INDICATIONS OF A SCHEME IN THE UNIVERSE. 



173 



plan." Apparently it ought to read " the apparent failure of His 

 plan." A printer's error, possibly. To suppose that God could fail 

 in anything is, of course, absurd on the face of it. Whatever made 

 Him fail would be greater than He, therefore God would not be 

 God ; one greater than He, and more powerful would be God. 

 God's plans may often seem to fail, but do they really fail 1 Never, 

 they could not fail. Who shall contend with God 1 Who shall say 

 He shall not do this or that ? There is an apparent failure, no 

 doubt ; there is the m3^stery of evil. It is a mystery, and yet we 

 say that evil is, as was pointed out a little while ago, necessary for 

 the perfecting of moral character in man. How could there be love 

 of enemies, how could there be long-suffering and forgiveness, how 

 could there be these things, if there were no such thing as evil 1 

 No doubt the devil thought he had gained a wonderful victory 

 when he persuaded men to nail the Prince of Life to the Cross. 

 Yet was it not for this cause that the Saviour came 1 Satan's 

 victory was apparent only. We may perhaps compare the Divine 

 purpose and plan to some great wheel advancing towards the great 

 goal — the greater glory of God and the blessedness therefore of His 

 creatures. As this wheel goes on towards that goal, the lower 

 portion of it is moving in exactly the opposite direction to that of 

 the wheel as a whole. A part of the wheel is going backwards, but 

 the wheel itself is going straight forward. This backward move- 

 ment is necessary. Now I think we have here perhaps some 

 illustration of how evil is really being made by God's infinite power, 

 wisdom, and love, to subserve His will. Evil is evil, but evil when 

 God over-rules it, when God takes it in hand, is made to carry out 

 God's grand purpose. We have many instances of this in history, 

 where wicked men become the instruments of Divine judgment. 

 Of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things ; to Him be 

 glory for ever ! We shall quite agree with the conclusion of the 

 Author, that the law of the universe is that the physical element is 

 subservient to the moral and spiritual. When the wheel reaches its 

 goal, then the backward movement of the lower portion stops. 

 *'Evil cannot form part of the moral scheme in its completeness, 

 but it is being over-ruled to draw out the depths of the Divine 

 character, which is infinite LOVE, and which is manifested in the 

 mission of Christ " ; and (may we not add 1) to produce, in moral 

 and spiritual beings, a character conformed thereto. 



