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TOPIC: Pink, Arthur - Articles and Sermons (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: FEEBLE FAITH
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FEEBLE FAITH
“And the apostles said unto the Lord, increase our faith” (Luk_18:5).
Did the Apostles need to pray? Then well may I. Oh! Thou great Author and Finisher
of our faith! I would look up unto Thee, with thankfulness, that Thou hast granted even
the smallest portion of faith to so unworthy a creature as I am. Surely, my soul, it is as
great a miracle of grace that my God and Saviour should have kindled belief in thy stony
heart, amidst all the surrounding obstructions of sin and Satan which lay there, as when
miraculous fire from heaven, in answer to the prophet’s prayer, came down and consumed
the wetted sacrifice. I praise Thee, my God and King, this day, in the recollection
of this unspeakable, unmerited mercy. And though this faith in my heart still be but as a
grain of mustard seed; though it be but as a spark in the ocean; though it be but as a drop
of dew, in comparison of the river; yet, blessed, precious Jesus! still this is faith, and it is
Thy gift. And is it not a token of Thy favour? Is it not an earnest of the Holy Spirit, and a
pledge of the promised inheritance? Babes in faith, as well as strong in the Lord, are
equally Thine: for it is said that, “as many as were ordained to eternal life believed” (Act_13:48);
“and to as many as believed, Thou gavest power to become the sons of God.” So
it is by Thyself, blessed Redeemer, and not by the strength or weakness of the faith of
Thy people, their justification before God the Father is secured. Precious is the Scripture
which tells us, that by Thee all that believe, whether great faith or little faith—”all that
believe are justified from all things” (Act_13:39).
But, my soul, while the consciousness of thy possessing the smallest evidences of
faith in thy Beloved, gives thee joy unspeakable and full of glory, dost thou not blush to
think what ungrateful returns thou art making to thy Redeemer in the littleness of thy
faith in such a God and Saviour? Whence is it that thine affections are so warm in a thousand
lesser things, and so cold toward Christ? Whence that His Holy Word thou so often
hearest as though thou heardest not? Whence the ordinances of Jesus’ house, the promises
of His Scriptures, the visits of His grace; whence these pass again and again before
thee, and thou remainest so cold and lifeless in thy affections? Whence that the temptations
of Satan, the corruptions of thine heart, the allurements of the world, gain any influence
upon thee? Whence that thou art so anxious about things that perish; about anything,
about nothing, deserving to be called interesting; whence so seldom at the court of the
Heavenly King, where thou oughtest to be found daily, hourly, waiting; and whence under
trials, or the want of answers at a mercy-seat, fretful, impatient, and misgiving—
whence all these, and numberless other evils, but from the weakness and littleness of thy
love to Christ, and thy trust in Christ, and thy dependence upon Christ, and thy communion
with Christ? All, all arise out of this one sad cause, my soul, thine unbelief. Jesus,
Master, look upon me, put the cry with earnestness within my heart, that I may unceasingly,
with the Apostle’s prayer, be sending forth this as the first and greatest petition of
my whole soul—”Lord, increase my faith.” (Rob. Hawker, 1825)