Thirdly, As God is unmixedly holy, so God is universally holy. He is holy in all his ways, and holy in all his works ; his precepts are holy precepts, and his promises are holy promises, and his threatenings are holy threatenings, his love is a holy love, and his anger is a holy anger, and his hatred is a holy hatred, &c. His nature is holy, his attributes are holy, and all his actions are holy ; he is holy in punish- ing, and holy in sparing, he is holy in justifying of some, and he is holy in condemning of others, he is holy in bringing some to heaven, and holy in throwing others to hell ; God is holy in all his sayings, and God is holy in all his doings, God is holy in whatever he puts his hand to, and he is holy in whatever he sets his heart to ; his frowns are holy, and his smiles are holy, his liftings up are holy, and his castings down are holy ; when he gives, his givings are holy givings, and when he takes away, his takings are holy takings, &c. But, ^ Araobius, Augustine, Tertullian, &c.
HeB. XII. 14.] AND BEAUTY OF HOLINESS. 395
Fourthly, As God is universally holy, so God is eminenthj holy. He is transcendently holy, he is superlatively holy, and therefore he is said to be glorious in holiness, Exod. xv. 11. There is no fathoming, there is no measuring, there is no comprehending, there is no searching, of that infinite sea of holiness that is in God. As neither men nor angels can set banks or bounds to God's holiness, so neither men nor angels can sound to the bottom of God's holiness. All that holiness that is in angels and men is but a spark to God's flame ; it is but a drop to his sea ; it is but a beam to his sun ; it is but a mite to his millions, &c. 0 sirs ! you shall as soon stop the sun in his course, and change the day into night, and raise the dead, and make a world, and tell the stars of heaven, and empty the sea with a cockle-shell, as you shall be able either to conceive or express that transcendent holi- ness that is in God. This glorious name or title, the ' Holy One of Israel,' is ascribed to God about thirty times in the Old Testament, and all to shew that he is most excellent and transcendent in hoHness ; and the seraphims which stood before the throne cried out three times a-row, * Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts,' Isa. vi. 3, to shew that God is most eminently and superlatively holy ; for so thrice holy in some languages is most holy. For holiness God is a nonesuch ; there are none to be compared with him, neither are there any among angels or among men, yea, or among the gods, that are like unto him. * Who is like to thee among the gods, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders.' God's holiness is infinite, it is so super-eminent and so super-excellent that it can neither be limited, nor lessened, nor aug- mented. If men should blaspheme or reproach the Lord, he would be never the worse, he would be never the less holier than he is ; and if men should bless him and worship him, he would be never the bet- ter, never the holier. Unto perfection there can be no addition. A drop taken out of the sea can no ways add unto the sea, Neh. ix. 5. He is exalted above all blessing and praise ! All the angels in heaven and all the men on earth cannot add one ray, one beam of glory to the essence of God, to the holiness of God. As God is goodness in the very abstract, and justice in the very abstract, and mercy in the very abstract, and righteousness in the very abstract, and loving-kindness in the very abstract, so he is holiness in the very abstract, so that no man can flatter him or add unto him ; and hence it is that God glories in the attribute of his holiness more than in any other attribute, ' For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy,' Isa. Ivii. 15. When God would lift up himself in all his glory, he doth it by declaring that his name is holy ; and so when God would swear by himself, he swears by his holiness : Ps. Ixxxix. 35, ' Once have I sworn by my holiness, that I will not lie unto David : ' and so in that Amos iv. 2, * The Lord God hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you with hooks, and your posterity with fish-hooks.' Look, as the great men of the world are wont to swear upon their honour when they would give us the greatest assurance of what they will do, because such oaths are looked upon as most sacred and inviolable, so the great God swears by his holiness, because his hoHness is his greatest honour, and because he hath no greater, nor no better, nor no choicer, nor no sweeter, nor no
396 THE NECESSITY, EXCELLENCY, RARITY, [Heb. XII. 14.
preciouser things to swear by. Let me, saith God, be never owned as a God, nor honoured as a God, nor trusted as a God, nor feared as a God, nor valued as a God, if I do not inviolably keep my promises, and make good my threatenings, having sworn thereunto by my holiness. Now you know the scripture saith, ' When God could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,' Heb. vi. 13 ; so I may say, when God could swear by no greater attribute, by no greater excellency, he swears by bis holiness, that being the top and the glory of all. Look, as all the wisdom of the creatures, compared with the wisdom of God, is but folly ; and as all the goodness of the creatures, compared with the goodness of God, is but naughtiness ; and as all the fulness of the crea- ture, compared with the fulness of God, is but emptiness ; and as all the power of the creature, compared with the power of God, is but weak- ness ; and as all the righteousness of the creature, compared with the righteousness of God, is but unrighteousness ; so all the holiness of the creature, compared with the holiness of God, is but unholiness, Man's highest purity is but impurity, when it is compared to the purity of God, yea, the very holiness of angels, compared with the holiness of God, is chargeable with folly. Job iv. 18. That fulness of holiness that is in angels or saints is only the fulness of the vessel, but that ful- ness of holiness that is in God is the fulness of the fountain ; that ful- ness of holiness that is in angels or saints is but the fulness of the branches, but that fulness of holiness that is in God is the fulness of the root ; that fulness of holiness that is in angels or saints is but the fulness of sufficiency, but that fulness of holiness that is in God is the fulness of redundancy. But,