A Sermon
(No. 32)
Delivered on Sabbath Morning, July 1, 1855, by the
REV. C.H. SPURGEON
At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark.
"And the apostle said unto the Lord, increase our faith."–Luke 17:5.
VERILY IF THE APOSTLE said this, one and all of us had need take up the
prayer. If the twelve mightiest in the army of the Lord of hosts had
need of such a supplication, what shall we say who are but the interior
soldiers–the feeblest saints? If ye hope to win the day, does it not
well become us to pray, "Increase our faith?"
It is a matter of dispute as to the occasion when these words were
uttered. Some think that we must look at the connection of the chapter
for the explanation. Jesus Christ had been teaching his disciples that
if their brother should trespass against them seven times a day, and
seven times a day turned again to them, saying, I repent, they were to
forgive him, and that constrained the apostle to say "increase our
faith." They conceived it to be so hard a duty incessantly to pardon
and constantly to forgive, that they felt unable to accomplish it
without a large increase of faith. Others think–very possibly with
greater truth–that the prayer was offered when the apostles endeavored
to cast out the evil spirits from the poor demoniac and failed in the
attempt. "And they said to Jesus, why could not we cast him out? And he
said, verily, if ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say
unto this sycamine tree, be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou
planted in the sea, and it should obey you." Then they said to the
Lord, "Increase our faith." However, whatever was the occasion in this
particular instance we shall always find good enough occasion for
presenting the prayer: and I know not but this morning may be a season
when each of us may have special necessity to put it up to God.
"Increase our faith." Proceeding at once to the subject, the first
thing we shall consider is the object of their solicitude. It was their
"faith." Secondly, the desire of their hearts–"Increase our faith."
And then, thirdly the person on whom they trusted to strengthen their
faith–"They said to the Lord, increase our faith."
I. First, then, THE OBJECT OF THEIR SOLICITUDE WAS THEIR FAITH. Faith
is of the utmost importance to a Christian. There is nothing of which
we should have a greater and a more earnest concern than our faith. I
shall endeavor to show you this from seven or eight reasons, and may
God press them to your hearts and send them so home, that every one of
us may become deeply anxious as to whether we have a real vital faith
which unites us to the Lamb and brings salvation to our souls.
1. We ought; my friends, to be extremely careful of our faith–both of
its rightness and of its strength, First of all: when we consider the
position which faith occupies in salvation. Faith is the
salvation-grace. We are not saved by love; but we are saved by grace,
and we are saved by faith. We are not saved by courage, we are not
saved by patience; but we are saved by faith. That is to say, God gives
his salvation to faith and not to any other virtue. It is nowhere
written–he that loveth shall be saved. It is nowhere recorded–that a
patient sinner shall be saved. But it is said, "He that believeth and
is baptized shall be saved." Faith is the vital part of salvation. If a
man lacks faith he lacks everything. "Without faith it is impossible to
please God." If a man has true faith–however little he has of any
other virtue–that man is secure. But supposing it possible for a man
to possess every virtue in the world, let him be as much a Christian in
his exterior; the apostle Paul himself; let him be as earnest as a
seraph; let him be as diligent in the service of his Master as you
could conceive even an angel on high to be, still "Without faith"–so
God's Word declares–"it is impossible to please God." Faith is the
saving grace–it is the connecting-link between the soul and Christ.
