The House of Wonders
O. C. Marler

Deuteronomy 25:15
"But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."

I appreciate the opportunity to be here today and all the kindness shown to me. I'll	I at man crawling through the barbed wire fence - I make a point every now then or like Henry VIII said to his sixth wife, "I won't hold you long".

I feel like The Lord has something for us that is going to be lasting, because the Word of God is lasting.

John Quincy Adams during his term of governmental service, walked out to the house of Congress and as he came out, he did something which was very very unusual. He had two bushel baskets and said "folks, one of these baskets is from North Carolina, and the other one is from New York. Now there is just too much difference in the weight of these two bushels." An Aid came in at that moment with two weights. One weight was from Massachusetts and the other
was from the state of Maine. "Men," he said “there's just too much difference in the weight. There is an ounce difference in the weight from Massachusetts and the one from the state of Maine. Therefore, I am proposing that we create a department and call it the 'Standard of Weights and Measures', for we need consistency. What weighs an ounce in California, should weigh an ounce in Maine; and a bushel in Louisiana ought to be a bushel in Kentucky. So they created the Standard of Weights and	Measures. In doing this, they did it to perfection.

Now they have the place that's called "The House of Wonders". I want that to be my text. For you see, in The House of Wonders, everything is done to perfection. They have a scale there and they say you can back away from it 10 feet and it wills stills weir o y eat- it is so sensitive and so delicate. They say in The House of Wonders, they cane aweigh a wisp of smoke. A bar of iron that is there is so delicately balanced, that even if the smallest fly should land on it, it puts it completely and totally out of balance.

The Bible, the Word which we have in our hands, teaches us a norm It teaches us a standard. People in California have some ideas. Folks from Texas, Florida, and Louisiana have other ideas but somewhere there’s a norm. There's a standard. You see, in the Book of Acts, Chapter 8, the Bible talks about the apostles and disciples being scattered abroad from Jerusalem. Everywhere they went, they preached Jesus Christ and when they preached, that preached Word brought results. By the preaching of the Words, sorcerer laid aside the occult word. It caused them to have joy all over the city. It caused them to repent. It caused them to be baptized in Jesus Name. It caused them to have such an urgency until they received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Jesus Christ came to be that norm.

Religion in the Old Testament got all out of sync. God's people were in problems so deep they were in complete darkness. It got to the point that God was not even dealing them anymore. Yet they were going along with their sacrifices, and adding to and taking away. Everything was all messed up. But when Jesus came, He came to calibrate. He put the micrometer on it and brought it down to 1/ 1000 of an inch, because everything about Him was right. His Word was pure. His Word was truth.

The Bible had come to the place (and we might recognize some of that in this day and age,) where every man did that which was right in his own eyes. We can't do that. That's why we look to Jesus, who is the author and the finisher of our faith. That's why we search for our salvation with fear and trembling. There's a time we need to get into presence of God until we quake. We need to be there just to be sure that we are calibrated, just to be sure that we are working toward the norm. There are times I come into the presence of God feeling a certain way, and suddenly I don't feel that way anymore. It's because when God comes in, He shiners those lights down inside of our souls. He puts the Word as a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our pathway.

So Jesus came and told the religious people, "you even pray wrong ". They said, "hey, mister we'll kill you for that. If anybody knows ow to pray, it's us." They were known for their long prayers (notebook after notebook of long prayers). Sometimes you pray, not asking for anything, but just a good feeling with God; just because you want to feel His spirit, and because you are supposed to pray. When you come to God in prayer, and feel the oneness and unity with Jesus Christ, it makes you believe you can do anything - you can go all out from there.

They were praying to be seen. You can't hardly believe it could happen, that they didn't think they were praying unless they could be seen. And not only were they praying to be seen, but they were praying condemning prayers. Jesus said, "You don't know how to pray. No, that's not the way." Some of them said "teach us to pray." He said, "All right, I'll teach you to pray." And in teaching them to pray, He taught them about truth. He started teaching them about honesty. He taught them about grace right there in that prayer. He taught them about faithfulness. He taught them about forgiveness. All in the prayer. When Jesus was talking about grace, He wasn't teaching about a cheap thing. He also taught about being thankful. When we come to Him and when we pray, all of these ingredients ought to be in our minds and our hearts as we talk to Him. As we speak to Him, we measure the Word sometimes by the wrong standard. The Word's not measured by what people do or what they do not do, but it's how much they need Jesus Christ.

They said to Him, "Is it lawful to pay tribute to Caesar?" He said, "bring me a coin." (He was calibrating.) So they brought Him a coin. He said, "Now, whose picture do you see on that coin?" They said, "Caesar's". He said, "All right, it's this simple, render unto Caesar, that which is Caesar's, and unto God, that which is God's". He was telling them, "don't try to be inhuman." Do you know whose fault it is that we are human? It's God’s. If you are going to blame somebody, blame Him. He is not ashamed of it. We are human beings. So whenever we render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and render unto God, that which is God's, we are pleasing Him and obeying Him. We don't want to get so crazy we can't live in the world, and yet at the same time, we don't want to be a part of the world. What He was saying was, "you can't render just to the world, but you have got to also render to God, His part." He was trying to teach them to strike a balance. And until you strike a balance, you will never understand why God has come.

