c Col. i. 15. d 1 Tim. vi. 16. e Heb. i. 3.
f 2 Cor. iv. 4. s Ps. lxxxv. 10.
iniquity, transgression, and sin, whilst he by no means clears the guilty11;" because their guilt has been expiated, and a righteousness has been wrought out by the Lord Jesus Christ, so that God is " a just God, and yet a Saviour1,'' and is no less just than he is merciful, in every exercise of his pardoning love, and in every blessing which hebestows onhis redeemed peopled]
The petition offered respecting this, leads us to inquire,
II. In what respects we may hope that " this beauty shall be on us" —
Had the prayer been offered by Moses alone, like that, " I beseech thee, shew me thy glory1," we might have supposed, that it was a peculiar favour, which other saints had no right to expect. But the prayer was uttered by multitudes, even by the great mass of those who repented in the wilderness : and therefore it may be poured forth by all true penitents amongst ourselves, who may expect that " the beauty of the Lord shall be upon them : "
1 . By an outward manifestation of it to our minds —
[To the Corinthian Church was this honour vouchsafed : for " God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness at the first Creation, shined into their hearts, to give them the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ™." Such manifestations therefore may we also expect. The Lord Jesus Christ has expressly promised, that he will manifest himself to us, as he does not unto the world : and with such convincing evidence will he shew us his glory, that we shall differ from those around us, as Paul at his conversion differed from his attendants : they heard a voice as well as he ; but he alone was favoured with the sight of the Lord Jesus Christ himself" : so that the words which we hear or read may be heard or read by thousands ; but to us only, that is, to those only who are truly penitent and believing, will he " manifest forth his glory," so as to constrain us to cry out, " How great is his goodness! how great is his beauty0 !"
It is by the public ordinances chiefly that he will make these revelations of himself to us : and hence it was that David so exceedingly delighted in the house of God, saying, " One thing have I desired of the Lord, which I will seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold
h Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7. ' Isai. xlv. 21. k 1 John i. 9.
I Exod. xxxiii. 18. m 2 Cor. iv. 6.
II Acts ix. 7. 1 Cor. ix. 1. and xv. 8. ° Zech. ix. 17.
653.1 god's beauty imparted to his people. 129
the fair beaut// of the Lord1'." If only we come up to his house with raised expectations, and a humble mind, he will reveal himself to us, and lift up the light of his countenance upon us, and shew us " his power and glory so as he is accustomed to display them in his sanctuary*1."]
2. By an inward communication of it to our souls —
[" God originally made man after his own image1":" and after the same image will he create us anew " in righteousness and true holiness8." It is for this very end that he so reveals himself in his ordinances ; namely, that, by communing with him there, our faces may be made to shine, as the face of Moses did'; and that " by beholding his glory we may be changed into the same image from glory to glory by the Spirit of our Godu." In this sense the beauty of the Lord our God shall be upon all his children, according as it is written, " He that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself even as he is purex." No inferior standard will they aim at : they know their duty ; and they know their privilege : and with no attainments will they be satisfied, till they "are holy, as God is holy;" and " perfect, even as their Father that is in heaven is perfect."