(1) 332 171   (2) 272 199 (3) 275 120 
1 4,5,6 80807 
Then came the disciples 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 grain  
of mustard-seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence  
to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be  
impossible unto you. [Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by]  
[prayer and fasting.] Matt. 17: 19-20 
The first thought that strikes the mind in reading this  
passage seems to rest upon , or arise from the question  
of the disciples on the failure to work the miracle of  
casting out a devil from the lunatic child. They were  
evidently disappointed themselves at the result. They  
had recd. from Xr. Himself power and authority over all devils; and after  
the 70 had returned from the[ir] mission of preaching + other ministrations  
on which Xt. had sent them also, they reported joyfully to  
Him [that] Lord even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.  
 
 
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So, when they were called upon to cast out this lunatic devil  
and found that for some [how] reason or other they failed  
they were evidently disappointed, and perhaps mortified.  
Besides, there was evinced in their question an evident ignorance  
of the source of their power. They had said before  
the devils were subject to them through Xrs name. And  
it may be that they had supposed themselves permanently  
endowed with the power, and insensibly had  
recd. the impression that they had only to pronounce  
the words of deliverance and the cure would be complete.  
But their failure convinced them that something  
was at fault in + about themselves; so they resorted  
to the great teacher, who very promptly + briefly  
solved the problem, by attributing their failure  
to Unbelief.  
This is a very precious lesson for them to learn,  
 
 
3 
it is no less precious to us, that whenever we fail in an 
effort to bring about any spiritual result, even in the  
outward use of the ordained means, it is not to be attributed to any  
defect in the system of Christianity itself, but invariably  
to Unbelief.  
The grand subject before us for contemplation suggested  
by this passage, is Spiritual Power. By this  
expression I do not mean, the Spiritual Power possessed  
by the Apostles and primitive disciples, whereby  
they had the gift of tongues, + the power of working  
miracles. But I hold that there is a form of Spiritual  
Power obtainable by Christians in all ages, which  
consists in bringing into exercise the Power and Love  
of God in answer to the fervent effectual prayer of  
a righteous man. Prayer, it is said, moves the  
arm of Omnipotence, and when that effect is produced 
 
 
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by whatever means, we cannot but recognize it as the highest  
form of Spiritual Power. Now you will not deny that  
the possession of such power is exceedingly desirable.  
Even a wicked man, who has no conception  
of the means used + no taste for prayer, or communion  
with God, thinks he sees at a glance that it would be  
a wonderful advantage to him to possess the  
power of influencing God to do for him what  
he might wish. Of this we have the example of  
Simon The Sorcerer who would have purchased the gift of  
the H.G. with money. But to a Christian this  
power with God is more desirable than any other  
that could be bestowed upon him. There is no need  
that I shd tell you in detail why it is so desirable.  
A thousand reasons suggest themselves at the  
mere [suggestion] mention of the subject. Power to prevail with God belonged to  
 
 
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Abraham; it belonged to Jacob when he wrestled all  
night with God, with the determined resolution I  
will not let thee go except thou bless me; and when  
he read the token of approval in the Divine change  
of His name from Jacob, the supplanter, to Israel  
the Prevailer. So now this is what every Xtan. desires  
most of all; to prevail with God! Not to bring to pass  
his own devices and designs by his own word of  
command; but to be so wonderfully blest that he can  
prevail with God to give him success in all his  
lawful enterprises, + (prosperity in glee) his lawful efforts.  
It is absolutely essential, as well as desirable. Without  
it we cannot begin the Divine Life. By grace are  
ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves  
it is a gift of God. We need it in our onward  
progress in the Divine Life. The life that I now live in 
 
 
6 
the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who  
loved me + gave himself for me. Tribulation  
worketh patience; and patience experience; and  
experience hope; and hope maketh not ashamed,  
because the love of God is shed abroad in our  
hearts by the H. G. which is given unto us.  
Without me [*(negative side)*] says Xt., ye can do nothing. [*(Positive)*] I  
can do all things through Xt. which strengtheneth  
me.  
Not only desirable, + essential, but obtainable,  
as well. There are those among Gods dear chn,  
who are often tempted to decide in their moments  
of despondency, that they not only have  
no Spiritual Power, no influence in the Court of Heaven,  
but that it is not attainable by them. They  
do not doubt for a moment that there is such  
 
