It’s the “Year of the Word” at Teays Valley Church of God where our emphasis is on daily Bible reading. “Word” is going to stand for “Work on reading daily.” In addition to regular Bible reading, I want to encourage you to memorize Scripture, to pray the Word, and to share the Word with others. Bringing a physical copy of your Bible to church removes the temptation to scroll the internet when the Word is being delivered. It also gives you the ability to underline verses and to write in the margins if you feel led. If you weren’t here last Sunday, be sure to grab a “Year of the Word” bookmark off the Welcome Desk. There are Scriptures on the back of it, and anyone who memorizes those Scriptures and can recite the two I might ask for before or after church on January 26th will receive a special prize. It’s just a fun way to motivate us to hide God’s Word in our hearts!
Colossians 3:16-17 ESV 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
What does it mean to let Christ’s Word dwell in us richly? Let’s first look at the word, “dwell.” Adam Clarke’s commentary says that the word, “dwell” is a reference to the Shekinah glory of God that would fill the Old Testament Tabernacle and the first Temple that Israel built. God’s presence would literally infiltrate and penetrate and take up residence in those spaces. Here, the Apostle Paul is saying we need to let the Word of God have that kind of permeance and presence in our lives. It needs to fill us completely and supremely. Every area of our life should be informed by and shaped by the Word of God. That’s what it means for the Word to dwell in us richly.
Paul is helping us see that we are not only containers for the presence of God, but we can also be containers for the Word of God. You want to be filled with the Word of God. The Word of God, when released in faith will produce supernatural results in your life and in the lives of the people you come into contact with. God created everything that has been created by His Word! Nothing can stop the Word of God.
Look at Isaiah 55:10-11-10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
When rain and snow fall, they saturate everything. They cover everything, and as they do, they water the earth which causes a harvest to come. The Prophet Isaiah says the Word of God does the very same. You absolutely want to be filled with that which will create a harvest in your life! Come on, somebody! I said, you want to take in that which will create blessing and abundance and new life in your life. Take in the Word. Ingest the seed of the Word. Water the Word by meditating on it. Let it dwell in you, and it will produce something in you and for you that you could never take credit for.
In the Parable of the Sower in Luke 8, Jesus told a story about seed being scattered in several places. He said a farmer scattered seed along a path where it was trampled by people walking on it. He scattered seed along the rocks where there was no moisture for it to take root and grow. Some of the seed fell among thorns where it was choked out. And some seed fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.
The disciples often needed Jesus to explain the parables He told, so they asked Jesus what it meant. He explained in Luke 8:11 that the seed represented the Word of God. You want to experience a hundredfold harvest? Feed yourself the seed of the Word and be good soil. Don’t read the Word in doubt. Don’t read the Word while cherishing sin in your heart. Don’t read the Word with a casual, “so what” desire. Don’t read the Word without a desire to be changed by it. Instead, ingest it, and digest it. Don’t resist it and protest it. Let it rest in you and take root in you, and you won’t be able to stop what’s coming! That’s the power of the Word of God!
Feed on the Seed that leads to the Harvest! Let the Word of God dwell in your richly.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom
If you want wisdom for life, for decision-making, for next steps, wisdom on how to please God, get into the Word. We see here that a by-product of allowing God’s Word to dwell in you richly is that you gain wisdom. Let me attempt a definition of wisdom. Wisdom is the supernatural capacity to understand life from God’s perspective. You may have the capacity to look at a situation, to study facts, to put pieces together, to draw conclusions, but there is an end to what we can know and process given our finite brains. Wisdom is a gift from God, James 1:5. It comes when we seek to know and understand what God’s will, what God’s wisdom is.
