Prepare To Meet Your God - How?

Q: What does the Bible say about preparing to meet God?

The Bible calls us to prepare to meet God, emphasizing the need for repentance and faith in Christ. The importance of preparing to meet God is underscored in Amos 4:12, where God instructs Israel to prepare for His judgment. This preparation involves repenting from sin and turning to Christ as our mediator. The need for genuine repentance and faith in Christ is crucial, as it determines whether we will meet God in judgment or in reconciliation. The Scriptures remind us that we are all appointed to die once, after which comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Therefore, preparing to meet God means embracing Christ as our advocate, who bore the judgment we deserved, and clinging to Him for salvation.

Q: How do we know that Jesus is the only way to meet God?

Jesus is the only mediator between God and man, as He alone satisfied God's justice on the cross. The claim that Jesus is the only way to prepare to meet God stems from His unique role as our mediator, as highlighted in the sermon. Jesus bore God's judgment for our sins, allowing us to meet God without fear of condemnation. 1 Timothy 2:5 states that there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus. Through His sacrificial death and resurrection, He fulfilled the requirements of God's holy justice, enabling reconciliation between a holy God and sinful humanity. This means that our preparation is solely through dependence on Christ, who stands between us and God's judgment, making Him essential for our salvation.

Q: Why is repentance important for Christians?

Repentance is vital because it signifies a true turning to God and reliance on Christ for salvation. Repentance is emphasized as a crucial aspect of preparing to meet God. It is not merely a one-time act, but an ongoing posture of turning away from sin and towards Christ. In Amos 4, God repeatedly calls Israel to return to Him, indicating that true repentance involves an inward change of heart, not just outward religious activity. Similarly, Jesus taught in Luke 13:3 that unless we repent, we will all perish. This aligns with the Reformed understanding that repentance is a gift from God, enabling believers to recognize their sinfulness and their need for Christ. It's a divine command and a mercy, leading us back to a right relationship with God.

Q: How can I be prepared to meet God?

You can be prepared by trusting in Christ alone for your salvation and repenting of your sins. Preparation to meet God involves a heartfelt reliance on Christ as our Savior. The sermon emphasizes that preparation is not about our works or moral improvement but about humbly turning to Christ who is our only hope. Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us that salvation is by grace through faith, not of ourselves. This means that accepting our inability to save ourselves is the first step. As we recognize our need for a Savior and trust in Jesus' atoning sacrifice, His righteousness becomes our own. To be prepared means to depend entirely on God's grace and the finished work of Christ, finding assurance in His promise of eternal life for those in Him.

To those of you that were here last Sunday, you know that I preached on the subject of the God with whom we have to do out of Hebrews 4, verse 13. And though I feel as though today's message stands on its own, it naturally flows from last week's consideration of the God who sees all, knows all and judges all, and I've titled today's message, Prepare to Meet Your God. What a sobering title that is, Prepare to Meet Your God. All of us are going to. I think that very often we make the mistake in assuming that everyone who attends worship service with us knows and believes the Gospel. But our Lord said this, He said, "...straight is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and then the sobering words which followed, and few there be that find it."

Matthew 7.14. It's very alarming to me that Israel was Few compared to all the nations of the world, and yet it was few in Israel that actually believed in God.

My text this morning is found in the Old Testament book of Amos. I'll give you a moment to get there. Right after the little book of Hosea, if that helps you any. Hosea, Joel, and then I believe it's Amos. Right there in that vicinity. Amos chapter 4. Now the people that are addressed here in Amos chapter 4 were not pagan outsiders. They were covenant people. This is speaking of the people and the nation of Israel. They professed to be the people of God. They offered sacrifices, they gathered together to worship, and they spoke the language, the words of worshipers.

But God here exposes the reality that outward religion without inward repentance is offensive to Him. There are many that say, Lord, Lord. And the Lord Jesus said, not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, according to Matthew 7, 21.

Now for our text in verse 12, Amos 4. Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel, and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel." Now, it's a common practice and rule of thumb that in Scripture when we see the word, therefore, we should look what was written before to see what it was there for. That's a good rule to do.

And here, this is Amos. The prophet Amos is the messenger, but the important thing to understand is that this is God who is speaking. Matter of fact, though this book was written by men, it was written by the inspiration of God as it was given to them. This book is God speaking. Don't ever forget that.

And throughout this fourth chapter, God repeatedly says to Israel through His prophet, through His messenger, you have not returned unto Me, saith the Lord. He says that in verse 6. He says it in verse 8. He says it in verse 9. He says it in verse 10. And repeats it again in verse 11.

