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Scripture Reading: Phil. 1:19-21; 2:5, 13-14; 3:8, 10; 4:4-7, 12-13
We have seen in the past chapters that by the time we come to Ephesians, the church has come into being through the indwelling of Christ. This is the climax. If we look into the content of all the books of the New Testament up to the end of Ephesians, we can see that Paul has reached a consummation. He has presented to us the all-inclusive Christ, and he has showed us the Body, the church.
Yet Paul the apostle is a good minister and a good writer. Even after reaching the climax, he still has something to say. Therefore, the book of Philippians follows Ephesians. The arrangement of the books of the New Testament is really something of the Spirit of the Lord. Suppose we were to put Philippians before Acts, or even after Galatians. It simply would not fit so well. But in the order in which we have them, they give a clear, meaningful picture.
What is the purpose of the book of Philippians? If we have the proper light from the Lord, we can see that following Ephesians, the book on the church, Philippians gives us a real picture of the practical way to have the church life. After seeing the wonderful church life in the book of Ephesians, we need to know how to practice it. Therefore, Philippians follows Ephesians to show us the practical way of the church life.
In a sense, the book of Philippians is not merely a book of revelation but a book of practice. We have chosen verses from each of the four chapters of this book, and all these representative verses speak mostly of practice.
Consider Philippians 1:19: “I know that for me this will turn out to salvation through your petition and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” Undoubtedly, this is a practical daily experience. So many things happened to Paul. Whenever we see how much Christ is to us and what the church life is, we can be assured that things will happen. There is not one exception. If we mean business with the Lord, we must be prepared for the things to happen. The demons may be stirred up, the wind may blow, and the rain may fall. The children may become naughty, the wives may become rebellious, and the husbands may become hard. If you are a teacher, your class may give you much trouble. If you are a general manager, the employees may give you a difficult time. If you are an employee, your boss may not treat you well.
Even if your circumstances are good, that is still a test to you. Many saints, after seeing something of Christ and the church, can take the sufferings, but they cannot stand the good situations. Some, after seeing the church, may lose their job, but that loss of employment will eventually turn out to their salvation. However, some, after seeing the church, get a better job, and this better position, instead of turning out to their salvation, turns them away from the church. Sometimes the good that comes to us may not be a real help, but still that is a test. Sometimes the greatest test is not affliction but prosperity.
In other words, after seeing something of Christ and the vision of the church, the Lord will surely put us on the test, and He knows just what kind of test we need. Some need the test of a troublesome wife. Others need the test of a very obedient wife. Sometimes it is hard to tell which is better. Of course, humanly speaking, an obedient wife is much better, but spiritually speaking, only the Lord knows. Only the Lord knows what kind of wife we need, and whether she is good or bad, she is still a test to us.
Paul had no wife, but he still had much trouble. Some of the churches gave him trouble. By reading all his writings, we see that he had many problems with the churches. From reading 2 Corinthians we can see that the Corinthians even thought Paul was cheating them in the matter of money (12:16). So Paul told them that he would never take anything from them, but rather he would spend and be spent for them (vv. 13, 15). We may say that the church in Philippi was good to him. But in Philippi there was a problem of the practical church life. All the Epistles were written due to the fact that there were some problems. We thank the Lord for these problems; otherwise, we would not have these Epistles today. First Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, and Colossians were all written because of problems.
For the problem of the practical church life, Paul told the Philippians that all the things which happened to him would turn out to his salvation through their petition and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. We all must realize that the Spirit of Jesus Christ is more bountifully rich than just the Spirit of God. In one sense the Spirit of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of God, but in another sense there is a great difference.
Before the Lord was incarnated, crucified, and resurrected, the Spirit was the Spirit of God. There was no element of incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, or ascension in this Spirit. Therefore, the Spirit was merely and purely the Spirit of God. But after the incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, the Spirit of God became the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Within this Spirit, there was not only the element of God but also the element of man. There was the divine and the human element. There was also the element of the termination of the crucifixion, the germination of the resurrection, the ascension, and the exaltation. Now this Spirit is not only the Spirit of God but also the Spirit of Jesus Christ. This bountifully rich Spirit includes the divine element, the human element, the termination of the negative things, the germination of the new creation, the exaltation, kingship, lordship, and headship. Hallelujah! What a bountiful supply is now in this Spirit! Whatever we need, we have in the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
However, such a bountiful supply could never be realized, experienced, and enjoyed without the Spirit of Jesus Christ indwelling us. Even if He were on the earth, without His indwelling, we could never participate in His bountiful supply. This bountiful, rich Spirit must indwell us. Then whatever He has and whatever He is will be our experience.
