THE HOLINESS OF GOD. petually recurring in the inspired vol- | ume. The sacred writers ever speak of God, and address him as an incomparable and glorious being, far exalted above all others, and "above all blessing and praise." Among other aspects in which they delight to represent or behold him, that of his being a "God of holiness," is perhaps the most common. Innumerable quotations might be introduced in which the holiness of God is directly or indirectly referred to: thus-" God is holy,"-heaven is "the habitation of his holiness,""the high and holy place,"*—and the holy angels are around his throne. The term holiness, or holy, has a variety of applications, and a glance at them may assist us in our conceptions of the holiness of God. It is applied, for example, to those things which were separated from common uses, and were dedicated to the service of God. Thus the tabernacle was holy, and the instruments employed in the service of God in the tabernacle was holy. In the tabernacle and temple were the holy place, or the sanctuary where the people did not enter, but the priests only, to attend to their regular duties; and beyond this was "the most holy place," where was the ark of the covenant, the cherubim of glory, and the Shekinah, the visible symbol of the Divine presence. Into this sacred apartment, itself the type of heaven, the high priest alone entered once every year, on the feast of expiation, that he might with blood make atonement for the sins of the people. This, as being most remote from all common uses and intrusion, the exclusive residence of the Deity, was "the holiest of all." The word is also applied to those offices which were borne by the Levites and the sons of Aaron, as they were specially appointed to attend to the service of God. Their priesthood was from God, and it was therefore * Isaiah lvii. 15. † Hebrews ix, 3. 66 109 designated holy; and they also, before they could engage in the duties of their office, had to pass through various ceremonial purifications. The transition from that which is ceremonial to that which is moral is easy and natural. As the places and offices which were separated from common uses to the service and honour of God were holy, so holiness in a moral sense indicates the separation from all evil and from all that is offensive to God, and a consecration to the performance of his commandments. Thus the people of God are holy. They are "called to be saints," and separated from the ways of evil. They are a holy people, zealous of good works." Here then we come to a conception of the import of the term as applied to God. God is holy: that is, he is separate from all error, from all pollution, from all iniquity. There is in him, or in other words, a combination of every excellence and virtue, and these are sullied by no defect. Holiness is not to be regarded as a single moral attribute of Jehovah, so much as a combination of all. As all the separate rays of the light, of whatsoever hue, go to make up the light of heaven, so it is with him who is "the Father of lights," who is "light, and in whom is no darkness at all;" all the elements of moral excellence combine to produce his glorious holiness. The holiness of God, therefore, includes his aversion from all that is unjust, untrue, malignant, and evil; and his possession and exercise of all the graces and excellencies which are possible to the highest moral agent. The holiness of God is perfect. There is no defect in the character of God. He sees all things, possesses infinite knowledge and wisdom; he has almighty power, and hence, while his boundless intelligence shews him the right way, his unlimited power Levit. viii, 1—36. and his supreme control over all things enables him to perform his pleasure. As there is no defect in him, either in knowledge, will, or power, so there can be no motive presented to him which can induce him to forsake the path of rectitude. Entire moral perfection belongs to him. There are spots in the sun, but there are none in his Maker. The angels may be charged with folly," but not God. There may be infirmities in the best of men, but in "the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." The holiness of God is inherent, essential, absolute, and independent. This is an assertion which can be made of no other being. Angels are holy, but they are ever dependent on God, and all their excellencies are sustained by him. Good men are holy, but how liable they are to be influenced by circumstances! How dependent! how often they complain of the evil that is inherent in them! Not so is it with God. His very nature is essentially and inherently holy. He has within himself all holy principles and powers. He is independent of, and above all circumstances. Though all intelligent beings become polluted, he will remain holy. Though all forsake the right way, he remains unmoved. Though angels rebelled, and man fell, his throne is established in holiness, and his character remains uncorrupted and glorious. The holiness of Jehovah is that of an infinite being. Moral rectitude and virtue claim our respect and reverence in every person in whom they are displayed. The feeblest and meanest of mankind, as to their social position, secure our regard if they are virtuous, upright and benevolent. But when these attributes attach to persons in high station, our respect becomes more intense and profound. He who rules in righteousness, who conducts himself with virtuous discretion, and who administers his bounty with a wise and liberal hand, is honoured while living, and his memory, when dead, is embalmed in the hearts of a whole people. But if we ascend above the creature, and pass by all the ranks of the angelic hosts, to the infinite and uncreated Supreme, whose presence is everywhere, whose dominion is over all, and whose wisdom and power are without bound, and contemplate him as a being of perfect moral rectitude, infinitely holy as well as glorious, how does the majesty of his name enhance our