The Experience of Christ in Philippians

Message 32: Two Kinds of Walk to Gain Christ

Phil 3:15-16:
15 Let us therefore, as many as are full-grown, have this mind; and if in anything you are otherwise minded, this also God will reveal to you.
16 Nevertheless whereunto we have attained, by the same rule let us walk.


We Must Have A Mind to Pursue Christ

We ended the previous message by referring to Philippians 3:15: “Let us therefore, as many as are full-grown, have this mind; and if in anything you are otherwise minded, this also God will reveal to you.” No matter how mature you are, comparatively speaking, you must have the mind to pursue Christ. If you have another mind, however, God must take away the veil, for you need to see that pursuing Christ is the only thing worth doing! Pursuing Christ is the unique definition of a healthy human life.

A Walk According to Our Spiritual Attainment

In verse 16 Paul continues: “Nevertheless whereunto we have attained, by the same rule let us walk.”

These verses bring us to the matter of testimony, for they mention our walk. As we pursue Christ and gain Him, we become a part of Christ’s testimony on the earth. This is why Paul says, “where unto we have attained, by the same rule let us walk.”

The Greek word for “attain” in verse 16 refers to reaching a position by means of a worthy striving and a progressing advancement. In other words, once you have attained, you have really accomplished something and gained something. What such a person must do then is to walk according to the “rule.”


A Walk Within a Rule That Limits and Frees

A number of the ancient manuscripts do not have the word for “rule” (kanon) in verse 17. If we accept it, however, we can note that kanon refers to that which measures. Kittel notes that the word can also be translated “boundary, and is not used only for measuring area, but also for measuring function. In this sense it has to do with a sphere, as in “sphere of operation.” As we will see, what is implied eventually can apply to the two Greek words for walk, stoicheo and peripateo.

At this point, the apostle Paul has spiritually attained unto something comparatively full and high. Paul is a spiritually mature person. In fact, looking back through the centuries, it is difficult to imagine anyone has even approached Paul’s level of spiritual attainment. His experience of 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 is enough to convince me of this. Who else can say they had been caught away to both the third heavens and to hades? That was something especially measured to Paul. He surely had attained to a level that was spiritually very high and rich, even when compared to anyone else! His attainment became unto him not only an outward rule of measure that restricted him in his walk, but also a sphere in which he was able to walk about extensively and freely.


Our Level of Maturity Becomes A Ruling Element

In other words, the level of maturity in Christ we have attained to becomes the ruling element of our walk on one hand, and on the other it determines the sphere in which we are able to walk about freely.

This Ruling Element is Christ

First of all, the Christ we have gained becomes the ruling element in our daily life. The more Christ you gain, the more Christ rules over your daily life. This kanon, this rule, is a living person, and the more you possess Him, the more He will set Himself as a rule over you. The more of Christ you gain, the more He is able to rule over you.

Secondly, the Christ we have gained also becomes the operating element for us to walk with freedom in Him. In other words, the “rule” is but the boundary of a sphere in which we freely operate.

In my life, it is likely that I never met a man more spiritual than Witness Lee. He was a person who walked according to this “rule” at a level beyond any other person I ever met. On the one hand, he was totally under the rule of Christ, and on the other, he was totally free. Sometimes he did things that shocked me, for I never would have had the same freedom to do as he did. According to our concept if we are under some rule we cannot act so freely, for in our minds the two are mutually exclusive. In Brother Lee, however, I saw how it was so. Brother Lee was very much governed by the Lord in what he said and did. He was not someone that you would catch doing something ungodly, and yet he did things many times that I simply would not have had the freedom to do. My conscience would have bothered me greatly, but because of who he was with Christ, he had the freedom to do those things.

For instance, at one point in Taipei a couple joined us in our prayer meeting. I noticed them, but I did not know where they came from or who they were. Eventually I noticed that when we had a training, they were also placed in the front row. I wondered who they were, because I had never before seen a sister placed in the front row like that, but I never said anything about it. One day a brother mentioned that a certain brother had requested that I join him for lunch. I asked who this person was, and he told me his name and the country he was from, and I felt I should go. When I arrived, I was surprised to see that there was no one else in the restaurant but us, meaning that this brother had reserved the entire restaurant for the few of us brothers to eat together! I was asked to pray, which was an honor because the others present were all older brothers. I eventually found out this brother was the head of one of the world’s wealthiest families.

That time of fellowship was very sweet, but I had the consideration: I cannot treat him any differently than any other brother because he is such a wealthy person. I did not feel I had the freedom in my conscience to do such a thing to do as Brother Lee did, which was to seat him with his wife on the front row. If it were me, I would have perhaps said, “Praise the Lord, you are a billionaire, but praise the Lord even more you are just a brother, so don’t sit there!” That was how my conscience would have operated. Yet Brother Lee had another way of operating based on his attainment in Christ. Actually, if that couple had been gained, it was not wealth that mattered, but instead the possibility for the gospel and the advancement of the Lord’s work. By the Lord’s mercy that brother had a desire to come to Brother Lee’s training, so Brother Lee showed him that they welcomed him and honored him, not only privately, but also publicly, before thousands of saints.

