June 17, 1973, in Richmond, Virginia. Ministry is being given by your brother, Stephen Kaung.
We are thankful for the opportunity of being together. As we look to Him, we trust that He will not fail us.
Acts 16:6-15:
And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden of the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia;
and when they were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not;
and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: there was a man of Macedonia standing, beseeching him, and saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.
And when he had seen the vision, straightway we sought to go forth into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel unto them.
Setting sail therefore from Troas, we made a straight course to Samothrace, and the day following to Neapolis;
and from thence to Philippi, which is a city of Macedonia, the first of the district, a Roman colony: and we were in this city tarrying certain days.
And on the Sabbath day we went forth without the gate by a river side, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down, and spake unto the women that were come together.
And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, one that worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened to give heed unto the things which were spoken by Paul.
And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.
Philippians 1:21, the first part:
For to me to live is Christ.
For to me to live is Christ.
Of all the letters Paul wrote to the churches, the letter to the Philippians is the most intimate letter he wrote to a church. In writing this letter, he was able to open his heart without any reservation and without any fear of misunderstanding. He was able to pour out what was deep in his heart to that church which loved him so much, and which he loved so much.
I think it is our most satisfying experience if we are able to open our hearts to some people without any fear. You know, that is a tragedy in this world. We are afraid to open our hearts to one another—not because we do not have the need, and not because we do not want to, but because we are afraid.
If we open our hearts to anybody, we are open to misunderstanding. We are giving ourselves away, and people can take hold of what we have said and turn against us. For this reason, we become very wise. We try to be very polite. We try to be very diplomatic. We try to say a lot without saying anything.
That is the way in this world. Of course, we know this is very unsatisfying. Deep down in our hearts, we know how satisfying it would be if we could open our hearts to one another, trust one another, believe one another, and know that we can trust one another without fear or reservation.
This was the relationship between Paul and the church in Philippi. For this reason, this letter to the Philippians has a very unique place in the Bible. In this letter, Paul was able to share with these Philippians his secret.
There are actually two letters in the New Testament written by Paul that reveal Paul. One is the second letter to the Corinthians, and the other is the letter to the Philippians. But there is a difference between these two letters.
In the second letter to the Corinthians, Paul revealed himself to the Corinthians, but he was forced to do that. In the letter to the Philippians, he voluntarily and willingly did it.
In the second letter to the Corinthians, he revealed himself more as a servant of the Lord, as a minister of Jesus Christ. In other words, it was his ministry being questioned, his ministry being challenged. Because of that, he was forced to reveal himself as a minister of Jesus Christ.
But in the letter to the Philippians, he was not trying to reveal what his ministry was. He was revealing what his life was—not the ministry, not the work, but the man.
So if we want to know Paul as a man of God, we have to read the letter to the Philippians, because there he opens up to us his secret of life as a man of God. I do hope that, probably this time when we are fellowshipping together, we may be able to hear something and receive something from him of that secret.
First of all, I think tonight we will go into some background, because I think this will help us in our understanding.
Philippi was a Roman colony. The city of Philippi was founded by Philip, the king of Macedonia and father of Alexander the Great. He founded the city of Philippi in 368 B.C.
Why? Because Philippi was so located that it had strategic value. The road from east to west passed through Philippi. There was a range of hills, and at that place there was a pass. So Philippi had a very strategic place.
When the Romans conquered the world at that time, they made Philippi a Roman colony. You find in the Book of Acts that we have just read, “Philippi, a Roman colony.”
Now, what is a Roman colony? A Roman colony was a very clever invention of the Romans. Their territory spread wide and broad, and in order to govern such a vast empire, they built roads to connect all these places. The Romans were famous for their roads.
But roads were not sufficient. So, along the roads, at strategic points, they built colonies. A Roman colony is very different from the modern sense of a colony. In the Roman sense, this was the way they established a colony.
When they found a strategic point on a Roman road, they would set a colony there. They would send out approximately three hundred families of veteran soldiers—people who had fought for the Roman Empire and had done something for the empire. As a reward, they were sent out with their families to that strategic point, and there they established a Roman colony.
In that colony, everything was Roman. It was a small Rome, a miniature of Rome. The language used in that colony was the Roman language. Their dress was Roman dress. The customs they kept were Roman customs. Even the magistrates were called by Roman names.
Everything was Roman. It was just a tiny Rome in some part of the world. Those who were in the colonies were Romans, and they were so proud of themselves as Romans. They refused to change.
