and drink. Then this faith should be completed, and in its very completion they should have their reward. But they could not claim it as a debt, and they must not indulge beforehand in any thought that their works of service, or the faith wherewith already they wrought them, were, or could be, works of merit, on the ground of which they could claim acceptance, or step into office in Christ's kingdom. For after they had done all they could do, they could not have done any thing which they were not bound to do; any thing, the neglect of which, or the refusal of which, would not have been a sin. Does a parent lay claim to great merit, because he provides for his children food which is not injurious, or because he takes the proper steps to have his children taught the rudiments of common knowledge necessary for their existence? Does a servant deem that he lays his master under obligations, because he does not neglect to perform the daily common duties of his station? Does he claim, when he has spread the table for his master, and waits upon him while he is at meat, to have done a service of great merit, on the ground of which he may claim an extraordinary reward? When he goes upon a common errand, which not to do would be rebellion and disobedience, and unfitness for his place, does he think to have brought his master under obligations for a service of profit to him, of which he can boast, as if it were something above a mere simple,

unavoidable duty, something supererogatory? I trow

not.

Such was the instruction of our blessed Lord to his disciples. They were to remember that faith itself was of gradual growth. If they had the seeds of it, the beginnings of it, the true principles of faith, and would go forward in a course of simple obedience for the service, the honour, the glory of their Master, their faith would grow into great power and glory, and in that very increase would bring both its fruits and its rewards. But they must not seek for it as a selfish thing, or as a grace of power for self-advancement, or mere personal comfort and enjoyment, but as a grace to be used for Christ, and a discipline in his service. Neither must they seek for it under the imagination that by it they could claim heaven on the ground of merit, or a place in the Redeemer's kingdom on the ground of great attainments or great services; for that was not the way in which the soul could be justified. It would be a great mistake to use faith as a kind of justifying works; a mistake into which the apostles themselves were then in danger of falling. Lord, I have so much faith, they would, under the influence of this mistake, have been thinking within themselves; and I claim to be made prime minister, or grand councillor, or first regent, in thy kingdom. Or, under the same mistake, and the same mixture of worldly misapprehension, a mother

might have come and said, Lord, my sons have so much faith, my two sons; grant that they may sit, the one on thy right hand, the other on the left, in thy kingdom. But no! they knew not what they asked. And in asking for an increase of faith, if they did it at all under such darkness, such misapprehension, and it is very likely they did, they needed great reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness. They needed just

such an answer as the Saviour made, appealing to their own common sense, in regard to the business of a servant, and the work of faith as a service.

They had not yet learned that the grace of faith was a gradual discipline, not a mere sudden, supernatural, or miraculous endowment. It was the gift of God, but a gift in his own way, not theirs. So is the kingdom of God, and so is faith, which individually in men is the essence of that kingdom, as if a man should cast seed into the ground, and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself, first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. And again, the kingdom of heaven, and faith, the essence of that kingdom, is like to a grain of mustard-seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; which, indeed, is the least of all seeds; but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the

branches thereof. Now then, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard-seed, if ye have the true germ of this grace, this growing germ, and will go forward in its development, by a course of persevering, self-forgetting obedience to God, obedience to your Divine Master for his glory, out of love to him, and not regard to yourselves, this seed and principle of faith shall spring and grow, ye know not how; and it shall become a great tree, that no tempest can uproot or shake.

Ye come to me, my disciples, as for a supernatural, miraculous endowment; but I tell you that faith is a discipline of your souls; it is a life, not a miracle; and it springs up, first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. Ye come to me for a miracle; I tell you it depends also upon yourselves; upon your own humility, and persevering, simple-hearted, singlehearted obedience; it depends upon your own life for your Lord and Master. I cannot give you this faith before you have learned this discipline, and formed this habit of humble service, in dependence upon me. It would be like giving a servant his reward before he has performed the duties of his station. It would be like a master telling his servant to take his place at the table, and to eat and drink, before the master himself has been served, or his wishes and commands attended to. Your faith will grow by the patient exercise of that which ye already have. To him that hath shall be given, and he

shall have more abundantly. But it is a habit, a life, a discipline of the soul, and cannot be a mere miraculous endowment. If ye cultivate its beginnings, and thus by grace make the germ and the gift of grace pass into a life, a habit, then ye shall be able to do any thing, and nothing shall be too hard for you. But a life of faith is necessary for the growth of faith, and ye will meet with trials of your faith, which nothing but the habit of your faith will be able to carry you through; and ye shall have works of faith to do, evil spirits to overcome, in which I shall have to tell you, This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. Pray, fast, watch, labour, strive, discipline yourselves as God leads you on, and co-operate with him, while he is working in and upon you, and ye shall have a lasting faith, and a habit of faith that can remove mountains.

Now this truth of gradualism in the growth, nourishment, and discipline of faith, and this dependence of the power and life of faith upon practical obedience, is so important, that there is scarcely any thing in the whole compass of theology more essential for the soul to study and be thoroughly acquainted with. God's manner of discipline with us must be known in some degree, that we may not ignorantly go against it, or mistake, or thwart it, or perplex ourselves unnecessarily on account of it, or deprive our souls of the good they might enjoy in and from it. God's discipline with us is education, the edu