Take that away and all is gone. Remove faith, you have sawn through the
ship's keel, and she must sink. Take away faith, you have taken away my
shield and I must be slain. Remove faith, and Christian life becomes a
nonentity: it is extinct at once, for "the just shall live by faith:"
and without faith how could they live at all? Consider then, that since
faith is so important in salvation, it becomes each of us more
earnestly to inquire whether we have faith or not? O, my brethren,
there are a thousand shams in the world–a thousand imitations of
faith; but there is only one true vital saving faith. There are scores
of notional faiths–a faith which consists in holding a sound creed, a
faith which bids men believe a lie, by wrapping them up with assurances
of their safety, when they are still in the gall of bitterness and the
bonds of iniquity, a faith which consists in presumptuously trusting to
ourselves. There are scores of false faiths; but there is only one true
one. Oh! as ye wish to be saved at last; as ye would not be
self-deceived and go marching to damnation with your eyes shut, take
your faith in your hand this morning and see whether it is genuine
sterling coin. We ought to be more careful of our faith than of
anything else. True, we ought to examine our conduct, we ought to
search our works, we ought to try our love, but, above all, our faith:
for if faith be wrong all is wrong; if faith be right, we may take that
as the touchstone of our sincerity. "He that believeth on the Son of
God hath eternal life abiding in him."
2. Secondly:–Be anxious about your faith, for all your graces hang
upon it. Faith is the root-grace: all other virtues and graces spring
from it, Tell me of love; how can I love him in whom I do not believe.
If I do not believe that there is a God, and that he is the rewarder of
all them that diligently seek him, how can I possibly love him? Tell me
of patience: how can I exercise patience unless I have faith? For faith
looks to the recompense of the reward: she says, that "all things are
working together for our good," she believes that from our distresses
the greater glory shall spring, and therefore she can endure. Tell me
of courage: but who can have courage if he has not faith? Take what
virtue you will, and you will see that it depends on faith. Faith is
the silver thread upon which the pearls of the graces are to be strung.
Break that, and you have broken the string–the pearls lie scattered on
the ground, nor can you wear them for your own adornment. Faith is the
mother of virtues. Faith is the fire which consumes the sacrifice.
Faith is the water which nurtures the root. Faith is the sap which
imparts vitality to all the branches. If you have not faith all your
graces must die. And in proportion as your faith increases so will all
your virtues, not all in the same proportion, but all in some degree.
The man of little faith is the man of little love. The man of great
faith is the man of great affection. He that has great faith in God
could give himself to die for God, but he who has little faith in him
would shrink at the stake because his love would be feeble. Have care
of your faith, for on that your virtue depends; and if you would
cultivate things that are goodly, "things that are lovely, things that
are of good repute," things that are honorable to yourself, and
pleasing to God, guard well your faith, for on your faith all things
must rest.
3. Thirdly:–Take heed of your faith, because Christ thinks much of it.
There are three things in the New Testament which are called
precious:–One of them, you know, is the precious blood of Christ;
another is the exceeding great and precious promises; and faith has the
honor of being the third thing–"To them that have obtained like
precious faith." So that faith is one of God's three precious things,
It is one of the things which he values above all others. I was
astonished yesterday, when I met with an idea in an old divine,
concerning the honor which God puts on faith: says he, "Christ takes
the crown off his own head to put it on to faith's head." Mark you how
often he says, "Thy faith hath saved thee." Now it is not faith that
saves, it is Christ that saves. "Thy faith hath healed thee," says
Christ. Now faith did not heal, it was Christ that healed, but Christ
did uncrown himself to crown faith. He took the royal diadem of
salvation from his own head and placed it on the brow of faith, and
therein he made faith "the King of kings"–for it wears the crown which
the King of kings alone can wear–"the crown of salvation." Do you not
know that we read, "We are justified by faith." Now, in one sense this
is not the fact, for the matter of justification is the imputed
righteousness of Jesus Christ. We are justified by Christ, but Christ
arrays faith in his own royal garments, and renders it truly
illustrious. Jesus Christ always puts faith in the seat of honor. When
that poor woman came whose daughter was ill, he said, "O woman great is
thy faith!'" He might have said, "Woman, great is thy love" for it was
great love that made her force her way through the crowd and speak on
her daughter's behalf, or, "Great is thy patience," for when he called
her "dog," she still stuck to him, and would not depart: or, he might
have said, "Great is thy courage;" for she said, "Yet the dogs eat of
the crumbs." Or, he might have said, "Great is thy wisdom;" for she was
a wise woman to extract sweets out of the bitters, and to say, "Truth,
Lord, but the dogs eat of the crumbs." But he overlooks all that, and
says, "Great is thy faith." Well, if Christ thinks so much of faith
ought we not to esteem it most highly. Is it possible to think too
highly of that jewel which Christ reckons to be the most valuable? If
he sets faith in the forefront of the forehead of virtue, and if he
regards it as the choicest gem in the crown of the Christian, oh! will
it not awaken us to see whether we have it or not? For if we have it we
are rich–rich in faith and promises; but if we possess it not,
whatever we have, we are poor–poor in this world, and poor in the
next.