Whenever something happened, one colony would reinforce the other colonies very quickly because of the roads that connected them. That was the way the Romans ruled their empire.
Now, brothers and sisters, it is for this reason that you find Paul, in writing the letter to the Philippians, mentioning that our citizenship is in heaven. In other words, we are heavenly colonies on earth.
God is establishing His kingdom on earth. How does He govern His kingdom? By establishing His colonies here and there. Even though we are located in Richmond, Virginia, this is a heavenly colony. This is a small heaven. This is a small kingdom of God here.
Brothers and sisters, Paul reminds us not to forget that those Roman colonies were so proud of themselves as Romans. They refused to be diluted; they refused to be changed. How about us?
We are heavenly colonies on earth. We are representing heaven. We are representing the kingdom of God on earth. But are we proud of our citizenship being in heaven? Or do we try to hide our citizenship? Are we trying to imitate, to copy, to squeeze ourselves into the mold of this world?
Or are we here to maintain that heavenly position, that heavenly manner, that heavenly language, that heavenly atmosphere? This is what is behind the letter to the Philippians.
Paul was trying to comfort them and encourage them: “Do not be discouraged. You are a heavenly colony. Maintain your color. Do not be afraid.”
In the strategy of God, He establishes a colony here and a colony there. That is what the church really is: a church here, a church there, in different localities and in different places, strategically located to bring the kingdom of God to this earth.
Paul’s coming into Philippi was not planned by Paul. Paul had revisited the Phrygian and Galatian countries. During his first missionary journey, Barnabas and Paul went through these Galatian countries. Then, during his second journey, he revisited these churches.
Having finished visiting them, he was traveling west. In his heart, he was thinking of going south, and that is Asia. Asia here is not Asia as a continent; it is Asia as a Roman province. Asia at that time was a Roman province, very densely populated.
After Paul had finished his trip through the Phrygian and Galatian countries, he was thinking of going to Asia to preach the gospel. But, strangely, the Holy Spirit forbade him to go to Asia.
Being forbidden to go to Asia, naturally he looked north to Bithynia. It was another Roman province, densely populated. The need was great there, so he was thinking of going to Bithynia to preach the gospel. Again, the Spirit of Jesus forbade him.
So he had to travel straight west until he came to Troas. Troas was a city by the side of the Aegean Sea. He had come to the end of his road, because beyond that was the sea.
That night, God gave him a vision. He saw a Macedonian calling him for help: “Come over and help us.”
The next morning, when he began to share his vision with his fellow travelers, Silas was there, Timothy was there, and Luke was there. The beloved physician Luke joined them at Troas. If you read the Book of Acts carefully, you will find that this is where the “we” begins. Instead of “they,” “we” begins. In other words, Luke was included.
When Paul shared his vision with his fellow travelers, they all decided and saw that it was the Lord calling them to go over the sea into Macedonia.
Brothers and sisters, this was a very important move of the Holy Spirit. Why? Because this was the first time the gospel was brought to Europe. Macedonia was Europe.
Before that time, the gospel was more or less confined to Asia as a continent. Certainly, the gospel had not been sent to all Asia. There were many places where the gospel was still not preached—Asia, the Roman province; Bithynia, the Roman province. These were the places Paul was thinking of going to preach the gospel, but the Holy Spirit did not allow him to do that.
It was not because there was no need, but because God has His own time. Later on, you find Paul spending three years in Ephesus, the capital of Asia as a Roman province. God has His own time—not merely because of need, but because of God’s strategy and God’s time.
Sometimes we are guided purely by need. Yet the needs are so great—how can we fulfill every need? It is very difficult to decide. But if we are guided by God, by the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit, then the problem is solved. It is God’s time.
Instead of allowing Paul to work in Asia, God sent Paul overseas to Europe, and the gospel was brought to Europe. It was the initiation of the Holy Spirit, not humankind. How important it is, when we come to God’s work and the things of God, that they should be initiated by God and not planned by man.
Paul and his fellow travelers came to Philippi, that Roman colony, the first city in Macedonia. In that colony, probably there were not many Jews, because the colony was so Roman.
In many cities, you find the Jews had synagogues. But in Philippi, though it was an important city and a Roman colony, there was no synagogue.
According to Jewish custom, if you had ten men of leisure—ten Jewish men of leisure—you could have a synagogue. By “men of leisure,” it does not mean men who did not work. It simply means men who were willing to devote some time to Judaism.
