Follow the Pattern of Paul in Philippians to Take Christ as Everything in our Experience

We need to follow the pattern of Paul as seen in Philippians to take Christ as our everything in our daily experience.

Paul did not just write to the Philippians to encourage them to go on with the Lord; he testified again and again how he took Christ as his everything in his experience.

If we read the Gospels, we realize how wonderful Christ is, and we clearly see that the Father delights in Christ, is focused on Christ, and has Christ as His centre and His everything.

Everything that God is, does, and speaks, is all in Christ. Apart from Christ, we cannot see God.

The whole universe was created by God to express His majesty and splendour, but the instrument for God’s creation was Christ.

Man was created in the image of God, and the image of God is Christ.

The glory of God shines on the face of Jesus Christ, and when God comes to meet us, He comes to us in Christ.

Christ is everything to God, and God wants His Christ would also become everything to us.

We may be like Peter, still treasuring the law and the prophets, for they were given by God, and we may put them on the same level as Christ.

But God focuses only on Christ, and He wants Christ would be all in all both personally and corporately in the church (Col. 3:10-11).

This means that we need to receive Christ, enjoy Christ, be filled with Christ, partake of Christ, grow in Christ, be transformed in the image of Christ, and become Christ.

Actually, the Body of Christ is Christ Himself but in a corporate way; it is Christ being expressed corporately.

The Body of Christ is the Body-Christ, the corporate Christ.

When Paul was persecuting the believers in Christ, he was not just persecuting some followers of a heretical leader; he was persecuting Christ Himself, for the believers in Christ are members of Christ.

We need to enjoy Christ and experience Christ as our life and as our everything.

On the one hand, Christ came into us to be our life; on the other hand, He is also all that we need to grow in life, be transformed in life, be conformed to the image of Christ, and be mature in life.

He is our life and our life supply. He is the bread of life, the living water, the spiritual breath, our abode, and everything that we need.

Christ is so all-inclusive and vast that He is the reality of every positive thing in the universe.

May we learn to enjoy Christ and take Him as our life and everything in our daily life.

May we learn to experience Christ as our everything in our daily life.

Follow the Pattern of Paul in Philippians to Take Christ as Everything in Our Experience

We are so thankful to the Lord that He has given us a pattern, the apostle Paul, of one who took Christ as everything in his experience.

In the New Testament we have not only teachings and instructions; we also have models and patterns.

The apostle Paul was a persecutor of Christ but he was converted to Christ by meeting Christ and seeing a vision of the Christ.

Then, he was shown mercy that he, the greatest of all sinners, would be a pattern to the believers.

By looking at the pattern of Paul we can be encouraged to go on with the Lord and imitate his faith.

Paul imitated Christ by living in his spirit, and this chief of sinners was made by God to be a pattern to all those who believe into the Lord.

We are so thankful that Paul didn’t just write the fourteen Epistles but even more but himself forth as a pattern to us.

And in particular, in the book of Philippians, we see so many aspects of how Paul took Christ as everything in his experience.

Let’s see some examples and ways in which Paul took Christ as everything in his experience, as seen in the book of Philippians.

Christ was prepared by God in His economy to be our experience; we need to take Christ as our everything in our experience day by day.

Taking Christ as our Living to Live Christ

In Phil. 1:21 Paul testified, “For to me, to live is Christ.” He experienced Christ in a rich and abundant way, and he took Christ as his living.

This man who was in prison had all the reasons not to live Christ, especially since no one could see him, he was isolated, and it seemed that nothing was changing outwardly in his situation.

However, Paul learned to take Christ as everything in his experience to the extent that he lived Christ

Taking Christ as our Expression

In Phil. 1:20 Paul said, “As always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death.”

Paul was so rich in his experience of Christ that he took Christ as his expression.

We usually express ourselves, for it is we who live day by day, and by default, we express what we are by nature.

But Paul took Christ as his expression.

Paul’s life and work were not for expressing himself but for expressing Christ.

Paul didn’t express his knowledge, ability, or merits and strong points. He simply did everything to express Christ.

We need to learn from Paul to take Christ as everything in our experience so that He may be our very expression.

