192 APPEARANCE BEFORE GOD. favour. He is a God of spotless holiness, andI am defiled with a thousand sins , who shall make me appear lovely in his sight ! he is a God of inflexible justice, and I a guilty wretch, a crimi- nal, a malefactor, already condemned ; who shall plead for me, and obtain apardon ?'" O beg of Christ to introduce you with acceptance ; in him alone can we appear well -pleasing to God : He is the beloved of the Father, and if we are ever accepted, it must be in the beloved ; Eph. i. 6. Christ appears now in the pre- sence of Godfor us, in the virtue of his blood and spotless obedi- ence ; Heb. ix. 12, 24. He who once appeared with sin imputed, was made sin for us, and was treated as a sinner in the world for our sakes, now appears before God, without sin, in heaven, as our great High Priest and Surety, to make us acceptable to God there. Nor should our warmest devotions, nor our highest prai- ses, dare to appear therewithout him. Remember that the high priest himself among the Jews, was in danger of death, whensoever he weht into the holyof ho- lies, to appear before the tokens of the divine presence, if he had not proper garments upon him, and the blood if atonement with him ; see Ex. xxviii. 35, 43. Lev. xvi. 2, 13, 14. Let Aaronbe clothed, and the' blood so sprinkled, saith the Lord, lest he die. Howmuch moremay we fear destruction, if we rashly, or care- lessly, comenear and speak to God himself, and yet neglect the garment of righteousness, and the blood of sprinkling, and Christ our greatMediator. Remember, O christian, that for a sinner to appear before Godwithout the Mediator, is a thing of infinite terror, and not of comfort. A traitor would keep at the farthest distance from the prince, if he hath no friend to speak a word for him there. To come and present yourselves before God as sinners, without aSa- viour, would be but to awaken his wrath, and put him in- mind of your guilt, and his righteous vengeance. Remember therefore . to take Christ withyou when you come near to God. See Eph. ii. 3, 13, &c. " We are by nature children of wrath, and afar off from God," it is he only can bring us near : " No man cometh to the Father but by me ;" John xiv. 6. And as this is the only appointed way for sinners to appear before God, so it has been the sweet experience of ten thousand souls that they have drawn near to God, in this manner, with acceptance anddelight. Hearwhat manya childof God can tell you in this case : " When I had the first sight of my guilt and defilements, and beheld God in the terrorsof hisholiness and jus- tice, at aconsumingfire, I was affrighted at the thoughts of ap- pearingbefore him ; every threatening that I heard, I thought it was pronounced against me, nor could I delight myself in the blessings of his gospel, for they were not mine. But when he was
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