All posts tagged Philippians

Verses in this epistle used in these posts.

Godliness: Christ Living in & through Us

New JerusalemThe recent three posts are about the great mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh, especially as presented in 1 Timothy 3:15-16. This manifestation was first by the individual Jesus and is now by “the church of the living God.”

“Godliness” is not a human behavior; it is “God manifested in the flesh.” The following verses indicate clearly that godliness does not come from a human source. (It is not like a monkey briefly imitating human behavior.) It originates with God in Christ living in the members of His Body.

• In Acts 3 Peter and John healed a crippled man. Peter then told the Jews that it was not “by our own power or godliness we have made him walk.”
• “Thanks be to God, who…manifests the savor of the knowledge of Him through us in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ…” (2 Cor. 2:14-15).
• “Christ will be magnified in my body….For to me, to live is Christ…” (Phil. 1:20-21)
• “It is God who operates in you both the willing and the working…you shine as luminaries in the world” (Phil. 2:13, 15) This is with our cooperation described in 2:12, 14.
• “His divine power has granted to us all things which relate to life and godliness” (2 P. 1:3)

Lord, gain our cooperation so that You may freely live in all of us and express Yourself through us.

Bible verses quoted in these posts are from The Holy Bible, Recovery Version, published and © by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim CA, 2003. The text of this Bible is at text.recoveryversion.bible; this too is © by LSM.

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by Don on April 1, 2024  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on April 1, 2024

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2024/04/01/godliness-christ-living-in-through-us/

Great is the Mystery of Godliness (3)

New JerusalemThe great mystery is not only that God was manifested in the individual Jesus but that God is also manifested today in “the house of God, the church of the living God” (1 Tim. 3:15)

Philippians 1:20-21 says, “with all boldness, as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Christ magnified in Paul is God manifest in the flesh.

Christ was also magnified in Stephen. When he was brought to the Jewish leaders for judgement, they “saw his face as though it were the face of an angel.” (Acts 6:15). Also, God “manifests the savor of the knowledge of Him through us in every place” (2 Cor. 2:14).

Second Corinthians 4:10 says we are “Always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” The “life of Jesus” shining forth through us is also a manifestation of God in the flesh. In Philippians 2:12-14 we cooperate with God’s life in us; then, we “shine as luminaries in the world” (v. 15). This shining is also a manifestation of God.

The consummate shining is the glory of God in New Jerusalem, a very bright display of today’s lesser display of God in humanity.

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by Don on March 29, 2024  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on March 29, 2024

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2024/03/29/great-is-the-mystery-of-godliness-3/

Christ is Our Life and We Live Him

As human beings and believers in Christ Jesus, we have three distinct lives but only one of them is suitable for the Christian life today and for New Jerusalem.

The proper life for a Christian is Christ Himself. “Christ our life” (Col. 3:4). He is in our spirit (Rom. 8:10), spreading in our being for the renewing of our soul (Rom. 12:2), and will transfigure (‘redeem” in Rom. 8:23) our mortal body with Himself as life.

Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”New Jerusalem

Because we have a share in Christ’s death and Christ’s resurrection, we no longer need to live by our soulish life nor our fleshly life. “It is no longer [the old I] who live.” Instead, we live in spirit, one with “Christ who lives in me.” This is “the life which I now live.”

Later, in Philippians 1:20-21, Paul says, “as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body….For to me, to live is Christ.” When we live Christ, Christ is magnified/expressed/ made great. This is Christian life today on the way to New Jerusalem as the eternal magnification of Christ.

Photo courtesy of pixabay.com.

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by Don on March 15, 2024  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on March 15, 2024

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2024/03/15/christ-is-our-life-and-we-live-him/

Three Different Lives in a Christian;    Only One is for New Jerusalem

The prior post is about the three Greek words usually translated “life” in an English New Testament. These lives are that which is eternal, the soul-life or self, and the physical life or physical existence. These three lives correspond with the three parts of every human being—spirit, soul, and body.

New JerusalemBefore believing, man’s spirit is dead but in God’s salvation it is made alive. “God, being rich in mercy…even when we were dead in offenses, made us alive together with Christ” (Eph. 2:1-5).

Our soul-life is our self, our seeking for pleasure or success. We must deny our self daily (Luke 9:23, 14:26, 27) so that Christ may live in us and through us. Otherwise, “he who finds his soul-life shall lose it, and he who loses his soul-life for My sake shall find it.” (Matt. 10:39)

In denying, losing, the soul-life we allow the Spirit in our spirit to wash away our self and to renew our soul with the eternal life (Titus 3:5).

Our physical life is tied to the lusts of our flesh. Ephesians 2:3 says that we “conducted ourselves once in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the thoughts.” This verse touches the physical life and the self-life, both of which are in opposition to the spread of the eternal life in us.

When the Lord appears in glory, He “will transfigure the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of His glory” (Phil. 3:21). This will purge away our fallen physical life. When our entire being is full of eternal life, we are ready for New Jerusalem.

