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When Beverly and I were in Daytona
recently, we were checking out hotels by asking the front desk if we could see
their ocean front rooms and the general layout of the hotel. We were the only
two on the elevator as we were heading to the top floor, and the elevator
stopped on the 7th. When the doors opened wide, a lady asked, “Going down?" I quickly responded, “Going up!” She decided to wait for
the next elevator.
As we continued going up, I told
Beverly that I couldn’t help but think of the realities of heaven and hell when
she asked if we were going down which is why I answered her with such
enthusiasm about going up. Now wouldn’t
that be a great intro for witnessing whenever we are on an elevator and someone
should ask us if we are “going down” or “going up!”
According to the Scripture when our
life is over, barring the rapture, there isn’t any nothingness to nothing into
for those who embrace sinning. There is no temporary place of second chance to
expiate or amend for our sins before gaining entrance into heaven. There are those
who wish they could be free of sin and free of God, living in a world for today
where there weren’t any choices of destiny to make, so they attempt to
virtually “whitewash” both concepts from the walls of their thinking by keeping
distracted by one thing or another or self-deceiving themselves with a contrary
philosophy like John Lennon’s song “Imagine” –
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today
Biblical truth would argue to the contrary
that there are only two possible final destinations in eternity: the lake of
fire (cf. Rev 20:14-15) and heaven (Php 3:20-21; Jn 14:2-3; 2 Cor 5:8) both are
very real and a literal place. Imagine that!
Hell is the sum of all nightmares and
then some for God is absent there, and heaven is unimaginable bliss for this is
God’s abode. Every time we look upon or interact with another person, he or she
is in a state of “going up” or “going down.” That sounds like a doodah
statement, but for most of us we don’t actively look at people in that way, but
God does, and so should we. Isn’t this judging people? Yes. It could be countered with a question; isn't witnessing, which we are commanded to do, judging others? Again, the answer is yes. But if we believe that John 14:6 is
the absolute truth, then we will be accused of being arrogant, judgmental, and
other pleasantries from those who do not believe in the way we do that Jesus is the only way to the Father….
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every person
we came into contact was going to heaven, but the terrible reality is the vast
majority of humanity (Mt 7:13) will be eternally separated from God in the lake
of fire for failure to be rescued from the penalty of sin (eternity in the lake
of fire, Rev 20:15) because they never trusted in God’s only provision for sin
(Jn 3:16; 3:36; 1 Jn 4:10). Jesus Christ paid the penalty of sin for all
mankind (1 Jn 2:2). God desires that all would be saved and to come to the
knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:4), but He also knows that many will reject
Him. God is judged and cursed by the lost; we as born again believers can
expect no less.
This is real folks, as real as it ever
gets, not something imaginary but something based on a far greater authority
than some pagan philosophy. Jesus didn’t offer up Himself to suffer a gruesome
and horrific death on a cruel Roman cross because it was unnecessary to do so.
The only option before Him was that He could have skipped the cross but that
would mean the end of the human race. The evidences of His love, grace, and
mercy were indicative that it was the only way to redeem us from the curse of
sin. Jesus drank willingly from the cup of bitterness of becoming sin for us who knew no
sin and being alienated from the Father’s love (Psa 22:1; Mt 27:46; Mk 15:34) to give us a way of escape from
the unimaginable terror waiting in the lake of fire for those who reject His
offer of salvation.
As I have said before, there are
really only two kinds of people in the world: saved sinners and unsaved
sinners. The former is “going up” who have had the penalty for their sin (Rom
6:23a) paid by Jesus Christ through faith in His death on the cross. The latter
is “going down” who will pay the penalty of sin on their own for an eternity if they die without Christ (Jn 8:24; Rev 20:15). We should never lose sight of
this perspective in our dealings with others (Mk 6:34; cf. Jn 4:35).
Wherever we go, we see more dead men,
women, and children walking (going down) than believers (going up). The second
command of God is to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mt 22:39-40). The found
reaching out to the lost is a natural byproduct of the Great Commission (Mt
28:18-20) which is a natural byproduct of the second command which is like the
first command (Mt 22:37-38). It all leads back to our love for God (cf. Jn
14:15).
Why is it important to look at people
in this way? Because the way we look at people‘s appearance affects our judgment
of them. With unbelievers we do not want to say or do anything (contrary to
Scripture) that may assist in their decision to reject Christ. For believers we
do not want to say or do anything (contrary to Scripture) that may assist in
their decision not being Christ-like even though both groups will be
individually accountable to God for their actions.
