fruit of faith : for, " having been forgiven ten thousand talents,
can he take a fellow-creature by the throat for a few pence3?"
No: " having been forgiven much, he will love much."]
Having on these grounds presented to their Lord
a Matt, xviii. 32, 33.
a petition for an increase of faith, he approved of their petition, and proceeded instantly to mark,
II. The importance of it —
Two things he intimates to them ;
1. That faith was an irresistible principle —
[What could convey an idea of difficulty more than the plucking up of a sycamore-tree by the roots, and planting it steadfastly in the tempestuous ocean ? yet our Lord told them, that faith would be able to effect even that ; and, consequently, it could pluck up by the roots their most inveterate resent- ments, and establish their minds even in the midst of the most tumultuous scenes. Accordingly we find that faith has done all these things'3: and what it has done for others, it can, and shall, do for us. Indeed, it brings, if we may so express our- selves, a kind of omnipotence into the soul, inasmuch as it interests Omnipotence in our behalf: and God himself says concerning it, " All things are possible to him that believeth." Nor is this true only of faith in its most enlarged measure, and its strongest exercises : if it exist only in a small measure, it shall operate nevertheless to the production of the greatest good. Doubtless its effects will be proportioned to the measure of its existence in the soul : but still its operation will be exceeding powerful, even though it be small " as a grain of mustard-seed ;" for the weakest faith, if genuine, unites us to Christ, and makes us partakers of all his fulness, even as the branch of a vine participates all the virtue of the stock and root. Moreover the smallest faith brings the Holy Spirit into the soul, and secures to us his almighty operations as far as they shall be necessary for our welfare. It also interests us in all the promises ; every one of which shall be fulfilled to us in their season. Though therefore strong faith will bring more glory to God, the weakest faith shall ultimately prevail to the saving of our souls.]
2. That they had done well in asking it at his hands —
[Our Lord did not decline the honour which they offered him. On many occasions they had asked of him what none but God could bestow : and, had he not been God, as well as man, he would have rectified their error, and taught them to pray only and exclusively to his heavenly Father. When John mistook an angel for the Deity, and " fell at his feet to worship him, the angel forbad him, saying, See thou do it not : I am thy fellow-servant : worship Godc." So our Lord himself, when a certain lawyer, who conceived of him only as a man,
b Heb. xi. throughout. c Rev. xix. 10.
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