ONLY once does this momentous word occur in the Scriptures, though its equivalent often does. It will be well to quote the verse in which it is found, “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth ETERNITY, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isa. 57:1515For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. (Isaiah 57:15)).
It is upon that one single word, dear reader, I desire to fix your most earnest attention. You will observe it is no ordinary word, and its occurring but once in the sacred Scriptures adds to its importance. It is full of solemnity for you and for me; yea, for the whole human family.
We speak of infinite space, and the undiscovered and undiscoverable depths that are there, and the worlds on worlds existing there. God, who created all, and who “fills heaven and earth,” and is everywhere present, alone can comprehend it. God, too, inhabiteth eternity, for from “everlasting to everlasting, thou art God” (Ps. 90:2).
But I wish to speak of eternity in relation to man―to you and me, dear reader. We are endowed with an immortal, and therefore an imperishable spirit. We are to live on for eternity. We may cease to exist here, in the conditions we find ourselves in, but we live on forever. We can never cease to be. In that respect we are like the fallen and the unfallen angels, who never can cease to be. The wicked would like to believe as true, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die,” and that is an end of us; but they know, in the deep depths of their being, that this can never be. Ah, no! though blinded by Satan, they know they have to live on for eternity―they can never cease to be.
A man, executed in Germany years ago for various offenses, as he was about to lay his head upon the block, exclaimed, in anguish of soul, “Eternity, O how long!”
Theories may do very well in life, but in death the most hardened are conscious that eternity―the unmeasurable ages of eternity― is before them. Well might the poor man, as he placed his head upon the fatal block, cry out, “Eternity, O how long!”
Supposing we could take all the leaves in the wide world, and count a hundred years for every leaf; then gather up all the sand on ocean shores, and count a thousand years for every grain; then divide the oceans, lakes, and rivers into drops of water, and count a million years for every drop; then number the rays of light and particles of air in infinite space, and count a billion years for every ray and particle; then putting these vast figures together, and allowing these numbers of years to run their course, you have but the beginning of eternity! Oh, how vast it is! And, oh! tremendous reality, beloved reader, you and I have to spend that eternity in heaven, or in hell!
Does not the question at once force itself upon us, “Where shall I spend eternity?” What fatal madness for us to evade it, to neglect it, and to succeed in so disposing of it, as to settle down and be at home in the mere trifles of this poor passing world! Oh friend, if you are doing this, awake to your madness, reflect upon that eternity, and, like a rational being, ask yourself the solemn question, “When I have done with this short life, WHERE shall I spend that undying eternity―in heaven or hell?”
Perhaps today you may pass out of time into eternity; and if so, beloved reader, what then?
We read of a time that is coming, when the nations shall be assembled before the Son of Man, when He will sit upon the throne of His glory, and He will say to those on His right hand, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world”; but to those on His left hand He will say, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal” (Matt. 25:31-4631When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. (Matthew 25:31‑46)).
What more solemn and soul-awakening than these words, coming as they do from the lips of the blessed Son of God, He who could weep over unrepentant Jerusalem, and who, to save us from “eternal judgment” (Heb. 6:22Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. (Hebrews 6:2)), died on the cross of Calvary? To save us, He, blessed be His name forever, interposed His precious blood, ―
“O groundless deep! O love beyond degree!
The offended died to set the offender free!”
But if He is rejected as Saviour, and His precious blood treated as a thing of naught; if all the love of God manifested in the dying Lamb of God, and the beseeching’s of God in the Gospel, and the strivings of His blessed Spirit, are refused, and despised, and slighted; oh, sad and awful thought! righteousness must take its course, in the eternal judgment of the unrepentant!
Beloved reader, are you saved? are you reconciled to God? are you sure of eternal happiness? If not, make haste to be saved! Jesus stands ready to receive and save all who come to Him. God is ready to justify from all things the one who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. If not saved, will you be that one? Delay not, I beseech you.
“Return, O wanderer, to thy home,
The Spirit calls for thee,
There are no pardons in the tomb,
And brief is mercy’s day.
Return! Return!”