The Experience of Christ in Philippians
Message 30

Not Assuming, But Laying Hold…

Through the seven steps portrayed in chapter 3 of Philippians, we arrive at the highest place of our Christian life, which is the reality of incorporation with the person of Christ, conveyed in verse 12: “…I pursue, if even I may lay hold of that for which I also have been laid hold of by Christ Jesus.” (For an overview of these seven steps, please see Message 27 of Number 5, Issue 5, available for viewing online at www.clevelandonline.org- Editor.)

The first step we must take on this pathway is to come out of the religious world into the reality of Christ. Most Christians seem unable to depart from the realm of religion, for they are satisfied by what they find there, such as good messages or doctrine. The second step is to count everything that you might perceive to be gain as loss, whether your education, gift, status, disposition, ability: all these you have to count as loss. Then the third stage is to count all things that are in the world to be loss on account of Christ; whatever people admire. Why would you do such a thing? On account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ! When you have this experience, you are qualified to come to a deeper experience, which is to be found in Him. To be found in Him is not necessarily the top experience we may know, but it is precious when your Christian life becomes something based upon the accomplished work of Jesus Christ, according to the operation of the Spirit, and according to the person of Christ. After you learn to be found in Him, you begin to know Him. To us, this is real maturity—to know Him, the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His suffering—even being conformed to His death.

If Perhaps I May Attain...?

What is left to do for someone who is conformed to the death of Christ? Once a person has died, it would seem everything is over and finished. But the interesting thing is that after Paul said “I want to know Him; I enjoy the power of His resurrection; I participate in the fellowship of His suffering and my person is being conformed to His death” he brings us to verse eleven: “If perhaps I may attain to the out-resurrection from the dead.” How could there still be an “if?” If a person is conformed to His death, it seems he surely should be able to say, “Surely the out-resurrection now awaits me.” But instead he says, “If perhaps I may attain to the out-resurrection from the dead.” If? Why “if”?

Paul Had Not Yet Completed His Course

I believe he wrote this in AD 67, three years before he was put to death. He still had a few more years to live. He is saying that all the revelations, attainments, blessing, riches, and constitution he had acquired in the Lord did not guarantee his tomorrow.

We may enjoy what the Lord is speaking in our gathering together tonight, after having been blessed in all the wonderful singing. 9:30, however, is still waiting for you. Do you have some experience of the power of His resurrection, of the fellowship of His sufferings, and being conformed to His death? To some degree, you might be able to say yes. However, in about an hour you will depart from here, and all that you have learned will be put on trial once more.

We Must Guard Our Pursuing Attitude

We must guard ourselves every moment. It is not simply that we are victorious or we fail; once you have come to this point you are truly mature. You have overcome religion and the world, and you know Christ. How prevailing you are when you are such a believer! Yet Paul says, “If perhaps I may…” What a warning! How much more encouraging it would be if Paul had said with assurance: “the out-resurrection is now mine!”

I am somewhat old now, being around 70. Have I labored? Have I loved the Lord? Have I been in the truth? Have I paid a price? Have I been through the experiences of the previous five steps? To all these I can reply “yes”. Can I, however, say that I am therefore an overcomer? As long as the Lord has not yet returned, none among us can boast in this way. We all must lean on the Lord’s mercy that we may continue to attain.

Attaining is to Arrive At

The word “attain” in verse 11 is the same used in Ephesians 4:13 for “arrive” (“until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith”). This word has to do with the exertion of some effort. In Ephesians, this effort is seen in the process that takes place from the time God gives us apostles, prophets, evangelists and shepherd/teachers until we corporately become a “full grown man” at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Therefore, you can see that to “arrive” or “attain” includes so much!

When Paul says, “If I may attain,” he is saying “I have paid the price throughout the years. I have done so much. But regardless what I have accomplished, I must continue to pursue.” A young man may say “Amen!” to this, but an old man such as myself has a different perspective on this. For instance, when we used to go to the trainings with Brother Lee, I was happy to get up early to have fellowship with those who sought me out before the meetings. For ten days, my time was full of such appointments. Now, however, could I even face such a thought? Yet Paul tells us that as believers, we are allowed no “breaks”. Americans like to say, “Give me a break!” but this is not what a Christian is allowed to say, regardless how far he has come. Instead, he can only say, “I press on!” When you arise out of religion into Christ, you must still say, “I press on!” When you come to know the Lord and His resurrection power and the fellowship of His sufferings and even know conformity to His death, you must still say, “I press on!” Regardless how much you have or how far you have come in your Christian life, you still must continue pressing on by the Lord’s mercy if you desire to attain to the out-resurrection.