sense of the grandeur of his holiness! All his works are holy; his rule is holy; his infinite power and authority are exerted for a holy purpose; and all his dispensations will at last serve to display the glory of his holiness. This is a thought which teaches us most profoundly to revere, and most unwaveringly to trust in his exalted name. How horrid and dreadful to every upright intelligence would be a contrary idea! The thought of infinite power allied to injustice; of universal rule associated with cruelty and falsehood, is revolting. But the throne of God is established in righteousness. His is the rule of benevolence and truth. He possesses every moral as well as every physical and intellectual quality desirable to belong to him who is "Lord of all." Hence every well-disposed intelligence is called upon to rejoice in him. "The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of the isles be glad thereof. Clouds and darkness are round about him; righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne."* The immutability of the divine nature attaches to his holiness. This is a delightful and a necessary truth. While the best of men are sensible of a liability to change, there is no such tendency in the nature of God. There are seasons with good men when they see "the beauty of holiness," and when their virtue is strong; but there are others when they are sensible of * Psalm xcvii, 1, 2. THE HOLINESS OF GOD. weakness. Their spiritul perception is dim, their minds are feeble, and they are conscious of a danger of falling. Some, of whom have we hoped well, have fallen, and become, alas, the servants of sin. We know little of angels, but the fact that a large array of them "kept not their first estate," shews that they are liable to be influenced by temptation, and capable of change. It is not so with God; his nature is essentially unchangeable. No new light can come to him. No error can deceive him. No power can control or overcome him. He is infinite, happy, unchangable, and hence his holiness is immutable as his throne. The revelation which is given to us of the conduct of God toward his creatures, illustrates his holiness. When man was first created, he was placed in a beautiful world, surrounded by all which God pronounced to be "good." He himself, endowed with noble faculties and powers, was, for a being of earthly mould, a suitable manifestation of the holy character of his Maker. He was intelligent, moral, free. and had every suitable inducement to maintain his integrity. He listened to the tempter and fell. The doom pronounced against him displayed the holiness of God. When afterwards by the flood God destroyed a wicked and rebellious race, he displayed his holy aversion to evil. All his judgments against the ungodly, and all his promises and favours bestowed on his people illustrate his holiness. The law written on stones by his finger, and pronounced on mount Sinai by his voice, in the midst of thunders and flames, in the audience of the trembling thousands of Israel, de clared his holiness. The mysterious transactions of redeeming mercy, their character, influence and purpose, shew that our God is holy; and the proceedings of the great day, when "the heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God is judge himself,"* will * Psalm 1, 6. 111 confirm the awful and sublime truth. Heaven and hell with all their joys and their woes, will be but manifestations of the holiness of God. This noble view of the Deity is the more impressive as the holiness of God is the origin and source of all moral rectitude wherever it exists among his creatures. From Him came the holiness of the angels of light. They, like dewdrops on a shining morn, each reflect the rays of his own effulgence. They are the sons of God." They derive their natures, their powers, their holiness, from the fount of all good. The perception of moral beauty, and taste for its enjoyment and practice which characterized our first parents, came direct from their Maker; and now, though we are a fallen race, the vestiges of moral sense, and the power to distinguish between good and evil which we naturally possess, are but the remnants of that original power imparted by the Creator. The temple of our moral nature is in ruins, but the beauty of the original structure may even yet be discovered from the splendour of the ruins themselves. By the power of his grace, the influence of his word and Spirit, believers are in some good measure restored to the divine image. They are "renewed in knowledge, after the image of him that created them." All the revelations God has given for their instruction, all his precepts, his promises, and the aid of his Holy Spirit, conduce to the sustenance within them of the principles of holiness and righteousness. As the sun gives to the system of planets which revolve around it, and their satellites, their light and heat and life, so to his people "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, nor shadow of turning." The holiness of Jehovah being the † Collossians iii, 10. James i, 17. combination of all moral excellence and perfection, will constitute the object of admiration and delight to all happy intelligences in heaven for ever. In proportion as the minds of his people on earth are illuminated and sanctified is their present delight in the perfect and immaculate holiness of God. The more fully they know God, the more ardently do they revere and love him. The more perfectly they are sanctified, the higher is their admiration of him, "who is of purer eyes than to behold evil."