The Progress., 1896-10-17


No, no! Though you came up. The
worst sinner that was ever saved. ana
somebody, who knew you in this world
at one time as absolutely abandoned
and absolute. should say. Il never
heard Of your conversion and 90 not
believe You have Il right to be mere,
you could just laugh a laugh OF tri-
umph, and turning over the leaves con-
tanning the names of the redeemed,
say, Read it for yourself That is
my name, written out in full. ana 90
you not recognize the handwriting.
No young scribe OF heaven entered
that. No anonymous writer put 1t
there. Do you not see the tremor in
the lines? Do you not also see the bold
ness of the letters? Is it not as plain
as yonder throne. as plain as yondcr
and the handwriting unmistakable?
and the handwriting unmistakable"s
The crucificd Lord wrote it there the
dav 1 repented and turned. Hear it!
Hear it! Ny name is written there:
There!'
I have sometimes been tempted to
think that there Will be 50 many Of Es
in heaven that we will be lost in the
crowd. No. Each one Of us will be as
distinctly picked out and recognized as
was Abel when he entered from earth.
| the very first sinner saved, and at the
| head of that long procession of sinners
! saved in all the centuries. My dear
hearers. if we once get there. I do not
| want it left uncertain as to whether we
are to stay there. After you and I get
| fairly settled there. in our heavenly
! home. we do not want our title proved
! defective. We do not want to be eject
| ed from the heavenly premises. We do
n iS
| your room in the house of many man
! sions. and you have on an attire that
you ought not to have taken from the
| heavenly wardrobe, and that is not
! really your name on the BOOKS. If
| you had more carefully examined tho
! writing in the regieter at the gate yow
| would have found that the name was
not yours at all. but mine Now move
out. while l move in" Oh. what
wretchedness, after once worshippinG
in heavenly temples. to be compelled
| to turn your back on the music and
after having joined the society OF the
blessed. to be forced TO quit 1t forever.
and after having clasped our long-lost
kindred in heavenly embrace. to have
another separation! What an agony
would there be in such a good-by TO
heaven! Glory be to God on high that
our names will be so plainly written In
those volumes that neither saint. nor
cherub. nor seraph. nor archangel shall
doubt it for one moment, for five hun
dred eternities. If there were room for
SO many. The oldest inhabitant of
heaven can read 1t, and the child that
left it's mothers lap last night for
heaven can read it. You will not Just
look at your name and close the book,
but you will stand. and soliioQuize, and
say, ''ls it not wonderful that my name
is there at all? How much 1t cost my
Lord to get 1T there? Unworthy am
to have it in the same book with the
sons and daughters of martryiom and
with the choice spirits of all time! But
there it is. and SO plain the word s.nd
so plain all the letters!" And you will
turn forward and backward the leaves
and see other names there, perhaps
your fathers name, and your mothers
name, and your brothers name, and
your sisters name. and your wife's
name. and apostolic names, and say.
Il am not surprised that those names
are here recorded. They were better
than I ever was. But establishment
overwhelming, that my name is in this
book!' And turning back to the page
: on which ia inscribed your name. you
win stand and lock at it, until seeing
that others are waiting to examine the
!, records with reference to their own
names, you step back into the ranks
: of the redeemed, with them to talk over
the wonderment-
. Again, If you are SO happy as to find
| YOUR name IN the volumes Of eternity
you will find it written inde1ibly. &C
: I'D to the State Department in this ia
1 ttonal capital and zee the old treaties
signed by the rulers of foreign nations
I lust before or just after the beginning
9 of this century, and you will find that
9 some of the documents are so faded
i out that you can read only here and
q there a word. From the paper, yellow
}. with age, or the parchment unrollet
e before you. time has effaced line aftel
Q line You have to guess at the name
e and perhaps guess wrongly. Old Tim,
d ts represented rs carrying a scytha
s with which he cuts down the genera
e lions; but he carries also chemical
3 with which he eats out whole para
It graphs from important documents. W.
y talk about indelible ink: but there Il
It no such thing as indelible ink. It Il
X only a question of time. the complef
v obliteratiOn of all earthly signature
II and engrossments. But your name
10 put in the heavenly record, all the mil
t. lenniums OF heaven cannot dim 1t. Al
n ter you have been so long in glory tina,
n did You not possess imperishable mem
| Orv Won would ha fnrUotten the da