In our prayers and songs we express a great fact when we say, 'Thy gifts, alas! cannot suffice unless Thyself be given'.
Less than Thyself, Oh, do not give,
In might Thyself within me live,
Come, all Thou hast and art.
I want to make it plain that Holiness is an aspect of religion in which the personality of God is very real. We must find God, and have Him possessing and dwelling within us if we are to live the life and do the work which Full Salvation implies. To realize this Divine union is as essential as to experience the forgiveness of sin. We must know God as well as worship Him, and the text I have read indicates to us that the discovery of a personal God belongs to the heart: 'Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart'.
God's power displayed in Nature may be perceived by the eye, the ear, and other organs of the senses. On the lines of the Psalmist, we may walk out at night, and consider the heavens the work of His fingers, and exclaim, 'All Thy works praise Thee'; 'The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handywork'. The mind also by reflection and deduction may clothe the Creator with attributes or qualities of character, such as Almighty skill and benevolence; but 'spiritual things are spiritually discerned'; and it is only when God reveals Himself to the heart that He is truly known as a personal Father, Friend, and Saviour.
To the formal religionist or the casual dealer in pious phrases and occasional prayers, these revelations do not come. It is when the heart is set upon finding God that realizing faith makes—
The clouds disperse, the shadows fly,
The invisible appears in sight,
And God is seen by mortal eye.