LivePrayerSermon 1857. 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 charityof 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 desireto remain among the Little-Faiths-we long to press forward in our march to the better land. If we have just started in theheavenly race, it is well, for there are grounds of comfort about the first steps in the right way, but we are not going tostop 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 bestmay 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-quotedtext about the Bereans-"These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they searched the Scriptures daily whetherthose things were so." That record does not relate to the converts in Thessalonica, but to those Jews who heard Paul preachin the synagogue and refused to test his teaching by a reference to the Old Testament. They were not a noble sort of peopleand 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 writtento the Bereans. Thessalonica received two Epistles, bright with hearty commendations. Paul praised the Philippians, but theThessalonians he praised even more, thanking God at every remembrance of them, and glorying in them among the Churches ofGod 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 ofthings. The verse before us is full of thanksgiving to God for the growth of the Thessalonians in faith and in love. And tomy mind, it sounds like an echo of the First Epistle to the Thessalonians. The First Epistle is the key and the cause of theSecond. Very often a man's success in this place, or in that, will tally with his own condition of heart in relation to thatplace. As we sow we reap. The Grace of God enabled Paul to sow toward the Thessalonians with great hopefulness, trust andprayerfulness 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 youall, making mention of you in our prayers; remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patienceof hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father." Recognize the root and then look for the flower! Seethat faith is in the soul, smile upon it and foster it-and then you may expect that the faith will steadily increase. In ourtext Paul mentions faith as growing and love as abounding, while in the next verse he mentions patience, which is the outgrowthof 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 inthe 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 itsflowers and faith in its fruits! Do not overlook feeble Grace, or criticize it because it is as yet imperfect-mark its beginningswith 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 verses7, 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 untous. As you know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father does his children, that you wouldwalk worthy of God, who has called you unto His kingdom and glory." He threw his whole strength into the work of buildingthat Church, toiling night and day for it and, consequently, he obtained his desire- for still it is true in the farming ofGod, that those who sow and steep their seed in the tears of earnestness, shall doubtless come again, rejoicing, bringingtheir 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, evenas we do toward you." This was his prayer-and he received exactly what he prayed for. He saw abounding love in each one towardsevery other! The Lord seemed to have noted the wording of Paul's prayer and to have answered him according to the letter ofhis request. If we open our mouth wide, the Lord will fill it! Brothers and Sisters, what we comfortably recognize in itsgracious 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 brotherlylove you need not that I write unto you: for you yourselves are taught of God to love one another. And indeed you do it towardall the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, Brethren, that you increase more and more." Paul did notonly 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 wayof saying, "exceedingly." Is it not so? There was a big heart in Paul towards the Thessalonians. He wanted them to grow infaith and love "more," and then, to take another step and add another, "more," to it! The exhortation being given out of afull 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 thevery God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto thecoming 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 petitionwhich he had sought of the Lord and he received according to his faith. He who can firmly believe shall, before long, ferventlypour out thanksgiving! The Church at Thessalonica, the child of Paul's prayers, the child of his labors and, at last, thechild 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 wishesshall be realized! If we are right, ourselves, we shall see prosperity in the Churches, or classes, or families whose goodwe 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 Paulcould 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 thatwe 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 glorifyGod-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 safeto ourselves for us to be thus commended and made subjects of thankfulness? It takes a great deal of Grace to be able to bearpraise. Censure seldom does us much harm. A man struggles up against slander and the discouragement which comes of it maynot 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 ashe 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 conditionwhen he could thus extol his Brethren. Few men are ready with hearty commendations of others. We are greedy in receiving praiseand niggardly in dispensing it. We seldom speak too kindly of one another. Now and then you hear a person say, "There is nosuch 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 heardone say, "Brotherly love is all a mockery; there is no reality in Christian charity"-and truly, he measured his own corn veryaccurately! Most men would see others better if their own eyes were clearer. When a man honestly feels that his fellow Christiansare, 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 seethem! 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 blessthe 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 himselfa 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 certainlywas far from perfect. I delight in that eye which can be a little blind to faults while it exercises a clear vision in seeingall 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 ofother 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 ThessalonianChurch which is exceedingly warm and hearty. One critic says the words may be regarded as somewhat extravagant, after themode of the Apostle when he wishes to be emphatic. He writes fervidly-"Your faith grows exceedingly, and the charity of everyone of you all toward each other abounds." It is an intense and unreserved commendation. As I have already said, this Churchwas 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 asthey always are where generosity abounds. Shame that it should be so. Read chapter 3, Verse 11-"For we hear that there aresome which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies." There had been, also, among them, here andthere, a person of loose life and of sharp business dealings-and to such Paul spoke in the First Epistle-but these flies inthe pot of ointment did not destroy its sweetness. They were, comparatively, so few, that Paul speaks of the whole body withwarm praise. When our faith shall grow and our love abound, it may be proper for a pastor to speak with unrestricted admirationof what the Lord has done.
