The Word of Power

The Word of Power "Peace, be Still"

By Dr. James E. Talmage, of the Council of the Twelve

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God .... And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:1 and 14.) This sublime affirmation as to the antemortal Godship of Jesus Christ, recorded by John, is in strict harmony with the Father's declaration to Moses that the creation of the world had been wrought through His Son Jesus Christ, whom He designates "The Word of my Power" (Pearl of Great Price, p. 6). There was and is irresistible omnipotence in the Voice of God. This is evidenced by Christ's miracle in stilling the tempest. You know the story. The Master and some of the disciples were afloat on the turbulent sea. It was night; and Jesus, after an arduous day of ministry, was asleep in the stern of the little vessel. The storm increased in fury, and the disciples were terror-stricken. In their extremity of fear they awakened the Lord, crying, "Master, carest thou not that we perish?" and, "Lord, save us: we perish." Then He arose; and out through the darkness of that fearsome night, into the roaring wind, over the storm-lashed sea, went the voice of the Lord, as he "rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased and there was a great calm." Turning to the disciples, he asked in tones of gentle yet unmistakable reproach: "Where is your faith?" and, "How is it that ye have no faith?" Gratitude for rescue from what but a moment before had seemed impending death was superseded by amazement and fear. "What manner of man is this," they asked one of another, "that even the wind and the sea obey him?" Among the recorded miracles of Christ, none has elicited greater diversity in comment and in attempt at elucidation than has this instance of control over the forces of nature. Science ventures no explanation. The Lord of earth, air and sea spake and was obeyed. He it was who, amidst the black chaos of creation's earliest stages,

— had commanded with immediate effect Let there be light: Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters ; Let the dry land — appear and as he decreed, so it was,

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The dominion of the Creator over the created is real and absolute. Asmall part of that dominion has been committed to man, as the offspring of God, tabernacled in the very image of his Divine Father. But man exercises that delegated control through secondary agencies, and by means of complicated mechanism. Man's power over the objects of his own devising is limited. It is in accordance with the curse evoked by Adam's fall, which came through transgression, that by the strain of his muscle, by the sweat of his brow, and by stress of his mind, shall man achieve. His word of command is but a sound-wave in air, except it be followed by labor. Through the Spirit that emanates from the very Person of Deity, and which pervades all space, the command of God is immediately operative. Not man alone, but also the earth and all the elemental forces pertaining thereto, came under the Adamic curse; and as the soil no longer brought forth only good and useful fruits but gave of its substance to nurture thorns and thistles, so the several forces of nature ceased to be obedient to man as agencies subject to his direct command. What we call natural forces—heat, light, electricity, chemical affinity —are but a few of the manifestations of eternal energy through which the Creator's purposes are subserved; and these few, man is able to direct and utilize only through mechanical contrivance and physical adjustment. But the earth shall yet be "renewed and receive its paradisaical glory," and then soil, water, air, and the forces acting upon them shall' directly respond to the command of glorified man as now they obey the word of the Creator. The vital Spirit that emanates from God and is co-extensive with space may operate directly and with as positive effect upon inanimate things, and upon energy in its diverse manifestations, as upon organized intelligences, whether unembodied, mortal, or disembodied. Thus, the Lord commanded demons and they obeyed him. And thus he may speak directly to the earth, the air, the sea, and be heard and obeyed, for the Divine immanence, which is the sum of all energy and power, operates throughout the universe. That through faith even mortal man may set in operation the forces that act upon matter has been explicitly declared by Jesus Christ: "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." (Matt. 17:20).