misery)" are without a covering before thee." The visible and the invisible world; the animate and inanimate creation; time, with its variations; eternity, with its unfathomable limits,―past, present, and to come; things fixed and absolute; with events future and contingent; are all known to him. His vast mind fills, bounds, penetrates, comprehends, and absolutely knows and understands, whatever was, is, or shall be, in all the endless varieties of things, possibilities, or existences, whether material, immaterial, as natures unknown, comprehended in duration, space, or any other form, throughout his own universe. As he is "light" in himself, its author and absolute possessor, so is he the fountain of light, and the giver of light to all his creatures. His own breath lit up the intellectual ray, when he breathed into the inanimate clay "the breath of life, and man became a living soul." In making man in his own image, and after his own likeness, he invested him with intellectual powers; and he has spread before him, for his perusal, the page of knowledge in the creation, in his providence, and in his written word. He himself, however, is the highest and most sublime object of human knowledge. In his knowledge our happiness here and hereafter consists; for "this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." (John xvii. 3.)

2. Unsullied holiness. Holiness, the opposite of sin, is also represented by the figure of light. Thus saith the Apostle: "Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness;" that is, Let us abandon all manner of wickedness, all evil works which are wont to be practised in a state of ignorance, error, and folly; "and let us put on the armour of light." "Let us," says Dr. Doddridge, "be clothed with all the Christian graces, which, like burnished and beautiful armour, will be at once an ornament and a defence to us, and which will reflect the bright beams which are so gloriously rising upon us." (Rom. xiii. 12.) Again: "Ye are the children of light, and the children of the day;" being renewed in holiness after the image of God, and possessing an experience and a character which will bear the light, and stand the strictest scrutiny. "He that followeth me," says Christ,—that is, He who obeys my precepts, and copies my example,-" shall not walk in darkness;" (the darkness of error and sin;) "but shall have the light of life," a living light in all inward and outward holiness. When, therefore, it is said, that "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all," we understand that he is unsullied purity,-eternal, essential, and immutable holiness. The holiness of God is not to be regarded as a separate and distinct attribute, like justice, power, truth, or love, that have each its special object and appropriate act; but holiness is that transcendent excellency of the divine nature which extends itself to every attribute of the Godhead, stamping each with its own character, and filling the whole. It may be described as that infinite love of whatever is just, equitable, right, true, and good, and of

whatever enters into, or constitutes, the highest possible moral rectitude and goodness; and implies an eternal and unalterable hatred and opposition to whatever is unjust, false, evil, or defective, in moral principle or action. Holiness, in a pre-eminent sense, is attributed to God, "There is none holy as the Lord; for there is none beside thee;" and is assumed by himself under his own designation, "The holy One of Israel." Moses sang, "Who is like unto thee among the gods, glorious in holiness?" (Exod. xv. 11.) David says, "Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy." (Psalm xcix. 3.) The holiness of God is the reason why we are to exalt him, to worship at his footstool, and in his holy hill. "Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy." (Verses 5, 9.) And those happy angels who in heaven continually behold his face, contemplate his perfections, and are overpowered by his splendour, cover their faces with their wings, and cry, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." "There is," sang Hannah, none holy as the Lord;" and the poet of Methodism has continued the strain in the following beautiful paraphrase:

"Holy as thou, O Lord, is none !

Thy holiness is all thy own."

He is at once its author and proprietor. The angels in heaven are holy; so are the spirits of the just made perfect; but these are holy only by a holiness which is derived from God; and in the same proportion as his Spirit is communicated to believers, are they conformed to his image, and made partakers of his holiness.

3. Infinite happiness. Happiness is another idea included in the term "light," and is fitly represented by the figure itself. "Truly the light is sweet;" (the natural light of day ;) "and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun." Light is one principal source of enjoyment; its absence brings gloom and misery. The term "light" is frequently put for happiness, as in the following scriptures :-" Who is among you," saith the Prophet, "that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light?" Here the darkness is that of a child of God, and cannot mean ignorance or sin, but misery; as the light opposed to that darkness means comfort and happiness. "Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart." (Psalm xcvii. 11.) The latter member of the sentence is explanatory of the former; light is gladness; and the passage expresses the happiness arising from a holy life. When, therefore, it is said, that "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all," the words set forth his infinite happiness; a happiness which, being absolute, is possessed by him in the highest possible degree. Our Redeemer, in reference to his Godhead, is said to be VOL. XXIII. Third Series. SEPTEMBER, 1844.

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over all, God blessed for evermore ;" "the blessed and the only Potentate;" and this designation is given unto God,—“the blessed;" pre-eminently so, "the blessed God." The holiness and happiness of God are intimately connected. For as his holiness implies absolute perfection of both physical and moral nature, infinite happiness is inseparably connected therewith; as any want of this would imply a defect in the nature itself, and be an imperfection in the Godhead. As he knows in what the highest excellency of being consists, his rectitude chooses what his knowledge and wisdom approve; and his infinite power effects his pleasure. Self-existent, and as such independent, he cannot be affected by any mutations that mark his creatures. Possessing rule and dominion uncontrolled, he can have nothing to hope, as he has nothing to fear. Satisfied of, from, and in himself only, he remains, and ever will, the blessed, the infinitely happy, God.

