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The Great Controversy 1888
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
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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 their testimony to justify or to 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
intrusted 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, in the person
of the poor, the afflicted, the orphan, or the widow? God has made us