The sermon preached by the Rev. Gordon Ferguson, member of the General Committee, at the 189th Annual General Meeting held on 19 September 2020.

‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly’ Colossians 3.16.

‘be filled with the Spirit’ Ephesians 5.18.

My main text is found in verse sixteen of Colossians chapter three, and particularly one little expression out of that verse, ‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly …’

Our text emphasises the importance of the Word of God. John Gill in his Exposition of the Bible on this verse says that

… the phrase presupposes that the Word had already entered into the Colossians and had a place in them through the Spirit and power of Christ. It also assumes that the Word should have a constant and fixed place there: not like a stranger or a wayfaring man that tarries but for a night, or like a sojourner that continues but for a while. It requires not only frequent reading and hearing of the Word of God but meditating upon it, as well as continuance in the doctrine of the Gospel with a steady faith in the Word of God and a hearty affection for it.

Clearly we are dealing here with a very important subject and a very important book: the most important book man has ever had or handled, or has ever had translated into his native tongue.

Before we get to the heart of our text we need to pause and we need to consider the book that is to dwell in our hearts richly or, as the word indicates, abundantly. The Word of God is to dwell in our hearts abundantly; but what is this book that is to dwell in us so abundantly?

When we think of the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament we are told in Romans 3.2 that these ‘oracles of God’ were committed to the Jewish people, and they were most meticulous in the preservation of the Scriptures of the Old Testament. In his excellent little booklet The Lord Gave the Word, the Rev. Malcolm Watts describes the care that the Masoretes, a group of Jewish scholars, took in dealing with the Old Testament. These Jewish scholars are generally credited with giving to us the vowel points that facilitate the study of the Hebrew text.

Copyists had to follow the Masoretes’ strict rules as found in the Talmud. Only the skins of clean animals were to be used. Each skin must contain the same number of columns; there could be no less than forty-eight and no more than sixty lines. Black ink was to be prepared according to a particular recipe. No word or letter was to be written from memory, and if so much as a letter was omitted or wrongly inserted, or even if one letter touched another, the whole manuscript was condemned. Even for minor errors revision of the copy had to take place within thirty days otherwise it had to be rejected.¹

Mr Watts adds, ‘A manuscript surviving this process could hardly be anything but amazingly accurate’.

What a tremendous book we have when we gather together the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament; this is to dwell in us richly; it is to dwell in us abundantly.

For the New Testament we have approximately 5,700 Greek manuscripts, some containing very small fragments and a few others all of the New Testament. The earliest of these manuscripts have been dated at about forty to sixty years after the original writings were made. In addition to the Greek manuscripts, the New Testament was very early on translated into languages such as Latin, Syriac and Coptic.

When we put all the manuscripts together we have approximately 25,000 witnesses to the text. On top of that there are multitudes of quotations from the Bible in the writings of the early church fathers and the lectionaries.

In the eighteenth century at a dinner party some gentlemen were discussing whether, if the Roman emperors had been able to wipe out the New Testament manuscripts, the text of the New Testament could be reconstructed from the writings of the second and third century apologists and polemicists. Two months later the same gentlemen were gathered together and Sir David Dalrymple set down some books on a table. He said, ‘From these and other writings, I have been able to reconstruct the entire New Testament, with the exception of eleven verses’.²

The New Testament has an abundance of manuscript evidence to support it. Compare that with the manuscript evidence for the Classics that are studied in Greek and Latin classes. Generally there are about ten to twelve manuscripts for the writings of the Classics, and the earliest of these date about a thousand years after the originals. For example, there are just ten copies of Caesar’s writings, the earliest a thousand years after the originals. There are eight copies of Herodotus, the earliest being thirteen hundred years after the originals. When compared with the Word of God you can see that the Bible is utterly unique; it is a very special book. When we come to the Bible, we are studying a book that is reliable, a book that is God-given. Indeed we are told it is God-breathed, given by inspiration of God. So we must give the utmost attention to Paul’s exhortation to let this unique book dwell in us richly.

The Word of Christ

The first thing that I want us to think about is why the Bible is called in this verse the Word of Christ. In other places the Bible is called the Holy Scriptures, the Word of God, the holy oracles, and so on, but only in this place it is called the Word of Christ. Clearly Paul is making an important point in stating it this way.

