2173. Little Faith And Great Faith

No. 2173-36:613. A Sermon Delivered On Lord’s Day Morning, November 2, 1890, By C. H. Spurgeon, At The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.

A Sermon Intended For Reading On Lord’s Day, November 16, 1890.

Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt? {Mt 14:31}

Oh woman, great is your faith: be it to you even as you wish. {Mt 15:28}

For other sermons on this text:
   {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 246, “Mr. Fearing Comforted” 239}
   {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 1856, “History of Little Faith, The” 1857}
   {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2173, “Little Faith and Great Faith” 2174}
   {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2925, “Reasons for Doubting Christ” 2926}
   {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3247, “Unreasonable Reasons” 3249}
   {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3562, “Peter Walking On The Sea” 3564}
   Exposition on Mt 14:13-36 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3046, “One of the Master’s Choice Sayings” 3047 @@ "Exposition"}
   Exposition on Mt 14:14-33 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2925, “Reasons for Doubting Christ” 2926 @@ "Exposition"}
   Exposition on Mt 14:22-33 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3128, “Good Cheer from Christ’s Real Presence” 3129 @@ "Exposition"}
   {See Spurgeon_SermonTexts "Mt 15:28"}

1. Between the very lowest degree of faith and a state of unbelief there is a great gulf. An immeasurable abyss yawns between the man who has even the smallest faith in Christ and the man who has none. One is a living man, though feeble, the other is “dead in trespasses and sins”; the one is a justified man, the other is “condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.” The weakest believer is on the road to heaven; the other, having no faith, is going the downward road, and he will find his portion at last among the unbelievers — a terrible portion indeed.

2. Although we speak like this of believers as all of one company, yet there is a great distance between weak faith and strong faith. Thank God, it is a distance upon the one safe road — the King’s highway. No gulf divides little faith from great faith; on the contrary, little faith has only to travel along the royal road, and he shall overtake his stronger brother, and himself become “strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” I want to motivate some of the more tardy travellers along the sacred way. I would have doubts slain and faith revived. I want Mr. Feeble-Mind, and Mistress Much-Afraid, and Miss Despondency, and the whole tribe of the little ones, to take heart of hope this morning, and observe that they have not yet enjoyed all that the Lord has prepared for them. Although a little faith saves, there is more faith to be had: faith which strengthens, gladdens, honours, and makes useful, is a most desirable grace. It is written, “He gives more grace,” and therefore God has more in readiness for us. Little faith may increase greatly until it matures into full assurance with all its mellowness and sweetness.

3. There are three things I am going to attend to. The first is little faith gently censured: “Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt?” In the second place, little faith tenderly commended; for it is a great blessing to have any faith at all, even though it has to be called little. Thirdly, I shall conclude by speaking of great faith as much more to be commended. In this last matter I shall dwell upon our Master’s gracious words: “Oh woman, great is your faith: be it to you even as you wish.”

4. I have read in your hearing two stories in the fourteenth and fifteenth chapters of this Gospel according to Matthew. It is memorable that the incidents, illustrating little and great faith, come so closely together. I shall take it for granted that you have the stories of Peter and the Canaanite woman clearly in your minds. Keep your Bibles open while I preach; and may the Spirit of God open your hearts to understand them!

