The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1892-09-26

priest and the people had all conspired-
the sum total Of the forces of society
and his defeat was complete.
Joseph's brethren gather together and
determine to overpower him and remove
him. Evil counsel prevails-they cast
him into the pit. They bind him, sell
him to the merchants of the east; take
his coat Of many colors, upon which
they had often gazed with hatred and
jealousy, dip it In blood and bear it to
the waiting father. We hear his cry of
anguish and inconsolable grief. Wesee
the half suppressed sneer ON the faces OF
the successful conspirators.
wHIR OF A WING.
We turn to another scene and behold
the proud king of Assyria moving down
in resistless triumph toward Jerusalem.
He boasts of his prowess. He had laid
waste Samaria. No kingdom had been
able to Withstand his fury. He had
gathered the nations as one gathers the
eggs of an abandoned nest, and he
proudly boosted that he did not hear
the whir of wing and no one chirped
to interfere. He sent his ultimatum to
the trembling king inside the walls OF
Jerusalem. There is no army compe-
tent to cope with him. The day of doom
is at hand.
1t is this near view of evil that always
depresses and appalls. This is what we
see with mortal eye. But there is an.
other and larger view. We turn from
this scene, and we hear the cry of triumph
from the apostles gathered together in
prayer. We hear them cry, Against
thy holy servant Jesus, whom thou dds;
anoint, both Herod and Pontius PLATE,
with the Gentiles and the peoples of
Israel, were gathered together to DO
whatsoever thy hand and thy council
foreordained to come TO pass" This is
true Calvinism. believe in such
foreordination. In theology that can
look back upon evil turned to good and
cry in triumph, Though wrought by
evil hands, it was Gods ak and saw
with which the good is DONE" ....
In that memorables scene, when Joseph
stands in the midst of his terror stricken
brethren and remorso sweeps their souls
as they remember their treachery toward
him in the past, we see him lift his face.
and we know it must have been stained
with tears, as he said in accents tender
and brotherly: "Ye meant it for evil
against me; but be Of good cheer, God
meant it for good. Had not passed
through the pit and through prisons and
slavery would not be able today to be
governor of Egypt and send back to my
stricken father food in abundance"
MIYcrr fStIA NrI, mo ,pnuy
We see the form of the grand old
prophet towering beside the hesitating
king. We hear his warning words:
1.-THE king of Assyria may come III
power. He has swept kingdoms with
the basin of destruction, and he NAV
sweep Jerusalem; but shall the az boast
itself against him that heweth Herewith:
Shall tho saw magnify itself against him
that moveth itp He is but the uncon-
scious servant of the most high God,
and though there is to be consumma.
ton it shall overflow with righteous
ness"
That is to sag, God uses the temporal
triumph Of euil as qD and saw and flame,
scith tchich he builds the foundations of
his eternal kingdom on earth.
First-Every man of faith knows this
a priori, because he believes in God.
Every mans faith in God is the direct
confirmation of this truth. believe in
q God of wisdom and love. see evil
triumphant about me, but because be-
lieve in God l am of good cheer. know
that he must bring good even out of the
triumph of evil, else he is not all wise
and his name is not love. l know that
his creation founded in infinite wisdom
and love is moving onward. The watch
word of creation is onward. We are be-
ing swept forward toward mighty
goal. and that goal is good. Each step
in the worlds progress brings us nearer
of necessity to this world triumph. If
we should be progressing toward world
catastrophe, then no all wise Father
could be ruling and guiding.
THE FIERY FURNACE.
Second-This great truth is confirmed
by the nature of sin. The wages of sin
is death. Sin is necessarily suicidal. 1t
has within itself the elements of death.
its tendency is thus to destroy itself in
the process of development. This is
Gods ordinance. He foreordained this
result of evil before the world was
founded. There shall be the free play
of good and evil. but evil shall fall at
last of its own dead weight. Within
this free play of good and evil he de-
velops manhood, character, success.
Temptation has its divine uses. Evil
thus is made the instrument through
which the highest and noblest charac-
ters are fashioned. Peter, before he
had been delivered over to the prince of
this world, was very proud and self as
sertiye. He had vast opinion of him
self. He said in fact to Christ
that he had his doubts about his other
might desert-but he
assured the Saviour that there was one
thing he could depend on, and that was
that Simon Peter would stand by him
faithful unto death. John and James
might be found wanting, but he would
stand firm as a rock. And then Peter
Is delivered over to this tremendous
conflict with evil and temptation. He
feels the saw and AK and the scorch of
the flame. Afterward, when Jesus sees
him, he asks, "Simon Peter, lowest thou
me more than tiaese9" AS he turns to
John and the other disciples, Peter can
only burst into tears and reply, Lord,
thou knowest the secrets of my heart,
that l love thee" Only thus after all
is the noblest and divinest character at
tanned. 1t is in this terrific conflict that
men approach perfection.
SIGNS AND WONDERS.
The record of life is tho continued
confirmation of this fact. Moses must
feel the powers of evil before his great
character for leadership is formed and
fashioned. In prison, in slavery, in suf-
fering and affiietion he learned the deep
secrets which he unfolded to his race in
after years. You think that Pharoah
had no part In the salvation of the
chosen people? Pharoah thought that
he was attaining to his own kingdom.