The blessing of increased faith is of unspeakable value and, therefore, praise should be largely rendered for it. Little faithwill save, but strong faith is that which builds up the Church, which overcomes the world, which wins sinners and which glorifiesGod. Little-Faith is slow and feeble and, to suit his pace, the whole flock travel softly. Little-Faith is a wounded soldierand 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 gloryto God! Strong-Faith ventures into large endeavors for Christ and, therefore, missions are projected. Strong-Faith carriesout the projects of holy zeal and, therefore, daring ideas are turned into facts! Strong-Faith is a shield against the dartsof 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 thighand 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 andits tongues of flame-but during our lack of faith we still abide in weakness and the enemy will exact upon us. O God, we beseechYou, make Your face to shine upon us! Cause our faith to grow exceedingly and our love to abound yet more and more! Then shallthere 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 peopleof 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 grewexceedingly. Has it not often been so with the Lord's people? Times of cloud and rain have been growing times. Pharaoh dealtharshly with Israel, but the more he oppressed them, the more they multiplied! The more the Church of God is trod down, themore it rises into power and influence! The bush burns and is not consumed. No, rather, it flourishes in the flame! I saynot that this increase of faith is the immediate effect of persecution, but it is singularly the attendant put upon it. Godknew 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 persecutedor 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 justnow. This is a time of depression in trade, when many are suffering need and almost all find their means decreased. We needto be rich in faith, for we are growing poor in pocket! Many children of God cannot find employment in which to earn theirbread. This is, moreover, a time of abounding vice. Perhaps never in our memories were any of us so shocked as we have beenof late by the discoveries of unspeakable abominations! We need that our faith should grow exceedingly, for sin runs downour streets in torrents! It is also a period of grievous departure from the faith once delivered to the saints. Looking backto our younger days, we are amazed at the progress of error. We mourned, in those days, that men trifled with the Doctrinesof the Gospel, but what shall we say now, when men deride those Doctrines and mock at them as antiquated fables? The foundationsof the earth are removed and only here and there will you find a man who bears up the pillars-therefore we need that our faithshould be exceedingly steadfast. I charge you, Brothers and Sisters, to be rooted and grounded in faith, seeing the timesare evil! I cannot speak emphatically enough upon the abounding dangers of the times-they demand of us that we be not of doubtfulminds, but that we take firm hold of the Infallible Truths of God and endure as seeing Him who is invisible! He that cannotsay, "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. Faithis 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 mustardseed, God gave it to you. And if you have faith as a spreading tree, God has given the increase. The infancy of faith is ofGod 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 inits 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 owndrag and glorify your own experience as if you made yourself strong and rich in the things of God. We are bound to renderall the thanksgiving unto God-it is meet that it should be so. Look how the Apostle puts it-"We are bound to thank God alwaysfor 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 humilityhe admits the debt which he could not fully pay. He did not judge his thanksgivings to be sufficient, but acknowledged thathe was still under bonds to render more praise. I rejoice to be bound with these bonds, to be bound to thank God every dayand all day! I wear these golden fetters and count them my best ornaments! "Bind the sacrifice with cords, even with cordsto the horns of the altar." I would be bound over not to keep the peace, but to keep praise forever. Let the Altar of Incensebe always burning, yes, flaming higher and higher with the sweet spices of love and gratitude. Blessed be God for what Heis doing for His people when He causes their faith to grow-for it is a blessing so immense, so incalculable that our praisesought 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 inthe 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 allYour image shall be seen in me and my fellow Christians shall bless You concerning me." Thus have I set growth in faith beforeyou 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 attainit. 