thing very lovable in you-will you not trust Him? He has faith in you-will you not have faith in Him? He knows that you are still capable of divine goodness. He delicately and graciously invites Himself to your house. He can make a splendid man of you, my brother. He can make a noble woman of you, my sister. O! welcome Him at once publicly, joyfully, as Zaccheus welcomed Him. Then go forth to proclaim His love to others, especially to those who are sitting in the valley of despair. THE CHRISTIAN USE OF EVIL. "Never a sigh of passion or of pity, Never a wail for weakness or for wrong, F. W. H. MYERS. THE CHRISTIAN USE OF EVIL. 66 Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you [margin, 'obtained you by asking '], that he might sift you as wheat: but I made supplication for thee, that thy faith fail not: and do thou, when once thou hast turned again, stablish thy brethren.”—LUKE xxii. 31, 32. NOTHING Could be more unscientific or unphilosophical than to doubt the existence of Satan, a personal spirit of evil. To talk about a 66 principle of evil" is to talk meaningless rubbish, and to use sounds absolutely devoid of sense. Principle of evil, indeed! Who ever heard of such a thing? Who can really imagine such a thing? All moral good and all moral evil of which we have any conception is always, and must always be, personal. The existence of Satan positively relieves the difficulty occasioned by the existence of evil. The evil in this world did not originate here or in our own hearts. How Satan became evil is another matter, and must be left for the present. The external origin of evil lessens the sinfulness and heightens the prospects of the human race. Again, we see at present only a part of the field in which the destinies of the human race are being worked out. Events on earth are influenced by events elsewhere, and events elsewhere are influenced by those on earth. From this standpoint much that was before inexplicable begins at once to be explained. |