that beyond those furthest limits creative power is exerted immeasurably further than eye can reach, or thought can penetrate; then, brethren, the awe which comes upon the heart is only, after all, a tribute to a portion of God’s greatness.

Yet we need not science to teach us this.  It is the thought which oppresses very childhood—­the overpowering thought of space.  A child can put his head upon his hands, and think and think till it reaches in imagination some far distant barrier of the universe, and still the difficulty presents itself to his young mind, “And what is beyond that barrier?” and the only answer is “The high and lofty place.”  And this brethren, is the inward seal with which God has stamped Himself upon man’s heart.  If every other trace of Deity has been expunged by the fall, these two at least defy destruction—­the thought of Eternal Time, and the thought of Immeasurable Space.

The third measure which is given us of God respects His character.  His name is Holy.  The chief idea which this would convey to us is separation from evil.  Brethren, there is perhaps a time drawing near when those of us who shall stand at His right hand, purified from all evil taint, shall be able to comprehend absolutely what is meant by the Holiness of God.  At present, with hearts cleaving down to earth, and tossed by a thousand gusts of unholy passion, we can only form a dim conception relatively of that which it implies.  None but the pure can understand purity.  The chief knowledge which we have of God’s holiness comes from our acquaintance with unholiness.  We know what impurity is—­God is not that.  We know what injustice is—­God is not that.  We know what restlessness, and guilt, and passion are, and deceitfulness, and pride, and waywardness—­all these we know.  God is none of these.  And this is our chief acquaintance with His character.  We know what God is not.  We scarcely can be rightly said to know, that is to feel, what God is.  And therefore, this is implied in the very name of holiness.  Holiness in the Jewish sense means simply separateness.  From all that is wrong, and mean, and base, our God is for ever separate.

There is another way in which God gives to us a conception of what this holiness implies.  Tell us of His justice, His truth, His loving-kindness.  All these are cold abstractions.  They convey no distinct idea of themselves to our hearts.  What we wanted was, that these should be exhibited to us in tangible reality.  And it is just this which God has done.  He has exhibited all these attributes, not in the light of speculation, but in the light of facts.  He has given us His own character in all its delicacy of colouring in the history of Christ.  Love, Mercy, Tenderness, Purity—­these are no mere names when we see them brought out in the human actions of our Master.  Holiness is only a shadow to our minds, till it receives