Scripture Reading: Col. 3:16-17; Eph. 5:18-20; 1 Thes. 5:17-19; Phil. 1:19-21a
There is a great difference between God’s economy and the natural human concept. Our concept is that after we are saved we should make up our minds to improve our behavior. Probably every genuine Christian has made such a decision. According to our concept, we need to improve ourselves. Conscious of our weakness, we beg God to help us. However, God does not answer this kind of prayer. The more we pray that He will help us to improve, the less He will do. On the contrary, our behavior may even worsen. The reason for this is that the concept of receiving help from God to improve our behavior is contrary to God’s economy. God’s economy is to dispense Himself into us and to work Himself into us that we may take Him as our life and life supply in order to live Him. This is not to have an improved human character; it is to live God. According to His economy, God’s intention is to impart His element, His substance, and the ingredients of His nature into our being that we may live Him.
Christians have fallen into the trap of trying to improve their character. We thank the Lord that in His recovery we are being rescued from this trap. Many years ago it was my habit to pray that the Lord would help me to improve my behavior. I wanted to be a very refined human being. Especially, I wanted to have more love for my wife. Realizing my inability, I asked the Lord to help me. Now instead of praying in this way, I enjoy God’s economy. I see that His intention is to dispense, or transfuse, Himself into me that I may live Him.
We may use other terms to describe God’s desire to dispense Himself into us. God wants to water us, feed us, refresh us, and nourish us. These terms indicate that God wants to be our life, life supply, food, drink, and air. He is our food to nourish us; our drink to quench our thirst; our air to refresh us; and our life supply to enrich us. As the divine Being, He infuses us with His elements, causing us to be the same as He in life and nature.
In His economy God does not improve us outwardly. Instead, He transmits all that He is into us. The difference between outward correction and inward transfusion can be illustrated by the difference between applying makeup and having a healthy complexion because of eating properly. Man’s way is to apply makeup. God’s way is to transform us metabolically; it is to nourish, refresh, water, enrich, and strengthen us. This is God’s economy. God is rich in His nourishing, watering, feeding, refreshing, and shining. Oh, His shining brings in His riches! The air, water, and food also supply His riches to us. In the Bible God likens Himself to food, water, air, and sunshine. Psalm 84:11 says that the Lord is our sun. God does not merely teach us; He nourishes us, waters us, and infuses all His riches into our inner being. This is God’s way.
God’s purpose in transmitting His riches into us is that we may live Him. Dietitians tell us that we are what we eat. If we eat a great deal of a certain kind of food, we shall be constituted of that food. When I was young, I noticed that everyone who lived in the home of my grandparents smelled like fish. My mother explained to me that the people in that area eat fish three times a day. Because they ate so much fish, they became constituted of fish. This illustrates the fact that we are what we eat. If we eat Christ, we shall be constituted of Him.
God’s economy is that we eat Christ and become constituted of Him. In John 6 the Lord Jesus says that He is the bread of life, the bread which came down from heaven, and that those who eat Him will live because of Him (vv. 35, 41, 57). Then in John 7 He sounds the call: “If anyone thirst, let him come to Me and drink” (v. 37). This the Lord Jesus said concerning the Spirit. In Revelation 22:17 the call is sounded once again to come and drink. The Lord calls us to drink of the Spirit, of the processed Triune God. Having passed through the steps of a divine process, the Triune God is now a universal, all-inclusive drink, prepared and available.
Every meeting of the church should be a feast. The Lord calls us to partake of Him as our food and drink. Whether or not a particular meeting is of the Lord can be determined by whether or not there is a “dining table” in that meeting. If you go to a Catholic cathedral, you will find superstition instead of feasting. The church meetings, by contrast, are a feast. In every meeting there is a dining table set for us, and we have the opportunity to eat and drink of the Triune God.
By now it should be clear that what we need is not outward improvement or correction. Our need is to take in the Triune God by eating and drinking of Him. According to God’s ordination, the way to partake of Him is to eat Him and drink Him.
Now we come to the crucial matter of where to find the processed Triune God as the all-inclusive drink. It is true to say that He is in heaven. It is also true that He is in us. But although the Triune God indwells us as the all-inclusive Spirit, He may not dwell in us richly. In Colossians 3:16 Paul says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.” What does it mean to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly? Years ago I thought that this meant that we should memorize Bible verses and be able to recite them. According to my concept at the time, to let the word of Christ dwell in me richly was to memorize more and more verses. However, this is not the meaning of Paul’s word in Colossians 3:16.
For the word of Christ to dwell in us richly means that it inhabits us, indwells us, in a rich way. This can be illustrated by eating. After we eat a meal, the food inhabits us in a rich way. The food contains many rich, nourishing elements. When we take this nourishing food into us and assimilate it, it indwells us richly. In like manner, for the word of Christ to dwell in us richly means that it inhabits us in the way of nourishment and enrichment. This is not a matter of memorizing verses, but a matter of having the Word containing the unsearchable riches of Christ dwell in us in such a way that it nourishes us and enriches us.
I have met some people who had memorized the whole book of Ephesians and even one who had memorized the Gospel of Matthew. But to memorize entire books of the New Testament does not mean that the word of Christ is dwelling in us richly. For example, we may take food into us, but our stomach may not digest it properly. Indigestion indicates that the food does not enter into us richly. The food may be rich in nourishment, but its entering into us is not rich if we suffer from indigestion after eating it. In such a case we do not have the ability to absorb the riches of the food. But if we have a proper metabolism and digest the food we eat, the elements of the food will enter into us richly. We need the word of Christ to dwell in us in this way.
