"I Am Trying to Believe.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 275, 23 June 1888, Page 6

"I Am Trying to Believe.

BT GJ-O. X PI NTLCOST, I>. D.

It was during the last week of the meet ings in the great Terminus Hall, St. I'aneras, that J fell in with a very intelligent young lady on her way to the inquiry-room. She seemed to he quite anxious about her soul, and greatly troubled that she could not find peace. I asked her if she \va^ a Christian ? She replied, 'I am trying to be one, sir," 'But,' said I, 'you are not to try; you are just to believe' 'I know that quite well, "ir ; that is what Mr Moody has been telling us in his seimon this afternoon. And that is what lam trying to do. lam trying to believe. " ' Well, my dear friend, what are you trying to believe ?' ' Why, sir, I am trying to believe that lam saved." 'But you are not to turn your faith upon yourself at aIJ. You are nowhere bidden in the Word to believe that you are saved. Do you not ,«ee that if you were to find something in or about yourself that you recognised as salvation or the ground of it, you would not be trusting in Christ at all, but only in yourself? This i? a very common mistake. It is, indeed, the old one of trying "to feel," in order to be saved. We are constantly tempted to turn our thoughts inward upon ourselves, rather than outward to Christ, who sAone can save. Now, dear friend, just give up all attempts to believe anything about yourself ; believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.' With that kind of inconsistency that is characteristic of a newly-awakened mind, ghe at once shifted her ground, and said, ' Well, that is just what I am trying to do. lam trying to believe in Christ.' 'Very well,' said I, with the purpose of clarifying her thought to her own mind a little, ' what are you trying to believe concerning him ?' To this she made no answer for a long while. The truth is, she was full of confused thoughts ; she really did not know what her trouble was, and stood more in need of some simple and clear instruction than anything else. So I determined upon a course of questions which "I thought would lead her out of her darkness and confusion. 'Let us see,' I proceeded, 'if we can't get out of your difficulty. You say that you are trying to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, but cannot. What is rt that you cannot believe ? Perhaps if we can separate that which you do believe from that which you do not believe, we will be able to treat your difficulties more intelligently. Do you mind answering me candidly a few questions touching your lack of ability to believe ?' ' I will be pleased to answer any question I can, for I am very anxious to be saved.' 'Well, then, we will try and see

what you do believe first. Do you believe fchat Jeaus Christ carao into the world some two thousand years ago?' 'Oh, yea, I believe that, of course !' ' You are not in tho least doubt upon that point ?' ' Not the least, sir.' ' Then you are not " trying to believe " on that point ?' ' No, sir.' ' And do you believe that He was the Son of God r' ' Oh, yes, sir ! lam not in doubt there in the least. I fully bcliovo that He was God's Only Begotten Son, just as the Bible says.' ' Very well. Now, do you believe that God sent Him into tho world to save sinners ?' •Of course ! What olse did he come for ? If I did not believe that, I would not be here trying to get my own soul saved.' ' Very good, that seems to bo clear. Horo are two or three points concerning Jesus that you do believe without a doubt ; and so we rule them out from among tho ditHcultics iti the way of your faith. Do we both agree, so far, that you arc not " trying to believe," but that you really do believe '!' 'Yes.' Thon turning to Isaiah Hi, I read the following : ' Surely He hath borne our <mefs, and carried our sorrows : yet we did esteem Him stiicken, smitten of God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities : the chastisement of our peace was upon Him : and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep ha\e gone astray; we ha\e turned everyone to his own way ; and the Loid hath made the iniquity of us all to meet on Him.' ' Now, my dear friend, do you believe that when God sent Hi* Son into the world Ho did really lay or cause our sins and iniquities to be laid on Him . Or, to look at another Scripture (Rom. iv. 25), do you believe that "He was delivered for our offences and raited again for our justification?'" After looking at these and other like passages for awhile, she agreed that she was bound to believe that Christ had borne the iniquity and sin of the v»orld.' ' Well, do you believe that He bore your sins as well that of all othei sinners '' or do you expect Him yet to come down and do this for you at some future time ? Or when He died for sinners do you believe that you were left out of account ?' Here were some new lines for her. She dropped her head, and gave herself over to thought for awhile, and then, with the dawn of new light on her face, she said in substance, 'I do not see how 1 am to separate one thing from another. If I believe that He came into the world and died for me as much as for anyone else, and that if God raised Him for anybody's justification, He must have raised Him for mine as well.' But there was anxiety in her face still. She was not > abandoning herself to the glad truth without reserve : so I went on, ' Let us go over the ground of our inquiry a bit, and *cc where we stand. You began by saying that you were ' trying to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,' but that you could not. Then, when we began to take the difficulty apait, and look at it in bits, you came to the conclusion that you did believe (11 That Jesus Christ came into the world some two thousand yeai> ago ; that the stoi'y of His advent and death is no m> hh, but a real and blessed fact. (2) That Jesus i* indeed the Son of God, and not a mere man. ' (3) That, though we had all gone astray like lost sheep, yet God had laid on Him the iniquities of us all, and had caused Him to be delivered up for our offences, and had raised Him again for our justification. (4) And. finally, you agree bhat } r ou belie-ve that you aie included in that blessed saving work. That your sins, too, were on Him, and that He was raised for your justification.' ' Yes, I agree to all that.' 'Now, let me ask you two questions. First: If you believe these things, you arc nob trying to believe them ; for you cannot at once be trying to believe and yet believing them. In that case you may give o^er trying, and begin trusting. Is not thi* fair and true '" 'Why, yes, sir, thab seems very plain ; but I had never thought of ib in that light. ' 'Well, second: What is it about Chii->t that \ on cannot believe v> She looked up into my face, thoughtfully and steadily although she were trying to think of anything 1 the did not believe, and feared to give up her trying. But, as she paused and thought on who Christ was, and what He had done for her, her fear^had to molt away. Another moment >*he threw them all to the wind>, and, with radiant face, she said, ' Oh, now 1 see it ! lam not to believe that I am r-aved, but that Je«>us Christ i;ive^ me by what He has done for me, and by God raising Him from the dead.' ' Ye?,' I said, ' salvation i-> not the ohier-t of our faith. Furthei, we are not to look within for salvation, bub to Him who is our salvation. " Behold, God is my «alvation : I will tru-t and nob be afraid ; for the Lord Jehovah (Je-«u«) i.^ my strength and my ; He also i= become my salvation.'" This is the giand secret. It i^ not what we are. what we do, what we feel, oi what we believe: but it is Jehovah — Jesus— who i« our salvation.'