If we look at the Old Testament we find that Christ and His work are at the very centre of its message. That is why the Saviour in Luke 24.25–26 said to His companions on the Emmaus Road, ‘O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?’ and Luke adds in verse 27, ‘And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself’. The writings of Moses are the first five books of the Bible; the prophets include all of the rest of the Old Testament. From the Old Testament Christ expounded to His companions the things concerning Himself. A similar exposition was given to the surviving apostles, as recorded later in the same chapter of Luke.

The New Testament opens with these words, ‘The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham’. Mark’s first verse says, ‘The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God’. In the first chapter of both Luke’s Gospel and John’s Gospel we are introduced to Christ. In Acts Luke opens with these words, ‘The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up’. Luke here refers back to what he has written about Christ and then goes on to speak of what was done through the apostles of Christ as they were filled with the Spirit of God. It is all about Christ.

In the remainder of the New Testament the doctrines of the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ are set before us. Then we come to the last book and there we find our Saviour seated on the Great White Throne of Judgment, which is followed by the creation of the New Heavens and the New Earth.

So as we look at the Word of God we find that it centres on Jesus Christ: His Person, and His work.

There is another reason why the Old Testament is called the Word of Christ: it is the book that Christ Himself preached from. In Matthew 5.18 we hear His words, ‘For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled’. Christ regarded even these tiny Hebrew details of the Old Testament as essential. Additionally He said in John 10.35, ‘the scripture cannot be broken’; He believed in the plenary verbal inspiration of the Scriptures—in Jesus’s day, the Old Testament from which He preached.

Thus if we take Christ out of the Bible, we have no Bible: no Word, no salvation, no Saviour, no cross, no precious blood to cleanse us from our sins. When we read what Paul has to say, ‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly’, we realise how important Christ, our Saviour, the Son of God is to our souls and how vital He is to the Word of God itself.

That should cause us to fall down at His feet and worship Him. If you are a child of God, you should be saying, ‘Thank God for the Saviour; thank God for the book that reveals the Saviour to us’. But if you know not Christ as Saviour, you must realise that without Him there is no hope for your soul. He Himself said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me’ (John 14.6).

Think about Christ; think about how important He is and then think of this precious book that reveals Him to us and shows us our need of Him, and how He is able to satisfy the deepest needs of our soul.

Filled with the Word of God

The second point I want to make is this: we must seek to know what it is to be filled with the Word of God. C. H. Spurgeon, the great Baptist preacher, said of John Bunyan, ‘Prick him anywhere; his blood is Bibline’.³ What he was really saying was that John Bunyan was saturated with the Word of God. That is why he was such a mighty man of God, why he was so greatly used by God to the salvation of souls, to the building up of God’s people and to the extension of God’s kingdom.

But in practical terms what does it mean to have the Word of Christ dwelling in us richly?

Obviously we need to read it every single day. To help with this, it is good to have a reading plan. Robert Murray M’Cheyne’s plan, extended over two years, is probably the best that we have. It is found in TBS’s ‘Bible Word List and Reading Plan’ (available online at tbsbibles.org/bwl2) and at the back of many of our Bibles. It enables the reader to read through the entire Bible over two years, with the New Testament and the book of Psalms covered twice during that period.

Of course reading alone is not sufficient. We need to try to understand what we read. The words of Philip the evangelist to the Ethiopian eunuch are very relevant here: ‘Understandest thou what thou readest?’ and the reply of the Ethiopian was ‘How can I, except some man should guide me?’ (Acts 8.30–31). It is no good reading vast portions of the Bible if we do not grasp the meaning of what we are reading. Good commentaries may help here, if used with discernment.

But something else is fundamental to an understanding of the Scriptures: the theology of the Bible. I can think of no better summary of Christian doctrine than the Shorter Catechism of the seventeenth century Westminster Assembly. It was said that, in days gone by, Scottish children were reared on porridge and the Shorter Catechism. The Catechism provides a foundation for the Spirit of God, Who is like the wind, to blow upon the heart of the person who has been taught it; and when that person is saved they can grasp the theology of the Scriptures. It is important to read good theology, to understand the truth that is set out in the Word of God.

In addition to reading the Scriptures, we should meditate upon them. The blessed man of Psalm 1 meditates in the law of God day and night. And we should memorise it. One wonderful thing about the Authorised Version is that it’s easiest of all to memorise. If you stick to the Authorised Version just for that reason you will find it will get into your heart, and into your soul, and into your mind.

Thinking of memorising brings Haralan Popov to mind. He spent over thirteen years in prison in Bulgaria under Communist persecution. While he was there a fellow prisoner found a copy of the New Testament. Before that was confiscated Popov had memorised forty-seven chapters, including all of Ephesians and all of 1 Peter. When he did not have the physical Word in his possession, he had the memorised Word in his heart; and as a result he was able to help those who were believers, he was able to instruct those who were not saved, and he was able to lead many of them to faith in Jesus Christ.

