Timeless Truths

TIMELESS TRUTHS

Psalms 119:160

God’s Word is truth in its entirety. Every promise in it is sure of fulfillment. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. (Matthew 5:18)

Ever since God began to reveal himself to the children of men all he said was true.

ILLUSTRATION: I heard about two Americans who were visiting a South American country when they both ran afoul of the law and faced death by a firing squad. Before their execution the squad commander asked if they had a final request. The first said, "Right before I die, I want you to play that Macarena song so I can do that dance one last time." The Commander said, "We can do that." He then turned to the next man and said, "Do you have a final request?" The man said, "Yes. Shoot me first."

Well the truth is those who die will face eternity. After death they will either spend it in Heaven or Hell

This morning I want to declare God’s truth with about eternity.

I-WE SEE THAT LIFE IS SHORT: I Chronicles 29:15

For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.

Life is short, uncertain, and fragile, it is here today, gone tomorrow.

Psalm 139 tells us that our days on earth are determined by God while we are still in our mother’ womb. Only He knows how long we will live, two weeks, two years, 40 years, 80 years.

ILLUSTRATION: A minister was visiting one of his members in the hospital on Saturday. The patient was sitting up in a chair. He said to his pastor, I’ve not felt this good in a long time. In fact, the doctor is going to release me tomorrow. But he never left the hospital. He died that very night. Life is short!

We read about people living into their late nineties and even 100 and we say, That’s a long time to live. But Methuselah lived to be 969 years old. Yet even that is a short time compared to eternity. Some of us that are in our senior years¨ often say, Where have the years gone? I was young only yesterday.

ILLUSTRATION: I heard about a man that was at a basketball game that was going badly for the visiting team. The home team was scoring at will and the visitors could not seem to get a break. With the home team up by thirty points in the second half, during a lull in the action, some fan yelled, “I wish this game could go on forever!”

Many feel like that today about life but Unfortunately, that is not the way things work. We all know things must come to an end. on this earth.

ILLUSTRATION: It is said that an old lady was to take a train journey of about fifty miles through a most beautiful country. For months she contemplated the trip. She was anxious to enjoy the beautiful scenery. The day came and she boarded the train. After getting her seat, she began arranging matters. She wanted everything just right. She began placing her bags, fixing her lunch box, adjusting the shades, and getting everything ready to enjoy the trip to the full. But, sad to say, just as everything was adjusted and she settled back, the conductor called out her station. She had to hurry around and gather up her belongings. "Oh, me!" she said, "if I had known we would get here so soon, I would not have wasted my time fussing around."

That is a fair picture of multitudes. We are so busy with the transient things of earth that we have little time to prepare for the next world. About the time we think we are all fixed for this world, the death angel will call out, "Eternity."

II-WE SEE THAT ETERNITY IS SLOW:

Matthew 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

An old time preacher once said, if this world were a steel ball and an eagle would fly down from it lofty height every 100 years and touch it with his beak, when the ball was completely worn out, then eternity had just begun.

The Bible tells us that the souls of men and women will spend eternity in either heaven or hell.

The description of heaven found in the bible is wonderful. The picture of hell is absolutely horrible.

IILUSTRATION: Passing through a country graveyard, a man was struck by the inscription on a tombstone. The stone was by the side of the path where everyone could see it. It had been placed there in memory of a young man who died at the age of seventeen. It was, "Reader, stop and think; I am in eternity! and you are on the brink." In eternity! A young man, only seventeen years of age, in eternity! In a fixed, a changeless state, heaven or hell! And yet many have gone to hell before they were seventeen years of age.