The Necessity of Growing Faith

The Necessity of Growing Faith

(No. 1857)

A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, AUGUST 30, 1885,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"We are bound to thank God always for you, Brethren, as it is fitting,
because your faith grows exceedingly, and the charity of every one of
you all abounds toward each other." 2 Thessalonians 1:3.

LAST Lord's-Day I tried to say cheering and encouraging words to
"Little-Faith." I trust that the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, did
thereby strengthen some to whom the Savior said, "O you of little
faith, why did you doubt?" But none of us would desire to remain among
the Little-Faiths–we long to press forward in our march to the better
land. If we have just started in the heavenly race, it is well, for
there are grounds of comfort about the first steps in the right way,
but we are not going to stop at the starting-point! Our desire is
towards the finish line and the crown. My prayer, at the commencement
of this discourse, is that we may, each of us, rise out of our little
faith into the loftier region of assurance, so that those who love us
best may be able to say, "We are bound to thank God always for you,
Brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly."

The Church of Jesus Christ at Thessalonica did not commence under very
propitious circumstances. Remember that oft-quoted text about the
Bereans–"These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that
they searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so." That
record does not relate to the converts in Thessalonica, but to those
Jews who heard Paul preach in the synagogue and refused to test his
teaching by a reference to the Old Testament. They were not a noble
sort of people and yet, from among them, there were taken by almighty
Grace a certain company who were led to believe in the true Messiah!
Thus they became more noble than even the Bereans, for we do not hear
of a Church in Berea, neither was an Epistle written to the Bereans.
Thessalonica received two Epistles, bright with hearty commendations.
Paul praised the Philippians, but the Thessalonians he praised even
more, thanking God at every remembrance of them, and glorying in them
among the Churches of God for their patience and faith.

I shall ask you, with your Bibles open, to see whether we cannot
account in some measure for this remarkable condition of things. The
verse before us is full of thanksgiving to God for the growth of the
Thessalonians in faith and in love. And to my mind, it sounds like an
echo of the First Epistle to the Thessalonians. The First Epistle is
the key and the cause of the Second. Very often a man's success in this
place, or in that, will tally with his own condition of heart in
relation to that place. As we sow we reap. The Grace of God enabled
Paul to sow toward the Thessalonians with great hopefulness, trust and
prayerfulness and, consequently, he reaped plentifully.

Observe how (1 Thess. 1:2, 3) Paul began by distinctly recognizing the
existence of faith and love in that Church. "We give thanks to God
always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; remembering
without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of
hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father."
Recognize the root and then look for the flower! See that faith is in
the soul, smile upon it and foster it–and then you may expect that the
faith will steadily increase. In our text Paul mentions faith as
growing and love as abounding, while in the next verse he mentions
patience, which is the outgrowth of hope–"the patience of hope." He
noticed in the Thessalonians the birth of those three Divine
sisters–faith, hope, and charity! That which he recognized with
pleasure, he afterwards saw growing exceedingly! Those who cherish the
seed shall rejoice in the plant. Observe in the children under your
care the first blossoms of any good thing and you shall observe its
increase! Despise not the day of small things. When you have learned to
recognize faith in its buds, you shall soon see faith in its flowers
and faith in its fruits! Do not overlook feeble Grace, or criticize it
because it is as yet imperfect–mark its beginnings with thankfulness
and you shall behold its advance with delight!

In addition to recognizing the beginnings of faith, Paul labored hard
to promote it. Look in the second chapter and read verses 7, 8, 11,
12–"But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherishes her
children: so being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to
have imparted unto you, not the Gospel of God, only, but also our own
souls because you were dear unto us. As you know how we exhorted and
comforted and charged every one of you, as a father does his children,
that you would walk worthy of God, who has called you unto His kingdom
and glory." He threw his whole strength into the work of building that
Church, toiling night and day for it and, consequently, he obtained his
desire– for still it is true in the farming of God, that those who sow
and steep their seed in the tears of earnestness, shall doubtless come
again, rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them!