The Out-Resurrection on the Day of Resurrection

What is “out-resurrection”? Out-resurrection refers to the outstanding resurrection. It is interesting that there are different categories of resurrection! When the Lord comes, the Christians that meet Him will be at various levels of growth. Those who are at the “top” will enjoy the most outstanding resurrection. Those in the middle will enjoy the “medium” resurrection. All will be resurrected. When Lord comes all the Christians will be eternally brought into glory, but they will all not shine the same (see 1 Cor. 15:41). At regeneration, perhaps every believer is the same, for it is only our spirit that is filled with the Lord at that point. We still have a fallen soul with a big flesh. Comparatively speaking, what you have of Christ at regeneration may seem small, but that little bit of Christ qualifies you to be in the riches of resurrection! If, however, all you have when the Lord returns is what you possessed from the time of your regeneration, your resurrection will be with a minimal glory. But as you grow by pursuing Christ, your soul becomes more and more transformed, and the life-element in you increases. When you are resurrected, the resurrection power you experience corresponds to that element of the divine life within you. It is that power that will uplift you and be broadcast. You cannot expect that what is outwardly seen will go beyond what is inwardly possessed. It must match.

Suppose a country girl were to marry a millionaire. For her to begin to match that kind of life might require a long period of time. For her to begin to match the judgment and tastes of that millionaire will require a kind of process. She will have to “grow” to be able to appreciate those riches. This may not be the best example, but perhaps it may give you some insight. The Lord, with His unsearchable riches and resurrection power, has come into us. Now we must grow to match Him. In the beginning of our Christian life, there is very little that we can point to that matches Christ. Yet as we grow in Him, we match Him more and more, and are able to love and appreciate Him according to all that He is. If we are such a person, surely our resurrection will be outstanding, for our spirit, soul, and eventually our body will be able to bear such a testimony in glory to the Lord. Your enjoyment of Christ will have taken you to such a place that in that day your entire being—spirit, soul, and body—will express such a high degree of the Lord’s glory. What you have enjoyed of Christ will be transmitted even to your body for all to see for eternity. This is the “out-resurrection” Paul speaks of.

When they are in disagreement, I have heard some brothers say to each other, “Well, the Lord will make us clear at His judgment seat”. I really doubt the Lord will have the time to deal with all such matters. All He will have to do is expose us. In that Great Day, we will all stand in our various “shades” of glory. If we have not arrived where the Lord desires us to be, I do believe there is a process to make it up, for the Lord is wise. It will not be something, however, that is as today, for today we live in the age of grace. Today, Christ is so available for us to gain!

Many Christians simply look to that Day as the day of relief from their troubles. They do not realize that resurrection is a reward for their struggle to gain Christ in this age. Oh, how we should all desire to attain to the outstanding resurrection! I want my soul to become even more transformed and my body so transfigured in life. I want my spirit, soul, and body to match Christ in glory to the fullest possible extent! We shouldn’t look at resurrection as merely some final process; we should seek more of its substance today! No matter how good you are today, you must remind yourself there is also yet a tomorrow. Therefore we cannot afford to be so confident. We must keep the attitude, “If perhaps I might even…”

Obtained Outwardly and Perfected Inwardly

Such persons have the possibility of becoming complete outwardly and perfect inwardly. In other words, inwardly and outwardly such a person matches Christ to its fullest extent.

Paul continues to write, “Not that I have already obtained or am already perfected but I pursue if even I may lay hold of that for which I also have been laid hold of by Christ Jesus.” This is the height; this is incorporation. This is the highest place of Christian growth. The Lord has laid hold of me. I also lay hold of Him. To have the out-resurrection in view is easy. Every action, every deed, every decision, every exercise, every operation, everything in my life I want to make sure matches the out-resurrection. Paul doesn’t want to relax or become loose, so he doesn’t allow himself to assume he has attained. He keeps himself poised to gain more Christ.

