HYMN TITLE: ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO HIM
TUNE: STAMFORD (Reay)
LYRICIST: CHARLES WESLEY. 1707 – 1788
MUSIC: SAMUEL REAY, 1822 – 1905
DESCANT: CHIBUIKE N. ONYESOH
Matthew 19:26 - But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
Luke 1:37 - For with God nothing shall be impossible.
Philippians 4:13 - I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Mark 10:27 - And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
Mark 9:23 - Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Matthew 17:20 - 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.
Isaiah 41:10 - Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Mark 11:24 - Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
Luke 18:27 - And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
ABOUT CHARLES WESLEY
Charles Wesley, the son of Samuel Wesley, was born at Epworth, Dec. 18, 1707. He was educated at Westminster School and afterwards at Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated M.A. In 1735, he took Orders and immediately proceeded with his brother John to Georgia, both being employed as missionaries of the S.P.G. He returned to England in 1736.
For many years he engaged with his brother in preaching the Gospel. He died March 29, 1788. To Charles Wesley has been justly assigned the appellation of the "Bard of Methodism." His prominence in hymn writing may be judged from the fact that in the "Wesleyan Hymn Book," 623 of the 770 hymns were written by him; and he published more than thirty poetical works, written either by himself alone, or in conjunction with his brother. The number of his separate hymns is at least five thousand.
ABOUT SAMUEL REAY
Samuel was the son of George Agnew Reay, organist of Hexham Abbey, and Eleanor Spraggon.
When the family moved to Ryton on Tyne, Samuel became a chorister at Durham Cathedral. After leaving the choir, he took organ lessons from Stimpson of Birmingham.
He served as organist at St. Andrew’s, Newcastle (1845); St. Peter’s, Tiverton, Devon (1847); St. John’s Parish Church, Hampstead (1854); St. Saviour’s, Warwick Road, London (1856); St. Stephen’s, Paddington, London; Radley College, Abingdon (1859, succeeding E. G. Monk); and Bury, Lancashire (1861).
In 1864 he was appointed Song-schoolmaster and organist of the parish Church in Newark, Nottinghamshire, where he retired in 1901.
Reay is noted for having performed the first organ arrangement of Mendelssohn’s Wedding March, which he arranged while in Tiverton. While in Newark, he conducted the Newark Philharmonic Society.
HYMN LYRICS
1
All things are possible to him
That can in Jesu's name believe:
Lord, I no more thy truth blaspheme,
Thy truth I lovingly receive;
I can, I do believe in thee,
All things are possible to me.
2
The most impossible of all
Is, that I e'er from sin should cease;
Yet shall it be, I know it shall;
Jesus, look to thy faithfulness!
If nothing is too hard for thee,
All things are possible to me.
3
Though earth and hell the word gainsay,
The word of God can never fail;
The Lamb shall take my sins away,
'Tis certain, though impossible;
The thing impossible shall be,
All things are possible to me.
4
When thou the work of faith hast wrought,
I here shall in thine image shine,
Nor sin in deed, or word, or thought;
Let men exclaim, and fiends repine,
They cannot break the firm decree;
All things are possible to me.
5
Thy mouth, O Lord, hath spoke, hath sworn
That I shall serve thee without fear,
Shall find the pearl which others spurn,
Holy, and pure, and perfect here,
The servant as his Lord shall be;
All things are possible to me.
6
All things are possible to God,
To Christ, the power of God in man,
To me, when I am all renewed,
When I in Christ am formed again,
And witness, from all sin set free,
All things are possible to me.
