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Scripture Reading: Phil. 1:17, 20; 2:3a, 4, 14, 21; 3:2, 4-8; 4:6, 11; 1:19-21a; 2:12b-13, 16a; 3:3, 8b-9a; 4:4, 13, 23
Before we consider the secret of experiencing Christ according to the book of Philippians, I would like to say a further word about the secret as seen in Ephesians.
Ephesians 1:13 is a crucial verse: “In whom you also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, in Him also believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise.” This verse speaks of hearing the word of the truth, of believing in Christ, and of being sealed with the Holy Spirit. Hence, three things—the word, faith, and the Spirit—are implied here. Without the word there can be no faith, no believing. Faith comes through the word. If we did not have the Bible or the preaching of the gospel, it would not be possible to have faith. According to the Bible, Abraham is the father of those who believe. In Galatians 3:8 Paul says, “The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles out of faith, announced the gospel beforehand to Abraham.” Because God preached the gospel to him, Abraham could believe. However, had there been no speaking of God, Abraham could not have believed. Faith is the result of God’s spoken word infused into those who hear the word. From our experience we can testify that if we had not heard the gospel or read the Bible, we could not have faith.
During the early years of my ministry, I did a great deal of gospel preaching. Often after a meeting, people would come to me for help. Instead of explaining a lot to them, I preferred to have them read a verse, perhaps John 3:16. First I would read the verse aloud and then ask the others to read it one by one. At that time I did not practice pray-reading, but I did know the effectiveness of repeating the Word of God. After having the seeking ones repeat a verse, I often asked them to insert their name at the appropriate places. For example, I would have them insert their name as we were reading John 3:16. Through reading the Word in such a way, many received faith and were saved.
Receiving faith through the word is not a matter of psychology. On the contrary, this has much to do with the Spirit. Wherever the word of God is preached, the Spirit of God is present. The Lord Jesus once said, “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63). In the light of this verse, we believe that God’s word is Spirit. Believing this, we need to present the Word of God to others in a living way, encouraging them not simply to read it with the mind but to take it in by an exercise of their heart and spirit. Whenever the word is taken in this way, spontaneously something rises up in a person that causes him to believe in God. This is faith.
When faith rises up, the Spirit is present also. We cannot separate faith from the Spirit. Actually, faith is a function of the Spirit. When we read the Word in a proper way and the word is infused into us, it becomes the Spirit. Then the Spirit functions to produce faith. Faith, therefore, is the result of the function of the Spirit.
The Spirit enters into our being, especially into our spirit, through the word. We may even say that the Spirit comes in as the word. When we handle the word of God rightly, the word will enter into us and become the Spirit functioning in us to give us faith. Then in our experience we will have the hearing of the word, the believing in Christ, and the receiving of the Spirit.
Preachers of the gospel often use Ephesians 2:5 and 8 to tell people that we are saved by grace through faith. But many who use these verses in preaching the gospel may not realize that the faith through which we are saved comes from the word with the Spirit. Saving faith is produced by the infusion of the living word with the Spirit. This kind of faith is not a mere doctrinal faith; it is a living faith that comes from the word with the Spirit.
Although we have the assurance that we are eternally saved, we still need to be saved day by day and even moment by moment. For this continual experience of God’s salvation, we need the word, faith, and the Spirit. These three elements are like a threefold cord. By this threefold cord, constituted of the word, the Spirit, and faith, we are saved from all the negative things in Ephesians: blindness, ordinances, winds of doctrine, the vanity of the mind, and Satan and his evil powers of darkness. Furthermore, it is by the word with the Spirit-producing faith that we receive a spirit of wisdom and revelation and are enlightened. This is also the way for Christ to spread Himself throughout our inner being and to settle, make His home, in our hearts. According to Ephesians 3:17, Christ makes His home in our hearts through faith. Moreover, when our mind is saturated with the word, the Spirit spreads into our mind, and we are renewed in the spirit of the mind.
By the word with the Spirit we are also filled in our spirit. Ephesians 5:18-20 speaks of being filled in spirit, speaking, singing, psalming, and giving thanks. If we compare this passage with Colossians 3:16-17, we see that the Spirit fills us through the word. Hence, to be filled with the word is actually to be filled with the Spirit.
By the word coming into our being and filling it, we are also washed; we are cleansed by the washing of water in the word (Eph. 5:26). According to the New Testament, this water, the water in the word, is the living Spirit. When we receive the word into us, the water in the word will wash away our inward filthiness.
According to Ephesians 6:17-18, if we receive the word into our being by means of prayer and petition, we will put on the armor of God and be empowered. Apart from the word, there is no way for us to have the armor of God. To put on the armor of God is to receive the word by means of all prayer and petition. Our experience confirms this. When we come to the Word and take it into us by pray-reading, singing, or musing, we eventually sense that we are armed, equipped, and empowered. We have the confidence that should Satan attack us, we would have the power and the armor to defeat him. We can even say, “Satan, don’t you see that I have put on the armor of God and that I have been empowered to defeat you and to put you to shame?” We are thus able to fight the spiritual warfare and defeat the evil powers of darkness in the air.
