Esther 8:5 - Homilies By F. Hastings

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.