Based on Amos chapter 4 verse 12
Text Amos c 4 v 12. "Oh Israel, prepare to meet thy God".
I suppose that we have all seen cartoons of elderly gentlemen carrying placards containing our text. "Prepare to meet thy God". It seems almost as if this prophecy, first spoken by the prophet Amos, has become a joke. The end of the world is at hand, so, just in case there is a life after death, and just in case there is after all a God, we had better prepare to meet doom.
But today I want to rescue our text from the realm of amusement, and try to discover a more hopeful and beautiful meaning in the words.
Now I am sure that at the moment of truth, when people are facing the inevitability of death, the thought effacing God may be a very daunting prospect. But for Christian people, to meet our God will be to meet Jesus. Did Jesus not say "He who has seen me, has seen the Father" and "He that sees me, sees the one who sent me". God was in Christ, Christ who was "the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person".
So, just as we would not be afraid to meet Jesus, why should we be afraid to meet God ? And when we are called to meet God, surely we should welcome the call.
But I do not want to dwell on the thought of meeting God after death, but rather of meeting God here, during this life, and how we should approach God when we meet Him.
When may we meet God ? Surely the first, and greatest means of meeting God, is in worship. Indeed, our worship is useless and worthless unless we do indeed meet God. God is with us in worship. Through sincere remembrance and dedication we meet him, heart to heart if not actually face to face. We must come to worship with hearts swept clean of self and sin, we must take steps to fit ourselves for an audience with God.
Then we may meet God in the wonder of nature. God reveals himself in nature. The Psalmist put it in wonderfully poetic words. "The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament revealeth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech and night unto night showeth knowledge". The languages of nature, order, beauty, perfection, all speak to us of God and of His presence here in the world.
Then we may meet God in the kindly deed and the noble character, in the self sacrifice of a friend , in the evidences of Christian love which we see around us, in the confident smile of a child.
We may meet God in the silence of our own souls. God reveals himself in the conscience. He has been described as the light of the soul. What causes this warning light to go on when we do wrong ? God. God is our gentlest councillor and teacher, our most faithful friend.
The message of our text should prepare us for all these experiences when we may meet our God, and equip us so that when eventually the call comes and we meet God face to face, we shall be ready and willing to meet Him, and in the words of the Catechism "to enjoy him forever".
But when we meet with God, we must not expect that to be the end of the matter. The experience of meeting God is not the be all and end all to life. When we see the perfection and beauty of God, and compare our own lives with Him, then we become ashamed at how far short we fall of the standard which He sets us.
Now let's turn to Acts 9:1-8 (King James Version)
(1) And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, (2) And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. (3) And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: (4) And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? (5) And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: [it is] hard for thee to kick against the pricks. (6) And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord [said] unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. (7) And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. (8) And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
In this reading we hear about Saul, who had this most marvellous experience of meeting the risen Jesus, of meeting God, on the road to Damascus. And, not content with meeting God, Saul asked "What wilt thou have me to do ?" Here we have the cry of an awakened soul, of a man who has come to the end of himself, and is prepared to give God a chance.
Saul of Tarsus realised that he was up against forces too big for him, he was prepared to come to terms with God. And he very naturally asked the question which many millions of other people have also asked. What does it mean to yield myself to God ? What does He want me to do ? Lets just for a few moments explore this .
First of all I believe God asks us to come to Him just as we are. Christians are redeemed sinners, who are learning more about God each day of their lives. We must not wait until we understand Him fully, indeed if we waited until then, we should never meet God, for no man can fully understand God. We must come with our uncertainties, our obligations, our follies, our failures and sin. We must come with our hopes and ambitions, our longings, and offer them to the king of our lives. He can make of us something really fine and beautiful, good and useful in His kingdom.
Then we must come to God and bring Him what we have. Our personality, all the powers of our mind, our memory, reason and will, all our capacity for devotion, loyalty and endurance. We must bring Him our individuality. No-one else in the whole wide world is just like you. God has a place in His service which no-one else in the whole world can fill but you.
Then we must bring God our experience, all that life has taught us, the bitter and the sweet. God can make use of all these things. And above all, we must bring Him the years which lie ahead of us. They will be the happiest, most fruitful and most worthwhile of all our lives, if we will only give them to God.
Then we must come to God and bring Him our all. Did you notice the words of Paul when he said "Present yourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service". Paul, speaking to the Christians at Rome now realised that the giving of ourselves to God entails a complete sacrifice of everything we are and everything we have.
Then we must come to God and count on Him absolutely. Just after the great David Livingstone died, his friends found his bible. Printed on the fly leaf was the text "Lo, I am with you always", and underneath, written in David Livingstone's own hand "It is the word of a gentleman, and that's enough for me". It is the word of a gentleman whom we can trust to fulfil all his promises to us, on whom we can count absolutely.
Then we must come to God and stand by Him whatever the cost. We can count on God, and God wants to know that He can count on us. Are we reliable, are we, in principle and in practice, what we are in words ? Do our action bear out our beliefs ?
Then we must come to God and be ready to obey all of his commands. "What wilt thou have me to do ?" cried Paul. When he fully understood God's will for him, Paul joyfully set out to do it. Many weary miles he travelled in fulfilling that task, and many ransomed sinners must have given thanks to God that they met Paul, and that Paul obeyed God's will for him.
"Prepare to meet thy God". Prepare in worship, in the wonder of nature, in your daily meeting with Christian friends, in the silence of your own soul. And then come to God just as you are, bring Him all that you have, give Him your all, count on Him absolutely, stand by Him whatever the cost, and obey His commands.
"Prepare to meet thy God", feel His searching glance, hear His voice, then whisper to Him Paul's words "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?"
HYMN "Just as I am" words by Charlotte Elliott
Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need in Thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, Thy love unknown
Hath broken every barrier down;
Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, of that free love
The breadth, length, depth, and height to prove,
Here for a season, then above,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!