Matthew 17:14-21 And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,… The boundaries of the province of faith. I. FAITH'S LIMITATIONS. 1. The different ages of the Church have called for different kinds of faith. The faith of a miraculous age would not be the same with the faith of a period when God worked by ordinary operations. But even in the same period, and at the same moment, not only the measure, but the character of the faith of different men must vary. A common man at the time of Christ would not have been reproved as the apostles were for not being able to cast out an evil spirit, because it was an authority only given to the apostles. 3. Faith and its achievements must be as God is pleased to give it to every one. It is a pure creation of God in man's soul. 4. Every man's responsibility is just to use the faith, whatever its measure may be, which God has given him; he cannot go beyond it. Nevertheless within this the state of every man's faith depends upon the condition of his heart, and the life which he is leading. II. THE RANGES OF FAITH. 1. It is plain that everything hinges upon faith, that the success of faith does not depend upon the quantity, but upon the quality — "A grain." You may not be able to remove material mountains, but you can spiritual mountains of sin, care, and difficulty. God puts it into a man's mind to believe what He intends that man to do. But may we not mistake the leadings of faith? Yes: just as we may mistake the leadings of prayer and providence. The security is, in a scriptural mind, disciplined to know the still small voices of God. (J. Vaughan, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,WEB: When they came to the multitude, a man came to him, kneeling down to him, saying, |
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