of death where the
workers of iniquity may hide themselves. Balaam declares that God is not
a man that He should lie. The Psalmist confesses to God that he cannot
flee from His presence. The father of believers fears not to ask, "Shall
not the Judge of the earth do right?" Moses recognises that the Lord is
longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression.
Isaiah hears the seraphim crying one to another, "Holy, holy, holy, is
the Lord of hosts." But nationalism distorted the image. The conception
of God's Fatherhood is most indistinct. When, however, Christ taught His
disciples to say in prayer, "Our Father," He could then at once add the
words "Who art in heaven." The spirit of man rose immediately with a
mighty upheaval above the narrow bounds of nationalism. The attributes
of God became more lofty as well as more amiable to the eyes of His
children. The God of a nation is not great enough to be our Father. The
God Who is our Father is God in heaven.

Not only are God's attributes revealed, but the faculty to know Him is
also bestowed. The moral law and a heart to love it are the two elements
of a knowledge of God's nature. For God Himself is holiness and love. In
vain will men cry one to another, saying, "Know the Lord." As well might
they bid the blind behold the light, or the wicked love purity.
Knowledge of nature can be taught. It can be parcelled in propositions,
carried about, and handed to others. But the character of God is not a
notion, and cannot be taught as a lesson or in a creed, however true the
creed may be. The two opposite ends of all our knowledge are our
sensations and God. In one respect the two are alike. Knowledge of them
cannot be conveyed in words.

3. The only thing concerning God that can be known by a man who is not
holy himself is that He will punish the impenitent, and can forgive.
These are objective facts. They may be announced to the world, and
believed. In the history of all holy men, under the Old Testament as
well as under the New, they are their first lesson in spiritual
theology. To say that penitent sinners under the Law could not be
absolved from guilt or taste the sweetness of God's forgiving grace must
be false. St. Paul himself, who describes the Law as a covenant that
"gendereth to bondage," cites the words of the Psalmist, "Blessed is he
whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered," to prove that
God imputes righteousness without works.[154