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Scripture Reading: 5-7, Phil. 1:19-21, 27; 1, 2:5-8; 3:3, 7-11; 4:11-13; Col. 1:8-9; 3:16; 2:5
In the book of Galatians the Spirit is for us to take Christ as our life and live Him, and in Ephesians the Spirit is for the Body life. Between these two books, the revelation of Christ as the Spirit may seem complete. However, these books do not give us the secret of how to apply Christ as our life. Therefore, after these books we have Philippians, which reveals the secret of experiencing Christ as our life and everything. Philippians contains not merely doctrinal teachings but the different aspects of the experience of Christ. In Philippians, Christ is the all-inclusive Spirit for our experience. In chapter 1 Christ is our expression, and we magnify Him in any kind of circumstance (vv. 20-21). In chapter 2 Christ is our pattern and example (vv. 5-8). In chapter 3 Christ is our aim and goal, the One whom we pursue and toward whom we press (vv. 7-11). Then in chapter 4 Christ is not only our outward pattern for us to follow but our inward power, empowering us all the time in every circumstance (v. 13). We need to read Philippians with the point of view that Christ is our expression, pattern, aim, and power. In all these matters, the way, the secret, of experiencing Christ is the all-inclusive Spirit.
The experience of Christ in Philippians is mostly in four aspects, related to our circumstances, the unbelievers, the believers, and God. First, we magnify Christ in any kind of circumstance, condition, state, or situation, whether through life or through death. We overcome all the troubles and hardships, and nothing can oppress, depress, suppress, or overcome us. Second, in order to magnify Christ, we need to preach and impart Him to the unbelievers, presenting Him as the good tidings. This is the reason that this book mentions the preaching of the gospel, the good work begun by the Lord in us (1:5-7, 12-14, 18, 27). Third, in order to magnify Christ, we must fellowship with the believers. This is more glorious. We present Christ and impart Him to the unbelievers, and we also serve Him to the believers, fellowshipping the glorious Christ with one another. In this way the experience of Christ is related both to the unbelievers and the believers. Fourth, we magnify Christ by serving and worshipping by the Spirit of God (3:3).
At the time he wrote this Epistle, the apostle Paul was in prison where he suffered much. Because the Philippian believers were concerned for the apostle and because the church in Philippi had been raised up by Paul, they had fellowship with him in his affliction (4:14). The Philippians also had fellowship and cooperation in the spreading, the advance, of the gospel. In addition, Paul spoke of “fellowship of spirit” (2:1). Paul needed fellowship in prison, and the Philippians also needed fellowship in spirit. As the children of God, all the believers need fellowship with one another. Moreover, we also need to worship God in a proper way. Therefore, in order to experience Christ, we must magnify Christ in every kind of circumstance, present Christ to the unbelievers, fellowship Christ with the believers, and worship God in Christ and with Christ.
Verse 19 of chapter 1 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.” In the whole Bible only this verse speaks of the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Whatever happened to Paul turned out to his salvation. It was not a damage or a loss to him but a salvation because of the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. By this supply Paul could magnify Christ in any kind of situation and under any kind of circumstance. Verses 20 and 21 continue, “According to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I will be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Paul was put to shame in nothing because whether through life or through death Christ was magnified in his body through the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. To him, everything was glorious, whether to live or to die. It is only by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ that to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Romans 8:9 says, “You are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Yet if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him.” This verse speaks of the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ. Acts 16:7 says, “When they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, yet the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.” Then as we have seen, Philippians 1:19 says, “The Spirit of Jesus Christ.” The Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of Jesus Christ are not four different Spirits. All these are one Spirit, who is called by four different titles.
Please refer to the diagram on the following page. God was in eternity past, and in time He was incarnated to be a man by the name of Jesus. One day this Jesus went to the cross, and as a man He died and was buried. Following this, He was resurrected, which means that He was glorified and shown to be the very Christ of God (Luke 24:26, 46; Acts 3:13a, 15). In incarnation He became Jesus, and in resurrection He was declared to be the Christ of God. Moreover, this Christ in resurrection became the Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17). Therefore, we have God, Jesus, Christ, and the Spirit.
