It is by this experience of gaining Christ that we also know the fellowship of His suffering. By this fellowship of His suffering we are conformed to His image. This is even higher than transformation. Transformation is something within; it is a matter of essence. But conformity is something outward. Christ has a form, and we need to be conformed to His form. This is only possible by the fellowship of His sufferings. This is not a kind of suffering because of our sins or mistakes. This is a suffering for the life of the Body of Christ. For the life of the Body, we need a kind of suffering. Then the Body of Christ will be increased in life through our suffering.
In chapter four, Paul tells us to rejoice. “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Phil. 4:4, 6). To rejoice is a little different from being joyful. Just to be joyful is not to rejoice. To rejoice means to be joyful with some kind of praising and thanksgiving. It is impossible to rejoice and remain silent. Sometimes we have to shout, “Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Jesus is so wonderful!” This is rejoicing. To rejoice means to let your joy be expressed.
I have noticed that some saints, according to their disposition, can never rejoice. I never saw their face beaming and their mouth rejoicing. The most they can do is smile a little. But this is not rejoicing! We have to shout, “Hallelujah! O Lord Jesus! Amen!” I don’t mean to teach you to do this, but we have to be like this. Christians must be rejoicing people. Even if we are alone in our home, we still must rejoice. No one may be visible, but there are many invisible ones watching. When we are rejoicing and praising the Lord, all the demons are cringing. This is why the victorious life is a rejoicing life.
Then Paul tells us to be careful for nothing. According to today’s meaning, some might think that this means to be careless. But the real meaning is not to worry. Some versions say that we should be anxious for nothing. If we are rejoicing, it is certain that we are not worrying. But the more we try not to worry, the more we will worry.
How can we not worry but rejoice? In ourselves it is impossible. But if we have learned the secret of taking Christ as our person through His indwelling, it is so spontaneous. In the last part of this chapter, Paul tells us that he had learned the secret. “I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I have learned the secret both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things in Christ who empowers me” (Phil. 4:13-14).
Paul was not always so abounding, rich, and full. Many times he was abased. He was even hungry and had nothing to eat. Yet he had learned the secret both to be abased and to abound. Almost all of us have a kind of religious concept. If a brother becomes poor, we say that either he does not know how to manage himself, or he must be wrong with the Lord in some area. But how about the Apostle Paul? Was God punishing him? He did suffer poverty, but not because he was wrong. Rather that afforded him an opportunity to experience Christ. To him riches or poverty were of the same color. Whether the circumstances were good or not so good, he had learned the secret to rejoice in the Lord always.
Many times when I am worrying about something, the Lord rebukes me: “Why don’t you enjoy Me as the One that takes care of you? Why not let Me worry for you?” When we learn the secret of taking Christ as our person, we learn to cast all our care upon Him. In Philippians, a book that speaks about Paul’s circumstances, we see the secret for the Christian life and the practical way for the church life. That is, we must learn to take Christ as our person. We must let Him replace us. We cannot rejoice. We cannot be anxious for nothing. Our life is full of anxiety.
There are many verses in the Bible which are precious promises of God to us. In Matthew 6 the Lord promises us that we don’t need to be anxious for food, drink, or clothing. The Father knows what we need. Then 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” He indwells us and bears all our cares. He not only bears our burdens, He even bears us. Therefore, why should we worry? We cannot add one inch to our height by worrying. We must fully give ourselves over to Him.
I realize that to say this is easy, but to put it into practice is much more difficult. When we try to rejoice, after we shout three times, we start worrying. We hardly have any faith at all. Then what shall we do? We must forget about ourselves and turn to Him. Let the Lord live for you. Let Him bear all the burden. Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you. Since He cares for us, we don’t need to care. I realize that regardless of what I say, you will still care very much. But you have a Person within you. Turn to Him and let Him bear all your burdens.
When we are in good circumstances, it is easy to praise the Lord. But when we are in bad circumstances, we can never praise the Lord. Today the sun is shining, but yesterday it was cloudy. This is the practical church life. Some days are full of sunshine, and some days are cloudy. But when we read Paul’s life, we see that he had learned the secret. The secret is the indwelling Christ. Whether it is sunny or cloudy, whether the circumstances are good or bad, we have a wonderful Person living within us, bearing all our burdens. We must only learn to turn to Him and let Him be our person.
Now we see from this book the practical way to have the church life. It is simply to realize all the time that the indwelling Christ is our secret. It is not a matter of how to face the situation. That is politics. Only the politicians must learn how to face the situation. We simply let the situations turn to our salvation. All of our circumstances teach us to learn the secret to live by Christ. This is the main lesson of this whole book. All the circumstances force us to give up ourselves and take Christ as our person. This is the secret. Of course, there is not this kind of terminology, but there is the fact.
Philippians is not a book of teachings or doctrines. Paul simply tells us something of his own experience. And through his experience we learn of the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. We learn to let Christ be magnified in us. We learn that we can do all things in Christ who empowers us. Whether we are rich or poor, high or low, we have learned the secret that Christ lives in us to be our person, bearing all of our burdens. Therefore, all we have to do is rejoice evermore. Hallelujah! This is the key to the Christian life, and this is the practical way of the church life.