Ver. 12.-" The law of the M'U,Se "-universal holiness. "The law of the house, what was pre-eminently entitled to be called the law, consisted in the whole region of the temple mount being most holy. Not, as hitherto, was this characteristic to be confined to a single apartment of the temple; it was to embrace the entire circumference occupied by the symbolical institutions of the kingdom-the chambers allotted to the priests, and even the courts trodden by the people, as well as the immediate dwelling-place of Jehovah. All were to have one character of sacredness, because all connected with them were to occupy a like position of felt nearness to God and equally to enjoy the privilege of access to him." For the glory of the Lord-his manifested presence- filled the hO'U,Se; every one, therefore, in every part of the sacred precincts, stood in very close and hallowed relation to the living God, and character must correspond with privilege. The Church of Christ ~ now the "house" of the Lord, and respecting its holiness we have- I. !Ts TWO SPIRITUAL CONSTITUENTS, These are: 1. Felt nearness to God. He only can be truly said to be holy who realizes continually how near he is to the living God, how intimate is the relationship in which he stands to him, how free is his access to him ; and who, realizing this, does in truth " walk with God " and "have fellowship with the Father." 2. Separateness from sin. The holy man is he who, like the righteous and holy Father himself, "hates all manner of iniquity," puts far from him, far from his sight and from his sympathy as well as from his conversation and hie conduct, everything that defiles and dishonours ; he is the man who repels from hie soul, and therefore banishes from his life, all falsehood and falsity, all impurity, all covetowness, all forms of dishonesty and intemperance, all irroverence and profanity. II. !Te UNIVERSAL PREVALENCE. "The whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy." Not one particular compartment, but the whole "mountain of the Lord.' Thus with the Church of Christ, holiness is to characterize: 1. All its members, what- ever their position or function may be, whether they be ministers or whether they hold no official position at all. There is, indeed, a peculiar and emphatic demand made upon those who speak for Christ, that they should be holy; but any one member of the Christian household who does not realize his nearness to God and does not separate himself from sin, is not qualified to take his place there, he is not obeying" the law of the house," he is a disloyal subject, an unworthy inmate, 2. Its members in all their relationships. Not only, though markedly and unmistakably there, in all their distinctively religiow engagements, but in every sphere in which they move-domestic social, literary, artistic, municipal, political. At all times and in every place thu people of God are to have respect to "the law of the house," for wherever they are they are members of the household of God. III. TnE SECRET OF ITS MAINTENANCE, How are we to be holy, and to maintain out sanctity in all the rush and strife, under all the burdens and provocationij, in all the unwholesome atmosphere, of daily life? 1. By being much, in thought and prayer, w1~~ Jesue Christ, the holy Saviour. Much of his friendship will mean much of his t-j•trit, for we con~tautly gr.ow into the likeness of him we love, 2. By receiving into OH, x.uv.1-31.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 385
our minds a.II we can welcome of Divine truth (see John xv. 3; xvii. 17). 3. By seeking and obtaining the cleansing and renewing influences of the Holy Spirit.-C.