We must by all means seek to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly; that is what God requires of us. It will not only please God, it will also bring us great joy. What a blessing to know the Scriptures, to love the Scriptures, to feast our souls on the Scriptures. It will bring us great joy, but it will also be of immense benefit in our witness for our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Filled with the Spirit: a Parallel with Ephesians 5

My third point is this: the Word will not dwell in us richly if we are not filled with the Spirit of God. There is a notable comparison between our text and the latter part of Ephesians 5.18, ‘… be filled with the Spirit’. The next verse in Ephesians 5 says, ‘speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord’. The verses that follow speak of different aspects of our lives—the wife, the husband, the parents, the children, the servants

In the verse following our text in Colossians 3, where the Bible says, ‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly …’ there are these words, ‘teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord’; then after some exhortation the passage deals with wives, husbands, parents, children, masters, servants. Comparing the two passages shows that what flows from being filled with the Holy Spirit is very similar to what flows from the Word of Christ dwelling in us richly.

From here we can go to 2 Peter 1.21 which tells us that the prophecy—the Word of God itself— ‘… came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost’. There is thus a harmony such as you would expect between the Word of Christ and the working of the Spirit of God.

We can have no confidence in those who claim to be filled with the Spirit of God but speak contrary to the Word of God. The Holy Spirit is the author of Scripture and He never speaks contrary to His Word. So if I am to have the Word of Christ dwelling in me richly, I need to be filled with the Spirit of God.

In order to be filled with the Spirit we need to ask God to fill us. Christ said in Luke 11.13, ‘If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?’ We need to ask every day to be filled with the Spirit.

That promise of Christ’s is set in the context of daily praying. What we sometimes call the Lord’s Prayer is what is found at the commencement of Luke 11, and in that prayer Christ taught His disciples what things to pray about on a daily basis. In verse 3, He says, ‘Give us day by day’—or the margin says ‘for the day’—‘our daily bread’. As we need daily food so we also need a daily infilling of the Holy Spirit. Indeed ‘be filled’ in Ephesians 5.18 is in the Greek in the present imperative, and is an order to keep being filled. Be filled with the Spirit today; be filled with the Spirit tomorrow; be filled with the Spirit the next day: we need constantly, continually, to be filled with the Spirit of God.

But there is a condition that we should not overlook. In Acts 5.32 Peter and John spoke about the witness that they bore to the sufferings, and death and resurrection of Christ. They said there was another witness; they added: ‘And so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him’. We ask, but we must ask in submission, in surrender to the will of God. There is no point in asking for the Spirit of God to fill us if we then intend to disobey Him. You cannot ask for His Holy Spirit to fill you unless you are willing to surrender your heart, your life, your all to Jesus Christ. Therefore these two things go together: the infilling of the Spirit and the Word of Christ dwelling in us richly.

Where the Word of Christ dwells in us richly, the influence on us will be profound; a tremendous impact will be made upon our lives.

Concentrating for the moment on Ephesians 5.18 and following, notice that the first word after the word ‘Spirit’ is ‘speaking’, ending in the letters ‘ing’. After ‘speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs’ is another ‘ing’ word: ‘singing’. Then in verse 20 comes ‘giving’, and verse 21 ‘submitting’. These words are what we call participles and are linked to a main verb to form a complete sentence. If they stand on their own they do not make sense; they do not make a complete sentence. Here the ‘ing’ words are linked to ‘Be filled’.

So we need to be filled, and that will have a profound effect upon our lives, our attitudes, our behaviour, how we react to our loved ones, how we work in the place of employment; and how we battle against the devil and the powers of Hell and darkness.

When the Word of Christ dwells in us richly and we are filled with the Spirit, we will have a positive and cheerful disposition. We will be speaking to ourselves and one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in our hearts to the Lord.

