are pleafed are exceeding meeke and loving, but let any thing ftirre their paffion, and O what a great deale of filth appeares, like a pond that is full of mud at the bottome, and cleare an top, but stirre it a little and then its nothing but filth. A father or a mother cannot tell how to be difpleafed with a childe or correct it, but abundance of corruption comes with that anger;and fo a governour a fervant. Who can execute Juftice upon others, but there will be much of felf, felf-ends and felf-intereft; but now here is the glory of God, that when he manifefteth his wrath, though it be fore wrath, yet he is glorious in holi neffe in great wrath; he is infinitely powerfull in his wrath, and in the execution of his Judgements, and yet infinite in holineffe too; therefore the vials of Gods wrath are faid to be of gold, which is the pureft mettall; fo is God in the executing of his Judgements. Olet us labour to imitate God in this: thou that haft a paffionate fpirit, and art foon provoked, and difcovereft abundance of filthineffe,fee how unlike thou art unto God; though thou shouldeft be difpleafed with that which is finfull, and mayft correct thy children and fervants, yet be fure to keep that which is the beauty of all in thy correcting of others, and that is holineffe..

Againe, this Title is given to God here, becaufe in this great worke of his he did manifeft his faithfulneffe in fulfilling of his promifes to his people; many promifes God had made to his Church for their prefervation and deliverance: and God in this worke of his did fulfill these promifes: now Gods faithfulneffe is a branch of his holineffe; therefore because he manifefted his faithfulneffe in this worke, Mofes and the people extoll his name by this Title, glorious in bolineffe. It is obfervable, and it is of great ufe to us, that Gods faithfulneffe is a branch of his holineffe: if you compare two Scriptures, you will finde it fos Ifaiah 55.3. fayes God, I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the fure mercies of David. and this Scripture is quoted Acts 13.34. I will give you the fure mercies of David: fo we read it; but in the originall it is the holy and faithfull things of David: fo that when God comes to fhew mercy according to his word, he doth manifeft the glory of his holineffe, and it is of admirable ufe to Gods people to ftrengthen their faith. You have D 2 heard

heard that the glory of God is his holineffe, now one part of this holineffe is his faithfulneffe,in fulfilling his promises to his people therefore it concernes God as he loves his own glory, to be faithfull in fulfilling of his promifes, and God lookes at it as his glory to doe it; thy comforts are deere to thee, and thy prefervation is deere to thee, but Gods glory is dearer to him, yea Gods glory is dearer to him then thy foul, or thy eternall eftate can be to thee; and the top of Gods glory is his holineffe; and his holineffe confifts in this (in one thing) his faithfulnesse in his promises.

Now for the application of this, firft: hence you may obferve, whether ever you understood God aright or no; let me put this question to you, what is that excellency of God that your foul clofeth with? we speak much of Gods excellency, and we all fay, we love God, and delight in God, and bleffe God; but now, what is it in God that drawes thy heart fo to him, and cauleth thy foul to love thy God, and to blesse thy God, and to delight in thy God (as thou fayeft) fince the time that ever thou knewest him? what, is it that God will fhew mercy to thee, and pardon thy finne, and fave thy foul, and bring thee to heaven? these are things indeed that we are to love and bleffe God for: but there muft be more; it is the very perfon of God himfelfe that our hearts must be taken with, and it must be the perfon of God in his excellency: and what is that? his holineffe; therefore hath ever the lufter of the infinite holineffe of God fhined upon thy heart, and drawne thy heart to God, and caused thee to stand and adore him, and admire him; and hath thy heart leaped upon the fight of the brightneffe of his holineffe? and doeft thou therefore love him? if fo, thou knoweft God aright and thy heart hath been aright drawn to him: fayes David, Pfalm. 119.140. thy word is very pure, therefore thy fervant loves it. Canft thou fay fo, O Lord, thou art pure, thou art holy, therefore doth thy fervant love thee; and thy word is holy, and thy worship is holy, and thy fervants are holy, and thy Ordinances are holy, and therefore doth thy fervant love all these for if the beauty of Gods holineffe be that which drawes thy heart forth in love unto God, then propor tionably it will be the beauty of holineffe in all holy things

that

that will draw thy heart to love and delight in them: then thou wilt looke upon his Saints as glorious in holineffe, and upon his worship, and word, and Ordinances, as glorious in holineffe, and fo thy heart will be drawn unto them. Pfalm. 33.21. you fhall fee there how the Saints of God did rejoyee in the Lord, and had their hearts drawn to him, because of his holineffe; for our hearts shall rejoyce in bam because we have trusted in his boly name: the trufting in Gods holy name, is that which makes our hearts rejoyce in him.