 
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a thing as this Spiritual Power; that it is very desirable,  
and essential; and that others may  
and do obtain it. But as for themselves the  
Heavens are shot against their prayers, and  
they are doomed to a life of feeble spiritual  
growth, and to live at a poor dying rate. Now  
such precious, suffering chn of God ought to be  
told that this is but a snare of the devil, to make  
them dishonor God. There is not a particle  
more of ground for Abraham, or Jacob to  
succeed in their efforts with God the Father, than  
there is for the humblest child of God. Insensibly to  
themselves these timid, self-distrustful ones, are prone to  
attribute to those who seem to have a measure of  
this Spiritual Power, the possession of some personal  
qualification, or recommendation, that in some way   
 
 
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entitled them to success. But there never was a greater  
mistake. The sole ground of success in the individual  
cases referred to, the only reason why  
any of our race ever prevail with God in prayer is the infinite and unmerited  
mercy of God our Heavenly Father through  
the boundless merits of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
And this mercy is not bestowed for any good  
in us. All are alike undeserving of this  
mercy in themselves considered, and there  
is the same condition offered to all alike  
upon the acceptance of which condition  
one may obtain this spiritual Power, just as  
readily as another. The greater, or smaller degree  
of this power possessed by any one depends entirely  
on the greater or smaller degree in which we  
embrace the condition, and depend upon it.  
 
 
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And I say this to encourage the timid. I would have them  
know that they have the same warrant to expect  
answers to prayer that the most eminent Christian  
can claim, + that is the merits of Jesus Xr.  
Do you ask what Faith is concerned about? What are  
the objects to be brought into view, and on which it  
rests? I answer 1st. God Himself; first, last, + evermore,  
have faith in God. Doubt everything else, tc. Faith in His existence. He that  
cometh to God must believe that He is. realize tc. What else?  
He has Power to do all things. He is able to do exceeding  
abundantly (not merely abundantly but exceedingly abundantly) 
above all that we ask or think. What else?  
We must believe also that He has the good will to  
help us. So we finish the quotation He that cometh  
unto God must believe (not only that He is) but that  
He is a rewarder of them that diligently see Him.   
 
 
10 
Then again, prevailing Faith requires that we fully recognize something  
about ourselves; the first of which is our native depravity.  
So did Job when he had fully realized God as his  
voice came to him from the whirlwind I have  
heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth  
thee. Wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust + ashes.  
Then we must notwithstanding our depravity, recognize our native preciousness in  
the sight of God. This will impress us with a realizing 
sense of the amazing love of God. What shall it profit tc.   
For the redemption of their soul, tc. God became man,  
O for this love let rocks + hills, tc. You will understand  
God better by this means. And then  
again, Faith requires that we recognize mans religious capabilities.  
Not in + of ourselves but as transformed by Divine  
Grace. What was Paul? A miracle of Grace +  
Power, and success. Yet this same Paul became the 
 
 
11 
chief of the Apostles and the grandest Xter on  
record in every sense of true grandeur. But after  
all he testified by the grace of God I am what 
 I am! Mans religious capabilities by Grace are great and  
he must realize them, so as to rise superior  
to that shrinking timindity, and sing the battle  
hymn of David: God is our refuge + strength 
a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not 
we fear though the earth be removed and though 
the mountains be carried into the midst of the  
sea. Though the waters thereof roar + be troubled,  
though the mountains shake with the swelling  
thereof. So also, you may comprehend the fullness  
of meaning in Davids words Thou shalt increase my greatness  
and comfort me on every side.  
Let us contemplate the extent of Faith as the  
 
 
12 
condition of Spiritual Power. Men are ready to  
stagger in their faith when they read what  
is said in our passage about the mighty  
results of so small a faith as a grain of mustard seed,  
in that its possessor can say to the mountain  
Remove hence to yonder place, and the mtn  
shall remove. But there is needed some clearing  
away of the mist erroneous interpretation,  
in order that the preciousness of this declaration  
of our Savior may be rightly appreciated.  
I. This is not to be understood literally. It was a proverbial  
saying. Luke has one similar; If ye had  
faith as a grain of mustard seed ye might say unto this  
Sycamine tree, tc. thou plucked up be the roots +  
be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey  
you. The Jews used such expressions to show that apparently  
 