Some Christians have a sour disposition But Christians with the Word dwelling in them richly will be like those mentioned in Malachi 3, during a time of apostasy, of questioning of God. What we find is that ‘… they that feared the LORD spake often one to another’ (verse 16): they were talking about the things of God to one another, encouraging one another in the things of God, discussing the Word of God, meditating upon those things that are most precious and most blessed. And the Bible says that the Lord hearkened: He listened intently and heard. He said, ‘… they shall be mine … in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him’ (verse 17). God is well pleased when our hearts are right and we are feasting upon the Word of God, encouraging one another with the Word of God, and psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Th e singing of psalms and hymns and spiritual songs indicates to us a right frame of spirit and is glorifying to God. But in order for that to take place the Word of Christ needs to dwell in us richly; we need constantly, day by day, to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Next we see gratitude. Ephesians 5.20 says, ‘giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father’. Christ remonstrated about the nine lepers He had cleansed because they had not come back to give glory to God; it grieved His heart. Surely the Lord must be grieved with us on many occasions; when we fail to express gratitude for all His blessings, for all His kindness. Jeremiah 31.3 says, ‘Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love’. We should, on our knees in the morning, thank God for that love. He loved me in eternity past; He has always loved me; He loves me now; He will always love me. ‘Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love’.

If you are His child, can you not thank God for such love? And even if you are not saved, can you not thank Him for His mercy that you are still in the day of grace, that you still have opportunity to call upon His name? Yes, we should be giving thanks: giving thanks unto God and the Father; giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5.21 continues the theme with ‘submitting yourselves one to another’. In this there is humility. This is another effect of the Word dwelling in us richly, and of being filled, day by day, with the Holy Spirit. Charles Dickens in his book David Copperfield introduces us to a rather slimy character called Uriah Heep, a thoroughgoing hypocrite who feigned humility. He would wring his clammy hands and say, ‘I’m an ’umble man, Master Copperfield’. But he was not humble. True humility is a work of the Spirit of God as He reveals to us what we are like through the inspired Word of God. When Winston Churchill was told that Clement Attlee was a modest man, he said, ‘No doubt he is, and Mr Attlee has plenty to be modest about’. The same and far more might be said about each one of us; only the conviction of the Word and the power of the Spirit will convince us of that fact.

In Ezekiel 36.31 we read of a time of the Spirit of God being poured out. One of the effects it has is that you ‘shall lothe yourselves’. We are very good at loathing other people. But when the Spirit of God comes down it is not other people we loathe; we loathe ourselves. We see ourselves as we really are: vile and sinful; full of sin and depravity. And only by the grace of God can we be made fit for Heaven above. The last ‘ing’ word in Ephesians 5.21 is ‘submitting’. Interestingly, the next verse also includes the word ‘submit’, displaying the link that is running through these verses. ‘Submitting yourselves one to another’, ‘wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands’. There is submission; the leadership in the home is given to the husband. Then we find the husband told to love his wife. The wife is to submit to the husband and the husband is to love his wife, so it is important that husbands and wives who are Christians be spiritually-minded. They need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and with the Word of God. Husbands need to be spiritual to enable them to be loving leaders in the home, commanding the respect of their wives and of their children. It is wrong for husbands to expect their wives to do as they require, while they themselves are not walking with God, because that makes a man something of a tyrant.

When George Whitefield saw the beautiful spiritual atmosphere in the home of Jonathan Edwards he desired marriage for himself. What a testimony that was to Jonathan Edwards and to his wife and family. This was a home where the presence of God was real; the wife was walking with God and the husband was walking with God, and the children were trained up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

At the beginning of Ephesians 6 we are still in the home, continuing with the responsibility of parents and children. As fathers are specifically mentioned, it is clear that the primary responsibility for the training and discipline of the children lies with them. There again is the need for the Christian to be Spirit-filled, with the Word of Christ dwelling in him or her richly. We cannot be good fathers or mothers if we are not walking with God. We cannot be good parents if we are not filled with the Spirit of God daily, if the Word of Christ is not saturating our being. O, that we might be filled with the Word of God! O, that it might dwell in us richly, and O, that the Spirit of God might come upon us day by day and fill us.

Now notice two things about the children: I believe these are Christian children that are being addressed here because the Epistle to the Ephesians is addressed to the people of God. The children are told to obey their parents before anything is said about their parents’ responsibilities towards them. Children ought not to rule the roost in Christian homes. There is such a focus on children today, and the rights of children and almost the power of children. But very little is said about the responsibilities of children. All the privileges are there, but not the responsibilities; the two things must go hand-in-hand. Children need the richly indwelling Word and the mighty infilling of the Spirit to enable them to serve God acceptably and to honour their parents. What a beautiful thing, when you see a God-fearing family!

