«　WEEK 3　DAY 4　»

　　Col. 4:16 …When this letter is read among you, cause that it be read in the church of the Laodiceans also, and that you also read the one from Laodicea.

　　Rev. 1:11-12 …What you see write…and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus…and to Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me; and when I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands.

　　The existence and living of the new man in a practical way is a matter of tremendous significance. The Roman Empire covered a vast area and embraced many different peoples. In the attempt to unify the people culturally, the Roman Empire used the Greek language. However, the Roman Empire was not successful in uniting the various peoples. The differences among the nations, races, and social classes remained. The Jews were still Jews, and the Greeks were still Greeks. The distinction between slaves and masters was by no means eliminated. But in spite of all the differences among nationalities, races, and classes, there was on earth in a practical way the one new man created in Christ Jesus. There were not merely local churches in various cities—there was one new man in a real and practical way. (Life-study of Colossians, p. 260)

　　It is shameful for the church in any locality to isolate itself from other churches. How wrong it is for us to have the attitude of standing apart from other local churches, fearing that others may interfere with our affairs or otherwise trouble us…. Any church which holds such an attitude has a consciousness only of itself, not of the totality of the new man. Those who insist on this attitude cause the new man to be fragmented, to be broken into pieces. Nevertheless, many churches and many individual believers as well have the attitude that they will leave others alone if others in turn will leave them alone. They do not care about the churches in other places, and they do not want other churches to be involved with them. Those who have this attitude lack the sense, the consciousness, of the one new man. Praise the Lord for the portrait of the living of the new man in Colossians 4:7-17! By these verses we see the practical expression of the new man.

　　In Paul’s heart was not simply a particular local church or a certain saint, but the one new man. Paul knew a great many saints. But in the verses devoted to fellowship, he mentions certain ones as representatives of the various peoples who, with Christ as their constituent, compose the new man. In this way he presents a full picture of the living of the new man. My burden in this message is that we would be impressed with this crucial point.

　　If we are conscious of the one new man, we should no longer think that the churches in our country have nothing to do with the churches in other nations. Instead, we shall realize that all the churches are the one new man today. May we look to the Lord that we may not be sectarian in any way. We would not be sectarian either individually as believers or corporately as local churches…. If at the time of Paul, when travel was not convenient, there could be traffic among the churches, how much more should there be today with all the modern conveniences? By means of the traffic among the churches, we experience in a practical way the living of the new man.

　　After Paul tells us that Christ is our life and the constituent of the new man, he charges us to let the peace of Christ arbitrate in us and to let the word of Christ inhabit us…. At Babel the cultural divisions of mankind came into being…. But according to Ephesians 2:15, Christ’s death on the cross has abolished all the cultural ordinances and differences and terminated them. Christ’s purpose in doing this was to create in Himself one new man and thereby make peace …. This very peace, the peace of Christ, is what Paul refers to in Colossians 3:15. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 260-262, 278)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 216