The Freedom Christ Measures to Others May Not Be Ours

If at that time I said, “Brother Lee has done this, so I may do it also,” I would have gotten myself into trouble, for it was not something the Lord had measured to me. Brother Lee could do such a thing because it was something within the boundary measured to him. For me to do it would have been something beyond the boundary measured to me. Therefore we must be careful when we examine the behavior of others, for what the Lord allows them is not necessarily something that we ourselves may enter into.

The attainment in our walk produces a restriction as well as a liberty. The very rule that measures everything also determines the sphere of your freedom in Christ. On the one hand, in Christ we are totally under discipline, while on the other hand in Christ we are totally free. Not only does the rule establish a limitation, or boundary, but with its boundary it also establishes the sphere in which you find you may operate freely. If you operate beyond the rule or boundary measured to you, however, you find yourself walking in a manner that is “out of order.”

Imitators As Those Inspired By the Constitution of Others rather than Their Behavior

In this walk we need the Lord’s mercy. On the one hand, we are one hundred percent disciplined by this rule, and on the other hand, we are totally free because what the Lord has measured to us is so grand! Young people are often stumbled by this, however. They say, “If the elder can do it, why can’t I also do it?” Many times a person becomes an imitator of an older brother not in the way of gaining Christ, but in the way of some outward behavior. Because the leading brothers speak so as to inspire others, they gain the attention of those they speak to. Those who see them, however, may not realize it is their constitution that enables them to inspire, so rather than seeking to gain Christ so as to be similarly constituted, they instead merely copy such things as how they deliver their message, and so on. This kind of imitation is actually ugly. To truly become an imitator as Paul speaks in verse 17 is to be inspired by their person, their life, their vision, their constitution, their operation, and their riches. These are the things in a person that should inspire us to become imitators.

A Rule that Measures Something To You

As we noted, Kittel and others reveal that the meaning of kanon, or rule, in verse 16 can be applied to a geographical measurement, as of land. Upon the piece of land measured to you, you have freedom. We live according to the Christ we see. The higher and greater the Christ we have, the more our life comes under the ruling of such a Christ. At the same time, in such a greater and richer Christ, we enjoy an enlarged sphere in which we exercise freedom in our operation.

When we were first saved, we had a comparatively smaller Christ measured to us. All we knew was that we should be a good brother, which may have meant standing up in the meeting and speaking a couple of minutes. If I did not know what to say, I could write something down and read it. There was a limited amount of rule and also a limited amount of freedom. The first time someone stands up to read in this way, everyone may give an enthusiastic “amen” because that person has stood up for the first time. The second time, however, the response would be less enthusiastic, and the third time it may be little interest. The person may wonder, “What happened? I did the same thing as before.” The problem is not with the saints; the problem is you didn’t grow. We all need to grow, and as we grow, the freer we should become in our operation. How we all need to tell the Lord, “I want to have the proper growth and a proper maturity!”

Freedom According to Constitution Means Freedom From as Well as Freedom To

As you grow unto maturity, you will find that you cannot do things that others are able to do or say because of this rule. On the other hand, you will find you are so free within these boundaries the Lord measures to you. There is so much Christ for you to apply, so many principles you can experience, and so many things you can do because of the freedom you have within that portion that has been measured to you.

Let me return to that example of Brother Lee placing this famous couple in the first two seats of his training. Do you think he would have glanced over to see whether what he was speaking was pleasing to them, or that they agreed with him? Do you think he was concerned about losing them? No. He surely had the feeling, “Lord, I have done my part and have given You the chance.” But would you dare give the Lord such an opportunity? Or would you have been able to handle it if you had? Perhaps you would not have known what to do if that brother’s face had fallen at something you said. Why? Because you are not someone as free as Brother Lee was. You might berate yourself if they did not come into the church life (which they did not). After all, if they were in the church life, how many doors would have been opened for an improved situation for the spread of the church life! Brother Lee was able to do what did, but he remained in the measuring rule.

I am concerned, on the other hand, that some may say, “Brother Lee did it, so we can too!” You should realize that Brother Lee did it, but you cannot. A certain thing you may not feel you can do, yet you should realize that you can be very free within the measure the Lord has granted to YOU. You have your measurement of Christ for your walk.

Those Who Walk As Enemies of Christ’s Cross Walk in Religion

Paul then mentions in verse 18 that some walk in such a way as to become enemies of the cross of Christ. The same Greek word for walk is used as in verse 16. Here two kinds of people are portrayed to us. One kind of person has a walk in which Christ becomes so much. These are the ones that are the healthy patterns for the younger ones. Another kind of person walks in a way so as to become an enemy of the cross of Christ. Why is it one has the realm of genuine attainment, while the other has not? The answer is this: if a person walks according to his spiritual level of maturity everything is fine, but if a person walks according to his religion he becomes the enemy of God.

