Discerning the Righteous from the Wicked in Present Life

Malachi's prophecy of the judgment day reveals a transformative moment when human conscience awakens to absolute clarity. "Then shall ye return," the prophet declares, speaking of a conversion to full recognition of neglected duty and past transgressions. In that awful day, the delusions of folly and self-love dissolve entirely. Conscience, no longer blinded by corrupted reason or overwhelmed by violent passions, perceives vice in all its depravity and guilt attended with all its terrors and remorse.

Yet we need not await that future world to discern the contrast between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not. The distinctions manifest themselves here, in present life, through intellectual and moral superiority.

The man who serves Adonai possesses a steady, elevated, and comprehensive mind. His belief—a strong and lively faith implanted in early youth and cherished from inclination—receives Divine revelation that instructs him in the ways of His providence. Through frequent meditations upon the Almighty Father, the pious man discovers a natural relish for grandeur and sublimity.

Contrast this with the worldling whose low thoughts and grovelling desires occupy themselves entirely with temporal pleasures. His taste for the sublime, confined chiefly to productions of art, admires only parts, never the whole. He gazes with wonder at the mere creature without raising his thoughts to the great Creator.