The New Testament unveils Christ, and every book in the New Testament is for the experience of Christ. The experience of Christ is the key which opens up each book of the New Testament. In this message we shall consider the experience of Christ in the book of Philippians.
The experience of Christ unveiled in the book of Philippians includes several items. In chapter one Christ is our life and living. To take Christ as our life within and our living without is to live Christ (v. 21a). This chapter also reveals that the reason we live Christ, taking Christ as our life and our living, is for the furtherance of the gospel (vv. 5, 12). The experience of Christ as our life and living comes out of the furtherance of the gospel. The more we have fellowship in the gospel, in coordination with the apostle, the more we live Christ. The factor for living Christ is the furtherance of the gospel which is carried out in a corporate way.
Some have separated the preaching of the gospel from the experience of Christ. This is a mistaken concept. Our experience of Christ, our living of Christ, must have the factor of the furtherance of the gospel. Without such a factor, our words about living Christ are vain. Paul and the Philippians lived Christ, taking Christ as their life within and their living without, because they all were in the corporate fellowship of the gospel. The apostle was burdened for the furtherance of the gospel, and the Philippians were in coordination with him. Paul and the Philippians were happy in the furtherance of the gospel, and they all enjoyed Christ as their life within and their living without. Philippians 1 reveals not only the factor but also the result. The factor is the furtherance of the gospel with the apostle, and the result is the enjoyment of Christ, the experience of Christ, as both our life within and our living without. When you go out in the gospel, you enjoy Christ not in a doctrinal way but in a very experiential way.
Some have said that we should not have too much activity but that we should learn to enjoy Christ by attending the meetings, doing our best to uplift the meetings so that others may enjoy Christ. But without the factor of the furtherance of the gospel, we cannot enjoy Christ that much. Some have also said that we should come back to the enjoyment of Christ, implying that the preaching of the gospel is not the enjoyment of Christ. Our enjoyment of Christ must have a factor, and it must also have an issue. The furtherance of the gospel is the factor of our enjoyment of Christ. Furthermore, the more we enjoy Christ, the more we participate in the furtherance of the gospel. Thus, the furtherance of the gospel is also the issue of our enjoyment of Christ.
The enjoyment of Christ will cause you to visit people in their homes with the gospel. The enjoyment of Christ will never make you sleepy; rather, it will stir you up. When we enjoy Christ to the uttermost, we are beside ourselves. The more we enjoy Christ, the more active we will be. When we enjoy Christ, we can never be silent or quiet.
Paul enjoyed Christ to such an extent that he could say, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). The “gain” here is the presence of Christ. To live is Christ, and to die is to enjoy the presence of Christ. Paul might have said: “According to my feeling, I would rather die, because to die is to be present with the Lord. Nothing on the earth can satisfy me any longer, but if I die, I will be with Christ. This is much better for me; but for your sake, Philippians, I choose to remain here in order to live Christ, to impart Christ, and to share Christ with you.”
I dare not compare myself with the Apostle Paul, but in my experience I have had the same kind of feeling that he expressed in Philippians 1:21-24. As an elderly person, I have had a lot of experiences on this earth. I have lost my taste for anything on this earth except Christ. As a young person it is easy to be attracted to other things. But, as an elderly man, without the Lord Jesus, I would lose interest in living. This is because there is nothing good on this earth. The only interest, taste, and enjoyment I have as I remain on this earth is to help sinners receive Christ, to help all of you enjoy Christ more, and to help the church be built up organically as the living Body of Christ. This is what I really enjoy.
During these last five weeks of the training, I have been quite busy laboring even until late at night. Yet, I have had a good and sound sleep every night. Occasionally, the enemy Satan raises up attacks from different directions, but the Lord has taught me the lesson of not being touched or stirred up regardless of what happens. I can testify that nothing on this earth can frustrate someone who enjoys Christ. Paul’s experience was like this. Paul wrote his Epistle to the Philippians from a prison in Rome while he was under the threat of martyrdom. He knew that he might be killed, but he was not bothered or upset; rather, he expected to magnify Christ in his body through life or through death. He said this while his body was in bonds. His concern was not for his bonds but for how the enjoyment of Christ among the Philippians could be increased. When the material gift came to him from the Philippians (4:10-17), he was happy because this indicated that their concern for the furtherance of the gospel, which had become dormant, was blossoming again. Their experience of Christ made him very happy.
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