“To him who along doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever.”—Psalm 136:4.
Beloved, when we get into God’s world of wonders, we have range enough. Which way shall I turn? On what subject shall I speak? If I turn to nature, it teems with wonders. Altering a little the language of Coleridge I would say, “All true science begins with wonder, and ends with wonder, and the space between is filled up with admiration. If we turn to Providence, the history of the nations, the history of the church, what centuries of wonders pass before us! It is said that wise men only wonder once, and that is always; fools never wonder, because they are fools. The story of the church is a constellation of miracles. I cannot venture upon themes so vast as Creation and Providence. Shall we turn to the works of Grace, the wonders of Redemption? If we consider the glory of grace surrounding the cross, which is the wonder of wonders, we are upon a boundless ocean. Here is sea-room indeed; we are at no loss for a subject, but we are lost in the subject. Now are we where the height, and depth, and length, and breadth are each immeasurable. It was said of Dr. Barrow that he was an unfair preacher, because he exhausted every subject he touched, and left nothing for anyone else to say. I would like Dr. Barrow to try my text, and I am sure for once he would have to vary his style. He would only be able to suggest to us what might be said by ten thousand preachers all occupied ten thousand years upon the one theme.
“To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever.” I feel inclined to bow the knee instead of opening the mouth, and to ask you rather to meditate in the silence of your hearts than to listen to my scanty speech. Happily, the text assists me; for it suggests that I narrow my theme to the consideration of wonders of mercy; and that I then narrow it again to present wonders of mercy; for the text is in the present tense—”To him who alone doeth great wonders”; that is to say, is doing them now. Only, then, of marvels of mercy shall I speak at this time, and I shall endeavor, as far as possible, to direct your thoughts to present wonders of mercy. I say, as far as possible; for it must needs be that we link with the present both the past and the future, because they are all of one, and God lives in all the tenses at once.
I. Our first head shall be this—GOD IS WORKING WONDERS OF MERCY NOW. “To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever.” It is enduring now, and is in the present tense for ever.
Wonders are things out of the common, unusual things, extraordinary things. Usually they are unexpected; we wonder at them partly because they are novel and surprising. They take us aback; they are things which we looked not for. When they come they astonish us, and put us both in a muse and in a maze. We look, and look, and look, and cannot believe our eyes; we hear, and hear, and scarce believe our ears. Great wonders, even when we grow accustomed to them, still continue to excite admiration, and frequently they cause us to praise the worker of them, as it is written, “Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done marvellous things.”
I believe that to-day God is doing great wonders in saving great sinners. It is a wonder that God should touch a sinner at all, yea, that he should even look at him. A sinner is such an evil thing, his sin is so vile, so foul, that holiness cannot take any pleasure in him. He who fails to obey his Maker is creation’s blank, creation’s blot, and it is a wonder that his Creator should think of him with patience. But that God should call the sinner with the voice of love, and bid him return and find favor is a wonder. That when he does not return at the gracious bidding the Lord should draw him with bands of love, is more wonderful still. The Lord takes more trouble with a sinner than it cost him to make a world: he could complete the globe in six days, but it often takes many years to bring a sinner to repentance, and to perfect his salvation. The aboundings of divine wisdom, and prudence, and longsuffering, and patience are needed to work salvation. The Lord, travailing with compassion, goes about to compass the salvation of the greatly erring one. He is still doing great wonders in changing depraved natures, breaking hard hearts, subduing obstinate wills, enlightening darkened judgments, and winning rebellious minds. Spiritual miracles Jesus is working still; and of this fact many of us are instances in our own persons, and also eye-witnesses of the like wonders wrought on others. Blessed be God: we still see with wonder sinners saved by the marvellous grace of God. The riches of his mercy are still displayed in the salvation of the lost.
Nor less may the wonders of the Lord be seen in the preservation of those who believe on his name. A true believer’s life is a mystery to himself and to others. Concerning the wind, thou canst not tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth, “so is everyone that is born of the Spirit.” We are men wondered at. Do you not wonder, my brother, that you are still a Christian? Faith is so contrary to nature, that its existence in the heart is like a spark burning in the sea. Faith is so much attacked, especially in this evil day, that it is like a candle kept alight in a cyclone. Yet you have not drawn back unto perdition! Still, though faint, you are pursuing. Truly if you had been mindful of the country from which you came out, you have had many opportunities to return. Satan’s chariots and his horses have waited upon you with many invitations to ride back into the land of your former slavery if you had a mind to go. Alas! the evil heart of unbelief has lusted for the leeks and garlic and onions many a time. Kept alive with death so near, you are a standing wonder to your own self. What great things the Lord has done for you! How he has led you, instructed you, helped you, comforted you! All these as I mention them will wake up many admiring memories, and cause you to cry: “The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.”
To me, also, it is a great wonder that God should use any of us, we seem so unfit for his holy purposes. Can he write with such a pen as I am upon the fleshy tablets of men’s hearts? What! can he paint a fair picture of holiness in the characters of my hearers with so poor a brush as I am? Then indeed he doeth great wonders. That which God does by our instrumentality at any time, if, indeed, it be for his glory, should fill us with astonishment. When Saul, who formerly persecuted the saints, saw saints made under his ministry, he was drawn out in wondering adoration as he wrote, “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given.”
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
