to dulness, stupidness, blindness, darkness : Isa. xliv. 18, ' They have not known nor understood : for he hath shut their eyes that they can- not see ' (or he hath daubed up their eyes from seeing) ; ' and their hearts that they cannot understand.^ God in his righteous judgment casts a judicial cannot upon them ; he hath daubed up their eyes that they cannot see, and he hath shut up their hearts that they cannot understand the great concernments of their souls. Now whilst men lie under these sad cannots, they can never see the kingdom of God. These three cannots, like a threefold cord, bind poor sinners, so as that they can never come to a sight or fruition of God in grace or glory, till they are delivered from these cannots by a new birth, by being born again.
' See the kingdom of God ; ' that is, they cannot enter into it, they cannot enjoy it, they can have no child's part or portion in it, except they are new born, except they pass the pangs of the second birth. Let their education be never so sweet, their illumination never so great, their profession never so amiable, and their conversation never so unblameable, yet except they are new born, it had been good for them that they had never been born. And thus you see by plain scriptures, that the Lord hath bolted the gates of glory against all unholy persons.
2. A second argument to prove that without holiness there is no happiness, &c., is this: Without holiness men are strangers to God; and therefore, without holiness they cannot be admitted to a cohabit- ation with God. God loves not to dwell with strangers, nor to associate himself with strangers. Now such are all unholy persons : Eph. ii.l2, ' That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the com- monwealth of Israel' (or, being far removed from the citizenship of Israel), ' and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.' Here are five ' withouts ' in the words, 1. They were without God, the author of hope. 2. They were without Christ, the foundation of hope. 3. They were without the church, which was contained in the commonwealth of Israel, the place of hope. 4. They were without the covenants of promise — that is, they were with- out the precious promises which God in his covenant had made and oftentimes renewed with the Israelites, and therefore called covenants in the plural number — the ground and reason of hope. And, lastly, They were without the grace of hope : they had no hope of communion with Christ, no hope of fellowship with the saints, no hope of any interest in the promise, no hope of reconciliation to God here, nor no hope of a fruition of God hereafter. And thus you see what strangers they were to the Lord, and to the great concernments of their own souls. God of old would not have strangers come into his sanc- tuary ; and do you think, then, that he will ever admit such into heaven ? Surely no. Ezek. xliv. 6, 7, 9, ' And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God ; 0 ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations, in that ye have brought into my sanctuary strangers uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary to pollute it, even my house, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they ^ nZD; daubed or plaifitered.
62 THE NECESSITY, EXCELLENCY, RARITY, [HeB. XII. 14.
have broken my covenant, because of all your abominations. Thus saith the Lord God, No stranger uncircumcised in heart, nor uncir- cumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel.' ^ Such as had no holiness within, nor no holiness without ; such as had no holiness in their hearts, nor no holiness in their lives, God would not have them to enter into his sanctuary ; and, therefore, certainly such he will never suffer to enter into heaven.^ If God shuts the doors of an earthly tabernacle against such as were strangers to him, to his covenant, to his church, and to themselves, will he not much more shut the door of his heavenly tabernacle against such that are strangers to him, and to his Christ, and to his word, yea, that are strangers to their own souls, and to all the concernments of another world ? and such are all those that are uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh. Princes' palaces are not for strangers, but for sons, friends, familiars, favourites ; no more is the palace of heaven. We will not admit strangers to cohabit with us; and will God admit such to cohabit with him, that never had any acquaintance or familiarity with him ? Surely no. In history we read of such towns and cities as would not admit strangers to inhabit among them ; and such a city is that above, Exod. xxxiii. 12, 17. It hath been long since concluded, that In coelo nullus erit alienus — In heaven there shall be no strangers : none shall be admitted into that state but such as God knows by name. Charon in Lucian, requesting Mercurius to shew him Jupiter's palace above, How says Mercurius, that such a caitiff as thou, whose con- versation hath been altogether with black shades and impure ghosts, shouldst set thy foot in that pure place of light ? What a dishonour and derogation were that to the place ! The application is easy.
3. Uriholy persons have felloioship and familiarity loiih Satan, and therefore, doubtless, God will have no familiarity nor fellowship with them, 2 Cor. vi. 14-16. As righteousness can have no fellowship with unrighteousness, nor light with darkness, nor Christ with Belial, nor heaven with hell ; no more can a holy God have any communion or fellowship with unholy souls, for they are Satan's house, Luke xi. 21 ; Kev. xviii. 2. He keeps possession of them as a man doth of his house, and hath familiarity with them as a man hath with those of his house : he is their father, and they are his children, John viii. 44 ; and look, what familiarity a father hath with his children, that hath an unholy devil with unholy souls. A workman cannot be more familiar with his tools than Satan is with unholy souls ; and therefore he is said to work in the children of disobedience, as a smith worketh in his forge, or as an artificer worketh in his shop, Eph. ii. 2. Unholy persons have bosom-fellowship with Satan : 1 John v. 19, ' And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness;' or in that wicked one the devil, as the Greek will bear ; they lie, as it were, in the bosom of Satan, as the child lies in the bosom of the mother, or as the wife lies in the bosom of the husband, or as a friend lies in the bosom of his friend. Unholy persons partake with him at his table ;
^ Heaven would be no heaven were there any strangers there. See my ' String of Pearls.' [Works, vol. i. pp. 399-468.— G.] 2 Mat. vu. 21-23, xxv. 11, 1^, and xxii. 11-13.
HeB. XII, 14.] AND BEAUTY OF HOLINESS. 53