Eternity! Tremendous Word

Eternity! Tre­men­dous word

Home-strik­ing point

heart-pierc­ing sword

Beginning with­out end­ing!

Eternity! with­out a shore

Where ev­er fie­ry bil­lows roar

What is thy sight por­tend­ing?

One glimpse of thine un­fathomed deep

Would rouse a wretch from sin­ful sleep.

What pain was ev­er thought so great

That must not with the time abate

And lose its ut­most ri­gor?

Eternity does nev­er cease

Admits no man­ner of re­lease

But keeps its con­stant vi­gor:

Or

as our Sav­ior’s words ex­press

Eternity has not re­dress.

Eternity! how long

how long

Thou seiz­est sens­es

heart and tongue

With pa­nic

fear and ter­ror!

When I re­volve thy dread­ful chains

In that abyss of end­less pains

I’m ov­er­whelmed with hor­ror.

What’s in this life of mi­se­ry

So fright­ful as eter­ni­ty?

Should Hell en­dure as ma­ny years

As ma­ny men this world of tears

Has seen from the cre­ation

As ma­ny stars adorn the sky

As ma­ny leaves the woods sup­ply

You’d hope for its ces­sa­tion.

This sum of ag­es would but be

One mo­ment to Eter­ni­ty.

But hav­ing spent in end­less fears

So many thou­sand

thou­sand years

Thy scene is still be­gin­ning;

When thou hast suf­fered all these times

The just re­ward of will­ful crimes

Thy thread ne’er ceas­es spin­ning.

Th’eter­nal now

who can un­fold?

’Tis ev­er new

but nev­er old.

O Lord

how is thy sen­tence just

In leav­ing man

that re­bel-dust

To his de­served dam­na­tion!

Short will­ful sins com­mit­ted here

With long re­morse are pun­ished there.

O woe be­yond re­la­tion!

Weigh this

thou hard­ened heart and face

Thy time is short

death comes apace.

Hast thou yet sense? Avoid the snare;

Thy plea­sures fleet­ing mo­ments are

That die as fast as tast­ed;

These

at the ha­zard of thy soul

Dost thou pur­sue with­out con­trol

And seest thy min­utes wast­ed?

Thou sense­less wretch

thou match­less fool

Thou laugh’st and art the de­vil’s tool.

As long as God eter­nal reigns

And His al­migh­ty sway re­tains

Hell-torment will be last­ing;

They shall be plagued with cold and heat

Thirst

hun­ger

fire shall be their meat

Their worm is nev­er wast­ing;

And this un­eq­ualed mi­se­ry

Won’t end till God shall cease to be.

Awake and rise from sin­ful sleep:

Bethink thy self

thou stray­ing sheep:

Return by true re­pent­ance:

Arise

thy wick­ed ways amend;

The glass of life runs to its end;

Then shiver at thy sen­tence;

Perhaps with­in few min­utes breath

Thou’rt snatched away by sud­den death.

Let nei­ther world­ly gain nor lust

Ambition

pride

nor gold­en dust

Longer en­slave thy pas­sions;

Look how the car­nal le­thar­gy

O’erspreads the great ma­jor­ity

Who sport with all temp­ta­tions;

Above all things keep in thy sight

The fore­named long eter­nal night.

Most re­pro­bate of all man­kind

Bereft of sense

hard-heart­ed

blind

Why dost thou love the crea­ture?

Shall that eter­nal gulf of Hell

Where mill­ions of tor­ment­ors dwell

Ne’er shock thy sin­ful na­ture?

Can then no tongue

no el­oquence

Persuade thee to a bet­ter sense?

Eternity! Tre­men­dous word

Home-strik­ing point

heart-pierc­ing sword

Beginning with­out end­ing!

Eternity with­out a shore!

Where ever fie­ry bil­lows roar

What is thy sight por­tend­ing?

Lord Je­su

when it pleas­es Thee

Bring me to blest Eter­ni­ty.