Charles Spurgeon - Sermon Notes 0151

CHARLES SPURGEON — SERMON NOTES

151.

And Straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help though mine unbelief.

Here was a man fully aroused to anxiety, prayer, and the use of means, and yet his desire was not at once granted to him.

Even so, many are in earnest about their souls, and yet do not immediately find conscious salvation.

This drives them to yet deeper grief.
Perhaps this father's case may help them to understand their own.
His child was not cured, but even appeared to be worse than ever.
Yet the matter came to a happy issue through the power of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us note the case carefully, and observe—

I. THE SUSPECTED DIFFICULTY.

1. The father may have thought it lay with the disciples.

Yet alone they could never have done anything.

Had their Lord been with them, they could have done everything.

The main difficulty was not with the disciples, though it was partly there.

2. He probably thought that the case itself was well-nigh hopeless.

The disease was—

So fitful and mysterious.

So terribly violent and sudden in its attacks.

So deep-seated, and of such long continuance.

So near to utterly destroying life.

But, after all, it is not our own case, or the case of those for whom we plead, which presents any unusual impediment to divine power. The Lord delights to work impossibilities.

3. He half hinted that the difficulty might lie with the Master. "If thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us. "

"If thou canst." Had he seen the transfiguration, he would have known the power and glory of the Lord.

"Have compassion. " Could he have read the Lord's heart, he would have felt sure that the Savior's pity was already aroused.

Rest assured, O anxious heart, that the difficulty of your case lies alone in your want of faith!

II. THE TEARFUL DISCOVERY. "He said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. "

The Lord Jesus repudiated the insinuation that there was any question as to his power, and cast the "if" back upon the father with "If thou canst believe." Then—

1. The man's little faith discovered his unbelief.
2. He was distressed and alarmed at the sight of his own unbelief.
3. He turned his thoughts and prayers in that direction. It was now not so much "Help my child," as "Help my unbelief."
4. He became deeply sensible of the sin and danger of unbelief.

Let us look in the same direction personally, and we shall see that unbelief is an alarming and criminal thing; for it doubts—

The power of Omnipotence.

The value of the promise of God.

The efficacy of Christ's blood.

The prevalence of his plea.

The almightiness of the Spirit.

The truth of the gospel.

In fact, unbelief robs God of his glory in every way, and therefore it cannot receive a blessing from the Lord (Heb. 11:6).

III. THE INTELLIGENT APPEAL. "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief."

In his great perplexity he cries to Jesus only.

1. On the basis of faith—"Lord, I believe."
2. With confession of sin—"mine unbelief."
3. To One who knows how to help in this matter—"Lord, help."
4. To One who is himself the best remedy for unbelief—"help thou."

Unbelief is overcome when we fly to Jesus, and consider—

The majesty of his divine nature.

The tenderness of his humanity.

The graciousness of his offices.

The grandeur of his atonement.

The glorious object of his work.

Come to Jesus with any case, and in every case.
Come with your little faith and with your great unbelief, for in this matter also he can help as none other can.

Helps

There is no sin which may not be traced up to unbelief. —Mason

"Lord, I believe," etc. This act of his, in putting forth his faith to believe as he could, was the way to believe as he would. —Trapp

A young man, in the seventeenth century, being in deep distress of mind, applied to Dr. Goodwin for advice and consolation. After he had laid before him the long and black list of sins that troubled his conscience, the doctor reminded him that there was one blacker still, which he had not named. "What can that be, sir?" he despondently asked. "The sin," replied the doctor, "I refer to is that of refusing to believe in Christ Jesus as a Savior." The simple word banished the anxious one's guilty fears.

There was once a good woman who was well known among her circle for her simple faith, and her great calmness in the midst of many trials. Another woman, living at a distance, hearing of her, said, "I must go and see that woman, and learn the secret of her holy, happy life." She went; and accosting the woman, said, "Are you the woman with the great faith?" "No," replied she, "I am not the woman with the great faith; but I am the woman with a little faith in the great God."

O help us, through the prayer of faith,
More firmly to believe;
For still the more Thy servant hath,
The more shall he receive.
—Milman

A friend complained to Gotthold of the weakness of his faith, and the distress this gave him. Gotthold pointed to a vine, which had twined itself around a pole, and was hanging loaded with beautiful clusters, and said, "Frail is that plant; but what harm is done to it by its frailty, especially as the Creator has been pleased to make it what it is? As little will it prejudice your faith that it is weak, provided only it be sincere and unfeigned. Faith is the work of God, and he bestows it in such measure as he wills and judges right. Let the measure of it which he has given you be deemed sufficient by you. Take for pole and prop the cross of the Savior, and the Word of God; twine around these with all the power which God vouchsafes. A heart sensible of its weakness, and prostrating itself continually at the feet of the divine mercy, is more acceptable than that which presumes upon the strength of its faith, and falls into false security and pride. Can you suppose that the sinful woman, who lay and wept at the Lord's feet, was less approved than the swelling and haughty Pharisee?" —Christian Scriver

CHARLES HADDEN SPURGEON

RETURN TO INDEX