A far-off Hell is the dread of no man!
 
(Charles Spurgeon, "Flowers from a Puritan's Garden" 1883)
 
"The stars, those vast globes of light, by reason of the great distance between us and them - seem but as so many sparks in the sky. Just so, we have but a weak sight of things which are at a great distance, and their effect on us is usually but small."
 
Hence the need of faith, by which spiritual realities are brought near to us, and made to stand out in their reality.
 
A far-off Hell is the dread of no man - and a far-off Heaven is scarcely desired by anyone. God Himself, while thought of as far away - is not feared or reverenced as He should be. If we did but ponder upon the matter, we would soon see that a mere span of time divides us from the eternal world, while the Lord Almighty is nearer to us than our souls are to our bodies!
 
Strange that the brief time which intervenes between us and eternity, should appear to the most of men to be so important - while eternity itself they regard as a trifling matter. They use the microscope to magnify the small concerns of time. O that they would use the telescope of faith upon the vast matters of eternity!
 
How differently would they order their lives, if the day of judgment were felt to be at their doors! How eagerly would they seek to escape from infinite wrath, if they felt it to be near!
 
Lord, arouse me to a due estimate of eternal matters! Enable me to project my soul into the infinite. Break me free of this narrow present - and launch my soul upon the wide and open sea of the infinite ages to come. You are in eternity, and let my soul even now dwell there with You.

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal!" 2 Corinthians 4:18