denied them. God wasn't impressed with them. God's not impressed with us.
He's certainly not impressed with me. And so it will be in
that day. God's well pleased with his son.
When the father spoke from heaven, you remember what he said? This
is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him. We must hear him. We must hear
the voice of the son of God and live here and your soul shall
live. What will be your plea in that
day? This will be my plea. Father, behold thy son. Behold thy son. Behold the nail prints in his
hands. Behold his pierced side. Like Thomas said, behold my Lord
and my God. That's a sure hope. That's a
sure hope. That's my hope, is it yours?
I wanna show you one more thing here. Turn to Psalm 40. Psalm
40, verse five. Many, O Lord my God, are thy
wonderful works. Many, O Lord my God, are thy
wonderful works, which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which
are to usward. They cannot be reckoned up in
order unto thee. If I would declare and speak
of them, they are more than can be numbered. Now there's some
wonderful works. What Christ hath already done. I'm gonna plead wonderful works
when I stand before God in the judgment, but not my own. I have
none. I'm gonna plead his works. Truly
they are wonderful and they can't be numbered. They can't be numbered. If this is your hope of heaven,
you won't hear God say to you, depart from me, I never knew
you, no. This is what you'll hear. Matthew 25 verse 34 says,
This is what he's gonna say. Come ye blessed of my father. Inherit
the kingdom prepared for you. from the foundation of the world. That's what I want to hear him
say to me. I can't imagine having to stand
before a holy God and hear him say, depart from me. I never
knew. I never knew. The Lord told his disciples,
I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that
where I am, there ye may be also. And what I want us to understand
with that is heaven is not just a place. What I just read to
us, that's heaven. That where Christ is, that's
heaven. And he said, that's where you're
gonna be also. Brethren, if we have Christ, we have heaven because
he is heaven. He's heaven to me. He's heaven
to all his people. I long to behold his face in
righteousness, to see him as he is, to awake with his likeness.
My greatest desire is to sit at his feet, hear his word, and
sing praise unto his holy name forever and ever. I pray that's
your desire too. I pray God has caused us all
to rest in, trust in, hope in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for
salvation. I want to close reading you the words of a hymn. This
is one of my favorite songs. This is my song. This is my song. Be thou my vision. O Lord of
my heart, not be all else to me, save that Thou art. Thou
my best thought by day or by night, waking or sleeping, Thy
presence my light. Be Thou my wisdom and Thou my
true word, I ever with Thee, and Thou with me, Lord. Thou
my great Father, I Thy true Son, Thou in me dwelling, and I with
thee one. Riches I heed not, nor man's
empty praise, thou mine inheritance, now and always. Thou and thou
only, first in my heart, high king of heaven, my treasure thou
art. High King of heaven, my victory
won. May I reach heaven's joys, O
bright heaven's sun. Heart of my own heart, whatever
befall, still be my vision, O ruler of all. May God make it so. Amen.