In this chapter, God reminds them that it was He that withheld rain from them. It was He that sent famine. It was God that allowed pestilence. It was God that shook Israel with one hardship after another. And after each of these disciplines came the same reality, God said, you did not return unto Me. which tells me that God sent all these things for that purpose, for them to see that it was God who's in control, that God is the one with whom we have to do. He didn't return unto me. So in the text, God declares that since Israel still refused to repent, still refused to return to Him, He's now going to act in a final, decisive manner and way. God in verse 12 doesn't mention the exact judgment, but the meaning is clear.

God is coming personally to deliver this judgment. That's a fearful thing. It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And how fearful are the words, prepare to meet thy God. In effect, God is saying, I've sent lesser judgments. You didn't return unto me. You didn't heed my messenger. So, now I'm going to deal directly with you, and you're going to deal directly with me. God is telling them to prepare to deal with Him. To get ready to stand before God. To get ready to answer for your sins and your disobedience. And to get ready to face His holy justice.

Now, for unbelieving Israel, this was a terrifying warning. And for every unbeliever everywhere, it's the same. And here's the thing that we need to remember as professing believers. This same truth applies to every person. Hebrews 9 tells us it's appointed unto men once to die. We all know that. You know, I mean, we may have a problem with it, but we know it's so we're all going to die. None of us are going to get out of here alive.

But these words is what shakes people to the core. But after this, the judgment after death, you know, and a lot of people think, you know, well, you die and it's over with. No, it's not. No sir, it is not. Believe me when I tell you, I plead with you. Don't believe that. It's appointed unto men once to die, yes, but after this, the judgment, every man, every woman is gonna stand before God and give an account of the things that they've done in this body.

Every person's gonna meet God. Every person's gonna give an account. The question is not whether we'll meet Him, The question is, will we meet Him without Christ as our judge? Or will we meet Him in Christ as a Father and a Savior? I know which one I want. Jesus Christ is the only one who can prepare sinners to meet God. And that's why, to a believer, Those words, prepare to meet your God, is not a pronouncement of condemnation. It's a pronouncement. It is to pronounce life. Life, eternal.

Why? Because Jesus Christ bore God's judgment in our place. Accountability is unavoidable. We're all gonna give an account. But for some, our mediator, our advocate, the one, our lawyer in the court of God's holy justice is gonna stand and say, your honor, who happens to be his father, that's a good thing. Your honor, I died for that sinner. That sinner's mine.

Human pride, religious piety, Personal morality, self-confidence is not going to fare well at this encounter. Our preparation for meeting God is not self-improvement. Because we can't, in and of ourselves, improve. Those of you that have been walking with the Lord now for a while, have you improved any? It's not turning over a new leaf. People say that all the time. We've got to turn over a new leaf. Well, you can't turn over a new leaf while still caressing the old heart. It's not cleaning up the outside while corruption still remains within.

It's not joining a church without coming to Christ. That's why we don't have an invitation at the end of our services and invite people to walk an aisle and to come and join the church. There's no salvation in that. Salvation is coming to Christ, knowing Christ, trusting in the Lord Jesus to put our sin away. And it's not about knowing God while remaining a stranger to Him. I know some things about the President. I've known some things about past presidents, but I don't know them. I don't know them personally. There's things about them I cannot tell you. I only know what the news has told me.

It's not morality without mercy. It's not religion without repentance. It's not baptism without belief. Listen, I believe it was Scott Richard that said one time, you can be baptized in every creek and pond and lake in the United States, and every frog and tadpole can know you by the name, and you still not know God. And God still not know you. Baptism is not going to get it done.

It's not profession without possession. It's not reform without regeneration. It's not fear of hell without love of Christ. It's not trying harder, but it's trusting fully. And it's not trusting your feelings. Don't do that. Don't trust your feelings. an optional invitation.

It's a divine command and that divine command is PREPARE to meet thy God. And this strips every man and every woman of a false confidence. It pushes us toward the only true preparation that God provides. It's turning from sin and trusting, turning to Christ the Savior. And here God speaks with deafening clarity. I don't know about you, but I knew when my parents meant business. They didn't even have to get loud. It's how they said something. And God here speaks with deafening clarity.

God's not asking for Israel's opinion. He's not asking for their cooperation. He's not asking for their acceptance. We don't accept God. God accepts us. I don't know where people started that. Some false preacher somewhere down the line started that way. You've got to accept Jesus into your heart. No, sir. Nobody's ever been saved that way.

