Source/Author: By Bishop Dr. Ong Hwai Teik

It is interesting to note that the following quotation appears in the flyleaf of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species that is from Sir Francis Bacon’s 1605 book,  The Advancement of Learning:

“To conclude, therefore, let no man … think or maintain that a man can search too far or be too well studied in the book of God’s word, or in the book of God’s works; divinity or philosophy; but rather let men endeavor an endless progress or proficience in both.”

This is a classical statement that there are two ways of understanding and knowing God, through the Bible or Scripture, and through the world he has made, nature. The sovereign maker of heaven and earth has revealed His glory in the book of His works, and also revealed His grace of salvation through Jesus Christ in the book of His Word.

In the general sphere of God’s work, to this day God’s providential care continues to be mediated to the peoples of this world, including the nation of Malaysia. For example God has given and will continue to give to the world the common grace blessing of universally recognised personalities, who are inspiring moral beacons of hope such as Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela and others. They inspire hope, elicit altruism, fortify courage, stare down violence, craft order out of chaos, unselfishly foster social cohesion, restrain evil, fight corruption and pursue an inclusive non-ethnocentric political agenda that blesses all people regardless of race and religion.

This God of nature, of creation, continues to exercise sovereign care over all His creatures, especially human beings, notwithstanding their moral or spiritual states. This God of Heaven and Earth, is not a village or tribal deity who will only bless Christians; for He is the Lord of creation Who cares for everyone in this world, as He exercises oversight over all that happens in the world.

This God of common grace to all is still in control of the world as the dispenser of “every good and perfect gift”. James 1:17 reminds us that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” This includes the motivation and enablement of even unbelievers to pursue and practice virtues and noble undertakings, tasks and responsibilities that add to human welfare.

It comes as no surprise to us that this sovereign God of common grace used an antagonistic pagan king like Cyrus of Persia to bring about the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem in the 6th century BC [Isa 44:28; 45:1-4; Ezra 1:1-2]. This sovereign God does use ungodly rulers to dispense good gifts by way of His providential taking up of their political plotting, maneuvering and machinations to effect His own intentions [Rom 12:4; 1 Pet 2:14].

As people who have received God’s special grace of salvation in Christ in addition to His common grace, we must not forget that this merciful sovereign God is still at work in covering this world with His common grace. He continues to exercise His caring governance over all creation and human beings, irrespective of their moral or spiritual states. This merciful sovereign God has categorically declared that He “gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike” [Matt 5:45].

As we continue to pray for a most challenging and uncommon moment in the life and history of our beloved nation, we do so with hope. Even as we face unprecedented number of issues of critical proportion that threaten us as a nation politically, economically, interracially and religiously – let God’s Church never lose hope that we are praying to a merciful sovereign God of common grace Who providentially knows and cares for this unparalleled and uncommon moment of crisis in Malaysia.

Let us be unrelenting in our 24/7 Prayer for Malaysia as we seek Almighty God for His sovereign common grace for Malaysia. As Paul puts it – It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy [Romans 9:16]. Prayer wields the power of change as we call on the merciful sovereign God to intervene in common grace promised to His creation; we call on Him Who has the right and the power to save difficult situations and moments dominated by unbelieving, unrepentant and even hardened hearts. God has the right to intrude upon personal and communal rebellion – and overcome it with an effectual outcome. We believe that God dares utilize His resources and is able to exert Himself so powerfully that the resistance of hardened individuals and rebellious communities are overcome by His grace in the common realm.

We are therefore grateful to witness the curtailment of violence and anger at the recent public rallies, in KL and other parts of Malaysia, when God’s people prayed alertly, faithfully and fervently obeying the injunction of Paul – “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying…” [Ephesians 6:18]. We thank God for the increasing number of new and fresh voices that mattered from past and present national leaders and various NGOs, for speaking up against racism and corruption that is asphyxiating and draining the life out of our beloved nation.

So let us, God’s people, come boldly to the throne of grace – to ask for the help of common grace for an uncommon moment in the life of Malaysia; that the merciful sovereign God will change hearts of stone to ones of flesh, to open eyes and grant repentance both in and outside His Church.

Due to this fact of our God being the sovereign God of both the books of works [common grace in creation] and of His Word [special grace of salvation in Christ], we are “glocal” apostles of hope; so the Methodist Church in Malaysia continues to pursue engagement in missions and evangelism in foreign soil globally, as well as being a prophetic people of transformation and change locally.

As the people of God in Malaysia who have just jointly celebrated Malaysia Day with much prayer on the 16 September 2015, we would steadfastly work with, and pray for, those outside the church, whose noble intention and vision are akin to ours for this fractured and ailing land which is wrestling with more than one form of haze. In the words of the respected biblical scholar, Walter Brueggemann - “The task of prophetic ministry is to nurture, nourish, and evoke a consciousness and perception alternative to the consciousness and perception of the dominant culture around us.”

This we pledge to do because of the reality of the merciful sovereign God of common grace who offers us all that is “true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable’ [Phil 4:8] as the alternative to the “dominant culture around us.”