By the word with the Spirit-producing faith we experience Christ and the church life. According to your experience, when do you have the highest enjoyment of Christ and the church? Is it not when you take the word into your being through the Spirit by praying in spirit? When we pray-read the Word, we receive the word not merely into our mind but also into our spirit. Then in our experience Christ becomes available, present, and real, and we rejoice to be in the church life.
Ephesians 6 speaks of taking the word by praying at every time in spirit. In order to do this in a practical way, it is good to carry a pocket version of the New Testament with you. Should you be delayed in heavy traffic on the way home from work, you can open this pocket version and pray-read a verse. Even in the midst of a traffic jam you can enjoy pray-reading a verse like Philippians 2:9: “God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name.”
If a brother pray-reads the Word on the way home from work, he will be happy with his wife. How different this is from coming home exhausted and finding his wife worn out from the day’s labor! When a brother and his wife are exhausted and not enjoying the Word, neither is likely to be happy in the Lord. At such a time, it seems that Christ has disappeared, and there is no incentive or desire for the church life.
The secret of experiencing Christ and the church is in the word. When we take the word in a proper way, we experience Christ and enjoy the church life. We may even feel like singing, “Unto Him be glory in the church.” Whenever we enjoy Christ and the church in this way, Satan, the devil, is under our feet.
Compared with those in Galatians and Ephesians, the negative things in Philippians are small matters. Instead of such things as the religious world, ordinances, the vanity of the mind, and Satan, we have murmurings, reasonings, rivalry, vainglory, and anxiety.
Certain ones, especially the Judaizers, were in rivalry with Paul. They were those who announced Christ “out of selfish ambition, not purely” (1:17). There is also selfish ambition among Christians today. Recently, I heard that a certain Christian friend of mine, whom I have known for more than twenty years, said, “Witness Lee’s ministry is spreading throughout the earth. We must stop him!” Such a statement comes out of selfish ambition.
Selfish ambition gives rise to persecution, and persecution causes affliction. According to Paul’s word in 1:17, those who announced Christ out of selfish ambition thought “to raise up affliction in my bonds.” Their intention was to increase Paul’s afflictions. Nevertheless, even though Paul was suffering, he was not defeated by his afflictions. He could say, “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” (v. 20).
In 2:3 Paul exhorts the saints to do “nothing by way of selfish ambition nor by way of vainglory, but in lowliness of mind considering one another more excellent than yourselves.” Do not think that in the church today there is no selfish ambition for vainglory. When a brother hears a certain person ministering the word in a rich way, he may say to himself, “Wait for a few years, and I will surprise you with my rich speaking. My speaking will be much better than this.” This is an example of the selfish ambition for vainglory that may be hidden within you.
In 2:4 Paul goes on to say, “Not regarding each his own virtues, but each the virtues of others also.” Virtues here denotes qualities. We should not regard only our own virtues and qualities, but those of others also. Instead of thinking so much about our own virtues, qualities, abilities, and attainments, we should regard the virtues of others. In keeping with Paul’s word, we should even consider others more excellent than ourselves. As we consider others in the church, we should think of them as better than ourselves.
In 2:14 Paul says, “Do all things without murmurings and reasonings.” Elsewhere I have pointed out that murmurings, which are of the emotion, are found mostly among the sisters, whereas reasonings, which are of the mind, are found mostly among the brothers. However, I sometimes have problems with both murmurings and reasonings. I may murmur inwardly over the small portion of food my wife may serve me at dinner, especially when I compare my portion with that of others. I also may reason inwardly when my wife points out that a certain food is good for me and that I need to eat it. Do you not also have problems with the “bugs” of murmurings and reasonings? We all are bothered by these things.
In 2:21 Paul says that “all seek their own things, not the things of Christ Jesus.” The phrase their own things here refers not to virtues and qualities as in 2:4 but to our personal affairs. We may care for our personal affairs and not for the things of Christ. Probably you have not realized that personal affairs are a negative thing keeping you from the experience of Christ. However, you may actually care more for your domestic affairs than for Christ, more for your education or employment than for the church life. But of Timothy Paul could say that he would “genuinely care for what concerns” the church (v. 20), whereas others cared for their own things, not the things of Christ. If we go on caring for our own things instead of caring for the things of Christ, there will be no way to have the church life.
In 3:2 Paul issues a serious charge: “Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the concision.” Those who were dogs, evil workers, the concision, held to certain religious concepts that were troubling to the saints and were a source of distraction from Christ. In dealing with such people we should care for one basic principle: Does this person’s word help us to experience Christ and to have more of the church life, or does it distract us from Christ and the church? If it does not encourage us to experience Christ and to live the church life, we should pay no attention to it. That person must be a dog, an evil worker, one who contemptuously follows certain religious rituals (the meaning of the term concision). Instead of trying to determine whether the word of such a person is right or wrong, ask if his speaking helps you to enjoy Christ or distracts you from Christ, if it encourages you to have more of the church life or keeps you away from the church. If it turns you away from Christ and the church, it is the speech of one who is a dog, an evil worker, a member of the concision, and one who should be avoided.
