For the problem of the practical church life, Paul told the Philippians that all the things which happened to him would turn to his salvation through their prayer and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. We all must realize that the Spirit of Jesus Christ is more bountifully rich than just the Spirit of God. In one sense the Spirit of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of God, but in another sense there is a great difference.
Before the Lord was incarnated, crucified, and resurrected, the Spirit was the Spirit of God. There was no element of incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, or ascension in this Spirit. Therefore the Spirit was merely and purely the Spirit of God. But after the incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, the Spirit of God became the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Within this Spirit, there was not only the element of God, but also the element of man. There was the divine and the human element. There was also the element of the termination of the crucifixion, the germination of the resurrection, the ascension, and the exaltation. Now this Spirit is not only the Spirit of God, but also the Spirit of Jesus Christ. This bountifully rich Spirit includes the divine element, the human element, the termination of the negative things, the germination of the new creation, the exaltation, kingship, lordship, and headship. Hallelujah! What a bountiful supply is now in this Spirit! Whatever we need, we have in the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
However, such a bountiful supply could never be realized, experienced, and enjoyed, without the Spirit of Jesus Christ indwelling us. Even if He were on the earth, without His indwelling we could never participate in His bountiful supply. This bountiful, rich Spirit must indwell us. Then whatever He has and whatever He is will be our experience.
Paul tells us that the practical way to have the church life is to know that in whatever circumstances we are, we have within us the all-inclusive Spirit of Jesus Christ. Whatever happens to us must turn us to our salvation in this rich supply. We don’t have to pray for the circumstances to come or not to come. We leave that to the Lord. But we must pray, and have others pray for us, that we will realize the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. We must learn to experience the rich supply of this Spirit in all our situations. This experience will produce the practical church life.
Paul’s only concern was that all the things which happened to him would turn to his salvation through the realization of the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Then he said, “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:20-21). Paul realized that by death or life, God’s purpose was to magnify Christ in him. To magnify Christ includes the expression of Christ with a kind of dignity. Christ must be expressed in us, but not in a poor way. He must be expressed in a magnified and dignified way.
With some of the more mature saints, we can realize a kind of spiritual dignity. Because they have experienced Christ to such an extent, they express Christ with dignity. Christ is magnified in them not only in the positive things of life, but also in the negative things of death. Whether their environment is positive or negative, it means nothing to them. All things are the same, simply creating opportunities for them to magnify Christ. This is why Paul could eventually say, “For to me to live is Christ.” He was in the practical experience of the church life.
Then in chapter two, Paul tells us that we must have the mind of Christ. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5). This corresponds to that which is mentioned in Romans 12:2. There we see that we must be transformed by the renewing of our mind. This means that our mind is replaced with the mind of Christ. In other words, we must take the person of Christ. We must put our mind aside, and take the mind of Christ. This is a kind of substitution. We reject our own person, and take Christ as our person. Therefore, His mind becomes our mind.