thought about him; and theology ie not e'imply the science of man's religion. We know God truly, ns far as our knowledge oxtends. Yet we know but a very little of God. 'l'herefore let us lenrn humility, patience, fe.ith. We can never know all, but we may know more, Therefore let us "follow on to know the Lord" (Hos. vi. 3).- W. F.A. Vars. 13-10.-The blessedness of returning to God. Zophar dra.ws a beautiful picture of the j;;>ys nnd blessings of restoraUon to God, and, though its implied ba.ck- ground must have spoilt it for Job by suggesting that the pa.triarch was a great sinner needing repentance, in itself the picture is true a.nd helpful. I. THE PROCESS OF RETURNING TO Gon. 1. By a right condition of the heart. The heart is first to be set right. We can only return to God with our heart. The heart wanJered; the heart must come back. Going to church is not necessarily going to God. Beginning to attempt good works is not always entering the kingdom of beaveu. We must begin with inward and deeper things. 2. By a personal approach to God. The bands are to be stretched out to him. 'l'his is the posture of a suppliant. It is the attitude of prayer, but it signifies more than the offering of a petition; it suggests tha.t the helpless roan is stretching out to God for deliverance, that the penitent child is trying to get near to his Father. We cannot be saved while we remain at a distance from God; as our sin and ruin consist in our departure from God, so our restoration is acccrnplished in our personal return to him, 3. By a repentant renunciation of sin. Sin must no longer dwell in our tabernacles. We cannot recover God while we retain sin. The repentance must not only consist in confession and sorrow. The sin itself must be cast off. Until we are willing to do this in heart and life no restoration is possible. It was wrong and unfair of Zophar to assume that Job needed to come to God as a penitent, for the suffering man had done this long before his troubles, a.nd he was already a redeemed and honoured servant of God. But till we have thus actively repented we cannot be restored. Zophar's principle applies to all who have not yet forsaken their sins. II. THE HAPPY RESULTS OF THUS RETURNING. Zophar must be blamed for the narrowness, the unspirituality, and the conventionalism of his picture. Restoration to God brings higher blessings than Zopbar dreamed of naming, and, on the other hand, it does not always bring the swift and visible rewards which he portrayed with sympathetic eloquence. Yet we may gather some hints of the blessings of restorntion even from tl,e partial lights of his picture. 1. Freedom fr<m1, guilt. The restored penitent will "lift up" his "face without spot." The old stain has gone. Confidence takes the place of tbe shame of sin. 2. Fearless steadfastness. "Yea, thou shalt be steadfast, and shalt not fear." An evil conscience is timorous. The cure of sin brings strength and stability. 3. Forgetfulness of the sad past. It will go like the waters of the winter torrent, that disappear and leave their stony course dry in the summer heat. The sorrow seems to ho eternal while we have it. But not only is time a healer; forgiveness and restoration hasten the process. 4. A bright reputation. This was Job's old possession, but he seemed to his. friends to have lost it. Sin tarnishes a good character. But forgiveness and restoration prepare for n new Christian character. The darkness gives place to bright daylight. 5. Perfect security. The restored man can lie down in peace, fearing nothing, for God is with him.-W. F. A. Ver. 18 (first cle.use).-The security of hope. I. IT Is OF THE NATURE OF HOPE TO GIVE A SENSE OF SECURITY. If a man thinks himself safe, he will go forward confidently; if he expects he can win, he will throw his energy into what he is doiog; if he is sure of victory, he will not shrink from the foe. When hope has faded out of a man's life, he may still pursue his course with the doggedness of despair; but hia step has lost its elasticity and his eye its fire. II. HoPE TENDS TO CRRATE REAL SECURITY. The loss of confidence is itself a weakness. When we expect to fail, we prepare failure for ourselves. On the other hand, e. calm, fearless progress makes for success. There is a foolish sanguineness which only dreams of the joys that are to drop into one's lap unsought and uueamed. But a true and sensible hope will not be thus blind und indolent. H will be the inspiration of effort. If we have hopes of victory over sin and oI a useful Christian ?08 THE BOOK OF JOB. [oH. nr. 1-26.
life, we l\re 11pnmid on to attempt to rea.li1e them. Hope fa neceaaary in Christian work. A hopeless missionl\ry is not likely to be very fruitful. Ill. A JIA8ELEBB HOPE LEADS TO A FALSE SECURITY. Hope ma.y be I\ mere sna.re. Possibly the sanguine ml\n is living in a fool's paradise. His hope may be e.ltogether without foundation, e.nd if so, in trusting to it he will onlJ sink down to ruin. We need to h11.ve n rea~on ror (.be hope the.t is in us (1 Pet. iii. 16). Safety is not pro- portionate to confidence. Although, as we have ju~t seen, hope simply 88 a subjectivo f<>eling dc>es tend to ,·ictory, yet if it is quite groundless, its tendency will not be strong enough tD overcome tangible obstacles. n·. CHRIST HAS GIVEN TO U8 A TRUE A.~"l> INSPIRING HOPE. 1. Jt i, lnu., Christ does not content himeelf with soothing our fears and instilling a sense of restful- ness and confidence. That would be a fatal course, like drugging a patient with morphia instead of curing bis disease. Bnt when Christ instils the feeling of hope, he do<'s so by setting before us good reasons for hope. The Christian hope is based on the revelation of God's love, on the atoning work of our Lord, on his resurrection and triumph. He is our Hope (Col. i. 27), and all that gives worth to him and his work gives weight to the Chri~tian hope. 2. It is inspiring. The great hope of Christ ie that ~in shall be conquered and the kingdom of heaven come in power. (1) This is inspiring to the indi'l'idnal. No one of us need be satisfied with a low tone of Christian life. It is open to all to rise to great heights of holiness and fruitful living. The hope is in Christ, not in ourselves; and his resources are unlimited, his riches unsearchable (Eph. iii. S). (2) This is also inspiring for the Church. The weary battle of the ages is destined to ultimate victory. Christ, not the devil, must triumph at last. Difficulties press upon us and discouragements grow thick around us, yet the canse of God cannot fail. The promise of victory should inspire the hope which helps forward the accomplishment.-W. F. A.