You might recall a major story in the life of Jesus and the disciples about the transfiguration. Matthew 17:1–8, Mark 9:2–8, and Luke 9:28–36 detail this moment on a mountaintop where Jesus’ glory shines before the disciples. Here’s how Matthew describes this episode:

After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

As you can probably guess, this is where the term “mountaintop experience” comes from! The disciples witnessed a grand, divine occurrence and Peter put it plainly: they want to dwell in this incredible moment for a long time.

The broader implication is that so-called mountaintop experiences don’t last forever. We must eventually “come down” from the mountain and continue our work as disciples. Jesus did this. In Matthew’s he immediately goes to heal a young boy facing demon possession. His work was not yet done. We cannot be isolated and off by ourselves, simply because God has a mission for us to do!

On Sunday when we explored Psalm 16 and John Wesley’s conversion story, it is worth noting that feeling God’s presence often does not last for extended periods of time. The church service eventually ends. The concertgoers go home after a powerful evening of worship. The insightful bible study discussion wraps up. All these possible moments remind us of the importance of continuing on as disciples of Jesus Christ, even when our profound experience of God comes to a close. What happens after our mountaintop experience?

Wesley had some insight into this matter. That evening after he felt the love of God in his heart at Aldersgate, he wrote this in his journal:

After my return home, I was much buffeted with temptations, but I cried out, and they fled away. They returned again and again. I as often lifted up my eyes, and He “sent me help from his holy place.” And herein I found the difference between this and my former state chiefly consisted. I was striving, yea, fighting with all my might under the law, as well as under grace. But then I was sometimes, if not often, conquered; now, I was always conqueror.

The following morning, Wesley also documented this thought:

The moment I awakened, “Jesus, Master,” was in my heart and in my mouth; and I found all my strength lay in keeping my eye fixed upon Him and my soul waiting on Him continually.

Here are some thoughts about how to sustain God’s presence in your life, even when you don’t feel like your heart is warmed:

1. Remind yourself that temptations will come. Wesley literally faced this predicament after feeling God’s powerful presence that evening! Calling upon God will equip you to handle doubts, worries, and fears.
2. Remember that you are a conquerer. It is so profound that Wesley came to this realization. God loved him, God died for him, and God wanted to pursue him. Too often we feel insecure about our identity, thinking we aren’t good enough or that we are doomed to failure. But we need to remember how God sees us!
3. Have a heart of prayer. Prayer is so much more than simply asking God for something or “blessing a meal.” It is how we communicate to God, and how God can speak to us. A simple prayer such as “Jesus, Master”–recognizing that Jesus is Lord and leader of your life–can orient your heart to what matters most and free you from distractions.

I personally think many Christians run the risk of talking about hell way too much as we discuss our faith. At least in my own opinion, following God and focusing on the goodness of Christ far outweighs any sort of “scare tactic” to frighten people about God’s judgment! But even if some Christian circles tend to overemphasize fear-of-hell, it is still worth exploring what life after death without Christ might look like. In many ways, thinking about this topic actually helps us gain a better understanding of God’s kingdom, divine judgment, and heaven itself.

I mentioned on Sunday that I have been greatly shaped by CS Lewis’ own theology and writing. Lewis, as you are likely aware of, wrote many books and was a Christian apologist during the 20th century.

Often Christians believe that hell is a place of eternal conscious torment (fire, scary demons, and the like) for an infinite amount of time. But I think this kind of cartoonish thinking falls short of what we can theologically surmise about hell. Hell, according to Lewis, is a place of intense isolation. As I preached yesterday, it is a place of utter separation from God. Likewise it is probably cold, dark, unloving, unforgiving, hopeless, unwelcoming, and lonely–all “opposites” of what the presence of God feels like!

In his book Pilgrim’s Progress, Lewis use the metaphor of a tenant and landlord to describe judgment after death: “The Landlord does not condemn [the people of hell] to lack of hope: they have done that to themselves.” In other words, the people who are in hell have decided for themselves that specific fate by rejecting God.

In another book, the Screwtape Letters, hell is a place where “everyone wishes everyone else’s discrediting, demotion, and ruin; everyone is an expert in the confidential report, the pretended alliance, the stab in the back.” These are very haunting words as we think about how selfishness, greed, and treachery have no place in God’s kingdom! To experience hell is to lack any sense of connection with fellow humans.

