THE WORD OF THE LORD

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, Cal. · Jul 15, 1889

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 27.

THE WORD OF THE LORD.

WHEN a man says, "I have his word for it," we naturally ask who is represented by the pronoun—whose word has he? A word is nothing in itself but a sound, a breath, a few pulses of articulated air. Even when written it is only a little ink on a piece of paper. But if the speaker or writer is an honest man, a wise man, a man of authority, his word may be worth a great deal. It is an expression of his wisdom and of his will. If a millionaire gives his word for a thousand dollars and puts it down in black and white, we call the paper worth $1,000. Any banker will cash it. If a king gives his word and affixes to it the great seal of the kingdom, that word is law. Millions confide in it and obey it.

But in the Bible we have a word surer and worth more than that of millionaire or monarch. We have the word of the Lord.

When he speaks all holy intelligences listen and rejoice; every utterance adds to the absolute knowledge of his rational creatures; every word is a new fact. It is greater than a new world; for the world is perishable, but the word of God "liveth and abideth forever."

In the early ages before there was any Bible the word of the Lord came, now and then, to some patriarch or prophet. He was in doubt, in darkness. He longed for direction and encouragement. How precious, then, the voice that told him just what to do! And when that voice came to a nation, when the prophet said, "I have a message for you direct from Heaven," how every pious heart leaped for joy, and every godly hearer hastened to obey.

Think for a moment of the Hebrews at the Red Sea. They are hemmed in by the mountains and their enemies. Shall Moses call a council of war? If he did, what would the opinions of those fugitives be worth? Not a voice in that camp could suggest any way of escape. But listen. There comes a voice that thrills every heart. And the Lord said unto Moses, "Speak unto the people that they go forward." That was no mocking message. They knew that if God told them to advance, he would open a way. They obeyed with alacrity, and lo, the sea gave them a passage between walls of water on either hand. The Lord spake. They obeyed and they were saved.

And when they stood on the eastern shore, and saw the army of Pharoah hastening through the way by which they had crossed, what could they do? They had no power or courage to resist the chariots and the horsemen. But then again, and at just the right moment, came the word of the Lord. Moses obeyed. He stretched forth his rod. The waters returned and the Egyptians were drowned.

The Bible makes many wonderful statements about the word of God. By it the heavens and the earth were made. "He spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast." "He has magnified his word above all his name" (Ps. 138:2). His word is true. It is more precious than gold; it is a light that shineth in a dark place; it endureth forever. We have in the Scriptures all the words of God that were spoken through the prophets; we have the words of Jesus, who was in the beginning with God and was God; we have the words of inspired apostles, who spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. There is no subject on which we need light that we cannot find in the written word; there is no question of our moral nature for which there is not an answer in the oracles of God; there is no spiritual foe that we cannot put to flight with "the sword of the Spirit." Our Saviour in the wilderness, when tempted by the devil, wielded this sword. He said again and again, "It is written." He conquered, not by arguments, but by quotations. And so may we, however fiercely assailed.

What a blessed thing to have a "Thus saith the Lord" to guide us and to cheer us all along the journey of life. The traveler, through a forest where there are many paths, will often be in doubt and anxiety if there are no fingerboards to tell the right direction. But he would be a reckless traveler who should hurry on, choosing the way that was easiest, shadiest, or most flowery, instead of looking up and reading what was painted on the guide-board. Such a traveler would be sure to go far astray and be lost. And yet the world is full of just such travelers. The Lord has given them a perfect guide-book. He has put up in it many a pointing finger, with the words: "This is the way, walk ye in it." He knows the right from the wrong; he knows what is wise and what is foolish; he knows the road to happiness and Heaven, and he has given us such full information, that whoever will seek, in all the emergencies of life, for a "Thus saith the Lord," will never fail to find it.

No wonder that Satan masses his motley forces—infidels, liberals, critics of all arms—against the plenary inspiration of the Bible. That is the Malakoff of our faith. If "God spake all these words," then we know what is truth and what is duty; then we know what to trust to in life and in death, and what to hope for beyond the grave. But if every "Thus saith the Lord" is a delusion, or, if we cannot tell which of the words are human and which are divine, we have no certainty; we are afloat on a dark and shoreless ocean, without compass, or chart, or pole star; without pilot, or lighthouse, or landmark; without any assurance of safety, or any hope of a haven.—The Occident.