penetrate; then, brethren, the awe which comes upon the heart is only,
after all, a tribute to a _portion_ of God's greatness.

Yet we need not science to teach us this. It is the thought which
oppresses very childhood--the overpowering thought of space. A child
can put his head upon his hands, and think and think till it reaches
in imagination some far distant barrier of the universe, and still the
difficulty presents itself to his young mind, "And what is beyond that
barrier?" and the only answer is "The high and lofty place." And this
brethren, is the inward seal with which God has stamped Himself upon
man's heart. If every other trace of Deity has been expunged by the
fall, these two at least defy destruction--the thought of Eternal
Time, and the thought of Immeasurable Space.

The third measure which is given us of God respects His character.
His name is Holy. The chief idea which this would convey to us is
separation from evil. Brethren, there is perhaps a time drawing near
when those of us who shall stand at His right hand, purified from all
evil taint, shall be able to comprehend absolutely what is meant by
the Holiness of God. At present, with hearts cleaving down to earth,
and tossed by a thousand gusts of unholy passion, we can only form a
dim conception _relatively_ of that which it implies. None but the
pure can understand purity. The chief knowledge which we have of God's
holiness comes from our acquaintance with unholiness. We know what
impurity is--God is _not_ that. We know what injustice is--God is
_not_ that. We know what restlessness, and guilt, and passion are, and
deceitfulness, and pride, and waywardness--all these we know. God is
none of these. And this is our chief acquaintance with His character.
We know what God is _not_. We scarcely can be rightly said to know,
that is to feel, what God _is_. And therefore, this is implied in the
very name of holiness. Holiness in the Jewish sense means simply
separateness. From all that is wrong, and mean, and base, our God is
for ever separate.

There is another way in which God gives to us a conception of what
this holiness implies. Tell us of His justice, His truth, His
loving-kindness. All these are cold abstractions. They convey no
distinct idea of themselves to our hearts. What we wanted was, that
these should be exhibited to us in tangible reality. And it is just
this which God has done. He has exhibited all th