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Scripture Reading: Col. 2:4, 8, 16-18, 20-23; 3:2b; 1:8, 24; 2:5-7; 3:2a, 16-17; 4:2
In Colossians 2:8 Paul mentions some of the negative things dealt with in this book: “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.” Here Paul speaks of philosophy, tradition, and the elements of the world. In 2:23 he refers to asceticism when he speaks of “self-imposed worship and lowliness and severe treatment of the body.” According to 2:8, philosophy is involved with tradition and the elements of the world. Self-imposed ascetic practices have much to do with tradition.
Every group of people has its own particular elements of the world, or elementary teachings. Wherever the gospel is preached, those who proclaim the gospel will confront elementary teachings, certain traditions, and philosophies. Both modern, scientific countries and undeveloped countries have their own elementary teachings, elements of the world.
Philosophy, tradition, asceticism, and the various elements of the world are the negative things found in the book of Colossians. I do not have the assurance that the saints in the Lord’s recovery have been thoroughly and absolutely rescued from the elements of the world and from the “commandments and teachings of men” (2:22).
As one born in China, I studied the classical writings of Confucius and was influenced somewhat by his philosophical teachings. But now I can testify before the Lord and before all the angels that I am no longer under the influence of any philosophical things. This influence has been swallowed up by the Bible. I have been reading the Word for more than fifty years. As a result, in my inner being there is no influence of any kind of philosophy. The only influence on my inward constituent is the Bible. This is the reason that I am able to enjoy Christ.
In 3:16 Paul says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” The way to be delivered from the negative things found in the book of Colossians is to let the word of Christ dwell in us, to inhabit us, richly. If the word of Christ is to dwell in us richly, it is not sufficient for us to read the Bible only on occasion or even three or four times a week. On the contrary, we need to take the word of the Bible as our daily food, our daily manna. In fact, just as we eat three meals a day, it is best to feed on God’s Word three times a day. Then the ingredients of the Word will enter into us and be constituted into our very being.
When we take in the word in a proper way, we have both faith and the Spirit. In a very real sense, the word, the Spirit, and faith are one. At least they are of one source, and that source is God.
As the unique source, God is the Word. “In the beginning was the Word...and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Have you ever realized that the greatest wonder in the universe is the Word of God? Creation, redemption, regeneration, sanctification, and transformation all take place by the Word. If God had been silent—that is, if there had been no Word—there could have been no creation. Creation came about through God’s speaking. When God spoke, all the items of creation came into being. How marvelous that our God is a speaking God! This speaking God is the Word. Regarding this, John 1:1 is a strategic verse, for this verse declares that the Word was God. If we had written the Gospel of John, instead of, “In the beginning was the Word,” we might have said, “In the beginning was God.” But at the opening of the Gospel of John, John puts the Word before God. Some readers may think that John was mistaken in doing this. Who is the source, God or the Word? There can be no doubt that God is the source. Why, then, did John put the Word first? Why did John not say, “In the beginning was God, and God was the Word”? The reason John put the Word first is that nothing comes into existence apart from the Word. It was through the Word that all things came into being. The entire Gospel of John is built upon the Word. Furthermore, the church life is founded on the Word. If we had not heard the preaching of the Word of God, we could not have been saved and regenerated, and we could not have become a part of the Body of Christ. The Word is the source of re-creation as well as of creation.
According to the New Testament, whenever we hear the word, faith is produced within us. Faith is a marvelous thing; no one can fully explain it. When I was young, I heard a preacher define faith by saying that faith is like the assurance a member of a political party has that the policy of that party will be a success in practice. This may be a definition of secular faith or worldly faith, but it has nothing to do with the faith spoken of in the New Testament. We simply are not able to define adequately what genuine faith is. But by our experience we know that when we come to the Bible in a proper way and repeat a certain verse, we are inspired, and faith is produced within us. The more we repeat a portion of the Word of God, the more we are inspired. There is no true inspiration, however, in repeating the words of Plato, Confucius, or any other philosopher.
The Bible is inspiring because it is the word of life, the living word. It is living because it is the expression of the living God. According to John 1:1, the Word is God. According to John 6:63, the words spoken by the Lord Jesus are spirit and life. Thus, the Word is both God and the Spirit. John 4:24 says, “God is Spirit.” The Bible reveals that it is impossible to separate the Word, God, Christ, and the Spirit. The Word is God, Christ, and the Spirit.
When we read the Bible in a proper way, especially when we pray-read it, we receive inspiration. This inspiration is the moving of the living Spirit within us. This moving of the Spirit is the function of the Spirit, and in the New Testament this function is called faith. Faith is always intimately related to the Word and the Spirit. Whenever we read of faith in the New Testament, we should realize that both the Word and the Spirit are implied. For example, Ephesians 3:17 says, “That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith.” The phrase through faith implies the Word and the Spirit. The same is true of Ephesians 2:8, which says that we are saved by grace through faith. The faith through which we are saved is the faith that implies the Word and the Spirit. In Colossians 2:5 Paul speaks of “the solid basis of your faith in Christ” and in verse 7 of “being established in the faith.” In these verses also faith implies the Word and the Spirit.