All throughout the book of Proverbs, the writer, King Solomon, encourages us to seek wisdom (Proverbs 4:5). He says that those who get wisdom are those who love life, Proverbs 19:8. He even says that gaining wisdom is better than gaining gold (16:16). Near the end of Proverbs 8 he says that those who get wisdom also find life and receive favor from the Lord. If you want to develop wisdom in your life, wisdom that becomes priceless and leads to life and favor, become a person who lets the Word dwell in you richly. The Word is the way to wisdom.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom
You’re going to get your best advice from people who know and love the Word of God. You will find them to be people with the right character, people whose words can be trusted because their hearts and minds have been shaped by the principles of the Word.
When you receive the wisdom of the Word, you become someone who can wisely teach and admonish other people. If you want to be an awesome mentor to your children, if you want to be a great confident for your co-worker, if you want to be a help to people who are confused and who need answers for life, let the Word of God dwell in your richly!
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
So, the Word is the way to wisdom. Second, I would say to you that the Word will lead you to worship.
The more you know about God and His ways, the more your heart will be grateful for His intervention and involvement in your life. You won’t be able to help yourself. Worship will just start spilling out of you. The thanksgiving in your heart for God’s activity in the world and in His people’s lives will start to overflow from your heart and out through your mouth. You’ll lift your hands in celebration. You’ll bow your knees in adoration. You’ll sing His praise. Your eyes might even leak! Anyone know what I’m talking about? The indwelling Word will lead you to worship.
Look at Nehemiah 8:5-6: 5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. 6 And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
Are you picturing what happened? Ezra read the Word, and it thrilled the people so much they started saying, “Amen, Amen” out loud. They were lifting up their hands. They were bowing their heads. They were worshiping with their faces to the ground. The Word elicited spontaneous and deep worship from them.
Do you know what that says to me? They were receiving the Word as if it was God speaking to them. They weren’t distracted as the Word was being delivered. They weren’t waiting for the Word to finish so they could beat the Baptists to Bob Evans. They were enveloped by the Word. They were arrested by the Word. The Word led them to worship. There was revelation from God through the Word, and then there was a genuine worship response by the people of God. When we share Scripture together, whether in song or by reciting it as a congregation, when you see Scriptures on the screen, when you have them explained in a message, receive those words as if God was speaking to you because that is what is happening. Can we participate in the Word with the desire to respond in worship? When I read my sermon text, can you say in your heart or even with your mouth, “God, thank you for your Word. I worship You because You are the supreme authority. Your Word is life, and I’m thrilled to have life because of You! I honor You and receive Your Word as help for my need in this moment?”
Wouldn’t it be incredible if after I read our text before each sermon if be all broke out in spontaneous worship with shouts of “Amen” and praise to our Lord? What would God think it we just started applauding His Word? It happened in Ezra’s day!
Look at this passage from Psalm 106 that recounts the Exodus: “They believed his words (and) they sang His praise.” Psalm 106:12 When you believe what is revealed about God in Scripture, you won’t be able to keep from praising Him! You’ll start praising Him just for Who He is.
Listen, God is more than able to accomplish anything that concerns you today. He is abounding in love and faithfulness. He is our Advocate, our All in All, the Almighty One, the Ancient of Days, the Anointed One, the Alpha and Omega, the Architect of the Universe, our Advocate, the Atoning Sacrifice for our Sins, the Author and Perfector of our Faith, our Avenger, and He is Awesome. I’m not even to the letter “B” yet. Can someone praise the Lord with me?
Friends, He is our Banner, He is the Bread of Life, He is the Breath of the Almighty, He is our Bridegroom, and He is the Bright and Morning Star. If those revelations don’t move you to praise, how about the fact that He is Our Confidence, He is the Consolation of Israel, He is compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, He is an All-Consuming Fire, He is the Creator and as the Victor, He wears the everlasting Crown?
Not thrilled yet? Can you rejoice over the reality that He is our Defender, our Deliverer and our Dwelling Place! Come on, somebody! He is the Everlasting Father. He is the Ever-Present help, the Eternal and Everlasting One, and He is highly Exalted! Oh, Magnify the Lord with me! Let us exalt His name together!
