That God's provision and care for believers far exceed His care for nature, urging listeners to overcome their anxieties and fears by trusting in Him. The examples highlight four instances in Matthew's Gospel where Jesus rebukes his disciples for their "little faith," connecting this to their worries about material needs (Matthew 6:30), their fear during a storm (Matthew 8:26), their forgetfulness of His miracles (Matthew 16:8), and Peter's doubt while walking on water (Matthew 14:31). The core lesson is that faith, even if small, is sufficient to overcome doubt, fear, and worry, as God's faithfulness is demonstrated through His past provisions and His ultimate plan for believers. The application encourages trusting God's promises and seeking His kingdom above all earthly concerns.
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And verse thirty. Wherefore if God so clothe the grass of the field which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek, For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.
Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Chapter eight and verse twenty-six. Eighton twenty-six. And he saith unto them, Why are ye so fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. Chapter fourteen and thirty-one. you might read from verse twenty five a connection and in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them walking on the sea when the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were troubled saying it is a spirit and they cried out for fear but straightway Jesus spake
unto them saying Be of good cheer. Did I be not afraid? Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. When Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid and beginning to sink. He cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith. That's the third time we've read those words. Wherefore didst thou doubt?
When they were coming to the ship, the wind ceased. Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying of the truth, Thou art the Son of God. And the final text is in chapter sixteen. Chapter sixteen and verse eight. I read verse six. Then Jesus said unto them, Take ye to beware the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees, and they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread, which when Jesus perceived he said unto them, O ye of little faith, that's the fourth time, why reason ye among yourselves because ye have brought no bread?
Do ye not yet understand neither remember the five loaves of the five thousands and how many baskets ye took up, neither the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many baskets ye took up? How is it that ye not did not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the Sadducees. Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Sadducees and of the Sadducees. Four times in Matthew's Gospel, it's very significant you find all four instances in Matthew's Gospel. The Lord is making this remark to his disciples, not a very commendable one, O ye of little faith, He said words more encouraging to the Sardaphonician woman.
He said, Oh woman, great is thy faith. On another occasion he said, How is it that ye have no faith? But four times over he says, O ye of little faith. There's a remarkable truth in connection with each time he uses this language. First of all, in chapter six, O ye of little faith. Or why are ye so careful? That's another way of saying. O ye of little faith! Why is it you're so careful about things? Why is this I feed the birds and I clothe the lilies?
Why should you worry? You have more value to me than many sparrows and four times over in that chapter he says something remarkable in verse twenty five take no thought and again in verse twenty eight why take ye thought for raymond verse thirty one therefore take no thought saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed and in verse thirty four take therefore no thought for the morrow in other words he's urging them to take no thought for food for clothing or for tomorrow in other words material things. O ye little thing, take no thought for these things.
Why, you're of more value to me than many sparrows. You're of more value than the lilies of the field. If I feed the one and throw the other, will I not do the same for you, O ye of little thing? How often it is with us that we find ourselves fretting and troubled about these things, and the Lord has to rebuke us. Do you remember the case of Elijah? Here he is, weary and wanting to die, sat down under a tree and asked the Lord to take away his life. But the Lord caused a raven to bring a piece of flesh, morning and night, and he drank of the brook. And after a while the brook dried up.
So says God. Now I want you to go to Saripha. There you'll find a widow woman. I commanded that widow woman to feed you. The way you go. Elijah rises and he goes. When he gets there, it wasn't very encouraging. He beholds this with a woman and her son picking up sticks. And he asked her for a meal. She said, A meal. Why is it all I've got is a little meal in the barrel and a little oil in the cruise? And because of the famine that's upon the land, then you're to blame for it. why you cause God to withhold rain from heaven for his judgment upon the land.
And this is the consequences. I am suffering because of your prophecy. No, she didn't say that. He said, I want you to make me meal. But she says this is all I've got. And I'm going to take that little bit of meal and that little bit of oil. I'm going to make a little cake and I and my son are going to eat it and die. That's all we've got, nothing left. Well, he says, make me a cake first. Now, that seemed very selfish for the man of God, didn't it? Men are supposed to put women and children before themselves. But here is a prophet of God, a man of God.
And he virtually said to the woman, never mind yourself or your boy. I've got to live. Make me a cake first. Why did he make that demand? He's God's representative. And right in that very passage, verse thirty-three, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. And so she went ahead, no murmuring and no complaining. She made an idle kick. She gave it to the prophet of God, and the Bible says the barrel of meal failed not. nor did the crews of oil fail until God sent rain upon the earth.
