As we have pointed out, the book of Philippians is on the experience of Christ. It is the only Epistle in the New Testament concerned with the experience of Christ. Although we are familiar with the term the experience of Christ, it is difficult to explain how to experience Him. We have seen that the experience of Christ is mysterious because Christ is mysterious, invisible. Nevertheless, we can experience Him. He is real and can be experienced, yet He is invisible. For this reason, it is difficult to find a verse in the New Testament telling us how to experience Christ. Although the book of Philippians deals with the experience of Christ and although the way to experience Christ is found in this book, the way is a mystery. It is not found on the surface of the book of Philippians. In order to find the way to experience Christ, we need to get into the depths of this book.
In the last message we saw that the way to experience Christ is to repudiate all that we are naturally. All that we have, all that we can do, and all that we are must be rejected and given up. As long as a certain aspect of us is natural, it must be repudiated, no matter how good it may be. Whether our natural constitution is very good or very poor, it must be denied. It takes little effort to deny the worst kind of self, but it requires a great deal of energy to deny the best self. Perhaps you have been treasuring your best self for years. Your friends and relatives all admire it, and you also appreciate it and esteem it highly. Now you hear that you are called upon to repudiate this self in order to experience Christ.
After we repudiate ourselves, we find that something still remains. This remainder is Christ. As the remainder, Christ is very mysterious. When we cooperate with the mysterious Christ, we not only experience Him, but also enjoy Him. This enjoyment causes us to be happy and excited.
In Philippians 3:8 Paul speaks of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord. This excellency surpasses the realm of physics, science, and mathematics. In fact, it surpasses everything. I doubt that very many Christians know what the excellency of the knowledge of Christ is.
In Philippians 3 we find the contrast between two kinds of righteousness: the righteousness of the law and the righteousness of God. The righteousness of the law comes from our keeping of the law. For example, the law commands us to honor our parents. If we honor our parents, then this becomes our righteousness according to the law. The law also charges us not to steal. If we refrain from stealing, then we are righteous according to the law in the matter of stealing. The second kind of righteousness seen in Philippians 3 is the righteousness which is of God by faith. Thus, one kind of righteousness is the righteousness of the law, and the other kind of righteousness is the righteousness of God. The law is of dead letters, but God is living. Thus, there is one kind of righteousness which is of dead letters and another kind of righteousness which is of the living God.
In verse 10 Paul speaks of the power of Christ's resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings. In chapter one there is the fellowship in the gospel and in chapter two, the fellowship of spirit. Here we have the fellowship of Christ's sufferings. In verse 10 Paul also speaks of being conformed to Christ's death. Christ's death is like a mold, and we are like clay pressed into the mold. Eventually, the clay is conformed to the mold. This is a picture of our being conformed to Christ's death. In this message we need to consider these five crucial matters: the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, the righteousness of God by faith, the power of Christ's resurrection, the fellowship of Christ's sufferings, and the conformity to Christ's death.
In verse 11 we find another unusual expression: "the out-resurrection from among the dead" (Gk.). This is not an ordinary resurrection, but an extraordinary resurrection. It refers to something outstanding. This we shall consider in another message.