THEOLOGY FOR THE PEOPLE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 275, 20 November 1899, Page 2

THEOLOGY FOR THE PEOPLE.

XIV.—DIVINE MERCY

At the Tabernacle, on Nov. 12, the Rev. J. Clark selected as his text Psalm cxlv. 8, 9: "The Lord is gracious and full of compassion; slow to anger and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all; and His tender mercies are over all His works." He said:—

Divine mercy is an attribute which is a product of the love of God. It is an essential attribute of His character, aud may be considered as a synonym of loving kindness. It is a divine attribute, a Christian grace, always finding its source and spring in love. Mercy and truth are two great columns upon w_ich the eternal verities ; rest. God's mercy shows itself passively in the pity and compassion of , God. It proves itself actively in the Jjrovision which it makes for the temporal anci.spiritual needs of His creatures. God discovered their needs; nay, He knew them. His mercy is from everlasting to everlasting to them that fear him. Mercy is the fairest flower in the garden of God's love. It is the brightest gem in the crown of His glory—mercy, mercy divine. Let us consider some of its characteristics. It i-s divine goodness exercised in respect or in regard to the needs and miseries of God's creatures. It is tender mercy. It is abundant mercy. It is eternal mercy. It is an eternal principle in the nature of God, so.that nothing in time, nothing mortal could have produced it. It was a part of God's being. It is also immutable, unchanging. But mark, you, dear friends, it is holy mercy. It does not protect sin. It will pardon sin confessed. It is holy mercy, not a sanctuary for the presumptuous, but a shelter for the penitent. To the question, Can m£,u understand this attribute in the character of God, apart from His revelation? we may answer, No, utterly impossible. Men speak of great advances in purity and goodness and say that education has done a great work, but no race of people in the past, apart form the revelation of God, 'has ever lighted upon the idea of mercy in any of its gods. Jupiter and the other deities eulogised by the Greeks had bestiality, brutality, vindictiveness. These heathen gods were the products of the imagination of unclean men, and these often cultured men. Bui we find that man left to himself could not rise to the idea of a God of mercy. We arc grateful that He has given to us a revelation. We have the full fruition of blessedness stored up for us in His eternal Son. What is the use of this doctrine of mercy divine? It is to' comfort us. Sometimes the Christian has much trouble. Why is it? he says. When he remembers that God is mercy, he says, "God has some, lesson for me to learn, some design merciful and gracious that shall be for my eternal good and to perfect my character in His dear Son Jesus Christ." He is full of compassion, slow to nng-er, and His tender mercies are over all His works. May we strive to follow in the. Master's footsteps and manifest this attribute. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." I regret to say that there is a possibility of the abuse of divine mercy. If you want to know a mean nature, you find it in that being who, knowing that there is a God of mercy, straightway sins that grace may abound. I can understand a believing soul 1 stumbling or falling into sin inadvertently, but I have grave doubts of the standing of that one who designedly seeks out evil. We may also abuse God's mercy by disregarding it. My brother, my sister, I implore you, ere this day shall close, seek unto God for His pardoning mercy. Put down your arms of rebellion. He is a God of mercy, of grace. No man need despair.

Thy mercy, Lord, is like the morning sun, Whose beams undo what sable nif_ r hath done; Or like a stream the current of whose

course, Restrained awhile, runs

with

swifter

force Oh, let me glow beneath those sacred beams, And oftrm bathe me in those silver

streams. To Thee alone my sorrows shall appeal Hath earth a wound too hard for neaven to heal?

Nay. blessed be His name; He will be merciful to thee if only thou wilt seek in a humble, contrite way for an interest in His mercy.