Message Three

Letting the Word of Christ Dwell in Us Richly

Scripture Reading: Col. 3:16-17; Phil. 2:15-16

Col. 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and

hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.

Col. 3:17 And whatever you do in word or in deed, do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the

Father through Him.

Phil. 2:15 That you may be blameless and guileless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverted

generation, among whom you shine as luminaries in the world,

Phil. 2:16 Holding forth the word of life, so that I may have a boast in the day of Christ that I did not run in vain nor labor in

vain.

I. The word of Christ is the word spoken by Christ—Col. 3:16:

A. In His New Testament economy God speaks in the Son—Heb. 1:2; John 1:1, 14, 18:

Heb. 1:2 Has at the last of these days spoken to us in the Son, whom He appointed Heir of all things,

through whom also He made the universe.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of

the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality.

John 1:18 No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has

declared Him.

1. The Son speaks not only by Himself in the Gospels but also through His members—

the apostles and prophets—in Acts, in the Epistles, and in Revelation—Matt. 17:5;

Acts 4:20; 5:20; 6:7; Col. 1:25; Rev. 1:2, 9.

Matt. 17:5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a

voice out of the cloud, saying, This is My Son, the Beloved, in whom I have found My

delight. Hear Him!

Acts 4:20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.

Acts 5:20 Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.

Acts 6:7 And the word of God grew, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem multiplied

greatly; and a large number of the priests obeyed the faith.

Col. 1:25 Of which I became a minister according to the stewardship of God, which was given to me

for you, to complete the word of God.

Rev. 1:2 Who testified the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, even all that he saw.

Rev. 1:9 I John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and endurance in

Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of

Jesus.

2. All these speakings can be considered the word of Christ; thus, the word of Christ

includes the entire New Testament—Col. 3:16.

Col. 3:16 See Scripture Reading above.

B. In Colossians the word is for revealing Christ in His preeminence, centrality, and

universality—1:18; 2:9; 3:11:

Col. 1:18 And He is the Head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead,

that He Himself might have the first place in all things.

Col. 2:9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

Col. 3:11 Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian,

slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all.

1. Colossians is focused on Christ as our Head and our life, and Paul’s concern in

Colossians is for the revelation of Christ unto full knowledge; for this, we need the

word of Christ—1:9-10, 18; 2:19; 3:4, 10.

Col. 1:9 Therefore we also, since the day we heard of it, do not cease praying and asking on your

behalf that you may be filled with the full knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom

and understanding,

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Col. 1:10 To walk worthily of the Lord to please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work

and growing by the full knowledge of God.

Col. 1:18 And He is the Head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the

dead, that He Himself might have the first place in all things.

Col. 2:19 And not holding the Head, out from whom all the Body, being richly supplied and knit

together by means of the joints and sinews, grows with the growth of God.

Col. 3:4 When Christ our life is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory.

Col. 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is being renewed unto full knowledge according to

the image of Him who created him.

2. The way for Christ to exercise His headship and to minister His riches to us is through

His word; hence, the emphasis is on the word of Christ—Eph. 3:8; Col. 3:16.

Eph. 3:8 To me, less than the least of all saints, was this grace given to announce to the Gentiles the

unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel.

Col. 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one

another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to

God.

II. The word of Christ is actually the person of Christ—v. 16; John 15:4, 7:

John 15:4 Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so

neither can you unless you abide in Me.

John 15:8 In this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and so you will become My disciples.

A. Paul almost personifies the word of Christ; he tells us to let this word dwell in us, as if it

were a living person—Col. 3:16; cf. Eph. 3:17.

Eph. 3:17 That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and

grounded in love.

B. First we have Christ as our life; then we have His living word personified as His person

dwelling in us—Col. 3:4, 16.

Col. 3:4, 16 See points 1 and 2 above.

C. Since the word of Christ can dwell in us, it must be a living person; therefore, to let the word

of Christ dwell in us indicates that we allow a living person—Christ Himself—to dwell in

us—v. 16; 1:27.

Col. 1:27 To whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the

Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

D. If we would allow Christ to make His home in our hearts, we must be filled with the word

of Christ—Eph. 3:17; John 14:23:

Eph. 3:17 See point A above.

John 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will

love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him.

1. For the Lord’s word to abide in us means that the Lord Himself abides in us—15:4, 7.

John 15:4 Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the

vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.

John 15:7 If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done

for you.

2. If Christ is to abide in us in a practical way, His words must abide in us; we cannot

have Christ in us experientially unless we have His words in us also—Col. 1:27; 3:16;

Eph. 3:17; John 14:23; 15:4, 7.

III. We need to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly—Col. 3:16:

A. The Greek word rendered “dwell” literally means to be in a house, to inhabit:

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1. This indicates that we should allow the word of Christ to dwell in us, to inhabit us, to

make home in us—v. 16.

2. The word of the Lord must have adequate room within us so that it may operate and

minister the riches of Christ into our inner being.

B. The word of Christ must dwell in us richly—v. 16:

Col. 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another

with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.

1. The riches of Christ are in His word, and when such a rich word inhabits us, it must

inhabit us richly—Eph. 3:8.

Eph. 3:8 To me, less than the least of all saints, was this grace given to announce to the Gentiles the

unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel.