You know if you have the Word only, it can be dry as last year's bird nest. You hear people talking about the Word. The Word. They even try, in some services to put some silliness to it, because they don't have any real spirit. It's just dry served just like it is. But also, if you have just the Spirit only, it can get to be something wild. Not too long ago, it got to be popular to cast devils out of people and to name them as they came out. I had a lady come into my church, blowing cigarette smoke in my face, telling me how they had just cast 21 devils out of her and knew every one of their names. One man decided that casting out demons was going to be his ministry, so he said to one man, "you have a coffee devil. What is your name?" The man answered "Maxwell House." That kind of thing is all spirit.	Of course we know there is a real devil and real demon-possession to be dealt with at times, but I'm talking about extremes. About being out of balance. People will go out of kilter on the gifts of the spirit and give wild interpretations to messages given in tongues. In one service, after something was said about going through hard times, a man stood up to give a supposed message from the Lord saying "Thus saith the Lord, I'm having a hard time myself, I don't see how I'm going to make it". That's all spirit. We need adjustments. We sometimes need to be calibrated. When properly calibrated we do find a real and a norm.

Jesus said, "when you stand praying, forgive." That adjusts it. That adjusts everything. It makes it all so right. I want you to notice something here in in the parable of the prodigal son:

Luke 15:25-28 "Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew night to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf because he hast received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in; therefore came his father out and intreated him.

Now here is the heavenly father represented, and we are the elder son. Because things were not just like he wanted getting his own way, he wouldn't cooperate. it, and he wasn't He wouldn't even go in to where the father was. The father had to go outside and beg him . I think sometimes we put ourselves into that kind of relationship with God. We won't get into praise and we won't get into worship, consecration or dedication; and the heavenly father has to constantly beg or entreat us; because we are angered over little things which are not just the way we want them.

Continuing the scripture, Luke 15:29: "And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee," (that's great, that's wonderful, you can't touch that), "Neither transgressed I at any time, thy commandment: (that's great, you can't beat that); and yet thou never gayest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends;" (when he said that, he went out of balance). He went on to say, in verse 30, "But as son as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots (well, nobody knows for sure if he lived with harlots or not. You can't trust someone who is jealous, you can't trust their speech); "thou hast killed for him the fatted calf". The father said to him, in verse 31, "Son, thou art ever with me." Isn't that wonderful? He wasn't just talking to the elder, the Lord is talking to us. When we are faithful to Him and stay close to God, He is always with us. Oh the perfect balance. That's what He came for. He said, "I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, today and forever". 
God is forever with us!"

One of the missionaries was telling about the lady that loved God very much and had received the Holy Spirit. Her husband hated the church and said, "If you ever go back, I'll kill you". She couldn't stand to stay away, and she went back to church. That night when she was coming home on the trail, he met her, and beat her unmercifully. Thinking he had killed her ; he dragged her off into the bushes and left. He walked along and got to thinking about it, and wondered if she was really dead and decided to go back and check. When he got back, she was laying there alive. He looked down at her and said, "Now, what can your Jesus do for you?" and she said, "He can help me to forgive you, for what you've done."

Friend, we are in the House of Wonders today. Once a man worked for a corporation and he stole from the till $50,000. The president of the company calling a meeting said, "Ed, we've called this meeting, because $50,000 is missing and the arrow points to you. What about it?" Ed said, "Yes, I did it." The boss said, "how did you do it? Tell us exactly how you did it." So Ed told them. The president of the company leaned back and said, "Ed, if we forgive you, would we ever be able to trust you again?" Ed looked at him, tears running down his face, and said, "Man, if you could forgive me, you could trust me with anything. You don't know how sorry I am." The president looked at him and said, "well, we forgive you". The man said, "Why? Why are you doing this?" The president said, "well, this has only happened in the company twice in its history. The first time, it was me."

You know, we can't be hard on people, because we don't have anything to stand on. There's no way we can be hard about anything, for the Lord came, and we had so many things which were wrong with us, but He put us in that standard and in that norm. It's like the man whose neighbor brought him into court and sued him because he bought a pound of butter from him. It didn't weigh quite a pound, and the man wasn't allowed to rectify it. The other man said," I want justice." They brought him out before the judge and asked, "Sir, is this true that you sold butter that is less than a pound, for a pound?" "Yes", he answered that it was true. The judge asked him why he would do that; and the man answered, "Well, I buy all my bread from this man here with me today. It is supposed to weigh a pound. I lost my weight that I always weighed my butter with, so I have been weighing my butter by his bread." Don't criticize my butter until you're sure about your bread. Now, that aught to be from Maine to California!

We're in The House of Wonders. That grace, that marvelous grace of God. They said in The House of Wonders, it will weigh a wisp of smoke. The Bible tells us in the Book of Daniel, Chapter 3, about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They were put in that fiery furnace; and the king got nervous about it and went over there and looked, and said, "Did I not put three in there? Now I see four men, and one like unto the son of God." Don't you know it was so wonderful when they looked that king straight in the face that day before he threw them in the fire and said, "we are not careful to answer thee, we don't even have to think about it, we don't have to study about it, we are not going to bow down." Why?

