238 GOD AND HEAVEN AN ETERNAL PORTION. of heaven now. Above seventeen hundred years has Agrippa lost his fleeting honours, pomps, and pleasures. Above seventeen hundred years has Paul forsaken prisons, stripes, and bonds; has taken possession of his unfading inheritance; and lives and reigns in the kingdom of his God. And let these years be repeated ten thousand times over, they would form but a little span of that eternity, which is now the only measure of his happiness, his splendour, and his triumph. Which, my young friend, chose the better part? you cannot surely hesitate to say. O choose the same! By all the blessedness of a happy eternity, be persuaded, with Paul, to count all things loss that you may win Christ and be found in him, not having your own righteousness as your trust, but that which is by faith in Christ. Be wise for eternity. Devote your youth to God. Remember him now, and he will remember you in mercy for ever. He will be your God here, and your God in that bright world, millions of years beyond the day when sun, moon, and stars shall be blotted from the firmament. And the time

shall come when, if it should be asked, "How long has that glorious spirit been an inhabitant of heaven? How long has it been enjoying God and itself in that state of perfection? The answer would be such, that a line reaching even to the remotest star, would not be able to contain the number of ages, nor would millions of years be sufficient to number them down.” ()! then, remember eternity. It is said that a pious man once had this question put to him: "Why do you spend so much time in reading, meditation, and prayer?" He, in reply, lifted up his hands

and eyes to heaven, and solemnly said ever For ever - For ever."

Think

§ 7. O for ever! for ever! for ever! of this; and think that early acquaintance with the Lord Jesus Christ leads to all this eternal blessedness! Eternity is the brightest jewel in the triumphant believer's crown. Eternity makes heaven a heaven indeed. If the Christian's life here, instead of being crowned with numerous blessings, were but one scene of distress, yet with eternal life as his portion, how short would be the sorrow! how long, how lasting the joy! how hasty the pain! how endless the delight! how few the moments of grief and conflict! how many the ages of triumph and bliss! Earth you cannot have long, but heaven you may have for ever. Here you cannot long enjoy even the poor fading pleasures of time, but there you may possess a whole eternity of blessedness. What sweet words must "for ever and ever be to those happy spirits that have entered heavenly rest. "This para dise for ever. This mansion of our God for ever. This blessed society for ever. This tran

quil rest and calm repose, this peace and love for ever. This pure unbounded happiness. This world of bliss, and light, and joy for ever!" Infinite ages shall roll away; vast eternity still glide along; but not one sorrow will they know; not one sigh will escape their hearts; not one tear drop from their eyes; not one joy will they lose; not one passing cloud will bedim their day. In Immanuel's land will they ever dwell; still will they enjoy the blessings of their Father's love, and of their Redeemer's favour, in the highest perfection, nor ever fear the loss of

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ETERNITY.

what they have; and O it will be so great, that they will never wish for more! For ever and ever is the measure of their bliss; and O what is the for ever of heaven! None on earth can describe it; none comprehend eternity. Were the house you inhabit to be filled with the finest sand, and then emptied so slowly that but the smallest grain should be taken out once in ten thousand years, how many millions of ages would pass away before the last grain were removed yet compared with eternity, these countless would be like the twinkling of an eye. Were the mighty seas, which dash their waves upon so many shores, to be suddenly changed into one mass of ink, and then to be employed in numbering down figures, and the least figure to signify a million of years, what countless ages would be numbered down before the seas were emptied; yet he who wrote the last figure might say, "These ages are not eternity; they are nothingness itself, compared with that: - less than one drop to all the sea; less than one moment to all these infinite years: they are like a tale that is told, or a sigh that is forgotWere this vast world one mass of sand, and were the Most High, by his infinite power, to create as many worlds as there might be grains of sand in this, and were he then to commission a ministering angel to destroy them all, by removing grain after grain, yet so slowly that he should remove but one grain in a million of years, what millions, and millions, and millions of years, beyond all thought and conception, would pass away before one world were thus destroyed! and O what before all these numbers were! What an eternity would be here!

ten."

An

eternity! no, not a moment compared with it. Sand after sand would be removed, though at so infinitely slow a rate; world after world would be destroyed; and the angel would finish his task; but finish not eternity. Eternity would be eternity still. One grain of sand would bear some proportion to these numberless worlds; one moment to these countless millions of ages; but all these would bear none to eternity;-when they were past, it would still be "beginningrather beginning to begin." And had we lived through these inconceivably countless years, when we had seen them pass, and even pass a thousand times over, we might still say, "But a moment of eternity is passed." Beyond ages that we might almost deem an eternity, other eternities would rise in endless succession. Such is the for ever in heaven. Eternity is yours, and it is mine. In a short time, the hand that has written these pages, and the eye that reads them must be turned to dust; but in eternity we must live for ever and ever, the companions of angels or of devils.

A PRAYER, IMPLORING A PARTICIPATION IN THE BLESSINGS ENUMERATED IN THIS AND THE PRECEDING CHAPTER.

Great and gracious God, in thy hand is the breath of every living thing, and the life of all mankind. From thee I have derived that existence which thou hast determined to make as lasting as thy own. But though immortality must be my portion in the future world, yet I know that in this it is appointed unto all men once to die; and I am hastening to that hour, which will more than realize all my hopes or all my fears. Behold me supplicating mercy at thy

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PRAYER-FOR GRACE IN LIFE.

footstool; and in, and through thy Son, make me a partaker of that grace, which shall issue in everlasting glory.

How solemn, great God, is the prospect of appearing in thy presence! How shall I endure that awful, that amazing change, which will then take place in my condition! How shall I meet thee! Wilt thou welcome me to thy presence, or bid me depart for ever! O let this doubt be resolved before I die! Blessed, for ever blessed be thy name! that, in thy glorious gospel, thou hast shown how a sinner like me may become just before thee; and O let the grace there displayed prepare me for the solemnities of death and eternity. May I view life as a moment, and esteem it my chief concern, in this world, to glorify thee, and reach everlasting rest. May the blessed Jesus blot out my sins in his own blood, and thus prepare me to appear with comfort in thy sight. May my youth, my strength, my health, my heart, my soul, my life, my all, be henceforth consecrated to thee. Number me with thy children, and give to me the disposition of a child; with filial love, with patient submission, with holy delight, may I look up to thee; and may the language of my soul be, Abba, Father. May I enjoy such assurance of acceptance in the beloved, as will enable me to "read my title clear to mansions in the skies." May I know that he has loved ME and given himself for ME. Only bless me, O Lord, with this assurance, and death itself shall be welcome to me! Únite with me, in faith and hope, every friend I fondly love; and may they, too, go to Jesus, bearing his reproach; and thus prepare us all to join in those triumphant strains-O death,