Paul had accompanied his public labors with his private prayers. See
how 1 Thessalonians 3:12 tallies with our text–"And the Lord make you
to increase and abound in love, one toward another, and toward all men,
even as we do toward you." This was his prayer–and he received exactly
what he prayed for. He saw abounding love in each one towards every
other! The Lord seemed to have noted the wording of Paul's prayer and
to have answered him according to the letter of his request. If we open
our mouth wide, the Lord will fill it! Brothers and Sisters, what we
comfortably recognize in its gracious beginnings–what we labor to
increase and what we earnestly guard with prayer shall, in due time, be
granted to us!

More than this–Paul had gone on to exhort them to abound in love and
faith. Look at Chapter 4, verse 9–"As touching brotherly love you need
not that I write unto you: for you yourselves are taught of God to love
one another. And indeed you do it toward all the brethren which are in
all Macedonia: but we beseech you, Brethren, that you increase more and
more." Paul did not only quietly pray for the Church, but he added his
earnest admonitions. He bids them increase more and more and, in
response, they do increase, so that he says, "your faith grows
exceedingly." When a man says, "more and more," it is only another way
of saying, "exceedingly." Is it not so? There was a big heart in Paul
towards the Thessalonians. He wanted them to grow in faith and love
"more," and then, to take another step and add another, "more," to it!
The exhortation being given out of a full heart, behold, God has
fulfilled it to His servant and the people have willingly followed up
the Apostolic precept!

But Paul had added faith to his prayers and his exhortations. Look at
Chapter 5:23, 24, and see if it is not so. "And the very God of peace
sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body
be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faithful is He that calls you, who also will do it." When we are sure
that God will do it, it will surely be done! We miss many a blessing
because we ask without faith. The Apostle believed that he had the
petition which he had sought of the Lord and he received according to
his faith. He who can firmly believe shall, before long, fervently pour
out thanksgiving! The Church at Thessalonica, the child of Paul's
prayers, the child of his labors and, at last, the child of his faith,
obtained a remarkable degree of faith and an amazing warmth of love.
The Lord give to us, who are workers, the mind and spirit of Paul, and
lead us to follow him in our conduct to others, and then I do not doubt
that our good wishes shall be realized! If we are right, ourselves, we
shall see prosperity in the Churches, or classes, or families whose
good we seek–and as we feel bound to pray about them, we shall also
feel bound to thank God concerning them.

Before I plunge into the sermon, I should like to pause and ask whether
we, as Christian men and women, are such that Paul could say of us, "We
are bound to thank God always for you, Brethren, as it is fitting,
because your faith grows exceedingly, and the charity of every one of
you all abounds toward each other." What do you think? Could your
pastor bless God for you? Could your nearest and dearest Christian
friend feel that he was bound to always thank God for you? If not, why
not? Oh that we may rise into such a happy state that we shall be the
cause of gratitude in others! It ought to be so–we ought to glorify
God–causing men to see our good works and praise our Father in Heaven.

One more question–Do you think we are in such a condition that it
would be safe for anybody to praise us? Would it be safe to ourselves
for us to be thus commended and made subjects of thankfulness? It takes
a great deal of Grace to be able to bear praise. Censure seldom does us
much harm. A man struggles up against slander and the discouragement
which comes of it may not be an unmixed evil, but praise soon suggests
pride and is, therefore, not an unmixed good. "As the fining-pot for
silver, and the furnace for gold, so is a man to his praise." Would it
be safe if Paul were, here, to say good things about you as he did
about the Thessalonians? Did it not prove that the Brothers and
Sisters, there, were sober, well-established Believers?

