I matter of fact, he. was. mistaken. His accuser was not his Judge. Satan was his accuser, and God was.the great and just Umpire of the contest. Still, men ha.ve ever I felt the need of one·who should come between them and God, and assist them in coming to a right understanding with God. The feeling has arisen in part from a. similar mis.take to Job's,, but also in part from a spiritual instinct. Leaving Job'~ misconception, what may we regard as the truth about this idea of the Daysman? I. WE ARE AT ~~nm WITH GoD IN OUR SIN. There is an ancient quarrel between the race and i,ts Maker. Sin is more than disease; it is rebellion. It is more than a stain on onr character; it is an offence against God. It is worse than o. disarrangement of earthly relations; it is a wrong attitude towards Heaven. These unearthly charac- teristics of siu give to it a peculiar horror aud make it a deadly danger. So long as we. are ,living in. sin we are God's enemies. IL IT IS TIME THIS FEUD WERE BROUGHT TO AN END. It only widens while it is left unchecked, The longer we sin, the deeper our antagonism to God becomes. Thus we" treasure up wrath against the day of wrath." This is no matter of mere unseemli- ness and impropriety. It .is a fearful wrong that the child should be fighting against his Father. It must bring ruin, on the child and grief to the Father. III. WE NEED A DAYBMAN TO BET us RIGHT WITH GoD. The Daysman is our Mediator. Now; the doctrine of mediation is not so popular as once it was. People say, "We want to go straight to God. He is our l!'ather, we are his children. \Ve want no one to come between us. , We simply want to go straight home to God." There is much truth and rightness of feeling in this desire. If anything came between. us and God, liO as to hinder us, that would be a stumbling-block, an idol, and it would be our duty to remove it out of our way. Any abuse of sacraments, any tyunny of priestism, any person the most exalted, if even an angel from heaven, who came between so as to obstruct the way to God, would be an evil to be deplored and avoi,led. If even Obrist stood iu this position it would be our duty to forsake him. If Christianity meanL a. more difficult and roundabout way to God, it would be ri~ht to renounce Christian.ity, and to revert to a simpler theism. But the question is-What is the nearest way back to God? The exile desires to go straight home. You offer to show him on the xoute fine mountains, ancient cities, picturesque ruins. He will have none of them. He only wants to go home by the most direct way. But alas! he is far from home, and between him and his home there is the broad ocean. How shall he cross it? Now, 176 THE BOOK OF JOB. [OR, ll:, 1-22,
the Mediator is to help us over the ooe&n that separates us from God. He is between UI! and God,. not as a wall that divides, but as 11, door i12 the alreooy existing wall, or as the bndge that crosses a chasm-not to 1,eparate, but to unite. We have 8 Daysman-Christ. Our nearest Way t.o God, our only Way, ia through him (John xiv. 6).-W. F. A.