of spiritual power, the wind ceased, and there was no longer any doubt of faith's ability to rise above the negative consciousness.
The first and greatest disciple of Jesus was Peter, who has been universally accepted by the followers of Jesus the Christ as a type representing faith. Before he met Jesus, Peter was called Simon. Simon means "hearing," which represents receptivity. We understand from this that listening to Truth in a receptive state of mind opens the way for receiving the next degree in the divine order, which is faith. Jesus gave Peter his new name and also its meaning: "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church."
Faith in the reality of the invisible builds a real, abiding substance in mind and in body. All kinds of ideas grow quickly when planted in this rich substance of the mind. Jesus also called this substance of faith the "earth," and He said to Peter, "Whatsoever thou shalt bind [affirm] on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose [deny] on earth shall be loosed in heaven." In all His teaching Jesus emphasized that the ruling forces of both heaven and earth are in man. "The kingdom of God is within you." "All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth." "Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?" When we understand the omnipresence of Spirit (God) we quickly see how simple and true this beautiful doctrine of Jesus is.
There is but one real faith; the avenue of expression determines the character and power of faith. Trust is a cheaper brand of faith, but trust is better than mistrust. As a rule, people who merely trust in the Lord do not understand all the law. If they had understanding they would affirm the presence and power of God until the very substance of Spirit would appear in consciousness--and this is faith established on a rock.
Faith words should be expressed both silently and audibly. The power of the spoken word is but slightly understood, because the law of the Word is not rightly observed. The Word is the creative idea in Divine Mind, which may be expressed by man when he has fulfilled the law of expression. All words are formative but not all words are creative. The creative word lays hold of Spirit substance and power. Physical science hints at this inner substance and energy, in its description of the almost inconceivable power inherent in the universal ether. We are told that the manifest forces, such as heat, light, and electricity, are but faint manifestations of an omnipresent element which is thousands of times greater than these weak expressions.
Radio is opening up a new field of activity in the use of the spoken word. A newspaper article on the wireless telephone says:
Do You happen to know that a single word spoken in lower Broadway, New York, among the skyscrapers, could break every pane of glass in adjacent buildings and create a disturbance that would be felt for a mile in every direction?
The human voice, transformed into electrical energy for wireless transmission, develops 270 hp. The power of 10 men equal to 1 hp. The human voice electrified for wireless purposes is equivalent to the power of 2,700 men. in the various processes that stuff up a voice for radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean, it becomes 135,000 times more powerful than when uttered by a person sending the message.
Thus, starting with an initial energy of 1/1000 of an electrical watt, the voices boosted by powerful station until it is intensified 100 million times.
If the spoken word can mean mechanically intensified 100 million times, how much greater will be its power when energized by Spirit! when Jesus said with a loud voice to Lazarus "come forth," He must've had contact with the creative word referred to in the 1st chapter of John, because the results showed its life-giving character. When he healed the centurion's servant by His word sent forth on invisible currents, He said that the work was done through faith. So faith must boost the spoken word even more than 100 million times, as evidenced by its marvelous results. That the word of faith has an inner force, and that this force rushes forth and produces remarkable transformations in the phenomenal world, is the testimony of thousands who have witnessed its results.
Jesus said: " 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." He knew about the great spiritual machinery that the word of faith sets into action. He illustrated how man spiritually developed could by faith control the elements, quell storms, walk on water, retard or increase the growth of life and substance in grains, trees, animals, and men.
The ponderous dynamos that generate electricity to light a city are set going by a touch on a button. There is a button in the mind of man that connects him, through faith, with almighty energy. When the word of faith is spoken to large tumors and they melt away, is not the transformation equal to the removal of mountains? When a paralyzed limb, or a lifeless organ, is quickened and restored to natural functioning, is not that quickening a raising of the dead?
It is not necessary that the one who touches the button of faith shall understand all the intricate machinery with which he makes contact; he knows, like one who turns the electric switch, that the light or power will spring forth. The faith center, the pineal gland, opens the mind of man to spiritual faith. Merely affirming the activity of this superpower will quicken it in consciousness. Jesus said, "I speak not from myself: but the Father [faith] abiding in me doeth his works."
The transformers of electricity are paralleled by the transforming power of mind. That if a man sanely believes he can do a thing he will eventually find a way to do it is an accepted axiom of psychology. The mind generates an energy that contacts the universal energy, and causes circumstances and events to fall into line for the attainment of the latent ideal. John came crying in the wilderness of mortal thought, "Repent ye"; that is, change your mind. Paul discerned a like necessity, hence his call: "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind."
When people see the possibilities that follow a right change of mind, they will crowd the halls of metaphysical teachers as they now crowd moving-picture shows. When it is clearly understood that doubt, fear, poverty, disease, and death--every thought, good or bad, that men have expressed--have existence through mind we shall see a shifting of consciousness and a radical change in thought and word by everybody of sane mind. Then we shall ask for the true source and find it, as did Paul, who said: "Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." It was not Jesus but the mind in Jesus that did the great works. He was the center of faith that transformed the mighty creative forces of Being (which are active in the universe through the mind and brain of man) into a form of force usable in His environment. Tap this inner reservoir of faith, and you can do what Jesus did. That was His promise; its fulfillment is the test of a true follower.
"By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death . . . By faith Noah . . . prepared a ark to the saving of his house . . . By faith Abraham, being tried, offered up Isaac . . . By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months by his parents . . . By faith the walls of Jericho fell down . . . And what shall I more say? for the time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah; of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, waxed mighty in war, turned to flight armies of aliens. Women received their dead by a resurrection."
Chapter III
Strength, Stability, Steadfastness
WHEN the strong man fully armed guardeth his own court, his goods are in peace: but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him his whole armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.
Jesus gave the foregoing illustration of a strong man's being overcome by a stronger. The incident is mentioned in three