Bible verses quoted in these posts are from The Holy Bible, Recovery Version, published and © by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim CA, 2003. The text of this Bible is at text.recoveryversion.bible; this too is © by LSM.

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by Don on March 1, 2024  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on March 1, 2024

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2024/03/01/three-different-lives-in-a-christian-only-one-is-for-new-jerusalem/

I Come Quickly. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

Revelation 22:5 completes the description of New Jerusalem and the blessings in it. Then this divine record continues to the Lord’s words in 22:7, “And behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this scroll.”

New JerusalemThe Lord says twice more “I come quickly” (v. 12, 20). We must say, “amen” to His speaking. In our human concept we might think He has not come quickly but this is His word.

Revelation 19:7, “Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” Matthew 25:10, “those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast.”

His coming depends on our readiness. Do not think you are ready for His coming. Even Paul, as a mature Christian, was still pursuing, seeking more of the Lord; read his words in Philippians 3:12-14.

We cannot make ourselves ready by our own effort but we need to cooperate with the Lord to deny ourselves, to seek Him, to pursue to gain more of Him, to love Him in incorruptibility (Eph. 6:24). This is our way to be ready for and to hasten His coming. This is our path to the wedding feast and to New Jerusalem.

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by Don on February 14, 2024  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on February 14, 2024

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2024/02/14/i-come-quickly-amen-come-lord-jesus-2/

Light Constitutes Us into New Jerusalem

Revelation 21:11 tells us that New Jerusalem has the glory of God, and “Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, as clear as crystal.” New Jerusalem is the eternal lampstand shining to the whole universe.

God is the unique eternal light. “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5). God in Christ is the light among men. “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:4). When we believe into Christ we have Him as our light of life and we become sons of light (John 12:36).

New JerusalemWe become light, as in Philippians 2:15, because we have The Light in us to shine through us. To have this shining we need to forsake all activities in darkness, to “cast off the works of darkness” (Rom. 13:12), and “walk as children of light” (Eph. 5:8).

By walking as children of light who have the light inwardly, we are further constituted with light. In God “is no darkness at all”. The more we let Him shine in us, the more the dark parts of our being will be enlightened and the darkness eliminated.

Eventually we will be full of God as light and have no dark parts. We will be “clear” and “transparent” to match the nature of New Jerusalem.

Photo courtesy of NASA.

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by Don on February 12, 2024  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on February 12, 2024

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2024/02/12/light-constitutes-us-into-new-jerusalem/

Let Us Enjoy and Express the Triune God Today

Paul wrote about “my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I will be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body…for to me, to live is Christ.” (Phil. 1:20-21) He lived Christ and expressed Christ as fully as any one believer could.

New JerusalemPaul accomplished this through the petition of many others and through “the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:19). To receive the flow of the Spirit, to live Christ, and to magnify Christ is a believer’s experience of New Jerusalem in this age.

However, this precursor of New Jerusalem is not individualistic because it involves the petitions of many others. New Jerusalem is the fullest and ultimate expansion of the Body of Christ. Let us together enjoy a miniature of New Jerusalem today!

We should be those who are being constituted with the Triune God, existing with the Triune God, and living with the Triune God. Every day we need to enjoy the Triune God, and spontaneously we then express the Triune God. This should be our present experience, and this will be our future destiny in eternity. The book of Revelation ends with a promise and a call. Revelation 22:14 promises that those who wash their robes have right to the tree of life. In 22:17 there is a call from the Spirit and the bride to drink the water of life…. We are enjoying the Triune God in such a way and calling others to participate in the same kind of enjoyment.*

This is the last post with excerpts from God’s New Testament Economy.

* From chapter 44, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986

Photo courtesy of pexels.com

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by Don on December 6, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on December 6, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/12/06/let-us-enjoy-and-express-the-triune-god-today-44-2-5end/

Rejoice in the Lord, Drink the Water of Life

In New Jerusalem John saw “a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street.”

The second aspect of the triune enjoyment is the river of water of life (22:1). This river refers to the Spirit as the consummation of the Triune God. John 7:38-39 indicates that the rivers of living water refer to the Spirit. In Revelation 22:1 there is the throne of God (the Father) and of the Lamb (the Son), out of which flows the river of water of life (the Spirit). God, the Lamb, and the water of life refer to the Trinity. The river is the flowing of the Triune God and the consummate coming out of God.*

New JerusalemThe river portrays the Spirit flowing to us and 1 Corinthians 12:13 says we “were all given to drink one Spirit.” Isaiah 12:2 says the Lord has become our salvation. Verse 3 continues, “Therefore you will draw water with rejoicing from the springs of salvation.” The more we rejoice in the Lord, the more we drink the living water of the Spirit. 

In New Jerusalem everything will be wonderful and we will always rejoice and drink the Spirit. Yet today we should follow the apostle Paul’s example. He was in prison when he wrote Philippians yet he was rejoicing, not about his circumstances, but in the Lord (1:18; 2:17-18; 3:1; 4:4).