The Spirit before the incarnation was simply the Spirit of God. When Jesus was on the earth, He was a man, but within Him was the reality of God. Thus, the Spirit of Jesus refers to the Spirit of the incarnated Savior who, as Jesus in His humanity, passed through human living and death on the cross. The Spirit of Jesus is the suffering, enduring, and forbearing Spirit, the Spirit of a proper human living. It is by the Spirit that Jesus was able to live a proper human life, suffering much, enduring hardships, and bearing all the persecutions. Then after His resurrection and ascension, this Jesus was designated as the Christ (Acts 2:36). Today this Christ is the Spirit, who is called the Spirit of Christ. All the foregoing terms speak of the history of the Spirit of God, who today is the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
The Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of Jesus Christ are not four Spirits but one Spirit in several stages. In the first stage, the Spirit of God was God alone. In the second stage, God became the man Jesus so that the Spirit of Jesus could be the Spirit of the incarnated Savior. In the third stage, He was designated the Christ in resurrection and ascension so that He may be the Spirit of Christ. Taken all together, He is now the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Within Him is everything, including God, man, and the power to suffer, endure, and forbear. Within Him also there is resurrection power, transcending power, surpassing power, and overcoming power (Eph. 1:19-22), and within Him there is even the reality of glorification.
Acts 16 speaks of the Spirit of Jesus, not the Spirit of Christ as in Romans 8. This is because the events in Acts were a matter of suffering. The apostle Paul went out to preach the gospel, which involves suffering, hardships, and persecutions. This requires the Spirit of Jesus, who is the enduring, forbearing, suffering, and longsuffering Spirit. In order to preach the gospel, we need the Spirit of the man Jesus as the suffering power. Romans 8, however, deals with the resurrection life. In order to live out the resurrection life, we need the Spirit of Christ, who is the resurrecting, transcending, surpassing, and overcoming Spirit. We cannot interchange Acts 16 and Romans 8. It would not be right to say that the Spirit of Christ directed Paul in preaching the gospel, nor is it accurate to speak of the Spirit of Jesus in the context of Romans 8. In hardship and persecution we need the Spirit of Jesus, and to live out the resurrection life we need the Spirit of Christ.
Philippians 1:19 goes on to speak of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. At that time the writer, the apostle Paul, was in a prison, suffering yet having the expectation that he would magnify Christ. In order to suffer, he needed the Spirit of Jesus, but in order to magnify Christ, he needed the Spirit of Christ. Paul seemed to be saying, “I am now in prison. You Philippians should not be disappointed by this. I have the Spirit of Jesus in order to suffer, endure, and forbear every kind of hardship. I also have the Spirit of Christ to release me, resurrect me, and cause me to transcend to the heavenly places so that I may magnify Christ. I do not care whether I am in life or in death, because I have the transcending, surpassing, overcoming Spirit within me. I have the all-inclusive bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.”
In his translation of the Epistles of Paul, Conybeare tells us that the phrase bountiful supply in Greek has a specific meaning, referring to the supplying of all the needs of the chorus by the choragus, the leader of the chorus. The choragus would supply everything the chorus needed, including clothing, food, drink, and instruments. This was the all-inclusive supply of the choragus for the chorus. Today the Spirit of Jesus Christ supplies us with everything we need. We should not consider the apostle as a mere prisoner at that time. Rather, he was part of a heavenly, spiritual “chorus” with the Spirit as his Choragus to afford him a bountiful supply. The Spirit today is not only the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus, or the Spirit of Christ. He is the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the all-inclusive Spirit. Therefore, He affords us the all-inclusive bountiful supply. He is the secret for us to experience Christ.
Philippians 4:11-13 says, “Not that I speak according to lack, for I have learned, in whatever circumstances I am, to be content. I know also how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in everything and in all things I have learned the secret both to be filled and to hunger, both to abound and to lack. I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me.” We must learn the secret of how to endure any kind of suffering or circumstance. To be poor or to be rich, to be persecuted or to be honored, are all the same to us if we have learned the secret of remaining in any state in order to magnify Christ by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. To be abased and to abound include being poor and being rich. Some people do not know how to be poor. When they are poor, they do not know what to do. Others, however, know how to be poor, but they do not know how to be rich. When they become rich, they become foolish. The apostle Paul knew both how to be poor and how to be rich, how to be abased and how to abound, not only in one thing but in everything and in all things.
In verse 12 Paul says, “In everything and in all things I have learned the secret,” and in 1:20 he says, “Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death.” As persons existing on this earth and living among humanity, we cannot escape our circumstances. Every day we encounter certain situations. If we prefer not to live in one place, we may have more difficult circumstances when we move to another place. In order to be a normal believer living in the spirit, we must first deal with our circumstances. We should praise the Lord and thank Him for His sovereignty and wisdom. The sovereign, wise hand of the Lord always arranges our circumstances for us and assigns them to us. If we need a wife, He will assign a proper, suitable wife, and if we need a certain kind of child, He will give us one. He also knows what kind of health we need, and He assigns it to us. We should not complain, because all things are under His sovereign and wise hand. The Lord knows what we need, He is never wrong, and He assigns to us our circumstances. Therefore, in order to live in the spirit by Christ as our life, we must learn the secret of how to deal with our circumstances, how to be abased and how to abound, and how to be poor and how to be rich. Then we will be able to magnify Christ.