Participating in the divine nature, the believer is happy; and, in proportion as his soul rests in God, is this happiness unaffected by the vicissitudes of time. "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee," was the language of the Psalmist. 66 "My flesh and my heart faileth:"

"Let this feeble body fail,

And let it droop and die:"

nothing can deprive me of my happiness; "for God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever." So, also, adds the Prophet: "Though the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flocks shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." As communion and fellowship with God constitutes the Christian's happiness on earth, so the happiness of a saint in heaven differs from that of a saint on earth, not in nature or kind, but only in degree, the one being partial, mixed, and liable to interruption, but the other full, unmixed, perpetual, everlasting. The saint is "heir of God," and in heaven is co-partner with Christ. He dwells with God, whose presence diffuses happiness through the various ranks of blessed intelligences; for "in thy presence is fulness of joy, and at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore.”

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II. Such is the character of Him with whom we are called to have fellowship and communion; a Being of infinite knowledge, unbounded purity, and ineffable happiness. Our qualifications for this fellowship are thus stated by the Apostle: "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth; but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another:" and may be considered as twofold,-physical, and moral. There must be a physical as well as moral basis on which

fellowship is formed. Where a natural incapacity exists, there can be no fellowship; as the senseless clod can hold no fellowship or communion with the sun: neither can there be fellowship between things of opposite natures, the one of which would be destructive of the other; as fire cannot hold fellowship with water, life with death, light with darkness. Man may hold fellowship and communion with his fellow-man; there is a community of nature, and may be a communion of mind and heart, of thought and feeling, resting on a moral as well as physical basis. Some of our highest and purest earthly enjoyments arise from the tender endearments and offices of society, friendship, and affection; and the Christian experiences a happiness peculiarly his own in the communion of saints. Between man and his Creator there is a physical capacity for fellowship and communion in a similarity of nature; for "God is a Spirit:" such is the human soul, and thus qualified to have fellowship with God. Did we not know from revelation, that "of him" as the Creator, "through him" as the Preserver, "and to him" as their End, "are all things," reason itself would suggest, from a review of man's powers and capacity, that he was intended for fellowship and communion with God. Possessing a spiritual nature, to which the material objects that surround us are unsuited; with boundless desires, which cannot be satisfied within the vast range of created existences; and appointed to endure always; where shall his soul find rest, except in fellowship with Him, who is an infinite Spirit, and filleth all things in time and eternity? A desire for happiness is inseparable from the constitution of our nature. In the pursuit of happiness, the sinner, ignorant of God, wanders through creation. Each new experiment only serves to convince him of the fruitlessness of his effort, and that "vanity" is written on every page of terrestrial enjoyment. Empty, disappointed, dissatisfied, and vexed, must the highest-favoured carnal man be, till he return unto God.

A moral fitness, however, is also indispensably necessary to our fellowship with God. There may be a natural capacity where a moral fitness is wanting; and this want will prove an insuperable impediment to communion. Satan is a spirit, and physically capable of communion with God; and in his first estate, as a companion of holy angels, no doubt, held sweet converse with his Creator: but now, fallen and full of sin, he is morally disqualified; "for what fellowship has light with darkness, or what concord hath Christ with Belial?" Such, too, is the condition of the unconverted man he has a physical capacity, but no moral fitness; and awful as the language may seem, yet is it true, that he has no communion with God; his fellowship is with darkness; he lieth in wickedness; he is of his father the devil, and led captive by him at his will. "If," then, "we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie,

and do not the truth." "God is light," but you walk in darkness, in ignorance and folly, in depravity and guilt, in condemnation and misery; and infinite light can hold no communion with darkness,— "in him is no darkness at all;" infinite knowledge and wisdom cannot hold communion with ignorance and folly; unsullied holiness, with guilt and depravity; nor ineffable happiness, with condemnation and misery. Hear this, unholy professors of a holy religion! You call yourselves Christians; you profess to be of the fellowship of saints, and to belong to God; and yet you are not saved from sin. Pride yet swells in your imagination, passion frequently triumphs over you, and the love of this world rivals in your heart the love of God. You are negligent in some duties, dilatory in others, cool in your zeal, and censorious in conversation. Your profession is vain, your pretensions are hypocritical, you dishonestly assume the garb of light, to conceal the darkness of your heart and life; and, adding spiritual falsehood, before God and his church, to your other sins, " you lie, and do

not the truth."

There must, then, be a moral fitness in an illuminated mind and renovated heart. This we have not by nature. It is imparted unto the believer by the agency of the Holy Ghost. It is he who removes the ignorance of the carnal mind, subdues the enmity of the will, purifies the affections, and creates the soul anew after the image of God, in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness. By the communication of his own uncreated light, he prepares the Christian to have fellowship with himself, who is light, and in whom is no darkness at all.

There must not only be a moral fitness created by the agency of the Holy Ghost within us,-an inward and spiritual light imparted,-but we are to "walk in the light as he is in the light," if we would maintain our fellowship with God. This walking in the light includes two things a secret intercourse with God, and a life of holy obedience, maintained by faith, prayer, meditation, earnest breathings, fervent wrestlings of spirit. By these acts of devotion we ascend the mount, and catch a distant view of the heavenly Canaan; we place ourselves immediately under the beams of the Sun of Righteousness; we drink in the light from the unfathomable sea, till the soul becomes light, and resplendent with divine glory, as the moon, or irradiated cloud, which reflects the light of the sun. From this secret intercourse with God the Christian comes forth, like Moses from Mount Sinai, his face bright with divine light, and carrying, as one observes, the tables of the law in both his hands, written in his practice. He walks in the light guided thereby, the law of light shines through a life of holy obedience. In all his daily intercourse with his fellow-men, he carries about with him that pure light which he has derived from God, who is light. He is true and just, benevolent and charitable, doing