5. I. First, we have LITTLE FAITH GENTLY CENSURED.

6. What shall I say about it, to begin with, but this? — that it is frequently found where we expected greater things. This man who is chided for little faith is Peter. Peter, to whom the Lord had communicated a very clear knowledge of himself; Peter, the foreman of the twelve; Peter, in later days the great preacher of Pentecost; Peter, who has been exalted by some into the primate or pope of the apostolic church, though he claimed no such position; this is Peter, who was a true piece of stone from the foundation rock, Peter, to whom the Master gave the keys, and to whom he delivered the commission, “Feed my sheep,” and “Feed my lambs.” It is Peter, to whom Jesus says, “Oh you of little faith.” And, my dear brother or sister, may it not be true that you have obtained great mercy, enjoyed high privileges, received gracious protection, and been eminently favoured with fellowship with Christ, most near and dear? By this time you ought to be strong in faith. But yet you are not so. You will soon be home; your grey hairs are silvered with the light of Emmanuel’s land; you can almost hear the singing of the saints across the narrow stream. At your time of life, so long taught by God, so deeply experienced in the things of Christ, you ought to be fathers in faith, whereas you are still children; you ought to be mothers in Israel, and yet you are mere babes. Is it not so? Why is this sad fact so undeniable? Solomon spoke of the cedar in Lebanon, and of the hyssop on the wall: but I have too often seen a hyssop on Lebanon, and I have sometimes seen a cedar upon a wall: I mean, that I have seen great grace where there seemed to be nothing to assist it, and I have seen little grace where everything was advantageous for its growth. These things ought not to be so. You and I, who are not children now; you and I, who are no longer coastal sailors, but have launched out into the deep, and have had experience in many a storm; you and I, who are no strangers to our Lord now, for the King has often brought us into his banqueting house, and his banner over us has been love; we ought to be ashamed if we are still lamenting our little faith. It is an infirmity in which we cannot boast, for unbelief is extremely sinful. Well might the Master lift his finger to some who are sitting in these pews this morning, and say to us one by one, “Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

7. Continuing our very gentle censure, we note that little faith is far too eager for signs. I do not think that Peter’s faith became suddenly little: it was always little, and the sight of the boisterous wind made its littleness apparent. When he said, “Lord, if it is you, ask me to come to you on the water,” his faith was weak. Why did he want to walk on the water? Why did he seek such a wonder? It was because his faith was little. Strong faith is content without signs, without tokens, without marvels. It believes God’s mere word, and asks for no confirming miracle; its trust in Christ is such that it asks for no sign in the heavens above, or in the seas beneath. Little faith, with her “If it is you,” must have signs and wonders, or she yields to doubt. Joyful meditations, remarkable dreams, singular providences, choice answers to prayer, special fellowships — little faith must be having something out of the ordinary, or she collapses. The perpetual cry of little faith is, “Show me a token for good.” Little faith is not satisfied with the rainbow which God sets in the cloud, but she would have the whole heavens painted with celestial colours. It is not satisfied with the usual portion of the saints, but must have more, do more, and feel more than the rest of the disciples. Why could not Peter have stayed in the boat like the rest of his brethren? But, no: because his faith was weak he must leave the deck for the deep; he cannot think that it really is his Master walking on the sea unless he walks with him. How dare he ask to do what his divine Lord was doing? Let him be content to share his Lord’s humiliation: he ventures far when he asks to partake in a miracle of omnipotence. Am I to doubt unless I can do miracles like those of my Lord? But this is one of the failings of weak faith: it is not content to drink from his cup and be baptized with his baptism; it would share his power, and partake in his throne.

8. Weak faith is apt to have too high an opinion of its own power. “Oh,” one says, “Surely you are wrong. Is it not the error of weak faith to have too low an opinion of its own ability?” Brethren, no man can have too low an opinion of his own power; because he has no power whatever. The Lord Jesus Christ said, “Without me you can do nothing”; and his witness is true. If we have strong faith we shall glory in our powerlessness, because the power of Christ rests upon us. If we have weak faith, we shall diminish our trust in Jesus and put into our hearts instead of it so many bushels of confidence in self. Just in proportion as faith in our Lord is weakened, our idea of ourselves will be strengthened. “But I thought,” one says, “that a man who had strong self-reliance was a man of great faith.” He is the man who has no faith at all; for self-reliance and Christ-reliance will not co-exist in the same heart. Peter has an idea that he can go on the water to his Master: he is not so sure of the others, but he is clear about himself. James, and John, and Andrew, and the rest of them, are in the boat: it does not occur to Peter that any one of these can tread the waves; but he cries, “Lord, if it is you, ask me to come to you on the water.” Self-consciousness is no attribute of faith; but it is a nest for doubt. Had he known himself, he might have said, “Lord, tell John to come to you on the water; I am unworthy of so high a dignity.” But, no: being weak in faith, he was strong in his own opinion of himself, and he hurried to the forefront, as usual; rushed into a pathway that was quite unfit for his trembling feet to tread, and before long found out his error. It is weak faith that allows for high ideas of self. Great faith hides self under its mighty wings.