Paul tells us that the practical way to have the church life is to know that in whatever circumstances we are, we have within us the all-inclusive Spirit of Jesus Christ. Whatever happens to us must turn out to our salvation in this rich supply. We do not have to pray for the circumstances to come or not to come. We leave that to the Lord. But we must pray, and have others pray for us, that we will realize the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. We must learn to experience the rich supply of this Spirit in all our situations. This experience will produce the practical church life.
Paul’s only concern was that all the things which happened to him would turn to his salvation through the realization of the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Then he said, “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” (Phil. 1:20-21). Paul realized that through death or through life, God’s purpose was to magnify Christ in him. To magnify Christ includes the expression of Christ with a kind of dignity. Christ must be expressed in us but not in a poor way. He must be expressed in a magnified and dignified way.
With some of the more mature saints, we can realize a kind of spiritual dignity. Because they have experienced Christ to such an extent, they express Christ with dignity. Christ is magnified in them not only in the positive things of life but also in the negative things of death. Whether their environment is positive or negative, it means nothing to them. All things are the same, simply creating opportunities for them to magnify Christ. This is why Paul could eventually say, “To me, to live is Christ.” He was in the practical experience of the church life.
Then in chapter 2 Paul tells us that we must have the mind of Christ: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (v. 5). This corresponds to that which is mentioned in Romans 12:2. There we see that we must be transformed by the renewing of our mind. This means that our mind is replaced with the mind of Christ. In other words, we must take the person of Christ. We must put our mind aside and take the mind of Christ. This is a kind of substitution. We reject our own person and take Christ as our person. Therefore, His mind becomes our mind.
After this, verse 13 of Philippians 2 says, “It is God who operates in you both the willing and the working for His good pleasure.” In this book some verses speak of Christ’s indwelling, one speaks of the bountiful supply of the Spirit, and here is a verse that says that God is working in us. Who then is working, God, Christ, or the Spirit? It is so simple: when the Spirit works, that is Christ working, and when Christ works, that is God working. They are three in one. We do not have three persons indwelling us. We have only one. God in Christ as the Spirit is indwelling us and working in us.
We all like Philippians 2:13 because it tells us that God is working in us. But the next verse is quite practical. We might think that it should tell us to do all things to glorify God, but it says, “Do all things without murmurings and reasonings” (v. 14). This is a real test of whether we are enjoying the working of God in us or not. Are we murmuring or reasoning? These two things are so practical and ordinary. If you would not murmur for one week, you would be the leading saint.
There are no high doctrines in this book. We only find some practical matters to help us in the church life. Have you ever seen a book in Christianity entitled, Without Murmuring? We do need to publish such a book. This is not some great teaching; this is something very practical. Do you murmur about your wife or husband? Do you murmur about the brothers and sisters or the church service? Paul was so wise; he knew that the biggest hindrance in the practical church is murmuring and reasoning. This is especially true of the sisters. They do not like to reason outwardly, but they do it inwardly. They would not outwardly criticize anything announced by the elders, but still there is some reasoning within. This is why Paul tells us to let God work in us without murmuring and reasoning.
How can this be possible? Only by exchanging persons. We all have to be replaced in our thinking, our concepts, and our ideas. It is better not to know so much. We only need to learn to take Christ as our person and minister Him to others.
Now we come to chapter 3. We all love this chapter because Paul tells us how absolute he was to gain Christ: “Moreover I also count all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse that I may gain Christ...To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (vv. 8, 10).
Paul says that he counted all the religious things to be loss on account of Christ. When he compared his religion with Christ, he realized that every bit of his old religion was a loss. So he left it all on account of Christ. Not only so, but he counted all things loss on account of Christ. He counted not only the religious things but all things. To count everything to be loss means to count the whole human culture to be loss. This includes religion and all the things of the human life. Paul counted all these things as refuse. This word in our modern usage would mean trash or garbage. Paul counted all things as garbage that he might gain Christ.
All the religious things were quite precious to him in the past, but once he came to know Christ, he counted them all to be loss. He even counted the whole human culture as trash that he might gain Christ. The way to gain Christ is to know Him. This means to experience Him in the power of His resurrection. This is something of His indwelling. We could never experience the power of Christ in resurrection without His indwelling. If He were merely in the heavens, how could we experience the power of His resurrection? It is similar to today’s electricity. Until it is installed in the building, we can never experience its power. Praise the Lord that Christ has been installed into us! Now we can experience His resurrection power, and by this we gain Christ.
It is by this experience of gaining Christ that we also know the fellowship of His sufferings. By this fellowship of His sufferings, we are conformed to His image. This is even higher than transformation. Transformation is something within; it is a matter of essence. But conformity is something outward. Christ has a form, and we need to be conformed to His form. This is only possible by the fellowship of His sufferings. This is not a kind of suffering because of our sins or mistakes. This is a suffering for the life of the Body of Christ. For the life of the Body, we need a kind of suffering. Then the Body of Christ will be increased in life through our suffering.
