then He will manifest His friendliness by delivering or defending them. Look at a few instances of this kind set before us in God's blessed Word. I shall not soon forget the reading of Luke vii. by dear old Hugh Allen in St. George's Church. It was a sermon to me. Simon, in his heart, objected to Jesus having anything to do with the poor sinful wretch at His feet. "Simon," said Jesus, "Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for My feet: but she hath washed My feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest Me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss My feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed My feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven." Was not that a friendly act? In John viii. you see the Pharisees would stone a poor adulteress; but He silenced their accusations and blessed her with a sweet sense of His justifying love. Many here this morning know something of His friendship. You mourn your hell of sin within, and feel you deserve to be spurned from His face; but this is your experience:

"When sins and fears prevailing rise,

And fainting hope almost expires,

Jesus, to Thee I lift mine eyes

To Thee I breathe my soul's desires."

In defamation, despondency, or desertion, Jesus will never leave His friends to perish, but will give them to experience with David, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me" (Psalm xxiii. 4). The rod of Thy purpose. The jewelled staff of Thy promises. When they come to that dark river, the roaring of which causes poor nature to quail, the faithful promise of the faithful Friend will be verified in their experience: "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee" (Isaiah xliii. 2). When the anxious heart shall have ceased its throbbings, then, leaning upon the arm of the Glory Bearer, for He it is who will bear the glory of His friends in that moment of wonder and surprise, leaning upon His arm, they shall enter into the halls of the glorified, then "the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of water; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."

May the Lord add His blessing. Amen.

THE RIGHTEOUS ENNOBLED AND EXALTED.

A Sermon

PREACHED IN GROVE CHAPEL, CAMBERWELL, ON SUNDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 10TH, 1878, BY

THOMAS BRADBURY.

"He withdraweth not His eyes from the righteous; but with kings are they on the throne; yea. He doth establish them for ever, and they are exalted."--Job xxxvi. 7.

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I N looking at any portion of this book of Job, where any one of the speakers is dealing out his judgment or opinion upon a subject, it is well for us to note whose judgment or opinion is given, that of man or God. During my short history I have heard many portions quoted from this book, as though they were the declarations of JEHOVAH'S mind and wili, when the very opposite has been the case. An acquaintance with the book and with the characters who are represented as speaking therein has proved to me that views antagonistic to the mind of God, in opposition to His glorious Gospel of free and sovereign grace, may be, and are, propounded after this style. Look, for instance, at the three men who were eager to help, encourage, and comfort dear old Job in his distress. Job, in his distress of soul, was compelled to style them, "Miserable comforters, forgers of lies, and physicians of no value." Why should he use such harsh and severe language? I will tell you. It was because these would-be counsellers and comforters were spoiling Job's resting place, and with their false conclusions and deductions were robbing him of his only consolation and delight. Their teaching would tarnish the glory of Job's Redeemer and Preserver, and drag down the salvation of God to the level of creature effort, creature wisdom, and creature power. Take, for an illustration of this, that portion from which, I may say, thousands of sermons have been preached, but not one of them would suit spiritual beggars on the dunghill, spiritual prisoners enduring oppression, or helpless sinners who have been taught by Divine

No. 102,-PRICE ONE PENNY.

power that they cannot raise a finger in the matter of their salvation, command a single word for their peace and joy, and

that

"None but Jesus

Can do helpless sinners good."

The portion I refer to is Job xxii. 21: "Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace, thereby good shall come unto thee." Well, if there is an Arminian text in the Bible, we will grant that this is one, because it fell from Arminian lips at the sugges tion of the father of lies and all deceit. Look at it! "Acquaint now thyself with Him." That was more than the speaker could do, yet this is the style of the preaching of all evangelical muddlers and meddlers in the present day. These, with their whip of small cords made of so-called Gospel precepts, whip up their hearers to diligence and duty, and to making themselves acquainted with God. One of these very persons said to Job, "Canst thou by searching find out God?" (Job xi. 7). All such persons are sure to contradict themselves sooner or later. Zophar felt that he could not by searching find out God, yet Eliphaz would have Job try his hand at that business. Ah! my dear friends, I have found out that I cannot acquaint myself with God, but He has taught me that He will make Himself thoroughly acquainted with me, and that in my heart's experience He will make me know it according to that precious Psalm cxxxix.: "O LORD, Thou hast searched me, and known me." That is God making Himself acquainted with His child, and not the child making himself acquainted with his God. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising; Thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path" (margin, winnowest). Know ye anything of the winnowing of the pathway of JEHOVAH'S predestined providence? It is not always very comforting to flesh and blood. And art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, Thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid Thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it." Our knowledge of JEHOVAH must be wholly of His own will and good pleasure. Thus we see in considering this saying of Eliphaz, "Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace," the necessity of noting well who is the speaker, and the very words that escape from his lips.

