BY REV. RICHARD S. STORRS.

PREPARATION FOR MEETING GOD.

AMOS iv. 12.-Prepare to meet thy God.

"He compasseth our path,

"God is not far from every one of us." and knoweth our lying down and rising up." In the closet, the social circle, and the sanctuary-in the house and by the way-nay, in every department of life he is present, to observe and to succeed or frustrate our purposes. More than this-" if we ascend into heaven, he is there; if we make our bed in hell, behold he is there: if we take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there does his hand lead us, and his right hand uphold us." "Whither shall we flee

from his presence?"

But there is another sense in which God meets the children of men. There are those that love and obey him; and to them he furnishes gracious admonitions of their sins and duties; smiles on their efforts to serve him, grants them precious consolations, and sweet earnests of the rewards laid up for the just in heaven.

Others there are who reject his authority, and pour dishonor on his name;—and these he meets as an adversary, with merited rebuke and righteous indignation. To such a meeting rebellious Israel is summoned in the text :-a summons that will one day be heard by all persevering sinners.

But can it be, that He who has styled himself "the God of love," will ever come in robes of vengeance, and visit on men their iniquities, according to the literal tenor of his threatenings? Will He, who is merciful and gracious—he who is compassionate and kind—be so inexorably just, that he will never clear the guilty? Inquiries like these doubtless arose in the minds of the Israelites; for, in the context, they are referred to what he had already done to them, as proof that he would execute his threatenings against them to the full, unless repentance and reformation intervened. "I have given you cleanness of teeth and want of bread in all your cities. I have smitten you with blasting and mildew, and sent the palmer-worm to devour the fruits of your fields. I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt—and I have overthrown you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah; yet ye have not returned unto me."

Famine, pestilence, and sword—those terrible ministers of justice in this world, had nearly depopulated the land, and converted it into a desert. And, more than all this, was denounced-even total extirpation—" I will draw you away with hooks, and your posterity with fish-hooks-not a remnant shall remain."- "Thus will I do unto thee, O Israel; therefore, "prepare to meet thy God," as thy Judge!

The fact, that God is one day to be met by every man in judgment, should constrain us to contemplate seriously,

I. His judicial character.

II. The preparation necessary for meeting him in peace.
Observe then,

I. His judicial character. Four points in it demand special attention; viz. His Righteousness, Benevolence, Knowledge, and Power.

1. His righteousness. God has no disposition to invade the rights, nor to impugn the just claims of any being in the universe. "All his ways are judgment, a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." His cherished affections, and chosen course of action shall determine his destiny.

Every law of God is righteous, both in its principle and penalty-is perfectly adapted to the capacities of his creatures-commended to their consciences-fitted to promote their welfare, and ensure them the possession of enduring happiness. And in the execution of law, entire impartiality is maintained. None will be punished beyond his demerits. None will be exempted from punishment because of adventitious elevation or factitious distinction among his fellows. The high and the low-the rich and the poor-the Scythian and the barbarian-the bond and the freewill find their sentence awarded, agreeably to the eternal principles of right.

2. His benevolence. "There is none good but one-that is, God." Of all goodness in the universe, he is the fountain and head. From him every beam of benevolence flows that irradiates any corner of the world -and to him every reflected beam converges, surrounding his throne with its brightest splendors.

Strict righteousness, regardless of every thing but its legitimate end, would exterminate the race of man from the earth at once-and consign all to realms of darkness and despair. But, blended with benevolence, it dispenses benefits to the undeserving-reserves to those under the curse of the law, a season of probation-bestows on them common mercies in abundance-proffers them life and immortality-points out the way to escape destruction-urges motive on motive to repentance-and provides refreshment and consolation for the fainting spirit, during its conflicts and sufferings.

