Eternity

Eternity!

We are too much taken up with the things of time. We think too little, too seldom - of eternity and its solemn realities. No word is more vast, no subject is more serious - than ETERNITY! Eternity is existence without limit - no commencement, no succession of periods, no end. In this sense, God only is eternal in His nature, perfections, and purposes.

As God is eternal, the believer has an eternal FATHER - who ever livers, ever loves, and ever cares for him.

He has an eternal PORTION the limits of which he can never reach, the fullness of which he can never exhaust, and of the variety in which he can never weary.

He has an eternal INHERITANCE - which he can never lose, of which He can never be deprived, and which shall never pass from him into the possession of another.

Eternity is duration without cessation, a point towards which we are tending, a state in which we shall soon be placed. In eternity, there will be no mixtures as here in this world - the wheat and the chaff; in the church - both saints and sinners; in the believer - sin and holiness, fear and confidence, the old man and the new.

There is no mixture in hell - there all are bad, and there is wrath without mercy, justice without grace, holiness without love.

There are no mixtures in HEAVEN - there all are good, and there is pleasure without pain, joy without sorrow, and holiness without sin.

There are no trials either in heaven (or hell). Here we are tried by providence, by the gospel, by ordinances; we are tried to prove or improve us. God tries our faith, our fervor, and all our principles.

Once in hell - in hell forever! Once in heaven - in heaven forever! Eternity, O how affecting the thought! Eternity, O how ponderous the idea! Time introduces to eternity. Every moment brings it nearer. A moment may plunge us into it!

How trifling time would be - if eternity did not follow it. But living once, we exist forever. Exist we must, but how - and where? O how terrible the idea of eternity, to a thoughtful sinner! O how glorious the prospect of eternity, to the happy believer! 

Life! O how important is life!

Death is our entrance upon eternity. After death, we shall hear no gospel preached, we shall receive no loving messages from a gracious God, there will be no place for repentance, no work for faith.

If lost - we shall be lost forever. If we die in sin - we shall lie under the power and condemnation of sin forever. If saved - our salvation is eternal. If we die in Jesus - we shall never know condemnation, or suffer pain.

Holiness alone, can qualify us to enjoy eternity. Without holiness - no one can see the Lord with comfort, stand before Him with acceptance, or enjoy the unveiling of His glory.

We must be born again. So our second birth qualifies us for the employments and enjoyments of eternity.

We were never so near to eternity as at this moment. Solemn thought, we never had so little time to prepare for it!  Before another day, we may be in eternity!

Eternity, stupendous theme! Compared herewith, our life's a dream; Eternity, O, solemn sound, A deep, where all our thoughts are drowned!

Eternity, the dread abode
And habitation of our God!
His glory fills the vast expanse,
Beyond the reach of mortal sense.

But an eternity there is
Of endless woe - or joyful bliss;
And, swift as time fulfills its round,
We to eternity are bound!

And is eternity so near?
And must we all, and soon, be there?
Prepare our souls, O blessed God,
To meet our long, our last abode!

~James Smith~

(The End)