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In this message we will begin to consider the aspects of the experience and enjoyment of Christ revealed in Philippians. The subject and the controlling concept of the book of Philippians is the experience of Christ. The experience of Christ is the master key which opens this book to us. If we apply this key to every verse and phrase in the book, we will see that Paul’s concern here is nothing other than the experience of Christ.
In Philippians 1:11 Christ is revealed as the means for bearing the fruit of righteousness. In verses 9 and 10 Paul prays three things on behalf of the Philippians: that their love would abound in full knowledge and all discernment, that they would approve by testing the things which differ, and that they would be pure and without offense unto the day of Christ. The secret to these three matters is found in verse 11, where Paul speaks of being “filled with the fruit of righteousness, which is through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” According to grammar, verse 11 is a modifier related to the three items for which Paul has prayed. Having been filled with the fruit of righteousness, the Philippians could abound in love, approve by testing all things, and be pure and without offense. This indicates that being filled with the fruit of righteousness through Jesus Christ is a necessary condition for these three matters. In order for our love to abound, to approve by testing the things which differ, and to be pure and without offense, we must first be filled with the fruit of righteousness which is through Jesus Christ.
Verse 11 refers to the experience of Christ. Here we see that the key is the experience of Christ. We know that verse 11 refers to the experience of Christ because of the phrase “through Jesus Christ.” The fruit of righteousness is through Christ. It comes to us through our experience of Christ. From the Christ we enjoy and experience, we have the fruit of righteousness. The more we experience Christ, the more this experience will issue in the fruit of righteousness. The fruit of righteousness is the living product of the believers’ living a proper life by the element of righteousness, with a righteous standing before God and man. Such a life could be lived not by the believers’ natural man for their boast but through Jesus Christ as the believers’ life, experienced by them to the glory and praise of God. Through Christ we should be fruitful in the matter of righteousness; we should not be wrong with God or man in anything. Then we will have the rich fruit in the matter of righteousness. If we experience Christ as the means for bearing the fruit of righteousness, our love will abound, we will prove things by testing, and we will be pure and without offense.
Philippians 1:19-21 presents Christ as the bountiful Supplier. In Philippians 1:19 Paul speaks of “the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” The bountiful supply comes out of the Spirit of Jesus Christ; hence, Christ as the Spirit of Jesus Christ is the bountiful Supplier. The Greek word for bountiful supply in verse 19 refers to the supplying of all the needs of the chorus by the choragus, the leader of the chorus. The bountiful supply of the all-inclusive Spirit enabled Paul to live and magnify Christ in his sufferings for Him.
Christ as the bountiful Supplier is the Spirit of Jesus Christ. The revelation in the Bible concerning God, Christ, and the Spirit is progressive. The Spirit is mentioned first as the Spirit of God, in relation to creation (Gen. 1:2). Then He is mentioned as the Spirit of Jehovah, in the context of God’s relationship with man (Judg. 3:10; 1 Sam. 10:6); as the Holy Spirit, in relation to the conception and birth of Christ (Luke 1:35; Matt. 1:20); as the Spirit of Jesus, in relation to the Lord’s human living (Acts 16:7); as the Spirit of Christ, in relation to the Lord’s resurrection (Rom. 8:9); and here as the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
The Spirit of Jesus Christ is “the Spirit” mentioned in John 7:39. This is not merely the Spirit of God before the Lord’s incarnation but the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit with divinity, after the Lord’s resurrection, compounded with the Lord’s incarnation (humanity), human living under the cross, crucifixion, and resurrection. The holy anointing ointment in Exodus 30:23-25, a compound of olive oil and four kinds of spices, is a full type of this compound Spirit of God, who is now the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Here it is not the Spirit of Jesus or the Spirit of Christ but the Spirit of Jesus Christ. The Spirit of Jesus is related mainly to the Lord’s humanity and human living; the Spirit of Christ is related mainly to the Lord’s resurrection. To experience the Lord’s humanity, as illustrated in Philippians 2:5-8, we need the Spirit of Jesus. To experience the power of the Lord’s resurrection, as mentioned in 3:10, we need the Spirit of Christ. In his suffering, the apostle experienced both the Lord’s suffering in His humanity and the Lord’s resurrection. Hence, the Spirit to him was the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the compound, all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit of the Triune God. Such a Spirit has, and even is, the bountiful supply for a person like the apostle, who was experiencing and enjoying Christ in His human living and resurrection. Eventually, this compound Spirit of Jesus Christ becomes the seven Spirits of God, who are the seven lamps of fire before God’s throne to carry out His administration on earth for the accomplishing of His economy concerning the church, and who are the seven eyes of the Lamb for the transfusing of all that He is into the church (Rev. 1:4; 4:5; 5:6).