She never did get the last soup full of mail out of that barrel. Now where it come from, I don't know. The Lord saw that it was there. She never did pour the last spoonful of oil from that crew. It was always there. And here is God's reward to those who put him first. She gave to God first. She made that little cake for God's servant. And the result was, God took care of her and her son as long as the famine lasted. Therefore, with such a God as this, why should we worry? Why should I ever careful be when such a God is mine?
He watches over me night and day and tells me mine is thine. When I started out preaching over thirty years ago, I confessed to you, it was with a measure of timidity. an unmeasured of trend, leaving my home in Canada and coming down to North Carolina not knowing a soul with no promise of a penny, coming down to people I did not know to country I was not familiar with, going to Canton, North Carolina up above Ashton, and starting to preach. I look back now from that day to this over thirty years.
I've never missed a meal. been a good thing if I had missed a few. I've never missed a me. I've never been without a penny in my pocket. I don't owe anyone a dime. I've always had a suit to put on. I've always had a car to drive. And I couldn't tell you where the next nickel's coming from and never could. I've never lifted a salary. or asked for a salary or lifted a collection. I've never asked a person for a penny. I've had them come and ask me if I needed money, and I said, if I did, I wouldn't tell you. There is a God in heaven who is faithful to his word, and as I reflect on over thirty years, I know something of what the Lord is talking about here.
Why, he says, I feed the birds, I clothe the lily. Why take care? Why give thought to these things? O ye of little faith. That's the first lesson. The next one is in chapter eight and verse twenty-six. O ye of little faith! Or why are ye so fearful? He was asleep in the boat and the storm was raging and they cried out for fear. And he says, O ye of little faith. Once again he's rebuking his disciples, of all people, those who know him best, the disciples, O ye of little faith, why are you so fearful?
Why are you so afraid? Don't you know I'm the master of the sea? Why are you so fearful? There's a remarkable incident. I read one time about two missionaries, both ladies, in China. during the Boxer Revolution, and those boxers didn't spare anybody who was a missionary. They apprehended these two young ladies at a mission station and marched them out to where they were going to execute them. They told the older one of the two, get down on her knees, put her head on that block. They were going to take her head off.
She put her head on the block, and she looked up to the executioner, with such a lovely smile. In fact, the other one looking on said he hesitated, and he smiled back. And it penetrated the heart of that hardened child. And he backed away. And as he backed away, he says, you can't die, you're immortal. And they fled. Those two missionaries lived down the stone. supposing she had looked frightened and afraid. She likely would have lost her head and gone to heaven then.
Why are ye so fearful? The very fact she faced death with a smile saved her life. Why are ye so fearful, oh ye a little bit? Wherefore didst thou doubt? How careful the oft-terms are when we need not to be so. Up in my country, Canada, I know something of this in the wintertime when the lakes freeze over. The ice, as you look at it, it looks almost inky black, sometimes two and three hundred feet of water beneath that ice. And oftentimes it's a real shortcut to go across those lakes.
It means three or four miles of wooded travel to go around the lake. The folk who live around the lake are happy when the lake freezes over so they can go across. One morning a fellow came out and he thought, my, I'm going to get right across this morning. It's only about three-quarters of a mile across. But he didn't know whether to try it or not. He looked at the ice. He had nowhere ascertaining its thickness. But he got out a little bit, and then he got in his hands and knees. He started crawling across, foot by foot. When he got out in the middle, boy, he shuddered. He heard an awful noise behind him.
He thought it was the ice cracking. And he looked around cautiously, and here was a farmer driving a team of horses in a sled right across the lake. He got up and thought, what a fool I am. Why, the ice was thick! And here he was creeping across. Oh, ye of little faith. If it had only known what that ice could hold, he wouldn't have been fearful. He got up on his feet and jumped up and down if we only knew the strength of the God who holds us underneath the everlasting arms. Why are you so fearful, O ye, of little faith? Do you question my strength, mine ability to sustain and hold you up?
The next passage is that in chapter sixteen, for I'm going to skip over the one in chapter fourteen for the moment and return to it. Chapter sixteen, O ye of little faith, or why are ye so forgetful? The first one, O ye of little faith, Chapter six, why are ye so careful? The second one in Chapter eight, why are ye so fearful? This one, why are ye so forgetful? He said to his disciples, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And immediately they went into a huddle. You know, Peter, did you bring any bread?