 
13 
Inseperable [inseparable] difficulties might be overcome. When  
they intended to extol any of their Doctors, they said  
of him he plucked up mountains by the roots.  
And yet I do not say that in a literal sense our Lords words  
might not be recd as true. There is nothing too hard  
for genuine Faith. But what is the use of a literal interpretation? literal interpretations  
of this kind are now unnecessary. You do not desire to move mtns. The age of  
such miracles is past if it ever existed.  
Besides the frequent occurrence of such things would cease to be  
miraculous. Above all things Xts Kingdom depends upon spiritual  
agency and not upon exhibitions of physical  
Power. But now we desire to show how, by the power  
of Faith,  mountains may be removed. For, my beloved  
brethren, there is a sense in which by this mighty  
agency of genuine Faith, small in comparison as a  
mustard-seed, we may say to a mountain Remove hence 
 
 
14 
and it shall remove! [And now] When therefore I am asked again, what  
is the extent of Faith as the condition of Spiritual  
Power, I reply without a moments hesitation, it extends  
to the working of Moral and Spiritual miracles.  
The age of this class of miracles is not past; 
it still exists; nor will it ever cease until  
Faith is swallowed up in sight in the region  
of perfect Heavenly Knowledge. The power of  
Faith in the working of spiritual miracles is  
absolutely unlimited. There is no mountain obstructing  
our spiritual progress too lofty, too towering,  
and too frightful in its projecting cliffs and  
gloomy shadows, that may not be removed  
by the imperial and resistless voice of  
a Faith that lays hold of the eternal  
God in whom is everlasting Strength.  
 
 
15 
much valuable instruction I might impart in  
discussing before you the method of removing  
the mountains of Prejudice, and of Ignorance  
by the potent energy of a rightly founded Faith.  
Yet I cannot but feel, as doubtless you all  
feel that such a discussion would be wholly  
out of place, irrelevant, and even impertinent  
in a company of sorrowing and heart-stricken  
mourners, whose spirit, are yearning and longing  
for relief from a burden too heavy to be  
borne. So I make use of all these preliminary  
reflections to be illustrated and applied to  
the power of Faith in removing the mountain  
I. of Sorrow. Now, my beloved friends, there are three  
things desirable about sorrow. (1) Its avoidance. (2)  
Its sanctification. (3) Its consolation. In regard to the 1st. Alas! it is  
 
 
16 
too late for that, in our case in connection with the  
terrible affliction through which we have just  
past. Those of you [sat by] with enduring love have attended the bed of  
pain and fever + death as these engines of destruction  
were gradually working their way to the citadel of life, felt  
that the removal of the deadly plague was that  
which was to be sought for, + no doubt full  
many an ardent prayer in agonizing faith  
went up to the Fathers throne that the cup of death  
might pass. But like the Saviors prayer the  
answer came not thus; Gods will not ours  
must always be done. As to the two other things  
to be desired, these remain and the mountain  
of your sorrow, the terrible burden of your  
grief, will only be removed when these two results  
shall have been obtained. When in answer  
 
 
17 
answer to the prayer of Faith, the grace of God shall  
have been imparted to you, to sanctify you  
wholly; to render you more + more holy and  
heavenly minded; when by the spirit of all  
Holiness you shall find your heart losing  
its hold upon the empty perishing objects  
of time and sense; when Earth seems to be losing  
its attractions for you, and Heaven seems  
to be gaining; when your spirit holding communion  
with the powers of the world to come,  
turns from earth as dull, + realizes its transitory  
nature; when Heaven seems more glorious  
and sweet by reason of the sorrow of earth;  
when your thoughts seem drawn to the service  
of God more earnestly and devotedly, and zealously,  
and successfully than ever before, then you may  
 
 
18 
safely conclude that the mountain of your sorrow  
has heard the powerful voice of Faith saying  
Remove hence!; and now you may begin  
to realize it first motions, and to find  
that the spirit within you is feeling the gradual  
uplifting of that heavy burden which  
was crushing out its very life, and day  
by day, relief comes in more enduring form,  
and you begin to feel with David: it is good  
for me that I have been afflicted; that I might  
learn thy statutes. And your experience will  
be his: Before I was afflicted I went astray;  
but now have I kept thy word. So, God hath  
given you some better thing than that for which  
you agonized; not the avoidance of the affliction  
but its sanctification. And now the complete 
 
