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APPEARANCE BEFORE
GOD.
tSERM. XIV.
my
nature,
or
in
my
circumstances
that
can secure
me
against the summons
of
death
and
judgment
?"
It
may
be
but a
few
days before
we
are called;
and
is
every one
of
us
here ready? This
is
a question
of
infinite
import-
ance, and let
us
not
give
rest
to
our
souls, till
we
can
answer
it
to
our
satisfaction.
O
how
should
we
live
!
how
should
we
act
!
how
should
we
speak
!
how
should
we
worship
!
if
this were
always
upon
our
hearts
!
O
that
we
could
but realize
these
awful things to
our
minds,
and
make them more
familiar
to
our
thoughts daily
!
Could
sinners
then
be
one
day
contented without
converting
grace,
and with-
out
a
justifying
righteousness? Could they any longer
refuse the mercy
of
the
gospel,
and
Jesus
the Saviour
?
Could
they be satisfied
to
appear
all
guilty before
God,
and
no
friend there
to speak for them
?
no
intercessor to
plead
for
them? none
to
undertake their
cause? Could
they
go on to sin with
a negligent
mind,
if
they
thought the
judgment-door
just
opening upon
them,
and
Jesus Christ
at
hand?
Could
it
be possible
we
should
have
such cold
and
lazy
desires
after
a Saviour and
his
salvation,
if
we
thought our
everlasting happiness or
misery
depended
upon the next
day,
the next hour, or the next moment?
For
we
know
not
how soon
the summons
may come,
and
state
us
before
his
tribunal.
II.
The
second
part of
my
discourse leads
me
to
con-
sider the
blessed
difference
that
there
shall
be
between
a
christian's
appearing
before
God
in
heaven, and
his áp=
pearance
here
in divine
ordinances
before
God
on
earth:-
and
by
a
comparison
of
these
two,
may the
Spirit
of
God
awaken
our
faith,
our
hope,
our
love,
and our
joy,
and
all
join
to
promote our sanctification.
The
differences then between
our standing
before God
in worship
now,
and
our
worshipping before God
in
heaven, are
such
as
these
:
1.
Now
the
true
christian
appears
in
a
mixed assem-
bly
of
saints and sinners
:
there
the_
assembly
is
all holy,
and not
one sinner
amongst them.
Here
sincere
souls
and hypocrites
meet
together
in
worship; there the
hy-
pocrite
is
for ever banished.
In
the houses
of
God,
on
earth,
the
wicked
Canaanites
will
mingle with the chil-
dren
of
Israel
;
but
in his
temple,
in heaven, every
one
is
an
Israelite indeed; There
shall no more
be
found