an exhibition of
God's power He performs them. They are therefore performed not in one
form only, but in every needed form. He shows command over all nature,
and gives evidence that spirit is superior to matter and rules it.

The miracles of Christ are also convincing because they are performed by
a miraculous Person. That an ordinary man should seem to rule nature, or
should exhibit wonders on no adequate occasion, must always seem
unlikely, if not incredible. But that a Person notoriously exceptional,
being what no other man has ever been, should do things that no other
man has done, excites no incredulity. That Christ was supremely and
absolutely holy no one doubts; but this itself is a miracle; and that
this miraculous Person should act miraculously is not unlikely.
Moreover, there was adequate occasion both for the miracle of Christ's
person and the miracle of His life and separate acts. There was an end
to be served so great as to justify this interruption of the course of
things as managed by men. If miracles are possible, then they could
never be more worthily introduced. If at any time it might seem
appropriate and needful that the unseen, holy, and loving God should
assert His power over all that touches us His children, so as to give us
the consciousness of His presence and of His faithfulness, surely that
time was precisely then when Christ came forth from the Father to reveal
His holiness and His love, to show men that supreme power and supreme
holiness and love reside together in God.

At present men are swinging from an excessive exaltation of miracles to
an excessive depreciation of them. They sometimes speak as if no one
could work a miracle, and sometimes as if any one could work a miracle.
Having discovered that miracles do not convince every one, they leap to
the conclusion that they convince no one; and perceiving that Christ
does not place them on the highest platform of evidence, they proceed to
put them out of court altogether. This is inconsiderate and unwise. The
miracles of Christ are appealed to by Himself as evidence of His truth;
and looking at them in connection with His person, His life, and His
mission or object, considering their character as works of compassion,
and their instructive revelation of the nature and purpose of Him who
did them, we cannot, I think, but feel that they carry in them a very
strong claim upon our most serious attention and do help us to trust in
Christ.

But