No. Thomas, did you bring any? No. James, did you bring any? No. And right away, they thought we were going to starve to death. We haven't got a thing to eat. And when he discovered what they were thinking and talking about, he said, O ye of the Rupin. Only a few days ago, how many people did I feed? with a few loaves and a few fishes. Five thousand. And you took up some fragments. Then on another occasion I fed four thousand. How many baskets did you take up? And they knew. Well, if you hadn't brought bread, after those two experiences, why can't you trust me?
After you've seen five thousand fed, four thousand fed, and here you're worrying because you brought no bread. And I'm here in your midst, after I fed all those people with but a few loaves and a few fishes, oh, ye, all little things. In other words, we forget past victories and fret over peasant problems. Let me ask this question. Has he ever failed you? You know, we've got a wicked and subtle unbelieving heart. If I were to say I didn't believe in prayer and if I didn't believe in a God who cares and provides, a thousand instances of the past would cry out against it.
As I reflect upon God's goodness, God's kindness to me over the years, providing for me every day. And you know, if I didn't have anything to eat tomorrow, it's possible I could complain. I've got such a heart. It's possible I could get up and say, Lord, well, this is a violent affair. I'm preaching your word. I'm here. I'm hungry. And if I missed the midday meal, I'd like me to complain a little more. I don't know. I'd like me murmur a little more if I missed the evening meal. If I went a whole day without anything to eat, I wonder if I'd complain and murmur.
It's quite possible. But I've got an unbelieving heart in here just like you. Oh, ye of little things, you can reflect upon all those victories. You can reflect upon all the things that God has done. Past accomplishments, past victories, past triumphs. And yet when you're face to face with a little one today, your unbelief appears. Oh, ye of little things. Why don't you let the past... be a lesson for the present. If he were faithful in the past, will he not be faithful in the present?
Will he not be faithful in the future? O ye of little faith. Then the next passage, the last one that we read, the lovely one, chapter fourteen, O ye of little faith, why are thou Art thou so doubtful? Why art thou so doubtful? Here's this remarkable story that you read about and hear lots said about of Peter walking on the water. Why art thou so doubtful, O ye of little faith, wherefore did thou doubt? Do you know what doubting means?
It means looking two ways at the same time. That's what doubting means. looking two ways at the same time. This is the fourth time you read these words. And you'll notice too what it says in verse twenty five of the fourth watch of the night the Lord Jesus came unto them walking on the wall. Why the fourth watch of the night? You know the Jewish night was divided into four sections. The evening was from six to nine. midnight from nine to twelve, and the morning, or clock growing, was from twelve to three, and then the morning, three to nine, three to six, rather, four sections.
He tells them that. He says, The fourth watch of the night he came under them. In Mark thirteen, thirty-five, he says, Watch therefore, for ye know not when the master of the house will come, whether in the evening, midnight, clock, crowing, or in the morning. Here are the four night watches. And the watches in the temple change each three hours. Now he says, Watch. Keep looking. Keep waiting. I'm going to come. And you don't know what hour I'm going to come. I think this can be beautifully applied to the nineteen hundred and some years already behind us, nineteen hundred and sixty-five years.
The first watch from six to nine, that is the first five hundred years of church history. Then the next five hundred years brings us up to a thousand A.D. That's midnight. That was when the dark ages were being experienced upon the earth. When Rome knew that the earth was in the darkest day of this dispensation of grace. Then, from twelve to three, here you have the cock-crowing, bringing up to the fifteenth century. The cock-crowing is very significant.
You know about the year fifteen hundred and the years that followed. There were voices heard all over Europe. What were these voices? Voices of God's servants lifting the trumpet. They had begun to discover that precious truth that Jesus Christ is coming for the church. Back in days gone by, possibly in Albany just like elsewhere, I know I used to experience it time and time again up in Canada. when just about everybody had a chicken coop, full of chickens. You'd wake up some morning about three o'clock. Maybe it was your rooster or the neighbors, and he'd crow.
Then only about three seconds later you'd hear another rooster crow. Then one over here would crow, and the first thing you know you'd hear about a dozen roosters crowing and answering one another. About three or four o'clock in the morning. He says, the cock-claw. And it was after the fifteenth century, these voices began to arise, stating that Christ was coming, preaching the glorious truth of the return of the Lord Jesus. One voice was heard here, another was heard there, Zwingl of Zavonarola of Italy. And here is Martin Luther in Germany, John Knox, Calvin.
