The Reasons Christ’s Word Must Indwell Us
Christ the Word Who Indwells the House
The Bible teaches us that we are Christ’s house, his living temple (1 Cor. 3:9-11; Heb. 3:6). His house is his dwelling place, where he lives with us by his word and Spirit. The Holy Spirit quickens our dead hearts so that we can “receive with meekness the engrafted word that is able to save our souls” (James 1:21). Christ’s word is so important because it is his name, who he is, and what he does. His word is the way we know him, partake of his saving work, and walk in his Spirit. “And he was clothed with a garment dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God” (Rev. 19:13). “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1). The Son of God is the Word of God, the Word of the Father, a speaking Savior, the wisdom and righteousness of God (John 3:34; 6:68). Thus, we are to let his word dwell richly in us, for this is who Jesus Christ is: the Word who indwells his house. The more we hear his gospel, listen to Christ preaching to us through his humble ministers, and abide in his word, the more we shall know of his power and grace in our lives. He is present this morning, indwelling this little corner of his house, to speak to us. The Spirit takes the word and pours heavenly light into our minds and God’s love into our hearts. To be the house and building of Jesus Christ should thrill and fill us with expectation!
Christ the Master Who Rules the House
This command to be indwelled by Christ’s word is another way of saying what our Lord so often and beautifully said – that he is our Master and Lord. His house, church, or people are not free to build or decorate his house according to their desires. His word rules his house. His word, He, must be more than an occasional visitor and certainly not a stranger. Since this is his house, we must pay the most careful heed to his word preached to us. It is our Master’s word. Remember who is speaking – Christ our Master, Christ the living Word. “To whom else shall we go? You have the words of eternal life!” Every living stone in Christ’s house has heard his Master’s voice. The Spirit has written the word upon his heart with the finger of God (2 Cor. 3:3).
We are people of the holy Bible, not holy because it has a leather cover and special paper but because it is Christ’s own voice speaking to us (1 Cor. 14:38). We must ask the Lord, therefore, as his apostle wrote, to “give us the love of the truth that we might be saved” (2 Thess. 2:10). He saves us by quickening our dead hearts to love his word. His word is the source of the new man’s life and fruit, the unity of the church, and of our faith that overcomes the world and endures to the end, that we might be saved. We must not be strangers to our Master’s word, enemies of it by our disobedience, afraid to defend it because of the world’s hatred, or careless in our handling of it. He comes with the Father and makes his dwelling place with us as we receive his word and obey it (John 14:21-23). If we want to know Jesus Christ more, to see more of his works in our lives and families, and nations, we must be ruled by his word. It is must indwell us, conquer our wills, rule our thoughts, and captivate our imagination. His word is living and powerful. It will do all these things and more, for his word raised Lazarus from the dead and calmed the seas. It will do the same in us and for us.
Christ the Life Who Builds the House
One glorious reason to be indwelled by Christ’s word is the life-giving power of his word. At the same time, as we learn in the Gospels, he works most where there is faith in his word – not despair and doubt, or worldly, cold hearts. It is his word by the Spirit’s working that produces the new man and his fruits. Christ’s word overcomes our lusts and builds purity in his house. His word overcomes anger and wrath and replaces them with peace and longsuffering. His word is the life of his house, because he is. His word is not about mastering doctrines or having Christian ideas floating around in our heads. It is to be ruled by Christ, so that we can have the life of Christ – all his saving grace, his gifts and graces throughout the body, his joy and peace (John 15:9-11). There is no life elsewhere. Our Savior told us that he is “building his church” (Matt. 16:18), and that we are his living temple. How will we grow? By his word indwelling us richly, fully, as a great treasure in which we delight. This is the reason we must hear his word preached, love his word, hide it in our hearts, read and treasure it, since he has so graciously given us our own copies! Christ Jesus builds his house by his word – as we hear and obey, as he himself teaches us (John 14:21-23). His house will grow – we will grow as his house – to the degree that his word indwells us. Ours is not a faith of what we can do, what our wishes are, and what our strength can accomplish. It is all about the word of Christ, for our faith is all about Christ. He must be preeminent – not man’s opinions, wishes, dreams and delusions. His word is our life. Whatever you need, come to him and ask him to teach you by his Word and Spirit. His word is living and powerful.
