Posted on 12/15/2020 5:43:41 AM PST by Pilgrim's Progress
“The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath” (Proverbs 15:24).
This is another good verse for a Christian to memorize. A man is never going to escape hell until he looks for something that is above this earth. The way of life is above. Paul wrote, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2). He also wrote: “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself” (Philippians 3:20-21).
The way of true life is above. What you are looking for, and longing for, is not of this earth. We realize that everything down here is temporary and it is going to be over with some day, and where you are going to spend eternity is something we settle here, so we are planning and preparing for eternity. Some people will reap joy everlasting, others will reap an eternity without God, without hope, and without peace. “The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.”
There are all kinds of things that a person needs from above.
- He needs a birth from above. The new birth is a heavenly birth, John chapter 3. - Jesus is above. Hebrews 8 tells us that He is seated on the right hand of God. - The Bible is from above. - Wisdom comes from above. James 3:17
So, the way of life is from above. The things that I need are really all up there. Anything that we have down here that is of any real worth came from up there. My Bible, my church, my family are all the institutions of God. That is why every Christian home ought to be a little bit of heaven, that is as close as you are going to get to it on this earth. Outside of the local church your family is the closest that you will ever get to heaven this side of glory.
When a man is concentrating on things down here, he is earthly and that is earthly wisdom. A Christian is not to love the world, nor the things of the world. Lot loved the world, and it vexed his righteous soul. The only way a Christian will be truly happy is when he puts his heart and desires on things above. Then he is walking in the Spirit, and a Christian can not walk in the flesh and the things of this world and be happy. You can’t walk against the Holy Spirit and grieve the Holy Spirit without being miserable as a Christian. If only believers would grasp this truth. We have been crucified to the world, and the world is crucified unto us, so we might as well get in step. “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Galatians 6:14).
Hell is beneath: Deuteronomy 32:22; Psalm 55:15; Isaiah 14:15; Ezekiel 31:16; Amos 9:2; Matthew 11:23, 12:40; Acts 2:27
You ask the average American where hell is and they will say it is this life, they are suffering their hell right here on earth. They are crazy, hell is beneath. The Bible tells you plainly where hell is, it is under your feet.
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