In the city of Philippi, there were not even ten Jewish men of leisure. Because of that, there was no synagogue. Only the Jewish women went outside the gates of the city by the river to pray together. There was a women’s prayer meeting.
Very often, you find the women are more interested in spiritual things than men. The men were probably busy with their business, and there were not even ten men of leisure. But the women liked to worship the Lord and pray to the Lord, so there was a women’s prayer group outside the city by the river.
As Paul entered Philippi, it was his custom to inquire. Whenever he went somewhere, he would go to the synagogue, because in his time it was to the Jews first, and then to the Greeks. But there was no synagogue.
As he inquired around, he learned that there was a women’s prayer group by the riverside. So he went to join the women’s service. As he was there, he preached Christ to these women.
Not only Jewish women were there; there were Gentiles too, probably proselytes. During Paul’s time, quite a number of Gentiles were attracted to Judaism because of the purity and simplicity of its worship.
Some may have been full proselytes; they were even circumcised. Others were proselytes of the gate. In other words, they accepted the teaching of Judaism without going through all the rituals. We do not know, but at least you find that among those praying women there were Gentile women, probably proselytes.
As Paul was speaking Christ to this group, God opened the heart of one woman by the name of Lydia. Lydia was from Thyatira. Thyatira was in Asia, in the Roman province of Asia.
You remember that in the Book of Revelation, the Lord sent seven letters to the seven churches in Asia, and one of the churches in Asia was the church in Thyatira. This woman came from Thyatira to Philippi, probably on business, because she was a businesswoman. She was a seller of purple.
During those days, purple was the most distinctive color. Only the very rich and noble wore purple. Lydia was a trader, a businesswoman, a seller of purple. In other words, she must have been a very wealthy woman. She was like a merchant princess.
The Lord opened her heart, and she accepted the Lord. She was baptized, and her household was baptized. Literally, the whole household of Lydia turned to the Lord. After she turned to the Lord, she constrained Paul and his companions to come into her home.
She said, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, then you have to accept my love and my hospitality.” That was how the first church began.
Brothers and sisters, when you think of spiritual things, God’s mind is higher than human minds. We were saying that the Holy Spirit guided Paul to Europe. Certainly, He wanted Europeans to be saved. Strangely, the first convert was an Asian.
If He wanted to save an Asian, why not go to Asia? He forbade Paul to go to Asia; yet, when He led Paul into Philippi, the first one saved was an Asian. How do you explain that? We cannot explain the moves of the Holy Spirit.
His mind is higher than our minds, and His ways are higher than our ways. We can only bow and worship Him, because He is God. He is sovereign. So the first convert, the first believer in the city of Philippi, was Lydia and her household—Asians.
Paul continued to attend that prayer group because he was still trying to help these women know the Lord. As he was going to that prayer group, a slave girl with a spirit of divination followed Paul every day.
She followed Paul and his companions as they were going to the prayer group, and she cried out in the streets, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”
It was as if even the devil was preaching the doctrine. Actually, the devil was trying to confuse the issue. After a few days, Paul’s spirit was disturbed. God does not need any help from the devil.
When the evil spirit seems to be helping, actually it is trying to distort and confuse the gospel. Finally, Paul turned back and, in the name of the Lord Jesus, cast out the evil spirit. The slave girl was free.
But her masters saw that their chance of making money was gone. This slave girl had a spirit of Python. Python was a Greek god, a revealer of things. Evidently, by this evil spirit she was able to tell fortunes and reveal secrets. Her masters lost their profit when the evil spirit was cast out.
The second one delivered in the city of Philippi was a Greek. The first one was an Asian; the second one was a Greek.
Because the masters saw that their profit was gone, they stirred up the mob, saying that these men were Jews and that they proclaimed something which Romans could not accept. “We are Romans. We cannot change. These are Jews, and they are telling you something that we Romans ought not to do.”
Because of this, Paul and Silas were taken, beaten, and put into the dungeon. Brothers and sisters, they were not questioned or judged, though Roman law was supposed to be just law.
For the life of God, the life of Christ, was so ascendant in them. At midnight, they began to sing, to pray, and to praise.
Usually, when it is dark, at midnight, you feel your pain more because everything is quiet and there is no distraction. But here you find that the life of Christ was so ascendant in these two men. Instead of moaning, groaning, and murmuring, they were singing, praising, and praying.