Once more, do you ever feel it in your heart to talk like this about
your fellow Christians? Paul was in a fine condition when he could thus
extol his Brethren. Few men are ready with hearty commendations of
others. We are greedy in receiving praise and niggardly in dispensing
it. We seldom speak too kindly of one another. Now and then you hear a
person say, "There is no such thing as love in the Church at all." I
know that gentleman very well and I never saw any excess of love in
him. I heard one say, "Brotherly love is all a mockery; there is no
reality in Christian charity"–and truly, he measured his own corn very
accurately! Most men would see others better if their own eyes were
clearer. When a man honestly feels that his fellow Christians are, for
the most part, much better than himself and that he would willingly sit
at the feet of many of them, then he is, himself, in a healthy state. I
admire the Grace of God in many around me! I see their imperfections as
though I did not see them! I am not looking for the thorns, but for the
roses–and I see so many of them that my heart is glad and in spirit I
bless the name of the Lord!

The man who can commend the work of the Lord in others without saying a
word about himself, has, by that fact, given himself a good character.
His eyes must have been washed in the fountains of Love. They must have
been cleansed from the dust of pride, envy and self, or he would not
have so seen or so spoken. I love the text because it is an instance of
a man of great Grace, of a man under the Inspiration of the Spirit of
God who yet delighted to speak enthusiastically of a Church which
certainly was far from perfect. I delight in that eye which can be a
little blind to faults while it exercises a clear vision in seeing all
that is good and praiseworthy towards God!

So, then, we come to our text and the subject runs thus–for us to grow
in faith is a subject for devout thanksgiving. And, in the second
place, it is an object for diligent endeavor. Thirdly, if we greatly
grow in faith it will be the source of other growth, for as faith
increases, love, patience and every other virtue will flourish.

I. For us to grow and increase in faith is A SUBJECT FOR DEVOUT
THANKSGIVING. Paul gives a commendation of the Thessalonian Church
which is exceedingly warm and hearty. One critic says the words may be
regarded as somewhat extravagant, after the mode of the Apostle when he
wishes to be emphatic. He writes fervidly–"Your faith grows
exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other
abounds." It is an intense and unreserved commendation. As I have
already said, this Church was not absolutely perfect for, because of
the love of every one towards another and their great kindness towards
the poor, certain unworthy persons encroached upon their liberality. To
use a very rough word, beggars were multiplied among them as they
always are where generosity abounds. Shame that it should be so. Read
chapter 3, Verse 11–"For we hear that there are some which walk among
you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies." There had
been, also, among them, here and there, a person of loose life and of
sharp business dealings–and to such Paul spoke in the First
Epistle–but these flies in the pot of ointment did not destroy its
sweetness. They were, comparatively, so few, that Paul speaks of the
whole body with warm praise. When our faith shall grow and our love
abound, it may be proper for a pastor to speak with unrestricted
admiration of what the Lord has done.

The blessing of increased faith is of unspeakable value and, therefore,
praise should be largely rendered for it. Little faith will save, but
strong faith is that which builds up the Church, which overcomes the
world, which wins sinners and which glorifies God. Little-Faith is slow
and feeble and, to suit his pace, the whole flock travel softly.
Little-Faith is a wounded soldier and has to be carried in an ambulance
by the armies of the Lord. But faith which grows exceedingly lifts the
banner aloft, leads the van, meets hand to hand the foes of our Prince
and puts them to the rout! If we were invoking blessings upon a Church,
we could scarcely ask for a larger blessing than that all the Brothers
and Sisters might be strong in faith, giving glory to God! Strong-Faith
ventures into large endeavors for Christ and, therefore, missions are
projected. Strong-Faith carries out the projects of holy zeal and,
therefore, daring ideas are turned into facts! Strong-Faith is a shield
against the darts of error and, therefore, she is the object of the
contempt and hatred of heresy.

Strong-Faith builds the walls of Zion and casts down the walls of
Jericho. Strong-Faith smites the Philistines hip and thigh and makes
Israel to dwell in peace. Oh that the night of Little-Faith were over
and that the day of glorious faith would come! Soon would our young men
see visions and our old men dream dreams if faith were more among us.
When the Son of Man comes, shall He find faith in the earth? At the
revival of faith, we shall see another Pentecost with its rushing
mighty wind and its tongues of flame–but during our lack of faith we
still abide in weakness and the enemy will exact upon us. O God, we
beseech You, make Your face to shine upon us! Cause our faith to grow
exceedingly and our love to abound yet more and more! Then shall there
be times of refreshing from the Presence of the Lord.