 
19 
removal of your mountain of sorrow will be effected  
when you obtain the last of these  
desirable things Consolation. O how the  
bleeding heart cries out for some support  
when the wound is fresh, and how it will  
continue to cry out for it, so long as memory  
is busy in keeping alive the image of the loved,  
the departed, the lamented! But this consolation  
comes only through the sanctification of  
the affliction, of which we have just spoken. And  
when the result of grief seems to draw us  
nearer to God; when out of our story grief  
Bethet Gods house we raise Gods work  
we love to do; when a Divine sympathy draws  
us nearer to each other, and we can now weep  
with those that weep; as in their days of prosperity 
 
 
20 
we rejoiced with those that rejoiced; then we  
found God our Maker who gave us songs  
of joy in the might of sorrow; then we  
found delight in Gods service, our highest  
happiness is doing His will, and while  
deeply enshrined in our inmost spirit we  
keep the namest memory of those we loved, and  
from we have parted, never, never to be forgotten,  
still fixing our eyes upon the goal of our race,  
the Heaven built for us, and the rest remaining  
for us, we onward march away, and as we  
go we fill each flying moment with words +  
deeds of Love, and [ch???t] the happy songs  
of the Homeward bound; and feel that (when the summons comes,) we  
shall joyfully lay down the worn + weary  
frame and mount on wings of love + joy to a fadeless inheritance  
 
 
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inheritance of the saints in Light. [The] Sorrows mountain  
has removed; we hardly know how; but it was  
done when Faith fastened the hands that  
hung down to the Cross of Christ, and when  
Faith strengthened the weakened knees, and  
Heavenly courage braced the soul, and the  
walk of Life was by Faith + not by sight.  
Then relief came + not till then. Even Earth  
grew brighter, as it basked in the Sunlight  
of Heaven, and was bathed in the glory of  
Christian Hope.  
If any of my dear friends still linger in darkness,  
+ say why could [not] we cast out this dark shadow  
of Sorrow? We can only say because of your  
unbelief. Let Faith in God, and trust in His power,  
and Good will enter in and abide upon the throne 
 
 
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of your hearts, and all will be well. Realize your  
need, your souls value, your religious capabilities,  
and feel that all success depends upon the  
Power + Love of God which will be imparted  
to you. [Address] Offer yourselves to the multitude  
of avenues of Christian work, and go about  
doing good, as did Jesus; and thus there  
will be wrought in you a mighty Spiritual  
Power, which will enable you to banish  
the demon of Unbelief, and remove  
the Mountain of Sorrow. 
What we need in this time of pressure is a  
stronger Faith in the Divine--Human Scheme of  
Redemption the Life the death [*efficacy*] the intercession [*Power*]  
of Jesus Christ we need to realize Xt. to feel  
that He is the grandest reality in Gods Universe.  
 
 
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It is a species of Unbelief to doubt the [reality] universality of the  
imitations, and the success of the proclamations of  
the Gospel.  
It is a species of Unbelief to doubt the reality of the  
spirits influences, the necessity of His Power, the  
boundless extent of His promises + His fidelity in  
their fulfillment.  
It is a species of Unbelief, which doubts the reality  
of the unseen, unknown hereafter; to realize time  
and not Eternity; to regard the interests of the  
present life and more important than those of the  
life to come; to think Time nearer to us than  
Eternity. It is a sad evidence of the extensive  
prevalence of practical Unbelief, when we  
cannot feel the solemnities of Judgement; when  
we cannot appreciate the attractions of Heaven;  
 
 
when we do not realize the existence and fearfulness  
of Hell.  
It is fatal to success in prayer for sanctification  
or consolation, when we go to God under the shadow  
of Unbelief.  
But when the burden rests most heavily, go to Gods thro  
the Lord Jesus, and by the ever present help  
of the Holy Spirit, and while you cannot lose  
the consciousness of the deep, + still bleeding wound in  
your heart, your burden will become daily lighter,  
and all Holy objects + subjects will have entrance  
into your soul, and the Light of Heaven will be  
there to drive out the gloom of as Sorrow. Work for God +  
your fellow men, and every deed of love + kindness will  
lift you higher + higher until on the eagle wings of  
Faith you soar far above these clouds of woe and find your  
home amid the mansions of Eternal Blessedness. Page 2