"Because we know somebody in The House of Wonders!" The Bible said when they heated that furnace 7 times hotter and the three Hebrew children were to be thrown in, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were totally dressed - they had their coats on, they had their hats on, they were dressed in their best. Why? Because they weren't going to a fire, they were going to meet the Lord! The Bible also says that when they got out of there, they didn't have even the smell of smoke on them. What we are dealing with can measure even a wisp of smoke. What is it really saying? It is saying that they didn't even have any bitterness over the situation. When they were measured, whenever it was calibrated and weighed in The House of Wonders, they had been through the hottest fire there was, but there was no way you could look at them and tell it.

If you've been saved very long, you've been hurt. If you've been in church very long you have had some discouraging moments. There was an old lady who said, “I have been here 50 years without regret." That woman had a million chances to give up, to not come back to the house of God; but she was standing there testifying with tears running down her face, saying, "I love Jesus more now than I ever have in my life". The House of Wonders. Oh the delicate way it's all done. The Bible says, in Job 14:8, 9 "Though the root thereof wax old in the earth , and the stump or the stock thereof die in the ground; Yet through the scent of water, it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant." It didn't say, a downpour, it didn't say pour a lot of water. It just said the scent of water. The House of Wonders!

The Bible tells me that even our actions are weighed. How did I act yesterday? How did I act a month ago? Did I get out of line? Was my spirit wrong? Should I have said that? Be careful. If body heat just in the natural weight can be weighed 10 feet away in The House of Wonders... how must our attitudes, motives and actions be calibrated?

I've lived in The House of Wonders. That's why God's Spirit is so sensitive, that's why it's so delicate to me. You ask why can't we do wrong things? That's why. You ask why we don't watch a lot of things that other people watch. Why we don't go a lot of places some people go. Because His spirit is so delicate, so sensitive You think - it's harmless, everybody is doing it. Oh no, not everybody is doing it. You're wrong. Oh to live in The House of Wonders.

Years ago I went to Dallas, Texas to build a new church. I didn't have the sense of a goose. I was driving into Dallas like I knew what I was doing. I had a coin collection and sold it for $360 and had everything I owned in my little car, when I drove into Dallas. I couldn't sleep at night beforehand, because God was prodding me to go to Dallas. I didn't have one person to start with. You know everybody seems to want a split to start off with from another church....I didn't even have a split! Ha! I didn't know anybody. I didn't know another Christian. We got there and I looked at my wife and I said, "what in the world are we going to do? We can't build a church tonight." She said, "what about that man that Uncle Oscar said wanted you to call him when you got here? His name is Arthur Lewis." So I went to the phone book and I looked up his number and dialed it. He answered the phone and I said, "Brother Lewis, I was supposed to call you when I got here." He owned a motel, and he said, "Come on down here, I want to talk to you." He was out working, fixing an air conditioner. He was covered with grease. When I walked up, he looked at me and started crying. He said, "You'll have to excuse me, Bro. Marler, but this brings back memories to me. Whenever I was a teenager and a young preacher, I didn't have a place to preach and your Dad walked 7 miles and lined up a meeting for me. He put 50 cents in my hand - it was the last 50 cents he had. I went out and waited for the mail carrier to come; and rode with him 7 miles. When I left that day, I said, one day, Grayson Marler, I'll pay you back. Bro. Marler, I have a house that's vacant, you'll have it rent free as long as you're in this city." Oh friend, The House of Wonders! It all balances out. I turned and thought of that scripture, "Cast your bread upon the waters and after many days it shall return." Oh The House of Wonders!

In starting that church in Dallas, we didn't have any place to hold services. We had no money. We had nothing. I walked into the John E. Fickling Day School. I said, "Mrs. Fickling, I understand from a realtor here in town that you have allowed two or three churches to begin in your auditorium here in the school." She said, "Yes, but no more. All we've had has been trouble." I knew she had been charging $137 per month. That was a lot of money then. She asked "How many do you have in your congregation?" I said "Three. My wife, our daughter, and myself." Then she said "I usually charge $137 per month, but I am going to give it to you rent free." Oh, The House of Wonders!

When I was evangelizing, my wife said to me one night, "O.C. if you don't mind, when you kneel down, would you turn away from the audience? That hole in your shoe is just a little embarrassing." I had felt some air coming in there. So I started turning the other direction when kneeling to pray. One night after service a man said, "would you mind stepping over here with me to the parsonage?" He said, "have I guessed your suit size right?" He had. What size shoes do you wear?" I told him my size. He said "that just happens to be the size I wear." He stepped out of a new pair he had purchased that day, and walked on without any. The House of Wonders!

No matter where you live, if you have God, you live in The House of Wonders!

The above article, “The House of Wonders” was written by O. C. Marler. The article was excerpted from chapter 4 in Marler’s book, The Scent of Water.

The material is copyrighted and should not be reprinted under any other name or author. However, this material may be freely used for personal study or research purposes.