^ J. Hamilton, Works, vi. 40. 2 Jonathan Edwards.
EPH.-COL. — 34
530 THE INDWELLING WORD
spiritual life ; and indeed give it its principal tone and character. Without tenderness we cnn never have that spirit of generosity in which we must serve God.^
II.
Our Appropriation of the Word.
" Let the word of Christ dwell in you." The word " dwell " means more than a temporary lodging. You are said to dwell in the house you inhabit ; it becomes your home ; you feel at ease in it ; you are at liberty in it ; you are welcome in it ; you do as you like in it ; you have authority in it. That is what is meant here. " Let the word of Christ dwell in you." He does not say — " visit you ; come to you occasionally ; reside for a time with you." No, but " inhabit, reside continually ; have a home in you; be welcome to you; be at ease in you; have authority in you ; do as it likes with you ; regulate and dispose and arrange everything in you."
St. Paul regards the word as an inhabitant of the soul's chamber, so that without it the Christian character would be like a human body without a face, like a face without an eye, like one of those gaunt, untenanted dwellings that you see some- times staring you in the face, and giving no signs of happy occu- pancy ; it needs men and women to dwell in it to give it shape and character. He says, "Let the word of Christ be in your heart I of hearts as that which will clothe and form and fashion and I give significance and character to your life. Let it abide ia you richly in all wisdom."
II A human life without the indwelling word of God is as /^. empty as a landscape without human beings in it. All true landscape, whether simple or exalted, depends primarily for its interest on connexion with humanity, or with spiritual powers. Banish your heroes and nymphs from the classical landscape — its laurel shades will move you no more. Show that the dark clefts of the most romantic mountain are uninhabited and untra versed ; it will cease to be romantic. Fields without shepherds and without fairies will have no gaiety in their green, nor will the noblest masses of ground or colours of cloud arrest
IF. W. Faber.
COLOSSIANS III. i6 531
or raise your thoughts, if the earth has no life to sustain, and the heaven none to refresh.^
1. Let the word of Christ dwell in the memory. — Let it dwell in the memory, for there is the place where we should plant the seed. As the seed goes into the soil of the earth and the soil of the earth does not understand it; so the seed of the truth of Christ goes into our memory, and our memory does not under- stand it. But it strikes its living roots down into our thoughts, and by and by we are lifted — transfigured into the likeness of Jesus Christ, The morning, the springtime of life, is the time to sow the memory with the truth of Christ. In the springtime, when the soil is moist and warm, it takes in the seed and gives back quickly ; but in the summer, after the July sun has ex- hausted the moisture, the seed perishes; and, if scattered over the beaten track, it is wasted. So, the time to pack the memory with the truth of Christ is in youth, before the hot sun of middle- age has exhausted the soil of its ambition, thought, and imagina- tion ; before the impress of the busy world has come upon the soul.
^ John Ruskin, that master writer of English prose, says that when he was a boy his mother compelled him to memorize chapter after chapter of the Old Testament, particularly the Psalms, and chapter after chapter of the New Testament; and now whatever John Ruskin has written is filled with quotations from the Bible, As you can taste the June clover in the sweet country butter, so you can taste the Bible in the writings of John Ruskin,^
^ It has been remarked by those who have had wide oppor- tunities for observation that memory is a most important part of the basis of intellectual pre-eminence. The information we can gather regarding the early training of James Kidd bears out this high estimate that is taken of the function of memory in mental and moral development. When he was a mere child he not only read, but was able to repeat without book, the greater part of the Gospel of John, Every day his mother gave him his portion, causing him to commit to memory the passage that was read, and putting questions to him to induce him to ponder and digest what he had acquired, so that the truth entered into his growing intelligence, and was not a mere mechanical appropriation.
^ Buskin, Modem Painters, v. ( Works, vii, 255). ' 0. P. Gifford.
532 THE INDWELLING WORD
When he was an old man, Dr. Kidd often spoke with grateful emotion of the gracious wisdom of his mother in being at such pains so to present Jesus Christ to his mind as to beget in him reverence and love that hallowed the springs of his life.^