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Regarding the experience of Christ, the book of Philippians is the most wonderful Epistle in the New Testament. Philippians 1:20 indicates that in any situation Christ can be magnified in us. In the next verse Paul says, “To me, to live is Christ.” Chapter 2 takes us deeper into the experience of Christ. Verses 12 and 13 of this chapter reveal that we need to obey the inner operating of God. God is operating in us both the willing and the working for His good pleasure (v. 13), but we still need to work out our own salvation daily. Day by day we need to be saved, rescued, and delivered. We work out such a daily salvation by obeying God’s inner operating. In chapter 3 Paul proceeds to tell us that we need the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord (v. 8). This means that we need the excellency in knowing Christ. On account of this excellency, we should count everything as loss. Furthermore, we should suffer the loss of all things and count them as refuse in order to gain Christ and to be found in Him. Paul was a person absolutely in Christ. For this reason, in 2 Corinthians 12:2 he refers to himself as “a man in Christ.” As a man in Christ, his desire was to be found always in Christ. Being found in Christ, he did not have his own righteousness but the righteousness that was God Himself lived out of him. Because he lived in this condition, he could know Christ, the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings. All this enabled him to be conformed to the death of Christ so that, by any means, he might arrive at the out-resurrection from the dead.
In Philippians 4 Paul says that he had learned the secret both to abound and to lack (v. 12). In everything and in all things he had learned the secret. Paul could declare, “I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me” (v. 13). Thus, at the end of the book of Philippians, we find a man who could do everything in Christ.
The secret of doing all things is to be in Christ. John 15:5 affords a contrast to this. In this verse the Lord said, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” Therefore, Philippians 4:13 says that we can do all things in Him, and John 15:5 says that apart from Him we can do nothing. We all need to learn to say, “Apart from Him I can do nothing, but in Him I can do all things.” The secret is to be in Him.
I am concerned that many of us do not know how to be in Christ. You may say, “Today we all are in Christ.” Yes, doctrinally we are in Him, but experientially we may not be in Him. First Corinthians 1:30 says that of God we are in Christ. Furthermore, Romans 6:3 and Galatians 3:27 say that we have been baptized into Christ. Thus, we all have been put into Christ. However, the Bible also says that after we have been put into Christ, we need to abide, remain, stay, in Him (John 15:4). To be put into Christ is one thing, and to remain in Christ is another. Being put into Christ does not depend upon us; it is a sovereign act of God. How we thank God that we are in Christ! To abide in Christ, however, does not depend on God; it depends on us. Now that God has put us into Christ, we need to abide in Him. However, after we have been put into Christ, we may stay there for only a short time and then not remain in Him.
The first secret in this chapter is that in order to do all things we need to be in Christ; the second secret is that to be in Christ we must abide in Him. For us to be in Him is to abide, remain, stay, in Him. Now we need to learn the secret of how to abide in Him. To be in Him is a secret, to abide in Him is a secret, and to know how to abide in Him is still another secret. Concerning this matter of abiding in Christ, the New Testament does not leave us in darkness. The same apostle who wrote about abiding in Christ in his Gospel also speaks about this in his first Epistle. According to 1 John 2:27, the way to abide in Christ is to take care of the anointing, for the anointing teaches us to abide in Him. Therefore, the secret of abiding in Christ is to care for the anointing. We must abide in Him according to the anointing.
I assume that we all know that the anointing is the moving and the working of the all-inclusive Spirit within us. The all-inclusive Spirit is the compound Spirit typified by the compound ointment in Exodus 30:22-33. The compound ointment described there pictures the contents of the all-inclusive Spirit. One of these ingredients pictures the all-inclusive death of Christ, and another portrays the resurrection. This compound Spirit is very active within us; He is moving, operating, working. His moving within us is a kind of teaching, and this teaching is like a sign or indicator. For example, as you drive your car, you see red and green lights as well as many other road signs. These signs show you when and how to drive. Likewise, the teaching of the compound Spirit within us shows us how to abide in Christ. We abide in Him by the teaching of the inner anointing.
