as our outward Book of Life, to be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, has said that "God is a revealer of secrets" (Dan. ii. 47); and that "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him." (Psalm xxv. 14.)
John says, "I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and 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." (Rev. xx. 12.) The books mentioned here denote the interiors of the life of man, upon which the man himself inscribes all his qualities, thoughts, and actions; and these shew the quality of his life. As no one knows the hidden life of any one but the Lord, so these books are closed here, and only opened in the future world. There it is that the once hidden life is developed; all earthly coverings are dissolved, and the once closed-up interiors, in which the real quality and character of his being are inscribed in faithful characters, are made apparent. His inward quality of life, is, by the light of heaven, seen; and from this opening of the books all is disclosed—a just judgment is effected. "There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known." (Matt. x. 26.) The Book of Life is the very inmost love of the soul, upon which the man has written all the qualities of his being, and where the kingdom of God, as to affection and thought, will be found indelibly written. God, who is Love itself, who, to speak after the manner of men, is pleased when we are blessed, will not blot out the name of him who has overcome those secret sins and iniquities which are
