or, as he elsewhere expreffes it, "by the blood of "the covenant*. St. Peter represents them as "having purified their fouls, in obeying the truth, "through the Spirit t." And, St. John declares "that every man that hath the hope" arifing from true faving faith, by which we become adopted children of God, "purifieth himself, even as Christ "is pure + " Now, no truth can be more certain than this, that without holiness, no man can fee the "Lord §;" that the pure in heart alone can see God; and that, if we would " fee him as he is," we must purify ourselves as he is pure. 66 We must be "meet for the inheritance of the faints in "light (a)," or we never can enjoy it. No impure thing, nothing that defileth, fhall ever enter into thofe blifsful regions; for, if it did, as heretofore with the fallen angels, it would again occafion mifery and anarchy in heaven." God "hath called us unto holiness;" and his addrefs to us is "Ye fhall be holy; for, I, the Lord your "God, am holy(b)" We must be cleanfed from our natural impurities, and corruptions,or we never can be fitted for the divine prefence; we never can be capable of the beatific vifion of God. It is fin, which feparates between God and us; darkening our minds, and deadening our fouls to the perception of his divine prefence; and it is only inaf much as the impurity and defilement of fin are reremoved, that we can have fpiritual union and John iii. 3. (a) Col. i. 12. 8. Heb. x. 29. + 1 Pet. i. 22. com communion with him. So it is in time; and fo it will be in eternity. As we die, fo we must rife again. Our bodies, indeed, will be fpiritualised, and fitted for their eternal ftate, whether of happinefs or mifery; but our fouls must be altogether "prepared to meet, our God," in this life; or they will be feparated from him for ever.. "In the "place where the tree falleth, there it fhall be t." "There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, "nor wifdom, in the grave, whither we go*.' It has been truly reprefented, by a comparifon with the Red Sea of old. If we go in Ifraelites, we arrive in fafety, peace, and joy, in the country beyond; if we go in Egyptians, we miferably perish. Now, this important work, in purifying and preparing the heart, is afcribed, in the facred volume, as we have feen, to faith; and it is manifeft, that, if it produce the feveral other effects which we have confidered, it must neceffarily make the heart more pure and holy. Indeed, in the very nature of things, faith alone can do this. Sinful as we are, we never can be made pure and holy, except by a divine principle of firm trust and confidence in God, which is his gift and operation in the foul. To fay that we can do this for our felves, would be to fay, that we can bring a clean thing out of an unclean;" that corruption may purify itself; that an effect may be produced without any adequate caufe. To fay that God may do it, by an arbitrary exercife of his Almighty Power, without any fuch principle wrought Eccl. xi. 3. + Ver. ix. 10. › in in our hearts, would be to fay, that we may be holy, without a fingle difpofition towards holinels. To be holy, we muft believe in God, so as to love and obey him, chearfully, willingly, and as far as our remaining frailties and corruptions will permit, conftantly. Holiness may and must be wrought in us; but it never can, in the very nature of things, be entirely performed for us, independent of ourfelves. God and Chrift are infinitely holy in themselves, and the great authors, by the Holy Ghost, of all holiness, in every other being; but, they never can be holy for us, any more than they can be faved for us. As Chrift does not believe for us, but enable us to believe, he is not holy for us, but makes us holy. He came to redeem us from all iniquity, and to purify unto himself a peculiar people *" _The redemption from the penalty and fuffering of our iniquity was all his own; but in the redemption from the power of iniquity, in our being purified, as his peculiar people, our own hearts must be made to concur. It is God who muft make them do fo, and the principle, by which he ac complithes this, is faith, the true faving " faith, of "the operation of God t." Thus, with refpe& to holinefs, as well as every other part of our falvation; "by grace we are faved, through faith; and "that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God: not "of works, leaft any man fhould boaft. We muft * Titus ii. 24. 66 + The reader will find this important fubject well and fully (though briefly) reprelented, in Baxter's Aphorisms on Juftification. Eph. ii. 8. muftwork out our own falvation with fear and trembling for, it is God that, worketh in us, "both to will, and to do, of his good pleasure." Description would fail me, in endeavouring to re prefent to you" the beauty of holiness.". It is the image of God himfelft: His infinite happiness arifes from his infinite holiness. Our firft.parents, before their fall, were holy according to their lower fphere, and were happy in proportion. The angels of light are fo now. The fpirits of darkness were fo likewife; and their prefent extreme mifery arifes from their great unholinefs. So it is with fallen man. All his unhappiness here is occafioned by his unholiness; and fo it will be through eternity. Inafmuch as we recover the divine image of holiness, we recover our proper happiness. It is in like manner, the effect of a divine power. We fee it exemplified in certain chymical mixtures. Thefe appear clouded and troubled, the picture of impurity and disorder. But, let a third fubftance be applied of fufficient efficacy, and the whole fluid becomes tranquil and pellucid; equally diftinguished for its calmnefs and effulgence. Thus divine grace tranquillifes and purifies the heart of man. It was, like ore in the mine, ufelefs through the diforder of its particles, and its various corruptions; but it is now, like ore which has paffed through the fire, bearing the ftamp and image of God. To defcribe, more particularly, holiness or purity of heart. It comprises within it all that is good * Philip. ii. 2, 13. I + Eph. iv. 24. od and lovely in religion. It is fometimes conounded with morality; but this (as it is generally underflood) is a very small part indeed of Christian holinefs, which comprehends all piety and love to God, all benevolence as well as outward good conduct towards men. It commences in the mind being divefted of felf, of felf-righteoufnels, felf-confidence, felf-dependence; and the heart re-, pofing, with full truft, on God in Chrift, as its only fupport, the great fource of all its bleffings received and expected. The breaft teems with gratitude and love. The will of God becomes our will; the promotion of his glory our happinefs. We, at length, love all righteousness, not merely because it is his will, but for its native excellence. Habit has become fecond nature. We take delight in it, as congenial to our fouls. We have, in a lower degree, that mind in us, which was in Chrift Jefus, whofe meat and drink it " was to do the will of his Father in heaven.." Like Enoch, we conftantly (as it were) "walk with God." The heart is given up to him. His Holy Spirit rules within it; and all his divine "fruits, love, joy, peace, long-fuffering, gentle nefs, goodnefs, fidelity, meeknefs, temperance," neceffarily follow. Thus the very faith, by which we receive the pardon of our tranfgreffions, becomes the mean, through divine grace, of purifying our hearts from all their corruptions. As our faith in Chrift increafes, fo our holinefs. As the one declines, fo the other. * Gen. v. 22. See Heb. xi. 5. The |