a later period . " Judgment must begin at the house of God : and if it first begin at us , what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel ?" 1 Peter 4:17 .
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 . Says the prophet Daniel : " The judgment was set , and the books were opened ." The revelator , describing the same scene , adds : " Another book was opened , which is the book of life : and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books , according to their works ." Revelation 20:12 . 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 . Daniel , looking down to " a time of trouble , such as never was ," declares that God ' s people shall be delivered , " everyone that shall be found written in the book ." And the revelator says that those only shall enter the city of God whose names " are written in the Lamb ' s book of life ." Daniel 12:1 ; Revelation 21:27 .
" 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 . Nehemiah refers to this when he says : " Remember me , O my God , . . . and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God ." Nehemiah 13:14 . In the book of God ' s remembrance every deed of righteousness is immortalized . There every temptation resisted , every evil overcome , every word of tender pity expressed , is faithfully chronicled . And every act of sacrifice , every suffering and sorrow endured for Christ ' s sake , is recorded . Says the psalmist : " Thou tellest my wanderings : put Thou my tears into Thy bottle : are they not in Thy book ?" Psalm 56:8 .
There is a record also of the sins of men . " For God shall bring every work into judgment , with every secret thing , whether it be good , or whether it be evil ." Every idle word that men shall speak , they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment ." Says the Saviour : " By thy words thou shalt be justified , and by thy words thou shalt be condemned ." Ecclesiastes 12:14 ; Matthew 12:36 , 37 . The secret purposes and motives appear in the unerring register ; for God " will bring to light the hidden things of darkness , and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts ." I Corinthians 4:5 . " Behold , it is written before Me , . . . your iniquities , and the iniquities of your fathers together , saith the Lord ." Isaiah 65:6 , 7 .
Every man ' s work passes in review before God and is registered for faithfulness or unfaithfulness . Opposite each name in the books of heaven is entered with terrible exactness
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