4. Next, Christian, take good care of thy faith, for recollect faith is
the only way whereby thou canst obtain blessings. If we want blessings
from God, nothing can fetch them down except faith. Prayer cannot draw
down answers from God's throne except it is the earnest prayer of the
man who believes. Faith is the ladder on which my soul must walk to
ascend to heaven. If I break that ladder how can I ever approach my
God? Faith is the angelic messenger between the soul and heaven. Let
that angel be withdrawn, I can neither send prayer up nor receive the
answers down. Faith is the telegraphic wire which links earth and
heaven–on which God's blessings move so fast that before we call he
answers, and while we are yet speaking he hears us. But if that
telegraphic wire of faith be snapped, how can we receive the promise?
Am I in trouble: I can obtain help for trouble by faith. Am I beaten
about by the enemy: my soul on that dear refuge leans by faith. But,
take faith away–in vain I call to God. There is no road betwixt my
soul and heaven. In the deepest winter time faith is a road on which
the horses of prayer may travel–ay, and all the better for the biting
frost! But blockade the road, and how can we communicate with our great
king? Faith links me with divinity. Faith clothes me with the robes of
deity. Faith engages on my side the omnipotence of Jehovah. Faith gives
me the might of God; for it ensures that power on my behalf. It gives
me to defy the hosts of hell. It makes me march triumphant over the
necks of my enemies. But without faith how can I receive anything of
the Lord? Let not him that wavereth–who is like a wave of the
sea–expect that he will receive anything of God! O then, Christians
watch well thy faith; for with it thou canst win all things, however
poor thou art, but without it thou canst obtain nothing. It is said of
Midas, that he had the power to turn everything into gold by the touch
of his hand; and it is true of faith–it can turn everything into gold;
but destroy faith, we have lost our all; we are miserably poor, because
we can hold no fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus
Christ.
5. Next, my friends, take care of your faith perpetually, because of
your enemies; for if you do not want faith when you are with friends,
you will require it when you have to deal with your foes. That good old
warrior, Paul, once led the Ephesians into the armoury and after he had
shown them the shoes they were to wear, the girdle, the breast plate,
the helmet, and the sword, he solemnly said, "Above all take the shield
of faith." Even if you forget the helmet, be quite sure of the shield,
for if your helmet should be off you may ward off a blow with the
shield, and save it from your head. You had better put on the "shoes of
peace and the breast-plate of righteousness," but if you omit one of
them, take care that you have "the shield of faith, where with you
shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one." Well,
now, faith makes a man very mighty when he deals with enemies. If a man
believes he is right, only taking it in a natural point of view–bring
that man before princes and kings, for the sake of truth, how lion-like
will he be! He will say, "I cannot yield, I must not, for I have the
truth on my side." Ay, though others may style it dogged obstinacy, it
is a true nobility of soul which bids a man declare, "I will not
yield." Much more strong is true spiritual faith; it has taken the
martyr to the stake, and enabled him to sing when the flames have
girdled him. It has led another to the sea; and like him of whom we
read in the old martyrologies, it has helped even the aged matron to
cry, "Christ is all yet." Faith has quenched the violence of the
flames, shut the mouth of lions, and out of weakness it has made us
strong. It has overcome more enemies than the whole host of conquerors.
