Search
In the previous chapter we saw five crucial items in Philippians 3: the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, the righteousness which is out of God and based on faith, the power of Christ’s resurrection, the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings, and the conformity to Christ’s death. These five matters relate to one concept — living by Christ so that we may obtain Him. The word obtained in Philippians 3:12 implies the experience of Christ and the enjoyment of Christ. To obtain Christ means to lay hold of Him, or to gain possession of Him. Christ is everything to us, our portion, our destiny, and even our destination. Now we must lay hold of Him and take possession of Him.
This is similar to the way the children of Israel took possession of the good land. The land had been destined for them and assigned to them, but they had to take possession of it little by little. The more they took possession of the land, the more they obtained the land; and the more they experienced the land, the more they enjoyed the land. The land is a complete type of the all-inclusive Christ. As our portion, Christ has been assigned to us. But now we need to take Him, to gain Him, to obtain Him.
In verse 8 Paul says, “That I may gain Christ.” In verse 12 Paul says, “Not that I have already obtained...but I pursue, if even I may lay hold of that for which I also have been laid hold of by Christ Jesus.” The Greek word for obtained refers to obtaining in an ordinary way, and the word for lay hold means to obtain in an intensified way. This means that we must not only obtain Christ but that our obtaining of Him must be intensified.
The best way to obtain Christ is to experience Him. We need to consider how to experience Christ and enjoy Christ in a practical way. As we have pointed out, in verse 8 Paul speaks of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus. Before Christ came, the children of Israel were God’s people on earth. They were the only people who had received something directly from God. What they received from God directly was the law. This was a great matter, and the Jews were proud of the law and boasted in it. The law was their glory and excellency. Unlike the Jews, the Gentiles could not boast of having received anything directly from God. But the Jews could say, “All the nations are dogs, but we are the chosen people of God, the peculiar possession of God. We have the law of God.” No one can say that the law is not good. However, about fifteen hundred years after the law was given, Jesus of Nazareth appeared. Although He had no beauty or comeliness, He came to certain people and said, “Follow Me.” This word implied that those who followed Him had to forget the law. The words Follow Me caused a great disturbance. Some might have said, “We have been following Moses for centuries. Who are You, a Nazarene, to tell us to follow You?” Nevertheless, some young fishermen named Peter, Andrew, James, and John left their boats and their nets and followed Jesus. Jesus was a powerful magnet who attracted them to Himself. Those who followed Him were not Pharisees, scribes, or Sadducees but uneducated fishermen. Those who followed Him were not the leaders in Jewish society.
One day the Lord Jesus brought His disciples to Caesarea Philippi and asked them who people were saying that He was. They told Him that some said that He was Elijah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, or one of the prophets. But when He asked them who they thought He was, Peter immediately replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” This means that Jesus, the Nazarene, was the Christ, the Messiah, God’s anointed and appointed One. Peter seemed to be saying, “You, Jesus of Nazareth, are the anointed and appointed One of God. You are also the Son of the living God.”
After Peter declared that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Lord Jesus told His disciples that He would be crucified and resurrected on the third day. But the Lord’s followers could not believe it. They could recognize Him as the Christ, the Son of the living God, but they could not believe that He would be crucified and resurrected. Eventually, the Lord was betrayed, arrested, judged, and crucified. The disciples were very disappointed because the Son of the living God had been killed and buried. But on the third day He was resurrected. The resurrection was discovered not by Peter but by a sister who loved the Lord. She saw the empty tomb and even touched the resurrected Christ. Then the Lord charged her to tell the disciples that He would meet them in Galilee. Thus, after Christ’s resurrection all the disciples came to know the excellency of Christ Jesus the Lord.
However, many of the “top dogs” among the Jews did not know this excellent One. One of these “top dogs” was a young man named Saul of Tarsus. Saul appreciated the law to the uttermost, and he tried his best to damage the churches. But one day the excellent Jesus appeared to him from the heavens in a mysterious way, even calling him by name. Saul saw the light and heard the voice, but he did not see anyone. How shocked Saul was to discover that the One speaking to him was Jesus! To his concept Jesus was in the tomb, but now he heard Jesus speaking to him from the heavens. At that time, the veil was removed, and Saul of Tarsus had a vision of the Lord Jesus. This vision gave him the excellency of the knowledge of Christ.