Everything we do must be for the expression of Christ, even for his magnification.

Christ must be magnified in us, and we must express Christ.

Taking the Mind of Christ as our Mind

In Phil. 2:5 Paul says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”

Paul took the mind of Christ as his mind.

On one hand, he took Christ as his living and expression without; on the other hand, he took the mind of Christ as his mind within.

What is the mind of Christ?

According to Phil. 2, the thinking in the mind of Christ was to humble himself to the uttermost, laying aside the form of God, being found in fashion as a man, and humbling Himself to become like a slave, lower than the lowest man.

We need to take Christ as everything in our experience by taking His mind as our mind.

We need to allow the mind of Christ to become our mind to the extent that we humble ourselves and become obedient to the Lord even unto death.

We cannot do this in ourselves, but Paul did it; he took the mind of Christ and was obedient even unto death, and he magnified Christ in all things, whether through life or through death.

May we bring this matter to the Lord in prayer and ask Him,

Lord Jesus, we want to take Christ as everything in our experience day by day. We take You as our living and expression without, and we take the mind of Christ as our mind within. Amen, Lord, may the same mind that was in Christ be also in us. Saturate our mind with Your mind. We take Your mind as our mind. May Your way of thinking and Your concepts become our way of thinking and our concepts. Renew our mind day by day. We come to You in Your word, dear Lord, and we want to be renewed in our mind so that the mind of Christ becomes our mind!

Taking Christ as our Lived-out Righteousness

In Phil. 3:9 Paul said, “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.”

Here we see that Paul refused to live out his own righteousness, the righteousness given to him by the works of the law; he took Christ as his lived-out righteousness.

He was not found by others in his own righteousness or in himself he was found by others in Christ, having the righteousness which is out of God and based on faith.

We need to take Christ as everything in our experience so that others may find us in Christ, having not our own righteousness but the righteousness of God.

This means that we are joined to the Lord in spirit, and in this organic union with Him, His righteousness becomes ours, and we live Christ, for He lives in us to be expressed through us as our righteousness.

May we take Christ as our righteousness which we live out day by day.

May we not build up our own self-righteousness as Job did in the Old Testament; may we remain in our spirit, one with the Lord, so that He may live in us to be expressed through us as our righteousness.

Lord Jesus, we want to be found in You, not having our own righteousness. Save us from building up or living out our own righteousness which is out of the law or our own self-efforts. May others find us in Christ, having the righteousness which is out of God and based on faith. Amen, Lord Jesus, live in us today to be expressed as our righteousness. We take You as our lived-out righteousness today.

Considering the Knowledge of Christ to be Supereminent and Gaining Christ

In Phil. 3:8 Paul said, “On account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse that I may gain Christ.” Wow.

He considered the knowledge of Christ to be supereminent to the extent that he suffered the loss of all things and counted them as refuse so that he may gain Christ.

He pursued the knowledge of Christ, for he considered both Christ and the knowledge of Christ to be excellent.

And on account of the knowledge of Christ, on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, he counted all things as refuse.

He only wanted to gain Christ and have more of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ.

We need to take Christ as our everything to the extent that we consider the knowledge of Christ to be supereminent, counting all things as loss on account of Christ so that we may gain Him.

May this be our experience in our Christian life.

May we consider all other things as refuse on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ.

Taking Christ as our Goal

Even though Paul was well-advanced in years and mature in the Lord, he testified in Phil. 3:13-14 that he forgot what was behind and stretched to the vast, unexplored territory of the all-inclusive Christ to pursue Him toward the goal.

He said, “One thing I do: Forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, I pursue toward the goal for the prize to which God in Christ Jesus has called me upward.”

May we follow the pattern of Paul to take Christ as everything in our experience by forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward toward the goal.

May we take Christ as our goal, pursuing to obtain the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus.

Our prize is Christ, that is, the utmost enjoyment of Christ.

Our goal is not prosperity or health and happiness; our goal is Christ Himself.

We need to take Christ as our goal and pursue Him to obtain the prize, the utmost enjoyment of Christ.

May we daily forget what is behind, both the good and the bad, and focus on Christ, take Him as our goal, and pursue Him in a fresh way to gain Him as our prize.

