the sea and on the earth, the Proprietor and Governor of both, met him at the threshold, and raised the banners of his empire there. Man had sinned, and Satan now claimed the entire race as his own. His claim was disputed by the vicegerent of heaven --and from this time the conflict began.

What a day was this in heaven-what a day to man! The annunciation of pardon to the sinner through the blood of the Son of God formed a new era in the history of the universe. Not a question could have risen before, that inevitable perdition was the portion of all that sinned. But a new song is now heard in heaven, and new hope smiles on earth. By the entrance of sin all had become dark. Spiritual night covered the earth. But the morning had come-light began to streak the eastern horizon. The promise" was the first dawning of gospel light on this dark world. It was the sure precursor of the Sun of Righteousness. Christ was in this promise, the Saviour of a race yet to be born. Can you view him in a more interesting posture this side of the cross? It is in this position you see him more especially as the Hope of the World. The star that now arose on the dark and troubled waters of sin, was the star of hope. But for this light, the world had remained in total, unbroken darkness. But for this hope, man, in all his passing, hapless generations, had been shut up in the prison-house of fell despair forever. Had not Christ appeared as the seed of the woman that should bruise the serpent's head, man had been bruised, crushed, ruined, beneath the power of God's violated law.

What a pleasing, vital interest, have we, then, in this first presentation of the Lamb of God that should take away the sin of the world. Not yet incarnate, not yet presented as an offering for sin, yet he stood pledged to the great work of expiation and intercession, and held forth the unfailing promise that he would accomplish the work given to do.

The subject urges on us a few brief reflections:

1. If Christ occupies the positions here assigned him, under what obligations are Christians to be entirely his? His by crea tion, by preservation and government, as well as by redemption, how ought we to be his in affection, in honor, in service? How ought we to render him what is so richly his due? We owe him all things; and what robbery if we do not yield to him the whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. What, then, means this indifference, lukewarmness, deadness? Has Christ laid us under no obligations-required nothing of us-assigned us nothing to do? Shall we live as drones in the common hive? What do ye more than others, who make no professions?

2. What a comfortable security the Christian has, that if he trust in Christ he can never fail.

3. If Christ be what has been represented, how desperate is the case of the impenitent sinner! If you make Him who is the

Owner of all things, and the Governor of all, your enemy, and provoke him to shut you out from his favor, whither will you go -where will you seek a refuge? You become an outcast, destitute and wretched indeed. Hell shall be your only portion-the only spot where you shall find a place.

Will you, then, sinner, not stop and contemplate this " great sight?" The King of Glory, the Author and Finisher of salvation for you, you see here approaching this rebellious province and entering on his self-denying, humiliating work. He comes to vanquish Satan, to destroy sin, and to save sinners like you. Will you not, then, hear his voice, accept his offering, and receive him for your Saviour? He knocks at the door of your heart, will you not arise and let him in?

SERMON DCLXXXVIII.

BY REV. DAVID H. COYNER.

GALENA, OHIO.

A FUNERAL DISCOURSE.

"Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel; and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God."-AMOS iv. 12..

THE nation of Israel still persisted in rebellion and impenitence, notwithstanding the repeated warnings which God had given them, and the judgments he had already inflicted upon them. They must, therefore, expect more decisive marks of divine indignation against them for their sins.. God was about to meet them, and in incensed wrath; and he warns them to prepare for an event so tremendous. God will show himself the adversary of the wicked; and will make them feel that "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." He is the heart-searching and omniscient Judge of all men; the Creator of the mountains; the sovereign Disposer of the winds and of the storms; the high Arbiter of every man's prosperity and adversity; and he turneth the bright morning of success and triumph into the dark night of adversity, sorrow, and deep despair.

To this view of God, the prophet calls the people in the words immediately following our text. But passing by the circumstances of the Israelites, upon whom God was about to take vengeance by means of the Assyrian armies, let us improve the warning in our text suitably to the present very impressive occasion.

I. We shall show the certainty of a future judgment; where we all must meet God.

II. We shall aim to show what each one must now do, that we may then meet him with comfort and peace.

I. At death, God passes a particular judgment upon every man. Every soul, at death, passes, according to the decision of the Almighty Judge, immediately either into Paradise, "and when absent from the body is present with the Lord," or is in hell, waked up in the misery of the lost. But at the Resurrection-at the last day-there will be a general judgment; and "they that have done good, shall come forth to the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, to the resurrection of damnation." This will be a most awful day.

That a time is approaching when God will reward the good and punish the wicked-the terrors and fears which haunt the guilty conscience, clearly indicate. This testimony is felt by all men, and all are possessed of this apprehension by the moral constitution which God has given them, and they cannot free themselves from it. The heathen, as is proved by their religious history, were fully possessed of this peculiar apprehension. What but the certain dread of meeting God, in terrible judgment, filled the breast of Belshazzar with so much consternation when he beheld the ominous fingers which wrote, in mysterious characters, his doom, upon the wall of his banqueting-room. And why did Felix, the Roman governor, tremble when his prisoner reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and a judgment to come? It was the irresistible conviction that he should meet his injured and offended Creator in solemn judgment. We, therefore, have the proof in our consciences that we must each of us stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, to answer for the deeds done in the body.

There is another strong proof of the certainty of a future judgment derived from the perfections of God. Although sin and transgression often make the lot of the sinner hard in this life; yet this world cannot be the place of retribution. Here we often see wickedness and the basest deceit and hypocrisy for a time triumphant; whilst the upright, pious, and devoted servants of God are often cruelly oppressed. Now, if God reigns over men, and be just at the same time; and if the scriptural declaration be true," that the Judge of all the earth will do right;" and if he be a God of immutable holiness, justice, goodness, and truth—he will-he must-necessarily punish the bad and reward the good.

