In Philippians 1:19-21 we see that we may express Christ through life or through death. All of Paul’s life and work were not for expressing himself or for displaying his knowledge, ability, or other merits and strong points; what he was and what he did were for expressing Christ, even magnifying Christ.
In Philippians 1:20 Paul declares, “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.” In the apostle’s suffering in his body, Christ was magnified, that is, shown or declared to be great (without limitation), exalted, and extolled. The apostle would have only Christ magnified in him, not the law or circumcision. To magnify Christ under any circumstances is to experience Him with the topmost enjoyment. To magnify Christ is much greater than to express Him. We should not only express Christ but also magnify Him in our body.
In verse 20 a number of expressions are related to Paul’s statement that Christ would be magnified in him: with all boldness, as always, even now, in my body, and whether through life or through death. Paul does not simply say, “With boldness,” but he says, “With all boldness.” Then he specifically points out that Christ would be magnified in his body. He says this because his body was in chains. At least during the night, if not all the time, Paul was chained to a guard. Nevertheless, even though his body was in chains, Christ would be magnified in his body. Moreover, Christ would be magnified whether through life or through death. This indicates that no matter what the circumstances were, Paul expected Christ to be magnified in him.
Now we must consider what it means to magnify Christ. The word magnify means to make something large to our sight. Perhaps we may wonder how Christ can be magnified since He is already universally great. According to Ephesians 3, the dimensions of Christ—the breadth, length, height, and depth—are immeasurable (vv. 18-19). They are the dimensions of the universe. Although Christ is vast, extensive, and immeasurable, in the eyes of the Praetorian guard, the imperial guard of Caesar, Christ was virtually nonexistent. In their eyes there was not such a person as Jesus Christ. However, Paul magnified Christ; he made Him great before the eyes of others, especially before the eyes of those who guarded him in prison. As a result, some eventually turned to Christ. Evidence of this is found in Philippians 4:22, where Paul speaks of the saints in Caesar’s household. Through Paul’s magnification of Christ, even some in Caesar’s household were saved.
At the time of Paul’s imprisonment, the Jews were despised by the Romans. The Romans were the conquerors, and the Jews were the conquered ones. Among these conquered ones there was a man named Jesus. Although He is great and most wonderful, in the eyes of the Romans He was nothing. But as Paul was held captive in a Roman prison, he magnified Christ, making Him appear great in the eyes of his captors.
In our daily living we also should magnify Christ, making Him great in the eyes of others. People may look down on Christ where we work or go to school. They may ridicule Him and take His name in vain, in violation of the third commandment (Exo. 20:7). Therefore, we need to let others see Christ, not in a small way but in the way of enlargement, of magnification.
We should also magnify Him at home. The parents of some of the young people may not believe in Christ but instead despise Him. Hence, these young people must bear the responsibility to enlarge Christ before their parents. Instead of simply preaching to their parents about Christ, they need to magnify Him. We need not only the life within but also the living without. Through the proper living, Christ will appear to be great in the eyes of others. Young people should let their parents see Christ’s greatness in them.
We can magnify Christ even in situations where we have little or no liberty to speak about Him. Although teachers may not be able to preach the gospel to their students, they can magnify Christ in the classroom. They can cause Christ to appear great in the eyes of their students. It is not likely that when Paul was in prison, he was free to do much preaching of Christ. On the contrary, he was very limited and under strict control. However, even in such circumstances, Christ was magnified in his body. With all boldness Paul sought to magnify Him always.
At the time Paul wrote the book of Philippians, he was an elderly person. No doubt, the guards expected him to be exhausted by his imprisonment. But far from being exhausted, Paul was full of joy and rejoicing in the Lord (1:18, 3:1; 4:4). He was shining forth Christ and expressing Him. Such an expression was a declaration of the unlimited greatness of Christ and a declaration that Christ is inexhaustible.
Even though Paul must have been mistreated in prison, he could be happy and display to the guards the unlimited greatness of Christ. In particular, Paul displayed Christ’s inexhaustible patience. Christ certainly was magnified in Paul’s physical body. Day by day Paul was happy in the Lord. His happiness did not diminish as time went by. In his happiness he could show forth the immeasurable Christ whom he experienced and enjoyed. By this way Paul expressed, exhibited, exalted, and extolled Christ. Instead of offending or being offended by the jailers, Paul was a living witness of Christ, testifying of His ability, power, patience, love, and wisdom, all without measure. The guards may have considered Paul to be strange or peculiar, viewing him as possessing something which they did not have. What they sensed in Paul was Christ magnified. While he was in prison, Paul expressed the greatness of Christ in an enlarged way. He magnified Christ with all boldness both through life and through death. By magnifying Christ in this way, Paul could overcome any situation.
Our natural love is eventually exhausted, but Christ as love is inexhaustible. Likewise, our natural patience is limited, but Christ as our patience is without limit. We all have the capacity to be patient, but only to a certain extent. Then we become provoked and angry. For example, a brother may exercise patience with his wife. Eventually, however, this patience reaches its limit, and he becomes angry with her. Although our natural patience is limited, Christ as patience is inexhaustible and immeasurable.
Paul says that Christ would be magnified in him, whether through life or through death. No matter what faced him—the opportunity to go on living or to be martyred—Paul expected to magnify Christ. In his living, Paul magnified Christ. This is to magnify Him through life. As he was expecting to be martyred, he also magnified Him. This is to magnify Christ through death. Thus, whether through life or death, Christ was magnified in Paul’s imprisoned and chained body. Obviously, this is not mere doctrine; it is the genuine experience of Christ.
In Philippians 1:19 Paul mentions the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. If we allow the bountiful supply of the Spirit to work in us, our daily living will be changed. We will be burdened to magnify Christ always and with all boldness. Through our magnifying of Christ, others will see His greatness and His unlimitedness. To magnify Christ in such a way surely is to live Him.
The experience of Christ in Philippians can be primarily related to four aspects: 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. No matter what happens to us, we must remember that within us there is the all-inclusive Spirit supplying us all the time. We overcome all the troubles and hardships, and nothing can oppress, depress, suppress, or overcome us. In 4:12 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 such a 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 us our circumstances accordingly. 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 (4:12). 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 (v. 13). The One who empowers us in this way is the empowering Spirit. No matter what our state or circumstance may be, 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.
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 Philippians mentions the preaching of the gospel, the good work begun by the Lord in us (1:5-7, 12-14, 18, 27). If we intend to magnify Christ, we must 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 Spirit within us. To preach the gospel is an enjoyment. On the other hand, if we do not preach the gospel to present Christ to others, we will suffer the loss of the supply of the Spirit.
Third, in order to magnify Christ, we must fellowship with the believers. In order to fellowship with the saints, we should open to them in order for the Spirit to flow out of us into them, and we should help them to open to us for the Spirit to flow out of them into us. This is a two-way traffic, a flowing out and a flowing in. We present Christ and impart Him to the unbelievers, and we also serve Him to the believers, fellowshipping the glorious Christ with one another.
Fourth, we magnify Christ by serving and worshipping God by the Spirit of God. In Philippians 3:3 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; He is the Spirit of Jesus Christ who 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. In order to magnify Christ, we must deal with our circumstances by the empowering Spirit, present Christ to the unbelievers, fellowship with the believers, and serve God by the Spirit of God.