in sin is e. moral cpntradiction. The eoul tbo.t reveres God's majesty and trembles at GoLl'e power, much more that arlmires God's character and loves God's Person, will of necc&sity find its highest happiness in respecting God's Word and doing God's will. Hence a prompt, earnest, cleci~ive, compltte, and final separation from evil (i.e. rrom errors both in doctrine nnd practice) of every kind is largely insi ited on as the only satisfactory evidence of gennine religion (eh. xf. 14; xxii. 23; Ps. iv. 4; Isn. i. 16; Prov. iii. 7; viii. 13; xvi. 6), while the truly pious, whose heart1; are really possessed by holy fear, nre ever characterized by a. more or less resolute determination to keep the Divine Law (Pe. cxii. 1; cxix. 63; Prov. xiv. 2, 16; 2 Cor. vii. 1; Eph. v. 21; 1 Pet. i. 17). Of. the language of an ancient religious hymn to .A.men: "I cry, The beginning of wisdom is the way of .A.men" (vide' Records of the Past,' vol. vi. p. 99). Learn: 1. To admire.God's wisdom and goodness in the construction and arrange- ment of thiR .material globe. Besides beiog fashioned by Divine wisdom, the earth is also full of the Divine riches, 2. 'l'o see in the monuments of man's engineering skill, mechanical industry, commercial enterprise, and scientific research at once a striking testimony to man's dominion over the creatures, and an admirable confirmation of the truth of Scripture. 3, ,To rate material wealth at its true value, observing both its weakness and its power. While contributing largely to man's physical comfort an.d social influence, it cannot impart either wisdom or happiness, and still less can it. serve as a substitute for religion and salvation. 4. To reason that the same Divine wisdom which placed the material creation under law would not forget to institute a rule of life for man. Hence morality and religion are not accidental and relative, but absolute and eternal, being inseparably bound np with man's constitution as an intelligent and responsible creature. 5. To recognize the inborn foolishness of those who neither fear God nor depart from evil. "The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart' from the' snares of death." . 6. To gratefully acknowledge the Divine loving-~indqess in making known to man the manifold wisdom of God in ChriRt and his ~alvation. 'I'he secret .of the Divine adµtlnistration which Job could not fathom has b,e,en ,clearly discovered in the gospel.. 7. To perceive that ever since the Fall the 'world ihas ,been governed on substantially the same principles. Christ conducts mun~ane affairs to-do.y as he did in Job's time by the law of grace and in the interests of h~liness.
,HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. 'Vers. 1::..:_28.-:Praises ef Divine wisdom. .A.midst the darkness of suffering, and the deep sense of the mysteries of life, inexplicable by human wisdom, Job rises to the contemplation of that Divine wisdom which has founded all things, which knows all things, and in the reverent acknowledgment of which man may find for himself the true path both of wisdom and of power. Already the spirit of Job, purified by long ·suffering and experience, is rising into that presence where there is light and no darkness at all; and from this height of calm contemplation is fitted to become the t<oache'r of his t eacbers, the "instructor of many." L TRUE WISDOM TO BE FOUND NOW~RE ON E4RTH. (Vers.1-11.) To illustrate this, we are pointed, in a fine description, to the art of mining, by which man lays open .tb,e costly treasures of the earth (Deut. viii, 9), but cannot gain. possession of this highest and best treasure of all. Gold, silver, iron, and copper are dug out of the bowels of the earth, and melted from their ores ; the miner's lamp dispels the darkness, a& in' every direction he searches for the "ore of darkness and deadly night." It is a picture of the eager, industrious, untiring toil with which men in all ages in the mines of Egypt, of Palestine, of the old and the new worlds, have sought to gather and ta lay up treasures on earth for themselves. There is onen even a frenzy, a reckless disregard of heal~h and of life, in this passionate pursuit. With what eagerness should we rather pursue the quest of the heavenly treasures, the inward blessings which make men truly rich and hnppy (Matt. xvi. 26) ! The description proceeds. The shaft (ver. 4) is broken away from those who dwell above; the miners plunge deeply into the earth, further and fnrther from the habitations of men, so that they are forgotten by the step of every one who walks above. They are depicted as banging far from mortals by ropes, on the perilous descent of the shaft in their way to obtain the ore (Pliny, 'Hist. Nat.,' '.l'HR 'BOOK OF .JOB. [mt. x:tvrtr. 1-20.