The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-11-25

of that curtain to let it through would
give US a glimpse of the unseen things pc
yond. And though we are forever dlsap-
pointed, the vague hope and expectation
comes back again and again, when we see
that curtain stirred by another friend S
departure. After he has passed we can
almost see the curtain which he stirred
moving TREMENDOUSLY for while, ere II
settles once more into stiffness.
Behind this curtain of death, ST. John, IN
his great vision, passed, and he has tried
to tell us what things he saw there. He
could not tell us all, for the ineffable
wonders of eternity cannot be translated
into our mortal language. He did not tell
rs any of the occupations or details of
that other life; but most of what we want
to know is wrapped up in the simple and
sublime declaration, 81 saw the Dead
small and great, stand before Cod If
we, can fully know two things-that the
dead are, and that they are with Cod
all else we can most willingly leave I'M
known. And those two things, if we can
believe st. John, are sure.
What is meant by standing before
God?'' We are apt to picture to ourselves
a grand scene. Host beyond host, rank
beyond rank, the millions who have lived
upon this earth, all standing together in
the indescribable presence Of ONE who
looks not only at the mass, but each in
dividual, seeing the whole life and char
actcr of every single soul. The picture is
sublime, and it is what st. John intends
to suggest. But we must get behind the
picture to its meaning, for it describes but
one scene only-but the whole picture and
condition of everlasting life.
The souls of men, in that eternal world,
are always standing before God" What
does that mean? The child stands before
his father; the poet before nature;i the
philanthropst before humanity; the lesis
lator stands before justice; the politician
before the people; the scholar stands be-
fore knowledge. You see what the words
mean now. Every soul that counts itself
capable of judgment and responsibility
stands in the presence by which the ma
ture of his judgment is decreed. The
higher the presence, the loftier and great
err though often the more oppressed, and
anxious is the life. A strong, true man
presses up from judgment room to judg-
ment room, and is not satisfied with
meeting any standard, so long as there
is any higher one he has not faced. Out
Of all these partial and imperfect judg-
ment chambers, when men die, they are
carried up into the presence Of the all
perfect righteousness and are judged by
that. All previous judgments go for MOTH
ing unless tllay find their confirmation
there.
The pets of society. and the populace,
and of their own self esteem, find now
they must face another standard, and feel
its unfamiliar awfuIness. Just think of
it.! A man, who, all his life on earth,
never once asked 'Is this right?" now
when he is dead, behold! he finds himself
in a new life, when that is the only ques-
ton about anything. The old questions
SIS it comfortable, or popular, or profita-
ble?" are all gone. The very atmosphere Of
this new world kills them. And upon that
amazed soul, from every side, there pours
this new, strange, searching question. "Is
it right?''
That is what it is for that dead man "to
stand before God