Paul thus fervently gave thanks to God because the blessing came to the
Church at a remarkably seasonable time. The people of Thessalonica had
risen against the Church and persecuted it. Thus, without were fights,
but within there were no fears, for the Brethren were firm in faith and
fervent in love. The Church was subject to constant tribulation, but
its faith grew exceedingly. Has it not often been so with the Lord's
people? Times of cloud and rain have been growing times. Pharaoh dealt
harshly with Israel, but the more he oppressed them, the more they
multiplied! The more the Church of God is trod down, the more it rises
into power and influence! The bush burns and is not consumed. No,
rather, it flourishes in the flame! I say not that this increase of
faith is the immediate effect of persecution, but it is singularly the
attendant put upon it. God knew that when His poor servants were hauled
to prison; when they were brought before rulers and kings for His
name's sake; when they were robbed of their goods, they needed
increased strength and, therefore, He gave it to them by growth in
faith. As the persecution rose upon them like a deluge, their
confidence in God rose above it–like Noah's ark, which rose higher,
the deeper the waters became! They stood fast in the day of trial and
became an example to all other Churches, whether persecuted or not–and
this because their faith grew exceedingly!

Beloved, I pray for each member of this Church that your confidence in
God may rise from ebb to flood. We need it much just now. This is a
time of depression in trade, when many are suffering need and almost
all find their means decreased. We need to be rich in faith, for we are
growing poor in pocket! Many children of God cannot find employment in
which to earn their bread. This is, moreover, a time of abounding vice.
Perhaps never in our memories were any of us so shocked as we have been
of late by the discoveries of unspeakable abominations! We need that
our faith should grow exceedingly, for sin runs down our streets in
torrents! It is also a period of grievous departure from the faith once
delivered to the saints. Looking back to our younger days, we are
amazed at the progress of error. We mourned, in those days, that men
trifled with the Doctrines of the Gospel, but what shall we say now,
when men deride those Doctrines and mock at them as antiquated fables?
The foundations of the earth are removed and only here and there will
you find a man who bears up the pillars–therefore we need that our
faith should be exceedingly steadfast. I charge you, Brothers and
Sisters, to be rooted and grounded in faith, seeing the times are evil!
I cannot speak emphatically enough upon the abounding dangers of the
times–they demand of us that we be not of doubtful minds, but that we
take firm hold of the Infallible Truths of God and endure as seeing Him
who is invisible! He that cannot say, "I believe and am sure," is one
born out of due time.

The Apostle's commendation was meet and fit, since, if there is any
growth in faith, it is the work of God's Spirit. Faith is the gift of
God in its beginnings and it is equally the gift of God in its
increase. If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, God gave it to
you. And if you have faith as a spreading tree, God has given the
increase. The infancy of faith is of God and so is its perfect manhood.
In the natural world, we ought as much to admire God's hand in growth
as in creation for, indeed, the bursting out of spring, the advance of
summer and the maturity of autumn are all a sort of creation seen in
detail. Even thus the progress of faith reveals the same power as the
commencement of faith. If you do not look to God for more faith, you
will never have more faith–great faith in its strong broad current
flows as much from the fountainhead of Grace as in its first trickling
stream of hope in Christ. Let God have all the glory of faith from its
Alpha to its Omega!

