XXXIV. A Blessed Occupancy of the Soul. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."— COLOSSIANS iii. 16. "HA * AVING exhorted them to be thankful, he also shows them the way." So says Chrysostom in his homily on this verse, and thus traces the connexion between it and the preceding. It does not seem necessary, however, to limit the connecting link to the last clause of the fifteenth verse. The previous exhortations generally to love and peace, as well as thankfulness, are suitably followed by one which really shows the efficacy of the gospel in promoting all these graces. Not only does St. Paul here point out how thankfulness is to be cultivated, but how strength and holy stimulus are to be found for the full and faithful discharge of all the moral and social duties enjoined. All things of moral principle and spiritual worth are sustained by the powers and means which gave them being. The plant is nourished in the soil by the sunlight and the showers which caused it to spring into life. So godliness is maintained and promoted in the * Homilies of S. John Chrysostom on the Epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians. Homily ix. (Library of the Fathers, Oxford.) soul by that word of Christ through which it was begotten. With what sacred force, then, does this apostolic exhortation come. Here is a living and copious spring, from which heavenly virtue issues forth to complete, perfect, and perpetuate all the elements of the Christian life; as if St. Paul left it to be inferred that the man who had the word of Christ dwelling in him richly will be wanting in no Christian grace. I. The occupancy to be sought for the soul is expressed in the counsel, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly." The punctuation in our English version joins with this clause the following, in all wisdom; but these words should be connected with those which follow, not with those which go before. What are we to understand by "the word of Christ" ? The Lord Jesus is Himself called the WORD-the personal Revelation to us of the heart, mind, and will of God,-the living way of Divine communication with men. But "the word of Christ" is here simply another expression for the gospel, which comprehends the whole doctrine of Christ, the full truth of God's word as it centres in Jesus Christ and revolves around Him. It is the truth revealed through Him. From the first, the announcement of a coming Deliverer had been the hope of the world. The light thus given-at first faint indeed, and like the dim grey dawn-gradually brightened, until Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, arose. The first aspect of Divine truth thus made known, the revelation of which was consummated in the advent of the Son of God, was the moral governance of Jehovah; the fact that He was Lord and Lawgiver, and that not all the wrath of hell or the apostacy of man could successfully defy the rule or defeat the purposes of God. The march of God's providence, in preparing the world for the Advent, and in the manifestation of grace and power in the Incarnation, went to show that He was the rightful and supreme Ruler of the world, and that men were not left without law or control. Moreover, "the word of Christ" is the truth spoken by Him. "Never man spake like this man." Original, wonderful, and instructive was the truth which fell from His lips; simple in its meaning, profound in its momentousness, but always tending to the illustration and fulfilment of His own words to the Father: "I have glorified Thee on the earth;" "I have manifested Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest me out of the world; " "I have given them Thy word."* The fatherhood of God was the truth on which He delighted to dwell, and which He ever sought to unfold and enforce. Tender and touching are many of His presentations of this Divine relationship. This vital and precious truth, in all its fulness, force, and beauty, we owe to His teaching; for it was He, emphatically and exclusively, who showed to men that the Almighty Creator of the universe cherishes ceaseless care for all His children, provides for their wants, and numbers the very hairs of their heads. The truth embodied in the Lord Jesus must also be included in the word of Christ." How vast, wide, and deep is this embodiment. The Saviour was Himself "the Truth," as well as "the Way" and "the Life." In His complex being as Emmanuel; in His great work as the Redeemer of men and the grand Reconciler in the moral universe; in His life, death, and resurrection, there is truth surpassing all that angels could have conceived or men can understand. But "the truth" specially exhibited and embodied in the person and work of the Incarnate Son is the grace of the eternal God. In Him we see Jehovah bringing near His righteousness to us, coming down to us in infinite mercy and condescension, to raise us from the degradation, and rescue us from the curse, which we had brought upon ourselves, * John xvii. 4, 6, 14. And this is and at amazing cost providing eternal redemption for us. Wondrous truth! God pardoning sin, passing by transgression, justifying the ungodly, seeking and saving the lost, providing a sacrifice for the sins of men. the truth embodied in Christ-truth which stirs heaven through all its hierarchies, and which will be the theme of the redeemed for ever-the word of which the Savionr is the personal and glorious centre. And this is the word which ought to dwell in us-the testimony of God, by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, to the personal glory and redemptive work of His only begotten Son; to dwell in us as a treasure in its repository, not "with a scanty foothold, but with a large and liberal occupancy of the soul." It is to dwell in us richly. How much does this involve, both as to the extent and quality of the occupancy? It means that it is to dwell in us fully, in all its own completeness and integrity. There is sometimes a tendency to take one doctrine or truth about Christ Jesus, and to cherish that at the expense or to the exclusion of others. Many dwell on His divinity, to the neglect of His true humanity; while some glorify His manhood even to the denial of His Godhead. Some adoringly follow His life, and overlook the meaning and majesty of His death. Some profess to glory in Him as a Prophet and Teacher, who depreciate or disparage His work as our great High Priest and Saviour, the one Mediator between God and man. But partial and onesided views of Christ are dishonouring and hurtful. The whole testimony of God regarding Him is to be received and cherished by us in all its parts and Divine proportions; for every side of the truth bears on some aspect of our nature or some need of our condition. To dwell in us richly is also to dwell in us thoroughly, occupying our entire inward man and spiritual being. It is for the blessing of all the powers and elements of manhood, for the enlightenment of the under standing, the purification of the heart, the peace and regulation of the conscience. Some give it a place in the region of intellectual opinion, who do not yield to it the affections of their hearts; many are glad to let it hush the storm of their conscience, and deliver them from the fear of hell, who do not readily yield to it the entire control of their being, nor let it accomplish its chief work in saving them from sin. But its influence should be diffused, and its presence felt in every faculty and feeling of our nature. It should dwell in us so richly, that its power shall be acknowledged in the mind and will, the conscience and the heart, occupying all, and controlling all. Again, to dwell in us richly is to dwell in us abidingly, not as a strange thing to sojourn for a season, or as a visitor to look in upon us occasionally, but to abide in constant and permanent occupancy. Whatever besides the Christian may occasionally entertain in his soul, the word of Christ should be always there. Nothing is to be allowed to displace it, nothing to supersede it. Thus only can we know its full preciousness and power, and find the strength and solace which it can supply. By the grace and teaching of the Holy Spirit, the word of Christ may thus be with us always, enhancing every mercy, embellishing every beauty, sanctifying every trial, and softening every asperity of this life in preparation for the life to come. II. The Apostle seems to indicate the manifold use and influence of this indwelling of "the word of Christ," when he says, "In all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." The word of Christ, therefore, is not to dwell in the soul for mere curiosity, or vain speculation, or barren sentiment, but for hallowed, practical, and happy results. These results are relative and personal. They were discreetly-in all wisdom-to minister to each other's spiritual improvement, teaching and admonishing one |