In Philippians 1:19, Paul indicates that he lived Christ for His magnification by “the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” In this verse he declares, “This will turn out to salvation through your petition and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” The salvation here is not eternal salvation; it is a subjective, experiential, and constant salvation in our daily life for magnifying Christ. It is the working out of the salvation in 2:12, and it means to be sustained and strengthened to live and magnify Christ. This requires the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:19 indicates that the Spirit of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of the bountiful supply. The Spirit of Jesus has the bountiful supply, which comes from all the processes that Christ passed through. It has the supply of Christ’s incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. All that Christ went through became a source, a factor, of this bountiful supply. After incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection, He became the Spirit. Today this Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus.
Philippians 1:19 speaks neither of the Spirit of God nor of the Holy Spirit but of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. This divine title signifies all the processes that this dear One underwent. Before the incarnation, He was God, and the Holy Spirit was the Spirit of God. Yet in Christ, God was incarnated and lived on the earth for thirty-three and a half years. He then entered death, passed through death, conquered death, subdued death, overcame death, and came out of death. This was certainly a process. He went on to enter resurrection, in which He was transfigured from the flesh into the Spirit. In the Spirit, in resurrection, He ascended to the heavens. Today He is the life-giving Spirit. As such, He is not merely the Spirit of God but the Spirit of Jesus Christ with all the elements and factors of His processes. Hence, He has the bountiful supply to support us in order that we may magnify Him and live Him regardless of our situation, whether it be through life or through death.
The Spirit of Jesus Christ is “the Spirit” mentioned in John 7:39. This is not merely the Spirit of God before the Lord’s incarnation but the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit with divinity, after the Lord’s resurrection, compounded with the Lord’s incarnation (humanity), human living under the cross, crucifixion, and resurrection. The holy anointing ointment in Exodus 30:23-25, a compound of olive oil and four kinds of spices, is a full type of this compound Spirit of God, who is now the Spirit of Jesus Christ. The Spirit to Paul was the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the compound, all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit of the Triune God.
We need to see what the bountiful supply of the Spirit includes. First, the bountiful supply includes the divine person with the divine life and nature. Thus, the bountiful supply includes divinity. Divinity includes the divine life, nature, being, and person; in other words, it is God Himself. In the bountiful supply we have God with His life, nature, being, and person.
The bountiful supply also includes an uplifted humanity, a humanity with a proper life, living, nature, and person. The Lord Jesus is both God and man. Within Him there are both divinity and humanity. Thus, when He was on earth, He lived as God and also as man. All that the Lord passed through in thirty-three and a half years of life on earth is now in the all-inclusive Spirit. Therefore, divinity and humanity, including the human living of the Lord Jesus, are in the bountiful supply of the all-inclusive Spirit.
On the cross the Lord Jesus died a wonderful death. The all-inclusive death of Christ dealt with every negative thing in the universe. By His death all sinful things were terminated. This wonderful death is also included in the bountiful supply of the Spirit. Christ’s resurrection and ascension are included as well. Now in the bountiful supply of the Spirit we have Christ’s divinity, humanity, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension.
The bountiful supply of the Spirit also includes the divine attributes and the human virtues. God is love and light, and He is holy and righteous. These are some of His attributes. Furthermore, as a man Christ has all the human virtues. Both the divine attributes and the human virtues are in the all-inclusive Spirit of Jesus Christ.
The submission and love that we need day by day are also found in the bountiful supply of the Spirit. Although the Bible commands a wife to submit to her husband and a husband to love his wife (Eph. 5:24-25), in ourselves we actually do not have either genuine submission or love. Instead of submission, we have rebellion. Instead of a proper love, we have an unbalanced, twisted love. True submission and love are in the bountiful supply of the Spirit.
As we enjoy the bountiful supply of the Spirit, we partake of the ingredients of this supply without being aware of it. For example, we may love others without being conscious of the fact that we are loving. In like manner, we may be submissive without realizing that we are submissive. However, if we deliberately try to love or submit, our love or submission will not be genuine. True love and true submission are always spontaneous and not something of which we are conscious. A sister who is genuinely submissive to her husband has no consciousness of being submissive, for her submission comes out of the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Real submission is spontaneous; it is the issue of enjoying the bountiful supply of the Spirit.
Actually, every kind of religion teaches people to act in a political way. Under this influence, we may think that for the sake of our husband or wife, for the sake of our children or relatives, and even for the sake of the church, we should behave in a particular way. But whenever we try to behave ourselves apart from enjoying the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, we are political and hypocritical.
The source of true virtue is the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. When Paul was rejoicing in a prison in Rome, he was not deliberately trying to act joyful. His rejoicing was not the result of his own effort, and it certainly was not a performance. Because Paul loved the Triune God, opened himself to the Triune God, and communicated with the Triune God, He had a free course to infuse all that He is into Paul. As a result, Paul could realize that with this Triune God there is the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Because he experienced this supply, he could rejoice in the Lord even while being a prisoner in chains.
When we fail to magnify Christ and are put to shame, this indicates that there is a shortage of Christ. However, the shortage is actually the lack of the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. If we have the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, we shall experience instant and constant salvation. Then we will not be put to shame in anything, but we will magnify Christ in all things.
