Eternity

1 I stood at the time-beaten portals,
Where many a pilgrim had passed
Out into the infinite future,
To be with the pure and the blest;
And, musing in silent devotion,
Eternity seemed to draw near;
And strains from the choir of the faithful
I seemed in my fancy to hear.

Refrain:
Oh, eternity! Long eternity!
Hear the solemn footsteps of eternity.

2 I lingered, and silently listened
To the dull, heavy tread of the years,
And thought of the fate of the guilty,
When Christ in His glory appears;
A shudder came over my spirit,
As I thought what a moment might cost,
For eternity’s stillness was broken
By the groans and the sighs of the lost. [Refrain]

3 I saw then the Judge in His splendor,
As He stepped to His great judgment seat,
And thought of the crashing of ages,
When time and eternity meet;
For Time, who has laid many millions,
To slumber in death’s silent shade,
Shall reel at eternity’s presence,
And sleep in the tomb he has made. [Refrain]

4 Let us work while ’tis day, brother, sister,
For soon shall the Master return,
To garner the wheat that we harvest,
The chaff in His fury to burn;
Then in haste let us rush to the rescue,
But few can we save at the most:
Soon millions shall be at the judgment,
Forever, eternally lost. [Refrain]

• MIDI file from Timeless Truths #1076