law is within my heart-In keeping thy commandments there is great reward." Holy duties are his delight, private as well as public, those which relate to the outward as well as the inward man. He loves to be found not only in acts of piety and devotion towards God, but in just and upright dealings towards men. As there is an uniformity in God's works, so there will be also in those of the christian. "Then shall I be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy command

ments.

4. It may be considered as to its effects. It is like the ointment of the right hand, which betrayed itself. When assaulted with temptation, the holy man will say, "How shall I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" If invited to spiritual exercises, or drawing near to God, his soul will readily fall in with it: "When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said, Thy face, Lord, will I seek." His language to the tempter is, "Get thee behind me, Satan!" His language to God is, "O when wilt thou come unto me!" Holiness will love that which is holy; hence the sabbath will be delighted in, because it is a day devoted to holy services and holy rest. God's house will be delighted in, because it is the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High: his people, because they are a holy people: and God himself, because he is a holy God. For the same reason his salvation will be an object of delight, as it includes a deliverance from sin as well as wrath, and has been effected in a way that reflects abundant honour upon the holy character of God. "Zion is redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness." The pure in heart will long to be still more pure, to be freed from every corrupt mixture, and purged from all the remains of impurity. Hence he cheerfully attends on divine ordinances, submits to divine chastisements, waits for death, and longs for heaven. True holiness will always aim at its own perfection.

II. Consider the motive by which the exhortation is enforced: "Be ye holy, for I am holy.

The divine purity is sometimes proposed as the model of our purity: "Be ye followers of God as dear children-be ye perfect even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect." Here it is proposed as the reason: "Be ye holy, for I am holy." Other motives might be urged; but this is the greatest, and the sum of all the rest. There is a propriety in true holiness. Nothing can be more suitable to our situation and character as intelligent beings, and the relation we bear to one another: it is perfectly agreeable to sound reason, and the nature and fitness of things. "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good: and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" There is also a beauty in it. It is that which dignifies the man, and adorns the christian. There can be nothing truly amiable or of real worth in character without it. The angels of light are not so much distinguished from the angels of darkness by their power and wisdom, as by their purity: this is their perfection and their glory. This it is which forms the beauty of the church. The King's daughter is all glorious within-Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck. How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse!", If the graces of the christian be thus pleasing to the Saviour, how much more shall his comforts delight our souls! Holiness, like wisdom, is the principal thing, and all the things which we can desire are not to be compared with it. It is the first thing that the enlightened soul will seek after, and the last that it will part with. Holiness is absolutely necessary, which nothing besides is. We may be happy without riches and honour, relations or friends, or without having where to lay our heads; but we

cannot be so without holiness. This is the one thing needful, without which other things are unprofitable, and in comparison of which they are needless. It may be said of it as Moses said of the instructions he gave to Israel," It is not a light thing: it is our life." We may be comfortable in any state with it, but should be miserable in any state without it. Heaven itself could not make us happy, if we were unholy: God could not look upon us, angels could not look upon us, and we could only look upon ourselves with contempt. We should be left alone: the inhabitants of that world would be ashamed of our company, and theirs could be no enjoyment to us. Holiness makes heaven a place of happiness, and the want of it makes hell a place of torment. Peace and holiness are inseparable friends, going hand in hand together, and cannot exist apart, either in this world or that which is to come. But in addition to all the considerations, these motive in the text is urged: "Be ye holy, for I am holy."

1. God is holy; and therefore, without holiness we cannot be like him. Holiness in creatures, even that of angels and perfect spirits above, come infinitely short of the uncreated purity: but where there is no holiness, there can be no conformity to God; and where there is no conformity, there can be no enjoyment. All social happiness arises from congeniality of disposition and design; and where there is no assimilation to the great eternal Mind, there can be no communion, no delight. Great men and wise men may be admired and applauded, but the upright and the holy are the men after God's own heart.

2. God is holy, and therefore those only who are so can truly serve him. "Let us have grace," says the apostle," whereby we may serve him acceptably, with reverence and godly fear." A holy God must have holy servants, and spiritual sacrifices; else in vain do we worship him. When Joshua saw that the children of Israel were still attached to the gods which their

fathers had served on the other side of the flood, he said to them, "Ye cannot serve Jehovah, for he is a holy God-he is a jealous God." No man can serve two masters. If Baal be God, serve him; but if the Lord be God, serve him. And when Jacob was about to build an altar unto the Lord," he said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments; and let us arise, and go up to Bethel." Without holiness no man can see the Lord; and without it, no man can serve him. "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded.". Gen. xxxv. 2. Josh. xxiv. 19. Jam. iv, 8.

3.. God is holy, and without holiness it is impossible to please him in any thing we do. He requires truth in the inward parts, and without this nothing can be acceptable. Our services, however numerous, would be utterly rejected; and however splendid, they would be abhorred. "Bring no more vain oblations: incense is an abomination unto me: your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul abhorreth; they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. When ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear. Wash ye, make you clean, and put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes." We may pray seven times a day, like David; fast twice in the week, like the Pharisee; humble ourselves, like Ahab; and drive on furiously, like Jehu: yet, if we are still in the flesh, we cannot please God, and by the increase of our services we only compass him about with lies. "I will wash my hands in innocency; so will I compass thine altar, O Lord." Isai. i. 13-16.

4. God is holy, and unless we be so too, we cannot be owned or acknowledged by him. He will not consider those as sons who bear no resemblance to him,

nor rank them among his jewels in the day that he shall make them up. Before he acknowledges any as his servants or subjects, he will inquire, Whose image or superscription do they bear? None will be found vessels of honour but such as have been vessels of mercy those who have been filled with good treasure shall there be meet for the Master's use. "The righteous Lord loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright," and such only will he accept and honour.

:

5. God is holy, and we must be holy in order to enjoy him. "For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness; what communion hath light with darkness; and what concord hath Christ with Belial?" There neither is nor can be fellowship between parties and principles so opposite, nor is it possible for a holy God to hold communion with an unsanctified heart. It was sin that drove man at first from the earthly paradise, and it is this which still excludes him from the kingdom of heaven. Those who cannot endure the presence of a holy person, shall not enjoy the presence of a holy God; he is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and his arm shall be strong to punish those who are the workers of it. "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Matt. v.

CONCLUSION.

Be ye holy then, for God is holy. You that are not so, seek to be so; you that are so in part, labour to be more so. God hath chosen his people before the foundation of the world, that they should be holy, and without blame before him in love: and if you live and die in sin, it is a proof that whoever he may have chosen to salvation, you are not of that number. Christ also gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity; he was made sin, that we might