As they were doing that, there was an earthquake. All the doors of the jail were opened. Suddenly, the jailer woke up. Seeing the doors open, he thought all the prisoners had escaped, so he was going to commit suicide.
Paul cried out, “We are all here.” It is again very strange. When the doors of the prison were opened, the prisoners should have taken the opportunity to escape, but nobody escaped. They were all listening. They forgot they were in prison.
So the jailer came. He saw the act of God, and even a Roman jailer, void of conscience, fell before them and said, “What shall I do to be saved?”
They told him, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house.” He believed, and his household believed. He took Paul and Silas to his own house, washed their wounds, set the table, and his whole house was full of joy.
Here you find the third one was a Roman. The church in Philippi was formed as God saved people out of Asia, Greece, and Rome.
It started out as an international church. But, of course, it was not international in the natural sense, because when all these nationals were brought into the Body of Christ, they became a new creation—neither Jew nor Gentile.
The wonder of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that it reaches everyone. Whether you are an Asian, whether you are Greek, or whether you are Roman, the gospel of Jesus Christ reaches everyone.
Here you find a demonstration in the city of Philippi. The church in Philippi was made up of different nationalities, and yet, when they came together, there was neither Jew nor Gentile. It is Christ. It is Christ.
Look at these three persons. Lydia was a wealthy woman. She had a religious background—not only an Asian background, but a Jewish background, because she may have been a proselyte. Her social status was high because she was a woman of wealth.
The slave girl had no status whatsoever. And the Roman jailer was probably middle class. Here you find people of different social status, and yet God is able to save people of all stations and put them together as one.
Neither barbarian nor Scythian, neither bond nor free, neither Jew nor Gentile, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision; but Christ is everything, and He is in all.
That is the meaning of the church. From the very beginning, you find it demonstrated in the church at Philippi—not only people from different nationalities, but people from different social stations. Can God put them together? There is no more division; they are all one in Christ.
From the very beginning of the church, you find love expressed in practical ways. Lydia believed in the Lord Jesus, and immediately she started to serve. The jailer believed in the Lord, and immediately he washed the wounds of Paul and Silas and served them.
The church at Philippi had a good beginning, a marvelous beginning. It started right. Because of that, you find this church was with Paul throughout his life.
In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, written many years later from the Roman prison, he said, “From the first day until now, you have been in fellowship with me in the gospel.” They were of one mind and one heart with Paul in the gospel.
No wonder Paul loved that church so much, and they loved Paul very, very much. That was the background.
We mentioned in the beginning that in this letter to the Philippians, Paul opened his heart. What was the background?
Paul came to Rome as a prisoner. Even though he was allowed certain liberty, he was allowed to live in his own rented apartment and receive visitors, yet he was a prisoner. He was not free. He was always attached by a chain to a Roman guard, twenty-four hours a day.
The church in Philippi heard about this, so they sent one among them, Epaphroditus, from Macedonia to Italy, to Rome. They sent him not only to bring a gift to Paul, because Paul was in prison and must have been in need.
They not only prayed with him in spirit, but they ministered to him in a practical way. They sent a gift to Paul to supply his need. More than that, when they sent Epaphroditus with the gift, they sent him to serve Paul in their place.
They were not able to serve Paul while he was in prison, so they sent Epaphroditus as their representative—not only to bring money, but to stay there and serve Paul as a servant. You see the love of the church in Philippi toward Paul. They really loved him. They wanted to do everything they could to relieve his suffering.
Traveling in those days was very difficult. It was not like today, when you can take an airplane and in a few hours be there. He probably had to travel by land and by sea, and there were all kinds of dangers.
After Epaphroditus arrived in Rome, he became sick, even almost unto death. Probably because of the danger and hardship of the journey, he arrived very sick. He almost died.
When Paul saw the situation, he knew that when a person is sick, naturally he will be thinking of his own home and his own people. Epaphroditus, when he was sick, naturally would be thinking of his people who had sent him.
Paul was such a person. He was never one who only thought of himself. He was so considerate. He was always thinking of other people.
But lastly, and actually most importantly, they loved Paul so much, and Paul loved them so much. Paul wanted to share his secret with the Philippians. That is why this letter to the Philippians is so important. Paul is opening his heart and telling us his secret of life.
As you read the letter to the Philippians, I believe you will be struck by the content of that letter. Think of Paul in Rome. He was a prisoner—more than that, an unwilling prisoner.
