The staircase down to Hell is steep enough as it is, but many insist on going even faster, lunging and clattering down as rapidly as they can. They industriously work at damning themselves, and what they receive at the end of their efforts is simply and solely a wage. They arrive at their destination by works.
But we must ascend to heaven by a different means. A man cannot climb to heaven by works; he cannot clamber up a rope made of air. The only way to ascend is in the smoke of the whole burnt offering, in what is rightly called the ascension offering. We do not work at all — we are sinners.
The Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword, and it divides us up into pieces, and, having been slain, we are then arranged on the altar, and the grace of God’s fire takes us up to Him — where He gladly receives us. There is no work of our own involved at all. How could there be?
If you want to go to your final destination on your own two feet, there is only one direction to go. And if you are content to be slain in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is only one direction to go. And the manner of ascent, or descent, makes all the difference. Worship God now, as a sweet smelling savor to Him.