9. Note another point about weak faith: it is too much affected by its surroundings. Peter went on pretty well until he noticed that the wind tossed the waves about tremendously, and then he was afraid. Are not many Christians too apt to live by what they feel and see? Do we not often hear a young beginner say, “I know that I am converted, for I feel so happy?” Well, but a new frock will make many a girl happy, or a few shillings in the pocket will make a youth rejoice. Is this the best evidence that you can bring? Why, if you are very troubled, it may be a better sign of conversion than feeling happy. It is good to mourn over sin, and struggle against it, and try to overcome it: this is a sure sign of grace; a far better one than overflowing joy. Ah, believer! you will be happy in the highest and best sense if you trust in Jesus; but you will soon lose your happiness if your happiness becomes the basis of your confidence. Happiness is a thing that depends on how things happen. It is too often hap-ness, and nothing more. It is too much a hap-hazard thing. But faith rests in Christ whatever hap may happen; and so it is happy in the happening of sorrow and grief, because it relies entirely on God. Faith rests on the Lord’s faithful word and promise, come what may. “Ah!” says another, “I feel very low and dull. I am heavy even when I try to pray; I cannot pray as I would like.” And so you doubt your salvation because of that, do you? Does your salvation depend on the liveliness of your prayers? It is the sign of weak faith, that it is all up, and then all down. If we live by feelings, brethren, we shall live a very wretched life; we shall not dwell in the Father’s house, but we shall be like a kind of gypsies, whose tents are too frail to shut out the weather. May God save us from being like the barometer, which at one time is “set fair”; but “set fair” with the barometer does not last long, it is back again to “rain,” and it drops down to “much rain,” before we know where we are. Strong faith knows where its true standing is, and, perceiving this to be unchanging, it concludes that its foundation is as good one day as another day; for its standing is in Christ. Just as the promise upon which strong faith leans is not a variable quantity, but is always the same, so its rest is the same. Our faithful God will save all those who put their trust in him; and there is the top and the bottom of it: we need not go any further. But poor weak faith is always looking out to see whether the wind is in the east; and if it is so, down she goes. Is the wind quiet? Peter walks on the wave. Does the wind howl? Peter begins to sink. This is weak faith all over. It pins us down to its environment. May God help us to rise out of it!

10. Weak faith, in the next place, is forgetful of its constant danger, and has not learned to believe in the teeth of it. When Peter was walking on the waves, he was in as much danger as when he began to sink. Practically, he never was in any danger at all; for Jesus, who enabled him to tread the sea, was equally near all the way. When he was standing, he could not have walked another step if the Master had not held him up; and when he began to sink, his Master was still able to prevent his drowning. Would his Master withdraw the divine strength, and permit his poor servant to perish? Peter’s strength is gone; but will his Master take away the divine strength, and leave him to perish? Weak faith frequently makes this mistake; she does not know that she is at all times in extreme danger, wherever she may be, when she looks at herself; and that she is never in any danger, wherever she may be, if she looks to her Lord. If you get a cloudy view of your confidence, and begin to trust, not in Christ pure and simple, but in Christ Jesus as you enjoy him, in Christ as you are like him, or in Christ and yourself as taught by him: if you allow any amalgamations in your trust, they will turn out to be adulterations; and when a sense of danger falls into your mind, you will not know where to turn for the reestablishment of your confidence. Strong faith takes Jesus only as her basis; but feeble faith tries to add to it. Beloved, weak faith tries to make up for lack of confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ with an indistinct confidence in herself, or her works, or prayers, or something else. If Peter had been trusting entirely in Jesus, whether he walked on the billows, or sank in the waves, he had done what his Master told him to do, and the reason for his safety was not in the least affected by the wind. If his reliance is on Jesus only, the foundation of his confidence is never questionable. I pray that we may climb above that weak faith which rises and falls with the passing incidents of this life’s story.