For the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, Paul became willing to drop everything. He realized that there was no comparison between Christ and the law. How could the Ten Commandments compare with this living, wonderful person? All the things that had been gains to Paul he now counted as loss for the excellency of Christ.
Paul also desired to gain Christ, to obtain Him, to take possession of Him. The best way to take possession of something is to eat it. Dietitians say that we are what we eat. Therefore, by eating Christ, Christ gets into us and then comes out of us. When Christ comes into us, He is our life supply. But when He comes out of us, He is the righteousness which is out of God and based on faith. When we eat Christ, He becomes the life supply within us. Then this Christ will live Himself out of us. When He does this, He becomes our living righteousness. This is the righteousness of God.
Furthermore, when we take Christ into us by eating Him, Christ becomes the resurrected One within us. In this resurrected One there is the power of resurrection that motivates us and energizes us. Because we are energized by resurrection power, we cannot be silent. Rather, we must be excited and even beside ourselves with joy. This is the power of resurrection. This is Christ not in doctrine but in our experience.
Although the food has been prepared and set on the table, we may not know how to eat. In Philippians 3 we see a very particular way to eat Christ. The best way to eat Him is by denying something. In order to eat Christ, we must deny everything, including ourselves, our mind, our cleverness, our knowledge, and all our good points. We must even deny yesterday’s experience of Christ. Paul said that he counted all things loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. This means that he denied everything. Because Christ was everything to him, he denied everything other than Christ.
A certain person may be humble, and another may be very bold. The humble one has been humble from birth. There is no need to teach him to be humble. He simply does not know that there is any such thing as pride. The bold one was born with the ability to release his spirit. It is natural for him to do so. However, for the humble one to release his spirit is difficult, and for the bold one to be humble is a killing to him. A third person may naturally be very intelligent. He was born that way. Humility, boldness, and intelligence are the heritage these persons have from birth. A fourth person may be very kind and gentle. One day all four may come to believe in the Lord Jesus and become partakers of Christ. Suppose a servant of the Lord visits them and tells them that our only destiny is to obtain Christ. In order to gain Christ, we must count all things loss. However, the humble brother may count all things loss except his humility. In principle, the same may be true of the bold brother, the intelligent brother, and the gentle brother. Because the humble brother has not counted his humility as loss for the sake of Christ, he will use his humility in the church life whenever an opportunity is presented. Although he is humble, there is nothing of Christ in his humility. He secretly treasures his humility and thus it replaces Christ. The same is true regarding natural boldness, natural intelligence, and natural gentleness. All these things are simply aspects of the flesh.
If we want to participate in Christ, experience Christ, and enjoy Christ, we must repudiate our flesh. The greatest obstacle to enjoying Christ is our natural heritage. For example, the greatest hindrance for a naturally gentle brother to enjoy Christ is his gentleness, for he may repudiate all things except his gentleness. Although we have enjoyed Christ to a certain degree, we all have been frustrated and hindered by our natural heritage. It is the good flesh that is the greatest hindrance to experiencing Christ and enjoying Him.
Suppose a certain person is naturally eloquent and makes a great impact upon an audience. If he becomes a Christian, he can be an outstanding preacher and draw a great crowd. Being naturally eloquent, he can be influential and have a great impact. But there will be no need for Christ or for the Spirit. With his natural eloquence he can secure a large following. If I were such an eloquent speaker, you all would appreciate me. You would praise the Lord that such a brother had been brought into the Lord’s recovery. However, it is difficult for such an eloquent speaker to enjoy Christ in his speaking because he has no need of Christ.