These various characters and their voices are being lifted, announcing that Jesus Christ is coming. That was the cockcrowing. And here we're into the fourth watch of the night. We're in that last section of the night. And you know the Lord refers to this age of grace. He says, you are the children of the night, you Christians. You shine as lights in the midst of the darkness. We're passing through the night. And he says, when I come, I'm coming as the morning star. So we're looking for the morning star. We're passing through this long night. We've gone over the meridian of midnight darkness.
We're waiting for the coming of Jesus Christ. The first period has passed, the evening. The second period has passed, midnight. The third period has passed, the cockpoy, the fourth period. is well on its way up. Four hundred years have passed. Sixty-five of the fifth has passed. Not many days later are left. Jesus wants, bringing us up to the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ and all the other things, the evidences, that give strength to those thoughts that were in the last day.
There was no question about it. And so he says that the disciples, here they are, tossed about on this angry water, which is another thought, the angry water, the angry waves. Speaking of the latter days, Revelation thirteen we referred to this morning, the troubled waters, kindred tongues, people and nation. Here you have the restless state of things in the latter days, anarchy, rebellion, demonstrations against established authority. Out of this situation is going to come the Antichrist, as you have in Revelation Thirteen. The waters are rough. In these troubled waters we find the disciples being kicked about in their little boat.
And today that speaks of God's people, the church, and they're being kicked about. The world doesn't want God's people. Even the religious world is growing modernistic and they don't want the old fundamentalist. They don't want those who preach the old-fashioned gospel of the grace of God. And here we are being kicked about in the book. That's all right. The Lord Jesus is coming. And you know he appeared unto them. And as Peter looked out and he saw this character, he couldn't believe his eyes. They thought it was a spirit. And he said to this eye, be not afraid.
This is what we're waiting for. the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ. He knows what Peter says, Lord, if it be thou, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. The Lord used one word, he said, come. What do we read? Oh, you say, Peter sang. He did something before he sang. He walked on the water. And if he only took one step, he's one step ahead of you and me. I've never taken one step yet out on water. Peter took several steps. He walked on the water to go to Jesus. And we don't know how far he walked.
But he walked. You know, Peter did not say, Well, Lord, I want to come, but wait till the storm's over. Wait till the water's smooth. It's too rough. Well, Peter could have said that. That's what unbelief says. Unbelief won't walk on water, whether it's smooth or rough. Peter didn't say, Lord, let's wait a while, wait till this storm subsides and the water is smoother, and then I'll walk. But you know faith can walk where unbelief can. Many are waiting till they think there's a better time to get saved, a better time to take this step.
When conditions are better, I have heard many folks say, well, I want to be saved, but I just want to wait a little while. Wait till I... I can give up this and wait till I give up that and wait till things smooth out. And circumstances are better. Wait, just let me wait. Yes, I know one who said that. Felix. Felix trembled under Paul's preaching when Paul reasoned of righteousness and of judgment to come. righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come and feel its tremble. And he says, when I have a more convenient seat, I'll turn to you, Lord. When the water is smooth, when it's not so rough, I'll take the step.
Peter didn't do that. He stepped out, rough waters and all. There's faith. There's faith. Peter did not ask for a rope. He didn't say, well, fellas, I'm going to take a chance here. There's the Lord. And I want James, I want you, you're a good sailor, tie a rope around me and tie it good and tie the other end of this boat. And if I go down, I'm going to get hauled back in. Is that what Peter said? No. He stepped out. He severed all ties with that boat, all connections with it. That's it. You know, a lot of people say, well, I want to get saved, but you know, a few things I'd like to hang on.
I'd like to have a few ties left with the world. I'd like to hold on to a few things. A few things I'd still like to do, a few places I'd still like to go. I want a few ties, a rope with the old gang. But I'll tell you one thing, you're not going to reach the Savior if that's your philosophy. Peter didn't say, I want a rope tied above me. When Peter began to sink, you'll notice how quick this prayer and how short this prayer was. The Lord saved me. Now if Peter had given the Lord a big flowing introduction, such as, O mighty Father, O Creator of heaven and earth, he'd been at the bottom of the lake.
He didn't have any time for a big flowing introduction. He said, God, save me, when He knew He began to sing. And I'll tell you, when you know you're lost, you do away with all formalities. You'll say, Lord, save me. I want to be saved. No room or time for formalities here. No flowing introduction. My, I've heard some men when they've been called on to pray, especially some of these big wigs, some of these big get-togethers, big political rallies, or maybe some big ball game. You listen to them for about three minutes, you'll have one, he's going to start praying. He starts telling God how big he is if God doesn't know it.
