The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-02-19
THE POWER OF FAITH
AN EARNEST SERMON BY REV
 STEWART mQUEEN.
Rector of Episcopal Church Trenches on The Value of Fidelity to the
 Christian Mind.

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 The Lord said. If ye had faith as q grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycanline tree; Be thou nlncked up by the root and be thou planted In the sea and it should obey you st. Luke xvii: 6.
 morning Rev. Stewart Mcqueen. rec tor of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter spoke as follows:
 The illustration our Savior uses 10 teach us sbout faith Is so apt it tells us what faith is and what faith does. You observe He takes q living thing as an example of what faith Is and living thing as an example of what faith does. He says: If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, some thing alive. ye might say unto this syeamine tree, something also alive.
 Christ did not illustrate the nature and power of faith from the sphere of mechanical force, but from the field or living, growing things. He could net possibly teach us more strongly and strikingIy that faith is not a mes chanical thing. which expends it's pow CT at once. az tho action of an explo- sive. but Is living thing, as seed, capable of growth and expansion to an almost infinite degree. He teaches us faith is g vital force. and can re- new itself continuously and almost without limit.
 rAgain, see how He presents faith. on the one hand, in it's minimum state, and on the other, in it's maximum working power. He takes faith as a grain of mustard seed, the least of seeds. and tells how it can remove one of the largest of trees. Of course, He means as need hardly point out. that the power of faith in It's own sphere, is as great as a natural force iR It's sphere that can transplant tree The further fact is taught by the use of the seed as an illustration, that faith is not to continue a fixed quantity, but must be alive like the seed. It is to grow in strength. It is te develop in range. Moreover, it isl net to be state of contentness or in- action. It is. to reach forth constant iy for deeper and higher life. It IS to be like the seed, which God in- tsnds to become a tree
 And we know how the seed ope- rates. Plant 1t, for instance. in the ground, in dead matter, motioniess and iHert, and which would always remain so but for the introduction of life carried there by the seed. Very soon. the presence of the seed causes stir, motion. change in the soil. As it ger inmates and grows. particles of the soil are drawn by the sed8 into itself, thus imparting into them its own higher nature and making living ma teffaL And, all the time, the seed is attracting heat from the sun, mois> tuTe and fertility from the earth, as helps in order that it may grow What picture of the effect of the seed of faith in Christ planted in the human soul! Faith causes change and com- motion within the soul, lifting up our nature into newness of life. It acts upon the will. manifests itself in con- duet and character. As 1t grows, it draws to itself, for nourishment and sustenance, all the means of grace vouchsafed man in his battle with the world. the flesh and the devil It does as mighty a work in it's sphere as the plucking up of q tree by some great force of .,ature and planting 1t in the sea.
 Plum ia .the figure of the seed our sal or uses, and we shall appreciate stiH more the force. the meaning. the far-rcaching effects of faith. He likens faith to seed. Now recall the wonder fuI p6tentfAlit tfesverin the shane df growth and force.--stored ID in an ordinary seed. Take. for example, the seed of mushroom. It is so minute 1t can haardly be seen with the naked eye. But. suppose 1t falls into crew ice under a pavement The germ is quickened into life by the materials It finds there It begins at once to expand. It increases more and more. Finally. the heavy pavement slabs are lifted out of their place through the strengthening and enlarging power of the seeds growth. Look at the seed of a tree. which is exceedingly small compared to the tree which follows it. The expansive power 1t manifests is mafvelous. Let it be blown into al crack in a rock by some gust Of wind. What ultimately takes place7 Why, it splits the rock and lifts up frag- ments of 1t in a ring round it's trunk, How? By it's almost miraculous grow ing power. Now, if the physical things of nature can accomplish such won ders and display such force in re- moving or overcoming obstacles to their growth. what may we not look for from living qualities of faith in the domain of mans spirit7 man. made in Gods image. and with almost infinite capacity for apprehending the Divine2 Faith is indeed a lying pow CT, and the greatest power of life. It Is back of all manifestations of life in its highest service Its three fields of activity are; Faith in Christ faith in others, and faith in ones self.
 Faith in Christ. This is the highest. noblest faith of all It is, indeed. the supreme force of the world Active faith in Christ Is the crowninR work of the sublimest principles of life that