Jesus is the Faithful and True God. He is familiar with our suffering. He is a Father to the Fatherless. He is the Firstborn over all creation. He is a Mighty Fortress. He is the Foundation for life and the Fountain of Life. He is a Friend who sticks closer than a brother. This is the One who knows my name, knows my need, hears my prayers, walks in front of me to protect me and clear my path, walks beside me to hold me up, and walks behind me to hem me in from all danger. Are there any worshipers in the house this morning?
Y’all, we haven’t even scratched the surface regarding Who God is! As you read the Word and let it dwell in you richly, start rejoicing that because He is all-powerful and keeps His promises and has your best interest at heart. He is doing something now to bless you in the future, and that should cause a shout to rise up from within you. He has either delivered you from something, is carrying you through something or is taking you somewhere that will bless your life.
Those who let the Word of God dwell in them richly are going to become people of passionate and sincere worship. The Word of God will lead you to worship. Have you ever considered that you honor the Word when you respond to it with glad and sincere worship? When you do, you are giving evidence that the Word is dwelling in your richly!
Colossians 3:16-17 again: 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
So, the Word of God will lead you to wisdom and to worship, and as you allow the Word to dwell in you richly God will use your words and works to glorify Him.
Let me tell you something, if you get Word-centered, your life will become centered on glorifying the name of Jesus. Your attitudes and your actions will become more and more consistent with the attitudes and actions of Jesus. In Galatians 4:19 Paul talked about Christ being formed in the believer. That happens as the Word dwells in us richly. We start to take on His character which happens as revelation comes to us through His Word.
The Word begins to drive us instead of our earthly nature driving us. Whatever we do, we are consciously aware that we carry the name of Jesus. Being a Christian means something to us. We don’t want to live in a way that tarnishes the name, but in a way that lifts up and honors the name of Jesus. The Word motivates us to make Jesus known. This is the whole gist of the book of Colossians.
When you take on the name of Jesus, you don’t have a church life and a work life and a home life and a friend life and a fun life. You simply have life. It isn’t segregated into sacred experiences and secular experiences. All of life becomes sacred as you seek to live faithful to the name of Jesus. Wherever you go, Jesus goes so, “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.”
You see, life in the Word, life where the Word dwells in you, becomes relational. It becomes a dynamic relationship between you and the Logos, the Author of the Word, between you and Jesus. When you read the Word, you aren’t just receiving instruction or insight for life, but you are hearing from the Word Himself, and the goal should be to take the Word and to make the Word known by the way you live.
Galatians 2:20 reminds me that “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Just as Christ’s crucifixion was public, on display, and was seen by those gathered around the cross, and just as His death had a profound impact on those who processed how He forgave people from the cross, how He cared for His mother from the cross, how He didn’t curse His tormentors from the cross…how the Roman Centurion at the foot of the Cross, as Jesus breathed His last said, “Surely, He was the Son of God,” in Matthew 27:54, in the same way my crucifixion, my death to myself and my agenda ought to be visible to the people who watch my life. People should be able to take note, no matter what I’m doing, whether I am ziplining, rollercoaster riding, movie theater popcorn eating, Kroger shopping, mall walking, concert going, card playing or whatever I am doing, if the Word of God has been dwelling in me richly, people should be able to see Jesus’ life lived out through mine.
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Finally, we see here that people who allow the Word of Christ to dwell in them richly will well up with thanksgiving. The Word helps us understand everything we have to be thankful for. The fact that God doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve ought to be enough, but the riches of God in Christ Jesus that is ours (Philippians 4:19) the inheritance that is being kept in Heaven for us (I Peter 1:4), well, I could go on. The Word gives me more reasons to be thankful than I can count.
Let the Word of Christ dwell in your richly.
- Gain wisdom.
- Be moved to worship.
- Let your words and works glorify God.
- Well up with thanksgiving.
It’s a very rich and satisfying way to live.
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