11. Weak faith, when conscious of her danger, swings as a pendulum to the opposite extreme, and in an instant exaggerates her peril. One moment Peter walks upon the sea; the next moment he is going to be drowned. It is a curious thing that he never thought of swimming. When the soul trusts Christ it is spoiled for reliance on self. When once a man has found out the way to walk upon the top of the water, he forgets his skill in swimming in it. Self-confidence goes when confidence in Christ comes in. It was the Lord’s will that Peter should know his weakness, and should most clearly see that his standing depended on his faith, and that faith found all its strength in the Lord Jesus. Down goes Peter; and now it is, “Lord, save me.” He is at his wits’ end. Peter is going to be drowned — drowned with the Master standing by! He will die while Jesus lives. Will he? He will perish when he is doing what Jesus told him to do! Do you think he will? It is evident he has that fear in him. I have been foolish enough to feel that I should sink under trouble and need. It is folly. Having mixed up our confidence in brighter days, when dark days come, a large part of our confidence is gone, and we fear that we shall perish. Have not some of you who believed in the doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints, still said, “I shall one day fall by the hand of the enemy?” You know that Christ has promised to keep you; and yet, because you are not quite keeping yourself as you ought to do, you dream that he will not keep you. You know that he will never give you up, and yet you are almost ready to give it all up yourself, and say, “I shall prove to be an apostate after all.” In this way little faith forgets her Lord. She is too bold one day, and too timid another, and all because she mixes up her confidences.

12. Little faith speaks unreasonably. Notice how our Lord puts it: “Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Faith is spiritual common sense; unbelief is unreasonable. For look; if Christ was worth trusting at all, and Peter had proved that he thought he was, by throwing himself into the sea, to come to him; then, if he was worth trusting at all, he was worthy to be trusted to the full. You cannot say of a man, “He is a faithful man, for you may at times rely on his word.” That qualifying word, “at times,” is fatal to his character. Unless he is always to be relied on, he is not an honest, truth-speaking man. And if you say of God’s promises, “I can believe some of them, and therefore I expect him to help me under certain difficulties,” you are accusing the Lord of unfaithfulness. Oh sir, you are cutting away the foundation of what little faith you have. Your Lord might ask you, “Why do you believe as much as you do believe? Having gone so far, why do you not go on to the end? The reason which makes you believe as much as you do believe, should make you believe to a still greater degree. Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt? If you have any faith, why do you doubt? If any doubt, why any faith?” The two things are inconsistent with each other. You are not occupying a logical position in being a weak believer in a strong Christ. Why wavering faith in an unwavering promise? Why feeble faith in a mighty Saviour? Let your faith take its colour from him on whom it rests, and from the Word which you believe, and then you will be standing on good, solid, reasonable ground, which can be justified to conscience and understanding.

13. One word more about our trembling apprehensions. Weak faith often gets soaked. Although Peter was not drowned, yet you may be sure he was soaked to the skin with the water. If you have strong faith you will often escape a sea of troubles, which weak faith will be immersed in. Weak faith is a great fabricator of terrors. I know friends who have a trouble factory in their back garden, where they are always making rods for their own backs. They doubt God about this and about that, and hence they are always fretting and worrying, and getting soaked through with trouble. I have heard say that home-made clothes very seldom fit; and, certainly, home-made troubles are very hard to bear. I have also heard that a home-made suit will last longer than other apparel, and I believe that home-made troubles stick to us far longer than those which God appoints for us. Close down that fear factory, and make songs instead! If God sends you a trouble, it does not come to you amiss. But who soaked Peter through and through, and drenched him in the deep? Who but Peter himself? Peter, afflicted Peter! If he had possessed strong faith, he might have had a dry coat. His Master prevented the waters from destroying him; but he permitted them to make him very uncomfortable. If you have weak faith, you will have broken joys and many discomforts.

14. So I have very gently censured weak faith. I did not mean to harm a hair of its head. It is a blessed thing, this little faith — not its littleness, but its faith. If I could kill the weakness, and enliven the faith; if the littleness could be removed, and the faith could be increased, how glad should I be!

