THE SECOND PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
The Epistle of Paul to the Philippians
Message Four—Knowing Christ and the Power of His Resurrection
Scripture Reading: Phil. 3:10
I. Paul aspired to know Christ—Phil. 3:10:
A. To have the excellency of the knowledge of Christ in Philippians 3:8 is by revelation, but to know Him in verse 10 is by experience—Phil. 3:8, 10.
B. Paul first received the revelation of Christ, then sought the experience of Christ—to know and enjoy Christ in an experiential way.
C. The one thing in the book of Philippians is the subjective knowledge and experience of Christ—Phil. 2:2; cf. 1:20-21; 2:5; 3:7-9; 4:12-13.
D. To know Christ is not merely to have the knowledge concerning Him but to gain His very person—2 Cor. 2:10; cf. Col. 2:9, 16-17:
1. To gain something requires the paying of a price; to gain Christ is to experience, enjoy, and take possession of all His unsearchable riches by paying a price—Eph. 3:8.
2. Christ has gained us, taken possession of us, that we might gain Him, take possession of Him—Phil. 3:12.
3. The Christian life is a life of gaining Christ in His full ministry in His three divine and mystical stages—incarnation, inclusion, and intensification—John 1:14; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Rev. 1:4; 4:5; 5:6:
a. Even though Paul had experienced and gained Christ tremendously, he did not consider that he had experienced Him in full or gained him to the uttermost; for this reason he was still advancing toward the goal—the gaining of Christ to the fullest extent—Phil. 3:12-14.
b. In order to gain Christ to the fullest extent, Paul not only forsook his experiences in Judaism but also would not linger in his past experiences of Christ and be limited by them; He forgot the past—v. 13.
c. Not to forget but to linger in our past experiences, however genuine they were, frustrates our further pursuing of Christ—v. 13; Heb. 6:1a.
d. Christ is unsearchably rich, and there is a vast territory of His riches to be possessed; Paul was stretching out to reach the farthest extent of this territory—Phil. 3:13.
II. Paul aspired to know the power of Christ’s resurrection—v. 10:
A. The power of Christ’s resurrection is His resurrection life, which raised Him from the dead—Eph. 1:19-20.
B. The Spirit is the reality of Christ’s resurrection and its power—Rom. 8:9-11; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 1 John 5:6.
C. The Spirit compounded with Christ’s resurrection and its power indwells our spirit to dispense Christ’s resurrection and its power not only to our spirit and soul but also to our mortal body—Phil. 1:19; Exo. 30:23-25; Rom. 8:10-11, 13b, 6b, 10; 2 Cor. 4:11.
D. We should cooperate with the resurrecting Spirit to recognize that we have been resurrected with Christ and to pursue the power of the resurrection of Christ—Col. 2:12; Eph. 2:6a:
1. It is also by this power of resurrection that we, the lovers of Christ are enabled to be conformed to His death, to be one with His cross—Phil. 3:10; cf. S. S. 2:14-15.
2. In order to experience the life-giving Spirit as the reality of the flourishing riches of the resurrection of Christ, we have to discern our spirit from our soul—Heb. 4:12; cf. S. S. 2:14-15.
E. Christ’s resurrection with its power in the life-giving Spirit is the sufficient grace of the processed and consummated Triune God—2 Cor. 12:9; 13:14; 1 Cor. 15:10, 45b, 58; cf. Exo. 3:2-6, 14-15.
III. Paul aspired to know the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings—Phil. 3:10:
A. With Christ, the sufferings and death came first, followed by the resurrection; with us, the power of His resurrection comes first, followed by the participation in His sufferings and conformity to His death.
B. We first receive the power of His resurrection; then by this power we are enabled to participate in His sufferings and life a crucified life in conformity to His death.
C. Christ’s sufferings are of two categories: those for accomplishing redemption, which were completed by Christ Himself, and those for producing and building the church, which need to be filled up by the apostles and the believers—Col. 1:24:
1. We cannot participate in Christ’s sufferings for redemption, but we must take part in the sufferings of Christ for the producing and building up of the Body—cf. Rev. 1:9; 2 Tim. 2:10; 2 Cor. 1:5-6; 4:12; 6:8-11.
2. Christ as the Lamb of God suffered for redemption; Christ as the grain of wheat suffered for reproducing and building—John 1:29; 12:24:
a. The Lord, as a grain of wheat that fell into the ground, lost His soul-life through death that He might release His eternal life in resurrection to the many grains—10:10-11.
b. The one grain did not complete all the sufferings that are needed for the building up of the Body; as the many grains, we must suffer in the same way the one grain suffered—12:24-26:
(1) As the many grains, we also must lose our soul-life through death that we may enjoy eternal life in resurrection—v. 25.
(2) This is to follow Him that we may serve Him and walk with Him on this way, the way of losing our soul-life and living in His resurrection—v. 26.