Suppose another person is not born with the ability to speak eloquently. On the contrary, he is slow and halting in his expression. Whenever he speaks more than a few minutes, everyone falls asleep. Suppose he gets saved, loves the Lord and the church, and has a burden to speak a word for the Lord. Having no trust in himself, he spontaneously repudiates himself and puts all his trust in Christ. He may fast and pray desperately to the Lord, saying, “Lord, if You don’t speak, I will not be able to speak. If You don’t do something with my speaking, I am finished.” When he stands up to speak, he is in fear and trembling, but because he has repudiated himself, he experiences Christ and enjoys Christ as he speaks.
A naturally eloquent brother may have the same experience, for with him the principle is the same. He may pray, “Lord, I am in fear and trembling that my eloquence and intelligence might replace You and that my ability might hinder You and keep me from enjoying You. Lord, as I speak, I have no trust in my natural ability.” In this way he denies himself and repudiates his ability, eloquence, intelligence, and knowledge. Therefore, when he speaks, he also experiences Christ and enjoys Him.
No matter whether we are dull or intelligent, we must reject all that we are. Nothing natural should be allowed to replace Christ. Any naturally good thing will frustrate us from the enjoyment of Christ.
The apostle Paul said, “I pursue, if even that I may lay hold of that for which I also have been laid hold of by Christ Jesus” (v. 12). Christ has laid hold of us so that we may lay hold of Him. One day we repented and believed in Christ. According to our feeling, we were saved, but according to Christ’s realization, we were captured by Him. Christ has taken possession of us, not so that we may go to heaven or be good Christians but so that we may lay hold of Him. We need to pursue Him so that we may lay hold of that for which we have been laid hold of by Him. Therefore, we should say, “Lord, I thank You for laying hold of me. You have laid hold of me so that I may lay hold of You. This was Your purpose in taking possession of me.”
As we have pointed out, the best way to lay hold of Christ is to eat Him. He desires that we eat more and more of Him. In order to eat Christ, we must deny whatever we are, whatever we have, and whatever we are able to do. This is the way to lay hold of that for which we have been laid hold of by Christ.
It is not simply a matter of learning Christ but of taking possession of Him. By denying all that we are naturally, we take possession of Him. We must deny not only our hatred but also our love, not only our pride but also our humility, not only our dullness but also our intelligence. The way to enjoy Christ is to deny everything that we are by nature.
According to Philippians 3, to deny everything is to count everything as loss because of Christ, because of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. How excellent Christ is! This excellent knowledge will motivate us to count all things as loss. We must even deny our knowledge of the Bible. I have been studying the Bible for more than fifty years, and I have acquired a good deal of Bible knowledge. However, if I trust in my knowledge while I am giving a message, that message will amount to nothing. Every time I speak, I have learned to say to the Lord, “Lord, I have nothing. Even if I have something, it does not count. Lord, You must come in to be everything. Lord, You be the speaking, the outline, the points, the instant utterance, and the whole message.” When I speak like this, something new is released time after time, and I am the first one to be fed. However, if I trust in my knowledge, even the knowledge I received yesterday, I will not have any nourishment. In such a case, I would be trusting in something good that is not Christ.
Again I say, the way for us to enjoy Christ is to deny everything we have and are. We must even deny the best spiritual experiences we have had. The way to eat Christ is to deny everything and to come to Him empty-handed. If you empty out your whole being, He will be something new to you.
Paul not only counted all things as loss for the sake of Christ but counted all things as refuse. According to his accounting, everything meant nothing. Because he always counted everything as loss for the sake of Christ, he constantly enjoyed Christ. The more things you deny, the more Christ will replace you and the more He will become your experience and enjoyment. Our slogan should be this: “Oh, that I may gain Christ!” Oh, that we may also lay hold of that for which we have been laid hold of by Christ. The way to lay hold of Him, gain Him, experience Him, and enjoy Him is to deny whatever we are, whatever we have, and whatever we can do. Do not bring anything to Christ. He does not need what you are or have, but you need Him. In every way Christ wants to replace you with Himself. Christ has already laid hold of us so that we may lay hold of Him. Now He is waiting for us to experience Him and enjoy Him by denying all things and by counting all things as loss for His sake.
