Message One

Taking Christ as Our Living

Scripture Reading: Phil. 1:19-21a

1. The subject and the controlling concept of the book of Philippians is the experience of Christ—3:7-10; 4:13:
   1. The experience of Christ is the master key which opens the book of Philippians to us.
   2. The experience of Christ is a Body matter—1:19; 2:1-2; 4:2-3, 10, 14-20:
      1. Whatever is in the Body and of the Body involves mutual fellowship; the experience of Christ requires such mutuality—2:1-2; 1 Cor. 12:25.
      2. The experience of Christ must be in the Body and for the Body; only by experiencing Christ in the Body can we experience Him to the fullest extent— Eph. 4:16; Rom. 12:5.
   3. The secret of experiencing Christ is to be one in soul, joined in soul, like-souled, with others—Phil. 1:27; 2:2, 19-20:
      1. If we would experience Christ to the fullest extent in the Body, we need to be like-souled and we need to risk our soul—vv. 20, 30; Rom. 16:3-4.
      2. Because Timothy was like-souled with Paul, he was in the position to experience Christ to the uttermost in the Body, just as Paul was—Phil. 2:19-20; 1 Cor. 4:16-17; 16:10.
2. Philippians is a book not only on the experience of Christ but also on living Christ—1:19-21a:
   1. The basic thought of the Bible is that the Triune God desires to work Himself into us so that we may take Him as life and live Him—Eph. 3:16-17a:
      1. God’s economy is to dispense Himself into us and to work Himself into us as our life and life supply in order to live Him—Rom. 8:2, 6, 10-11.
      2. God’s intention is to have a group of people who are one with Him in His life and nature; those who are one with God in the divine life and nature are able to express Him—Eph. 3:19b, 21.
   2. The Christian life is a life of living Christ for the constitution and building up of the Body of Christ—4:1-3, 12, 16; Col. 1:24; 2:19:
      1. The Christian life is to live Christ with His divine attributes expressed in His human virtues as a part of His organic Body—Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:14.
      2. For the Body, we should live a life that is Christ Himself, living as parts of His Body for the universal consummation of the eternal economy of God— Eph. 3:8-11.
   3. The Christian life is not a life of ethics, religion, culture, or even morality; the Christian life is Christ— Col. 3:4:
      1. As believers in Christ, we should live a life which is actually Christ Himself—John 6:57.
      2. The standard of the Christian life is Christ, and the normal experience of Christ is to live Christ—Eph. 4:20; Col. 2:2-3, 8; Phil. 1:21a.
   4. Paul’s life was to live Christ—v. 21a; Gal. 2:20:
      1. Christ lived within Paul as his life, and Paul lived Christ without as His living; they lived together as one person with one life and one living.
      2. When we live Christ, Christ and we live together: two lives have one living, two natures are mingled into one nature, and two spirits become one spirit— John 6:57; 1 Cor. 6:17.
   5. If we would live Christ, we need to realize who Christ is and what Christ is and also realize that He is subjective as well as objective—Col. 2:9; 1:27; 3:1.
   6. We live Christ in the organic union with Him—Rom. 12:5; John 15:4a:
      1. To believe in Christ is to have our being merged into His that the two may be organically one—Phil. 1:29.
      2. In the organic union we are intimate with Christ; we are one spirit with Him that we may live Him— 1 Cor. 6:17.
   7. In order to live Christ, we must take Him as our person and as our life—Eph. 3:17a; Col. 3:4.
   8. To live Christ requires that we remain in the inward parts of Christ—Phil. 1:8:
      1. Paul experienced the inward parts of Christ; he was one with Christ in His inward parts in longing after the saints.
      2. Paul did not live a life in his natural inner being; he lived a life in the inward parts of Christ.
      3. If we would be those who are in Christ, we must be in His inward parts, in His tender and delicate feelings—John 15:4a.
      4. To live Christ is to abide in His inward parts and there to enjoy Him as grace—Phil. 1:7; 4:23.
   9. Christ is mysterious, and those who live Him also are mysterious—Col. 1:27; 2:2; 1 John 3:1.
   10. To live Christ means that, no matter what our circumstances may be, Christ is magnified in us and that we are not put to shame in anything—Phil. 1:20a; 1 John 2:28.
   11. The bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ was for Paul to live Christ—Phil. 1:19:
       1. The bountiful supply of the all-inclusive Spirit includes divinity, humanity, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, the divine attributes, and the human virtues—Acts 16:7; Rom. 8:9.
       2. In Philippians 1:19 Paul speaks of the supply of the Body before speaking of the bountiful supply of the Spirit because the Spirit is upon the Body:
          1. As a member of the Body, Paul realized that he needed the supply of the Body—1 Cor. 12:12, 14-22.
          2. Paul had the clear sense within that he was in the Body, that the members of the Body were supporting him, and that the bountiful supply of the Spirit would come to him through the Body.
       3. Paul could be an overcomer because he experienced and enjoyed the all-inclusive Spirit with His bountiful supply dwelling in him to be everything to him— Rom. 8:37.