When we find ourselves in a difficult environment, we simply need to apply the compound ointment, the compound Spirit. The compound Spirit is in our regenerated human spirit. Instead of considering our difficult environment, we should turn to the spirit, apply the compound Spirit, and behold the Lord with an unveiled face. Then we will reflect the Lord. If we apply the compound Spirit and behold the Lord, the elements of the ointment will be applied to us. Both the death of Christ and the resurrection of Christ will operate in us, and we will be anointed with the compound Spirit. In this Spirit is all that we need—the death of Christ and its effectiveness, the resurrection of Christ and its power, and Christ’s divine nature and human nature. By applying this compound Spirit, we will experience God’s instant salvation. Then, far from being put to shame, we will magnify Christ. Furthermore, those with us will want to rejoice in the Lord when they see such a glorious magnification of Christ.
Through the bountiful supply of the Spirit, Christ is magnified in us. What Paul speaks of in Philippians 1:20 is the magnification of Christ, but in 2:16 he speaks of holding forth the word of life. The word of life is actually the living expression of Christ. Holding forth the word of life is equal to magnifying Christ. Christ Himself is the word of life. We hold forth the word of life, and this word is Christ.
In order to magnify Christ and to live Christ, we need the bountiful supply of the Spirit. This bountiful supply is stored in the word. According to the Bible, the Spirit and the word are one. In John 6:63 the Lord Jesus said, “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” This indicates that the word is the Spirit. Ephesians 6:17-18 indicates that the Spirit is the word. Second Timothy 3:16 says that all Scripture is God-breathed. Every word of the Bible is the breath of God. This breath is the pneuma, the Spirit. Thus, because both the word and the Spirit are the breath of God, they are truly one. The Spirit is the breath of God, and the word also is God’s breath. Furthermore, God’s breath is His pneuma, the Spirit. On the one hand, the word of God is the Spirit; on the other hand, the Spirit of God is the word.
In Ephesians 6:17 and 18 Paul tells us to receive the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, by means of all prayer and petition. Here Paul covers the aspects of the word and the Spirit. Furthermore, he tells us to receive the word of God by means of all prayer, praying at every time in spirit. We may receive the word of God by means of all kinds of prayer—audible and silent prayer, long and short prayer, quick and slow prayer, and private and public prayer. When we pray-read the word, we exercise our spirit. As saved and regenerated ones, we have the Spirit of God in our spirit. Thus, when we exercise our spirit in pray-reading the word, we apply the word to us and mingle the word and the Spirit. Immediately, we receive the bountiful supply of the Spirit.
The Bible reveals that the fullness of the Godhead is embodied in Christ. This means that all the riches that God has and is are embodied in Christ. Having passed through the process of incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, Christ is now the all-inclusive Spirit with the bountiful supply. The bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ in Philippians 1:19 is nothing less than the riches of Christ in Ephesians 3:8. Paul testifies that he was given grace to preach the gospel of the unsearchable riches of Christ. With respect to Christ, there are the unsearchable riches, but with respect to the Spirit, there is the bountiful supply.
It bears repeating that the bountiful supply of the Spirit is the unsearchable riches of Christ. Both the riches and the supply are embodied in the Word of God in the Bible. If we would touch the unsearchable riches of Christ and partake of the bountiful supply of the Spirit, we must come to the Bible. God’s intention is to impart Himself to us and work Himself into us. He does this by means of the Spirit and the Bible. By these means, the heavenly riches are transmitted into us. On our part, we need to turn away from trying to do good and taking the Bible merely as a book of ethics; instead, we need to come to the Bible for nourishment. We should not simply read the Bible and study it; we also need to pray-read it. If we desire to enjoy the bountiful supply of the Spirit, we need to eat the word by pray-reading the Word (Jer. 15:16; Matt. 4:4).
Through reading the Word, we know what we are receiving in the bountiful supply of the Spirit. Through the Word we realize that we receive Christ’s divinity, humanity, human living, all-inclusive death, resurrection, and ascension. Furthermore, we understand that we are one with Christ in His headship, lordship, and kingship. All these elements are included in the compound Spirit; they all are aspects of the bountiful supply of the Spirit. We may now live Christ by receiving the word through the Spirit!
We simply need to come to the Bible, to the embodiment of the riches of Christ and of the bountiful supply of the Spirit. As we feed on the word in a proper way day by day, we will grow. The flesh, the natural man, the self, and different evil tendencies and intents will be dealt with. Furthermore, Christ’s resurrection life will release the divine riches into us, strengthen our spirit, and edify our whole being. Spontaneously, unconsciously, and automatically we will live Christ. Living Christ in this way is equal to holding forth the word of life. As we live Christ, having a daily life full of divinity, humanity, Christ’s human living, death, and the fragrance of His resurrection, we will magnify Christ. This is what it means to live Christ by the riches of the bountiful supply of the Spirit embodied in the word.
When we enjoy the Spirit and partake of Him, Christ comes forth and is magnified. On the one hand, we enjoy the Spirit; on the other hand, Christ is the One who is magnified. This is true both according to the Bible and according to our experience. When we call “Lord Jesus,” we inwardly enjoy the Spirit. Then as a result of the enjoyment of the Spirit, Christ is magnified. He becomes our expression.