Tell me not of the victories of Wellington; mention not the battles of
Napoleon; tell me of what faith has done! Oh! if we should erect a
monument to the honor of faith, what various names should we carve upon
the mighty pedestal! We should inscribe, here "The lion's den," there,
"The battle of the leopards;" or, here, we should have recorded how
faith divided the Red Sea; and there, how faith smote the Midianites;
and there, how Jael slew Sisera by faith. What conflicts of faith
should we have to engrave? O, faith! thy banner high shall wave! Thine
escutcheon is most glorious! Great art thou and full of victories! With
thee, O faith, I cast the gauntlet to the world, secure of victory.
Give me a child to fight with, and without faith–like poor Peter
before the little maid, I should tremble and deny my Master. But that
same Peter, with faith, fears not to stand before a frowning sanhedrim;
to speak of his Master amid the scoffings of the high priests. Mary,
Queen of Scots, said she was "more afraid of John Knox's prayers and
faith than she was of an army of ten thousand men," and a sensible
enemy may well tremble when such invincibles are at war with him. I
should not like to have a man of faith opposing me. Tell me the world
hates me, and I will rejoice at it; but tell me that a man of faith has
determined to crush me, and I have need to tremble then, for there is a
potency in that man's arm; his blows strike hard; and, when he does
smite, he smites home, as with a rod of iron. Tremble, ye foes of God,
for faith must overcome. And O ye servants of the living God, guard
well your faith, for by this shall ye be victorious; and shall stand
like rocks, unmoved amid the storms, unshaken by the tempests of
persecution.
6. And now for a sixth reason. Take care of your faith, because
otherwise you cannot well perform your duty. Faith is the foot of the
soul by which it can march along the road of the commandments. Love can
make the feet move more swiftly; but faith is the foot which carries
the soul. Faith is the oil enabling the wheels of holy devotion and of
earnest piety to move well; but without faith the wheels are taken from
the chariot and we drag along heavily. With faith I can do all things;
without faith I shall neither have the inclination nor the power to do
anything in the service of God. If you would find the men who serve God
the best, you will find them the men of the most faith. Little faith
will save a man, but little faith cannot do great things. Poor Little
Faith could not have fought "Apollyon." No, it wanted "Christian" to do
that. Poor Little Faith could not have slain "Giant Despair;" it
required "Greatheart's" arm to knock that monster down. Little faith
can get to heaven very surely, but it often has to run and hide itself
in a nutshell; and to lose all but its jewels. If there are great
battles and great works to do, there must be great faith. Assurance can
carry mountains on its back; little faith stumbles at a mole-hill.
Great faith, like Behemoth, can "snuff' up Jordan at a draught:" little
faith is drowned in a drop of rain: it beginneth to think of going back
at the slightest trouble. Great faith can build temples; she can pile
castles; she can preach the gospel; she can proclaim Christ's name
before enemies; she can do all things; and if you would be great
indeed, and serve your Master much, as I trust you will, you will seek
increased faith! for by so doing you will be more diligent in duty. O
ye active Christians, be full of faith! ye busy Christians, be sure to
guard that I for once let that fall, what will ye do? As Sabbath-school
teachers, as preachers, as visitors of the sick, or whatever ye have to
do, rest assured that faith must be your strength and confidence. If
that fails, where are you then?