We are not satisfied simply to have a doctrinal understanding of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. We must go on to experience the compound, all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit who is the processed Triune God as everything to us. By such a Spirit, Paul suffered for God’s economy and simultaneously enjoyed a bountiful supply that strengthened him in resurrection. Paul was an overcomer not because he had a strong will. He could be an overcomer because he experienced and enjoyed the all-inclusive Spirit with His bountiful supply dwelling in him to be everything to him. Paul realized in his experience that the Triune God was working Himself into his being. May we also experience and enjoy the Triune God supplying us and working Himself into us as the compound, all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit.
With the Spirit of Jesus Christ there is a bountiful supply. This supply is an all-inclusive drink containing many ingredients. Everything we need is in this divine beverage. When we pray in a genuine way and when we call on the name of the Lord, the compound ointment is applied to us in our situation, and we enjoy the riches of the bountiful supply of the Spirit.
The bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ is for us to live Christ. In Philippians 1:19 Paul says, “I know that for me this will turn out to salvation through your petition and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” Salvation in this verse means to be sustained and strengthened to live and magnify Christ; this requires the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. The circumstances in which Paul found himself forced him to experience and enjoy Christ in a fuller way through the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Paul’s circumstances encouraged him to live Christ and to magnify Christ.
In verse 21 Paul continues, “For to me, to live is Christ.” Paul’s life was to live Christ. If we would live Christ, we must take Him as our person and be one person with Him. He and we must be one in a practical way. In Galatians 2:20 Paul declares, “It is Christ who lives in me.” For Paul, this was not a mere doctrine; it was a fact. It should also be real to us that Christ lives in us. Furthermore, we should abide in Him and allow Him to abide in us.
Paul’s life was to live Christ. To him, to live was Christ, not the law or circumcision. He would not live the law but would live Christ, not be found in the law but be found in Christ (Phil. 3:9). Christ was not only his life within but also his living without. He lived Christ because Christ lived in him. He was one with Christ both in life and in living. He and Christ had one life and one living. They lived together as one person. Christ lived within him as his life, and he lived Christ without as His living. The normal experience of Christ is to live Him, and to live Him is to magnify Him always, regardless of the circumstances.
To live Christ is not merely to have a holy life or to live holiness. To live Christ is to live a person. We should simply live Christ. We should live a life which is Christ Himself. In our Christian life, quite often we are still the ones living our natural life. We are not living Christ. To live Christ is to let Christ Himself live from within us.
In order to live Christ, we must take Him as our person and as our life. Every morning we should pray, “Lord, I thank You for another day to practice living You. Lord, in myself I cannot do this. I ask You to remind me to live You and grant me the grace that I need for this.” God does not care for how holy, spiritual, or victorious we are in ourselves. Actually, to live in this way by self-effort is to strive to keep the law. What counts in the eyes of God is Christ and the living of Christ. We all must fight and struggle to enter into the genuine living of Christ in a practical way. God wants His people to live Christ. We should not care for holiness, spirituality, or victory as things in themselves, and we should not care for our natural virtues or attributes. Instead, we should focus our whole attention on living Christ and care only to live Christ so that He might be magnified in us.
In the book of Philippians Paul encourages us to think the one thing (2:2). This one thing is to live Christ. We should care only to live Christ and magnify Him. Instead of pursuing holiness, spirituality, or victory, we should seek to live Christ and magnify Him always with all boldness, whether through life or through death. God’s desire today is that we live Christ. We should not allow anything to distract us from the direct, personal experience of Christ. Today we need to focus our attention on the one thing — to live Christ.
When Paul was in prison, he was living Christ. Therefore, he could be found not in the law but in Christ. At any time men, angels, and demons could find him in Christ. We also need to be found by others in Christ, not simply in our good behavior. Others should sense that there is something different about us. All our relatives, friends, and colleagues should find us in Christ.
If we would be found in Christ, we must live Christ. Only when we live Christ will we be found in Him by others and by the angels and demons. However, if we are law-keepers, we will be found in the law instead of in Christ. We are not here to express the law or magnify the law; our goal is to express Christ and magnify Him. We all need to pray, “Lord, have mercy on me and rescue me not only from sinful things but also from good things, even spiritual things, that replace You in my daily life. Lord, rescue me from everything back to Yourself. I ask You to grant me the grace each day so that I may truly live You and be found in You.” May we all seek the one thing and pursue the one thing — to live Christ.
Christ is our life. We, the God-men, live a human life to express God, not by our own life, our natural life, but by the divine life of Christ in resurrection (Col. 3:4). This living of Christ includes pursuing and gaining Christ (Phil. 3:8, 12-14). If we have not gained Christ, we cannot live Him. Living Christ also includes tasting Christ for growing in Him (1 Pet. 2:2-3) and enjoying Christ as the God-allotted portion and participating in His riches in the fellowship of God (Col. 1:12). First Corinthians 1:9 says that God has called us into the fellowship of Christ, the enjoyment of Christ. If we do not gain Him or taste Him, we cannot enjoy Him and thereby live Him.