In 3:4-8 Paul goes on to deal with yet another negative thing—confidence in the flesh. Verse 4 says, “Though I myself have something to be confident of in the flesh as well. If any other man thinks that he has confidence in the flesh, I more.” In this verse confidence in the flesh refers to all the good items or qualities we have in the flesh. For Paul, these included circumcision on the eighth day and being a Hebrew born of Hebrews. For us today, they may include pride in our nationality or culture. Such confidence in the flesh keeps us from Christ and frustrates the church life.
Another negative thing found in Philippians is anxiety. In 4:6 Paul says, “In nothing be anxious.” To be anxious is to worry. It is very difficult for people who are cautious and sensitive not to have anxiety. Many years ago there was a fire in the place where I worked, and later, a burglary. This caused me to be anxious, to be filled with worry over the threat of fire and theft. As a sensitive person, it is easy for me to have this kind of anxiety.
I have prayed over Paul’s word about anxiety many times. I have said, “Lord, I thank You for this word. This is not only Your commandment but also Your promise. Lord, I take Your word and ask You to save me from anxiety.” But the more I prayed in this way, the more anxious I became. How difficult it is to be free from anxiety! Anxiety is a very irritating “mosquito.” It seems that the only ones who have no anxiety are those who are careless about life. Their attitude seems to be, “Life is in the hands of God. There is no need to worry about it.” This, however, is not true faith but the expression of a natural indifference. Those who are careless may have no anxiety, but every sensitive and cautious person suffers a great deal of anxiety.
The last of the negative things in Philippians is what Paul describes as lack (v. 11). To lack is to have a material need. Being short of the supply to meet a material or financial need may be a cause of serious concern. Such circumstances certainly are a negative thing that needs to be overcome.
In 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.” Then in verses 20 and 21 he speaks of magnifying Christ and of living Christ. To live Christ and magnify Him requires the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. But how can this bountiful supply be applied to us? The secret of experiencing this bountiful supply is in holding forth the word of life (2:16). As Paul was living Christ and magnifying Him, he was no doubt holding forth the word of life. This was the reason that even some among Caesar’s household could be saved. They realized that Paul, a prisoner there in Rome, was holding forth the word of life. Paul’s word in 2:16 indicates that the bountiful supply of the Spirit was applied to him because he was receiving the word of life.
From Ephesians 1:13 we have seen that the Spirit is inseparable from the word and comes with the word. If there is no word, there can be no Spirit. But when there is the preaching of the word, it will be possible for those who hear this preaching to receive the Spirit. Paul received the word of life. When the word of life entered into him, it became the bountiful supply of the Spirit, which enabled him to magnify Christ and live Him.
In Philippians 1:20 Paul speaks of magnifying Christ and in 2:16, of holding forth the word of life. Actually, Christ is the word of life, and the word of life is Christ. Furthermore, in 2:13 Paul says that God operates in us “both the willing and the working for His good pleasure.” Yes, it is God who works in us and operates in us, but when this operating God is expressed, He is the word of life.
Unless we receive the word of life into our being, we will not be able to hold forth this word, to magnify it, to manifest it. How can we magnify the word of life if the word has not come into us to be magnified? In order to hold forth the word of life, we must first receive the word of life into us. Take eating as an illustration. If a person does not eat properly for several days, his face will not have a healthy color. But if he daily receives a nourishing supply of food, his complexion will be healthy. It will be the expression of the nourishing food he has eaten, digested, and assimilated. The principle is the same with holding forth the word of life. The secret is to handle the word in a proper way and thereby to receive the Spirit. The Spirit will then function in us as our living faith. In this way we will overcome selfish ambition, vainglory, murmurings, reasonings, our own virtues, anxiety, and lack. Then we will be able to say with Paul, “I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me” (4:13).
Christ empowers us through the Word. Suppose you neglect the Word for several days. Will you still be empowered by Christ? Certainly not! Food empowers you only when you eat of it. Likewise, Christ empowers you only when you take the Word into your being. By taking in the divine element through the Word, we are empowered. Then we can do all things in Him who empowers us through the Word.
Paul concludes the Epistle to the Philippians by saying, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit” (v. 23). It is important to realize that whatever we enjoy by receiving the word eventually becomes the grace in our spirit. Once again we see that we need to contact the word and receive it by prayer, exercising our spirit to pray-read the Word in order to be supplied with the Spirit. By receiving the Spirit through the word, we will have the faith to receive grace as our enjoyment. Then we will have the experience of Christ with the enjoyment of the church life.
