"The Lord shall endure forever, he hath prepared his throne for judgment." "We shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ." "Then every one of us shall give an account of himself to God."
"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened, * * * and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."
"Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand: Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;" * * * "an entrance shall be administered unto you abundantly;" * * * "enter ye in through the gates into the city;" * * * "enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."
"Then shall he say also unto them on his left hand: Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." "These shall go into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal."
A HOME IN HEAVEN.
Our pilgrimage on earth is one of unrest, is one of toil, sorrow, and affliction. Here we have no abiding place, "no continuing city." Our "days on earth are few, and are full of trouble." There is no permanency here. From the time of the first infant breath and short unconscious slumber on a mother's bosom to the latest hour and moment of life, we are ever restless and moving onward, and endure all the disquietude and sufferings of mind and body incident to our mortal existence. The original sin of our first parents, blighted all hope of permanence or enduring happiness on this earth. At the time of their fall, God pronounced as to our existence here, saying: "Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return." "And the spirit shall return to God who gave it."
Yet to the true and faithful followers of the blessed Redeemer—who ransomed the world by the pouring out of His own blood, and opened up a way whereby we may escape the further penalties of a violated law—rest will come by-and-by. "There is rest for the weary," and mansions prepared for them in the "City of God," in that better world. Remember, the Saviour said:
"I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am there ye may also be. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. The same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son." "Whosoever will, let him come." "I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely." "They shall live for ever and ever."