Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: bably be gathered from its actual consequences. What has come of it may suggest to us God’s design in not preventing it. Now we know that it has been overruled for good. Though in its own nature only of evil tendency, and that continually, under the wise superintendence of God, it has been the occasion of displays altogether unparalleled. Though the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God, alone and by its natural influence, yet it is his prerogative and manner to
make the wrath of man to praise him. The very contrariety of sin to the divine character and human happiness, has served for the more vivid and vigorous display of God’s glory. The existence of sin is supposed by the stupendous system of redemption, which so fully manifests the wisdom, goodness, and justice of God; and it has therefore supplied the opportunity of modes and forms of divine excellence, and been over-ruled as the means of benefits to the intelligent creation, beyond our power fully to appreciate. God has appeared as, but for it, he could not have appeared, some of his attributes being displayed which else would have been unrevealed, and others being displayed more strongly and impressively than otherwise they could have been. Moral beings may have been confirmed and excited in their virtuous and holy course, by the views presented to them of sin, its punishment, and the moral government of God. By the church the wisdom of God is made known to principalities and powers. It is not for us to say, what are the precise ways and degrees in which other orders of creatures have derived advantage, from the scenes and occurrences which have followed upon the fall of man. We can see or imagine enough to make it likely that there is much more, beyond our ken and fancy, of wisdom, jn this part of the di…