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The Great Controversy
Sins that have not been repented of and forsaken will not be par-
doned and blotted out of the books of record, but will stand to witness
against the sinner in the day of God. He may have committed his evil
deeds in the light of day or in the darkness of night; but they were open
and manifest before Him with whom we have to do. Angels of God
witnessed each sin and registered it in the unerring records. Sin may be
concealed, denied, covered up from father, mother, wife, children, and
associates; no one but the guilty actors may cherish the least suspicion
of the wrong; but it is laid bare before the intelligences of heaven. The
darkness of the darkest night, the secrecy of all deceptive arts, is not
sufficient to veil one thought from the knowledge of the Eternal. God
has an exact record of every unjust account and every unfair dealing.
He is not deceived by appearances of piety. He makes no mistakes in
His estimation of character. Men may be deceived by those who are
corrupt in heart, but God pierces all disguises and reads the inner life.
How solemn is the thought! Day after day, passing into eternity,
bears its burden of records for the books of heaven. Words once spoken,
deeds once done, can never be recalled. Angels have registered both
the good and the evil. The mightiest conqueror upon the earth cannot
call back the record of even a single day. Our acts, our words, even
our most secret motives, all have their weight in deciding our destiny
for weal or woe. Though they may be forgotten by us, they will bear
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their testimony to justify or condemn.
As the features of the countenance are reproduced with unerring
accuracy on the polished plate of the artist, so the character is faith-
fully delineated in the books above. Yet how little solicitude is felt
concerning that record which is to meet the gaze of heavenly beings.
Could the veil which separates the visible from the invisible world be
swept back, and the children of men behold an angel recording every
word and deed, which they must meet again in the judgment, how
many words that are daily uttered would remain unspoken, how many
deeds would remain undone.
In the judgment the use made of every talent will be scrutinized.
How have we employed the capital lent us of Heaven? Will the Lord
at His coming receive His own with usury? Have we improved the
powers entrusted us, in hand and heart and brain, to the glory of God
and the blessing of the world? How have we used our time, our pen,
our voice, our money, our influence? What have we done for Christ,