THE PERPETUITY OF BLISS
"And they shall reign forever and ever." Rev. 22:5.
"O blest scenes of permanent delight!
Full, above measure! lasting, beyond bound!
A perpetuity of bliss, is bliss."
The glory of Immanuel's land will shine with increasing splendor through
eternity! The bliss of heaven is eternal. This stamps an infinite value on
all celestial enjoyments. How noble are those pleasures which are to endure
forever! Such are the pleasures which are at God's hand. They never fade.
Forever is attached to every enjoyment in Immanuel's land. Eternity is the
measure of the saint's bliss. "And they shall reign forever and ever."
That happy land which we have been describing in this little volume is an
eternal world. It is an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that
fades not away. How different from this earthly abode are those bright
mansions in our Father's kingdom! How fleeting are the pleasures of time.
This world itself, with all its grandeur, is passing away. Mutability, and
decay and dissolution are indelibly written on all beneath the skies. Every
object around us feels the withering touch of time, and fades beneath its
corroding energy. The proudest monuments of antiquity have crumbled into
dust, and the most powerful nations and cities of other days have been swept
from the face of the earth, and over them oblivion hangs its dismal mantle.
But eternity is inscribed on the gates of Paradise; and an eternal weight of
glory crowns all the inhabitants of Immanuel's land. There they will ever
dwell in an eternity of bliss! O what ineffable delight must spring up in
the souls of the redeemed in glory, when they contemplate eternity! How
sweet will that solemn word be to those happy spirits before the throne! As
they look forward into the boundless ocean, they see- they fear no end to
their bliss. While ages of glory roll on, their happiness will be un
bounded, and eternal. When millions of ages shall have run their expansive
rounds, the inhabitants of Immanuel's land will still be young in
immortality, and before them will still roll an eternity of glory.
The mansions of our Father's house are eternal. The blessedness- the joy-
the glory- the rest- the employment- the society, of Immanuel's land are
also as lasting as eternity itself. Let that solemn word eternity, impress
upon your mind the importance of salvation. If you are saved, it is with an
everlasting salvation; if you are lost, you are lost forever! Said a dear
dying saint to the writer, as she gave her parting look, "Think often of
Eternity; that short word, Eternity! Oh! what does it not comprehend?"
We would also entreat you with the utmost compassion for your immortal soul,
to "think often of Eternity." Eternity is yours; you are an heir of
immortality. You must soon enjoy a perpetuity of bliss or of woe. O be
entreated to forsake the world and cleave closely to Jesus! Live to Him who
loved you with an everlasting love, and when death shall terminate your
earthly course, the portals of heaven will open for your reception, and
eternity, with all its untold glories will burst upon your ransomed spirit,
and you shall be ever with the Lord!