The Way Christ’s Word Indwells Us
In All Wisdom – to Form Godliness
Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God. His indwelling word forms wisdom in us. His word indwells us when we reverence and obey Him. Wisdom is concrete. Wisdom is the practical application of God’s truth to our lives so that we obey him. Wisdom is the father who corrects his child without anger, the mother who nurtures without controlling. Wisdom is the older believer’s patient waiting for the great transition to glory, still bearing fruit as the outward man perishes – all because of Christ’s word ruling the mind, driving away dark, fearful thoughts. Wisdom “is the principle thing” (Prov. 4:7), and “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in Christ” (Col. 2:8). Thus, the more his word indwells us, the more our lives will look like our Lord. The early believers needed wisdom. They lived in a very secular, very pluralistic society. How do we serve Christ in it? His word teaches this wisdom. How do we raise our children to fear the Lord when immorality is open and common? His word must dwell in us in all wisdom. Our Lord will teach us. I do not think we take this seriously. We do not have to come up with the answers to life out of our own heads and reasoning. Jesus Christ is our teacher. The Spirit uses the Word to transform our thinking so that we “may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2). How settling this is! The Lord does not expect us to figure everything out and live in our own heads. He will be our guide and teacher. If we would have this incredible privilege, we must do as he says, and be indwelled by his word.
Teaching and Admonishing One Another – To Build up Christ’s House
The indwelling word in all wisdom has two added descriptions. The first is that we are to teach and admonish one another. All need the instruction of the word, and all are instructors in that word. The Lord Jesus has given pastors and teachers as gifts to the church, to instruct in the word, administer Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and provide spiritual shepherding for his flock. And yet, since we are all to be indwelled by Christ’s word, we have a duty as brothers and sisters to teach one another. This assumes that each of us is learning from Christ in his word. Christ polishes all his living stones with the oil of his word. Admonish means to warn, exhort, and confront. Admonishment is related to Christ’s word, especially his gospel. We are to continue teaching one another about the person and work of Christ. As his word grows in our hearts and fills us with wisdom, we “cannot but speak the things we have seen and heard.” And by identifying as Christ’s disciples, we have committed to giving and receiving admonishment from one another from the word. All need warnings and encouragements to hold fast to Christ. Each of us needs confrontation to set our affections upon Christ and his heavenly kingdom, not to become obsessed with life here and now so that Christ’s word is choked from our hearts, his light from our minds, and his love from our affections.
Singing with Grace in our Hearts – To Glorify the Lord
Christ’s word in the heart means that we sing. Even our teaching and admonishing are connected to our singing – that our hearts overflow in praise to God; that our songs are rich in Bible content, sound in doctrine, and God-centered. Our singing is a way we communicate praise to God and encouragement to one another to hold fast to Christ. Only Christians have a reason to sing! A psalm is a song of praise, usually set to music. In the early days of the church, the Holy Spirit was giving new music to the church (1 Cor. 14:26) to celebrate the new age of redemption. Psalm need not refer to the Old Testament psalter directly, though it would include it, and certainly does not restrict new covenant singing to the old covenant shadows. Hymns are songs that celebrate the mighty works of Jesus Christ. Spiritual songs are odes or songs that are spiritual – this does not mean inspired, but under the guidance of the Holy Spirit through the word. Most of the treasured hymns and songs of the church are inspired in this sense – that they are filled with Bible ideas and words, the praise of the triune God, and centered upon the person and work of Jesus Christ. And these songs are to be sung with thanksgiving or grace in the heart to the Lord. He wants no perfunctory singing, no mindless singing, but singing from the heart. Our singing is the new man singing back to the living Savior, who sings hymns to his Father in the midst of his church (Heb. 2:12). We sing back with the melody of thanksgiving in our hearts. From where does such singing come? From Christ’s indwelling word. It heals our muteness and fills our hearts with praise.
