be too exalted? What spirituality of affection can be too intense, as an education for that day of God? To all the spiritual Israel must this address be solemnly applied. There must be with you, my brethren, a consistent, growing life of faith and piety; affections set upon things above; and a disposition to find all your treasures hid in Jesus Christ.

Your own souls are to be purified in holiness; to be exercised in communion with God; and to acquire the taste, the habits, and the dialect of heaven. The peculiar employments and joys of an holier world are to be made the subjects of your study, and the objects of your desire. It must have become the portion of your choice, to depart hence, and be with Christ, before you will be prepared to meet your God, or be able to assure your hearts before him.

The souls of others are to be saved. The holy kingdom of the Lord Jesus is to be established in the world; and the various means which he has placed in your hands, to build up this kingdom, are to be employed by you, with ardour, and thankfulness, and success. But alas, how little of your portion of this work has been accomplished! What darkness and misery prevail over large regions of the earth, while perhaps, to very few, have you ever given the cup of living water, for Christ's sake! What precious souls have you assisted to save? Are there any in heaven, are there any on the earth, who can praise God, that they have lived in the same age, or in the same world, with you? O, you have yet much, very much to do. And every grain which you can take from the vast heap of human wretchedness, is so much done towards breaking down the power

of Satan, and establishing the dominion of the Lord Jesus among men.

Personal holiness and active beneficence constitute the whole amount of pure and undefiled religion, as exemplified in the character which is required of the people of God. And though no worth can appertain to either, as proceeding from an imperfect and sinful being, yet undoubtedly, the higher are our attainments in both, the more full of peace and comfort will our souls be, at the coming of our God. Our triumph in that hour, will not rest indeed upon personal excellence, but upon the unsearchable riches of Christ. We shall look far higher, than to ourselves; and much farther back, than to our own lives, for our objects of praise. We shall ascribe all the glory, to that God who hath from the beginning, chosen us unto salvation, through the sanctification of the Spirit, and a belief of the truth. But we shall remember our work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father, as testifying to our hearts, our election of God.

In all the duties of an holy, active life, the spiritual Israel are to be prepared to meet their God. Beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know, that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. You have a great work to do, and but little time in which to do it. Many souls around you, are yet unconverted. Many are growing cold and careless. Many are but slowly progressing in grace. And for all, much sin is to be subdued, and much likeness to God attained, before they shall become meet to be partakers of the inherit

ance of the saints in light. All this is to be done quickly. God's appointed hours are rapidly approaching, and his plans of providence are fast developing. The Judge standeth at the door. O, when he comes, shall he find faith on the earth? Shall he find you waiting for his approach? Shall you be clothed in his righteousness, and presented without spot before him? Be ye sure of this. are safe in Jesus Christ.

See to it, that your souls Be anxious and watchful

for this great concern. And when the door is shut, irrevocably shut, be certain, that it shall be closed for your security, in an abode of eternal peace and triumph.

AMOS iv. 12.-Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.

IN presenting this message from Almighty God to his people, as a subject for your consideration, I proposed to speak of it, first, as a message to God's spiritual Israel, and secondly, as addressed to the idolatrous Israel. In one discourse upon this first division, I have spoken of the events which are to be referred to, as the coming of our God; and of the state of mind, which is required, as a preparation for these events.

III. The third topic for remark in this view of the text, will be the character under which God will come to his spiritual Israel. He is theirs, and he is their GOD. "Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel." Whether our reference be made to the first, or to the second advent of our God, the message of the text may be welcomed with joy by all his people. If he comes to them in their unconverted state, to deliver them from the bondage of their sins, to ransom them. from the power of eternal death, and to make them

free with the liberty of the sons of God; or, if he comes to them, when their earthly probation has been finished, to bring them unto Zion, with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; he comes to them in each case, as their God; as a Saviour who is welcome to their hearts, and whose love to them, is an everlasting love. To this attractive and precious character of an approaching Redeemer, I desire now to direct your notice, while I ask you to consider the relation which he sustains to his people, and the mutual property which they have in each other.

He comes to them, not as an enemy whom they fear, but as a friend in whom they delight; not as a Ruler, whose power only makes him the more terrible, but as a protector, in whose ability to save unto the uttermost, they can altogether confide. There is a charm given by the personal possession of a treasure, which can never belong to that which is not our own. However valuable an object may be in itself, it cannot fail to become in our estimation, far more so, if we are permitted to appropriate it to ourselves. Now the glorious Emanuel is in himself, an inexhaustible treasure. All riches of wisdom, and power, and love are laid up in him. But he becomes to our view, still more precious, as his Spirit enables us to make him our own. When we have been taught to say in the assurance of a vital lasting union with him, "my beloved is mine, and I am his," we have learned a full answer to the inquiries of the world, "what is thy beloved, more than another beloved?" To those who believe, he is precious; and though now they see him not, yet believing in him, they rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory. They