He was forced by the Jews to appeal to Caesar. The Jews wanted to murder him, and even the Roman magistrates and governors were trying to please the Jews. Paul was forced to say, “I appeal to Caesar.”
As a Roman citizen, he had the right to appeal to Caesar—to be judged by Caesar himself. But in doing that, to the Jews it might have appeared that he was accusing his own brethren and opposing his own kinsmen according to the flesh. So this was something Paul was forced to do and was most unwilling to do.
When he arrived in Rome, he immediately gathered the elders of the synagogue and told them that he was forced to do this. It was not because he had anything against the Jews, against his own people. He was an unwilling prisoner.
While he was in Rome as a prisoner, though he was given certain liberty, he was attached by chain to a Roman guard twenty-four hours a day. He was never alone. Roman guards took turns guarding him, and because they were together, they could not help but hear what Paul said.
Just from the human standpoint, if you have no privacy, is that not a great suffering? Absolutely no privacy.
Not only did he not have liberty, but he had no privacy. Furthermore, while he was in Rome he was able to receive visitors and preach the gospel, but certain Jewish Christians, out of jealousy, preached a gospel of law and grace in conflict with Paul. They added affliction to his bonds because Paul thought it was a distorted gospel.
Then, of course, he had all the churches on his heart. They had their problems, and yet he could not help them personally because he was in prison.
Brothers and sisters, can you think of all these things? Paul was in a very bad situation, humanly speaking. Can you think of any situation or circumstance in which you might be worse than Paul’s situation?
When we are in a situation like that, or even less than that, what will be our reaction? What will be our manner of life? Probably we will begin to moan and groan, murmur, and even rebel.
“Why did God allow all these things to happen to me? I have not done anything wrong. On the contrary, I am serving the Lord, and I got into all these problems. He does not relieve my problems or solve my problems. He allows me to be chained here.”
Yet you find in the letter to the Philippians such an ascendant, victorious spirit. The situation was there; it had not changed. But Paul rose above the situation. He did not live under; he lived above. Why? Oh, yes—Christ.
Brothers and sisters, God has not promised us a life without difficulty. It is not because you serve the Lord that your whole situation and environment will be rosy and smooth. There will be no problem, no difficulty. God will not necessarily solve every problem immediately or keep every problem from entering your life.
Probably your situation will get worse, because He has delivered you out of the power of darkness and translated you into the kingdom of the Son of His love. You find the enemy is after you, looking for you.
So how are we going to live here on earth? What is the secret of life? How can we live above and not underneath?
Paul said, “For to me to live is Christ.” That is the difference.
If anybody could live by his own willpower, by his dynamic personality, by his own strength, knowledge, and determination, that man would be Paul. Paul was actually a genius, no doubt about it.
Even before he was converted, when he was Saul of Tarsus, you find that he was a man of leadership. Even though he was young, he had already advanced more than his contemporaries in Judaism. He was on his way up.
He was a man with will, power, strength, and talent. If any man could live by his will, dynamic personality, strength, and knowledge, certainly that man would be Paul.
But could he live that way? Read Romans 7. He himself confessed that he could not.
“The will is present with me, but to do that which is good is not. I know it. I am determined to do it. Yet I cannot do it. I have tried, and tried enough.”
Until one day he said, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” It was a revelation to Paul.
Sometimes we think of Paul in such a way. Some people are under the impression that when Paul was converted on the road to Damascus, he had no problems like we have. He seems to have been such a marvelous Christian, as if after the revelation on the Damascus road he simply went ahead victoriously and there was no defeat in his life.
Not so. Not so. You read Romans 7. He was just like that.
After we are saved, we know that we should follow the Lord. We know that we should please the Lord. We know that we should do everything to glorify the Lord. So we start out saying, “Now I am a Christian. I am going to live like Christ.”
With good intentions and strong determination, we say, “I am going to live like Christ, because this is what a Christian is. This is what a Christian ought to be.”
So we try. We all try, to the best of our ability. We try again and again until one day we realize that to live like Christ is impossible. It is not for any man to live like Christ. There is only one Man who can live like Christ, and that is Christ.
Even Paul could not live that way. If Paul could not live that way, can you? Can I?
Recently, I was asked a question, but I did not have time to answer it. Somebody asked, at a conference two weeks ago, “Paul had a strong will. Therefore, he could be a victorious Christian. Suppose a person does not have such a strong will—can he overcome?”