We have seen that the secret of doing all things is to be in Him, that the secret of being in Him is to abide, and that the secret of abiding is to take care of the inner anointing. But now we must learn the secret of how to take care of the anointing. Every saved person has the anointing within. But day by day and hour by hour, most do not take care of it. Before I go on, let me give an example of not taking care of the anointing. Suppose the brothers living in a brothers’ house are all very natural and talk with one another in a natural way. There is no need for them to exercise their will to talk, for the words simply pour out of their mouths. Early in the morning, one brother may ask another about his roommate. The two begin to talk, and this talk opens the gates of Hades. As these brothers are talking, something within them is saying, “Don’t talk.” That brief word is the teaching of the anointing, which is nothing less than the living and the working of the indwelling Christ. However, the brothers may keep on talking and thus disobey the anointing.
Although the indwelling Christ is living in us, too often we do not live with Him. He lives His way, but we live our way. When we rise up in the morning, He desires to live His life, but we live our life. This causes a discrepancy, and this discrepancy is abnormal. Normally, Christ should live in us, and we should live according to His living. In this way we live by Him. This, however, should not be mere doctrine; it must be our daily living. For example, instead of talking in a natural way, we should talk when He talks. He speaks within, and we express His speaking. If He does not talk, then we should not talk either. In this way He talks in our talking. This is one life coming from two persons. We as the first person are the expression of the inner person, who is Christ.
In doctrine we may be very clear about this, but we may not practice it in our daily life. I am not concerned for doctrine but for your living. In your daily life do you live the life that Christ is living within you? Perhaps as you get up in the morning, you want to talk, but He does not. In such a case there is a discrepancy between your living and His. Normally, your living and His living should be one. But instead of this, in your talking too often there are two persons with two different livings instead of two persons with one living. Therefore, as you are about to talk about a certain brother, the Lord, who does not want to talk, moves within you to give you a certain feeling. You sense something moving within. Nevertheless, many times you do not care for this inner feeling. Thus, although the Lord does not want to talk, you proceed to talk anyway, sometimes gossiping for more than an hour. All this talk is disobedient to God’s inner operating. When you gossip in this way, you are not obeying the anointing.
The problem here is that in our talking we very often get off the cross. When Christ was on the cross, He was tempted to prove that He was the Son of God by coming down from the cross (Matt. 27:40). Although the Lord did not come down from the cross, we do so very often, even many times in one day. I must confess that this has been my own experience. I am familiar with this illness because I have suffered from it myself for years. Therefore, I can illustrate this according to my experience. Early in the morning, I may talk too much. Unable to eat breakfast in a good way because I am condemned for this, I go to my room and confess to the Lord, saying, “Lord, I confess how natural I am. Please forgive me. I hate my natural man and my talkativeness. Lord, put my tongue on the cross.” Every kind of repentance and confession is a killing. After being killed in this way, I am on the cross again. But later in the day some brothers may come to visit me, and again I may find myself talking too much. Although something within tells me to be quiet, I keep talking. It seems that there are no brakes on my spiritual car. Later, I regret my talkativeness and confess to the Lord once again. This time it is difficult even to speak to the Lord, because I feel so ashamed in His presence. Nevertheless, I ask Him to forgive me once again. Through my confession I get on the cross once again. I believe that this is not only my experience but also yours.
The problem is that we get off the cross. Yes, it is a fact that we have been crucified with Christ, but are we on the cross right now? The secret of taking care of the inner anointing is to stay on the cross.
This brings us to still another secret — the secret of staying on the cross. Because it is impossible for us to do this ourselves, we must find the secret of doing it. The secret of staying on the cross is that Christ is within us as resurrection power. Remember, Philippians 3:10 speaks of knowing Christ, the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings; it also speaks of being conformed to His death. Being conformed to His death comes after knowing the power of Christ’s resurrection. Through the power of resurrection that is within us, we are conformed to His death. Although we cannot keep ourselves on the cross, within us there is the power of resurrection, and by this power we can stay on the cross. When we stay on the cross, we are not committing suicide, because we are not actually keeping ourselves there; it is the power of resurrection that keeps us there.