After a while, they might get down to business. But I'll tell you when you're lost and you know it. When you're in need as a Christian, you're not going to start to indulge in all kinds of formalities and rituals. You're going to cry out from your heart, Lord, save me! That he will... Another thing, you know, although Peter failed, the rest of the disciples might have said to Peter afterwards, after it was all over, he might have killed him. Well, Peter, you stepped out, you failed, we didn't. We didn't fail. Peter could say, you didn't even try. At least I tried. You didn't.
It's true I failed. But I'll tell you, boys, one thing. I walked on the water, and that's something you didn't do. I never will. I walked on the water. And I'll tell you something else, fellas. I felt the Lord's power lifting me up. You fellas didn't feel that. I never will. And so those who try, they'll use the faith they've got. Be it little faith. They'll invest their little faith. Oh, they might fail, but I'll tell you they don't go far. I suppose Peter went down about waist deep.
Just time to say, Lord, save me. And the Lord's hand went out. And he pulled them up. My must have been a thrill to feel the Lord's grip and experience the Lord's power. Many a time as a Christian, I've known what it is to feel as though I was going down. My faith began to pale. I looked upon the stormy waters. I got my eye off the Lord, but I'll tell you just one short prayer. Lord, save me. And the restoration lies wonderful. The Lord, the restoring grace and the restoring power of the Lord, the firmness of that grip and the strength of that arm, lifting us up.
Yes, that was true of Peter. I wonder if you've had this experience. You know, The Lord is saying to you, if you're a sinner, come. Are you going to come tonight? Are you going to come right now? Come thou, come now. Now is the time to come if you're not a Christian. O ye of little faith. You know little faith has great longings to come to Christ, to heaven. I've met lots of people who say, oh you know what? I don't have much faith, just a little faith. Nevertheless, they do really want to be saved.
They do have a longing to come to Christ and to go to heaven, but theirs is little faith. I want this text to be addressed to you tonight. And I want you to call yourself at this moment, little faith. O ye, you, husband, wife, mother, father, child, your name is little faith. O ye of little faith! Yes, little faith can be daring, as on this occasion. Little faith can be daring. Peter only had a little faith. The Lord said so, yet he dared. He stepped out.
Little faith can accomplish wonderful things. Little faith! O ye of little faith! Peter, you only have a little faith! You walked on the water! What would he have done if he had great faith? Little faith, the cautious great thing, if ye have the faith that the grain of mustard seed will say to this mountain, Ye cast into the sea and will obey you. O ye of little faith, you know little faith is apt to look away from God too, when strong faith isn't. O ye of little faith. Little faith began to shrink, but little faith knew how to pray.
Some people say, well, you know, I don't have much faith. Well, use what you've got. You only have a little faith. Pray. The Lord is looking at quality, not quantity. You've got a little faith. Use it. Believe what God tells you and you shall be saved. You know, little faith is true faith after all. For here is little faith walking on the water. It shows there was something genuine about it. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been on the surface of that water. Little faith ventures all for Christ. Are you venturing all for Jesus Christ with your faith?
It may be only little faith. Little faith was coming to the Lord Jesus all the while. Just little faith. Step by step, inch by inch, little faith is coming. Oh, yes. You say, I'm not there yet, but I'm interested. I'm seeking. I have a little faith. I haven't exercised it yet. I haven't deposited it in Jesus Christ. But I'm interested. Oh, ye a little faith. Keep coming. Little faith was acknowledged by the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus didn't wait till Peter had great faith. Peter had little faith. Then the Lord responded to it the moment he began to sink.
The Lord reached out his hand. The Lord responded to little faith. I know he responds to great faith. But he responds to little faith too, and if all you have is a little faith, the Lord will respond to it. He wants you to put that little faith in him. Little faith was delivered. Little faith. Deliverance was holy from the Lord. Little faith deliverance was holy of the Lord. The Lord did it. It wasn't really Peter's faith. It was the Lord. But the Lord responded so readily, so quickly. to Peter's little faith. Little faith, you'll notice its deliverance was immediate.