The ones that are saved are the ones that God divinely intervenes and busts down the door of their heart and makes Himself Lord. And this message is not just to unbelievers within Israel, it's also to those in Israel who confess to believe. It was those in Israel that participated in the sacrifices and in the worship. And this message is for those who profess to belong to Him.

Prepare to meet your God. This warning is for everyone, all of us. And it's an ongoing warning. And we've got to prepare right now. We don't know when He's coming. And we must keep preparing to meet our God. Now, the meeting is certain. We're all going to meet God. And Amos here strips away every illusion that we control the timing of the meeting. That's the problem with men today. Well, I always got tomorrow to do that. I'll hear you on that matter another time. May not be another time. Prepare to meet your God right now. Right this second. He may come before I'm finished speaking. There's always tomorrow, is there? Death is not the end of accountability. A lot of people think, OK, you know, I die, that's the end of it. No, that's not the end of accountability.

That's when it begins. People prepare for almost everything in life. You know this is so. They prepare for vacations. Why, we'll spend a whole year in advance to plan a vacation. People prepare for careers. They prepare for weddings. They prepare for retirement. Folks even prepare for, quote, possible emergencies. You know, we've got a rainy day fund, an emergency fund set aside in case a car breaks down or the window leaks in my house.

But sadly, the most certain meeting any of us will ever face is the one that we're the least prepared for, and that's preparing to meet God Almighty. And by this, we see the seriousness of divine holiness. When God declares, prepare to meet me, He's not speaking casually.

You know, it's not like, you know, we go meet somebody important so we go out and get our hair done or we go out and buy a new suit or a new dress. It's not that casual. It's a matter of life and death. And the issue is holiness. The attribute of God, the attribute of God that is most emphasized in our day is what? Is love. You heard it. You hear it. I hear it. We've heard it all our life.

Well, God loves everybody, you know, and God loves you too much. God's not willing for anybody to perish because He loves everybody too much. No, let me tell you who He's not willing to perish. His people. Those that letter was written to. He's not willing of any of His own children to perish. And none of them will.

God is loving, but first and foremost, God is holy. And holiness means that He does not ignore sin. Why do people think that? God's too holy to ignore sin. Holiness means that He does not excuse rebellion. Holiness means that God does not lower His standard to accommodate human weakness. Well, you know, so-and-so is just a little weaker than this person, so I'll make my holy standard a little lower for them. No!

The wages of sin is death. The soul that sins, it shall die. It applies to each and every one of us, all of us. And men and women often mistake the love of God as weakness. A common error in modern thinking is the assumption that God's love cancels out His justice. No. No. It cannot occur and God remain God. Now, did you hear me? God cannot ignore His holy justice and still be God. He ceases to be God if He does. The cross does not show God's choosing love over justice. Oh, look at Jesus.

This is blasphemous, by the way. How much did Jesus love me? You've seen it. This much. He doesn't choose love over justice. It's God satisfying justice in order to express His love. Sin's not dismissed, it's dealt with fully. Wrath is not denied, it's absorbed in Christ.

And men by nature have two major problems. I'm gonna tell you what they are. They underestimate how bad they are, and they underestimate how holy God is. And that's why man's in the mess that he's in. That's why Adam and Eve failed. Because they chose what they wanted more than what God wanted. They didn't really believe that God would punish them as He said He would.

And I want you to pay close attention to that word PREPARE. As a verb, it implies We've got to do something, but really, the word prepare implies opportunity. It means that there's still time. When God says there's prepare, prepare, it means there's still time.

I don't know how much. Amos doesn't suggest rituals here. Well, I'll tell you why. You start doing this, and you do that, and you do this. This is not God saying, you do this and I'll do that. Amos is not suggesting acts of human achievement. He's speaking of heart conviction. He's speaking of true heart repentance. Return is the word God uses over and over in this chapter. I showed you the verses.

You've not returned to Me. You've not returned to Me. To return means to turn. It means to change direction. It means you're going this way and to turn around and go back this way. That's what it means. That's what the word repentance means. To change. To change your direction. To change the way you're going. To go back to where you were when you were first created. The word turn means to repent. It means to change your way, to change your thinking. It means to change your God. There's an urgency here for repentance. Turning. Return before it's too late. And it's the same today. It's the same message. Prepare to meet your God. Our Lord said, Be ye therefore ready also, for the Son of Man cometh at an hour when you think not. Paul added in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 2, For yourselves know perfectly, or exactly is what the word perfectly there means, that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

Hey, listen, a thief is not going to knock on your door and say, hey, I'm fixing to steal all your stuff. Wouldn't be much of a thief. For when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. Christ says in Revelation chapter 3 verse 3, remember therefore how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.