I have mentioned the home of Jonathan Edwards: that should be a model for us. We might think of another family: John the Baptist’s. It is a family of three. We have the father, Zacharias, filled with the Holy Spirit. We have the mother, Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit. And we have the son, John the Baptist; the mightiest of the Old Testament prophets, filled with the Holy Spirit. Would it not be tremendous if all Christian parents and their children were day-by-day filled with the Spirit of God, and the Word of Christ dwelt in them richly!

Then we have the relationship between employers and employees set before us in Ephesians 6.5–9. When masters and servants are referred to there is an analogy for present day working relationships. We want to add that slavery is totally repugnant, and many slaves in days gone by were treated most disgracefully and most cruelly by their masters. We salute the memory of those who fought to abolish the slave trade.

Coming back to the employer/employee relationship, we see the need again for the indwelling Word and Spirit, so that each may act in a God-glorifying way to one another. The employee does not think of the wages if he is walking with God. He does not think of whether the employer is watching him, because the eye of Christ is upon him. He is doing his work for the Lord; he puts everything into it. If he were earning a hundred or even a thousand times more, it would make no difference. If he is walking with God he will do his work with all his heart. He will not be a man-pleaser; he will do it for the glory of God and as a witness to Jesus Christ his Saviour.

Then the master: if he is a child of God, he needs the power of God to treat his employees fairly. He is not to be harsh; he is not to be severe; he is not to shortchange them of their wages; he is to treat them as he would wish to be treated if he were the employee. He is to remember that the eye of the Lord rests upon him. In order to succeed as employers and employees we need the Spirit of God; we need the power of the Word of God working in our lives.

In Ephesians 6.10–17 we are introduced to the great conflict between the church and the powers of Hell and darkness. We need to take on the whole armour of God, but we need especially the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.

The final section, verses 17–20, deals with prayer. From Ephesians 5.19 onwards what is stated hinges on being filled with the Spirit. Verse 18 of chapter 6 brings in another ‘ing’ word: ‘praying always with all prayer and supplication’; notice particularly the next three words: ‘in the Spirit’. This ‘ing’ word and the Spirit are tied together. There is this golden thread running through the entire passage from Ephesians 5.18 right through to Ephesians 6.20. The whole passage hinges on being filled with the Spirit, and the Word of Christ dwelling in us richly. If we are to pray successfully we need the infilling of God’s Spirit; we need the Word of God to guide us.

In what’s called the Lord’s Prayer in Luke 11 you have all the different items that we should pray for. We may pray that prayer through since it is a pattern for us, and we can mould our petitions around it. One of our ministers many years ago said that when he was having a hard time praying he would take the Lord’s Prayer and very carefully and thoughtfully meditate and pray over each section. He almost invariably found before he had finished that his heart was melted and he was in the very presence of God.

You and I can meditate upon the Word of God. We can meditate on what Christ has told us to think about: the glory of God, our daily needs, our need for forgiveness, our need for sustenance, our need to forgive others, our need to be helped in the midst of temptation. We can bring those matters before God, concluding by acknowledging the prayer as found in Matthew 6, ‘Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen’.

Conclusion

Does not all that we have seen show our absolute dependence on the Word of God and on the Spirit of God? Christ said to His disciples in John 15.5, ‘Without me ye can do nothing’. Paul said in Philippians 3.3, ‘… we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh’. No confidence in the flesh: we need God. If you are a child of God you need Him every day, you need Him every hour. You and I need the Lord every day; we need Him every hour. We need His Spirit; we need His Word to fill our hearts, to fill our lives.

But of course if you are not saved, if you have never repented, you are a sinner lost and guilty, on your way to Hell. You need the Saviour. You need to call upon Him. And if you do call He has promised in Romans 10.13, ‘For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved’.

You might say, ‘But what if He would turn me away? Would I be accepted?’ John 6.37 says, ‘All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out’. In the Greek ‘in no wise’ contains a double-negative. This makes a very strong positive; in English the negatives would cancel each other out but in Greek it makes the negation stronger: in no way will Christ refuse the person who comes to Him. It is a cast-iron guarantee. Seek Him today.

I conclude by quoting our text, and the parallel verse in Ephesians, ‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly’ … ‘be filled with the Spirit’.

Slightly edited for publication. Last edited 27 August 2024. 

Endnotes

1. M. Watts, The Lord Gave the Word (London, England: TBS, 1998), p. 10.

2. The Eclectic Review MDCCCXLI July to December, vol. 10 (London: Jackson & Walford, 1841), p. 337.

3. Spurgeon, Autobiography 4:268, see www.princeofpreachers.org/ uploads/4/8/6/5/48652749/chs_ autobiography_vol_4.pdf, p. 292.

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