If you are a strong man in Christ Jesus, take heed that you do not
sacrifice to your own net, nor burn incense to your own drag and
glorify your own experience as if you made yourself strong and rich in
the things of God. We are bound to render all the thanksgiving unto
God–it is meet that it should be so. Look how the Apostle puts it–"We
are bound to thank God always for you." I like the modesty of that. He
does not so much say that he thanked God, though he did do so. But in
deep humility he admits the debt which he could not fully pay. He did
not judge his thanksgivings to be sufficient, but acknowledged that he
was still under bonds to render more praise. I rejoice to be bound with
these bonds, to be bound to thank God every day and all day! I wear
these golden fetters and count them my best ornaments! "Bind the
sacrifice with cords, even with cords to the horns of the altar." I
would be bound over not to keep the peace, but to keep praise forever.
Let the Altar of Incense be always burning, yes, flaming higher and
higher with the sweet spices of love and gratitude. Blessed be God for
what He is doing for His people when He causes their faith to grow–for
it is a blessing so immense, so incalculable that our praises ought to
rise to the height and glory of loud-sounding hallelujahs!

Brothers and Sisters, let us bless God for every good man we know whose
faith has grown, for every holy woman whose love in the Church is
manifest to all! And when we have done so, let us turn our eyes to God
and say, "Lord, make

me such a one that others may glorify You in me, also. I am, as yet,
sadly weak and undeveloped. Make me to grow till all Your image shall
be seen in me and my fellow Christians shall bless You concerning me."
Thus have I set growth in faith before you as a subject for
thanksgiving. It is, indeed, a jewel worth more than both the Indies!

II. In the second place, it is worthy to have AN OBJECTIVE OF DILIGENT
ENDEAVOR. If you have it not, labor speedily to attain it. As the
merchantman seeks goodly pearls, so seek a growing faith. Covet,
earnestly, the best gifts and the noblest Graces. Never be
self-satisfied, but cry with Jabez, "Oh that the Lord would bless me,
indeed, and enlarge my coast."

Why? Because the proof of faith lies in the growth of faith. If you
have a dead faith, it will always be the same. But if you have the
faith of God's elect, it must grow! If I heard of a child that was born
some years ago and had never grown, I should begin to guess that my
friend was entrapping me and that the child was dead from birth. Life
in its earliest stages is always attended with growth. Brothers and
Sisters, you must have more faith, or we shall fear that you have no
faith– you must have more love, or else, for sure, you have no love at
all. That which does not grow unto God does not live unto

God!

We ought to have more faith because God's Truth deserves it. It ought
to be the easiest thing in the world for us to trust God. To believe
every word of the Lord should be an act to which we need not to be
exhorted–it should be as natural as for the lungs to heave, or the
heart to beat! We ought, as children of God, to believe our Father by
instinct, even as young eaglets hide under their mother's wing. We
ought to exercise faith even as the eye sees and the ears hear because
thereunto we were created by the Holy Spirit. It should be a necessity
of our spiritual existence that we must and will trust the Lord Jesus
Christ yet more and more! I pray that it may be so, for unbelief is a
horrible crime. Have you doubted God? Have you, in any sense,
mistrusted Him? Have you limited the Holy One of Israel? Then continue
not the slave of such a sin, but give unto God your heart's confidence
from this time forward and forever.

Moreover, we ought to grow in faith because it will be so much for our
own spiritual health, strength and joy. Does Little-Faith know what he
might be, do and enjoy if he could only quit its littleness? There are
many ways of being a Christian, as there are many ways of being an
Englishman–but all are not equally desirable. I may be an Englishman
in banishment, or in the workhouse, or in prison–but I prefer to be an
Englishman at home, in health and at liberty. So you may be a Christian
and be weak, timorous and sad. But this is not desirable–it is better
to be a happy, holy, vigorous, useful Christian! As your being an
Englishman does not depend on your health or wealth, so neither does
your salvation turn upon the strength or joy of your faith–yet much
does depend on it. Why not glorify God on the road to Heaven? Why not
have foretastes of it now?

It is not my desire to go through the world in miserable style, singing
always–

"Do I love the Lord or not? Am IHis, or am Inot?"

