Christian Nation Vol. 18 1893 - Rparchives.org

4. CHRISTIAN NATION. Volume 18.Sabbath School Lesson,sometimes experiencing that it is dark. Avery godly woman, on her deathbed, lamentedmost bitterly, that for three days she could notLESSON IIL, SABBATH. APRIL 16, 1893. pray. Her heart was almost breaking.Christ's words were quoted—" Ba of good cheer,Job's Appeal to God. Job 23:1-10. I have overcome the world." She auswered," 't hat is true, and if he has overcome theworld, he has overcome all the trials of thislife." She asked that prayer should be offeredGOLDEN TEXT :What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt knowhereafter. John 13:7.1 Then Job answered and said,2 Eveu to day is my complaint bitter : my strokeIS heavier than my groaning.3 Oh that I knew where I might find him! thai Imight come even to his seat!4 I would order my cause before him, and fill mymouth with arguments.5 I would know the words whioh he would answerme, and understand what he would say unto me.6 Will he plead against me with his great power?No ; but he would put strength in me.7 There the righte ms might dispute with him ; soshould I be delivered for ever from my judge.8 Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; andbackward, but I cannot perceive him :9 On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannotbehold him: he hideth himself on the right hand,that I cannot see him :10 But he knoweth the way that I lake : when hehath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.By the Eev, T. P. Robb.This passage is taken from Job's reply tothe last address of Eliphaz TLe sick andsorry man is sorely perplexed in his own mind.He has passed through a series of the mosttrying events. His friends have come to comforthim, but have only been able to add distressto his former trouble. Their theory ofJob's sufferings was that he waa guilty of somegrave siu for whieh God was punishing him.Their argument was based upon the principlethat only the guilty cuuld suffer, and that Goddid not inflict suffering except as a penal visitation.Job held that they were wrong, butwas not able to extricate himself from tho difficulty.He appeals to God, and desires tocarry the case before his tribunal ; and yet hefails to find God in the manner in which hedesired.I. He Complains That His Tejuble iscertainty that there the unjust finding of theNOT Rightly Interpreted, v. 2 Even today lower court will be reversed. Happy are we ifis my complaint bitter. The word bitter is our lives will justify such-au appeal to theprobably more correctly rendered in the revisedbible, rebellion. Here is an agrivation III. God seems to be nowhere accessiole.power above.ot the treatment he received at the hands of vs. 8 : 9. We would express these verses t-yhie friends. He steadfastly held that he was the formula, " He is not in the east or west,not a criminal in the sense in which they ac- the north or south. I shall not occupy space'cused him, and because he continued to complain,they charged him with anotner sin, that terms used by Job were such as the orientalhere to demonstrate this, sufflce it lo say, theof rebellion. Is it wrong for us, when under was in the habit of using when be referred todistress of body or mind, to give expressionto the same? Then Heman the Ezrahite w.aswrong when he wrote the words, " My soul isfull of troubles, and my life draweth nigh untothe grave. I am counted with lhem that go•down into tbe pit : I am as a man that hathno strength, etc. Ps. 88 : 3 4. So was Jeremiahwhen he wrote " I am the man that hathseen affliction by the rod of hie wrath. Hehath led me, and brought me into darkness,but uot into light." Lam. 3 : 1-2. And whatshall we say of that other sufferer, who, in hisagony cries out, " O my Eather if it be possible,let this cup pass from me." Matt. 26 : 39.Or what interpretation shall we give thesewords, " Call upon me in the day of trouble :I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me."Ps. .50 : 15. Job's complaint was not rebellion.In his complaint Job was not always right.II. He Desires To Carry His Case BeforeGod. "It is no uncommon thing forone who walks with God to be at times withoutfree access to him." Eobinson. FewOhristians can pass through trial withoutand at the close of the prayer she, herself, ledin a most earnest and joyful prayer. Fromthat time to the last, she had peace with, andaccess to God. It is no uncommon thing forsaints to be left without a sense of che divinepresence. It occurs not merely in times ofaffliction. God's s lints lose a sense of the dividepresence and favor sometimes in prosperity.Perhaps thero is never a Lord's supper dispensedbut what some dear saint goes awaymore than God's omniscience, we cannot say,Of this he is assured. He is here, though Iperceive him not. He is cognizant of myfrom the table utterly disappointed. Aud what trouble, though I have not direct access to hisa calamity it is to dispecse the supper to others, presence. The consciousness that God sees us,and offer them the comforts of the Word and ought to be great guard of confidence in timeSacrament, and