Again: take care of your faith; for only faith can comfort you in your
troubles. Ay, say some, this is about all we think of, the uses of
faith to console us in our troubles. Now I never like to laugh at God's
people because they desire comfort. I believe that it is a very great
proof that they are children that they like sweet things. If they did
not, I should fear they were not God's children at all. But I hear
ministers saying, "Ah, you are always saying you want comfort, you want
comfort." Ay, to be sure, I say, they do; and they want it because they
never get it from you, sir. I believe God's people do need comfort,
though, it is true, they want too much of it when they ought not to
have it. But they require a promise very often, and they ought to have
it. Now faith is the best cordial to the soul. O, how faith will
realize a promise at a time when there is great trouble coming! "Ah!"
says faith, "God says, As thy days so shall thy strength be.' "Ah!"
says faith, "it is a rough road; the thorns are sharp; the flints are
strewn about it, but then; thy shoes shall be iron and brass,'" and
faith looks at the strong old shoes, and say, "I will even venture,"
and off she goes. Little faith sits murmuring in a corner; great faith
is singing in the fire. "They shall praise him aloud in their beds,
they shall sing his high praise in the fire." Little faith stands
desponding, mingling her tears with the flood. Great faith says, "When
thou passest through the river, I will be with thee, the flood shall
not overflow thee; when thou passest through the fire, thou shalt not
be burned; neither shall the flames kindle upon thee." Would you be
comfortable and happy? Would you enjoy religion? Would you have the
religion of cheerfulness and not that of gloom? Then seek more faith.
You will be saved with ever so little faith, but you will not be saved
happily. You will be happy hereafter if you believe in the slightest
degree; but you will not be happy here unless you fully, habitually,
and earnestly believe–believe strongly in the faithful promises of
Jehovah, in all the glorious dignity of his person, and in all the
faithfulness and immutability of his grace. If ye would be Christian
larks, and not Christian owls, seek to have more faith. If ye love
darkness, and would fly about in it in gloom and misery, then be
content with little faith. But if ye would mount in sunshine, and carol
like the bird of day, then seek strong confidence.
One more reason. Take care of your faith, my friends; for it's very
often so weak, that it demands all your attention. I do not know
whether any of you feel that your faith is too strong; but I never feel
mine strong enough. It seems to be exactly strong enough to bear the
day's troubles, but it would not stand cutting in the least degree with
the plane. I could not afford to take the least atom off; it is just
enough, and no more. As for some of us, our faith is so weak that the
least trouble threatens to devour it. The goat passes and nips its
tender shoot, the winter chills and freezes it; it is almost ready to
die. And my faith very often hangs upon the feeblest thread; it appears
ready to expire. Take care of your faith, Christian take care of your
faith whatever you leave out of doors of a night, do not leave that
little child of faith, whatsoever plant is exposed to the frost, be
sure to put faith within. Take care of faith, for it is so weak
generally, it needs well to have a good preservation.
Thus have I tried, as well as I can, this morning, to set forth the
great necessity of looking to our faith; and our prayer must be, as it
was that of the apostles, "increase our faith."
II. This brings us, secondly, to consider THE HEART'S DESIRE OF THE
APOSTLES. "Increase our faith." They did not say, "Lord keep our faith
alive: Lord sustain it as it is at present," but, "Increase our faith."
For they knew very well that it is only by increase that the Christian
keeps alive at all. Napoleon once said, "I must fight battles, and I
must win them: conquest has made me what I am, and conquest must
maintain me." And it is so with the Christian. It is not yesterday's
battle that will save me to-day; I must be going onwards. A wheel will
remain erect as long as it moves, but when it begins to stand still it
falls. Christian men are saved by progress: constantly going onwards
keeps the Christian alive. If it were possible for me to stop, I know
not where my life would be. The Christian must be going onward; for the
arrow will mount while still it is in progress, but it stalls the
moment the power stops that keeps it aloft. So the apostle said unto
the Lord, "increase our faith."
