The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-01-26

thinking, that it ia Of no importance how We
should believe about the fsets OF Jesus lIer on
the doctrines Of speculative theology 90 not
admit that there are airy facts Of human history
or any topics of thought more important tnan
these. or any on which IL Is more necessary that
we should have an opinion which we have
reached after deliberate thought. And no very
serious and thoughtful person viii De content 70
say that he does not know. and does not care 70
know, whether Jesus Christ rose from the dead
or not; or whether he were purely divine or
merely human. These are questions IN regard
70 which earnest people will not Willingly oriit
IN sen Of doubt. But what do say - TINS;
That the mere belief ia sny doctrines OF tne-
Gogy, or IN any facts in the life OF Jesus. Or 10
speak more clearly, that the mere belief IN the
cardinal doctrine OF al: that Christ Jesus dlen
70 sinners, is not, in itself alone, sufficient
to transform mans character, however great
al aid il may prove toward such result
The intellectual belief in mere facts, however
important these may be. never has changed, ana
never will change the course OF u life without
the determined action of the will You ana
cannot accept some theory or other 81 the atone.
Inent, some belief another about Jesus, and
then, without effort, b. transformed By some
hocus spocus from sinners into saints. II. then,
there i truth IN what we have been taught Tor
eighteen centuries about salvation, how are we
Is believe In the Lord Jesus that may be
saved rom sin Believe in Him as the soldier
believes III his general. when he Is ready 20 f0l-
low lliIf,, - go ont D; his command. into bat
he. becanse &c las confidence in his leadership
Believe III lin az you believed III your mother
when chi and trusted her when you dared
not IrIist Nusirsslf Believe in Him rs yoii be-
lieye ~ the teacher whom you respect, or the
freud n " Oln you nave faith Believe in
tfist ii, have confidence IN. have faith III.
These words all amount II the same thing, and
your belief oT trust. confidence. or faith. does
net spring from any external 3acts III the lie OF
the ole IN whom you believe; il depends upon
his character.
Whei. We come 10 believe on the lord Jesus
in this sense, then His life will enter into ours
ard shape II; then Ills character Will influence
our own aud make the ono the copy of the other;
then sYe shall bear witness to the reality OF our
belief BY living lie lived by following Him,
in Our own hfe and, if need be, By dying He
died And is not this the Eiud Of belief 10 which
Jesus cslleG His followers Not such belief
rs merely causes them to say 10 Him, .'IoTd,
Lord" IS sufficient To give men entrance into
His Kingdom but such AZ causes them TODD the
viii Of tod. He would gather together band
OF disciples who should not only be saved them
selves. but should be able to preach salvation TO
the world. aud the only command lie gives
them is "F0iOw Me-" lie sees Matthew sit
ting st the place OF TOLL and will convert him
from the dishonest and extoTtionate publican TO
meek and holy disciple, and lie simply says:
"Foilow Me- Does any one ask how ne may
come after Him, He answers: 'iet him deny
himself and take up his cross daily and-follow
Me. Tie young ruler comes and inquiries
what be shall do to inherit eternal life, aud the
answer II: "Sell all that thou hast and give To
the poor. aDd-follow Me-" But. il have read
my New Testament correctly, He never once
asks of disciple aDy belief about Himself, never
as may have its Issue in character. Would We
follow Him. let us come to life of self-denial;
take up oar cross daily; like Him, go about Go
ing good let our meat be 10 do the will OF our
Father which Is in heaven. and we shall be
saved from sins But let us not suppose
That VIC can do this easily, or that salvation is
bought by any superficial following OF Jesus
There are many people among us who suppose
that they are folio wing Jesus, while in truth
They are not hall following Him, aud have never
once entered into the shirt which guided His
IN If.e as He In
II we follow Him as true believers viii, we shall
so not only 10 the sinful with our message of
help and 20 the SICK with our cheer bur we
hattoitcn 80 apart with him to the mountain to
pray
Jesus WIS pFe-eminent as a teacher and
praetfser OF pure morals, and some sec in His
lie noth1hg but this one thing. But the world
has probably never seen a purer code of morals,
or ole more strictly followed than that OF the
tier class OF Pharisees, such as Saul OF Tarsus;
and the pHrest morals may b. praetieed, and
frequently are practsed, 10y the most blatant
atheists. But ii we ret bold of the life of Jesus
IN its completeness and enter fully into the
spirit which He carried ont in all His life then
when we follow Him we shall do so not only
as regards His outward life in the world but
as regards His inner life OF devotion TO God,
which Was. indeed. the very source end
strength, and inspiration of all that lie did
Tor IMAM Believing on the Lord Jesus
then, means being so filed with His spirit rs TO
be one with Him in His communion with God
ana 10 follow the pattern OF his life among men.
IN sympathy and aid for ali suffering. in pity
and helpluli.ea for all sin, and in I,oble self
denial, even to the giving np of lie itself if that
should be neediul. Mud this does not bring sal
Walton from STA, but is salvation itself. 1t might
be bard for some of MS TO understand
how we could be saved from sin
by beii living that Jesus was mirac-
lilotisiy born wrought Miracles died on
the cross and rose from the dead But surely
we must see clearly how believing on Him in
THIS other way piirges the life from SIN lust as
the sun drives darkness ont of a room The
two cannot exist together And do YOU not now
see how, TO take the converse OF the same truth.
II may justly be held that he that disbeiieyeth
Ehail condemned How could ii be otherwise
Than that enc who saw the purity Of the life of
Jesus and the divinity of HIS spirit and vet
deliberately refused to follow Him, that one who
thus saw the hfightcst possible light aud vet
preferred darkness 10 il. should receive in him
self the condemnation of growing deeper and
deeper IN the sin be had chosen
Ny friends, we began By asking ourselves the
most weighty qhes ion in the world: What
must DO To DC saved from the sin which cor
rupts my immortal gou} We next took the
answer which laul gave us. and tried to see as
wei as we could what ii is to believe on the
Lord Jesus. There remains yet one question
which we must each ask himself Have | i'm
any true sense believed on the Lord Jesus? Do
! 10 any extent such as To justify tho claim fol-
low linn; or Is IL mere make believe bv which
! deceive myself and others? on the true
answer to this question il depends whether we
are being saved from sim