O. Allen Bailey
*This material may be freely distributed, but may not be sold.
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Help My Unbelief
8's (LM)
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"...Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief..." Mark 9:23-24.
"...Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest,.."
"...Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me..."
Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom..." Psa 51:4-6.
"...For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged." "...But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man) God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world? For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner? And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just..." Rom 3:3-8.
"...If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself..." 2 Tim 2:13.
8's - LM
May be sung to "I am a stranger here below.."
Dear Lord, I know Thy Grace is free;
But still in me, there's unbelief;
-I sometimes trust Thou died for me,
But, yet I feel this unbelief.
-As the stranger, out of the way,
With him, I also go astray;
Yet, Lord, Thy Grace I would believe,
Dear God, help Thou, my unbelief.
I censor others in the way,
Who sometimes, from Thy path, too, stray,
I most, Dear Lord, need Thy relief-
Oh, wilt Thou help my unbelief?
-So often I forget to pray,
To trust Thy Grace for every day;
With all the world, I find some beef-
I need Thy Grace for unbelief.
-Today, may mount up to the skies;
Thy Love and peace, within me rise;
Tomorrow, scarce, shall show a leaf-
Lord, Thou must help my unbelief.
Still, sin is mixed with all I do,
And daily doubting, I go too;
Oh, Lord, afford Thy kind relief-
My Lord, do help my unbelief.
-My Savior's Love and Name would praise,
And serve Him till the end of days,
Though still myself a sinful chief-
Yet, take away this unbelief.
Lord, I would daily seek Thy face,
Who died for man's old fallen race;
But find these seasons are so brief-
Oh, Lord, help Thou, my unbelief.
I would continue, Grace to know,
And here Thy love to sinners show;
Tho' feel, a murd'rer and a thief-
Jesus, help Thou, my unbelief.
-Would every weight and sin lay by,
And hope for mansions in the sky,
But sin still gives me painful grief-
Dear Lord, do help my unbelief.
Indeed, it is a grievous case,
To cast Thy word back in Thy face,
Thy mem'ry, in my mind, so brief-
Lord, Thou must help my unbelief.
To not believe Thy word to me,
Denies Thy pow'r, I plainly see;
But here I'm struck upon this reef-
Oh, Lord remove this unbelief!
Oh, Lord, I thank Thee, I believe,
The follow'ing lines, my heart relieve;
Herein dost Thou, my faith conceive,
And cause my heart, in Thee, believe;
And though unfaithful, I may prove,
Still, like a Rock, Christ will not move;
And though I seldom feel relief,
He's faithful through my unbelief;
Though I have made God out a liar,
He yet remains my heav'nly Star;
And by myself, I can't believe,
My unbelief, He will relieve;
-His Spirit still refresh my heart,
His work renew, as from the start,
For He still sifts me in His sieve,
And makes me in His Grace believe.
My unbelief will never change,
The Pow'r where Grace and Love doth range;
Nor can the mortal mind conceive,
Till in It's fullness, there receive;
For there our faith and hope shall end,
No cold, dark paths to ever bend;
There, we shall never need relief-
No longer need our hope and faith;
-But Charity alone remain,
There, perfect Love, we'll fin'lly gain;
There we shall know, and not believe,
What now, our heart's cannot conceive;
There God's full glory, He'll display,
And shine in that Eternal Day;
No more to sigh in unbelief,
For Heav'n will give us full relief.
*Copyright Jan 2000
*This material may be freely copied and distributed, but is not to be sold for profit, in accordance with U.S. and international copyright laws.
OF BELIEF by Elder R. H. Boaz, Circa 1897
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Romans 10:9-10) This Scripture by itself would seem to teach that belief was a voluntary acts of ours, and a condition to salvation. But God's children have learned by experience that they cannot believe in their heart until belief is in their heart, and further they have learned that they have not the power to make belief in their heart at their own option, and because of this they often conclude they are not a child of God; hence their sorrows. Oh, that I could believe once more that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness for me, is almost the daily cry of the poor child. Every one knows that it is impossible for anyone to believe anything without evidence and that with the evidence, it is impossible to disbelieve. If belief is our work, produced by us, at our option, even after regeneration, then unbelief must produce belief, for until we do believe we are in a state of unbelief. This would be a corrupt tree, bringing forth good fruit, which Jesus says cannot be; unbelief does not, nor cannot produce belief. But do we never believe? Yes. How then? It is "according to the working of His (God's) mighty power." (Ephesians 1: 19) You will notice that we believe according to the working of God's mighty power. If I read the Bible which gives an account of the work of God wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, and because of the power vested in me in regeneration, I believe, then I would not be believing according to the working of God's mighty power, but would believe according to my power. Belief is irresistible; it is produced in us by the working of God's power. It is a gift, "For unto you it is given, in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him... " (Phil. 1:29) And when given, it drives out unbelief and sets the captive free. "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. (I John 5:4) Faith is here used in the sense of belief, and John says that it overcometh the world; that it is born of God. It overcomes all opposition, it drives out unbelief. And the poor child is delighted, not with anything he has done in producing this, but with what Jesus hath done in him; and is still doing for him. He believes now in his heart because belief is in his heart. He doesn't believe in order to get belief in his heart, but because faith is in his heart, and he is thereby saved. We should remember that faith never precedes, but follows after regeneration. The children of God are often groping in the darkness, until faith comes to them and makes them believe or trust in Christ; but in their wanderings in the dark, how piteously do they cry! What do they cry for if they have power to believe? If they could believe, they would turn their sorrow to joy; but they cannot until the Holy Spirit takes of Jesus righteousness and shows it unto them. (John 16:15) Jesus is thus "of God made unto us wisdom and righteousness, sanctification and redemption," etc. If "time salvation" depended upon us, it would be of us that He would be made thus. When in this darkened state of unbelief, we may read the Bible, hear preaching, and try to pray, but all these things fail to bring relief until we are to the brink of despair, and we cry, "Lord, save me, or I perish,'' as did Peter. (Matt. 14:30) All our confidence in self power is gone, and it is here then that Jesus puts in His appearance and works belief in us. "This is the work of God that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." (John 6:29) Belief is enjoined in the Scriptures, and unbelief is very sinful and God reproves it, but because this is so, it is no reason to believe that we can believe at our option. In Matthew 5:48, we read, "Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Here Jesus enjoins perfection; but who, but a fanatic, believes that they have or can obey this injunction or command? If God's children have power to obey all His commands at their own option, then sinless perfection can be reached in this life! There are moments that God's children experience sinless perfection, but not by their work, but by the work of Christ. "Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:24) "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:1) Not through our works, you will observe. This God does for us, and when we experience this we are perfect, we are justified, and made clear of the condemnation of sin. This is not done by us, but God did it for us, and we receive it by faith. "For by one offering, He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." (Heb. 10:14) And we are made to enjoy this perfection "by faith" which is also the "gift of God." (Ephesians 2:8) Therefore salvation is not of us, neither in "time" nor eternity, for "salvation is of the Lord. " (Jonah 2:9).