First: "Increase our faith," in its extent; the extent of what it will
receive. Usually, when we commence the Christian life, faith does not
grasp much; it only believes a few elementary doctrines. I find that
many young converts have not gone much farther than believing that
Jesus Christ died for sinners, by-and-bye they get a little advanced,
and believe election; but there is something a little beyond that they
do not receive, and it is not until after years that they believe the
entire gospel. Some of you, my hearers, and a great many that are not
my hearers are miserable little cramped souls; you have learned a
cast-iron creed, and you will never move out of it. A certain somebody
drew up five or six doctrines, and said, "There are the doctrines of
the Bible," and ye believe these, but you want to have your faith
increased, for you do not believe a great deal more that is in the
Bible. I do not think I differ from any of my hyper-calvinistic
brethren in what I do believe, but I differ from them in what they do
not believe. I do not believe any less than they do, but I believe a
little more, and think, as we grow we shall have our belief increased;
not only are there a few cardinal doctrines that will be enough to
steer our ship by, north, south, east, or west, but we shall begin to
learn something about the north-west and north-east, and that which
lies between the four points. Many people, when they hear something a
little contrary to what they have usually heard, say at once, "That is
not sound." But who made you a judge of what is sound? And there are
some little souls who set themselves up for princes in Israel, and
think every man must believe as they believe, or else he is decidedly
wrong, and will hold no Christian communication or fellowship with him.
I am sure I may pray to the Lord for them–"Increase their faith!" Help
them to believe a little more; help them to believe there may be
Christian Wesleyans; that there are good Church people; and not only
that particular Baptists are very good sort of people, but that there
are some of God's elect everywhere. I am sure I pray for all bigots,
that they may have a little wider heart. I should like to stretch their
hearts a little. But, no, they have reached the ultima thule, they have
come to the last of the fortunate islands, there cannot be any shore
beyond. It is dangerous for a mariner to spread his sails on untried
seas. "Hitherto," says pious Crisp, and therefore many fancy, "hitherto
shalt thou go, and no further." Dr. Gill declares just so much, and who
shall venture to say more; or perhaps Calvin is made the standard and
what business has any man to think a single thought beyond Calvin?
Blessed be God, we have gone a little beyond that; and we can say,
"Increase our faith." With all our admiration for these great standard
divines, we are not prepared to shut ourselves up in their little iron
cages; but we say, "Open the door, and let me fly–let me still feel
that I am at liberty. Increase my faith, and help me to believe a
little more." I know I can say I have had an increase of faith in one
or two respects within the last few months. I could not, for a long
time, see anything like the Millenium in the Scriptures; I could not
much rejoice in the Second Coming of Christ, though I did believe it;
but gradually my faith began to open to that subject, and I find it now
a part of my meat and drink, to be looking for, as well as hastening
unto, the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. I believe I have only just
begun to learn the A B C of the Scriptures yet, and will constantly cry
to the Lord, "Increase my faith," that I may know more and believe
more, and understand thy Word far better. "Increase my faith," in its
extent.
Next, "Increase my faith," in its intensity. Faith needs to be
increased in its power, as well as in its extent. We do not wish to act
as some do with a river, when they break the banks, to let it spread
over the pasture, and so make it shallower but we wish, while it
increases in surface, that it may increase likewise in its depth.
Increase "the intensity of our faith!" Faith at first takes God's mercy
with an open palm: as it increases it holds it with his fingers, and
not more firmly; but when faith grows strong, ah! she takes it, as with
an iron vice, and grasps it, and not death nor hell could rend a
promise from faith's hand when faith is strong. The young Christian at
first is not constant in his faith a little wind comes, and he shakes,
when he gets an old Christian he will take old Boreas, with fifty of
his winds, to move him. Do you not feel, my dear friends, that you want
faith to be increased in its intensity? Would you not sing with Watts:
"Oh! that I had a stronger faith,
To look within the veil;
To credit what my Saviour saith,
Whose word can never fail?"
Your poor little faith cannot see many yards before it, for there are
clouds of darkness all around; but strong faith can climb the hill that
is called "Clear," and from the top thereof can see the celestial city,
and the land that is very far off. Oh! may God increase your faith to
such a degree, that you may often have visions of heaven"–that you may
sweetly sing, as Moses might have done at the top of Pisgah,–
"Oh! the transporting rapturous scene
That rises to my sight.
Sweet fields arrayed in living green,
And rivers of delight."