But, not to mention other cogent reasons which might be named-such as our relation to him as our Creator, and our absolute dependence on him as such, and his being the moral Governor and Lawgiver of us his rational creatures, to whom we are accountable and must answer for all our words and deeds-we will now refer you to the Holy Scriptures, in which this awful but very useful doctrine is fully taught, in plain and express terms, both in the Old Testament and the New. Jude quotes a prophecy of Enoch: "Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." Abra

ham gives it, as the character of Jehovah, that as Judge of all the earth, he will do right. But if this same awful truth is taught, by dffierent writers of the Old Testament; it is still more clearly and abundantly in the New by our divine Lord and his inspired apostles.

And what can equal, in awful grandeur, the different separate descriptions of this scene which are given to us in this part of the Sacred Volume. "The Judge shall come in the clouds of heaven. Every eye shall see him; at his presence, the heavens and the earth shall flee away, and there shall no place be found for them." As indications of the approach of the final conflagration, it may be, low and terribly mysterious sounds will be heard, awakening the suspicion that some dreadful hour is at hand. Vivid lightnings stand for a time in the heavens, quivering and trembling, and then dart fearfully across the skies. The mysterious sounds first heard continue to come, louder and heavier, until they swell into the vast detonations of mighty earthquakes and the awful crash of worlds coming in collision with worlds. As when Vesuvius and Etna, in the trembling of their mountains and convulsions, give unmistakable indications of their terrible and destructive eruptions; the affrighted inhabitants of the two Sicilies vainly run to and fro to find a shelter from the storms of melted lava that threaten universal ruin. So when the earth trembles and the mountains shake from the convulsions of an expiring universe, its dismayed inhabitants will more vainly seek a covert from the last great tempest of Jehovah's destructive power. All of the race of Adam, of every age, shall feel and know that the last great day is come. Then shall the universe of intelligent beings discern between the righteous and the wicked; for the righteous shall ascend to glory, to honor, and immortal life in heaven; whilst the wicked sink down to shame and contempt and everlasting wailings in hell. If any are disposed to ask, is there any way to escape from so awful a trial, or to avoid the meeting of God in judgment? We answer, No. How, how can any escape? Can the sinner flee from the government of God, and place himself under that of another? Can he escape the vigilance of Omniscience? or get beyond the reach of Omnipotence? Or can man become independent of his God, and set him at defiance? If these things are impossible, then every one of us must give an account of himself to God. And it is immutably true, that God will bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good or bad. The great difficulty here does not lie in the want of proof that we all must meet God in judgment; but in the want of the conviction of the fact. If men believed that they must meet God at death and in judgment, would they live as, alas! multitudes do, both in and out of the visible church? Who that firmly believes that he shall shortly meet God in judgment, would act the hypocrite towards God or deceitfully and falsely towards man? Could any one dare interpose in the sacred interests of Christ's kingdom, who is himself conscious that he does not even keep up the forms of religion? if he indeed believes that God says to such," What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldst take my covenant in thy mouth, seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee. Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue framest deceit. These things hast thou done; and I kept silence. Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself; but I will reprove thee and set them in order before thine eyes. Now,

consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver." How hard is it to bring men to believe that they shall very shortly give an account of themselves in the final judgment? even whilst the earth itself, as it were, groans under the burden of their sins. But our unbelief and want of conviction of this awful truth will not retard the day of our meeting with God, or disannul the fixed decree of Heaven appointing that men shall once die, and after that be judged. Fix it, therefore, in your hearts, that you must all very shortly meet God in judgment.

II. As to the preparation necessary to meet God with comfort and peace, we proceed to remark, that it does not consist "in works of righteousness that we have done," however valuable they may be to society. Alas! in the sight of an infinitely holy God, all our righteousness is but "filthy rags." By the deeds of the law, no flesh living can be justified in his sight, neither can we be prepared by any outward acts of religion, however zealously performed, without real inward holiness of heart, and without that love to God and man which constitute the essence of true religion. But the very important question arises, how is depraved and guilty man to obtain this holiness of heart? How? We give the same answer to you, and we are not authorized to give a different one, which Paul and Silas gave to the awakened and inquiring jailor-" Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." We must first, and last, and always, and only meet God in Christ, who is the Mediator between God and man. For God out of Christ, or aside from Christ, is "a consuming fire." We never can find pardon and salvation until we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our peace. In him we have righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Christ himself invites the weary and the heavy-laden unto him for rest. The Father is well-pleased in his Son, and will not reject the soul that trusts in him, and forsakes all to follow him. Here we find a righteousness that is complete, and that will justify us before God. In him we find the most powerful motives to hate and forsake sin. It is the cross of Christ that makes the heart to feel indifferent to this world, and renders its riches, its honors, and its pleasures comparative trifles, that are without any substantial value. Christ breaks the fetters of sin, and bestows upon the emancipated and renewed soul the liberty of the sons of God.

To faith in Christ, we must add repentance of our sins, and works meet for repentance, if we would obtain the necessary preparation. This is a duty, not less enjoined by reason than revelation, when we sin against God or man. For nothing is more just and reasonable than to be sorry for the wrongs we have done, and so change our conduct as to make all the reparation for them that we can. But that our repentance would be available for us, and be accepted of God, we only can know from the Gospel. Repentance is the forsaking of sin, the sorrow and regret for our guilt, and a change of conduct in the fixed purpose never to be guilty again.

Furthermore, let it be understood that a disposition to obey all the commandments of God, is involved in the preparation mentioned in our The very essence, indeed, of religion is, the spirit of obedience to A partial compliance with some of the duties of religion, whilst

text. Christ.