gs of shame felt by a man
whose evil is answered by good. But these are secondary and auxiliary
to the true end of kindling the fire of love in his alienated heart.
The great object which every Christian man is bound to have in view
is to win over the enemy and melt away misconceptions and hostility.
It is not from any selfish regard to one's own personal ease that we
are so to act, but because of the sacred regard which Christ has
taught us to cherish for the blessing of peace amongst men, and in
order that we may deliver a brother from the snare, and make him
share in the joys of fellowship with God. The only way to burn up the
evil in his heart is by heaping coals of kindness and beneficence on
his head. And for such an end it becomes us to watch for
opportunities. We have to mark the right moment, and make sure that
we time our offer for food when he is hungry and of drink when he
thirsts; for often _mal-a-propos_ offers of kindness make things
worse. Such is God's way. His thunderbolts we cannot grasp, His love
we can copy. Of the two weapons mercy and judgment which He holds in
His hand, the latter is emphatically His own; the former should be
ours too.

III. In all life meet and conquer evil with good.

This last precept, 'Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with
good,' is cast into a form which covers not only relations to
enemies, but all contact with evil of every kind. It involves many
great thoughts which can here be only touched. It implies that in all
our lives we have to fight evil, and that it conquers, and we are
beaten when we are led to do it. It is only conquered by being
transformed into good. We overcome our foes when we win them to be
lovers. We overcome our temptations to doing wrong when we make them
occasions for developing virtues; we overcome the evil of sorrow when
we use it to bring us nearer to God; we overcome the men around us
when we are not seduced by their example to evil, but attract them to
goodness by ours.

Evil is only thus transformed by the positive exercise of goodness on
our part. We have seen this in regard to enemies in the preceding
remarks. In regard to other forms of evil, it is often better not to
fight them directly, but to occupy the mind and heart with positive
truth and goodness, and the will and hands with active service. A
rusty knife shall not be cleaned so effectually by much scouring as
by strenuous use. Our lives are to be moulded after the great ex