Paul had learned the secret, and he could do all things, not in himself but in Him who empowered him. We may illustrate this with electrical appliances, which are able to operate because of the empowering of electricity. The One who empowers us in this way is the empowering Spirit. Regardless of the circumstance or state we are in, we can do all things in Him who empowers us so that He may be magnified in our body. This is the experience of Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit so that He may be magnified in any kind of circumstance.
Verses 5 and 6 of chapter 1 say, “For your fellowship unto the furtherance of the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun in you a good work will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.” The fellowship of the gospel is the cooperation in the preaching of the gospel, and the good work in us is the spreading, the furtherance, of the gospel. Verse 27 says, “Only, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, that whether coming and seeing you or being absent, I may hear of the things concerning you, that you stand firm in one spirit, with one soul striving together along with the faith of the gospel.” If we intend to magnify Christ, we must not only overcome every kind of circumstance, but we must also preach the gospel to present Christ to the unbelievers. The all-inclusive Spirit within us constantly supplies us for preaching the gospel. In order to experience Christ and enjoy the bountiful supply of the Spirit, we need to do the work of preaching the gospel. The more we preach the gospel to present Christ to people, the more we will enjoy the bountiful supply of the all-inclusive Spirit within us. On the other hand, if we do not preach the gospel, we will suffer the loss of the supply of the all-inclusive Spirit. In order to enjoy the all-inclusive supply of the Spirit, we need to “spend” the supply. If we do not spend the supply we have received, a further supply will not come.
If we open ourselves to present Christ to the unbelievers, we will realize that within us is a bountiful supply constantly affording us an enjoyment. To preach the gospel is an enjoyment. If we do not preach the gospel, we will not be able to enjoy the all-inclusive Spirit to a greater extent. The more we present Christ to others, the more we will gain Him. The more we “spend” Christ on others, the more Christ we will enjoy. This is the good work begun within us, and this is the fellowship, the cooperation, in the gospel.
Verse 1 of chapter 2 says, “If there is therefore any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of spirit, if any tenderheartedness and compassions.” As for the unbelievers, we present Christ to them as the gospel. Concerning the believers, though, we need to fellowship. In order to fellowship with the brothers and sisters, we need to open to them to let the Spirit flow out of us, and we should help them to open to us so that the Spirit will flow out of them into us. This is a two-way traffic, a flowing out and a flowing in.
Many Christians find it difficult to open, even in the meetings. In our prayer meetings, for example, it is mostly the same persons who pray every time, and certain others are accustomed to being silent. During the prayer, I may inwardly say to the Lord, “O Lord, open the mouths and release the spirits of more of the brothers and sisters.” We should not be afraid of fellowshipping by speaking in the meetings. In a family it is not always the older members who should speak. The family also enjoys hearing the children speak. The older brothers and sisters should give the opportunity to the younger ones to open their mouths to fellowship in the meetings.
Verse 1 speaks of “fellowship of spirit.” This spirit is the mingled spirit, the divine Spirit mingled with our human spirit. The secret to opening up in fellowship and helping others to open is the mingled spirit. The more we are in our mind and our feelings, the more we will be silent. We may even consider that the wise way is to remain silent. However, the more we reject our natural mind, consideration, and feelings and turn to the mingled spirit, the more we will open our mouths to fellowship. Even if we do not know what to say, at least we can say, “Praise the Lord. Hallelujah! Christ is Victor.” It is even sweeter and more refreshing if the younger ones among us praise the Lord in this way. Because I frequently speak in the meetings, I prefer to remain silent at times so that we may hear something from the other brothers and sisters. We need more fellowship of spirit.
To fellowship is to open ourselves. Fellowship is a current or flow, like that of a stream. Again, we may illustrate this with electricity. There is a kind of fellowship among the electrical lamps in a building, which is the current of electricity that flows within them. In the same way, the Spirit flows out of us, into others, and back to us. Therefore, when we come to the meetings, we need to learn to open to everyone and to help them to open to us. Then we will have a flowing stream among us. This flowing stream in the spirit is fellowship. We need this kind of “fellowship of spirit.” If we remain in our soul, the fellowship stops, but if we turn to the spirit, we immediately sense the flowing in the spirit. Then when we follow that flow in the spirit to speak something to one another, we are in the fellowship.
