thought, His tremendous troubles, and the cruel accusations of his friends, have driven him to the conclusion that God must havo conreived the idea of thus t"rmentin" him long before Job knew anything of it; that Gori m11st have hidden the u.rea.lrt~ purposu in his heart; that all the while Job wa~ compb1cently enjoying his prosperity, God was nursing the secret design of scattering it to the win,h, and plunging his servant into the depths of misery. I. Goo's PURPOSES ARE HIDD1rn FROM MAN, They are more hidden than Job supposed. He thought that the Divine plan had just appeared. But it was deeper than he imagined. Not only was it hidden in the sunny days of prosperity; it was also hidden in the dark and dreadful days of misery. Had Job known the Divine purpose, his suspicions would have been dissipated, and he would have seen how unjust his arraignment of Providence was. We cannot yet see the Divine thought. lf it were revealed to us, the discipline of trial would be frustrated. Moreover, it is too deep and wide for us to grasp it. Therefore we must walk by faith (2 Cor. v. 7). II. Gon APPEARS TO HIDE DARK DESIGNS, So Job thou~ht, and so the events of his life seemed to show. As the curtain slowly lifted, dreadful thing~ were discovered behind. God was al ways in the future, preparing it for its advent; yet when it came it appeared in thunder and ruin. Was God secretly planning all this misery in the quiet, old peaceful days wben Job suspected no danger? The unrolling of many a life-story has seemed to tell the same tale of God's secret thoughts made manifest in calamity. III. GoD REAI,LY HIDES PURPOSES OF LOVE IN HIS HEART. 1. He must do so because he is love, We cannot understand his plans, but we can understand his nature as far as it is revealed to us. Now the revelation of God is wholly of gocdness. This includes· wrath against sin, but no injustice, no harshness, no delight in inflicting misery. Therefore, thouih we do not see the Divine intention, we may be sure that it is gracious. 2. He is seen to do so as far as his purposes are reueal,ed. (1) In Scripture. Ancient prophecy and the New Testament gospel concur in setting forth the Divine plan, and although this includes judgment and the punishment of sin, its main design is the redemption of. man. (2) In experieuce. Some of God's purposes are ripened and fulfilled during our earthly life. 'l'hese are seen to be good and gracious. It is only the unaccomplished purpose that wears a threatening aRpect. . IV. THE HIDDEN PURPOSES OF Goo's HEART WILL BE ULTIMATELY REVE.ALED. God • does not delight in secrecy, much less does he designedly tantalize his creatures by • perplexing them with needless mysteries and alarming them with bogus fears. What we know not now we shall know hereafter (John xiii. 7). The great apocalypse of fµturity will answer many a dark. riddle of providence in the light of eternal love. We have but to possess our souls in patience,and all will be clear. Job's life-problem was solved at last. When ours is made clear it will only enlarge our wondering gratitude for the depth o.f the love which God had hidden in his heart.-W. F. A.. Vars. 21, 22.-The land of darkness. I. DEATH APPEARS TO LEAD TO A LAND OF DARKNESS. 1. We cannot see what lies beyond. Science cannot penetrate this mystery of mysteries, At best she can but dimly surmise the existence of an " unseen universe." Philosophy may reason of the soul's immortality, but can throw no light into the tomb. The mind dashes itself in vain against the awful wall that separates it from the world beyond. One by one our most intimate friends leave us, and the dark doors open to receive them, but never a ray of light comes out, and "the rest ia silence." 2. We shrink by natural instinct from death. Reason as we may, the grave is a horror to us. We people the land of the dead with terrors of the imaginatio11. La Roohefoucauld says, "Neither the sun nor death can be looked at steadily," " Death is a fearful thing. " , . To die, and go we kuow not where : To lie in cold obstruction, and to rot; This eensible warm motion to become A kneaded clod ; and the delighted 11pirit To bathe i11 fiery floods, or to n-side In thrilling regions of thick-ribbed ice; To be imprison'd in the viewless winds, And blown with re1tl• violenoe round !\bout 192 THE BOOK OF JOB. [OB. XJ, 1-:.lO.
The pendent world, or to be woree than wont Of those, tb1tt !1twle1!8 e.nd incertain thought.a Irn1tgine ho,vling 1-'tis too horrible I The wee.riest 1tnd most loathed worldly life That age, ache, penury, and imprisonment Can !By on nature, is a paradise To whe.t we fee.r of dea.th." (ShakespMrc.) IJ. WHETHER DEATH WILL LEAD TO A LAND OF DARKNESS DEPENDS ON OUR UBE OP LIFE. Nature, science, philosophy, all leave the future ohscure. But God has lifted the veil in t.he gospel enough t.o give us guidance, warning, and consolation. We learn from the revelation of Christ that the unseen land need be no place of terror and darkness. Whet it will be depends on our present conduct. 1. Death leads the impenitent sinner into a land of darkness. For him the hc,rrors of imagination cannot be t.oo black. No one ca.n conceive the chill desohltion of the" outer darkness," the dread despair of seeing the "door shut" on a rejected soul. The darkness will consist in separation from God, from blessed compa.nionship, from joy, from life-for the future eidstence of the lost is never called a future life. The dolorous words of Job are not t.oo strong for the f&te of lost souls. 2. Dea_th ~ea4s th6 peopl,e ~f God into a land of light. The old-world gloom of the grave 1s d1ss1pated by Chnst, who has " brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Tim. i. 10). Here we have a great advance from the Old Testament standpoint. The resurrection of Christ has thrown a flood of light into the regions beyond. It bas shown us a "la.nd of the leal," where the blessed dwell in light eternal. St. Paul could even desire to depart and be with Christ, counting it ga.in to die (Phil. i. 21-23). All who have turned from sin t.o Christ may despise the da.rkness of death, for this is but the portal to the home of eternal life.-W. F. A.