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 ifyou 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, Ishould begin to guess that my friend was entrapping me and that the child was dead from birth. Life in its earliest stagesis always attended with growth. Brothers and Sisters, you must have more faith, or we shall fear that you have no faith- youmust 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 trustGod. 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 forthe lungs to heave, or the heart to beat! We ought, as children of God, to believe our Father by instinct, even as young eagletshide under their mother's wing. We ought to exercise faith even as the eye sees and the ears hear because thereunto we werecreated by the Holy Spirit. It should be a necessity of our spiritual existence that we must and will trust the Lord JesusChrist yet more and more! I pray that it may be so, for unbelief is a horrible crime. Have you doubted God? Have you, in anysense, mistrusted Him? Have you limited the Holy One of Israel? Then continue not the slave of such a sin, but give unto Godyour 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-Faithknow what he might be, do and enjoy if he could only quit its littleness? There are many ways of being a Christian, as thereare 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, timorousand sad. But this is not desirable-it is better to be a happy, holy, vigorous, useful Christian! As your being an Englishmandoes not depend on your health or wealth, so neither does your salvation turn upon the strength or joy of your faith-yet muchdoes 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! Lookat 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! Lotescapes from a burning city with the loss of all things, while Abraham dwells peacefully with the Lord who is the Possessorof Heaven and earth. Abraham's faith makes him rise like some lone Alp till he touches the very Heaven of God! It is wellto 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 growmore 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 isthe 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 evilsare to be avoided with scrupulous care. Avoid continual change of doctrine. If you have a tree in your garden and you transplantit often, it will yield you scanty fruit. Those who are everything by turns and nothing long, are, "ever learning, but neverable to come to the knowledge of the Truth of God." Unstable as water, they shall not excel! Those Brothers and Sisters whobelieve this, today, and that, tomorrow, and the other thing the next day, do not believe anything in downright earnest! Theycannot 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 preferphilosophy 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 inwhich it stood, you would impoverish it and prevent its fruitfulness. I know certain professors who are giving up the groundwhich their souls should grow in. One doctrine after another is forsaken till nothing is held to be important. They do notbelieve much, now, and they are on the line to believe nothing at all. The experiment of the Frenchman who had just broughthis horse to live on a straw a day, when it died, is being repeated among us, faith being literally starved to death! Whatlow diet some men prescribe for their souls! Marrow and fatness they do not even smell! How can your faith grow when vitalTruths 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 alittle 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 saplingwill dwindle to death. Some men's faith cannot grow because it is overshadowed by worldliness, by tolerated sin, by love ofriches, by the pride of life, by cares of lower things. The pursuit of Christ Crucified must be all-absorbing or it will beineffectual. To know what you believe and to abide steadfast in it, is the way to be robust in faith. Men whose hearts arenot in their trades, men who chop and change-these are the men whose names appear in the Gazette-are not many spiritual bankruptciesdue 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 ofthe Doctrine of the Final Perseverance of the Saints! Some are in despair because they find evil desires arising in theirhearts-they do not know the teaching of Scripture as to the two natures and the warfare between flesh and spirit. Many thinkthemselves condemned because they cannot wholly keep the Law-they forget that they are justified by faith! A great deal ofunbelief vanishes when knowledge, like the morning sun, drives away the mists! Unbelief is an owl of the night and when thesun rises, it hides away in a dark corner. Study the Word of God-give your heart to searching it! Seek to get at the innerteaching and learn the analogy of faith. Practice deep-sea fishing and you will reach those mysterious Truths which are thesecret riches of the soul. These Truths are much despised now, but those who rejoice in them will find their faith growingexceedingly.
