Knowing, Experiencing, And Enjoying Christ
As Revealed In Philippians
Message Four
Knowing Christ and the Power of His Resurrection
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Phil. 3:9-10 And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is out of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is out of God and based on faith, to know Him and the power of His resurrection…
Rev. 1:17-18 …I am the First and the Last and the living One; and I became dead, and behold, I am living forever and ever; and I have the keys of death and of Hades.
Word of Appetizer
Why did Paul seek to know Christ, since he had the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus?
The excellency of the knowledge of Christ is by revelation, but to know Him in Philippians 3:10 is not by revelation but by experience. To know Christ is not merely to have the knowledge concerning Him but to gain His very person. To gain Christ is to experience, enjoy, and take possession of His unsearchable riches by paying a price. Not to forget but to linger in our past experiences, however genuine they were, frustrates our further pursuing of Christ. Because 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.
Spiritual Burden
The power of Christ’s resurrection is His resurrection life, which raised Him from the dead. Christ Himself is resurrection. Resurrection is life that overcomes death without being damaged or injured by death. The Spirit is the reality of Christ’s resurrection and its power.
The principle of resurrection is that the natural life is killed and that the divine life rises up in its place. When we do not live by our natural life but live by the divine life within us, we are in resurrection.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
Paul aspired to know Christ;Paul first received the revelation of Christ, then sought the experience of Christ—to know and enjoy Christ in an experiential way. To know Christ is not merely to have the knowledge concerning Him but to gain His very person. To know Christ is a result of being found in Him.
Paul aspired to know and experience the power of Christ’s resurrection. The power of Christ’s resurrection is His resurrection life, which raised Him from the dead.
The Experience of Life
To be in resurrection means that our natural life is crucified and that the God-created part of our being is uplifted in resurrection to be one with Christ in resurrection. When we do not live by our natural life but live by the divine life within us, we are in resurrection.
Practice and Application
To know Christ is not merely to have the knowledge concerning Him but to gain His very person. To gain Christ is to experience, enjoy, and take possession of His unsearchable riches by paying a price.
The overcome after we are saved is not to work out righteousness by ourselves, but to let Christ live out from within us to be our righteousness. Not to forget but to linger in our past experiences, however genuine they were, frustrates our further pursuing of Christ.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 To know and enjoy Christ in an experiential way (Phil. 3:8, 10)
(Please illustrate that 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.)
T2 The excellency of the knowledge of Christ always exceeds our experience of Christ (Phil. 3:8, 10)
(Please illustrate that if we do not have a higher knowledge of Christ, we cannot have a higher experience of Christ.)
Day 2
T1 It is not sufficient to listen to messages and to see Christ by revelation (Phil. 3:9-11)
(Please illustrate that we know Christ through experiencing Him a little at a time.)
T2 To gain Christ is to experience, enjoy, and take possession of all His unsearchable riches by paying a price (Eph. 3:8)
(Please illustrate that we need to have a vision of the preciousness of Christ; then we must gain Christ.)
Day 3
T1 Christ is unsearchably rich, that there is a vast territory of His riches to be possessed (Phil. 3:12-14)
(Please illustrate that not to forget but to linger in our past experiences, however genuine they were, frustrates our further pursuing of Christ.)
T2 Through faith in Christ enales us to know Christ (Phil. 3:9-11)
(Please illustrate that Philippians 3:10 “to know Him.” Verse 10 is not a cause, but an effect.)
Day 4
T1 The keys of death and Hades are in the Lord’s hand (Acts 2:24; Rev. 1:17-18)
(Please illustrate that the Lord entered into death, but death could not hold Him, because He is the resurrection.)
T2 Death is the base of resurrection (Phil. 3:10; Rev. 2:8)
(Please illustrate that to know this power requires identification with Christ’s death.)
Day 5
T1 Resurrection is a life that is raised from death, a regaining after a termination (Acts 2:24; Eph. 1:19-20)
(Please illustrate with examples that the realm of resurrection is what is perfected through death.)
T2 The experience of death and resurrection is a cycle (Acts 1:16-22)
(Please illustrate that what it means to lose in death and regain in resurrection.)
Day 6
T1 The reality of the power of Christ’s resurrection is the Spirit (Rom. 1:4; 8:11)
(Please illustrate with verses that the Spirit is the reality of the power of Christ’s resurrection.)
T2 The best way to know the power of Christ’s resurrection is to go to the cross (Phil. 3:10)
(Please illustrate that in our family life and church life we all need to go to the cross and remain there.)