Therefore in verse 12 he says “not that I have already obtained”. “Obtained” in Greek is somewhat like the totality of what you have. For instance, I got this car then I got the contents of what is in this car. If I get a cup made of gold, I get gold. If the cup is made of silver, I get silver. If the cup is also a work of art, I also get a work of art. You put all these together. But remember, all what he has comes from his labor. He has given up everything else on account of such excellency. He has been through all these seven phases of his pursuing. He says that even with all I have gained and attained to, I do not consider that I have yet obtained. He was out of religion. He had given up whatever else he might boast of. He had given up everything in the world. He learned to abide in the truth so that he could be found in Christ, and he paid the price in his daily life so that he might know Christ. He guarded his daily life every moment so that he might attain to the out-resurrection. Yet even with all these together, he still did not feel he had gotten enough! He realized there was something more for him to gain and to possess. Therefore he would not allow himself to feel that he had already obtained or been perfected. (What I obtain are the experiences. Out of these experiences I am perfected. The outward experiences produce the inward substance. In turn there is a kind of perfecting. I am perfect because I gain so much. I have pursued so much. I have given up so much. I have labored and struggled so much. I paid such a price. In turn, within me there is some element called perfection. Obtaining is outward; being made perfect is inward. Such persons have the possibility of becoming complete outwardly and perfect inwardly. In other words, inwardly and outwardly such a person matches Christ to its fullest extent. Such a person, however, also realizes that Christ is unlimited, so he can never say he has obtained or yet been made perfect.)

Obtaining Christ in His Unlimitedness

As long as we are confined to four dimensions, it is not possible for us to truly comprehend what “unlimited” or “unsearchable” means. Even so, while we are living on this earth, the One we have gained, the One we have possessed, the One we have enjoyed, is this One with unsearchable riches. His name is I AM WHO I AM. In other words, He is the Eternal God, having unsearchable riches. Therefore, no matter how mature you are, compared with such an unlimited One what you have is still very limited. Christians like to believe they have everything. This is why in Christian history, you keep on confronting the same problems. A spiritual man is raised up, “I see everything.” For instance, among the Closed or Exclusive Brethren some have said, “Our father James Taylor has unveiled everything to us. What we need to do today is just to practice it.” Who is this James Taylor? He was the last great teacher among the Brethren, and he died in 1962. I believe the followers of many other spiritual men felt the same. For some reason, man likes to confine God into his own sphere of limitation, rather than to go to God with His unlimitedness.

I would like to turn us again to the verse in Song of Songs where the Shulamite says, “Before I realized it, my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people” (6:12). After that lady became so mature, she said, “Even without realizing it, I had lost myself in the unsearchable riches of Christ”. And all the daughters of Jerusalem, the Christians, cried out, “Return, return, O Shulamite.” A spiritual man led by Christ eventually comes to the realization that there is something unlimited, yet wonderfully this unlimited Christ with His unlimited riches is ready for him to enjoy, to partake of, to explore, to be part of, to become, to experience… what a blessing this is! This is why, mature as Paul was, he could write, “Not that I have already obtained or am already perfected”. And if it were so with Paul, then how about us?

Paul was the last one the Lord appeared to in person, according to his word in 1 Corinthians 15:8. He also testified that he had been caught up to the third heavens and was shown things he could not even utter (2 Cor. 12:4). Then he said, “For this one, I will boast, but for myself, I will only boast in my weaknesses.” He realized both. And as he began to finally come to the conclusion of Christian growth, he said, “Not that I have already obtained, or am already perfected”.

We give one good message, and we think Satan is under our toe. At that time we may write, “Now, I have already obtained and am already perfected. Amen. I don’t need to pursue anymore. I’m just waiting for the Lord to come back so I might enter into glory.” Instead, Paul said, “I have a lot, I see a lot, I know a lot, I experience a lot, I enjoy a lot, yet with all this, let me tell you, my feeling is that I have not yet obtained or been perfected”. Inwardly and outwardly, he realized that he still needed more Christ. Therefore, he continued to pursue.

To Pursue is to Persecute