But Secondly, hence the people of God fhould exceedingly comfort themselves in God; in that they have to deal with him as a holy God that though they meet with much uuholineffe in the fpirits of men with whom they doe converfe: yet there is in God nothing but holineffe, yea the very beauty and glory of holineffe Brethren, it is a delightfull thing, yea a rare and a bleffed thing, to meet with a friend that hath a cleane and a pure heart, that hath no mixture in him, that is holy in his ends and aymes, and that hath a spirit free from guile: Owhat rejoycing is there, when one friend that hath a heart pure and cleane, and free from guile, can meet with another fuch as himfelfe, and can close together in every point ! but what a delight then is it to meet with a God that is infinite in purity and holineffe, in whom there is no mixture at all! God he takes de light in us, because we have but fome drops of his holineffe. O how fhould we then rejoyce in him who is infinite in holincffe: Indeed when we deal with men,we doe not alwayes finde them as we expect; we many times meet with men of excellent parts and gifts; but when we come to clofe with them we do not finde their wayes and spirits futable to the eminency and excellency of thofe parts and gifts; and this is a grievous vexation to the Saints, when they look upon men that are eminent and excellent, and hope to finde a proportion of spirit futable thereunto, but instead thereof finde abundance of filth in their fpirits; though this may trouble thee,yet bleffe thy God in this that when thou art to deal with God thou fhalt finde nothing but holineffe in him, thou fhalt finde him working according to his excellency; for that I told you was the nature of Gods holineffe,'cis the perfection of his will whereby he workes all

things

things futable to his eminency and excellency. Man hath an excellency in him, but not alway es grace in his heart to worke futable to it; but God,I fay,alwayes workes futable to his eminency and excellency.Now when our hearts are raised with the fight of Gods excellency, and then thinke with our felves we thall alwayes finde God working according to it, O what a comfort is this to a gracious foul againft all the evill he meets with in the fpirits of men, amongst whom he converfeth?

Againe, further for the comfort of the Saints, if God,be glorious in holineffe (then as in the former point, as there is none like to God, fo there is none like to his people; for as a mans god is, fo is he,) fo are the Saints glorious in holineffe too; for that which can make an infinite God glorious, muft needes make a poor worme a glorious creature. It is true, that which will make a poor man glorious,will not make a King glorious, but that which will make a King glorious muft needs make a begger glorious: now holineffe puts a lufter and glory upon the divine nature it felfe, upon the infinite God: fo that if thou have it, it must needs put a glory upon thee: therefore it is obfervable, that the communication of Gods holineffe to us is expreft in another way then when he communicates any other attribute to us: when God communicates his knowledge to us, we are not faid to partake of the divine nature by it; and fo his power, and the like: but when he communicates his holin ffe to us, we are then faid to be made partakers of the divine nature: the holineffe of the Saints is the fame with Gods holineffe; as it were a beame of his : fo fayes the Scripture, Heb.12.10. He chaftneth us for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Marke, bis bolineffe:and therefore it puts a wonderfull glory and excellency upon us ; for it enables us to worke as God, and to live as God for what is Gods holineffe, as I faid before, but that whereby he workes to himselfe as his last end, futable to his own excellency? fo the Saints come to worke to God according to their meafure, as their laft end, futable to the infinite excellency of God himselfe and fo they live as God, lives and worke as God workes, and fo are fitted to have communion with God; as the life of a plant makes it not fit to have communion with beafts: nor the life of beafts with men nor men

with the life of God. Now holincffe is the highest life of all beings, being the life of God: and therefore fits for communion with God: for in communion there mnft be the fame life: therefore no creature can have communion with God, that doth not live the fame life that God doth: but if thou partakest of holineffe, thou liveft the life that God doth, and fo art fit to have communion with God himfelfe.

Further, it puts not onely a glory upon thy perfon, but upon all thou haft and doeft: it fanctifies all; as the gold was fanctified by the Altar: fo the very naturall actions, and the way es of Gods common providence, are fanctified to Gods people: there is a lufter upon all the good they enjoy, by vertue of that holinefs which God puts in them:as Gods holiness puts a lufter upon all his attributes, fo holineffe in the Saints puts a lufter upon their parts, names, eftates, converfe with others; there is a beauty upon all by holineffe; take a man that hath excellent naturall parts, if he have no holineffe, there is no lufter and beauty in him: but take a man that hath able parts, and holineffe too, O the lufter that then appeares in them.

Againe, holineffe is the very principle of eternall life, the very beginning of eternall life in the heart, and that which will certainly grow up to eternall life. Againe, holineffe is the proper object of Gods delight; God delights not in the legs of a man, but in his holineffe; let a man be what he will, if God fee any impreffion of holineffe in him, the foul of God closeth with that foul.

Further,holineffe is that which is the feparation of the creature for God, and eternall life: there is (you know) a twofold feparation of a creature for God: you have the expreffion, Pfalm.4.3. The Lord hath fet apart him that is godly for himselfe: he is it apart paffively; and then he hath an active principle to fet apart himselfe for God. God in his eternall election fets apart thofe he intends to fave for hioifelfe; here are thofe, fayes God, that I have fet apart from the common lumpe of mankinde,to magnifie the riches of my grace upon, and to live with me to all eternity. If God fhould now look from heaven upon a man or woman in the congregation, and say, Be it known to all the world that I from eternity have fet apart fuch a man,

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