15. II. Now, LITTLE FAITH SHALL BE TENDERLY COMMENDED. I shall praise it, not because it is little, but because it is faith. Little faith requires to be tenderly handled, and then it will be seen to be a precious thing.

16. First of all, it is true faith. Faith which begins and ends with Jesus is true faith. The least faith in Jesus is the gift of God; and it is “like precious faith,” though it is not like strong faith. If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you can do wonders. Though your faith is so little that you have to look for it with all your eyes, yet if it is there, it is of the same nature as the strongest faith. A threepenny piece is silver, as surely as the crown piece, and it bears the mint-mark quite as certainly. A drop of water is of the same nature as the sea; a spark is fire as assuredly as the flames of Vesuvius. No one knows what may come of a spark of faith: behold, it sets a thousand souls on fire! Little faith is true faith, for did not our Lord say to this Peter: “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven?” Peter had true faith; and yet it was little faith. Oh my hearer, “If you believe that Jesus is the Christ, you are born by God.” If you feebly cast yourself on Christ’s finished work, your weakness in the act of reliance does not alter the fact that you have fallen into strong hands, which will surely save you. Jesus says, “Look to me, and be saved”; and though your look is a very unsteady one, and though tears of sorrow dim your eyes so that you cannot see him as he is, yet your looking to him has saved you. Little faith is born from above, and belongs to the family of the saved. The weakest faith is real faith.

17. Next, notice that little faith obeys the precept, and will not go a step without it. Little faith cries, “ ‘If it is you, ask me to come to you on the water.’ And he said, ‘Come.’ And when Peter was come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.” If Jesus says, “Come,” little faith answers, “Behold, I come!” Though her gait is staggering, and her knees are feeble, yet she will go where Jesus calls her, whether it is through flood or flame. I know some of the Lord’s children who very seldom have much enjoyment; and yet I almost envy them for their tenderness of conscience. Their shrinking from the least contact with sin, their carefulness to keep the way of the Lord’s commandments, are admirable traits in their character. Gracious walking is, after all, more precious than comfortable feeling. How can I blame you, poor little faith, when I see you afraid to put one foot before the other for fear you should step amiss? I would rather see you in all your timidity so carefully obedient than hear you talking loudly about your great faith, and then see you tampering with sin and folly, and feeling as if when you have greatly erred it is a matter of no great consequence. When tenderness of conscience flourishes side by side with little faith, they are as two lilies for delicate beauty.

18. Peter’s little faith did not try to walk on water until Jesus gave the word of permission. Peter asked, “Ask me to come.” Often I have noticed men and women much despondent, greatly fearful, and yet they would not do anything for the life of them, until they heard the voice behind them saying, “This is the way, walk in it.” They hesitate until they have consulted the map of the Word; they dare not go anywhere on their own authority, but they kneel and cry for guidance, for they are afraid of taking even a single step apart from their Master’s will. They have a holy dread of running without warrant from the Lord. Little faith, if this is your mind and temperament, we commend you much!

19. And, next, little faith struggles to come to Jesus. Peter did not leave the boat for the mere sake of walking the waters; but he ventured on the wave so that he might come to Jesus. He did not seek a promenade upon the waves, but the presence and company of his Lord. “When Peter was come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.” That was the one point he strove for — to get to Jesus. Some of you, I know, have very little faith; but you long to get nearer to Jesus. Your daily panting is, “Lord, reveal yourself to me, reveal yourself in me, and make me more like you.” He who seeks Jesus has his face turned in the right direction. Though your knees knock together, and your hands hang down, yet what little headway you do make is towards Jesus: you strive to serve him, and to honour him; is it not so? Though the winds are contrary, you still pull for the shore. Well, though you are little in faith, yet I am glad that you are struggling, despite your feebleness, to reach your Lord. Struggle on, for Jesus comes to meet you; and when you do begin to sink, through doubt, he will catch you up and set you on your feet again. Therefore, be of good cheer!