2. For the word of Christ to dwell in us richly means that it inhabits us, indwells us, in a

rich way—Col. 3:16:

a. This can be illustrated by eating; when we take nourishing food into us and

assimilate it, it indwells us richly—John 6:57b.

John 6:57b So he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.

b. In like manner, for the word of Christ to dwell in us richly means that it inhabits

us in the way of nourishment and enrichment—Matt. 4:4.

Matt. 4:4 But He answered and said, It is written, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on

every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God.”

C. The word of Christ should have free course within us; the word of Christ should be given the

freedom to operate within us, inhabiting us and making home in us—Col. 3:16.

D. Instead of our culture, opinion, concept, thought, and view, we should have the word of

Christ—Matt. 7:24; 16:23-24; 24:35:

Matt. 7:24 Everyone therefore who hears these words of Mine and does them shall be likened to a prudent

man who built his house upon the rock.

Matt. 16:23 But He turned and said to Peter, Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me, for

you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.

Matt. 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and

take up his cross and follow Me.

Matt. 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall by no means pass away.

1. We might not allow the word of Christ to dwell in us nor permit it to live, move, and

act in us; as a result, what prevails in our being is our culture or philosophy, not the

word of Christ—John 8:37, 47.

John 8:37 I know that you are Abraham’s seed; but you seek to kill Me because My word has no

place in you.

John 8:47 He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because

you are not of God.

2. It is crucial that we let the word of Christ enter into us, dwell in us, and replace our

culture, concept, opinion, and philosophy—Col. 1:5; 2:8; 3:16.

Col. 1:5 Because of the hope laid up for you in the heavens, of which you heard before in the word

of the truth of the gospel.

Col. 2:8 Beware that no one carries you off as spoil through his philosophy and empty deceit,

according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not

according to Christ.

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Col. 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one

another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to

God.

E. Negatively, we must set aside our cultural standards, and positively, we need to be filled

with the word of Christ; this means that we must let the word of Christ fill our mind,

emotion, and will and allow our whole being to be permeated and saturated with the word

of Christ—vv. 10-11, 16.

Col. 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the

image of Him who created him,

Col. 3:11 Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian,

slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all.

Col. 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another

with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.

IV. Allowing the word of Christ to dwell in us richly is related to doing all things in the name

of the Lord Jesus—vv. 16-17:

Col. 3:17 And whatever you do in word or in deed, do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks

to God the Father through Him.

A. The word of Christ is actually the embodiment of Christ with all His riches; thus, to be

saturated with the word is to be infused with and permeated by the riches of Christ—Eph.

3:8, 17.

Eph. 3:8 To me, less than the least of all saints, was this grace given to announce to the Gentiles the

unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel.

Eph. 3:17 That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and

grounded in love.

B. As the word of Christ makes home in us, the Lord makes us one with Him, and

spontaneously we can do things in the name of the Lord—Col. 3:16-17:

1. If we exercise our whole being to take in the word, eventually we will be filled,

occupied, and saturated with the living word.

2. Because the word is the embodiment of the Spirit and because the Spirit is the reality

of Christ, we will automatically be filled with Christ and do all things in the name of

the Lord Jesus—John 6:63; 14:16-18; Col. 3:17.

John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to

you are spirit and are life.

John 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may be with

you forever.

John 14:18 I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.

Col. 3:17 See point IV above.

V. If we let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, we will shine as luminaries in the world,

holding forth the word of life—Phil. 2:15-16:

Phil. 2:15 That you may be blameless and guileless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked

and perverted generation, among whom you shine as luminaries in the world,

Phil. 2:16 Holding forth the word of life, so that I may have a boast in the day of Christ that I did not run in

vain nor labor in vain.

A. When we are filled with the word of life, we manifest Christ and magnify Him; this is the

way to live Christ, who Himself is the word of life with which we shine—1:20-21a; 2:15-

16.

Phil. 1:20 According to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I will be put to shame, but with

all boldness, as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or

through death.

Phil. 1:21a For to me, to live is Christ.

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B. The more we allow the word of Christ to dwell in us richly, the greater will be the

accumulation of the word within us; then spontaneously we will shine with the word of life

that we have taken into us—Col. 3:16; Phil. 2:15-16:

1. This shining will then be our holding forth, our presenting of, the word of life to others

—v. 16; Matt. 5:14-16.

Phil. 2:16 Holding forth the word of life, so that I may have a boast in the day of Christ that I did not

run in vain nor labor in vain.

Matt. 5:14 You are the light of the world. It is impossible for a city situated upon a mountain to be

hidden.

Matt. 5:15 Nor do men light a lamp and place it under the bushel, but on the lampstand; and it shines

to all who are in the house.

Matt. 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works

and glorify your Father who is in the heavens.

2. This is the proper preaching of the gospel and proclamation of the truth—Col. 1:5-6,

23; John 1:1, 14; 8:12, 32; 18:37.

Col. 1:5 Because of the hope laid up for you in the heavens, of which you heard before in the word

of the truth of the gospel,

Col. 1:6 Which has come to you, even as it is also in all the world, bearing fruit and growing, as

also in you, since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth.

Col. 1:23 If indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast and not being moved away

from the hope of the gospel, which you heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under

heaven, of which I Paul became a minister.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as

of the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality.

John 8:12 Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world; he who follows

Me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

John 8:32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

John 18:37 Pilate said therefore to Him, So then You are a king? Jesus answered, You say that I am a

king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, that I would testify

to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.

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