| CHRISTIAN LIFE AND DOCTRINE | August 2007 |
Thy Word Was Found
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“I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.” |
THE WORD OF THE LORD was lost in a most important sense during the Dark Ages. Forms and ceremonies, and the decrees of councils, took its place. The result was increasing confusion and deterioration of spiritual vitality among those professing the name of Christ. Not only was the Word of the Lord lost in the sense of not being followed, but it was also lost by not being studied.
The writing of the Scriptures was generally discontinued and the old manuscripts were lost sight of. The finding of the Word of God seemed to begin afresh with the introduction of the art of printing, at a time when certain of the Lord’s people were aroused to inquire more particularly for the “old paths.”—Jer. 6:16
Thank God conditions are so changed now that his Word is ‘found’ in the sense of being easily accessible to all people, and in the sense that under his providential care, in the “time of the end” (Dan. 12:4), knowledge has been increased so as to be universal in Christian lands.
Today his Word is abundantly distributed in all civilized lands, and is obtainable in all languages. Nevertheless, the Word of the Lord is in one sense still hidden. It is covered with a thick coating of false teaching and human tradition, so that in the homes where the book is to be found, there is often so much blindness upon the eyes of the understanding that the Truth of God cannot be appreciated. It is still necessary for us to pray that the eyes of our understanding being enlightened, we might be able to comprehend with all saints the lengths and breadths and heights and depths of the love of God, which passeth understanding. (Eph. 1:18) It is only as our eyes of understanding open that we see the wonderful things of God’s book, and that we get the wonderful blessings which he intended for those who seek in truth and in sincerity.