The Duty of Christ’s Word Indwelling Us
By Bringing Our Thoughts Captive to Him
Wisdom – Singing – Edification – we have so many incentives to let Christ’s word dwell in us. Here is one more – it is a command. Perhaps we hesitate to think of a spiritual duty as a command. The Lord knows who we are, who he is and what he has done for us, and what we need. He knows that we must have his word, or we have no life in us. Thus, Christ’s indwelling word must first drive away our self-focused thinking and set up the thoughts of God in Christ as supreme in our thinking. He is always impressing this upon us – Old and New Testaments, young and old (1 John 2:14). If we are to bear fruit, we must be thinking about his word, turning it over in our thoughts, praying his promises back to him, and seeking his strength to be faithful to obey his will. All our thoughts must be brought in subjection to Christ, the living Word (2 Cor. 10:5). Does a lustful thought try to beat down the door of purity? An anxious thought? A daydream about earthly success? Fight it with the word of Christ. Sin’s attractions and deceptiveness must be faced and fought first in our thoughts. What we think about should be chiefly Christ Jesus our Lord – who he is; what he is doing for us at this moment in heaven; what we shall be doing when we are with him; what intense joy and rapture the saints triumphant already are having with him, and the usefulness and strength they now possess. Christ’s indwelling word must first conquer our thoughts. The will and affections cannot serve Christ unless his word indwells our minds.
By Abiding in his Word Day and Night
We must be intentional about our thinking. Have some portion of Christ’s word that you are memorizing and meditating upon, praying over, and applying to your life. Many modern psychoses are the fruit of too much time in our own thoughts and too little time in the light of Christ’s word! Little do we think that having such a treasure as the Bible in our hands means that our Savior will speak to us constantly! The Spirit teaches us as we think on God’s word. To do this means, first, that we should have basic sections of Christ’s word in our hearts: his Sermon on the Mount, Upper Room Discourse, and John 6 and 11 come to mind. The letters of the New Testament will give you sufficient food for thoughts to feed you along your pilgrim path or give you light and hope in the dungeon of affliction. Young men and women, your wisdom and therefore your future depend upon being taught constantly by Jesus Christ. He will save you from your worst sins, and he saves through his abiding word. When he said, in John 15, for his word to abide in us, first, he means that it must remain, indwell, be our constant guide. Think of what he said to the devil – I do not need bread three times a day nearly as much as I need my Father’s word – make this your model! Second, he was quick to say that this is the way he abides with us and strengthens us (John 15:7). His abiding, powerful word will make us very fruitful (John 15:8)!
By Obeying His Word
If you are unsure where to begin, ask a believer who shows the fruit of Christ’s indwelling word: love, joy, and peace. You will know them by their fruits – in their words and thoughts, looking more like the new man and less like the old, and obeying. Christ’s word indwells us when we obey. “Why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and do not do the things which I say” (Luke 6:46)? There is a kind of formal allegiance to the word that stops short of it indwelling us – even as there is a cultural Christianity that is not a real Christianity. A form of godliness without power is not godliness at all. This is one reason we must give careful attention to his word preached. It is a special means of grace our Lord has ordained to feed his sheep and to test us. It is the time we are gathered to hear his voice. When we gather for worship, he proclaims the name of his Father to us (Heb. 2:12). We must listen attentively to the voice of our Master through his servants. This has nothing to do with the talent or preeminence of Christ’s pastors and teachers; it has everything to do with the living presence of Christ in his preached word.
By Fellowship/Communion with Our Savior
The new man is the glorious image of Jesus Christ formed in us. We do not produce him. His fruits and talents and service are all from union with Jesus Christ. He indwells us by his Spirit; he indwells us by his Word. This is an amazing grace! How Abraham longed for the day in which we live! All the saints have had the same longing – to have fellowship with our Savior, his strength and life in us, and much greater clarity that “it is not we who live, but Christ who lives in us.” Do we face a hard duty? Commune with Christ in his word. Do we have relational difficulties at work or in our families? Let Christ’s word dwell in us. He has all the wisdom we need, all the new thinking and new life we need. We must seek it from him. We must not tell him what we think we need, or how the narrative should go. Let Jesus Christ be Himself in us, by his Word, forming us in his image and writing his story. Give the reins of your life to him. He is the Wisdom of God. He is the Word of God’s love to us.
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