"ETERNITY" - THE MOMENTOUS WORD

ISAIAH 57:1

A. "FOR THUS SAITH THE HIGH AND LOFTY ONE, THAT INHABITETH ETERNITY, WHOSE NAME IS HOLY; I DWELL IN THE HIGH AND HOLY PLACE, WITH HIM ALSO THAT IS OF A CONTRITE AND HUMBLE SPIRIT, TO REVIVE THE SPIRIT OF THE HUMBLE, AND TO REVIVE THE SPIRIT OF THE CONTRITE."
  1. The word ETERNITY is found but once in the Bible:
    1. Our text shows that it applies to the great JEHOVAH ALONE.
    2. He is the eternal and self-existent One - 1 Tim. 1:17; 6:15, 16; Rom. 1:20; Deut. 33:17
  2. He is the SOURCE or FOUNTAIN of all life-giving energy: Acts 17:25-28; Ps. 36:9
B. LET US ATTEMPT TO ANALYZE THE WORD "ETERNITY" IN THE LIGHT OF OUR TEXT
  1. Eternity:
    1. Is a duration without limits -- past, present, and future - Jas. 1:17; Mal. 3:6 It is the very essence of INFINITY.
    2. Man is finite; he has a beginning; he is a created being - Gen. 1:26, 27; 2:7
    3. That is true of the angels. They, too, are created beings, and we do, at this point, think of them, as well as of man, as finite beings - Col. 1:15-17; Ps. 8:4-9
    4. To both, the angels and man, Christ is the SOURCE of life - Gen. 1:1-5; Acts 17:25-28
  2. ETERNITY and the PLAN OF REDEMPTION:
    1. Sin made man a finite, very finite being; he is subject to death because of sin - Rom. 5:12; Heb. 9:27
    2. But God has provided a way, a plan, whereby ETERNITY can become the possession of man! This is what the Bible means by "eternal life" - Matt. 25:46; Mark 10:30; John 3:16
    3. Man's ETERNITY is tied to the plan of redemption, to his relationship with the Son of God - 1 John 5:10-12
    4. It has its Source in Christ, past, present, and future. "He that hath the Son hath life." - 1 John 5:11, 12; Rom. 6:23
  3. That shows that ETERNITY is, as yet, conditional:
    1. Faith in Jesus Christ - John 3:16
    2. Tied to the first resurrection - Rev. 20:6; John 5:28, 29; Luke 14:14
    3. Our acceptance of the sacrifice made by Christ on the cross of Calvary - John 6:53, 54
C. "ETERNITY", HOW THOUGHT PROVOKING
  1. Think of what God offers to sinners:
    1. Complete deliverance from sin and its eternal penalty - John 8:36; Matt. 1:21; Heb. 7:25
    2. The gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ - John 3:16
    3. What that includes -
      1. Eternal salvation - Heb. 5:9
      2. Eternal weight of glory - 2 Cor. 4:17
      3. Eternal inheritance - Heb. 9:15
      4. Eternal life - John 6:54; 10:28
  2. How we may possess ETERNITY:
    1. Free, absolutely free, without money, and without price - Isa. 55:1, 2; Rev. 22:17
    2. Can be had for simple faith in Jesus - 1 John 5:10-12; Acts 16:30, 31
  3. Think of what it includes:
    1. Eternal fellowship with the Godhead - 1 John 1:3; 2 Cor. 13:14
    2. Eternal fellowship with the redeemed - Eph. 3:14- 20; Heb. 12:22-24
    3. Life without end -- in joy, free from pain, suffering; no more sorrow, no more weeping -- what an ETERNITY!
    4. The prophet Isaiah attempts to picture that ETERNITY - Isa. 35:1-10; 65:17-25; 66:22, 23
    5. Said the Psalmist, when speaking of the redeemed, "Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing" - Ps. 126:1, 2
    6. ETERNITY - what does it mean to you, dear reader? Is it worth the price you and I are asked to pay?
    7. Can any one of us afford not to make the needed preparation to spend ETERNITY in God's kingdom? THINK! THINK AND THINK about ETERNITY!


Design © John Bryant 2011