The Spurgeon Series 1859 & 1860. Charles H. Spurgeon

not possible, I suppose, as long as man is in this world, that he should be perfect in anything; and surely it seems to be quite impossible that he should be perfect in faith. Sometimes, indeed, the Lord purposely leaves his children, withdraws the divine inflowings of his grace, and permits them to begin to sink, in order that they may understand that faith is not their own work, but it is first the gift of God, and must always be maintained and kept alive in the heart by the fresh influence of the Holy Spirit. I take it that Peter was a man of great faith. When others doubted, Peter believed. He boldly avowed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, for which faith he received the Master’s commendation, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” His faith was so strong, that at Christ’s command he could tread the billow and find it like glass beneath his feet, yet even he was permitted in this thing to fall. Faith forsook him, he looked at the winds and the waves, and began to sink, and the Lord said to him, “Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt?” As much as to say, “Oh Peter, your great faith is my gift, and its greatness is my work. Do not think that you are the author of your own faith; I will leave you, and this great faith of yours shall speedily disappear, and like another who has no faith, you shall believe the winds, and regard the waves, but shall distrust your Master’s power, and therefore shall you sink.”

      2. I think I shall be quite safe in concluding this morning, that there are some here who are full of doubting and fearing. I am sure that all true Christians have their times of anxious questioning. The heart that has never doubted has not yet learned to believe. As the farmers say, “The land that will not grow a thistle, will not grow wheat”; and the heart that cannot produce a doubt has not yet understood the meaning of believing. He who never doubted his state — he may, perhaps he may, too late. Yes, there may be timid ones here, those who are always of little faith, and there may be also great hearts, those who are valiant for truth, who are now enduring times of despondency and hours of darkness of heart.

      3. Now in endeavouring to comfort you this morning, I would remark that the text promotes a very wise principle. If a man believes in anything, it is always proper to ask him the question, “Why do you believe? What evidence have you that what you believe is certainly correct?” We believe on evidence. Now the most foolish part of many men’s doubts, is, that they do not doubt on evidence. If you should ask them the question, “Why do you doubt?” — they would not be able to give a reasonable answer. Yet note, if men’s doubts are painful, the wisest way to remove them is by simply seeing whether they have a firm basis. “Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt?” If you believe a thing you need evidence, and before you doubt a thing you ought to have evidence too. To believe without evidence is to be credulous, and to doubt without evidence is to be foolish. We should have ground for our doubts as well as a basis for our faith. Therefore the text promotes a most excellent principle, and it deals with all doubting minds by asking them this question, “Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

      4. I shall endeavour to exhort you in the same way this morning. I shall divide only sermon into two parts. First, I shall address myself to those of you who are in great trouble with regard to temporal circumstances, you are God’s people, but you are severely tried, and you have begun to doubt. I shall then deal with you upon spiritual matters — there are some here who are God’s true, quickened, and living people, but they are doubting — to them also I shall ask the same question, “Oh you of little faith, why do you doubt?”

      5. I. First, then, in TEMPORAL CIRCUMSTANCES, God has not made for his people a smooth path to heaven. Before they are crowned they must fight; before they can enter the celestial city they must fulfil a weary pilgrimage. Religion helps us in trouble, but it does not permit us to escape from it. It is through much tribulation that we inherit the kingdom. Now the Christian when he is full of faith passes through affliction with a song in his mouth; he would enter the fiery furnace itself, fearless of the devouring flame; or with Jonah he would descend into the great deeps, unalarmed by the hungry sea. As long as faith maintains its hold, fear is a stranger; but at times, during various great and severe troubles, the Christian begins to fear that surely at last he shall be overcome, and shall be left to himself to die and perish in despair.

      6. Now, what is the reason why you doubt? I must come to the words of the text and ask the great question, “Oh you of little faith, why do you doubt?” Here it will be proper for us to enquire: Why did Simon Peter doubt? He doubted for two reasons. First, because he looked too much to secondary causes and secondly, because be looked too little at the first cause. The answer will suit you also, my trembling brother. This is the reason why you doubt, because you are looking too much to the things that are seen, and too little to your unseen Friend who is behind your troubles, and who shall come for your deliverance. See poor Peter in the ship — his Master bids him to come; in a moment he casts himself into the sea, and to his own surprise he finds himself walking on the billows. He looks down, and actually it is the fact; his foot is upon a crested wave, and yet he stands erect; he treads again, and yet his footing is secure. “Oh!” Peter thinks, “this is marvellous.” He begins to wonder within his spirit what manner of man he must be who has enabled him thus to tread the treacherous deep; but just then, there comes howling across the sea a terrible blast of wind; it whistles in the ear of Peter, and he says within himself, “Ah! here comes an enormous billow driven forward by the blast; now, surely, I must, I shall be overwhelmed.” No sooner does the thought enter his heart than down he goes; and the waves begin to enclose him. As long as he shut his eye to the billow, and to the blast, and kept it only open to the Lord who stood there before him, he did not sink; but the moment he shut his eye on Christ, and looked at the stormy wind and treacherous deep, down he went. He might have traversed the leagues of the Atlantic, he might have crossed the broad Pacific, if he could only have kept his eye on Christ, and never a billow would have yielded to his tread, but he might have been drowned in a very brook if he began to look at secondary causes, and to forget the Great Head and Master of the Universe who had bidden him to walk on the sea. I say, the very reason for Peter’s doubt was, that he looked at secondary causes and not at the first cause. Now, that is the reason why you doubt. Let me just probe you now for a while. You are in despondency about temporal affairs: what is the reason why you are in trouble? “Because,” you say, “I never was in such a condition before in my life. Wave upon wave of trouble comes upon me. I have lost one friend and then another. It seems as if business had altogether run away from me. Once I had a flood tide, and now it is an ebb, and my poor ship grates upon the gravel, and I find she has not enough water to float her — what will become of me? And, oh! sir, my enemies have conspired against me in every way to cut me up and destroy me; opposition upon opposition threatens me. My shop must be closed; bankruptcy stares me in the face, and I do not know what is to become of me.” Or else your troubles take another shape, and you feel that you are called to some eminently arduous service for your Lord, and your strength is utterly insignificant compared with the labour before you. If you had great faith it would be as much as you could do to accomplish it; but with your poor little faith you are completely beaten. You cannot see how you can accomplish the matter at all. Now, what is all this but simply looking at secondary causes? You are looking at your trouble, not at the God who sent your trouble; you are looking at yourselves, not at the God who dwells within you, and who has promised to sustain you. Oh soul! it would be enough to make the mightiest heart doubt, if it should look only at things that are seen. He who is nearest to the kingdom of heaven would have cause to droop and die if he had nothing to look at but what eye can see and ear can ear. What wonder then if you are disconsolate, when you have begun to look at the things which always must be enemies to faith?

      7. But I would remind you that you have forgotten to look to Christ since you have been in this trouble. Let me ask you, have you not thought less of Christ than you ever did? I will not suppose that you have neglected prayer, or have left your Bible unread; but still, have you had any of those sweet thoughts of Christ which you once had? Have you been able to take all your troubles to him and say — “Lord, you know all things; I trust all in your hands?” Let me ask you, have you considered that Christ is omnipotent, and therefore able to deliver you; that he is faithful, and must deliver you, because he has promised to do so? Have you not kept your eye on his rod, and not on