In the foregoing chapter we considered Galatians 5:24, which says that they who are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and its lusts. This crucifixion of the flesh takes place by the Spirit. This is indicated by the fact that the next verse says that if we live by the Spirit, we should also walk by the Spirit. This indicates that the crucifying of the flesh takes place by the Spirit within us. Therefore, we are not actually the ones who crucify it; it is the Spirit as the power of resurrection who does this. In this regard we need to remember Romans 8:13, which says that by the Spirit we put to death the practices of the body. We have the Spirit within us. No matter how weak we may be, He is in us as the source of our experience of crucifixion. We cannot crucify our flesh or put to death the practices of the body, but the Spirit can do it. This is why, as we pointed out in the previous chapter, we need to cooperate with the indwelling Spirit.
We have also seen that Matthew 16:24 says that we must deny the self. However, not even the denial of the self can be done by ourselves; rather, it is done by the One who lives in us. By Him it is easy for us to deny the self. But apart from Him it is impossible. Regarding the denial of the self, there is One within us who is always waiting for our cooperation. If we say Amen, He will do the work and keep us on the cross.
This experience of the cross is not a suffering but an enjoyment. We enjoy the gracious working of the indwelling Spirit. Hour after hour and day after day, this indwelling Spirit keeps us on the cross. Therefore, by the Spirit as the power of resurrection, we are being conformed to Christ’s death. The result of this is that we arrive at the out-resurrection from the dead (Phil. 3:11). The power of resurrection works to conform us to Christ’s death. Then by our being conformed to His death, the out-resurrection becomes our portion. Thus, resurrection gives us the experience of death, which in turn brings us to the out-resurrection. This is the reason that A. B. Simpson could say in one of his hymns, “’Tis not hard to die with Christ / When His risen life we know.” Because we have resurrection life within us, it is not difficult to die. In another of his hymns A. B. Simpson says, “Oh! it is so sweet to die with Christ.’’ Because Christ is in us, it is sweet to die with Him. The resurrected One in us is the One who has experienced the crucifixion. Thus, it is not hard for us to die. On the contrary, it is sweet to die with Him because by dying with Him we enjoy Him.
Resurrection brings us into death, and death ushers us into higher resurrection, even the outstanding resurrection. Our natural life, desires, intentions, and tendencies are crucified not by ourselves but by the indwelling Spirit. This is the way to take care of the inner anointing. By taking care of the inner anointing, we abide in Him; by abiding in Him, we are in Him; and by being in Him, we can do all things.
In this chapter we have seen five secrets: the first is that to do all things we need to be in Him; the second, that to be in Him we need to abide in Him; the third, that to abide in Him we need to take care of the anointing; the fourth, that to take care of the anointing we need to remain on the cross; and the fifth, that in order to stay on the cross we must depend upon the indwelling Spirit. Although we have seen these five secrets, we must still consider a sixth — the secret of how to enjoy the indwelling Spirit. First Thessalonians 5:16 through 18 says, “Always rejoice, unceasingly pray, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Instead of periods after verses 16 and 17, there are commas. This punctuation indicates that always rejoicing, unceasingly praying, and giving thanks in everything are the will of God in Christ Jesus for us. God has a will regarding us. This will is that we must constantly rejoice, pray, and give thanks. This is the sixth and last secret, the practical secret. Without it, all the other secrets mean nothing.
Because we are so forgetful, we need to practice remembering all these secrets. Therefore, let us go over them again. The first secret is that if we would be able to do all things, we need to be in Christ. The second secret is that to be in Him requires that we abide in Him. The third secret is that to abide in Him we need to take care of the inner anointing. The fourth secret is that in order to take care of the inner anointing we must remain on the cross. We have seen that we in ourselves are not able to stay on the cross; instead, we often come down from the cross. Hence, we need to know the fifth secret: remaining on the cross by means of the indwelling Spirit. But all this is of no avail without the sixth secret, the secret of how to enjoy the indwelling Spirit. This secret is to rejoice always, to pray without ceasing, and to give thanks in everything.
Suppose as I am ministering, a brother stands up and says, “Brother Lee, I don’t agree with your speaking. You must stop.” At such a time I need to rejoice. To fail to rejoice is to get off the cross. Thus, if a brother rebukes me and tells me to stop speaking, I should say, “Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! How happy I am!” The sisters should also do this when their husbands give them a difficult time. Sisters, instead of being troubled by your husbands, rejoice in the Lord. Whenever we are not rejoicing, we come down from the cross. The indwelling Spirit works with us in our rejoicing.