the administrator, like the of trouble. Second, Job knew he would bespouse is "seeking him whom his soul loveth, tried of God. He does not say, if he wouldseeks, but fiuds him noi!"try me, but " when he hath tried me." He haddob was confident that ho could order his appealed to the higher court, and knew thatcause before God, and he was settled in the his case would not be thrown our. And whatrectitude of his life ; he was assured that Godwould answer him so that he would comprehendthis providence. He was in part right.will be the result of the trial? "I shall comeHe was partly in darkness. When God didspeak to Job, the man was silenced, andashamed before him. Job recogiiizad God'spower, v. 6, but rested in the assurance thathe would not uso it against him. This veryclearly shows that Job looked for God to exercisehis power on his behalf. He lookedtoward Calvary. He is assured of help. " Hewould put strength in me." "God will givestrength when he lays on bed of languishing."He fnrther, in v. 7, claims that he is certain ofvindicatian before God. He puts the case inthe third person, " There the righteous mightdispute with^him." " One who is conscious ofhis integrity might carry his cause there, withthe assurance that he would be heard, and thatjustice would be done him. ' Barnes.In this event he would be relieved from theunjust senteuce passed on him by bis friends.It is an appeal to the Supreme Court, with thethe points cf the compass. The rising sun didnot reveal to Job the gracious presence that helonged to see. The fading light drew curtain,but from behind it no voice spoke to himThe northern sky might burn and blaze in itsmysterious light, but no face revealed itselfto the sufferer. The desert South, from outits heat, trave forth nnither voice nor form.Nature was silent. But if God did not speakin his vindication, through the avenue of nature,God was still very near to Job, and judginghis cause most justly. God is often verynear to his people, and yet they cannot seehim. How often this is verified in the case ofthe bereaved and suffering! It was well forJob that God did not reveal himself soonerHe needed the search, he needed the darkness.It turned his mind upon himself in an earnestsearch, such as he had never before instituted.Had he been permitted to look upon God beforethis, he would not have seen the one littlespot of gold. We can never, at least in thislife, fully understand the divine way of dealingwith us. But one thing is certain. If wenever had affliction, we would never know ourown inner hearts ; we would never gain tbatconfidence that within we carry the pearl ofgreat price. When, from the other side weturn and look back over the whole path of life,we will forget the things we called joys whilehere, and "count it all joy, when we fall intodiverse trials." The robes are washed in theblood of the Lamb, while the believer passesthrough great tribulations.IV. Job was anxious to be tried, v. 10. Thisis set forth in two things : first,thnt God wasreally with him. Whether Job thought offorth as gold." Job was that moment in thetrial. The dross was disappearing ; the goldwas becoming more and more refined. Everyday waa leaving less of the earthly, and moreof tHe heavenly. We ought to be willing to betried. It is desirable that we should knowwhether our religion is the genuine article, orwhether it is only a good imitation. Thedevil has the counterfeit of every moral virtue,and deceives multitudes into the belief that hiastuff is just as good as the genuine—indeedthat it is genuine. Do not bo deceived in whatyou have. It would be an awful disappointmentto die, and findout that we had been dependingon what had absolutely no value. It is hard to'be sick and to suffer the reproach of men, andto be bereaved of children and loved friends.All these are nothing compared with the ^wfalagony of being shut out from God. Welcomethen the sickness, and the sorro •/ that consumesthe dross. Barnes says that true religionwill endure auy test that can be appliedto it. The statement is subJHct to criticism.Rather he should say, true religion will endureany test that will be applied to it. When thedross is all burned out of the gold, the operatorknows it, for he sees his own image refiectedin the precious metal ; then he takes it fromthe furnace. If he did not, the gold wouldwaste. God is watching the gold, and willtake from the furnace when pure.PRIMARY LESSON.By Grace Hamilton George.We nave seen Job in his afflictions, Job andhis friends. Today we have Job and his God.I. Job's need op god. Everything haa failedThe comfort of his friends "is but bitterness tohis soul, and he turns in his anguish to God.The God of his bright days. "Even today ismy complaint bitter and my stroke heavierthan my groaning." Before such grief humaiihelp is powerless. God alone can supply hisneed. What is the hope of those who have notlearned to know God before their troublecomes.II. Job's longing after god. Did you eversee a lost child? Perhaps you can rememberhaving been lost yourself: then you know thefeelings of the baby heart as it scans tbe passers