If we are really honest with
ourselves, we would have to admit when we normally “size up” people we often go
by appearance. We take note of their cleanliness, the clothes they wear, the
automobiles they drive, the location of their home, the size of their home, the
toys they possess, the education they have, what they do for a living, titles, whether
they have it made or not, and so forth (cf. Mk 8:36; Lk 12:15). We struggle to do
the right thing, and others seem to have life on “easy street.”
However, appearances can be deceiving
as in the case of our passage of Scripture for today. Samuel was commanded by
the LORD to find a successor to King Saul. God had given the people a king of
their choice. With Saul’s rejection by God for disobeying Him, God was going to
choose a man after His own heart (1 Sam 13:14; 15:28). Samuel was directed to
go to Bethlehem to anoint a man of God’s own choosing from the sons of Jesse (1
Sam 16:1-3).
When Samuel saw the elder brother
Eliab, he was sure this was the LORD’s anointed one, but the LORD told Samuel
not to go by the appearance. Six more sons later (1 Sam 16:5-10), David was
summoned from the fields. God’s anointed was David, the youngest son, #8 (1 Sam
16:11-12), the son of Jesse who was the grandson of Ruth and Boaz (Ruth
4:18-21) in the lineage of Christ (Mt 1:1). You know the rest of the story.
The physical perspective always seems
to overrun the spiritual concerns of going up or going down? It’s so human…. Do
they know Christ or not? Are they living for the Lord or not? Jealousy and envy
always seems to wiggle its way into the assessment somehow, and now we are more
preoccupied with that than their spiritual status. And if someone fits our
“loser” profile, we scoot away from them like water on a duck’s back! Part of
Christ-likeness is going beyond the external (1 Sam 16:7; 2 Cor 10:7), not
being swayed by the outer appearance but focusing on the inward reality, not
being superficial and shallow. Humanly speaking, there are very good people we
come across in the world, but they are lost as a goose; they need Christ.
Rather than looking at all the
external trappings of one’s life, perhaps we should first look through the
filter of whether this person is “going up” or “going down” (without judging
self-righteously). We know we are to love the brethren (1 Jn 4:20-21), but
looking at a person who is “going down” should make us express the compassion of Christ as well, not
excusing their sin, but perhaps a little softer view of them despite how we may
be treated by them for they are blinded to the fact that they are really
heading toward a very bad place which will be their future one day and forever. This would be
one of those times to pull out the golden rule card to read and heed (Mt 7:12). If you were in their shoes, wouldn't you want someone "bugging" you to escape the torments of hell instead of remaining silent for fear of offending?
Whew, we all struggle with this, for
Christ-likeness requires faith and reliance upon the Holy Spirit who desires
for all to be saved, and are we not here to be ambassadors of the Kingdom of
God and glorify God in our bodies? We don’t ask help from God to love others for the simple reason that
the love of God is already shed abroad in our hearts at regeneration (Rom 5:5).
We are to be obedient and let the love of God out! And you know what, for some,
love makes all the difference in the world (Jude 1:22) but keeping in mind at
all times that sin will condemn one to a God-less hell; we need a softer look
with a standard. Looking at people as “going up” or “going down” with godly love (agape) will help us
to keep clear of self-righteous behavior with the prospect of edifying the believer and reaching the unbeliever for the glory of God.
It is true, only God can know what is truly
in a person’s heart; all we have is their outward appearance, which can be
deceiving, and their behavior to make some kind of spiritual assessment, but
Jesus did declare that by their fruits you will know them (Mt 7:20). And Jesus
did say that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Lk 6:45). But
only God knows absolutely for sure.
Well, we reached the top floor, and
the accommodations and appointments were cushy with a great view, and the price
was reasonable considering. It wasn’t drop dead luxury, but very nice. We might
just have to stay there the next time we visit Daytona Beach Shores, God
willing. I know that any elevator will forever remind me to keep my Scripture
glasses on to see the world through the eyes of God and not the eyes of the
flesh – “Going down?” or “Going up?” I need all the reminders I can get!
Need a lift to help your vision? Go take
a ride on an elevator! If you have the time, it would be worth reading Psa 73:1-28 in its entirety. You
will discover that the Psalmist struggled just like we do with looking at
people from an incorrect perspective. It’s amazing how true worship can change
your outlook on life! Aren’t you glad you’re saved; don’t you wish everyone
else would trust in Christ, even our enemies?
“Going up?” “You betcha! And let me
tell you why!” There really are only two destinies – going up or going down,
which way might you be heading? <><