20. Little faith deserves commendation again, in that it does behave grandly for a time. Though Peter had little faith, yet he walked from one billow to another, in rare style. I think I see him after he had leaped out of the boat, astonished to find himself standing on the waters, which lay beneath him like solid glass. Then he takes one step, like a child who begins to walk; and, with growing confidence, he takes another. Though the waves roll under his feet, yet he stands firmly on them, for a time. Little faith can play the man for a while. When Jael took the nail and slew Sisera, the timorous woman became a warrior, as she slew the enemy of Israel. Many a time the lame and the feeble, who could not usually lift a hand in the holy war, have felt stimulated, and have developed heroism for the time being. Little faith, like David’s sling, has slain the giant; like Ehud’s left-handed dagger, little faith has accomplished deliverance. So I commend you, little faith; for you have your high days and holidays, and you too can count your victories, accomplished in the name of Jesus. If it were always with you as it is at times, you would be glorious indeed! Even now you can move mountains and uproot trees.

21. I must commend little faith even further; because when it finds itself in trouble it starts praying. Peter begins to sink. What does Peter do? Peter prays: “Lord, save me.” Little faith knows where her strength lies. When she is in trouble, she does not then turn her face to human confidences, or natural forces; but she turns immediately to prayer. Little faith pours out her heart before the Lord. I love to see a man, in the hour of his distress, begin to pray at once, as naturally as frightened birds take to their wings. Some of you run to your neighbours, or hold a council with your own wits: but the profit of this course has never made you rich. Let us try a better method. Instead of stopping to examine all the old stock we have, let us go at once to Jesus for new help. Alas! we do not go to Jesus until we have knocked at every other door; and then the mercy is that he does not turn us away from his gate. Peter did not try the natural resort of swimming; he took to praying, “Lord, save me.” Oh little faith, you are great at pleading in prayer. Perhaps your very weakness drives you more often to your knees. You are not so prevalent in prayer as strong faith; but you are quite as abundant in it. I see you trembling and faint; then you cry to the Lord for strength, and he helps you. This cry of yours proves you to be of the spiritual stock; even as it was with one of old, of whom it was said, “Behold, he prays.”

22. Weak faith has this commendation again, that it is always safe, because Jesus is near. Peter was safe on the water, because Christ was on the water. Though his faith was weak, he was not saved by the strength of his faith; he was saved by the strength of that gracious hand which was stretched out to catch him when he was sinking in the flood. If you believe in Christ with all your heart, if he is the first and last of your confidence, then, though you are full of trembling and alarm, Jesus will never let you perish. If you are depending on him, and on him alone, it is not possible that he should slight your faith, and let you die. God forbid we should so insult our Lord as to suppose he would let a believer drown, however weak his faith! Since Christ lives, how can we die? Since Christ stands on the waters, how can we sink beneath them? Are we not one with him?

23. One thing I may say in commendation of weak faith, and that is, that Jesus himself acknowledges that it is faith. He said to Peter, “Oh you of little faith.” He rebuked him because it was little, but he smiled on him because it was faith. I love to feel that the Holy Spirit is the Creator, not of the littleness of our faith, but of our faith, be it ever so little. Our Lord acknowledges that to be faith which we suspect to be little better than unbelief. “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief,” is an admirable prayer for many of us. Christ forgives the unbelief, but he very graciously accepts the faith, despite its weakness. He can discern faith when, like a lone spark, it is all but smothered under a heap of rubbish.

