<:boqt himself on the 1iouls of others. If we have helped them heavenward, that is there; if we have urged them hell ward, that is there. ·2. But chiefly in' our own souls. We are. always writing such record, and it msy be read even now in• the body, in ·the countenance, in the very way wt uear ourselws before our' fclfow.:.'men., · Character C1ui be read now, It comes out at the eyes, in the look, the aspect, ii! h~'r<l in tlie tone of voice'. But much more helps to conceal it. The restraintsohociety, the regard t.o the opinion ofothers, make men reticent and re!lerved .and full of-corio«ilment of thekrea.1 selves. But in the spiritual body it is altogether probable that the essence of the rila.n will be far more. visible-may, in fa.et, be, as many have ~l;longht,'the creator of itfi body, sd. that "every seed" shall have "its own body." But on the sqrtl itself its record:·will be read., Many a man cmt trace yet the sCllr of a wound, a_nd that, not a: s6Veril one, which '.he received thirty, forty, fifty, years tmd more ii.go; The··ever- chii.nglng body will' so hold its tecord. And there' are scars of the soul, · Wounds infilcted on it wiir abide and be visible so long a'S th~ soul lasts; - ~i~e·!lxe nndefelo~ plate of the photographer,.a p:iere blurred sµmce until he plungent into th-e batb, an\l' then the image comes out' clearly; so' our souls are now illegible and their record indi~ tiiicf;_.; but when plunged into the' bath. of eternity, then :wha.,t· _ha.ii ,been impressed ther_e~ll will_ be disti~ct and clear. . ~hen the image of '" the deeds done in the Jl.ody" wilt collie out w1th startling but unemng accuracy. If man can find out means; .as he ·has found, so to register"the words and tones of a speaker that they can be reproduced years after, and whenever it is desired, is there not in that discovery.of science ,a sole!)ln suggestion that all our "idle " an~ worse ''words" may be recorded_ somewhere, anq be heard again when we thought they·were forgotten for ever? ·Yes, there are records. And- · . . ., . III. A .TCDGMENT'. '' It is appointed unto men once to die, .arid after death the jndginent." "And they were judged ever)' man," etc. (ver. _18). What do·these Scriptures mean? Now, the Greek word for" judginent" is,"_crisis;" that is the'.Greek word, simply, in English letters. . But what .is more is that our, word "crisis" does more accurately set forth the meaning of," judgm<int·" than ~bat· js:tommonly under- stQOd thereby. When we speak of a "_crisis," we triean a turning-point, a· decisive settling as to the course w_hich 'affairs will take. That is a crisis. ''But when \ve speak of" judgment," the iri)agety of these. verses rise up before· our-tnindtl,· and we thfnk' of an external judge, and a sentence that he ·passes upon us. Judgment:, howerer;Often takes pface. How cqmmon it is to. hear it said of a man, whf;inSSJ;Jassed_througb: sop:ie great experience; "IIe.'.has never.·been tlie 88.JDe man' since•t Great tria.is; dis-appoiht-, ments, disti-esses of ri'.ny kind, and great sumiesses ·and wealth ilso/act 8S' criseiJ, tfu'n.: ing-points, judgments; to a map. 'l'hey act like .the water-:shea of a district, which determines w}ljch way the strP;iims shall flow~. so these great cri~ of • man's life turn thts way or that the moral' and spiritual flispositions which dwell in hinil They do much to settle him in a fixed habit of ch~picter; for g(!od or J,11, 'as the case may be. How much more, then, after "death" must. there be "Judgment .""I· Then; freed from all the restraints of life; from all that hindered ihe_ manifestation of what 'he reany was, hie nature now gravitates towards that side of spiritual· character to which it has long ~n leaning, out from which it has hitherto bei:nl held back. It takes up ,its positio,il. according to its nature. If evil, with the evil; if good, with thl3 good~for In this case hla µa.me is found "written in the book" of life." It is ill for us to· put off the idea of iP\fgment until some f~r-distant day, amid some unwonted scenes. · God•s judgmen.t-s ~~ c~!,ltint!81lY. talting p1llce, atjd ..~very t~ought, act, ap.d_ wo~ is helping to determine to which side, wne.thet to the r1g1i:t hand or to the left; our souls_ shall go. · · ·tv. Tiu;)' si!JNTP.QE. ' lt has lieen. said that .ihi's jµdgment'told. of bends' of the ungodly only. aµd,1!h# .tb~ bpok qf life fa ,inentforiid b~ly"fo-r the' sake of shO"Wing " tb.at thcw !la,JheS ate IlJ.l($ej:"e~'! .. W..e ~nt1ot think' thi~, '.NQth~ is shld aoout .the _senM~c~ \M J~te of fin~~-RP:lY. Aii.!'!1 _Qf ~h,e u~godly. '.' ~ lake of _fire;" .the, ••,i;iy-~ pf ti.!e ~ OOthxi11.J, a~il_ ~!pi~~ expr.essio·llfl.·,u_e meta_. phors tllk~!i.l'r:om . _ t11-8,barlihl_ou:rl>_~h,- meiµa of th"'~ I\~~ 1..To cast. i;nen ahve i:nto fire was a f~rfu! )lu,t'. µ9t ~usual PUD¥fi-:: ~!li:J.t. Jl_?P~ 1pS:~a~en ~cau~f of it~ fearfu~~e~s ~ ~ ,~g~te. o.f'"t~~ _'li~al ,fat~ of•;h~, ungod-ly.. EvV, c_liaract~~ such a~ that mfo w.hich_ thiiy Lave settJeff ,is like a rag1~g #fe~ and the blinnhess of l\.eart and mind which attends suoh cbaractet ~s like .H the· bbidk~ ness of darkness" itself. · We may see men in hell to-day wh£in filled with tpe fury l" • - '.• " • (J ot CH. n:. 1-15.] THE 'iEVELATION ,OF ST. JOHN THE .DIVINE.' 499
~ ~'.lld passion; and/bl~ 08 God, w:e ~y 866 othe~ ~- lieiven because fill~ 'with the peace of God. _Heaven or •hell is, in gr11&t .degree, in, a _man ere ever .. he ,eµters either th,e one or the olher. They are. in us before we are in them, and the ju<J,gment is but each. man's going to his .OIVD,ph\ce. 'Wha.t solemq, oo.nfirma.tion, then, <lo such Scriptures as that before us receive from observed facts and experiences of meid,q.t)us life I What urgency, therefore, do they lend to the exhortat~, "Corµmit thy war 1qlto the Lord" I And how prompt should be our resolve .to entrust tpe k;eepi11g o( our si;,uls unto Christ, so that in the great judgment after death they ma:r. go with Christ and his saints.into eternal life I "Jesus, by thy wounds we pray, help.npw that our na,me.s may be writte11,in the book of life" (Hengstenberg).-S. O. · ·