I infinitely prefer to so trust God that my peace may be like a river
and my righteousness like the waves of the sea! Look at the difference
between Abraham, the Father of the faithful, and his nephew, Lot. Lot
was righteous, but he was, by no means, as strong in faith as Abraham.
Neither was he as great or as happy. Abraham is calm, bold, royal. Lot
is greedy, timid, trembling. Lot, in Sodom, is, with difficulty, made
to run for his life, while Abraham, alone with God, is interceding for
others! Lot escapes from a burning city with the loss of all things,
while Abraham dwells peacefully with the Lord who is the Possessor of
Heaven and earth. Abraham's faith makes him rise like some lone Alp
till he touches the very Heaven of God! It is well to be Lot, but it is
infinitely better to be Abraham! Seek the highest degree of faith, for
if this is in you and abounds, you shall not be barren or unfruitful.
Heaven lies that way. More faith, more rest of heart. To grow heavenly
we must grow more believing.

The question is, how is this to be done? How is my faith to be made to
grow exceedingly? I have already told you that it is the work of the
Holy Spirit–but He still uses us for the increase of our own faith! If
we are to grow in faith, certain evils are to be avoided with
scrupulous care. Avoid continual change of doctrine. If you have a tree
in your garden and you transplant it often, it will yield you scanty
fruit. Those who are everything by turns and nothing long, are, "ever
learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth of God."
Unstable as water, they shall not excel! Those Brothers and Sisters who
believe this, today, and that, tomorrow, and the other thing the next
day, do not believe anything in downright earnest! They cannot grow!
They are not rooted and grounded. Like the moon, they are always

changing–and what light they have is cold and sickly. He who can
change his religion, has none to change! Those who prefer philosophy to
Christ, never knew Him!

Then, again, if you had a tree and did not transplant it, but began to
dig away the earth from it, removing the ground in which it stood, you
would impoverish it and prevent its fruitfulness. I know certain
professors who are giving up the ground which their souls should grow
in. One doctrine after another is forsaken till nothing is held to be
important. They do not believe much, now, and they are on the line to
believe nothing at all. The experiment of the Frenchman who had just
brought his horse to live on a straw a day, when it died, is being
repeated among us, faith being literally starved to death! What low
diet some men prescribe for their souls! Marrow and fatness they do not
even smell! How can your faith grow when vital Truths of God are
abandoned, or held with feeble grasp? Oh for a band of Puritan
Believers! Oh for a troop of spiritual Ironsides!

Next, a tree cannot grow if it is shut out from sun, rain and dew.
Without heavenly influences, we must be barren. Plant a little tree
right under a great oak so that it is always in the shade and it cannot
grow! Clear the big tree away or the sapling will dwindle to death.
Some men's faith cannot grow because it is overshadowed by worldliness,
by tolerated sin, by love of riches, by the pride of life, by cares of
lower things. The pursuit of Christ Crucified must be all-absorbing or
it will be ineffectual. To know what you believe and to abide steadfast
in it, is the way to be robust in faith. Men whose hearts are not in
their trades, men who chop and change–these are the men whose names
appear in the Gazette–are not many spiritual bankruptcies due to the
same cause?

There are methods which the spiritual farmer uses to cause faith to
grow. First, faith grows by an increase of knowledge. Many persons
doubt because they are not instructed. Some doubt whether they shall
hold on to the end–they are ignorant of the Doctrine of the Final
Perseverance of the Saints! Some are in despair because they find evil
desires arising in their hearts–they do not know the teaching of
Scripture as to the two natures and the warfare between flesh and
spirit. Many think themselves condemned because they cannot wholly keep
the Law–they forget that they are justified by faith! A great deal of
unbelief vanishes when knowledge, like the morning sun, drives away the
mists! Unbelief is an owl of the night and when the sun rises, it hides
away in a dark corner. Study the Word of God–give your heart to
searching it! Seek to get at the inner teaching and learn the analogy
of faith. Practice deep-sea fishing and you will reach those mysterious
Truths which are the secret riches of the soul. These Truths are much
despised now, but those who rejoice in them will find their faith
growing exceedingly.

