In this message we will look specifically at the power of resurrection and the conformation to the cross. We all know that Philippians is a book that speaks specifically about the experience of Christ. As such, it is a book of experience. The truths contained in it are very deep, but these truths are expressed to us in experience. This book has four chapters, and we have quoted some verses from every chapter. These verses are the very essence of this book. It is only after we get into these verses that we can say we know the book of Philippians.
Philippians 1:19 says, “This shall turn out to salvation through...the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” Salvation here does not refer to the deliverance from God’s punishment or from future perdition. Salvation here refers to that which was spoken of in verses 20 and 21. We are to be saved to the extent that “Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death.” Hence, the salvation in Philippians is not just a matter of living out Christ, but a matter of magnifying Christ in our bodies.
In His humanity, Christ passed through the experiences of incarnation and human living, eventually being crucified on the cross. All these processes are very insignificant in man’s eyes. Even today, while the gospel is preached throughout the whole earth, man still feels the same way. When Paul wrote the book of Philippians, he was imprisoned in Rome (Phil. 1:13) during the reign of the Roman Caesar. The people then, especially those in the house of Caesar, thought very little of Jesus. Although Paul as a prisoner suffered much and experienced great difficulties, even to the point that he could have been executed the very next day, he was bold to experience Christ and to magnify Christ by life or by death before Caesar and all those around him. As a result, Paul’s magnifying of Christ brought even some in the household of Caesar to salvation through believing into Christ.
Had Paul not magnified Christ while he was being interrogated and persecuted in prison, it would have meant that he was not saved in that circumstance. It is not an easy matter to be saved in your environment when you are in prison. This can never be achieved by yourself. How can you be saved? It is by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ that you can magnify Christ whether through life or through death.
We can see from history and from biographies that when martyrs die, they receive a special power from on high. I can never forget a story I heard fifty years ago. One day, in northern China where my hometown was, I met a brother. He was formerly a merchant. Later he gave up his career to become a traveling evangelist. I asked him on that day how he was saved. He told me the following story.
At the end of the Ching Dynasty, there was the Boxer Rebellion in China. Eight nations joined forces to wage war on Peking. Many Christians were persecuted and even died for the Lord during the riots. At that time, this man was an apprentice in a shop in Peking. One day, the Boxers were parading on the streets, sending Christians to the execution ground. They shouted and cried with their swords in their hands. The scene was frightening. All the households, including the shops, were closed. Out of curiosity he peeped out of the crack between the closed door. He saw that among the parading line, there was a very young Christian girl about twenty years old. She was on her way to be executed. Although the Boxers around her were very fierce, this sister was able to sing and praise with overflowing joy on the cart bound for the execution ground. This not only shocked him, but touched him to the uttermost. He was determined to investigate thoroughly the Christian religion as soon as the Boxer rebellion was over, to find out from where the girl derived her strength. Not long after his search, he believed in the Lord and decided to no longer be in business. He became instead an evangelist. This was the result of the girl’s magnifying of Christ in the face of execution.
In the province of Kiangsi at the time of the Communist turmoil, many Christians also were martyred. One Western missionary was caught and spoke one famous sentence as he was about to die: “The face of every martyr shines like the face of an angel.” This shows us that the Christ experienced in Philippians brings us to the point that we can become a martyr. We know that there is no suffering more severe than to be martyred. This is the most difficult thing for anyone to do. This is why Paul said that it was through the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ that he could magnify Christ whether through life or through death.
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