That you may climb up there, bathe your eyes in splendor, plunge your
soul in rivers of bliss, and be thoroughly transported and carried away
by visions of that state of beatitude which shortly shall be yours, let
me exhort you to cry to the Lord, "Increase my faith "in its power of
realizing heaven and in every other way.
III. I have no time to dwell upon this, but must close up by very
briefly mentioning THE PERSON TO WHOM THE APOSTLES ADDRESSED THEIR
PRAYER. The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" They went
to the right person. They did not say to themselves, "I will increase
my faith," they did not cry to the minister, "Preach a comforting
sermon, and increase my faith," they did not say, "I will read
such-and-such a book, and that will increase my faith." No, they said
to the Lord, "Increase our faith." Faiths author can alone increase it.
I could inflate your faith till it turned into presumption, but I could
not make it grow. It is God's work to feed faith, as well as to give it
life at first; and if any of you desire to have a growing faith, go and
take your burden this morning to God's throne, crying "Lord, increase
our faith!" If you feel that your troubles have been increased, go to
the Lord, and say, "increase our faith!" If your money is accumulating,
go to the Lord, and say, "Increase our faith;" for you will want more
faith as you get more prosperity. If your property is diminishing, go
to him, and say, "increase our faith," so that what you lose in one
scale you may gain in the other. Are you sickly and full; of pain this
morning? Go to your Master, and say, "increase my faith,' so that I may
not be impatient, but be able to bear it well." Are you tired and
weary? Go and supplicate, "Increase our faith!" Have you little faith?
Take it to God, and he will turn it into great faith. There is no
hot-house for growing tender plants in, like a house that is within the
curtains–the tabernacle of God, where the Shekinah dwelleth.
I have been speaking in very great pain; but I would, if possible,
close by asking you, who are Christians, whether you do not think this
prayer very necessary to your own state. Let each one ask himself, Do
not I want more faith? My brethren and sisters in the Lord Jesus
Christ, rest assured, you will never get too much of this precious
grace. If you pay all the way to heaven, you will never have a penny to
spare when you get to heaven's gate, if you live on faith all your
journey through, you will not have a pot of manna left. Pray, then, for
an increase of faith. You want this church to stand, do you not? It can
stand only in proportion as you are men of faith. I know I might exhort
you to be men of prayer; but faith is the foundation stone; prayer
comes next. Prayer without faith would be an empty mockery; it would
win nothing of God. Do you want us to stand? Do you know how the world
speaks of us–how the enthusiasm of the renting people of Park Street
is talked of? How is it to be kept up, except through your faith. How
shall your minister's hands be held up, except by your faith and your
prayers? Let faith be the Aaron; let prayer be the Ur; and faith and
prayer can hold up the hands of Moses, whilst the army below is
fighting the enemy. Would ye be kept from falling? Ye must be strong in
faith. Little faith falls, strong faith stands. Would ye win the day,
and reign in heaven, with a starry crown more brilliant than you might
otherwise expect? Then be ye increased in faith. And would ye honor God
much, and enter heaven, after having fought a good fight and won a
crown? Then I will offer the supplication, "increase the faith of my
people," and put up the prayer, "increase my faith."
But there are some of you, dear friends, who could not use this
petition, and dare not. What would it avail you if you did so? Seeing
you have no faith, how could that be increased which has no existence.
Rather, your first need is the possession of the simple germs of faith.
Oh! my hearers, I marvel what some of you do without the comforts which
faith can alone afford. Some of you are very poor people: how do you
manage to endure your toils and troubles without faith? Where is your
comfort? I do not wonder at your going to get drunk, or rioting in the
ale-house, if you have no other comfort in this world. When I have
penetrated some of our back streets and seen the poverty of the people,
I have thought, "If these people have no religion, what have they to
comfort them? They are not like the rich man, who can indulge himself
in every way: what have they got in this world worth living for?" I
suppose they have some kind of happiness: what sort of a thing it is I
cannot tell: it is to me a source of continual inquiry. And you rich
men, what will you do without faith? You know that you must leave all
your properly behind you; surely this will make the idea of death
dreadful to you. I cannot understand even your happiness, if you have
any. I know this–that
"I would not change my blest estate
For all the earth calls good or great;
And while my faith can keep her hold,
I envy not the sinner's gold."
