oannot but admire the manline11e of Job. It wae diflioult fo1 him not to bo cowed before the array of advol'IIO influenOOB brought to bear upon him. His sickness of body, hie mental distress and perplexity, and the unanimous opinion of hie frienda, might well have deprived him of all courage. Yet he holds up his head and &B110rta the right, On what. ie euoh mon1l honesty based? 1. Reverenoofor trvth, Truth la imperious and must be respected at any cost. 2. Belief in jmtioo. In the end right must prevail. It cannot be well to renounce it in favour of temporary appea.rances, 8, 1"ul in God. Job still clings to his faith, although he believes that all his troubles come from God. Now, no insinoerity CBn please God or deceive him. If we think of c,ur ~tanding in his sight, rather than our position in the eyes of men, we must be true and honest.-W. F. A. Vers. 8-10.-..4.n empty hope. The wicked man may have gained mnoh of earthly goods. But all he has is temporal and external. Therefore it is useless to him at death, and in regard to all bis spiritual needs. We CBn see the dark features of his mieerable prospect in the picture that Job bas drawn. I. BE HAS EARTHLY PossFaI0NS. The foolish man has made gain; but it is useless to him. He is like the rich man in the parable, who was about to build new barns for hie goods when his life wBB ta.ken and all his wealth lost at 11, stroke. If a pel'!!on truat.e to his earthly prosperity he is not prepared to oonfess his true needs. He thinks he is rich when he is miserable and blind and naked (Rev. iii. 17). If he has acquired his wealth for himself, if it is his gain, he is in the greater danger of over-estimating it. Self-made men are tempted to think too much of what they have won by their oven hard toil II. HE HAS No CLAtll ON TEE HEAVEJ)."LY INHEBI'l'ANOE. There is nothing for tho future. Yet life is brief and uncertain. It must end soon; it may end at any moment. Riches may have been !!• ,t by a man's own energy ; but life is dependent on the will of God. Thus a man gains earthly things; but God disposes of his life. The greater concerns are altogether outside his powers, 88 they are beyond the region of his calculations. Ill. HE RAS NO ACOESS TO Go» IN PRAYER. The wicked man. hBS no right to expect God to hear him in trouble. 1. He wiU have trou.bk. All his prosperity cannot exclude the possibility, nay, the certainty, of adversity. 2. He will need God. In trouble he may shriek to Heaven for help, though he never dreams of acknowledging God i.n times of prosperity. Prayer is so natural to man that it is forced out of the most unaccustomed lips by the pressure of great distreBS. 3. He wul not be heard. Job is right. '.L'here are men whose prayers God will not hear. The reason is simply that they do not fulfil the necessary conditions of successful prayer. No man can fall so low, but that if he humble himself an.d turn and repent, God will hear him. But God will not hear the prayer of the impenitent. When the wicked man falls into trouble, very naturally he will desire to be saved from it. But possibly he may not repent of his sin nor desire to be saved Crom that; then all his prayer comes from a low, selfish desire to escape what hurts him. Such a prayer cannot be heard. IV. HE HAS No DELIGHT IN Goo. 1. He mi&ea the one Soorr,e of perfect good, Though be gains much, his possessions are external; they do not help or feed his soul. They are but temporal; when he dies he will leave them all behind. But God, as ilie Portion of bis people, is a satisfying and permanent _possession. He, and he alone, both fills all their real need now and endures for ever. To miss God in pursuit of any other aim is to light on an empty hope. 2. He will not continue to uek God. In the agony of the moment a miserable, selfish cry to Heaven is wrung from his heart. But when the trouble is past he forgets his prayer. He will not" always call upon God." &:H:.alled death-bed repentances a.re justly viewed with suspicion. Too often the dying man is only afraid of the dread unknown, naturally desirous of being delivered from its terron1. Too often, if he recovers, his_penitence is forgotten with his fear11 of death, and he lives hiB old evil life again.-W. F. A.
•• Ver. lL-Teac:hmga concerning God. I. THE HIGJIEST TEA0BINGS, Our thoughts are too much chained to the earth. and too much centred in self. Even in religion we dlt. xivu. 1-28.] THE BOOK 01' JOB. 483