Time and Eternity Contrasted
For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, hut at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal (for a season); but the things which are not seen are eternal’ (for eternity). — 2 Corinthians 4: 17-18.
The Apostle Paul had to endure some things that to most men would seem very hard to bear, and some of these afflictions continued through many years. Indeed the thirty years of his Christian experience seem, at first sight, like thirty years of self-denial and suffering for Christ. But in speaking of these afflictions in our text, Paul speaks of them as ‘‘ our light afflictions ‘’ and also as “our affliction which is for a moment.’’ Is thirty years ‘’but a moment”? Yes, when compared with eternity. Your life of eighty or ninety years or one hundred years, is but the twinkling of an eye when compared with eternity. And is the loss of friends, the loss of ease, the loss of the admiration and applause of men, the loss of home and native land, the loss of all that men ordinarily hold dear; and imprisonment, and shipwreck and scourging and wandering and hunger and stoning, is all this “light afflictions”? Yes, when compared with the joy and honour and glory which are to be revealed in us in a glad day that is soon coming. When the sufferings of this present time are put in comparison with the eternal glories that are thus secured, they are nothing at all. And when all the wealth and pleasure and honours that one can possibly get in this world are put in comparison with the eternal agony and ruin and despair and shame that it costs to live for this world, they, too, are nothing. Suppose one gets a million dollars or two million dollars or one hundred million dollars at the cost of being lost forever? Does it pay? Suppose one’s whole life from boyhood or girlhood to old age is one constant round of parties, and feasts, and frolics, and merriments, at the cost of spending an eternity in hell. Does it pay? The truly wise man does not look at the things which are seen, which are ‘‘ for a time,” but at the things which are unseen, which are for eternity. This, then, is really our subject to-night, ETERNITY.
I. There is an Eternity and We Must Go
There.
The first thing our text teaches us, and which we know to be true even though it were not in our text, is. There is an Eternity, and we must go there. It is the height of folly to refuse to think of eternity. A lady said to me one day, speaking of a certain shiftless young man who has had great opportunities in life but thrown them all away, ‘‘ He just lives for to-day; he never thinks of the future either in the life that now is or the life that is to come.” Everybody sees that that young man is an ass. I do not think there is any difference of opinion on that point among
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any of those who know him. But is he really much more of a blockhead than the man or the woman who lives only for the brief days that we spend on this earth, and never thinks of that vast eternity which stretches beyond, and to which we are all hurrying on at express speed? There is an eternity. I may live ninety or a hundred years of the life that now is, but I shall certainly live millions and billions and trillions of years in the endless seons of years in the life that is to come. I shall live forever and forever.
Eternity is the important thing. The life that now is is important only because it determines our eternity. Many a man who is wise enough to look somewhat into the future, asks himself the question, “Where and how shall I spend my middle life, and where and how shall I spend my old age V A man who is still wiser will ask himself the question, Where and how shall I spend my eternity? Have you settled that question? Let me put it to every one of my readers: ‘‘ Have you settled where and how you will spend eternity? If you have not, there is really but one sane thing for you to do, and that is to settle the question to-night as to where and how you will spend eternity.
II. Where and How We Shall Spend Eternity
IS Settled in the Life that Now is.
The second thing that I wish to say to-night is. Where and how we shall spend eternity is settled in the life that now is. The life that now is, is the preparation time, and the only preparation time for the life that is to come. Time is the preparation time and the only preparation time for eternity. The boy who has wasted his school days, and failed to make preparation for business life, when he gets into the weary grind of a life that is the inevitable outcome of a wasted boyhood and young manhood, would gladly go back and live his wasted boyhood over again; but he cannot. Much less can any man or woman who wastes this present life on earth come back from a ruined eternity and live this present life over. It cannot be done. You are making your eternity to-day.
Men have tried to fancy that there is some other time of preparation in the future for those who waste this present opportunity for preparation in the life that now is. Such a hope is the ‘’ baseless fabric of a dream which has not one atom of foundation either in common sense or the more sure Word of God. ‘‘ If,’’ says Jesus, ye die in your sins, whither I go ye cannot come.” This word of our Lord Himself makes it as clear as day that where and how we shall spend eternity is settled in the life that now is, settled this side the grave.
You are making your eternity now. Some young man or woman may be saying in their heart, ‘‘ I will go out and have one more fling at sin.” Do it, and it may land you in hell for all eternity. In the lost world of endless midnight and despair you will look up and say, ‘’ Dr. Torrey told me that if I went out to spend one more night in sin I would spend eternity in hell, and here I am.” And you will wring your hands, and you will shriek, and you will agonize, and you will despair, but it will be too late, too late forever.
I was dealing one night with a man in Minneapolis who was under deep conviction of sin. I urged upon him immediate acceptance of Jesus Christ, but he hesitated, and he went out without deciding. He thought he would go into a saloon and have one more drink and he did, and that led to another, and so on. Two years later I received a letter from him from the State Prison at Stillwater, telling me how near he had come to accepting Christ that night, but how he had gone to have another drink and then another, and how he had become intoxicated, and while intoxicated he had stolen an overcoat, was arrested, tried and found guilty. He had no recollection of stealing the coat, but said he had no doubt that he did. He was sentenced to two years in Stillwater State Prison. He added, I have accepted Christ here, but these two years have been wasted, because I did not do as you urged me to that night.’’ But ah, that was not so bad as to wake up in hell and know that you are to spend all eternity there, because you did not take the step that you know you ought to take to-night.
III. How TO Secure a Blessed and Glorious
Eternity.