In our text, if this text stood alone, it would crush all of us, crush everyone that hears it. But it doesn't stand alone. It points us forward to Christ. This is the heart of my message this morning, but please listen. There's only one way. There's only one way to prepare to safely meet God. And that's through a mediator. That's through an advocate. That's through a substitute.

Christ stands between guilty sinners and a holy God. If He didn't, if you and I stood before Him on our own, we'd be consumed. On the cross, the Lord Jesus bore the judgment that Amos is here warning about. He took the encounter that you and I could not survive. So when we hear the words, prepare ye to meet thy God, the Gospel answers and says you've got to meet Him in Christ. Or you're going to meet Him in judgment.

So this is good news. This is a warning. There's still time. God's still long-suffering. God's still giving time for repentance. God's judgment's not impulsive. It's patient. It's repeated. It's measured. Warned in advance. But it's here that many misunderstand God. This is not merely a message of wrath. There's mercy wrapped in this warning. Do you see it? Why would God warn those that He intends to abandon? A commander of war doesn't send a message ahead to the enemy and tell them when and how He intends to attack them. He wouldn't be much a commander.

Yet, when God warns sinners, He still gives them time to return. He still gives them time to repent. He still gives them time to change. Well, you just said that He may come before you finish speaking. I'm not through speaking yet. So there's still time. Right now, today's the day of salvation. Right now is the time of salvation. are still an open door even now. And that door is Christ. He's the door. He's the door that the sheep go in and out.

If we meet God in Christ, listen, that confrontation becomes reconciliation instead of condemnation. Let me say that again. If we meet God in Christ, Christ is our substitute, Christ is our Savior, Christ is our Sacrifice, Christ is our All-in-all, that confrontation with God becomes a reconciliation. It becomes a fellowship again. It's not condemnation, it's regeneration.

Christ and Him crucified is the only preparation. Prepare to meet your God. How? In Christ and Him crucified. Christ is the person. Him crucified is the way. So I'm going to ask you once again one of the two most important questions ever, ever asked by our Lord. And He asked them together in the same sentence. What think ye of Christ? Whose son is He?

You know, the Pharisees said, well, the Son of Man is David's son. Now listen, knowing Christ is much more than knowing about Him. This is not about genealogy. It's about who Jesus Christ truly is. Yes, the Messiah came through the line of David. but it's not enough to say that Christ is David's son.

The urgent question is, do you see that he's David's Lord? The Lord said unto my Lord, David wrote in Psalm 110, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. So first David acknowledges two Lords. David speaks of someone he calls my Lord, my Lord said unto thee, Lord, because that person's greater than him. And that alone breaks the common expectation that the Messiah would only be a human descendant. Ain't much more than that, ain't my Lord, David says. My Lord said. Secondly, the Lord, it's capitalized again as we, those of you that were here for the Bible study knows that that means Yahweh.

It means the self-existent one. Exalts this Lord to the place of the highest authority and that being at the right hand of power and rule. The Messiah is installed as King over all opposition. There's none that has authority over Him. The Lord Himself said, God's given me all power. All power in heaven and earth.

Then thirdly, the promise, until I make thine enemies thy footstool, is gospel language for the final victory. He's gonna make all His enemy His footstool. You know what a footstool is, where you kick your feet up and rest. The Messiah is not merely going to offer advice or provide moral influence.

He's going to reign until every single rival power is subdued. And you put it all together, and that verse there in Psalm 110 teaches the Messiah is both David's son and David's Lord. That's Jesus Christ. He's enthroned by God, sharing divine authority with God. His reign's not temporary. It's not partial. His reign is absolute. His reign is victorious. And His reign is forever. Is He your Lord? I'm serious. Is He your Lord? You better think about it. Better think about it. You better prepare. to meet your God.

The Lord Jesus isn't awaiting recognition as King. He's already King. We don't make Him Lord. He's already Lord. I remember a preacher telling me, well, you need to make Jesus Lord. And I thought, I thought He was already Lord. And I didn't know nothing that knew that. He's already King. He's already Lord. He's the King of Kings. He's the Lord of Lords. He's not waiting to be Lord and King. He's seated at God's right hand.

That's the symbol of all power and authority. And He's the God with whom we have to do. You remember that from last week? He's the God that we must prepare to meet. Now, I found this very noteworthy. Did you know or do you know that the precise definition for the word prepare means to be made ready to deal with something? It's pretty simple. How do we make ourselves ready? Huh?