24. Once more, I commend little faith because, though it may sometimes sink, it recovers itself, and does its old wonders over again. Peter is ready to sink; but when his Master has caught him, what do you see? There is not one person now walking on the water; there are two. Christ is there, and Peter too. Peter, my man, you walk on the sea as one who has done it all his life! Oh, yes; his little faith has learned, by a touch from the Lord, to do what it did at first: he walked the waves at first, and now he does it again. See! he comes up with his Lord into the boat. You who used to have good times, and at this hour look back on them with deep regret, may have the same good times again. You who have grown despondent and sad, be of good courage; you shall have your festival days back again, and much brighter than they were. “Oh, but I have wasted so much time,” one says, “through this feeble faith of mine.” Well, it is a great pity; but there is a promise which I commend to your faith: “I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten.” The locust has eaten up our harvests — this locust of weakness has devoured our pleasant fruits; yet our Lord Jesus Christ can restore to us those wasted years; he can pack ten years of usefulness into one; he can put seven days of joy into one day, and so make up for us the lost past. Our Lord can make you to forget the shame of your youth, and not to remember the reproach of your widowhood any more. Be of good courage, little faith! You come from a good family, though you are only a babe as yet. Be of good courage, little faith! You may be sick on board the vessel; but the vessel in which you have embarked is safe for all that, and you will get to shore as surely as strong faith will do. Put your trust in the Lord, and quietly wait for him, so your morning shall surely come in due time. So I have gently censured and kindly commended little faith.

25. III. But now I want to say a few words to finish with; and this is the motto of them — GREAT FAITH IS COMMENDED MUCH MORE.

26. It is sometimes found where we least expected it. Our Lord beheld it, not in the manly Peter, but in the tender woman who pleaded for her child. She was a woman; but she had faith which put the men to shame. She was a Canaanite woman, of a nation concerning which it was said, “Cursed be Canaan,” and yet she had stronger faith than Peter the Israelite, who had known the Scriptures from his youth up. She was a woman who had great discomfort at home; for the demon was there, tormenting her daughter. It is a dreadful thing to have the demon in your husband, or a demon in your daughter, when you go home; yet many a Christian woman has to bear this. Notwithstanding this grave trial, though there was nothing to comfort her at home, she was a woman of great faith. And why should not we be like her? My brother, although your condition and circumstances are greatly against your growth in grace, yet why should not you grow to manhood in Christ? The Lord Jesus can cause you to do so. Though it seems to you that you must be stunted by the chill blast and the cruel soil where you are planted, yet the great Gardener can so nurture you that you shall become a plant of renown. God can turn disadvantageous circumstances into a means of growth. By the holy chemistry of his grace he can bring good out of evil. I commend great faith with special emphasis when I see it where all its surroundings are hostile to it.

27. Next, great faith is to be commended because it perseveres in seeking the Lord. This woman came to Jesus to have her daughter healed; and at first he answered her never a word. Oh, the misery of silent suspense! Next, he speaks coolly concerning her to his disciples; but she seeks on. She has come for a blessing, and she so believes in the Lord, the Son of David, that she will not take “no” for an answer; she intends to be heard, and so she presses her suit with persistence even to the end. Oh for a strong faith, a persevering faith! Brethren, do you have it? You men, are you using it? Here is a woman who had it, and kept it at work until she won her object. May we have it abundantly!

28. Great faith also sees light in the thickest darkness. I do not think Peter was half so tried as the Canaanite was. What was it that frightened Peter? The wind. What might have frightened her? Why, the harsh words of Jesus himself. Who is afraid of the wind? Who would not be afraid of a rejecting Christ, speaking harsh words? “It is not fitting to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.” Why, if our Lord had spoken like this to any one of us, we should never have dared to pray again. We should have said, “No, that harsh sentence shuts me out altogether.” But not so strong faith. “No,” she says, “he called me a dog. Dogs have a position in society; little dogs are carried by their little masters indoors at dinner time, so that they may get a crust or a crumb; and, Lord, I will be a dog, and get my crumb: it is only a crumb for you to give it, though it would be everything for me to get it.” So she pleads with him as readily as if he had given her a promise instead of a rebuff. Great faith can see the sun at midnight: great faith can reap harvests at midwinter, and find rivers in high places. Great faith is not dependent on sunlight: she sees what is invisible by other light. Great faith rests upon the certainty that such a thing is so because God has said it, and she is satisfied with his mere word. If she neither sees, nor hears, nor feels anything to corroborate the divine testimony, she believes God for his own sake, and all is well with her. Oh brethren, I hope you will be brought to this condition — that you will believe in God, though your feelings doubt God’s promise, and though your circumstances are most unfavourable. Though all your friends and companions deny the Lord, may you come to this, “Let God be true with every man, and every man a liar; but we dare not and will not doubt God.” His sure promise must stand. Such a faith as this deserves to be commended, and our Lord himself praises it. “Oh woman, great is your faith!”

