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T H E K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
The Possibilities of God Notes of an Address a t F o rm er H alf-Yearly Meetings in Glasgow, By Dr, A. T. PIERSON
in grace. Now, He says, “ If ye had faith as a g rain of m ustard seed, ye m ight say unto th is sycam ine-tree, Be thou plucked up by th e root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.” The Realm s of th e Universe You see all these are alike in th e lesson they teach, and yet unlike. They are like in this, th e y te ll us th a t w hat is impossible to man is possible to God, and possible to a be lieving child of God. They differ in th e circum stances un der which these sayings were given to them . In one case it was a n atu ra l obstacle, a mountain in the way, and faith can remove th a t n a tu ra l obstacle, a h in drance of n atu re. In the second instance it is possession by a demon. Here faith enters th e world of sp irits and deals w ith malignant, wicked spirits. In th e th ird case faith enters into the domain of the hum an soul and deals w ith his disposition. These are th e whole of the realm s of th e universe in which faith could exercise any power. In th e n a tu ra l world dealing w ith n atu ra l forces, in th e sp iritu al dealing w ith fallen spirits, and in th e hum an sp irit dealing w ith th a t little world th a t is w ithin every man. Yet our Lord says, if ye have faith you can remove a n atu ra l obstacle, you can cast out a demon, and you can root up a deeply-rooted evil temper. W hat marvellous prom ises these are! The Seed W ith Life Notice th is grain of m ustard seed. W hat is it introduced here for? “ Oh! on account of its size,” some would say. I don’t believe any such thing as to the size of th e seed. How easy it would have been for th e Lord Jesus to say “ as a g rain of sand.” It is ra th e r th a t the m u stard seed dif fers from th e m ountain in th e fact th a t th e mountain is a dead mass of m atter, while th e m ustard seed has th e secret of life in it. T h at is a g reat lesson for us. H ere is an ob stacle in the n atu ra l world, b u t no life; h ere is th e demon in the spiritual, b u t no divine life; and here are your evil dispositions, bu t no divine life in them , it is th e life of the Devil. Get th e life of God once w ithin you, in tru th , and all these things will be vanquished. I t is not because of anything in me, it is because of something in God; and it is because God is in me th a t such things become possible— things th a t w ithout Him would be absolutely impossible. I remember when I was a boy and took my first experiment in electricity. I knew intim ately the teacher of th e school in which I was then a pupil, and one day he said to me, “ I wish you to try th e battery .” He pu t th e rods into my hands, and as he tu rn ed th e crank my h air stood on end, the electricity was in me. While I was th ere I was like th e battery. You become God-like when linked on by faith to God’s power, and th e power th a t is in God comes into you, and things become possible to you th a t were impossible before; bu t when th a t power is le t go you can do no more" th an any o ther man. Oh! if we could learn th is fact. The F aith fu lness of God I call your special atten tion to the expression, “Have faith in God.” It is a peculiar form of expression nowhere else used. It means, “ hold th e faithfulness of God.” Not “ exercise the faith ,” bu t “ get hold of th e divine faith fu l ness in God.” He never promises w ithout perform ing. Command th is sycam ine-tree, command th is demon to leave
are th ree very prom inent sayings th a t have •ious relation to one another. The Lord Christ said: “W ith men it is impossible,” He added, “W ith God all th ing s are pos
sible,” then He added, “All th ing s a re possible to him th a t believeth.” There is no lim it to th e possibilities of God; th ere is a very serious lim it to the possibilities of man, bu t when man is joined to God by faith, th en God’s possibili ties become m an’s possibilities. This is so g reat a them e th a t I scarcely d are to touch it. If th e re is anything th a t is appalling it is th e w ealth of the promises of God and the poverty of our faith in these promises. God, so to speak, has exhaused th e possibilities of hum an language in His appeal to th e believing soul. Let us confine our atten tion to the promises addressed to faith. You will find th re e passages of g reat impossibilities bearing upon this. I. The Spiritual World. In Matt. 17:14-21, in immediate connection w ith the transfiguration, when our Lord came down from th e mount, He was met by a man whose son was possessed of a demon. He had brought th is son to th e disciples, and they had proved th a t it was impossible for them to cast ou t th e de mon. Then th e man had b rough t him to our Lord. “ Jesus rebuked the devil, and he departed out of him ; and the child was cured from th a t very hour. Then came th e dis ciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them , Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a g rain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto th is mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you.” II. The N atu ral World. If you will tu rn to Mark 11:22 you will find another les son of a very sim ilar character. Our Lord had cursed a barren fig-tree on His way from Bethany to Jerusalem a t the eventide, and when He came to it again in the morning His disciples observed th a t th e tree was “Dried up from th e roots.” Clear down to th e bottom of the tree th is w ither ing curse had penetrated. “And P eter calling to remem brance saith unto Him, Master, behold, th e fig-tree which Thou cursedst is w ithered away. And Jesus answering saith unto them , Have faith in God. F o r verily I say unto you, T hat whosoever shall say unto th is mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his h eart, b u t shall believe th a t those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, W hat things soever ye de sire, when ye pray, believe th a t ye receive them , and ye shall have them .” III. The Human World. Once more, in Luke 17, our Lord had been teaching His disciples th a t they m u st exercise toward th e ir b reth ren who were offended against th em almost unlim ited for giveness. “ If he trespass against thee seven tim es a day, and seven times in a day tu rn again to thee, saying, I re pent; thou sh alt forgive him. And th e apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith .” We do not readily see the connection between such a p etitio n and th e answer, Why should they ask for increase of faith when He was telling them no t to exercise resentm ent? They had th e sense to see th a t faith was th e source of th e power th a t is exhibited
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