It is possible for the same verse of the Bible to enter into us either in a rich way or in a poor way. At one time you may not be able to digest and assimilate a particular verse. But at another time the Word may be rich in its entering into you and dwell in you richly. We all need to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly.
At this point it is important to consider the way to let the word of Christ inhabit us richly. Paul gives us the way in Colossians 3:16, where he says “in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.” Here Paul indicates that we should teach and admonish, not in an ordinary way, but in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Psalms are often rather long, spiritual songs tend to be short, and hymns are usually of medium length. As we admonish one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, we should sing with grace in our hearts to God. We need to sing with the exercise of the spirit. The more we sing in this way, the more we shall be inspired and set on fire. By this kind of singing, we let the word of Christ dwell in us richly.
Suppose in a meeting we sing a hymn composed of Ephesians 3:16-21. If we sing these verses with the exercise of the spirit, this portion of the Word will inhabit us richly, and we shall receive nourishment. This nourishment is supplied first to the spirit, not to the mentality. By singing with our spirit we have a way to let the word of Christ inhabit us with all its riches to nourish us.
In Colossians 3:17 Paul goes on to say, “And in everything, whatever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” What does it mean to do all things in the name of the Lord? To act in a person’s name is to be one with him and even to become him. If I am not one with a particular person, how can I do anything in his name? If we are to do everything in the name of the Lord, we must be one with Him and even become Him. To do this is to live Christ.
The more we take the Word by reading, pray-reading, and especially sing-reading, the more the riches of the Word will saturate us and make us one with the Lord. Then we shall do things not in our own name, but in the name of the Lord Jesus.
The way to live Christ is to take the Word by exercising our spirit. It is not sufficient merely to use our mind to read the Word. We must also exercise our spirit by praying the Word and singing it. I hope that in the church meetings we shall spend more time singing the Word of God. Let us first read the Word and then pray-read it. Following this, let us sing the Word. Then we shall become thoroughly saturated with the riches of the Word.
Because the Word is the embodiment of the riches of Christ, to be saturated with the Word is to be infused with and permeated by the elements of Christ. This infusion and permeation causes us to become one with Christ and to do everything in His name. In all that we say and do, we shall be one with Him. As we are permeated by the enriching Word, we become one with the Lord Jesus and do everything in His name. This is the way to live Christ.
God’s intention is to have a people who are one with Him, not in His Godhead, but in His life and nature. Those who are one with God in the divine life and nature are able to express Him. What God is seeking today is a group of people who live Christ by taking the rich Word into them.
Whenever we are saturated with the riches of the Word, the Word within us becomes the bountiful Spirit. This takes place through our unceasing prayer. Perhaps you are wondering what this kind of prayer has to do with singing. Singing is an excellent way to pray. When you sing by exercising your spirit, you pray. Often the best prayer we can offer to God is our singing unto Him. Suppose you sing “Oh, what a life! Oh what a peace! The Christ who’s all within me lives.” This is an excellent prayer.
We also pray when we thank God. When we do things in the name of the Lord Jesus, we should also give thanks to God the Father through Him.
By praying, singing, and thanking we are infused with Christ, permeated by Him, and mingled with Him. Many of us can testify that, as we were enjoying a certain portion of the Word, spontaneously a melody welled up from within. Then we began to use this melody to sing the Word to the Lord. By singing, we were saturated with the Word and nourished by its riches. This caused us to be thankful to God. At that time we were truly one with Christ. Whatever we did in word or work was done in the name of the Lord Jesus. Again I say, this is to live Christ.
We need to see that the Word, the bountiful supply of the Spirit, and unceasing prayer with singing and thanking all go together. By our prayer with singing and giving thanks, the rich Word within us becomes the bountiful Spirit. Then because we are one with the Spirit, with the Word, and with Christ, we live Christ, we are truly one with Him in all we say and do.
Every day we must come to the Word and allow the Word to enter into us in a rich way. For this, we need more than just the reading of the Word. We also need praying, singing, thanking, and praising. When we take the Word into us in this way, the Word becomes the Spirit with the bountiful supply. Then we are saturated with the Lord, mingled with Him, and one with Him in a practical way in life and nature. Gradually, the killing element in the Word will deal with the negative things in us — the flesh, the self, and the natural life. At the same time, the Word will nourish, strengthen, and enrich us, supplying us with all the elements we need for our spiritual growth. On the one hand, we are saturated with the Word and the Spirit; on the other hand, the negative things are gradually reduced. This will cause us to live Christ and grow in Him.
Once again I would urge you to combine the rich Word, the bountiful Spirit, and unceasing prayer. Take the Word of God not only by reading, but also by pray-reading and sing-reading. Also praise the Lord and give thanks to Him. Combine the rich Word and the bountiful supply of the Spirit with unceasing prayer. Then you will enjoy the Lord, partake of Him, be one with Him, live Him, grow in Him, and magnify Him. This is what God desires today.
I hope that we shall all be deeply impressed with the need to practice what has been presented in this message. Do not pray according to the natural, human concept. Rather, exercise your spirit to pray the Word, to sing the Word, and to thank God and praise Him. In this way you will allow the Word to enter into you that you may be nourished with all its riches. These riches will then become the bountiful supply of the Spirit through your unceasing prayer. Then you will enjoy the Lord, be one with Him, and live Him.