Verse 3 of chapter 3 says, “We are the circumcision, the ones who serve by the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh.” As we have seen, we need to experience Christ in four aspects. As to our circumstances, we magnify Christ in any situation. In whatever happens to us, we must remember that within us there is the all-inclusive Spirit supplying us all the time. It is by Him that we are able to magnify Christ. Second, as to the unbelievers, we preach the gospel by presenting Christ to them. Third, concerning the believers, we have fellowship of spirit. Now as to God, we serve by the Spirit. This is the way to experience Christ.
In verse 3 Paul gives us a contrast between serving God by the Spirit and by the flesh. According to chapter 3, Paul had many virtues to boast of according to the flesh (vv. 4-6). However, he learned the lesson not to serve God by the virtues of the flesh. He gave up all these things and left no ground for them in his service to God. Instead, he learned to serve God by the Spirit. According to the context of this chapter, to serve God by the Spirit is a matter of the resurrection life (v. 10). The Spirit is the reality of the power of resurrection. As we have seen, the Spirit today is no longer only the Spirit of God; He is the Spirit of Jesus Christ, which includes both human suffering and resurrection. Resurrection power is nothing less than the Spirit Himself. To worship and serve God by the Spirit is to worship and serve in the resurrection power, not in anything natural, in the flesh, or by our self. Paul had virtues in the flesh of which he could boast, but he had seen the vision and learned the secret to give up the good flesh and worship God simply and absolutely in the power of Christ’s resurrection. This is the meaning of serving God by the Spirit.
The last verse of Philippians says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit” (4:23). The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is God in Christ as our supply and enjoyment, conveyed to us and realized through the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. This grace which is the supply of the Spirit is the riches of Christ. The all-inclusive Spirit constantly supplies us with the riches of Christ as grace for our enjoyment. It is by this grace, this supply, that we magnify Christ in every kind of circumstance, present Christ to the unbelievers, fellowship with the believers, and worship God. We must do everything in this grace, which is the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Moreover, this grace is with our spirit. In order to enjoy and participate in this grace by magnifying Christ, preaching the gospel, fellowshipping with the believers, and serving God by the Spirit, we need to turn to our spirit and exercise our spirit. Then grace will flow in our spirit as living water. This is to come forward to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace for timely help (Heb. 4:16).
When we remain in the soul, we are not able to fellowship with the believers, nor can we preach the gospel in a prevailing way. We need to preach the gospel in the spirit. We should not give people merely good doctrinal teaching. We need to give them the living Spirit. When we get into the spirit, people will be saved. To serve God is in the same principle. When we remain in the soul, it is difficult to serve God properly. We need to reject our natural self and soul and turn to the spirit. Right away in the spirit there will be a tendency to serve God. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is the flow, the all-inclusive supply, of the Spirit, and this grace, flow, and supply is with our spirit. Therefore, we must turn to our spirit all the time.
In the book of Philippians, the Spirit is the Spirit of the bountiful supply. He is the supplying Spirit who renders and affords us the all-inclusive supply that suffices for us to magnify Christ under any kind of circumstance, present Christ to the unbelievers, fellowship with the saints, and serve God. The Spirit of the bountiful supply constantly supplies us with whatever we need.
Because the book of Colossians emphasizes the Christ who is all and in all, there is little mention of the Spirit in this book. Verses 8 and 9 of chapter 1 say, “Who also has made known to us your love in the Spirit. Therefore we also, since the day we heard of it, do not cease praying and asking on your behalf that you may be filled with the full knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” Verse 8 speaks of love in the Spirit, verse 9 speaks of spiritual wisdom, and 3:16 mentions spiritual songs. Christ is all and in all to us, but we need spiritual wisdom, the wisdom of the Spirit in our spirit, in order to know all the things of Christ. Moreover, we need love in the Spirit to live out what we know. Therefore, in order to know Christ we need to be in the spirit, and in order to live out Christ, we need the love of the Spirit. It is in the spirit that we have the wisdom to know Christ, and it is by the Spirit that we have the love to live out Christ. Then 2:5 says, “Even though I am absent in the flesh, yet in the spirit I am with you, rejoicing and seeing your order and the solid basis of your faith in Christ.” This refers to the human spirit indwelt by the Holy Spirit. May we all be brought into a full realization of the Spirit of Jesus Christ with the bountiful, all-inclusive supply to meet all our needs, and may we experience the Spirit to know Christ and live out Christ.
