"In oontemplation of created things By steps we may ascend to God." (Milton.) 2. D.e grmler i.nt,,i/J,i,gen of man. "But ask now the beasts, and they sb~l teach ihee , , _ though those dull brutes knew: what u::an bad missed discovering, So the lord of creation is sent to be a pupil of hie humblest subjec~ Of course, to_ be pro- saically accurate, it must be said that the beasts do not understand ,the lessons they: teach; that only man can know God, and that the testimony of nature is unconscious. Still, the higher faculty of m.a.n ma.km it a shame that he should not kno~ what nature is teaching in so many ways all around him. .. Il. .KAfi!UB BEVE6.UI Go»'s PB.ESENCIE. L By its constitution. The v~ry variety of the crmtiOll bespmb the mind and power of the Creator. .For this variety is not confwied., but orderly. There must be a sameness about the very disorder of chaos which ill DOi aeen in the cosmos. The various species of living creatures keep th.eir eeveral places in the BC&.le of creation, fulfil their distinctive destinies and perform their aeparaie functions. There ia mind and purpose in the very variety of nature. ~- By it,, life. Nature is not a huge mosaic. If its variegated picture were motionles11 and cha.ngelesa, we oould not but admire the infinite skill with which it had been put togetb,er, The exhibition of stuffed specimens of de.ad animals in a.. natural history museum giv:es as abundant proof of the skill of the Creator. But the fields show us what no museum can reveal In the great world of nature all is life and movement. Thus we have not the reliiz of an ancient Divine activity of God, like foesils of extinct animals, but the creatures in tLe very tlllllh of life. And this life must be constantly maintained. Then by iM! very continuance it proclaims the presence of God. He is in nature, energizing i11 it every moment. In his baud u; the soul of every living creature. 3. By its human ~ - Man sharee in the common life of nature. The hand that holds th11 110nl of every livillg thing holdil the brtath of all mankind. "In him we live, and u:.o.e, aod have our beiDg" (Act.II xvii. 28). 'l'herefore we have not only to. look a.round W! on the lllrimal creation. If we do but consider our own eiiiitence, we ha.ve daily evideooe of the pr,-mee of God. The talimony of creation is ~ e d to remiIJd wi of our ow11 depelldence on God. Jt ii especially a. good corr~tiV"e 0£ the IIUb;ective DOtions of a Tilrio»ary. Job anawen Elipbaz a.nd hie awful vilion inoat aptly by appealwg U) the great liYULg voice of natu.re.-W. F. A. OH, m. 1-25,] THE BOOK OF JOB. 223
Ver. 11.-Disorimination, Job seems to mean that, as the mouth detects differences of tilstc, so the ear discerns distinctions of words, We do not eat all that we taste. We oan reject the nauseo111 ancl select the palatable. In the same way we do not accept and believe all that we hear, We can discriminate between the sayings that come to us, Bildacl in particular has been attempting to settle the question of providence by appealing to the traditions of antiquHy. Job shows that he can make the same appeal to another series of proverbs, and the result will be very different. Tradition is not unanimo111. It is not reosonable, therefore, to take all that comes to hand from it as infallible truth. We must examine and test it, selecting what is wise, rejecting what is erroneo111, J. DISOBIMINATION IS NEEDED, Note why. 1. Many voices claim a hearing. We are not lert to a monotone of advice. A very Babel of tongues assails n.q, We are ,besieged on all sides by claimants for our belief. We live under a perfect rain of rival notions. Every theory pretends to be absolute truth; yet each novel theory gives the lie to its predecessor. In religion this is very painfully apparent. Not only do the great historic religions of the world compete for supremacy, but Christianity itself speaks to us in many voices. What are we to believe amid the conflict of the sects and parties, some urging to extreme sacerdotalism, others to evangelicalism; some contending for the ancient creeds, others favouring new lights? We must use discrimination, for it is childish folly to give our assent to the first voice that chances to attract our attention. 2. It is important to accept the pwrest troth. Truth is the food of the soul. We dare not play with its ideas in dilettante indifference. To be deluded is to be ensnared. We suffer by feeding on error. As we must distinguish between wholesome and unwholesome diet if we would be in bodily health, so we must distinguish between truth and error if we would be in spiritual health. There are even deadly poisons which look beautiful They must be detected and rejected if oar souls are not to be killed. II. DIBOBUIINATION IS POSSIBLE. 1. We have a natural, facriltg of jv.dgment. Job claimed to possess this, and he compared it with the natural discriminating ability of the palate. Our minds were made by God for use. If we weakly and indolently fail to employ them, and so become the slaves of any unscrupulous deceiver, we have only ourselves to blame for our ruinous error. While we have to walk by faith, we need first to use our reason in order to be assured of a good ground of faith. To deny the possibility of doing so is to play into the hands of the ultramontane Roman Catholics, 2. Ov.r jv.dgment can be enlightened by the Holy Spirit. We must be aware that we often err, The palate is not an infallible guide, for what is pleasant to the taste may be most unwholesome. There are sweet poisons. How shall we be able to avoid attractive errors? This question is most important, because our taste ba.s been depraved; 11 "'°icious appetite bas perverted the natural faculty of discrimination. But Christ hag provided for the difficulty by promising the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth (John xvi. 13). Let us but be sure we are humbly depending on the Spirit of Goo, and we cannot err fatally.-W. F. A.