Abiding in Christ and having Him abide in us for His life to grow in fruit-bearing are also a part of living Christ (John 15:4-5). To live Christ by the divine life of Christ in resurrection is to have Christ grow in us so that we may be conformed to the image of Christ as the Firstborn among many brothers (Gal. 4:19; Rom. 8:29b). Furthermore, to live Christ includes growing into Christ in everything that we may mature in the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Col. 1:28b; 13, Eph. 4:15b).
For us to live Christ means that no matter what our circumstances may be, Christ is magnified in us, and we are not put to shame in anything. In the apostle’s suffering in his body, Christ was magnified; that is, Christ was shown or declared to be great (without limitation), exalted, and extolled. The apostle’s sufferings afforded him opportunity to express Christ in His unlimited greatness. The apostle would have only Christ magnified in him, not the law or circumcision. The book of Philippians is concerned with the experience of Christ. To magnify Christ under any circumstances is to experience Him with the topmost enjoyment.
If we allow the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ to work in us, our daily living will be changed. Through the proper living, Christ will appear to be great in the eyes of others. We will be burdened to magnify Christ always and with all boldness. Through our magnifying of Christ, others will see His greatness and His unlimitedness. To magnify Christ in such a way is to live Him.
Christ is the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. As such, He is in our spirit, and He is joined to our spirit as one mingled spirit. We need to remain in the mingled spirit, live in the mingled spirit, breathe in the mingled spirit, pray in the mingled spirit, and fellowship with Him in the mingled spirit. Christ as the Spirit in our spirit should direct us in everything. To live Christ is to live the Spirit who has entered into our spirit to become one spirit with us. Hence, to live Christ is a matter of living in our mingled spirit.
The central thought of the Bible is that God desires us to live Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ. The main point of our Christian life is to live Christ. To live Christ should be our primary goal; all the troubles in our Christian life come because of our not living Christ. We need to practice to live Christ, realizing that He is the life-giving Spirit in our spirit, until we live Christ habitually.
The climax, the highest point, of the divine revelation in the entire Bible is to live Christ. In order to live Christ, we must practice being one spirit with Him, and in order to practice being one spirit with Him, we must exercise our spirit to pray unceasingly. If we pray unceasingly from our spirit, “Lord, live in me; Lord, live through me,” we will build up a habit of not living our self but Christ; then we will live Christ habitually. The habit of living Christ is the habit of prayer. Apart from unceasingly praying, we cannot live Christ. It is only by such continual prayer, such breathing prayer, that we can live Christ spontaneously. In order to have such a prayer life, we must watch and pray, praying at every time in spirit, watching unto prayer in all petition, and persevering in prayer (Matt. 26:41; Eph. 6:18; Col. 4:2). Moreover, the foundation for us to pray is our love for the Lord. Because we love the Lord and seek Him, we like to contact Him, pray to Him, and call upon Him. Part of the secret of living Christ is telling the Lord again and again that we love Him.
Living Christ requires that we love Him to the uttermost. As we are engaged in our daily activities, our living should not be those activities but Christ. Our mind should be concentrated on Christ, but the concentration of our mind on Christ depends upon our love for Christ. This is the reason that the New Testament charges us to love Christ (Mark 12:30; Rev. 2:4-5; John 14:23; 21:15-17; 1 Pet. 1:8). If we do not love Christ, we cannot live Him; loving Him is the best way to concentrate our entire being on Him. When a young mother delivers a child, her whole living is that new baby; for her, to live is her new baby because of her love for her child. Likewise, when we love Christ to the uttermost, our entire being is occupied with Him, and we live Him. We need Christ to captivate us to an extent that even in our dreams we would live Christ.
In summary, we need to live Christ for His magnification by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. We need to be saved from the failure of not living Christ and from the defeat of not magnifying Christ. The Spirit has a rich provision to supply us in full to live Christ for His magnification. The bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ contains all that the processed and consummated Triune God — embodied in the all-inclusive Christ who is realized as the all-inclusive Spirit — is, has, has accomplished, obtained, attained, and will do. This bountiful supply of the Spirit is the unsearchable riches of Christ to meet in time the need of the seekers of Christ. When we truly seek after Christ, we will receive this bountiful supply. It is by such a bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ that the seekers of Christ, as His overcomers in the consummation of this age, live Him for His magnification in the New Testament economy of God for the producing and building up of the organic Body of Christ as the counterpart of the consummated Triune God, which will consummate in the New Jerusalem as His eternal enlargement and expression for eternity.