(3) The way for the church to come into being and to increase is not by human glory; it is by the death of the cross—vv. 20-24.
Ministry Excerpts:
REVELATION AND EXPERIENCE
Paul lived in a condition of not having his own righteousness but having the righteousness of God, in order to know (to experience) Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings. To have the excellency of the knowledge of Christ in verse 8 is by revelation. But to know Him in verse 10 is by experience—to have the experiential knowledge of Him, to experience Him in the full knowledge of Him. Paul first received the revelation of Christ and then sought for the experience of Christ—to know and enjoy Him in an experiential way.
After we receive the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, we shall be willing to suffer the loss of all things and count them refuse in order to gain Christ and be found in Him. As a result, we shall know Christ experientially. Therefore, verse 9 comes out of verse 8, and verse 10 comes out of verse 9. If we do not have the excellency of the knowledge of Christ (v. 8), we shall not be found in Christ, for it is having the excellency of the knowledge of Christ which makes us willing to suffer the loss of all things and count them as refuse in order to gain Christ and be found in Him. Then, once we have gained Christ and are found in Him, we shall know Him; that is, we shall enjoy Him and experience Him.
To gain Christ is one thing, and to experience Him is another. We may illustrate this difference by the difference between buying groceries and eating food which has been purchased and prepared. Gaining Christ may be compared to buying groceries, and the experience of Christ may be compared to the eating of the food we have first purchased and cooked. However, before we buy any groceries, we must first have the excellency of the knowledge of groceries. Before we purchase anything, we are first attracted by the excellency of the knowledge of that thing. Thus, first we have the excellency of the knowledge of the groceries, then we gain them by buying them, and finally we enjoy the food by eating it. In like manner, Paul first received the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, then he paid the price to gain Christ and be found in Him, and finally he experienced Christ and enjoyed Him. Paul realized that to gain Christ and be found in Him always results in knowing Him, in enjoying and experiencing Him.
A HIGHER KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST
Our experience of Christ can never surpass the excellency of our knowledge of Christ. Rather, the excellency of the knowledge of Christ always exceeds our experience of Christ. There has never been a case where a believer’s experience of Christ surpassed his knowledge of Christ. If we do not have a higher knowledge of Christ, we cannot have a higher experience of Christ. This is why it is very important that we not be limited by our past knowledge of Christ.
You may know that Christ is joy, peace, and rest. Before you were saved, you did not have the peace. But now that you have received the Lord, you have peace and joy. By no means do I belittle these aspects of the knowledge of Christ. I certainly enjoy the Lord Jesus as my peace, rest, and joy. Nevertheless, we should not be content with such a limited knowledge of Christ, but should advance in our knowledge of Him. Oh, how we need the excellency of knowing Christ!
The excellency of the knowledge of Christ will attract us to Christ and motivate us to lay aside everything other than Him. If we see the surpassing worth of Christ, we shall be willing to count as loss not only worldly, material things, but even our culture, religion, and philosophy. I repeat, it is the excellency of the knowledge of Christ which causes us to drop everything else so that we may gain Christ and be found in Him.
OUR SHORTAGE IN LIVING CHRIST
Recently the Lord has pointed out to me my shortage in living Christ. Most of the confession I make to Him is related to this lack. Day by day, I spend too little time living one spirit with the Lord. Too much of the time I live in something other than Christ, in many good things that are not Christ Himself. Because this is our situation, all of us need the Lord to have mercy on us.
Both we and the Lord have come to a point of crisis. A critical situation definitely exists among many of us today. Yes, we have seen the vision that Christ is our life, that He is the life-giving Spirit, and that we are one spirit with Him, and we talk a great deal about Christ. However, in our practical life day by day, we do not live Christ every moment. We are not found by others in Christ continually. We may be very familiar with 3:7-10. But how much have we gained Christ, how much are we found in Christ, and how much do we experientially know Christ? Because of our urgent need to experience Christ, it is not my burden in these messages to present Bible teachings. It is to minister Christ to the saints that they may grow in the divine life, which is Christ Himself, and may advance in the experience of Christ and enjoyment of Christ.
EXPERIENCING CHRIST IN THE POWER OF RESURRECTION
In verse 10 Paul says, “To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering, being conformed to His death.” According to this verse, Paul aspired not only to know Christ, but also to know the power of Christ’s resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings. The power of Christ’s resurrection is His resurrection life which raised Him from among the dead (Eph. 1:19-20). The reality of the power of Christ’s resurrection is the Spirit (Rom. 1:4). To know, to experience, this power requires identification with Christ’s death and conformity to it. Death is the base of resurrection. To experience the power of Christ’s resurrection, we need to live a crucified life according to the pattern of His life. Our conformity to His death affords a base for the power of His resurrection to rise up that His divine life may be expressed in us.