Better still than mere knowledge, which, alone, would puff you up,
faith grows by experience. When a man has tried and proved a thing,
then his confidence in it is largely increased. Take a promise and test
it, and then you will say, "I know that is so." When you have tested it
again and again, and again, nobody will be able to shake you, for you
will say, "I have tasted and handled of this good Word of God. I have
made it my own and I am not to be driven from it." The experienced
Christian is the established Christian. The man who proved all things
is the man who holds fast that which is good. God give Grace to
increase our faith by knowledge and by experience!

Faith also grows by much meditation and walking with God. If you want
to believe in a man, you must know him. Half the disputes between
Christian people arise from their not knowing one another. There is a
hymn of Mr. Sankey's which I venture to alter thus–

"When we kno w each other better The mists will roll away."

When we know each other, our suspicions, prejudices and dislikes will
speedily disappear. I am sure it is so with our God. When you walk with
Him; when your communion with Him is close and constant, your faith in
Him will grow exceedingly. Some of you, I am afraid, do not give five
minutes in the day to meditation. You are in too great a hurry for
that. In London life, men get up in a hurry even as they went to bed in
a hurry and slept in a hurry! They swallow their breakfast in a hurry;
they have no time to digest it; the bell is ringing at the station and
they must hurry to catch the train! They reach business in a hurry.
They hurry through it and they hurry to get back from it. Men cannot
think, for they have barely time to blink their eyes. As to an hour's
meditation and reading the Scriptures and communing with God, many
professors, nowadays, would think they committed robbery against the
god of this world if they took half-an-hour out of their service to
give it to fellowship with the world to come! If our faith is to grow
exceedingly, we must maintain constant conversation with God.

Another way of increasing faith is by much prayer. Pray for faith and
pray with faith–thus shall your soul become firm in its reliance on
the promises. It is while we wrestle with the Angel that we find out
our weakness, as the sinew of our thigh shrinks. But, at the same time,
we prove our God-given strength, since as princes we wrestle with God
and prevail! Power from prayer as well as power in prayer is what we
need. On our knees we gather strength till doubting and fearing
disappear.

We must be careful to render obedience to God. A man cannot trust God
while he lives in sin. Every act of disobedience weakens confidence in
God. Faith and obedience are bound up in the same bundle. He that obeys
God, trusts God. And he that trusts God, obeys God. He that is without
faith is without works and He that is without works is without faith.
Do not oppose faith and good works to one another, for there is a
blessed relationship between them. And if you abound in obedience, your
faith shall grow exceedingly.

Again, faith grows by exercise. The man who uses the little faith he
has will get more faith. But he that says, "I have not enough faith for
such-and-such work" and, therefore, shrinks back, shall become more and
more timid, till, at last, like a coward, he runs away! Go forward with
your little faith and to your surprise it shall have grown as you have
advanced! Accomplish much and then endeavor something more, and
something more. I have often used an illustration taken from a person
who teaches the art of growing taller. I do not believe in that art–we
shall not add a cubit to our stature just yet. But part of this
professor's exercise is that in the morning, when you get up, you are
to reach as high as you can and aim a little higher every morning,
though it is only the hundredth part of an inch. By that means you are
to grow. This is so with faith. Do all you can and then do a little
more–and when you can do that, then do a little more than you can.
Always have something in hand that is greater then your present
capacity. Grow up to it and when you have grown up to it, grow more! By
many little additions, a great house is built. Brick by brick, up rose
the pyramid! Believe and yet believe more! Trust and have further
trust! Hope shall become faith and faith shall ripen to full assurance
and perfect confidence in God Most High!

This then, Brothers and Sisters, is what I commend to you. May God the
Holy Spirit help you all to go from faith to

faith.

III. Finally, this growing faith becomes THE CENTER OF OTHER CHRISTIAN
GRACES. "Your faith grows exceedingly, and the charity of every one of
you all abounds toward each other." A firm faith in Gospel Truths will
make us love one another, for each Doctrine of Truth is an argument for
love. If you believe in God as having chosen His people, you will love
His elect. If you believe in Christ as having made Atonement for His
people, you will love His redeemed and seek their peace. If you believe
in the Doctrine of Regeneration and know that we must be born again,
you will love the regenerate. Whatever doctrine it is that is true, it
ministers toward the love of the heart. I am sure you will find a deep,
firm, fervent unity with one another in those that hold the Truth of
God in the love of it. If you are not filled with brotherly love, it
must be because you are not firmly believing that Truth which works
toward love.

