The Book of Remembrance.
By M. Wood
“Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name.” Mal. 3:16. HERE are several tests, or marks, of true believers. They fear God, not with a guilty, apprehensive fear, but with the fear of love. They speak often one to another. It is not only in words that we speak to one another; but also in deeds, and sacrifices, and mutual helps, we can strengthen and encourage one another in the Christian warfare. They meditate upon God, his name, and his works; they adore the Saviour, and love the brethren, thus fulfilling the royal law. And the Lord adds, “And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels.” That day, evidently signifies the day in which our Lord Jesus Christ shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints. Those whose sins and iniquities have been blotted from the book of remembrance, those who have repented of, and forsaken, their sins, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And Christ shall be glorified in them, and by them. What a glorious place shall the future be; what a bright assembly; what a grand gathering. Let us anticipate its near approach. Let us be refreshed, and encouraged123to press forward in the work of overcoming, and let us make thorough work of overcoming, and know for a surety that we are accepted of God. Let us ever keep in mind that the eye of the Lord is ever upon us, and that every act of our lives is not only noticed, but recorded in the book of Heaven; if but the giving of a cup of cold water, in the name of Jesus, it will not go unrewarded; it will be registered in the book of remembrance, by the recording angel, and will count in our favor in the Judgment. How interesting and encouraging to the homeward-bound traveler, that the great Creator of heaven and earth will stoop from listening to the songs of the angels’ choir, and lends a listening ear to the kind word said by a brother to a brother, the cheering remark made to one who is faltering and needs to be encouraged by word and by deed. Those acts of mercy and love are noted in Heaven. Those whispered words of cheer are echoed in the Judgment hall and registered in the book of remembrance, where the names of Enoch and Elijah were once recorded. Their sins having been blotted out, God took them to himself. We have the same God to deal with. He is the same, yesterday, to-day, and forever, and before we can be called ready, and waiting the Master’s return, we must be converted, and become as little children. If we are Christ’s jewels, which true Christians are, we shall in some degree reflect his image, and give evidence to the world that we are such. M. WOOD.