And in one of my favorite books, The Great Divorce, Lewis wrote about how he envisioned hell as a cold, gray, rainy city. Fights are common, so people move further and further apart from one another because they cannot bear to invest in relationships. One character remarks that “All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss [heaven].”

In perhaps his most famous book series, the Chronicles of Narnia, Lewis provided  picture of what he imagined the last judgment will look like. Aslan the lion, the Christ-figure of the story, gathers all the magical creatures of Narnia together to be sorted and judged. Lewis writes: “And when some [of the animals] looked [upon their king], the expression of their faces changes terribly—it was fear and hatred… And all the creatures who looked at Aslan in that way swerved to their right, his left, and disappeared into his huge black shadow, which… streamed away to the left of the doorway. The children never saw them again.” The narrator of the story concludes with this sobering statement: “I don’t know what became of them.”

I think this is an insightful picture of what happens whenever someone dies without the love of Christ living in his or her heart. That individual will look upon God, seated on the heavenly judgment throne, and become repulsed and fearful of what heaven entails. To know pure love and to see Christ face-to-face would essentially be unbearable. I truly think the idea that “the doors of hell are locked from the inside” illustrates this point well.

I once heard another similar illustration of this theological concept from an author named Rob Bell in his book Love Wins. He talked about how heaven is often described as a huge homecoming party. But suppose a white supremacist were to attend this heavenly gathering and see Revelation 7:9 come to fruition–“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” Chances are, he or she would find heaven’s diversity and the whole body of Christ absolutely unbearable!

So we do have an important choice to make right now. What we pursue and love in this life will impact the next. If we embrace the love of God and develop a heart of service towards our neighbors, then heaven will be the perfect fit for what we desire. But if we constantly reject God and those whom God loves, then we might find ourselves locking hell’s doors from the inside.

I mentioned yesterday in my sermon how we tend to struggle with limiting God’s work to our so-called “spiritual life.” It is easy to feel like a Christian while at church or reading the Bible. It can feel “normal” to be a disciple of Jesus when surrounded by fellows brothers and sisters in Christ. The question for us is whether or not we truly apply God’s teaching and develop Godly character for the remainder of the week.

The fancy philosophical word for this kind of thinking is something called dualism. I studied philosophy in college before seminary, so this is something I’m passionate about exploring. Dualism is fairly complicated sort of idea with different uses throughout human history. Throughout the ages, thinkers have argued that there are basically two aspects of our world: mind and matter. As you can guess, this is one way to describe how we interact with the world around us. We observe matter with our senses, and make sense of it all with our minds.

But regardless of how philosophers might disagree about all the complicated details, dualism has some broad characteristics. For instance, the mind is often depicted as:

• Ideal
• Rational
• Powerful
• Permanent
• Sacred

And on the other hand, the body, or matter, is often described as:

• Corrupted
• Emotional
• Weak
• Temporary
• Secular

This might sound complicated, philosophical, and abstract, but the idea really has some very practical implications. Christians often struggle with believing that the the “mind” or spiritual part of our life is the most important and that it is truly sacred. All other things in our life—the feelings we have, the bodily sensations we experience, and the states of being we go through—are “secular” and arguably less important. We then compartmentalize areas of our life into these categories.

Notice the major problem of this dualistic thinking. We put God inside of a box when we think that there are “spiritual” parts of our life. In reality, God ought to be important to every aspect of our existence. There shouldn’t be a separation between our “spiritual” and “physical” lives… everything belongs to God!

Sunday mornings shouldn’t just be your only “God time.” Hopefully we experience the power of God throughout the remainder of the week! Bible reading shouldn’t be the only way we encounter God… Hopefully we also see God in actions and encounters with other people, too! God shouldn’t just impact your “church life.” God should also impact your work, home, family, and community life, too.

Too often we think that there are only certain areas of our life that we should hand over to God. Likewise, we might prize Sundays, bible studies, and worship music more than other areas of human existence. These are obviously important things and activities for Christians to us as means to grow in our faith. But in reality, God calls us to dedicate absolutely everything to him, and that includes things like our finances, marriages, parenting, everyday thoughts, and emotions.