We don't. God's the only one that can make us ready. So if we come to Christ, trusting in Him alone to put our sin away, we will be accepted by God the Father in Him. We'll be reconciled. We'll be justified. We'll be forever safe. How do we come to Christ and trust Him? We can't. No man can come. You don't have the ability to come. You will not come to Me that you have life. We don't have the willingness to come.

It's God who makes us to differ. What do we have we didn't receive? Nothing. Everything we got, God gave us. Every single thing. Materially, physically speaking, and especially spiritually. This preparation is made by God alone. You hear me? And you and I got to be prepared to meet our God. The warning still stands today. And as I said, God's patient. He's not passive. God's merciful. He's not indifferent. God warns, but He's also going to judge.

Prepare. Prepare to meet your God. You ladies, when you cook, you prepare your meal. You make your grocery list. You go to the grocery and get it. You bring it back and you put it all together. And you prepare a meal. But the only way that we can prepare ourselves is to meet Christ in mercy. And that mercy is found only in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We don't get our life in order first. We don't make our little list of things to do. We don't go down to the grocery store and pick the things off the shelf that we think we need in order to satisfy God. We don't trust in our own righteousness. We don't bargain. We don't negotiate with God. We come in repentance by His grace and God must make us willing and able or we will not come and we cannot come.

Christ is not called the ready, but the weary and heavy laden. How do I know the Lord saved me? Are you weary and heavy laden over your sin? The preparation is not cleaning yourself up first, It's to prepare to cling to Christ and Him alone. It's to grab hold of Christ and not let go. Brother Maurice used to say, Hug up to the Lord Jesus. Hug up to Him and hold on to Him and don't let go.

That's right. He's not part of the preparation. He's the whole foundation. There is therefore now no condemnation. To who? You know the verse. To who? Those which are in Christ Jesus. Outside of being in Him, condemnation awaits. We don't prepare ourselves, Christ prepares us for Himself. So let me just quickly give you some things and I'll finish. God begins and finishes this work. How do you know? Being confident of this very thing that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. When God starts, He finishes.

Secondly, we're spiritually unable until God makes us alive. And you have to quicken who were dead. Dead, dead, dead, and trespasses in sin. Ephesians 2, 4, and 5, But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened, made us alive together with Christ. By grace are you saved. One dead does not prepare themselves. Go down to the graveyard and say, Hey, I'd like for you to go out to dinner with me tonight. Would you prepare yourself and get ready to go? You'll be waiting a while.

We're made alive by God. Thirdly, God gives a new heart and enables obedience. Again, this is only something He can do. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I'll take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I'll give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statues, and you shall keep my judgments and do them. Now, in that verse, what did we do? What did we initiate? I will, I will, I will, God said. Even repentance and faith, forthly, are gifts from God. And meekness instructing those that oppose themselves. Do you know that outside of Christ, you're opposing yourself? You're your own worst enemy. I'm my own worst enemy.

If God, peradventure, or if God be willing, will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, that's our only hope. Ephesians 2a provides, Grace are you saved through faith? That's not of yourselves. It's what? The gift of God. It's not by works, lest any man should boast. And fifthly, Christ actively draws and enables the sinner to come. No man can come. How many times have we heard that? Except the Father which sent me draw him, and I will raise him up to the last day. He don't raise himself up. We cannot come, no ability. We will not come, no willingness.

And Scripture consistently teaches these truths. God awakens the dead. God grants repentance and faith. God draws the sinner to Christ. God gives a new heart. God completes what He began. What do we do? In my hand, no price I bring. God's got to give it all to us. So if a sinner comes prepared, It's only because God's already been at work preparing them by His grace. Human boasting is excluded. Divine mercy is established. Salvation is of the Lord. And all of God's chosen elect people are going to be prepared by God Himself to meet Him.

So our prayer this day, every day, every day should be, Lord, prepare me to meet you. Lord, prepare me to meet you. You're my God. Lord, enable me to say with Thomas, oh, doubting Thomas, well, oh, doubting David, and put your name there. We're right there with him. But may God enable us to say with him, my Lord and my God. By your mercy and grace, I am prepared to meet you. In Christ, I am prepared. God has prepared me. God giving us life in Christ is the only way that we can be prepared.

Prepare To Meet Your God - How?

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about preparing to meet God?

How do we know that Jesus is the only way to meet God?

Why is repentance important for Christians?

How can I be prepared to meet God?

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Prepare To Meet Your God - How?

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about preparing to meet God?

How do we know that Jesus is the only way to meet God?

Why is repentance important for Christians?

How can I be prepared to meet God?

Sermon Transcript

About David Eddmenson

Comments

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