* From chapter 43, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986

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by Don on November 3, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on November 3, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/11/03/rejoice-in-the-lord-drink-the-water-of-life-43-2-2/

A Triune Living with the Father, the Son, the Spirit

Our living should be a triune living, in which we live with the Father in the fellowship of His divine life, live with the Son for His magnification, and live with the Spirit for the bountiful supply of the Triune God. The entire New Jerusalem lives by the Father on the throne, by the Spirit flowing as the river of water of life, and by the Son growing as the tree of life….This should not be something merely in the future, but this must be our living today.*

New JerusalemThe Father’s life and its fellowship are seen in 1 John 1:2-3. Our living with the Son to magnify Him is in Philippians 1:20-21. And the bountiful supply of the Spirit is in Philippians 1:19. This life, living, fellowship, supply, and magnification are for the Christian life now as written by John and Paul in these verses.

New Jerusalem is eternal and our triune living today is with the eternal life. Each aspect of the triune living should increase in this age and will certainly blossom in full when New Jerusalem descends out of the new heaven.

* From chapter 42, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986

 

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by Don on October 20, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on October 20, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/10/20/a-triune-living-with-the-father-the-son-the-spirit/

Live Christ, Magnify Him, Now and New Jerusalem

In Philippians 1:20-21 Paul presents “my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I will be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Paul, by living Christ, allowed Christ to be magnified through him.

New JerusalemThe front of a building is its façade. Today we must have Christ living out of us as our façade, our front. We exist not only with God the Father over us, through us, and in us but also with Christ living in us, that we may live by Christ and that we may live Christ. Eventually, we magnify Christ (Phil. 1:20). The first thing that can be seen in the New Jerusalem is the pearl gates. These gates are the magnification of Christ, and today we must exist in a way that Christ is magnified in our existence.*

To live Christ is by praying for others and others praying for us (Phil. 1:19) and by “the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (also 1:19). These prayers are for the living and magnifying of Christ, not for outward circumstances. Christ can be lived by us and magnified through us in any situation (Paul wrote this when he was in prison with the possibility of being killed).

In the new creation all situations will be wonderful and New Jerusalem will magnify God in Christ Jesus to the uttermost. But for now let’s pray for one another’s’ living and magnifying Christ.

* From chapter 41, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986

Photo courtesy of unsplash.com.

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by Don on September 15, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on September 15, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/09/15/live-christ-magnify-him-now-and-new-jerusalem/

The God of Peace is the Foundation of Jerusalem

Philippians 4:6-7 says, “In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses every man’s understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.”

New JerusalemThrough the promises of God, we can enjoy the divine nature wrought into our being as our intrinsic element. Philippians 4:6-7…contain a promise through which we can deal with anxiety and partake of the divine nature. When you have anxiety, the enjoyment of the gold within you is annulled….Whenever anxiety threatened to take me over, I said, “Lord Jesus, Philippians 4:6!”…To let your requests be made known to God means to tell God what you need….In nothing be anxious, but in everything tell God what you need.*

To tell God what we need is to exercise the diligence urged in 2 Peter 1. We do not need to beg God. We come to Him (this is what He longs for!) and “let our requests be made known.” He knows what we need but sometimes He allows trials to cause us to turn to Him.

The result of our coming to Him is “the peace of God” which in verse 4:9 is “the God of peace.” This is an aspect of New Jerusalem because the name Jerusalem is composed of two Hebrew words—Jeru means “foundation,” and Salem means “peace.” The peace in Philippians 4 is a foretaste of eternal New Jerusalem where there will be absolutely no anxiety.

* From chapter 40, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

Photo courtesy of unsplash.com.

More about the foundation of peace:
Jerusalem—the Foundation of Peace
The Foundation of Peace
New Jerusalem, Habitation of the God of Peace (9)

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by Don on August 21, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on August 21, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/08/21/the-god-of-peace-is-the-foundation-of-jerusalem/

Bountifully Supplied to Exist, Live, & Magnify Christ

In New Jerusalem the river of water of life flows from the throne and brings the tree of life. The river and the tree are our life supply to live and glorify God for eternity. Today is the same—the Triune God is our life and flows to us as our life supply. This flow is seen in 2 Corinthians 13:14.

New JerusalemThrough the entering in [to the Triune God] we have the [divine] constitution, and in the constitution we have the triune existence. Our spiritual existence is totally dependent upon the Triune God. Second Corinthians 13:14 says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” Such a “benediction” not only bears a sense of enjoyment but also denotes the way that we Christians are existing today. We are existing by the grace of Christ, by the love of God, and by the fellowship, the flow, of the Spirit.*

In Philippians 1:19 this grace, love, and fellowship is called “the bountiful supply of the Spirit.” By receiving this supply and living because of it we magnify Christ (v. 20). In New Jerusalem we will receive the same but in greater measure and by it there will be a much greater magnification of the Triune God.

* From chapter 39, Witness Lee, God’s New Testament Economy, published by Living Stream Ministry, © Witness Lee, 1986.

Photo courtesy of GoodFreePhotos.com. 

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by Don on July 19, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Don on July 19, 2023

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2023/07/19/bountifully-supplied-to-exist-live-magnify-christ/

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