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Judged From the Records, July 23
For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret
thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Ecclesiastes 12:14
.
In the great day of final atonement and investigative judgment, the
only cases considered are those of the professed people of God. The
judgment of the wicked is a distinct and separate work, and takes place
at a later period.... The books of record in heaven, in which the names
and the deeds of men are registered, are to determine the decisions of
the judgment....
The book of life contains the names of all who have ever entered the
service of God. Jesus bade His disciples, “Rejoice, because your names
are written in heaven.”
Luke 10:20
. Paul speaks of his faithful fellow
workers, “Whose names are in the book of life.”
Philippians 4:3
....
“A book of remembrance” is written before God, in which are
recorded the good deeds of “them that feared the Lord, and that thought
upon his name.”
Malachi 3:16
. Their words of faith, their acts of love,
are registered in heaven....
There is a record also of the sins of men.... The secret purposes and
motives appear in the unerring register.
Every man’s work passes in review before God.... Opposite each
name in the books of heaven is entered, with terrible exactness, every
wrong word, every selfish act, every unfulfilled duty, and every secret
sin, with every artful dissembling. Heaven-sent warnings or reproofs
neglected, wasted moments, unimproved opportunities, the influence ex-
erted for good or for evil, with its far-reaching results, all are chronicled
by the recording angel.
If your name is registered in the Lamb’s book of life, then all will be
well with you. Be ready and anxious to confess your faults and forsake
them, that your mistakes and sins may go beforehand to judgment and
be blotted out.
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