d communication of Himself and His blessed
nature as the Holy One.

Obedience. Not knowledge of the will of God, not even approval, not even
the will to do it, but the doing of it. Knowledge, and approval, and
will must lead to action; the will of God must be _done_. 'If ye indeed
obey my voice, ye shall be unto me an holy nation.' It is not faith, and
not worship, and not profession, that God here asks in the first place
from His people when He speaks of holiness; it is obedience. God's will
must be _done_ on earth, as in heaven. 'Remember _and do_ all my
commandments, that ye may be holy to your God' (Num. xv. 40). 'Sanctify
yourselves therefore, and be ye holy; and ye shall keep my statutes _and
do_ them. I am the Lord which sanctify you' (Lev. xx. 7, 8). 'Therefore
shall ye keep my commandments _and do_ them: I am the Lord: I will be
hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the Lord which hallow you,
that brought you up out of the land of Egypt' (xxii 21, 33).

A moment's reflection will make the reason of this clear to us. It is in
a man's work that he manifests what he is. I may know what is good, and
yet not approve it. I may approve, and yet not will it. I may in a
certain sense will it, and yet be wanting in the energy, or the
self-sacrifice, or the power that will rouse and do the thing. Thinking
is easier than willing, and willing is easier than doing. Action alone
proves whether the object of my interest has complete mastery over me.
God wants His will _done_. This alone is obedience. In this alone it is
seen whether the whole heart, with all its strength and will, has given
itself over to the will of God; whether we live it, and are ready at any
sacrifice to make it our own by doing it. God has no other way for
making us holy. 'Ye shall keep my statutes _and do_ them: I am the Lord
which make you holy.'

To all seekers after holiness this is a lesson of deep importance.
Obedience is not holiness; holiness is something far higher, something
that comes from God to us, or rather, something of God coming into us.
But obedience is _indispensable_ to holiness: it cannot exist without
it. While, therefore, your heart seeks to follow the teaching of God's
word, and looks in faith to what God has done, as He has made you _holy
in Christ_, and to what God is still to do through the Spirit of
Holiness as He fulfils the promise, 'The very God of peace sanctify you
wholly,' never for one moment forget to be obedien