XII. God is most holy, or infinite in holiness, which is essential to him: thus he is often styled, _The Holy One of Israel_, Isa. i. 4. and this attribute is thrice repeated by the seraphim, who, with the utmost reverence and adoration, _cried, one unto another, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts_, chap. vi. 3. And he is said to be holy, exclusively of all others, as this is a divine perfection, and as he is infinitely and independently so, _O Lord, thou only art holy_, Rev. xv. 4. and the reason of this is assigned, to wit, because he is the only God; holiness is his very nature and essence; _There is none holy as the Lord, for there is none besides him_, 1 Sam. ii. 2. In considering this divine perfection, we shall enquire, 1. What we are to understand by it. Holiness is that whereby he is infinitely opposite to every thing that tends to reflect dishonour, or reproach, on his divine perfections; and especially as he is infinitely opposite in his nature, will, and works, to all moral impurity; as his power is opposed to all natural weakness, his wisdom to the least defect of understanding or folly, so his holiness is opposed to all moral blemishes, or imperfections, which we call sin; so that it is not so much one single perfection, as the harmony of all his perfections, as they are opposed to sin; and therefore it is called, _The beauty of the Lord_, Psal. xxvii. 4. and when the Psalmist prays that the church may be made and dealt with as an holy people, he says, _Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us_, Psal. xc. 17. It is that which, if we may so express it, adds a lustre to all his other perfections; so that if he were not glorious in holiness, whatever else might be said of him, would tend rather to his dishonour than his glory, and the beauty of his perfections would be so sullied that they could not be called divine: as holiness is the brightest part of the image of God in man, without which nothing could be mentioned concerning him, but what turns to his reproach, his wisdom would deserve no better a name than that of subtilty, his power destructive and injurious, his zeal furious madness; so if we separate holiness from the divine nature, all other excellencies would be inglorious, because impure. 2. We proceed to consider the holiness of God, as glorified or demonstrated in various instances.