The participation in Christ’s suffering—“the fellowship of His sufferings”—(Matt. 20:22-23; Col. 1:24) is a necessary condition for the experience of the power of His resurrection (2 Tim. 2:11) by being conformed to His death. Paul was pursuing to know and experience not only the excellency of Christ Himself, but also the life power of His resurrection and the participation in His sufferings. With Christ, the sufferings and death came first, followed by the resurrection. With us, the power of His resurrection comes first, then the fellowship of His sufferings and conformity to His death. We first receive the power of His resurrection. Then by this power we are enabled to participate in His sufferings and live a crucified life in conformity to His death. Such sufferings are mainly for producing and building up the Body of Christ.
Being conformed to Christ’s death is the very base of the experience of Christ. If we are not conformed to the death of Christ, we do not have the base for the experience of Christ. In order to experience Christ, we must be conformed to His death. But to be conformed to the death of Christ, we must have the fellowship of His sufferings. By participating in Christ’s sufferings, we are ushered into a position to experience the power of His resurrection. Then, when we experience the power of Christ’s resurrection, we know Him.
In Philippians 3 the sequence is knowing Christ, knowing the power of Christ’s resurrection, knowing the fellowship of His sufferings, and being conformed to His death. But in our spiritual experience, the sequence is reversed. Daily we are conformed to Christ’s death; then we participate in His sufferings, know the power of His resurrection, and, by knowing the power of resurrection, we know Christ Himself. According to Paul’s sequence, first we receive the excellency of the knowledge of Christ by seeing the vision of Christ; second, we count all things to be refuse; third, we gain Christ and are found in Him; and fourth, we know Christ, experience Him.
In order to experience Christ, we must be in the power of resurrection. We cannot be in our natural life. The more we know the power of Christ’s resurrection, the more we shall participate in the sufferings of Christ and thereby have the fellowship of His sufferings. If we experience the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings, we shall then be conformed to His death. As we are conformed to the death of Christ, we are ushered into the power of His resurrection. It is by this resurrection power that we know Christ and experience Him. (Life-Study of Philippians, msg. 21)
THE POWER OF CHRIST’S RESURRECTION
In 3:10 Paul speaks of the power of Christ’s resurrection. The power of Christ’s resurrection is His resurrection life that raised Him from among the dead (Eph. 1:19-20). Christ’s divine life includes the element of resurrection. Even before He was resurrected, He could say to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). The reality of Christ’s resurrection life is the Spirit. Resurrection is abstract and mysterious; no one can define it. But we can know the Spirit as the reality of resurrection. The Spirit of Christ is the reality of the resurrection of Christ. Thus, where the Spirit of Christ is, there is resurrection. Because this Spirit is now within us, the power of Christ’s resurrection is within us also.
We should not be affected or influenced by the Pentecostal concept that if we fast and pray for a period of time, we shall suddenly be endued with spiritual power. According to this concept, divine power suddenly falls upon those who seek it by prayer and fasting. This is not according to the true spiritual way revealed in the New Testament. According to this spiritual way, when we believe in the Lord Jesus, we are regenerated, and the Spirit is imparted to us and becomes in us the power of resurrection.
We may use a carnation seed to illustrate the way resurrection life is released. Although a carnation seed is very small, it contains the life power capable of producing a carnation plant. Since this life element is already in the seed, there is no need for power to be added to the seed from without. The only thing necessary is that the seed fall into the earth and die. Should the seed pass through death, its shell will be broken, and life will be released, not from on high, but from within the seed.
CONFORMITY TO THE DEATH OF CHRIST
In 3:10 Paul goes on to speak of the fellowship of Christ’s suffering and of being conformed to His death. The fellowship of Christ’s sufferings is our participation in His sufferings. During His entire life, Christ underwent a process of breaking so that the life power could be released from within Him. In particular, He was broken when He died on the cross. The divine life seed has been planted into our being. Now we also need to be broken that the life power within the seed can be released. If our outer man is broken, the seed within us will be able to release its life power.
In 3:10 Paul uses the expression “being conformed to His death.” This expression indicates that Paul desired to take Christ’s death as the mold of his life. Christ’s death is a mold to which we are conformed in much the same way that dough is put in a cake mold and conformed to it. Paul continually lived a crucified life, a life under the cross, just as Christ did in His human living. Through such a life, the resurrection power is experienced and expressed. The mold of Christ’s death refers to the continual putting to death of His human life that He might live by the life of God (John 6:57). Our life should be conformed to such a mold—dying to our human life in order to live the divine life. Being conformed to the death of Christ is the condition for knowing and experiencing Him, the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings.
In our daily living we should be “dough” conformed to the mold of Christ’s death. If we allow our circumstances to press us into this mold, our daily life will be molded into the pattern of Christ’s death. This was Paul’s concept when he spoke of being conformed to the death of Christ. (Life-Study of Philippians, msg. 22)