Sermons to the Natural Man | Page 8

is
distinct, accurate, unintermittent, and unvarying. We shall know even
as we are known, and we are known by the omniscient and unerring
Searcher of hearts. Let us now apply this general characteristic of
cognition in eternity to some particulars. Let us transfer our minds into
the future and final state, and mark what goes on within them there. We
ought often to enter this mysterious realm, and become habituated to its
mental processes, and by a wise anticipation become prepared for the
reality itself.
I. The human mind, in eternity, will have a distinct and unvarying
perception of the character of God. And that one particular attribute in
this character, respecting which the cognition will be of the most
luminous quality, is the Divine holiness. In eternity, the
immaculateness of the Deity will penetrate the consciousness of every
rational creature with the subtlety and the thoroughness of fire. God's
essence is infinitely pure, and intensely antagonistic to sin, but it is not
until there is a direct contact between it and the human mind, that man
understands it and feels it. "I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the

ear, but now mine eye seeth Thee, and I abhor myself." Even the best
of men know but "in part" concerning the holiness of God. Yet it is
noticeable how the apprehension of it grows upon the ripening
Christian, as he draws nearer to the time of his departure. The vision of
the cherubim themselves seems to dawn upon the soul of a Leighton
and an Edwards, and though it does not in the least disturb their saintly
and seraphic peace, because they are sheltered in the clefts of the Rock
of Ages, as the brightness passes by them, it does yet bring out from
their comparatively holy and spiritual hearts the utterance, "Behold I
am vile; infinite upon, infinite is my sin." But what shall be said of the
common and ordinary knowledge of mankind, upon this subject!
Except at certain infrequent times, the natural man does not know even
"in part," respecting the holiness of God, and hence goes on in
transgression without anxiety or terror. It is the very first work of
prevenient grace, to disclose to the human mind something of the
Divine purity; and whoever, at any moment, is startled by a more than
common sense of God's holy character, should regard it and cherish it
as a token of benevolence and care for his soul.
Now, in eternity this species of knowledge must exist in the very
highest degree. The human soul will be encircled by the character and
attributes of God. It cannot look in any direction without beholding it.
It is not so here. Here, in this life, man may and does avert his eye, and
refuse to look at the sheen and the splendor that pains his organ. He
fastens his glance upon the farm, or the merchandise, or the book, and
perseveringly determines not to see the purity of God that rebukes him.
And here he can succeed. He can and does live days and months
without so much as a momentary glimpse of his Maker, and, as the
apostle says, is "without God" in this world. And yet such men do have,
now and then, a view of the face of God. It may be for an instant only.
It may be merely a thought, a gleam, a flash; and yet, like that quick
flash of lightning, of which our Lord speaks, that lighteneth out of the
one part of heaven, and shineth unto the other part, that cometh out of
the East and shineth even unto the West,--like that swift momentary
flash which runs round the whole horizon in the twinkling of an eye,
this swift thought and gleam of God's purity fills the whole guilty soul
full of light. What spiritual distress seizes the man in such moments,
and of what a penetrating perception of the Divine character is he

possessed for an instant! It is a distinct and an accurate knowledge, but,
unlike the cognition of the future state, it is not yet an inevitable and
unintermittent one. He can expel it, and become again an ignorant and
indifferent being, as he was before. He knows but "in part" at the very
best, and this only temporarily.
But carry this rational and accountable creature into eternity, denude
him of the body of sense, and take him out of the busy and noisy world
of sense into the silent world of spirits, and into the immediate presence
of God, and then he will know upon this subject even as he is known.
That sight and perception of God's purity which he had here for a brief
instant, and which was so painful because he was not in