The Indwelling Word

‘** Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.’’ — COt. iii. 16,

First of all, let us literally carry out the Apostle’s counsel. Let us go among the words of the Lord Jesus exploring for the word. For the treasure which we are seeking is described in the singular number — it is “the word”; and the hiding-place of the word is described in the plural number, ““the words.’” The words offer us a varied field for exploration, and the object of our quest is the essential word which is hidden in their depth. To be an explorer in this field is not merely to be busy with the words, reading them with diligence, or committing them to memory. That would be as if I were to bury myself among a gathered pile of purses, feeling their material, tracing their patterns, observing the grace and novelty of their designs, and yet never opening them to find the treasure which may be hiding in the secret pocket. It would be as if I were to handle a pile of oyster shells, turning them over and over, noting their shapes and their individual lines and features, and yet never to open them in quest of a possible pearl. I am to go among the words of Christ looking for the word which is the pearl of great price.

And this cannot be done hurriedly. We cannot rush through a chapter of words, and come out of it laden with the word. It is the reward of patient and leisurely movement. I very well remember Dr. Joseph Parker advising me in my early ministry never to ‘gallop’? through the Scriptures. ‘* Go slowly, and look around!’ What do motorists see of the wayside flowers when they are scorching along at thirty or forty

14 miles an hour? And what do they hear of the songs of birds, or what do they see of the movements of the shy, graceful things which only venture out when everything is quiet and still? The “‘ word” is the surprise which is given to the soul which moves with reverent and unhasty steps. If we rush along we shall miss it.

Sometimes the word is hidden in a parable, and I am to find the living thing cradled in folds and garments of deftest imagery. And sometimes the word is concealed in words which the Master spoke to another, and I am to listen with a sort of over-listening, a kind of eager eavesdropping, to see if there is anything meant forme. Sometimes the word is veiled in a work. Some deed of the Master’s is a medium of revelation. Or it may be only a look or an attitude or a gesture — and the word I am seeking is to be found in their inner significance. Sometimes the word is conveyed in a disciple’s letter, a letter written to the Romans, or to the Ephesians, or to a few folk at Colosse or at Philippi, and I am to read it very carefully, reading also between the lines, if perchance I may find the abiding truth which is the light of the ages, and which is the lamp for the doings and goings of our own day. In all these many fields the treasure is hid, and if I am to find it the Master says I must have all my wits about me. Iam to be as alert as a merchantman. I am to be as wakeful and busy as a speculator who has found a treasure in a field and who gives himself no rest until he has made a purchase and the land is his. It is in this spirit and with this passion I am to go in search of the “word of Christ.”.

And I am to let the word of Christ “dwell”? in me. The word is not to be a transient thing, going in at one ear and out of the other, like a caller who just stays for an hour and then continues his journey. This word is to dwell with us, to settle down with us to make its home in the inner room of the soul. It is to live with us in the privacies of our being where our own word is born, and where our own words take life and shape and quality. And the word of Christ is to dwell there as a mentor, as a monitor, nay, as a creator, determining my word, and my words, and my work, and so fashioning their very virtue and expression that they will reincarnate the life and spirit of the Lord. The divine word is to dwell within me so as to make the tenant divine.

And the word is to dwell within me “richly.” It is not to be on the same level with other things, one of a fellowship of commoners who belong to the same rank. It is to be of an altogether different degree and quality. It is to be like some superb and royal presence, moving with authority and grace. The word of the Lord is to dwell in the soul with rich and rare distinction, And just because the word is so exalted, just because it is so rich and glorious it enriches everything it touches with something of its own distinction. This is the real philosopher’s stone; it transforms everything into spiritual gold. It endows everything with divine quality — our thoughts, our wishes, our affections, our purposes, our actions — it touches everything into gold.

When Charles Kingsley was first married, and set up a home, he and his wife sought out all the words in the New Testament which in any way declared the Lord’s will about masters and servants. How should they treat their servants? What should be the manner of their relationship? What said the word? And so they sought in the words and found the word, and the word of the Lord dwelt in them richly. It got into the kitchen, and it changed ordinary severities into gracious courtesies, it transformed harshness into gentleness, and cold reserves into tender and enduring intimacies. And perhaps it would be no surprise to my readers to learn that when Charles Kingsley died, all the servants in the house had lived with him through periods ranging from seventeen to twenty-six years!