"And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, (15) Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is a lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. (16) And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. (17) Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. (18) And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. (19) Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? (20) And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. (21) Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting."
We have this miracle more particularly related by Mark, Mark 9:14, etc. to which, therefore, I refer, as well as for the observations offered upon it, which will there be more fully considered. In the mean time, I only beg to detain the Reader with a short remark on the slenderness of the disciples' faith; in their inability to accomplish the cure of this child. This Epilepsy, or falling sickness, of the child's body, it should seem, had afforded handle to the devil to exercise his cruel devices on the child's soul; and no doubt the permission, as it laid the foundation for the greater manifestation of Christ's glory, was graciously ordered. But the slenderness of the disciples' faith, was simply this it should seem, not in their faith in Christ, but their exertion of that faith in this act of working miracles, as they had been commissioned to do. The Lord Jesus, when he said, O faithless, and perverse generation, did not speak to his disciples, for though they were indeed men of little faith, yet certainly not faithless. It was the men of that generation whom Jesus called faithless and perverse, for in Mark's account of this miracle, it appears, that from the inability of the servants of Christ, to heal the child, they began to triumph as though the same defect was in the Master, therefore Jesus called that generation faithless and perverse, But the weakness of the disciples' faith, opens a subject of encouragement, to the timid disciples of Jesus, in every age of the Church, which, under grace, we ought to make improvement from Let it be remembered therefore, that with respect to our own personal salvation, the smallest portions of faith, as they are, from Christ, do prove an union with Christ, as truly as the largest gifts the Lord may be pleased to bestow upon his members. The drop of water in the dew, is as truly water as all the rivers of the world. It is the same in nature and in quality, though not in quantity. The same may be said in respect to faith. And this ought to comfort and encourage a poor child of God under weak faith, whose cries for an increase of faith are great and continual. Luke 17:5. Moreover those portions of faith, which are of the operation of the Spirit of God; however small and inconsiderable, yet carry with them the true marks of a child of God. Unto you (saith Paul to the Church) it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. Philippians 1:29. Faith is the gift of God. And wheresoever this grace is given, it proves the possessor of it to be a child of God. For when Paul preached among the Gentiles, we are told, that as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. Acts 13:48. And as to the act of being justified by faith, it is plain from the whole tenor of Scripture that while it is blessed to have strong and lively acting of faith on the person, work, and righteousness of God our Savior, yet the babe in Christ, as well as the strong man in the Lord, is as truly justified, because it is Christ which justifieth, and not the strength of our faith in Christ which contributes thereto. By him, (saith Paul) that is, by Christ, all that believe, whether slender faith or strong faith, all that believe, are justified from all things. Acts 13:39.