It is in vain to contend that the benevolence of God does not consist with severe inflictions of his wrath-or that it breaks up the established connection between sin and sorrow, and assures the sinner of deliverance from the second death. It is no more inconsistent with the benevolence of God to subject the sinner to the gnawing of the worm that never dies, in a future state, than to subject him to pain here. His condition may as well be according to his character, hereafter as in the present life-and there is no more incongruity between the benevolence of God and the misery of the sinner, in eternity, allowing that no injustice is done him— than between the benevolence of God and the sufferings of the sinner in this life. And the numberless diseases that are abroad, carrying desolation and wo into the habitations of men-may well persuade us that all the threatened judgments of eternity may be executed on the persevering transgressor, not less consistently with Divine goodness, than with righteousness and truth.

Yet, while we know that God is good, we have security that He will

bestow on every creature all such blessings as they can receive without injustice done to God himself, and to other holy intelligences. "O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!"

3. His knowledge. "The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed."

We can imagine a judge, disposed to do right, and to show all favor to a criminal that the case will admit, yet falling into error, and passing unrighteous judgment, through the single defect of Knowledge: he may not perfectly comprehend the law-or he may not be furnished with all the necessary evidence in the case or he may overlook essential points in that evidence and of course his decision may not be equitable.

Not so with the Judge of all the earth. He that framed the law, shall not he understand it? He that looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven, shall not he fully understand the evidence on which judgment is to be rendered? Surely, "his eyes are on all the ways of men, and he seeth all their goings. He searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts." Whatever motive to action influences the human heart, he knows it perfectly. Whether a transgression proceed from infirmity or deliberate purpose, from ignorance or malevolence-none can instruct him. Every circumstance that contributes to extenuate or aggravate the plea-every plea of the sinner in vindication of his conduct, and every excuse that he may urge in palliation-is weighed and understood by him, while he takes not counsel of any. On him falsehood can never be imposed for truth-nor can his eye be diverted from the great point in which the guilt of transgression lies. "His understanding is infinite."

4. His power. "The thunder of his power who can understand ??* Behold the heavens that he has garnished with ten thousand thousand worlds!-Or examine the foundations of the earth-suspended upon nothing but his pleasure-maintaining an unobstructed course amid innumerable other worlds, and furnishing every accommodation to intelligencies, who are destined never to die-Behold him measuring oceans in the hollow of his hand, meting out the heavens with a span, comprehending the dust of the earth in a measure, weighing the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance-and doing according to his will, in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.

The material universe is fitted up, as a great storehouse of means, for the accomplishment of the purposes formed in the Infinite Mind. By these, the mercies of God are to be revealed—the judgments of God to be executed-and every decision on the character of men and angels to be

carried into effect.

He is able to "keep his saints from falling, and to present them faultless before the throne of his glory with exceeding joy:" And when "he stretcheth out his hand against his enemies, both he that helpeth and he that is holpen shall fall together." "Who knoweth the power of his anger?" Is it not "a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God?"

Forget not-ye, that are borne onward, in time's rapid flight, to the bar of judgment-that the same God sits judge on your destiny there, who

once swept the earth of every living thing-overthrew the cities of the plain-caused Babylon to drink the cup of his fury-overturned Jerusalem, his chosen city, in anger-and has since spread desolations far and wide, dark and fearful, over the world-all in illustration of his judicial character. And He it is, who still says of his enemies-"Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; and though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:" "I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good."

Behold then your final Judge ;-so pure, that the very heavens are not clean in his sight; so good, that his mercy itself is to be feared; so deep in understanding, that none can search it out: so powerful, that none can say to him, "What doest thou?" Before such a Judge, who can stand? Must we not all say, with the man after God's own heart-" Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord, for in thy sight shall no flesh living be justified?"

Let the reverence and awe that thus filled the heart of David possess our bosoms, and we shall be ready to consider the second part of our subject-viz. :

II. The preparation for meeting God in peace.

On this point many absurd notions are held—and to one or two of them some attention is due.

