ives, right lives, lives like His own
life; so that our past sinful lives shall be behind us like a dream,
and we shall find them forgotten and forgiven in the day of
judgment;--wonderful mercy! but listen to it--it is God's own
promise--'If the wicked man turneth away from all his sins that he
hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is
lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his
transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned
to him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.'

They shall not be mentioned to him. My friends, if, as I have been
showing, the great misery, the great horror of all, is having our
sins mentioned to us in That Day, and being made utterly ashamed by
them, what greater mercy can we want than this--not to have them
mentioned to us, and not to come to shame; not to be plagued for
ever with the hideous ghosts of our past bad thoughts, bad words,
bad deeds, coming all day long to stare us in the face, and cry to
us while the accusing Devil holds them up to us, as if in a looking-
glass--'Look at your own picture. This is what you are. This fool,
this idler, this mean, covetous, hard-hearted man, who cared only
for himself;--this stupid man, who never cared to know his duty or
do his duty;--this proud, passionate, revengeful man, who returned
evil for evil, took his brothers by the throat, and exacted from
them the uttermost farthing;--this ridiculous, foolish, useless,
disagreeable, unlovely, unlovable person, who went through the world
neither knowing what he ought to do, nor whither he was going, but
was utterly blind and in a dream; this person is you yourself. Look
at your own likeness, and be confounded, and utterly ashamed for
ever!' What greater misery than that? What greater blessing than
to escape that? What greater blessing than to be able to answer the
accusing Devil, 'Not so, liar! This is not my likeness. This ugly,
ridiculous, hateful person is not I. I was such a one once, but I
am not now. I am another man now; and God knows that I am, though
you may try to shame me by telling me that I am the same man. I was
wrong, but I am right now; I was as a sheep going astray, but now I
am returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of my soul, to whom I
belonged all the while; and now I am right, in the right road; for
with the heart I have believed God unto righteousness, and He has
given me a clean heart, and a