An immediate. Oh, how quickly the Lord responds to little faith. Little faith! The Lord's deliverance at that time was immediate. How quickly, how swiftly the Lord will deliver you. No father will snatch his son. No mother will snatch her little child from the path when on rushing automobile is quick. This God will snatch you out of your sins and save you and put away your sins if only you'll let him. Little faith. Little faith. Little faith was delivered. Little faith walked with the Lord. This is something else the other disciples didn't enjoy.
Peter, supposing we say he went out ten steps on the water. And that's where he began to sink. And he came back to the boat. He walked on the water with the Lord back to the boat. That was one of the greatest walks Peter ever took. The only one on record who ever walked on water side by side with the Lord Jesus. Little faith can walk with the Lord. Little faith can. You may only have a little faith that you can still walk with the Lord. Peter did. You know, little faith will come to full assurance someday. When Peter got into the boat, he didn't need any more faith.
No, he's in the boat now. And when that boat reached the bank, reached the land, the shore, of course, no faith necessary there either. Little faith came to final fruition when Peter stepped into the boat. It came to the full. when he reached the land. He didn't have to have that faith on land. He didn't have to have that faith when he's in the boat. The time's coming when we'll not need faith. When faith should give place to sight and hope give place to blessed reality. When faith comes to full assurance. When we reach land. When we reach heaven.
You know there are a lot of people going to be in heaven who just had little faith. O ye of little faith. Later on Peter called it precious faith, precious faith. How wonderful was this faith. Peter's matured now. And he said, my, that faith was precious. It was only a little, but it was precious. Peter, no doubt, mulled that experience over time and time again in his life. If you want to see how Peter's faith grew, turn to the twelfth of Acts. James has been killed with a sword. Herod said, I'm going to take Peter's head off in the morning. And he commanded sixteen soldiers to take care of Peter during the night.
Peter was tied to two of them in the prison cell, and the guards surrounded, and there's Peter in prison. Peter, tomorrow morning, your head's coming off. Okay, fellas, show me where I'm going to lie down. I want to go to sleep. And Peter went fast to sleep, knowing that as far as he knew, his head was coming off in the morning. That was faith, wasn't it? He went fast to sleep. Well, it may be my last night in earth, but I'm going to make good use of it. I'm going to have a good night's sleep. Well, I don't know how you are, but if I knew that my head was coming off the morning, I don't think I'd sleep the night's sleep.
And I don't think four or five mill towns would put me to sleep either. But Peter went right off to sleep. Do you know why? Peter had a little secret. Just a little while before, the Lord says, Peter, when thou shalt be old, another shall leave thee. When Peter walked it, that prisoner, he says, tell us, I'm a young man. And the Lord says, I'm going to be an old man. I'm going to sleep. It's up to the Lord to take care of the intercourse. I'm going to live to be an old man, the Lord sent him. And so I'm going to sleep. I don't know how I'm going to get out of this mess.
That's up to the Lord. And you know what happened. An angel came down, put all the guards to sleep, opened the gate, led Peter up. Peter was not put to death after all. His faith grew, didn't it? Here it was little faith, but oh, how is faith through? And like the Thessalonians, your faith grow it exceedingly. That's what the Lord wants. And the soil for your faith to grow in is this precious book. And in prayer, may the roots of your faith feel their way through this rich loam of divine truth, saturated with the precious blood of Christ, the atmosphere of the love of God, and your faith will grow.
But bear fruit. lovely truth the fruit of the spirit unto the gardener himself O ye of little faith you say you want to be saved and you only have little faith all life use it he posited in Jesus Christ believed that he died on the cross for you suffered for you he said his blood for you and he'll save you right now get this quickly and surely and be saved for you and if you're a Christian Your faith is small. You're facing trial and temptation. Let the Lord have that little faith. He'll appreciate. He'll respond to it.
He'll deliver you. O ye of little faith, wherefore it stands up. Shall we pray? Our Father in heaven, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we come to be, and I ask our blessing upon thy word. We thank thee for our Lord Jesus, who loved us, who gave himself for us. So often we've known what is to have us torn within our hearts. Though we thank thee he appears, but although he rebukes us for our little faith, nevertheless he's glad we have some faith in him. He appreciates it and will respond to it when we call.
We trust that someone in his meeting tonight out of a troubled heart, conscious that thou art near, who say, Lord, save me. Thou would do it. We are glad, we are so happy and thankful. Thou dost not wait until we have strong faith before thou wouldst save us, or none of us would be saved. Thou did save us when our faith was feeble. We thank you for it. Blessed, then, thy word. May we grow in grace in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We ask it in his worthy and trust's name.