It is as if everything depends upon our will. But Paul himself said, “The will is present with me, but to do is not.” It is not a matter of willpower. It is not a matter of determination. It is not a matter of knowledge. It is not a matter of your strength.
Sooner or later, you will discover that your strength, your knowledge, your willpower, and your determination are not able to compete with the law of sin. You cannot live like Christ. Nobody can.
I think it is a great revelation when Paul said, “O wretched man that I am!” Will we call ourselves wretched men? If anybody calls you wretched, you will argue with him. You will say, “Why do you call me that? Am I not better than that?”
But one day Paul began to see that he was wretched. Brothers and sisters, before you believed in the Lord Jesus, you did not feel so wretched. You could do anything you liked, even enjoy some pleasures of sin.
But after you are saved, and you want to serve the Lord, follow the Lord, love the Lord, and please Him, you begin to discover that it is a very wretched life—but you are caught.
If you knew that beforehand, probably you would not try in the first place. You might not become a Christian in the first place. But now there is no way back—no way back.
In our spiritual life, you will come to a day when you begin to realize how wretched you are. Some people today feel that Christian life is just a laughing life. You have to laugh all the time. You have to show a smiling face all the time. Then you are a good Christian.
Well, thank God for that. God may allow you to have that for half a year. But after that, probably you begin to grow wretched, I am afraid.
Actually, when you are growing wretched, you are growing in the Lord. You may think you are going backwards. “Why was it that when I first believed in the Lord, I could sing all the time and was so happy? Why am I so wretched today?” Brother, you are growing.
You begin to see that for you to live—and for me to live—means only one thing. It is not merely to live on earth. No. For you to live means to live to the glory of God, to live like Christ.
“For to me to live” means only one thing: Christ is not only our purpose and our goal; He is our way, the way to that goal and purpose.
We all try to live it, and we become wretched. Then the revelation comes: “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
This verse has a background. Paul was thinking of a Roman punishment. If a person murdered another person, the Roman punishment was to tie the corpse of the murdered person to the murderer—face to face, body to body, hand to hand, feet to feet—and tie them together.
Then they would let the decaying corpse, the poison of the decayed corpse, gradually poison the living person. Such was a Roman punishment, and Paul was thinking of that.
“O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I am tied to a corpse. I cannot get away from it. It is poisoning me. It is corrupting me. Who is that corpse? It is the old man. How can you get away from him?”
Brothers and sisters, it is at that point that the positive revelation comes:
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me:
and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God,
Who loved me, and gave Himself up for me.
You see, that revelation came in two parts. What is negative, and what is positive? The negative is to see, “O wretched man that I am. I can never make it. I had better not.”
The positive side is that He has already made it. “I have been crucified with Christ.” Who can deliver me from this wretched man? I have been crucified with Christ. Yes, when He was crucified on the cross, I was there. He did it.
So now, who lives? It is no longer I. Who is it? It is Christ who lives. I now live in the flesh. I am still in the flesh, living in this body, but it is by faith.
I do not live by myself. If you look, it may seem to be I, but I live by faith. I have been crucified with Christ. It is Christ living.
Paul says, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” In other words, for me to live is another Person.
God has never meant that we should live by ourselves. God wants us to know that to live is not you; it is Christ.
How often we try to live. The more we try, the more wretched we become. All the time, it is as if the Lord is trying to tell us, “You do not need to. You have already died. I am living. I will live if you only believe.”
“For to me to live is Christ”—not, “For me to live is to be like Christ”; not, “For me to live will be Christ.” But, “For me to live is Christ.” God has done it.
All we need to do is to believe and to act in faith in Jesus Christ. So the secret of our life as Christians, as men and women of God, is Christ.
The secret is not that Paul knew some secret formula. Sometimes we are always seeking some secret formula, especially in Chinese medicine. We are not looking for a secret formula. The secret is a living Person: Christ. Christ.
Dear brothers and sisters, this is an open secret. It is yours. It is mine. We all have this. The only thing is to realize that it is so.
If we really realize it and know that it is all right, is there any wonder that Paul was able to live above his condition? No wonder.
What else can you live by? This is the only way to live.
Brothers and sisters, here you find that Christianity does not give us a standard and put us under the bondage of law. Christianity gives us Christ as the standard, as well as the way to that standard. It is Christ.
So I do hope that, as we begin with the letter to the Philippians, and as Paul shares himself with us, we can really lay hold of that secret.
It is Christ.