We have seen that there is an eternity, we have seen that where and how we shall spend eternity is settled in the life that now is; so we come face to face with the question. What must I do in the life that now is that I may have a satisfactory and glorious eternity?
First of all, if you are to have a satisfactory and glorious eternity, you must believe on Jesus Christ in the life that now is. This God tells us in His Word over and over again. For example. He says in John 3: 36, ‘‘ He that belie veth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him/^ And He says in Romans 6: 23, ‘‘ The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord,” The first thing to do, then, if we are to have a satisfactory and glorious eternity, indeed the first thing we must do if we are to spend eternity outside of hell, is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Just what does it mean to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? God Himself answers that question in John 1:12: ‘‘As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name,” Here we are told that to believe on Jesus Christ, to “believe on his name,” is to “receive him,” that is to simply accept Him to be to us what God offers Him to be to every one, to receive Him as the Saviour who has borne our sins for us, borne them in His own body on the cross, and who is therefore ready and able to forgive all our sins as soon as we confess them, and forsake them and put our trust in Him, to receive Him also as our Lord and Master to whom we surrender the entire control of our lives, to receive Him as our divine teacher to whom we surrender our thoughts. Whatever else we may do or not do, it is absolutely sure we shall not have a blessed eternity if we do not thus receive Jesus Christ.
In the second place, if we are to have a satisfactory and glorious eternity, we must serve Jesus Christ. We are saved by grace; but we are rewarded according to our works. Eternity begins with the coming of Christ, and at His coming, Jesus Christ
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shall reward every man according to his works (Matt. 16:27). Our eternity will be rich and full just in proportion to the faithfulness of our service here on earth. There are many who fancy that all professed Christians will have an equally glorious eternity, but this is pure fancy. It contradicts the plain teachings of the Word of God, and the teachings of sanctified common sense as well. The Word of God tells us that some will be saved, so as by fire (i Cor. 3: 15); but that others will have an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Pet. i: ii). The one who barely accepts Christ, and who holds on to the world in a measure, and does scarcely anything for his Master, will have no such entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,^’ he will have no such glorious eternity as the one who turns away from the world with his whole heart, and gives up all its follies and self-indulgences and ‘‘ comes out and is separate ’’ and lives wholly for Christ, a life of constant self-denial and constant service. Do you realize, you professed Christians, that you are preparing your eternity by the way you serve Christ in the life that now is? Do you realize that your eternity will be richer or poorer by the way in which you serve Jesus Christ on earth? Do you realize that every day spent in hard service will make Heaven that much richer and every day and hour frittered away will make Heaven that much poorer? Ah, ponder again those familiar words that God spake to Daniel, They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and eve’r,” How important then is every day of our Christian life. Let me put to you the question, Has to-day counted as much as it might have counted for eternity?
Again let me say, that the sufferings we endure, and the sacrifices we make for Christ will make eternity richer. The words of our Lord Jesus are very plain on this point; He says, ‘‘ Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in Heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matt. There
are some who bitterly regret it when they are called upon to be reproached or slandered or in any way to suffer persecution for Jesus Christ’s sake. So far from regretting it, we should rather rejoice in it instead, we should be exceeding glad,” these things bring great reward in Heaven. Every sneer that one endures, every reproach that is heaped upon us, every loss that we sustain for the sake of the truth and for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, brings glorious reward in eternity. Never forget what Paul said, ‘‘ For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to usward” (Rom. 8: 18), and how he says again, If I suffer, I shall also reign with him.” The seemingly awful tortures endured by the Armenian Christians rather than give up their faith in Christ, and which to some people seem so inexplicable are no longer a mystery if we only bear in mind how they will bring reward a thousand-fold throughout all eternity. Do not whine, but thank God every
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time it is your privilege to suffer for Christ, and the more you suffer the more rejoice. The opportunity to suffer for Christ or for the truth is an opportunity for an investment that pays an eternal dividend.
Again, if we would have a thoroughly satisfactory and glorious eternity, we must use our money for Jesus Christ. The use we make of our money in the life that now is, enriches or impoverishes our eternity. The Apostle Paul says in i Timothy 6: 17-19, ‘‘ Charge them that are rich in this present world, that they be not high-minded, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on the life which is life indeed.’’ And the Lord Jesus says in Matthew 6: 19, 20, Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.” How few people seem to realize that they are making their eternity by their use of their money here on earth, but it is so. I think some of us will look back with regret from the other world and say, ‘‘ What a fool I was to invest my money in houses and lands and jewels and luxuries, in gewgaws and trinkets, when I might have invested it so it would be paying me interest to-day.”
Men and women, the greatest practical question that confronts you and me is where shall we spend eternity and how shall we spend eternity? Will you spend eternity in heaven or will you spend eternity in hell? Will you spend it in joy and glory unutterable, or will you spend it in misery and shame unutterable? Time is nothing comparable with eternity. Ten, twenty, eighty years is nothing compared with eternity — eternity — eternity* That is the all-important matter. Where you will spend eternity and how you will spend eternity will be determined by your action in this life; it may be determined, it will be in a measure determined by your action to-day. What you do to-day is of tremendous importance. If you have not already accepted Christ, accept Him now. And even if you have accepted Christ, but have been serving Him in a half-hearted way, give yourself up wholly to Him from this time henceforward. If you have been holding back from sacrificing for Christ, make the sacrifice at once. I desire with all my heart that my eternity be just as rich, just as full, just as glorious as possible, and by God’s grace I am going to make it so, whatever it costs.