Repairing mischief.
"Let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman."
I. WHAT A LEGACY OF EVIL IS LEFT BY THE WICKED. e.g. By Voltaire, Paine, Napoleon I and others.
II. WHAT EFFORTS ARE NECESSARY TO REPAIR EVIL ONCE WROUGHT. It is SO much easier to destroy than to build up.
III. GREAT EVILS MAY BE REMOVED, OR AT LEAST OVERRULED, BY PROVIDENCE. If this were not believed, the arm of the Christian would be paralysed. We have to beware of that phase of belief which would lead to the postponement of spiritual effort because Christ is to come again. We must not let it be supposed that the work of Christ, the word of God, and the gift of the Spirit are all failures. The mischief wrought by evil is to be repaired by Christ's gospel and healed by his love.
1. What are we doing to repair the mischief others have wrought? What are we doing to undo our own wrong-doing?—H.
Brightened life.
"And the Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour," etc. 'When the tide of evil turned, great advantages flowed to the Jews. So when a man forsakes his evil way he will find certain results follow.
I. LIGHT. He will see the meaning of God's word and of life.
II. GLADNESS. He will not be afraid to rejoice, but will see that the Christian has the truest right to be glad, seeing he is delivered from the bondage of sin and death.
III. HONOUR. People respect a true Christian, bat they despise the hypocrite. Every man's character is rendered of greater worth by his Christianity.
IV. USEFULNESS. Others will be won to the same good way. "Many of the people of the land became Jews." Influence will constantly spread.
V. SAFETY. The former enemies of the Jews were afraid to touch them or speak against them. The evil powers that oppose man's spiritual welfare will not be able to injure him, because God will protect, and the habit of watchfulness will be fixed.—H.