In chapter 4 Paul tells us to rejoice: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice...In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (vv. 4, 6). To rejoice is a little different from being joyful. Just to be joyful is not to rejoice. To rejoice means to be joyful with some kind of praising and thanksgiving. It is impossible to rejoice and remain silent. Sometimes we have to shout, “Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Jesus is so wonderful!” This is rejoicing. To rejoice means to let your joy be expressed.
I have noticed that some saints, according to their disposition, can never rejoice. I never saw their face beaming and their mouth rejoicing. The most they can do is smile a little. But this is not rejoicing! We have to shout, “Hallelujah! O Lord Jesus! Amen!” I do not mean to teach you to do this, but we have to be like this. Christians must be rejoicing people. Even if we are alone in our home, we still must rejoice. No one may be visible, but there are many invisible ones watching. When we are rejoicing and praising the Lord, all the demons are cringing. This is why the victorious life is a rejoicing life.
Then Paul tells us to be anxious in nothing. According to today’s meaning, some might think that this means to be careless, but the real meaning is not to worry. Some versions say that we should be anxious for nothing. If we are rejoicing, it is certain that we are not worrying. But the more we try not to worry, the more we will worry.
How can we not worry but rejoice? In ourselves it is impossible. But if we have learned the secret of taking Christ as our person through His indwelling, it is so spontaneous. In the last part of this chapter, Paul tells us that he had learned the secret: “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” (vv. 12-13).
Paul was not always so abounding, rich, and full. Many times he was abased. He was even hungry and had nothing to eat. Yet he had learned the secret both to be abased and to abound. Almost all of us have a kind of religious concept. If a brother becomes poor, we say that either he does not know how to manage himself, or he must be wrong with the Lord in some area. But how about the apostle Paul? Was God punishing him? He did suffer poverty but not because he was wrong. Rather, that afforded him an opportunity to experience Christ. To him riches or poverty were of the same color. Whether the circumstances were good or not so good, he had learned the secret to rejoice in the Lord always.
Many times when I am worrying about something, the Lord rebukes me: “Why don’t you enjoy Me as the One that takes care of you? Why not let Me worry for you?” When we learn the secret of taking Christ as our person, we learn to cast all our anxiety on Him. In Philippians, a book that speaks about Paul’s circumstances, we see the secret for the Christian life and the practical way for the church life. That is, we must learn to take Christ as our person. We must let Him replace us. Otherwise, we cannot rejoice; we will be anxious in everything because our life will be full of anxiety.
There are many verses in the Bible that are precious promises of God to us. In Matthew 6 the Lord promises us that we do not need to be anxious for food, drink, or clothing. The Father knows what we need. Then 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Casting all your anxiety on Him because it matters to Him concerning you.” He indwells us and bears all our cares. He not only bears our burdens; He even bears us. Therefore, why should we worry? We cannot add one inch to our height by worrying. We must fully give ourselves over to Him.
I realize that to say this is easy, but to put it into practice is much more difficult. When we try to rejoice, after we shout three times, we start worrying. We hardly have any faith at all. Then what shall we do? We must forget about ourselves and turn to Him. Let the Lord live for you. Let Him bear all the burden. Cast all your anxieties on Him, for He cares for you. Since He cares for us, we do not need to care. I realize that regardless of what I say, you will still care very much. But you have a person within you. Turn to Him and let Him bear all your burdens.
When we are in good circumstances, it is easy to praise the Lord. But when we are in bad circumstances, we can never praise the Lord. Today the sun is shining, but yesterday it was cloudy. This is the practical church life. Some days are full of sunshine, and some days are cloudy. But when we read Paul’s life, we see that he had learned the secret. The secret is the indwelling Christ. Whether it is sunny or cloudy, whether the circumstances are good or bad, we have a wonderful person living within us, bearing all our burdens. We must only learn to turn to Him and let Him be our person.
Now we see from this book the practical way to have the church life. It is simply to realize all the time that the indwelling Christ is our secret. It is not a matter of how to face the situation. That is politics. Only the politicians must learn how to face the situation. We simply let the situations turn out to our salvation. All our circumstances teach us to learn the secret to live by Christ. This is the main lesson of this whole book. All the circumstances force us to give up ourselves and take Christ as our person. This is the secret. Of course, there is not this kind of terminology, but there is the fact.
Philippians is not a book of teachings or doctrines. Paul simply tells us something of his own experience, and through his experience we learn of the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. We learn to let Christ be magnified in us. We learn that we can do all things in Christ who empowers us. Whether we are rich or poor, high or low, we have learned the secret that Christ lives in us to be our person, bearing all our burdens. Therefore, all we have to do is rejoice evermore. Hallelujah! This is the key to the Christian life, and this is the practical way of the church life.