For years I have encouraged the saints to release the spirit and to exercise the spirit. Now I wish to point out that the best way to release the spirit is to rejoice. To rejoice is not merely to be happy; it is to make a joyful noise. When we are joyful, we rejoice.
In 1 Thessalonians 5 the word rejoice is modified by the word always, and the word pray by the word unceasingly. Furthermore, in everything we are to give thanks to God. This means that even if a sister’s husband gives her a difficult time, she should praise the Lord. Rejoicing always, praying unceasingly, and giving thanks in everything is the will of God. These three things, which have been ordained by God, are like small screws in a machine. But without these screws the entire machine cannot operate.
Whenever we fail to give thanks in something, the indwelling Spirit is choked. In 1 Thessalonians 5 the matter of not quenching the Spirit is related to always rejoicing, to praying unceasingly, and to giving thanks in everything. If you do not rejoice, you quench the Spirit. If you do not pray or give thanks, you also quench the Spirit. The way to stir up the Spirit is to always rejoice, to unceasingly pray, and to give thanks in everything. The Spirit here is the power of resurrection. Although we have this Spirit within us, the Spirit is often choked because we do not rejoice, pray, or give thanks.
In order to be healthy, we need to keep four legalities: eating, drinking, breathing, and sleeping. Although Christians often condemn legality, we need to be legal about these things. In so many other things we should not be legal, but when it comes to eating, drinking, breathing, and sleeping, we must be legal. In like manner, rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks in all things are legalities. When some brothers hear this, they may say, “Brother Lee, I cannot thank the Lord for a wife such as mine. You don’t know how bad she is. If you had such a wife, you would sympathize with me.” However, no matter what kind of wife a brother has, he must rejoice and give thanks in everything. Each of us must do this for ourselves. Just as we cannot eat, drink, or breathe for others, so we cannot pray, rejoice, or give thanks for others.
An incident that took place in my hometown years ago illustrates this. A certain sister became deceived; she decided to give up eating and pray all day long. We tried our best to convince her to eat, telling her that we were concerned that she would die if she continued to go without eating. However, she still refused to eat. She had a good heart to pray for the church and for the saints, but because she would not eat, she eventually died. We could do many things for her, but we could not eat for her. Eating is a legality that we all must keep for ourselves. In like manner, if you do not pray, rejoice, or give thanks, I do not know what to do for you. The best thing I can do is to ask the Lord to make you willing to pray, to rejoice, and to give thanks.
I believe, however, that the saints are willing to pray, to rejoice, and to give thanks. Concerning rejoicing, we must practice not rejoicing occasionally but rejoicing always. The same is true regarding prayer. We should not pray just once in a while but unceasingly. What breathing is to our physical life, prayer is to our spiritual life. Breathing is more necessary than eating, drinking, or sleeping. Praying must be first in our spiritual life. We must breathe by praying unceasingly. There is no need for us to be alone in our room in order to pray. While we are speaking, listening, or busy with other things, we can pray. In everything we do, we are able to breathe. Medical science has learned that breathing deeply is a great help to our health. Regarding our spiritual breathing, we should not pray in a shallow way but pray from the depths of our being. When we pray like this, we stir up our spirit and fan the fire within us. Then we will rejoice and give thanks to the Lord. If we do these three things, the indwelling Spirit within us will be burning. By this burning Spirit within, we will be willing to remain in death and to keep the flesh, the self, and the natural life on the cross. This experience of death will usher in resurrection.
As we have pointed out, death is the gateway into resurrection. The deeper we go into death, the greater will be our experience of resurrection. When we have an outstanding death, we will also have an outstanding resurrection. The way to have such an outstanding death is to always rejoice, to unceasingly pray, and to give thanks in everything. When we do these things, we are in Him and in His resurrection. In Philippians 3 Paul speaks of knowing Christ and the power of His resurrection. Here Christ equals the power of resurrection. When we are in Him, we are in the power of resurrection. In the power of resurrection we can do all things. This is the experience of Christ recorded in the book of Philippians. In chapter 1 Paul speaks of Christ being magnified in him, whether through life or through death, and in chapter 4 he says that he can do all things in the One who empowers him. The way to be in the empowering One is to rejoice, pray, and give thanks. If we do these things, the Spirit will work out the experience of death, and this death will bring us into resurrection. Eventually, we will arrive at the outstanding resurrection from the dead.
