^ For a long time no equivalent could be found in the language of Aniwa for " faith," and my work of Bible translation was paralysed for the want of so fundamental and oft-recurring a term. The natives apparently regarded the verb " to hear " as equivalent to " to believe." I would ask a native whether he believed a certain statement, and his reply would be, should he credit the statement, " Yes, I heard it " ; but, should he disbelieve it, he would answer, " No, I did not hear it," meaning, not that his ears had failed to catch the words, but that he did not regard them as true. This definition of faith was obviously insufficient. Many passages, such as " Faith cometh by hearing," would be impossible of translation through so meagre a channel ; and we prayed continually that God would supply the missing link. I spared no effort in interrogating the most intelligent native pundits, but aU in vain, none caught the hidden meaning of the word.
One day I was in my room anxiously pondering. I sat on an ordinary kitchen chair, my feet resting on the floor. Just then an intelligent native woman entered the room, and the thought flashed through my mind to ask the all-absorbing question yet once again, if possible in a new light.
Was I not resting on the chair ? Would that attitude lend itself to the discovery ?
I said, " What am I doing now ? "
" Koikae ana," " You're sitting down," the native replied. Then I drew up my feet and placed them upon the bar of the chair just above the floor, and leaning back in an attitude of repose, asked : " What am I doing now ? "
" Fakarongrongo," " You are leaning wholly" or, " You have lifted yourself from every other support."
" That's it ! " I shouted, with an exultant cry ; and a sense of holy joy awed me, as I realized that my prayer had been so fully answered.
To " lean on " Jesus wholly and only is surely the true
PSALM IV. 4, 5 209
meaning of appropriating or saving faith. And now " Fakaron- grongo lesu ea anea niouri " (" Leaning on Jesus unto eternal life," or " for all the things of eternal life ") is the happy experi- ence of those Christian islanders, as it is of all who cast themselves unreservedly on the Saviour of the world for salvation,^
(2) Especially are we to trust in the Lord as He reveals Himself in the person of His Son Jesus Christ. In Him we see love written out in capital letters. " Put your trust in the Lord " as having provided the one sacrifice for sin, whereby He has put away for ever all the sins of those who believe in Him. God is just, and the justifier of him that believeth. We are to believe that the precious blood can make us whiter than snow, scarlet sinners as we are. Let us come with that daring trust which ventures all upon the bare promise of a faithful God. Let us say, " I will go in unto the King, and if I perish I perish."
(3) We are to trust in the Lord, next, that oy the worJc of His Holy Spirit He can renew us. The glorious Lord, who made the world out of nothing, can make something out of us yet. If we are given to anger, the Holy Spirit can make us calm and loving. If we have been defiled with impurity. He can make us pure in heart. If we have been grovelling, He can elevate us. He can put heavenly treasure in earthen vessels. He can set us at last among the heavenly choristers, that our voice, sweeter than that of angels, may be heard amongst their everlasting symphonies. He will even here put us among the children, and set us with the princes of His people. Let us believe that the Holy Ghost can create us anew, can raise us from our dead condition, and can make us perfect in every good work to do His will.
^ A pleasing memory of early church going at Perth was that of the solemn administration of the Lord's Supper. In the procession of the elders, the child (as John Watson was then) was specially interested in an old man with very white hair and a meek, reverent face. Some time after he was walking on the road and passed a man breaking stones. The white hair caught his attention, and he looked back and recognized the elder who had carried the cup. Eull of curiosity and wonder, he told his father the strange tale. His father explained to him that the reason why the old man held so high a place in the Church was that, although he was one of the poorest men in all the town, he
^ Jfhn G. Paton, iii. hi>. JOB-PS. XXX. — 14
2io THE FOUR ACTS OF RELIGIOrst
was one of the holiest. " Remember," said his father, " the best man that ever lived upon this earth was the poorest, for our Lord had not where to lay His head " ; and he added, " James breaks stones for his living, but he knows more about God than any person I have ever met." So he learned that evening, and never departed from the faith, that the greatest thing in all the world is char- acter, and the crown of character is holiness.^