If we did not have the Word, we could not have the Spirit. Likewise, if we did not have the Word and the Spirit, there would be no way for us to have faith. But when we are filled with the word, we are automatically filled with the Spirit. Then we are spontaneously filled also with faith.
When I was young, I often heard Christians talking about faith. I began to pray that the Lord would give me a strong faith. But the more I prayed for faith, the less faith I had. Gradually I learned that the way to have faith is not just to pray for it but to take in the Word in a proper way. By reading the Word again and again, my faith was strengthened.
Brother Nee encouraged us to take a few verses every morning and repeat them and muse upon them. When I did this, I found that I had faith spontaneously. As I look back on my experience, I realize that I had not only faith but also the inner sense that I had been filled with the Spirit. Thus, from our experience we know that when we have the living word in us, we also have the Spirit and faith.
The four books of Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians all speak of the word, the Spirit, and faith. In Galatians, the emphasis is on faith; in Ephesians, on the Spirit; and in Colossians, on the word. In Philippians the emphasis is on all three. According to Galatians, faith comes from hearing the word. Although Ephesians strongly emphasizes the Spirit, the Spirit is mentioned only once in Colossians, in 1:8, where Paul speaks of the saints’ love in the Spirit. Philippians speaks of both the bountiful supply of the Spirit and also of the word of life (1:19; 2:16). In Ephesians the Word is called the word of God (6:17); in Philippians, the word of life; and in Colossians, the word of Christ (3:16). Again and again I wish to point out the fact that apart from the Word we cannot have the Spirit or faith.
If we would enjoy Christ and experience Him, we must have the Spirit, and we must also have faith. Without the Spirit, how can we experience Christ? And without faith, what way do we have to enjoy Christ? If we would have the Spirit and the faith to experience Christ and enjoy Him, we must come to the Word again and again. Faith and the Spirit are found in no place other than the Word. The more we get into the Word, the better. The Christian life is a life that is continually dealing with the divine Word. The Word must be before our eyes, in our spirit, in our heart, in our mind, in our mouth, and on our lips. Our whole being must be saturated with the Word of God. When the Word is outside us, it is simply the Word. But when the Word enters into us, it becomes the Spirit who gives us the faith to enjoy Christ and experience Him.
The books of Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians all have a particular emphasis. But if we put these books together, we see five things that are crucial for our experience of Christ: the Word, faith, the Spirit, our spirit, and prayer. If God had not created us with a spirit, we would not be able to receive inspiration from the Word, no matter how many times we may read it or repeat parts of it. The inspiration that comes from the Word is not a matter of emotion. Human words may touch our emotion, but they do not touch our spirit. I studied the classical writings of Confucius, but none of those writings touched my spirit. Certain writings may stir our emotions, but only the Word of God can inspire our spirit. Only one book—the Bible—is able to touch our spirit. According to Hebrews 4:12, the word of God is a sharp sword that even divides soul from spirit.
John 4:24 says that God is Spirit and that those who worship Him must worship in spirit. In worshipping God it is best to deal with His Word. But when we read the Word, we should use not only our eyes and our mind but especially our spirit. When many Christians read the Bible, they just read with their eyes and try to understand with their mentality. They stop short of allowing the Word to touch their spirit. If we want the Word to touch our spirit, we should pray-read the Word.
Before we began to practice pray-reading, I would often pray after reading two or three verses. Having read these verses, I would ask the Lord to make them my experience. Although this practice is helpful, it is not as helpful as pray-reading. In pray-reading the Word, there is no need to wait until we have finished reading before we pray. Instead, we read by praying, mingling our reading with prayer. Then we receive the word of God by means of all prayer and petition.
Colossians 3:16 charges us to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly. If we would let the word of Christ dwell in us, we need to receive the word by means of all prayer. According to the Bible, the ultimate way to receive the word is to pray it. Let us use Philippians 3:17 as an illustration: “Be imitators together of me, brothers, and observe those who thus walk even as you have us as a pattern.” You may be inspired by reading this verse. But only when you pray will this word get into you. How good it is to take such a verse into us by prayer! When we pray-read the Word, the word does not stay in our mouth but enters into our inner being. This is to receive the word by means of prayer. As we pray the Word, the word enters into the very depths of our being.
As an elderly man with many years of experience, I can testify that the best way to take the word is by means of all prayer. By praying the Word we drink the living water in the word. Then this living water fills our inner being and causes us to be nourished and healthy. In 1 Timothy 6:3 and 2 Timothy 1:13 Paul uses the expression healthy words. When we pray-read, the word becomes to us the healthy word. By this healthy word we experience Christ.