Firmness in the faith ministers toward the unity of the Church. The
Church at Thessalonica did not have a secession, or a split, as some
call it–the Church at Thessalonica did not divide under the pressure
of persecution–they adhered closely to one another! As they were
hammered all the more, the more they were consolidated. They were
welded into one solid mass by the hammer of persecution and the fire of
love–and the reason was because they each one held the Truth of God
with all firmness. I am always afraid of a Church that is made up of
mixed elements–when some are Calvinistic, some Arminian, some Baptist
and some Paedobaptist. When the minister who holds them together dies,
they will disintegrate. When certain reasons that now make them cohere,
cease to exist, the Church will divide like quicksilver–each little
bit breaking into smaller bits–and so they will go rolling about in
innumerable factions. But given a Church that holds the Truths of God
firmly, with deep and strong faith, then if the pastor dies, or 20
pastors die, they believe in a Pastor who lives forever–and whoever
comes or does not come–the Truth they hold, holds them in living
unity. I cannot imagine a greater blessing for you as a Church, in
years to come, than for each man and woman to be intelligently
established in the Truth of God you have received. Who shall separate
the men who are one in Christ by the grip of mighty faith? I commend
firm faith to you with all my heart as the source of love and the means
of unity in years to come.

This faith breeds patience in men and patience assists love. Truth to
tell, God's people are, some of them, an amazing tribe! A countryman
was accustomed to say that if God had not chosen His people before they
were born, He would never have done so afterwards. There is truth in
that saying. Therefore if a man loves his fellow Christians as an act
of mere

nature, he will often feel himself baffled. He will say, "They acted
very unkindly to me. Who can love people that are so ill-mannered, so
ungrateful?" But when faith is strong, you will say, "What is that to
me? I love them for Christ's sake. If I am to have a reward, it shall
come from my Lord Christ. As for God's people, I love them despite
their faults. Over the head of the mistaken judgements they form of me,
I love all my Brethren." The way to make men better is not to be always
censuring them, but to love them more. The quickest way to win a sinner
is to love him to Christ! The quickest way to sanctify a Believer is to
love him into purity and holiness! Only faith can do this. May faith,
therefore, grow exceedingly, for faith, by working patience, helps us
to bear with others.

If there is anything grand, good, desirable–anything Christ-like,
anything God-like–the way to it is to let your faith grow exceedingly!
If this Church is to become more and more a missionary Church, as I
pray God it may, your faith must grow exceedingly! If you are to stand
fast as a breakwater in these times of departure from the faith once
delivered to the saints, your faith must grow exceedingly! If you are
to be made a blessing to this wicked city and shine like a lighthouse
over this sea of London, your faith must grow exceedingly! If God has
brought you as a Church, together with other Churches, to the Kingdom
for such a time as this–if you are to achieve your destiny and work
for God and glorify His name–your faith must grow exceedingly!

The man who is timorous and faint-hearted, let him go home–he is not
fit for the day of battle. The age requires heroes! The chicken-hearted
are out of their place in this perilous century! You that know what you
know and believe what you believe, whose tramp is that of fearless
warriors–you have a high calling–fulfill it! You shall see what God
will do for you and with you! And it shall be written in the pages of
eternity that at such a time the Church grew in its faith and,
therefore, God used it for His Glory.

May it be so. May those among us who have no faith be led to Jesus. O
Believers, try your own faith by speaking to unbelievers as they go
away this morning! This afternoon, in the Sunday school, prove your
faith by winning your dear children for Christ! Try your faith every
day in the week by giving sinners no rest until they come to Christ!
God bless you, each one, for His name's sake. Amen.
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