shall have become fitted to behold Him in Heaven. But He Who took
our flesh was manifest in the flesh, and was seen, and touched, and
handled. In that same body He rose from the dead; in that same glorified
body He ascended into Heaven, to fill all things. And so after His
Ascension He was seen by S. Stephen {63} and by S. Paul. That human
nature, therefore, we are to believe is so present in Paradise that the
sight of Him is vouchsafed even there to those who may be "with Him."

What, then, follows from this? It follows that the soul will not only
remember but also be able to judge of the past. For not only will it see
its sins, but it will behold Christ also. It will see them, therefore,
in the light of the perfect love, and most gracious sinlessness of Jesus
Christ. It will look upon sin's stains as they stand out in contrast
with His purity, its ingratitude in contrast with His compassion. He
will be the atmosphere of the soul's existence. All the shame and
dishonour, which in life the soul so complacently accepted, will then
overwhelm it with self-reproach and very bitter compunction. This is
what is meant by seeing sins as GOD sees them. It is to see them as the
soul will see them under the sense of the Presence of the Holy Christ.
Then will the soul know its guilt as it never knew it before. The guilt
of sin will then be no bare expression, no conventional formula, but a
spiritual fact, not an abstract doctrine, but a concrete reality.

There will be revealed also to the soul the true meaning and significance
of GOD'S providences in life, which at the time were overlooked, or
slighted, or strangely misunderstood. Tokens of GOD'S love and care will
then find their interpretation. The soul will see plainly why was this,
wherefore was that, what that sorrow meant, what that loss, that parting
from one who was more dear than life. The many perplexities which on
earth misled the soul, of these the loving mercy and the gracious reason
will then be seen.

And will there not be with the amazing surprise at these revelations a
strange and unaccountable gladness? But, no less, at the thought of the
soul's past blindness and persistence in ill-doing, will there not be an
exquisite pain? And the soul's pain can be even more oppressive than the
pain of the body. "Pain," it may be asked, "in the Presence of Christ?"
Yes, indeed! pain, because in the Presence of Christ; pain in
remembering, and in the consci