Two Words For Two Necessary Kinds of Walk to Gain Christ

In Greek two words for “walk” are stoicheo and peripateo. Stoicheo refers to a walk that is orderly, governed according to certain basic principles. Brother Lee taught that this Greek word for walk applied to the basic things (see Life-study of Galatians, Message 46). Many seem to think that stoicheo, with its apparent application for the march of an army in one accord, is the more advanced walk, but this is not the case. Stoicheo provides the base for peripateo, which refers to the walk that is free or “all around,” and is equated to living by the Spirit in Galatians 5:25.

There are principles from which we, as believers, can never deviate. This has to do with our stoicheo walk. The word for the disorderly walk in Philippians 3:17 is peripateo, that is, “walking at large” or “walking all around.” According to this section, remember, our walking about freely is determined by the rule or measure of Christ to which we have attained. Stoicheo, as Brother Lee taught, has to do with a walk by the same rule, the same line, the same path, and the same footstep. This is the church life.

Walk So As To Win The Prize

Do you brothers realize that in this training on one hand I keep on encouraging you to go to the Lord, seek after Christ to see how He leads you. On the other hand, I keep on imposing something. What I impose is stoicheo. What I encourage is peripateo. There is a rule, a walk with a clear goal which is achieved through certain principles. That is crucial. If you have some maturity, walk so as to achieve the goal. Walk so as to gain Christ! Thus, in this context, stoicheo is to walk with the goal of pursuing and gaining Christ to the fullest extent so that you might win the prize of God’s upward calling (Phil. 3:14).

Issues Frustrate Our Walk in Oneness to Gain Christ

As long as we do not make issues, we are one, pursuing the same goal. It is the unique focus of gaining Christ that is our oneness. It is not that we all rise at the same time in the morning to pray, and so on. Whether you get up at five or eight, whether or not you are focused on prayer or on reading the Bible or preaching the gospel, you are all gaining Christ, so there should be no problem with our walking “in the same steps.” The moment someone asks, however, “What material are you using?”...the stoicheo is gone, and the testimony disappears. (If some declare, “You should not be using such materials,” it is the same thing. To do so is also to make issues. We all should simply be pursuing Christ, however we feel led. Anything else, whether “pro” or “con” on same issue, can be religion.)

If we read something, let us read it unto the Lord. If we have a training, let us do so unto the Lord. Everyone has a right to follow the Lord. I was asked recently whether those churches that participate in the “seven times a year” had become (to use Watchman Nee’s term) “ministry churches.” If the elders felt they had no choice but to go, then that could mean those with them were a “ministry church”; but if the elders felt led of the Lord to go, that would be something that was, in their case, unto the Lord. (And again I would say, if some among us began insisting on something, we would be no less a “ministry church” than any church we might refer to as such.) The secret of marching together (stoicheo) is not to raise issues. Just stay focused on Christ. Everyone has the right to follow Christ, even though you may not agree. Whenever we raise issues, we violate the principle of this common walk according to the principle of gaining Christ together to the fullest extent.

If someone should attempt to raise issues with you, your response should be, “I respect you and honor you as one whom I believe is seeking to follow the Lord, and I hope you would also honor the fact that I too am seeking to follow the Lord, just as you are.” Thus we also have the freedom to live before the Lord according to His personal leading and operation with each one of us. Does He have this right in your life? Even though you may have things laid upon you, you all must feel free to follow Christ.

Becoming Imitators Together of Paul and All Others Who Walked in Such a Way

For these two walks, we all should become imitators together of the apostle Paul, and all others who walk ahead of us.

Our Walk Together to Gain Christ is Not a Matter of Outwardly Practicing the Same Thing

Many seem confused today, and ask the churches to carry out the same outward things together. We should not think to do so is to walk as Paul told us to walk. The basic walk is that which has the sole aim of gaining Christ. At the same time, our Christian living in the various local churches should be a walk in the realm of resurrection (peripateo, Rom 6:4), that we may reign in life until we are conformed to the image of Christ.

The stoicheo walk is not to do something outwardly that matches what everyone else does. It is to march together towards the same goal: to gain and obtain Christ; to become mature in Christ. When we all have such a heart, we spontaneously have the stoicheo walk among us. Our attitude towards others elsewhere is then, “I don’t care where you are or what you do...as long as we are able to go on together, gaining Christ!” In the different local churches, all the saints should be living in resurrection, walking the peripateo walk. We all should be able to follow the Lord of life as He desires.

We Should Walk in Such a Way that We Might Gain Christ to the Uttermost

We all have attained to some measure of Christ according to our level of spiritual maturity, and this measure becomes the rule that produces two aspects in our walk: one aspect which restricts us to a line as it points us toward the goal, and one which allows us so much freedom to walk about in the sphere we have within that boundary. Both aspects exist in our walk that we may go on to further pursue and gain Christ.

-Titus Chu on May 5, 2004, with those in the one-year labor.