* In heaven, when their own natures are perfected, when their emancipated and enlightened perceptions will soar to brighter altitudes of vision, and dive into more profound depths of knowledge, when the grosser materials of this earthly tabernacle will no longer compel them to "see as through. a glass darkly," but they shall see him "face to face," they will feel that their love, their admiration, and their reverence for the divine holiness will be more mighty, absorbing, and intense; and these emotions, increasing with all their ever advancing discoveries and powers, will rise and swell, and multiply and accumulate for ever and ever. A God who is "glorious in holiness" will be the object of reverent adoration, and the source of inexhaustible blessedness to all who dwell in his presence. How glorious a being is our God. How suitable an habiliment is humility in his presence! Like Job, or Isaiah, when permitted to behold by faith, and contemplate his holy character, let us lie low at his feet: and how blessed to his people "the pure in heart who shall see God," is the anticipation of that beatific vision which will be realized in heaven above! I'd part with all the joys of sense, To gaze upon thy throne; The more thy glories strike mine eyes J. G., L. * Hebrews i. 13. † 1 Cor. xiii. 12. Exodus xv. 11. § Matt. v. 8. ON THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST. THE sacrifice of atonement for the sins of men offered unto God by our blessed Lord, when he offered up himself, had been evidently pre-figured by the sacrifices prescribed under the Levitical law. That these were types of the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world, and, that in the sacrifice of his life he is the substance of which they were the sbadow, is manifestly the doctrine of the New Testament in general, but, especially of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Under the law the priest was distinct from the victims which be offered in sacrifice, but, in the christian atonement the priest and the victim are the same person. Christ offered up himself. "I lay down my life," said the great and good Shepherd, "no man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." When the sacrifice was slain under the law, the blood, as the life of the victim, was especially presented by the priest to Jehovah, and was sprinkled before the mercy seat and on the mercy seat. This highly significant and important act, our blessed Lord, as the High Priest of our profession, has now entered into heaven to perform. "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into hea ON THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST. 113 ven itself, now to appear in the pre-improbable, indeed, that on different sence of God for us. Neither by occasions all these methods may be the blood of goats and calves, but by pursued. On the Man Christ Jesus, his own blood he entered once into in whom is incarnate, on the right the holy place, having obtained eter- hand of the throne of God, his own nal redemption for us." equal and beloved Son, the Father constantly looks with complacency, and for his sake is propitious to our fallen race. But it is not improbable that cases may arise of peculiar interest, when the mediator may rise from his blissful seat, and with audible voice intercede for a repentant sinner, or receive to glory the departing spirit of a dying saint. Such appears to have been the case when the first martyr, Stephen, died. See Acts vii. 55, 56. Hence, by faith we follow our great High Priest into the immediate presence of God, and see him still engaged as the representative of fallen man, at the right hand of the Majesty on high. The presentation of the blood of atonement was essential for expiation of sin, and on the ground of this acceptable sacrifice, our High Priest continues "to make intercession for all them that come to God by him." In this way only can any human being draw nigh to God with aeceptance. This is a plain and easy way of access most grateful and acceptable to the serious and penitent mind. God has thus intimated that sin has separated us from himself, and that it is not consistent with his holiness and wisdom to receive sinful men, except through a mediator. The propriety of this it is not difficult to perceive, though we may still see very imperfectly the whole reason of this divine arrangement. It becomes us most thankfully to admire the rich grace of God in so providing for us a medium of access to himself, and in this way to draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith. In what particular manner our Lord's intercession is conducted, revelation does not inform us. This is not so necessary for us to know as the fact that he does intercede, though we may, without vain impertinence, remark that there are two or three ways in which he may discharge this important office. He may in silence, yet in a very interesting and effectual manner, intercede only by his continual presence as the representative of all them that draw nigh to God by him; or he may actively plead for them with an audible voice, or by an immediate presentation of himself before the divine Majesty. It is not And if any man sin, he need not sink into despair as if there were no sacrifice and no intercessor, for " we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins." As an advocate he probably pleads for the mourning penitent with more than his visible presence. When he was in dying circumstances on earth we know that for his murderers he pleaded"Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." And one of the most interesting chapters of the New Testament is the intercessory prayer of our Lord, in John, the seventeenth chapter. Are we to understand, then, that there is a reluctance in the blessed God to receive penitent sinners to himself, and that this is overcome by the mediation of his more benignant Son? Such is the inference that has sometimes been pressed in opposition to this doctrine, but without due authority. The objection overlooks the fact, that apart from this evangelical arrangement there would be no penitent sinners to be received; all would be confirmed in impenitence and consigned in despair. And, further, that this whole contrivance and all its blessed results emanate from the divine counsel, and are expressive of the love of God to sinful man. If it were an indepenent scheme presented to the |