Say some-no other preparation for meeting God is necessary than sorrow for our sins, our tears and prayers cannot fail to move his compassions. But, was ever man more overwhelmed by conscious guilt, or more deeply stricken with remorse, than JUDAS. Did ever man feel more keenly, or attest his feelings more clearly than he, when he threw down the wages of his iniquity, and went and hanged himself to escape the pangs of an accusing conscience? Yet this man, was "the son of perdition," and "went to his own place;" and Scripture has declared, that "it had been better for him never to have been born." No. Anguish of spirit makes no satisfaction for sin-tears blot it not from the records of heaven-and terrors disarm it not of its power to blast the hopes of the soul for ever!

Who ever heard-who ever dreamed, that either justice or compassion required the of sorrows a criminal to be regarded as an atonement for his crime? Or who ever heard of a law that threatened its transgressor with no other punishment than sorrow for his offence?

That man would be deemed a lunatic, who should think to escape the hold of his country's violated laws, by pleading his regrets for his offence; and equally beside himself is the sinner, who, after trampling the laws of Heaven under foot, expects to avoid the threatened consequences by the tears of grief.

But, it is said again, that God can sustain no injury from the sins of frail men-and ought therefore to be easily satisfied. It is granted, that men cannot destroy the happiness, nor the security of God. But why not?-Because he has power to defend himself—because, wrapped in his own infinite perfections, their wickedness cannot reach him-and then, another question—

How does he defend himself? Obviously by defending his law-that law which the sinner strives to break down, and wishes annihilated. But

that law is the grand safeguard of his throne. Let it be destroyed, and the divine government is at an end-and the moment when it can be transgressed with impunity, it is destroyed; and it is then transgressed with impunity, when its penalty shall cease to be executed; but its penalty is not sorrow for having broken it; and therefore sorrow cannot make it whole, nor render needless the infliction of threatened suffering.

Moreover, the evil of sin is not to be estimated by the amount of injury on God it actually accomplishes; but rather according to its tendencies, or what it would accomplish if unrestrained. And it is not too much to say, that unrestrained, it would go on to break down and destroy, till not a vestige of human enjoyment remained-till the besom of destruction had swept over heaven-till Jehovah had been despoiled of his glories-his throne overturned, and his being annihilated. A depopulated world, a wasted universe-a blended hell and heaven-a mighty chaos without a God to control its elements, would form the gloomy but certain trophies of sin's dominion.

And can Reason, clouded as it is, teach that such an evil may be expiated by tears?that the sinner will be crowned with eternal life in consideration of his sorrows, when his dispositions are such that without Almighty power to restrain him he would fill the universe with misery?

And, if the tears of the sinner will avail nothing, can he present any other offering with acceptance?

Simon, the sorcerer thought that the gift of God might be purchased with money. Cain presented the first fruits of the field. Jacob devoted the spoils of Amalek. Ahab multiplied the altars of Baal. And the Pharisee paid tithes, fasted and prayed-and internally kept all the commandments from his youth up.-Were they accepted?

"I will take no

God has said, "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice." bullock out of thine house, nor he-goat out of thy flocks; for every beast is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee, for the world is mine and the fulness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?"

Two principles are here disclosed, on which God rejects the sacrifices of the sinner.

1. The sinner has nothing of his own to offer to God.

2. If he had any thing, God does not need it. And are they not both true? What can the sinner call his own? Is he more than the steward of another's estate? And what steward will take a portion of his offended master's property, and present it to him as the price of reconciliation.

God is the sole proprietor of all the sinner has in possession-he can lay his hand on nothing, and say, This is not God's. He might be stript therefore of all that he has, and sent to death and judgment in an hour, and have no ground of complaint. To attempt, then, to cancel any measure of his guilt, by offering to God any portion of his property, or any other talent committed to him, is an insult for which he might justly be sent to perdition without delay. And then again

If the sinner held any thing independent of God, yet God has no need of it and hence the pertinency of the prophet's interrogatories,-"Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings-with calves of a year old?