this? It iB not to be ~uppoeed that be oan. Pride i11 doubly ■trong. l. In it, own eharact-er. It iB of the nature of pride to induoe eelf-confidenoe. Even while the world is poiuting the finger of eoorn at the proud man, he wraps himself in the mantle of hie own self-importB.noe, and despises contempt. Here is a great dift'erenco between pride and vanity, for vanity is easily oast down, because it lives on the admiration of the world, while pride is self-contained, and may be moet intense when It ie least honoured, 2. I,i its circumsf.ances. There are poor and unfortunate proud men. But, &11 a rule, 11uccese and power are the temptations to pride. Thus the proud man ie entrenched behind hi8 good fortune, and he 118es all the means that prosperity has given hlm to defend his position. III. 'l'HE HUMILIATION OF THE PROUD IS BROUGHT ABOUT BY Goo. Thill ia moet decidedly a Divine work. It is beyond the reach of Job or of any man. God humbles pride : 1. By hi,,; power. The proud man is helpless before his Maker. His resources ere as poverty itself, and all his self-importance ia but childish pretence. God lifts up the lowly, and sets down the mighty with a word. 2. In kujustice. Man's pride is not attacked simply because God is jealous of it, but because it is an evil thing. An insult to God, an injury to man, it needs to be cast out in order that a right spirit of humility and obedience may take the place of it. 3. For tl~ sake of his love. God humbles the proud man because he loves him. The abasement is not a vindictive act, ·but a merciful preparation for salvation. The goodness of God leads him to caet down all pretence and self-importance, so that he may raise up a new and more stable structure of solid merit in place of these empty shows. The proud but useless forest is cleared that the precious grain of wheat may be sown in its place. God cuts down man's pride to make room for Christ's grace.-W. F. A.
Ver. 14.-Self-wuation. When Job is strong enough to humble the proud he may be able to save himself; but as he cannot do the first work he is not equal to the aecond. Thus we are introduced to the impossibility of self-salvation. I. THE VAIN ATTEMPT. Men a.re continually trying to save themselves. 1. In danger. We feel that we need deliverance. Job desired to be saved from disease, poverty, injw,tice, cruelty. We all wish to escape from trouble. Some of us may be more anxioU8 to escape from sin, our greatest enemy. There are evils, then, and the perception of them urges us to save ourselves. 2. In dutrust. We ought to look to the Almighty for strength, and to the All-merciful for deliverance. But if we forget God we are tempted t.o rely on the arm of 6.esb. U we had a due appreciation of God's ability and "illi.n_.<Ylless to save, we should not dream of trying to save ourselves. 3. In llilf-wn_tidence. We must think little of our sin, or much of ourselves, if we imagine that we can effect our own salvation. We have not yet discovered our own weakness, nor the depth of our fall, if we suppose that there is no greater mischief with us than what we can remedy. II. TBE CERTA.IN F.AILURE. No man has yet saved hi.maelf. Is it likely that the latest to try the experiment will succeed? We have not yet conquered onr own hearts, although we have often determined to do so. Is it probable that our next attempt will be more successful? There are good grounds for being assured that it will not. 1. TM greatr.ess arui power of ,in. No one who has not tried to break its yoke knows how terrific this is. We simply cannot get away from our own sin. Not only does the sin Larcien into a habit and so become a second nature, but it weakens the moral fibre of the soul. The prisoner languishing in the dungeon is not only held in by stone walls and iron bar£, but the u.ohealthy condition of his confinement weakens his body su that he has not strength to break away from even smaller constraints. 2. Tke jV,Btice of God. This docs not hold us to our sin, but it bind.6 us to its consequences. We cannot deny that we deserve the wrath of Heaven. We cannot atone for sin. All our subse:quent service is no more than is due from us, and the old debt still remains uucancclled. UL Tm: !iLOBIOUB .ALTERNATIVE. We have to learn that we cannot save ourselves, not merely to di.tlcourage useless efforu;, but to lead us to the true salvation of God. What we cannot do for ourl!lllves God c.an and will do if we will let him. 1. Through Jesw 01.rilt. He wu called Jesw; because he would save his people from their sins (Matt. i. 21). He ia the "Lamb of God which taketh awa1 the sin of the world" CH, XLI, 1-34,) THE BOOK OJ!' JOB. 663