Fifthly, As God is infinitely holy, transcendently holy, superlatively holy, so God is originally, radically, and fundamentally holy. The divine nature is the root, original, and spring of all holiness and purity. All that hoUness that is in angels and men flows from God, as the streams from the fountain, as the beams from the sun, as the branches from the root, and as the effect from the cause. There is no holiness to be had but from the Holy One, he is the author and original of all the holiness that ever was, or that is this day in the world. All the seeds of holiness, and all the roots of holiness that are to be found in angels or men, are of the Lord's sowing and planting, Phil. i. 11. All that holiness that the angels had in heaven, and all that holiness that Adam had in paradise, and all that holiness that Christ had in his human nature, and all that holiness that ever any saints have had, was from God, and all that holiness that any saints now have is from God. The divine nature is the first root and original fountain of all sanctity and purity, James i. 17. Ministers may pray that their people may be holy, and parents may pray that their children may be holy, and masters may pray that their servants may be holy, and husbands may pray that their wives may be holy, and wives may pray that their husbands may be holy ; but none of these can give holiness, none of these can communicate holiness to their nearest and dearest relations. It is only God that is the giver and the author of all holiness. If holy persons could convey holiness into others' souls, they would never suffer them to go to hell for want of holiness. To hand out holiness to others is a work too high for angels, and too hard for all mortals ;
HeB. XII. 14.] AND BEAUTY OF HOLINESS. 397
it is only the Holy One that can cause holiness to flow into sinners' hearts ; it is only he that can form, and frame, and infuse holiness into the souls of men.
A man shall sooner make a man, yea, make a world, and unmake himself, than he shall make another holy. It is only a holy God that can enlighten the mind, and bow the will, and melt the heart, and raise the affections, and purge the conscience, and reform the life, and put the whole man into a holy gracious frame and temper. But,
Sixthly, As God is originally, radically, and fundamentally holy, so God is independently holy, Isa. xliv. 24 ; Kev. i. 18. The holiness of God depends upon nothing below God. God is the Alpha, the fountain from whence all holiness springs, and he is the Omega, the sea to which all glory runs. As all our holiness is from God, so all our holiness must terminate in the honour and glory of God. It is God alone that is independently holy. All that holiness that is in angels and men is a dependent holiness ; it depends upon the holiness of God, as the streams depend upon the fountain, the beams upon the sun, the branches upon the root, and the members upon the head. God is unum pr-iticipiurn ex quo cuncia dependent, One beginning, upon whom all things depend. God hath his being only of himself, and it is he alone that gives being unto all other things. God is the first cause, and without all causes himself. The very beings that angels and men have they have by participation from God. And it is the first cause that giveth unto all causes their proper operations : Isa. xliv. 6, ' I am the first, and I am the last ; and besides me there is no God.' God never had a cause of his being, as all other creatures have. He is a glorious being, a holy being, without all causes, either efficient, or formal, or material, or final ; and therefore he must needs be independently holy. Look, as the power of God is an independent power, and the wisdom of God an independent wisdom, and the good- ness of God an independent goodness, and the righteousness of God an independent righteousness ; so the holiness of God is an independent holiness. And as it is the glory of his power that his power is an independent power, and the glory of his goodness that his goodness is an independent goodness ; so it is the glory of his holiness that his holiness is an independent holiness. And look, as all that power that angels and men have depends upon the power of God, and as all that wisdom that angels and men have depends upon the wisdom of God, and as all that goodness that angels and men have depends upon the goodness of God ; so all that holiness that angels and men have depends upon the holiness of God, &c. Philo could say that God is such a fountain that he breaks forth with the streams of his goodness upon all things, but receives nothing back again from any to better himself therewith. There are none in heaven, nor none on earth, that are absolutely independent, but God alone.
Seventhly, As God is independently holy, so God is constantly holy, he is unchangeably holy. He was holy yesterday, and he is holy to- day, and he will be holy for ever. What is natural is constant and lasting. Now God's holiness is natural to him ; it is as natural for God to be holy, as it is for us to breathe, yea, as it is for us to be unholy. God can as well and as soon cease to be, as he can cease to
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be holy. Holiness is his nature as well as his name ; and therefore his holiness cannot decay, though ours may. Whatever we may lose of our holiness, yet it is certain that God can never lose one grain of that holiness that is in him. Here our holiness ebbs and flows, but the holiness of God never ebbs, but is always a-flowing and overflow- ing, there is still a full tide of holiness in God. Though the saints cannot fall from that seed of holiness that is sown in their hearts, 1 John iii. 9, yet they may fall from some degrees of holiness that they have formerly attained to. They that have been old men in holiness may fall from being old men to be but young men in holiness, and they that have been young men in holiness may fall from being young men to be but children in holiness, and they that have been children in holiness may fall from being children to be but babes in holiness, 1 John ii. 12-14 ; 2 Pet. ii. 1-3 ; but now that hoKness that is in God is never subject to any decayings, abatings, or languishing. That spring, that sea of holiness that is in God, is noways capable of dimi- nution nor of augmentation.
Plato could say that God is one and the same, and always like him- self. And it was a custom among the Turks to cry out every morn- ing from a high tower, God always was, and always will be ; and so salute their Mahomet, i 0 sirs, God hath been always holy, and God will be always holy. Whatever men may lose, yet God is resolved that he will never lose his honour nor his holiness. But,