I OCCASIONALLY find it a useful practice to address a question to myself on a topic which is supposed to be familiar in order that I may the more readily convict myself of downright ignorance on some branches of the subject. And having been so convicted, one is in a more favorable frame of mind to receive information on those points.
WHAT IS A BELIEVER?
The term, "believer," is one of fairly frequent occurrence. It is used in senses other than religious, as when we speak, for instance, of a believer in homeopathy. But even in its religious usage, with which we are particularly concerned in these pages, it is connected with many shades of meaning according to the opinions of the class of persons who utter the word.
The result of this simple word receiving such a variety of senses is to create confusion as to it in the minds of many. I have read of a servant of the Lord who, in the course of his ministry, found himself in a part of the country (Scotland) where he was entirely unknown; without a friend, without lodging, and without means. It was near nightfall, and he knew not where to go.
Seeing a boy crossing a field, he called to him, and said, "Are there any godly people here about?”
“Na, na," replied the lad, "there is nae sic fouk in this parish." "Are there any believers?" asked the evangelist. "Believers!" exclaimed the boy “I never herd o' sic things.”
THE BELIEVER BELIEVES GOD.
I do not, of course, in the least imply that you are so ignorant as the Scotch lad. But your ideas may be somewhat vague and unpractical. That was a better reply which was given by the lady who, when questioned as to her faith, said, “I believe in heaven, and I believe in hell, and I believe in the third chapter of the Gospel by John.”
If however you wish to learn the proper sense of the term, you must observe its use in the word of God. And you will find there that faith invariably brings the individual soul into exercise before God. Man cannot have to do with God without faith. As it is written, “Without faith it is impossible to please him."
A believer therefore is one who believes God. Abraham was a believer, for he "believed God, and it was counted unto him, for righteousness." The Philippian jailer received the testimony of the apostles and became a believer, "believing in God with all his house."
THE BELIEVER BELIEVES IN JESUS CHRIST
But faith in God is not dissociated from faith in His Son. It is indeed by Him that we believe in God; even as, "he that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son." So the jailer to whom I just referred responded to the exhortation of Paul and Silas to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; and then it is said of him that he believed in God.
Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue at Corinth, believed on the Lord with all his house. And one might go on to quote many more cases, but these are enough to show that a believer has the Person of Christ before his heart.
Now I would like to put to you the question that the Lord addressed to the man in Jerusalem whose eyes He had opened, "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" Is He before you as the Ever-blessed and Holy One Whom you love and adore, Who has forgiven you all your sins and given you peace through believing?
Depend upon it, my friends, a believer is not one who receives creeds or subscribes to certain articles, but one who can look up to heaven with a heart full of peace and joy. The Son of God is there. God Who sent the Son is there. The believer knows this and rejoices in it, because he accepts the gospel which contains the blessed news of the grace and salvation brought down from above. Are you a believer?