29. Great faith prays and prevails. How she did prevail! Her daughter was healed, and she received a broad grant for whatever she wished. “Be it to you even as you wish.” I wish we had this mighty faith in connection with prayer. One man praying with faith will get more from God than ten men, or, for that matter, ten thousand men, who are unstable and unbelieving. Believe me, there is a way of praying in which you may have what you wish from God. You may go up to your prayer closet, and ask and have; indeed, and come out of your solitude saying, “I have it.” Even though you do not have it as a matter of actual enjoyment, yet your faith has grasped it, experienced it, and believed in it, and so has taken immediate possession. Did not Luther often, in his worst times, come down from his room crying, “Vici,” “I have conquered?” He wrestled with God in prayer, and then he felt that everything else that he had to wrestle with was just nothing: if he had overcome heaven by prayer, he could overcome earth, and death, and hell. Strong faith does all this, and goes on to do more.

30. She has extraordinary reverence for God; but she has a wonderful familiarity with him. If you were to hear what strong faith has sometimes dared to say to God, you would think it profane; and it would be profane from any lips but hers. But when God indulges her to know the secret of the Lord, which is with those who fear him, and when he says, “Ask what you wish, and it shall be done for you,” she has a blessed liberty with God, which is to be commended, and not forbidden. If the Son makes you free in prayer, you shall be free indeed. Strong faith is always on the winning side. It wears the keys of heaven on its belt. The Lord can deny nothing to the pleadings of an unstaggering faith.

31. I commend strong faith, because Jesus, our Lord, was delighted with it. What music there was in his words, “Oh woman, great is your faith!” There was no smile on his face when he said to Peter, “Oh you of little faith”: it grieved him that his follower should have such little faith in him. But now it gladdened him that this poor woman had such splendid faith. He looks at her faith as jewellers do at some famous stone worth more than they can tell. “Oh woman,” he said, “great is your faith. I am charmed with your faith. I am amazed at your faith. I am delighted with your faith.” Well, brethren, you and I long to do something to please our Redeemer. I know we have often cried, “Oh, what shall I do my Saviour to praise?” Believe him then. Believe his promise without a doubt. Believe him greatly. Believe him unstaggeringly. Believe him to the full, and go on in faith until there seems to be nothing further to believe. Believe for evermore in Christ Jesus.

32. How enriched that woman became! She had pleased her Lord, and then her Lord pleased her: “Be it to you even as you wish.” She went away the happiest woman under the skies. God had given her her desire, and she was over-glad and ever-glad.

33. What benefits we could confer upon others if we had strong faith! Her daughter was healed. Mother, if you had more faith, your child would soon be brought to Jesus. Father, if you had more faith, your boy would not be such a plague to you as he is now. Have more faith in your God; and when you do treat your Father better, your children shall treat you better. If you will dishonour your God by doubting him, do you wonder your children dishonour you by disobeying you? Oh preacher, if you had more faith, you would have more converts! Sunday School teacher, if you had more faith, more children would be brought to the Saviour from your class. “Lord, increase our faith!” I hope we are all saying that in our hearts at this moment.

34. I will conclude by asking: Is there not great reason why our faith in Christ should be strong? Is there not every reason why we should have the strongest faith in him? I told you, the other day, of John Hyatt, when he was dying. Someone said to him: “Mr. Hyatt, can you trust your soul with Christ now?” He said, “I would trust him with ten thousand souls, if I had them.” We can go even further than that. If all the sins that men had committed since the world was made, and time began, were laid upon one poor sinner’s head, that sinner would be justified in believing that Christ could take that sin away. Whoever you are, and whatever you are, bring your burdens, and lay them at his feet, casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you; and henceforth may he never have to say to you, “Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Oh, may he often exclaim, with joy, about you, “Oh woman, great is your faith: be it to you even as you wish!” May the Holy Spirit bless these simple words of mine to your edification! Amen