Thy Word Is...
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. “That was
the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” John
1:1,4,9. Someone will say, “If He lighteth every man that cometh into the
world, then why are not all men saved?” You question the scripture; allow
the scripture to give you an answer: “Those by the way side are they that
hear; then cometh the devil and taketh away the word out of their hearts,
lest they should believe and be saved” Luke 8:12. To give further answer, consider this verse: “Hear now this, O foolish
people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have
ears, and hear not.” Jer. 5:21. There is none so blind as they who will not see;
none so deaf as they who will not hear. They cannot; but if they could, they
would not. Man in his depravity does not need prescription glasses nor a hearing aid.
He needs life! He needs Light to dispel the utter darkness of his Godless soul.
This can never be accomplished apart from the New Birth. “That which is born
of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” John 3:6.
Woman can birth a child according to the flesh, but to think that a man
according to the flesh could cross the line and birth himself into the realm of the
heavenly? Is the attending doctor of the flesh or of the Spirit? Who’s going to
sign his birth certificate? “Well, no one would believe such an outlandish
proposal as that.” Really? Ask a number of people on the street if they’re going
to heaven; and how they think they’re going to get there! What happens in the new birth of those who are quickened by the Spirit?
Will they; and do they really see and discern heavenly things? “Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the
scriptures” Luke 24:45. (Jesus with the disciples in Galilee after the
resurrection; prior to His ascension.) “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto
you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of
your understanding being enlightened. . .” Eph. 1:18. The Word, the Life, the Light in the Believer. “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee”
Psalm 119:11. The Psalmist does not say, “Thy word have I carried in mine
hand,” but it is hid, it is borne within my heart. Neither does he say, It is hidden
from my heart. And what shall the Living Word do within the heart? Quicken it,
of course! And the Light of the Word will illuminate it! (One might shudder if he
knew how many on any given Sunday carry a copy of the Word of God in their
hands, but not in their hearts.) “I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy
faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy
truth from the great congregation” Psalm 40:10. These scriptures almost
appear to contradict each other, but we know better! Remember the cry of the
prophet Jeremiah? “Then said I, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any
more in his name. But his word was in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my
bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay” Jer. 20:9. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” Psalm 119:105. My feet are as it were, comparable to the wheels of a wagon. They enable
me to move from place to place. Neither feet nor wheels are endowed with an
intelligence of their own. They must receive direction from another source. Both
feet and wheels have the ability to turn; to change direction, but it is not of
their own doing. “If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his
commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and
if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul”
Deut. 30:10. The Voice of God: the same Voice that walked in the Garden with
Adam: do we know who He is? Let me see if I can follow this: the Voice of God
is an effectual persuader who causes the heart to turn. The heart, in turn,
causes the feet to change direction; the feet being in subjection to the desires
and ultimately the will of the heart. (Consider Eve. Her heart turned toward the
forbidden fruit; her hand responded in picking it from the tree.) A light unto my path. It is not a broad highway, brightly illuminated by a
long continuous row of street lights. It is not an astrodome with its thousands
of floodlights to insure the greatest visibility. (There is a broad way that leads
to destruction but it is veiled in total darkness.) The path(way) must surely be
the same as the narrow way. It is lighted by merely a single Lamp. Our Lord
has provided that it be walked, the Spirit of Christ within us; Goodness and
Mercy following (better, walking beside us as our fellow traveling companions!) The Step of Faith. “Lord, if you will, please shine the light out there ahead
of me; so I can see where I’m going; and if there are any pitfalls that I can
foresee in order to avoid them!” And Lord, give me your Grace now, for when
I am in need of it! We should need no reminder of Joshua and the crossing of the Jordan
with the ark of the covenant - however. . . “And as they that bear the ark were
come into Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in
the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of
harvest,) That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon
a heap. . .And the priests that bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, stood
firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan. . .” Joshua 3:15,16a,17a. The Lord
need not give us light where we are not going to step, neither grace that we are
not going to use. Faith does not step into the darkness, but into the Light. Faith
does not lead us forth to falter in the flood waters of Jordan but causes us to
stand firm on dry ground! If a blind man can trust his seeing eye dog with his
life, why on earth can the Christian not trust his Lord with his life, his soul? Now
that is a mystery! “Order my steps in thy word. . .” Psalm 119:33. Though I be given a
Lamp unto my feet and a Light unto my path, I must needs have the eyes to
see, lest the Light be as void unto me. Then the Psalmist cries, “Order my
steps” - and order them according to thy Word. Help Thou me, that I may walk
in the Light of thy Word. This “Lamp” has taken many forms. It shown round about the angels on
the hillsides of Bethlehem who sent the shepherds to the stable. It was the
“star” that moved the wise men from the east to seek the Christ-child. He is the
Lamp unto our feet; the Light unto our path; but not seen by the world - having
been widely “publicized”, yet He is in no wise recognized as the Light. But this
“star from the east” shall yet rise: it will be the dawning of morning and the Son
shall arise once more from the east. “Every eye shall see him,” and “every
tongue” shall “confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
“And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the
spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming” II Thes.
2:8.