We thank the Lord that He created us with a spirit by which we may drink His word. But if we would use our spirit to drink the word, we need to exercise our spirit. The best way to exercise our spirit is to pray. Ephesians 6:17 and 18 say that we should receive the word of God by means of all prayer, praying at every time in spirit. If we would have the word, faith, and the Spirit, we need to exercise our spirit by praying. When we walk, we automatically exercise our feet. Likewise, when we pray, we spontaneously exercise our spirit. Paul charges us to pray at every time (v. 18) and also to persevere in prayer (Col. 4:2). If we want to enjoy the word and have the Spirit with faith, we must pray by exercising our spirit.
In Colossians 2:5 Paul says, “Even though I am absent in the flesh, yet in the spirit I am with you, rejoicing and seeing your order and the solid basis of your faith in Christ.” This verse indicates that Paul was a person who lived in the spirit. When he wrote this word to the Colossians, he was far away from them. Nevertheless, he could say that he was with them in spirit, rejoicing and seeing their order and the solid basis of their faith in Christ. In his spirit Paul had a heavenly telescope through which he could see the situation of the saints in Colossae. He knew that they were in order and that their faith was firm.
In Colossians Paul speaks of the divine Spirit (1:8) and the human spirit (2:5). This indicates that in order to experience Christ, we need these two spirits. As we have pointed out, we also need to persevere in prayer. The secret of experiencing Christ has much to do with the word, the Spirit, faith, the human spirit, and prayer.
In the book of Colossians Paul covers not only the secret of experiencing Christ, the Head, but also the secret of experiencing the church, the Body. We need to know the secret of experiencing the Head for the Body. In 1:24 Paul says, “I now rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His Body, which is the church.” The fact that Paul suffered for the Body indicates that whatever we experience of Christ must be for the Body. If we do not supply the Body with our experience of Christ, our experience will be terminated. Consider your physical body: every member of your body enjoys the circulation of the blood. However, if the blood flowed into your arm and stayed there, not continuing to circulate through the rest of the body, that would be a sign of serious trouble. Your whole body would be in great danger. This illustration shows that we should not keep our experience of Christ for ourselves but use it to supply the Body. The ultimate issue of our experience of Christ must be for the Body.
During my years in Christianity, I did not hear anything about the experience of Christ. Neither was I told that we need to receive grace from the Lord and then transmit this grace to other members of the Body. We definitely need to exercise our spirit by prayer to receive the word so that we may have the Spirit and faith to experience Christ and enjoy Him. But what we receive of Christ must then be released to the Body. We should not hold it for ourselves. Our spiritual blood vessels need to be enlarged to allow the life supply to pass through us to others. Do not keep the supply for yourself. If you do this, you will have serious difficulties. Come to the church meetings and release your experience of Christ.
The more we release, the more supply we will have. This is why I am not exhausted by ministering the word. On the contrary, speaking always supplies me with more spiritual riches. As the flow goes out, more comes in. In fact, the inflow depends on the outflow. The more we release, the more we are able to take in. The more we release for the Body, the more supply we will receive for the Body. The word, the Spirit, faith, our spirit, and our prayer must all be for the Body. Release Christ and release the spirit for the Body. Do not come to the meetings to sit in silence but come to release your experience of Christ to the Body.
In our daily life we also need to care for the younger ones, sharing with them our experience of Christ and enjoyment of Him. The Christian life is a Body life, a life of mutuality. You take care of other members, and others take care of you. On the one hand, you receive the supply; on the other hand, you return it by taking care of others.
According to Ephesians and Colossians, we must also pray for all the saints (Eph. 6:18; Col. 4:2). Every member of the Body needs prayer. Do not think that a particular member is so strong that he does not need you to pray for him. Every member of the Body needs the prayers of the other members. You need me, and I need you. We all need to pray for all the saints. By functioning in the meetings, caring for the younger ones, and praying for all the saints, we will release the riches of the Christ we have experienced to the other members in the Body.
Finally, the material supply we gain through the Lord’s blessing should also be shared with the Body. We should consider our income to be not only for our personal use and for our family but also for the Body. In the book of Philippians Paul indicates that this sharing of material supply is for the furtherance of the gospel. As such, it is part of the fellowship of the gospel (1:5; 4:14-15) to use material things for the Body of Christ.
Our concern should be for the Body universally. I can testify that I am very burdened for the churches in Africa. In particular, the church in Accra, Ghana, is in desperate need of a meeting hall. There is no way for them to build a meeting hall themselves. Saints in other parts of the world should take up the burden to help them. This is not to raise funds for a Christian activity. Rather, it is to release to the Lord’s Body what we have received from Him both spiritually and materially. If we do this, we will have a rich experience of Christ for the Body.
