On! On! To Glory or Judgment — Which?
As sure as the sun rises in the east and hastens to go down in the west, so surely is a man traveling on to eternity. Eternity, with open arms, stands ready to receive each and all. No one can stay his onward march to eternity. As well might he try, with his puny efforts, to stop the daily motion of the earth as to arrest his onward march to eternity. On, on, man goes!
Eternity is the grand or awful goal that each and all must inevitably reach. No giant power, good or bad, can arrest the march of the great human family towards eternity. Millions have entered eternity, millions are entering, and millions more will yet enter. Like a gigantic river, sweeping on to the mighty ocean, so is the human family as it presses on to eternity; only with this difference — as the members of the human family enter eternity they are respectively divided, the saved entering into eternal bliss, the unsaved passing into eternal woe.
In the light of Holy Scripture, “and the Scripture cannot be broken,” man is traveling on to the one side or the other — to the woe side or the glory side. We cannot resist the conclusion; it is irresistible. God’s Word declares the solemn fact, we have to bow at His feet and say, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Most assuredly. No Pastor Russell or Christian Science or Seventh Day Adventist can make it different, whether in allotting to the believer in the Lord Jesus a place with His glorified Son in glory or in consigning the unrepentant, self-willed sinner to outer darkness for eternity. God will act in perfect justice, and the wide universe will vindicate Him in all His ways.
I now invite you to the bedside of the dying, both saved and unsaved. Listen to their last words. First, those of the Christians, the believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, their own personal Saviour: —
“The chariot has come, and I am ready to step in.”― Jordan Antle.
“Eternity rolls up before me like a sea of glory.”― Margaret Prior.
“How bright the room! How full of angels.”―Martha McCrackin.
“Oh, how beautiful the opening heavens around me shine.” ―Philip Heck.
“The next time I sing will be when Jesus folds me in His arms.” ―Shoeblack Jim.
“I wish I had the power of writing; I would describe how pleasant it is to die.” ―Dr. Gullen.
“The sun is setting; mine is rising. I go from this bed to a crown. Farewell.” ―S. B. Bangs.
“Can this be death? Why, it is better than living! Tell them I die happy in Jesus.” ―John Arthur Lyth.
“I am in perfect peace, resting-alone on the blood of Christ. I find this amply sufficient to enter the presence of God with.” ―Trotter.
“Oh, that I could tell you what I possess! I am full of rapture. The Lord doth shine with such power upon my soul. He is come! He is come!” ―Mrs. Mary Frances.
Now let us listen to the unsaved; the sinners without a Saviour:” All my possessions for a moment of time.” ―Queen Elizabeth.
“I am suffering the pangs of the damned.” ―Talleyrand Perigord.
“Give me more laudanum that I may not think of eternity.” — Mirabeau.
“The devil is ready to seduce us, and I have been seduced.” — Crowell.
“I am abandoned by God and man! I shall go to hell! Oh, Christ. Oh, Jesus Christ!”— Voltaire.
“What blood, what murders, what evil counsels have I followed! I am lost; I see it well.” — Charles IX., King of France.
“I would give worlds, if I had them, if the ‘Age of Reason’ had never been published. Oh, Lord, help me! Christ, help me! Stay with me; it is hell to be left alone.” — Tom Paine.
“Oh, that I was to lie a thousand years upon the fire that never is quenched (see Mark 9:4545And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: (Mark 9:45)) to purchase the favor of God, and be reunited to Him again! But it is a fruitless wish. Millions of millions of years will bring me no nearer to the end of my torment than one poor hour. Oh, eternity, eternity! Oh, the insufferable pangs of hell!” — Sir Francis Newport.
Now, beloved reader, let us individualize the matter and bring the consideration home to ourselves; let us each ask himself, “How does it fare with me? How have I taken the situation for myself?” To eternity we are hastening. If at home or across the sea, we cannot boast of having another day. Where, beloved friend, are you going? Tard eternity we are speeding, but on which side of that great gulf will you spend eternity?
Unsaved sinner, flee, without delay, to the Lord Jesus Christ, and be saved. He is able and willing to save you. He says, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:3737All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37)). By all that is dear, precious, and true, I beech you to hasten to Christ at once. There is not a moment to spare; already the mandate may have gone forth from the lips of the Eternal. “This night thy soul shall be required of thee.” How would you meet Him? To which side of the gulf would He consign you? Think, as you are impelled on with lightning speed, beloved friend, think — “Where will you spend eternity?” Where, soul immortal, will you spend the undying, never-ending ages of eternity? Will it be on the heaven side or on the judgment side of that fixed, immovable, impassable, unfathomable gulf?