Better still than mere knowledge, which, alone, would puff you up, faith grows by experience. When a man has tried and proveda thing, then his confidence in it is largely increased. Take a promise and test it, and then you will say, "I know that isso." When you have tested it again and again, and again, nobody will be able to shake you, for you will say, "I have tastedand handled of this good Word of God. I have made it my own and I am not to be driven from it." The experienced Christianis the established Christian. The man who proved all things is the man who holds fast that which is good. God give Grace toincrease 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 disputesbetween Christian people arise from their not knowing one another. There is a hymn of Mr. Sankey's which I venture to alterthus-
"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. Someof 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; theyhave no time to digest it; the bell is ringing at the station and they must hurry to catch the train! They reach businessin a hurry. They hurry through it and they hurry to get back from it. Men cannot think, for they have barely time to blinktheir eyes. As to an hour's meditation and reading the Scriptures and communing with God, many professors, nowadays, wouldthink they committed robbery against the god of this world if they took half-an-hour out of their service to give it to fellowshipwith 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 inits reliance on the promises. It is while we wrestle with the Angel that we find out our weakness, as the sinew of our thighshrinks. But, at the same time, we prove our God-given strength, since as princes we wrestle with God and prevail! Power fromprayer 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 weakensconfidence in God. Faith and obedience are bound up in the same bundle. He that obeys God, trusts God. And he that trustsGod, obeys God. He that is without faith is without works and He that is without works is without faith. Do not oppose faithand good works to one another, for there is a blessed relationship between them. And if you abound in obedience, your faithshall 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 notenough faith for such-and-such work" and, therefore, shrinks back, shall become more and more timid, till, at last, like acoward, he runs away! Go forward with your little faith and to your surprise it shall have grown as you have advanced! Accomplishmuch and then endeavor something more, and something more. I have often used an illustration taken from a person who teachesthe 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 thisprofessor's exercise is that in the morning, when you get up, you are to reach as high as you can and aim a little higherevery morning, though it is only the hundredth part of an inch. By that means you are to grow. This is so with faith. Do allyou 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 handthat 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! Hopeshall 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 charityof every one of you all abounds toward each other." A firm faith in Gospel Truths will make us love one another, for eachDoctrine of Truth is an argument for love. If you believe in God as having chosen His people, you will love His elect. Ifyou believe in Christ as having made Atonement for His people, you will love His redeemed and seek their peace. If you believein the Doctrine of Regeneration and know that we must be born again, you will love the regenerate. Whatever doctrine it isthat is true, it ministers toward the love of the heart. I am sure you will find a deep, firm, fervent unity with one anotherin 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 arenot 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 asplit, as some call it-the Church at Thessalonica did not divide under the pressure of persecution-they adhered closely toone another! As they were hammered all the more, the more they were consolidated. They were welded into one solid mass bythe 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 andsome Paedobaptist. When the minister who holds them together dies, they will disintegrate. When certain reasons that now makethem cohere, cease to exist, the Church will divide like quicksilver-each little bit breaking into smaller bits-and so theywill go rolling about in innumerable factions. But given a Church that holds the Truths of God firmly, with deep and strongfaith, then if the pastor dies, or 20 pastors die, they believe in a Pastor who lives forever-and whoever comes or does notcome-the Truth they hold, holds them in living unity. I cannot imagine a greater blessing for you as a Church, in years tocome, than for each man and woman to be intelligently established in the Truth of God you have received. Who shall separatethe 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 oflove 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 soafterwards. 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 soill-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 thehead of the mistaken judgements they form of me, I love all my Brethren." The way to make men better is not to be always censuringthem, but to love them more. The quickest way to win a sinner is to love him to Christ! The quickest way to sanctify a Believeris to love him into purity and holiness! Only faith can do this. May faith, therefore, grow exceedingly, for faith, by workingpatience, 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 growexceedingly! 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 faithmust 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 sucha 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! Thechicken-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 withyou! And it shall be written in the pages of eternity that at such a time the Church grew in its faith and, therefore, Godused 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 unbelieversas 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 Hisname's sake. Amen.