and that we shall• :l!.nd there Socrates and Plato, I Alil sure we shall be glad indeed,to meet them; but if we shall not find them in heaven, I am also sure that theJndge of all tLe earth. will be able t.o 881lign a good reason for their· absence, and that none in heaven will be either able or williug to dispute either the justice or the wisdom of his aovereign an,,.ngement11." 1 W e•may also add that Scripture not ob<icurely intimates that Mer'f soul will, before the dread day comes, be brought into contact with the Lord ,Jesus for ~ptance 01' rejection; arid those who followed conscientiously the rlinimer light will surely accept joyfolly the clearer. Certainly the Judge of all the earth will do right. ·· VL WHERE II! THE Bli:CORD 01' THE AO'llS, WORDS, AND THOUGRT8 WHICH WILL :N !>IBCL08ED AT rooolll!:NT? In "the books,"' What are·these? Who can teJU We would reverently suggest : 1. TherB is that snerrin,g rer.ord--4he 'ITMmtw1Fllf GtJ<i. To the Divfu.e' mind everything is present; (Pa. ex.nix;). By hlm.aabirig is forgotten; All the manifold ~ndJx1mplieated ourren,ts of human thought,1k varied· fluctuations of human wills and·impubies, the·mll.Ze of hUDiali-dieiiigtt ·and plan, J'3St, present, and future, are all laid open to his ·searc~ - ~ Not one passing thought eludes hill notice ar esciipet1 from his mealil!lly. -"In bis mind is a complete and permanent photo. grath,;,f every.aul · .E.·~ there is our own memory.. Judging from the,collection ,ef · frain-which13eience essays to draw her conclusions, nothing ever ,drops com• ~!y-· from D1an's ·memory. A word, a look, a sou~d, a•song, a feature, a loc~et1 • hair, may reeaJ:l deeds and thoughts of· a generation· past. Let bat the bariera which lmpdson memory be removed, as they seem to have been in the•'Ca.86 of many pertl\)ris near-death; arid the whole of O'i):b's lif& may rush ,back iii' an irutant, aud reveal.'tlie Dian to himselfin a, way that sbalI either ma-ke him dumb.wit1; horror or inlipite hiofirith joy. '3. I/ fiilf be to; then ihe ffl.6l'1Wf'Y qf olhera. mwit bo a permdntlflt f'6C0'1'd. qf a large part qf our Zillt!S, For if our memory recol'ds the impulses we giue, it 1A•ou_lclileein" ililo, •l>y parit1" of itealJOililig,' to_ 'be ·a reeonl. of the impulses we receive. Thus tht' po~ exerted· by us .over others, and by otheni over ·us, ,.creates inilelib!e ~ontioo their minds and ours; BO that their<+hooks,, and Ouni mutually snppl,·ment and l!OO.fi.tm esoh other. "Yao oannot moot·,a stranger·ul'the ,nreet.s, nor utter, a word in. yolJJ' n,in()test -solitude, nor: think &• thooght. in',yom· inmost heart, but lo I, this rt'COrding angel has noted it down upon the tablots-ofyonr soul for over H (Macleod). 4.: ·&u;iiosilsil/ auggests ~ - disclori.res in thu direction. The great' matht-mati• cia~ Babbage, in his Bridgewater' Treatise, rnmarks, " The'. whole atmosphere is,one vl!fft library, aµ·. wliose.pages arereeorded all that ina.n has ever said or woman whispered.,. Tb:e m, the light;·are eYer the beann of our deeds·and worda. "It is probable," say• Cole!idge, "judging from the fa.cf.acpref8nted in medical records, that all thou!l.hts are in th~Hs imperishable; and that· if the intelligent faculir 1,1hould be rendered more eomprehensive, it .1D9Uld r ~ <>nlg a difff;rfflt· and 'appwtioned organuatien,.-.the bod1J celmi4l matead of the bod,y t ~ &ring before.e-very}w,m11lit. ~aul thudlleo- 'fiw ~ ' o f m whole p a s t ~ ..4.rul this-this, pennan.oe,· is th6 dread book qf judgmen.t, in the mysterww h1ff'Oglgphics of which 6V6'l'!J idle wonUnecorded!' ~ .-5. And 11heta then toill be an.other NllOrd-in. the cormtimance of the man. 'l.1he spirit .forms -the face. Even here, "it is not iD. words explicable·wtth.what Divine,liues and-lignts :the exercise of godliness and oharity will mould and gild ..the hardest and oolde$t wun- tenances, miither to what darkness tileir departure will consign even .the loveliest.. For there is not any virtue the _exercise of which even momentarily will not im1iress a new tairneaa upon·tM features; neither on them·imly, but on the.whole body."• The tlVPrk of grac1Hefurms the counumance. The work of sin·deforma.i~ To a sufffoiently keefi obisiirver~ a ma.n's face is a living book in which his character may be read. , Yea, it is even so. "Books" in abundance are every moment having entries made therein from which the character and desert of each can be clearly read at last. So much so iij this tlie ease, that it is far easier to see how ruin impends than how salvation is possible, with such a long catalogue of sim u must attach to every _man's life. Knowing as we do that in the physical world there is no forgive•esa of sins, it is impossible, without Bible teaching, to see how salvation ever can be inserted into the condition ofa ainful man. This naturally leads us to another inquiry- • • Life,' by Dr. Macfarlane. 1 Coleridge, • Biograpbia Literarill,' quoted by MMleod. • Bwikin. See also Joseph Oook'1 lectuze ou. 'The Solar Light' mi. z:t. 1----15.) THE REVELATION 011' ST, JOHN TIIE DIVINE. 491
VJI. WHAT WILL BB TBB IBSUES OF Tm: .JUDGHBNT? Th,•se will be twofoW. L E1e1T1al life. (Comp. Matt. xxv. 31-40; Rom. viii. 33, 34; 1 J"hn iv. 17; 2 Tim. w~ 8; eh. ii. 10; iii. 6.) Scripture is very clear as to the issues of the judgment iu. ilie case of the bleBSed, There is, in facr, one sentence iu the paragraph before us w:W.Ch. indicates the joyous BSpect of· the judgment to them. " Another book. was Q. ~ ned, which is the book of life" (cf. Isa. iv. 3; Luk.ex. 20; Phil. iv. 3; Heb. xii. 2i:I; l'.hil. iii. :tO). This book of lift' includes all the saved. E,•ery one of them is wrnien t.h~. The' VJ1.ther's name is written on their foreheads. Their names are written iu the Fathrr'e bqok. And this is emphatically • book of grace. Without the redemp- t.ive scheme of Divine love, there never would have been any such book at all. N-0r should it be left unnoticed that it is called in eh. xiii. 8 and uL 27 the Lamb'• l,ook of life. ·The uam~ recorded there are of those who have bean redeemed by.his blood; -.d. who are his purchased poss68llion. These shall be welcomed by him to the ever- ~tilq:dom "prepared from ,tile foundation of the world." Difficulty (1): Diffi- eulti81l µ'Illy._ occur t.o the, minds of many; such as these: lf it be • JJ18tW: of reveiiled, truth tlnlt - - . words, and thoughts ,shall be b.rougM forth to light illld:if