But I want to ask you what would you do in the next world without
faith. Remember, you are standing now upon the edge of the vast gulf of
an unknown future. Your soul stands quivering on the verge of the dark
abyss; each time your pulse heats your soul is brought nearer to
eternity. Faith gives wings to the soul; but what will you do without
wings? There is a narrow gulf dividing earth from heaven; the Christian
flaps his wings, and borne upon them, he flies to heaven; but what will
you do without wings? It will be a leap–a leap into perdition, to sink
for ever, without the power of ever recovering yourself. If a Christian
could sink on his journey to heaven he would not sink far for he would
flap his wings and be up again. But there you will be, perpetually
descending through that pit that has no bottom–struggling to rise, but
you cannot, for you have no wings. Once more, oh! unbeliever, what will
you do without faith? For faith gives eyes to the soul; faith gives us
to see things that are not seen: it is "the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen." The Christian, when he dies,
will enter the land of death with his eyes open; by means of which,
goodly hosts of angels shall cheer his vision; but you must die a blind
and eyeless spirit. Unhappy is the lot of the blind in this present
world, but how infinitely deplorable that eternal blindness which shall
prevent a sight of the splendours of paradise, and shut out for ever
even the feeblest ray of joy or hope. And, once more; faith is the hand
of the soul. The Christian, when he dies, catches hold of Christ's
garment, and Christ bears him into heaven. A bright angel descends,–I
clasp that angel, and on his wings he wafts me up to bliss. But when
the unbeliever dies the angel would have a useless errand, for he has
no hands. Suppose, O sinner, Christ is there, but you cannot even touch
his garments, for you have no hands to do it with. What will you do in
the next world without hands? Do you think God will suffer such
deformed souls in heaven, without hands and without eyes? No, not at
all. But how could you get in without hands? You could not open the
gates of heaven. What would you do? You would call on God for mercy;
and if the mercy were held out to you, you have not hands with which to
lay hold upon it. I do not understand how some of you are happy without
religion, I do not know what you mean to do if you die without faith.
Go home and think of what you will do if you die without religion;
whether you intend to brazen it out before the face of the Eternal, or
tamely to submit. Sinner! thou canst not enter into heaven without
faith, but what hast thou made up thy mind to do? Dost thou intend to
rend down the gates of heaven? Dost thou think thou hast omnipotence
enough to force thy way through squadrons of cherubim and legions of
angels, and so to enter by main force? Or what dost thou design to do?
Dost thou intend quietly to lie down in beds of sulphur? Dost thou
design to be willingly tossed perpetually in that brimstone lake where
there is no bottom; where briny tears for ever fall? Will ye do that?
Will ye make your bed in hell? Sirs, are you so besotted that ye are
content with such a doom eternally? Is your reason clean gone? Are your
senses so benighted that ye can thus cast yourselves away? Surely ye
have resolved to do something. What, then, will ye do? Do you fancy
that without faith you will enter heaven, when it is written, "Without
faith it is impossible to please God?" And when God has said. "He that
believeth not shall be damned," dost thou think thou canst reverse the
decree? Wilt thou mount the throne of Jehovah, and forswear Jehovah's
self? Wilt thou change his mandate and admit the unbeliever into
heaven? No, thou canst not! Tremble, then, unbeliever, tremble; for
there awaits thee nothing but "a fearful looking for of judgment and of
fiery indignation." What will ye do in the swellings of Jordan, without
faith to keep your heads above the waters? God give faith to those that
have none; and as for others, may he increase their faith!