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In looking through the book of Job it is remarkable to notice that all the speakers are one in their views of JEHOVAH'S sovereignty. See how Eliphaz speaks of it in chap. v. 8: "I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause. Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number. Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields. To set up on high those that be low;

that those which mourn may be exalted in safety. He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness; and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong. They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night. But He saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty. So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth. Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth; therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty. For He maketh sore, and bindeth up; He woundeth, and His hands make whole. He shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee." That is, the perfection of trouble, when conflicting troubles reach their climax, when temptations and trials abound on every hand, when they surge and swell to their uttermost, "there shall no evil touch thee. In famine He shall redeem thee from death, and in war from the power of the sword." Turn to chap. ix. 12. Job says, "Behold, He taketh away, who can hinder Him? who will say unto Him, What doest Thou?" Zophar in chap. xi. 7-12, says, "Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? Deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. If He cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder Him?" My dear friends, do you want brighter views, or more glorious descriptions of Divine sovereignty than this? If so, I cannot supply you with them. We will now see Job's declaration of the sovereignty of his God in a portion which I committed to memory when I was a lad attending a Sunday school in Manchester, and which I would advise our Sunday school teachers to get every child to learn. I anticipate objectors saying, Oh, those are doctrines too high for little capacities. My dear friends, I know a little fellow or two with capacities larger, more comprehensive, and more apprehensive, than those of many persons six times their age. But all the capacity a poor sinner can possess is that which God gives irrespective of age. I thank God that He should have led me to learn this when a child. See Job xii. 16-25: "With Him is strength and wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are His." Do you believe that? "The deceived and the deceiver are His." Are you in any way deceived this morning? Through deception are you suffering in mind, body, or estate? It may be that some one has stolen a march upon you. "The deceived and the deceiver are His." Ay, and mark you, the deception is His too. See 1 Kings xxii. 23: Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee." The deceived and the deceiver are His. He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and

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maketh the judges fools. He looseth the bonds of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle. He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty. He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged. He poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty. He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death. He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them; He enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again. He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. They grope in the dark without light, and He maketh them to stagger like a drunken man." What think ye of so glorious a declaration of the sovereignty of JEHOVAH as that? But we meet with the same again and again. Turn to chapter xxvi., and commencing with verse 6, we read, "Hell is naked before Him, and destruction hath no covering. He stretcheth out the North over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. He bindeth up the waters in His thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them. He holdeth back the face of His throne, and spreadeth His cloud upon it. He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end. The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at His reproof. He divideth the sea with Ilis power, and by His understanding He smiteth through the proud. By His Spirit He hath garnished the heavens, His hand hath formed the crooked serpent. Lo, these are parts of His ways; but how little a portion is heard of Him? but the thunder of His power who can understand?" O what a glorious and gracious God is revealed to us in this book of Job!

The construction of the whole of the book of Job shows forth the way in which God deals with His children, and the way in which He brings them to desire and enjoy His company. In the first chapter we see him a man "perfect and upright, one that feared God and eschewed evil." Yet affliction after affliction came upon him. "Ah!" say some, "that was because of his self-righteousness." To such I would say, You just look after your own self-righteousness. The Lord visited Job in this way simply because He loved him: "For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every one whom He receiveth" (Heb. xii. 6). You cannot find out any other reason why God's afflicting hand was upon Job. So do not be too ready in saying that he was punished because of his self-righteousness. His afflictions came to him in the way of Divine appointment, and formed that discipline, training, tuition, and teaching designed by God in His eternal counsels by which He would bring him to the true knowledge and understanding of Himself. In Job's afflictions his wife counselled him to curse or bless God and die. Mark his answer: " Thou speakest as one of the foolish women