Lord Jesus, we pursue to know You and experience You more deeply. We forget what is behind and stretch forward to the things which are before. Amen, Lord, we pursue toward the goal for the prize to which God in Christ Jesus has called us upward! We want to pursue Christ so that we may gain Christ. Oh Lord, empty us afresh so that we may be filled afresh with You! We take You as our goal in our daily life. We take Christ as everything in our experience so that we may gain Christ!

Taking Christ as our Virtues

In Phil. 4:8 Paul said, “Brothers, what things are true, what things are dignified, what things are righteous, what things are pure, what things are lovely, what things are well spoken of, if there is any virtue and if any praise, take account of these things.”

All these things, all these virtues, are Christ.

It is not us trying to be righteous, pure, lovely, and well-spoken of, but it is Christ who lives in us to express His virtues through us.

Paul took Christ as his virtues.

We need to take Christ as our virtues today.

We should not live out our own virtues, not even our naturally good virtues; rather, we need to take Christ as everything in our experience so that we may take His virtues as our virtues.

The virtues of Christ are dignified, righteous, pure, lovely, and well-spoken of.

His virtues are to be praised and taken account of.

May we take Christ as our virtues in our daily living today.

Taking Christ as our Power to Live out Christ as our Magnificent Living

In Phil. 4:13 Paul said, “I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me.”

Paul did not do anything apart from Christ; rather, he took Christ as his power to live out Christ as his magnificent living.

He experienced Christ and was empowered by Christ; therefore, he was able to do all things in Christ.

He lived out the various kinds of virtues to express God’s attributes (v. 8) by taking Christ as his everything.

He used to think Judaism was everything to him; however, he had a revolution in his life, and now Christ was everything to him.

He only cared for Christ, that this One would be magnified through him, whether through life or through death.

He was there to live out Christ. Day by day, we need to experience Christ and allow Him to empower us to do all things.

Only when we experience Christ as everything in our experience can we take Him as our power to live out Christ, and our living is a magnification of Christ.

“I am able to do all things in Christ” should not be merely a slogan; it needs to be our experience and reality day by day.

The Christ who lives in us needs to become everything in our daily living.

We need to take Him as our power to live out Christ in our daily living.

Lord Jesus, we take You as our power to live out Christ in our daily life. May You be the One magnified through us. We do not rely on our own strength. We depend on You, dear Lord Jesus! We take You as our power to live Christ and magnify Christ. May we be those who declare like Paul that we are able to do all things in Christ who empowers us. Be expressed through us. Live in us today.

Taking Christ as our Secret of Contentment and Rejoicing

In Phil. 4:11-12 Paul said, “I have learned, in whatever circumstances I am, to be content. I know also how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in everything and in all things I have learned the secret both to be filled and to hunger, both to abound and to lack.”

What a testimony!

Paul experienced Christ as everything to such an extent that he learned the secret of being content and rejoice.

He took Christ as his secret (vv. 4-7).

Whether the circumstances were good or not so good, Paul learned the secret of being content and always rejoicing.

He experienced Christ richly and abundantly, and he learned the secret – which is just Christ.

He took Christ as the secret to experiencing Christ, and he was content and even rejoiced always in any situation and in any matter.

We need to learn the secret to be content and to rejoice in all things; this secret is Christ.

We need to take Christ as everything in our experience to the extent that we are content in all things and we rejoice no matter the circumstances.

May we experience Christ richly and abundantly day by day so that Christ would be our secret of contentment and rejoicing.

May this be a reality in our daily life.

Lord Jesus, we want to learn the secret to be content and to rejoice all the time. Oh Lord, may we take Christ as everything in our experience so that He may be our secret of contentment. May we experience Christ in a rich and abundant way day by day. You are our secret of contentment. Only You can make us happy. When we have You, we can rejoice always, no matter the circumstances. Amen, Lord, may we learn the secret both to be filled and to hunger, both to abound and to lack!

Taking Christ as our Expectation

In Phil. 3:20-21 Paul said, “Our commonwealth exists in the heavens, from which also we eagerly await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transfigure the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of His glory, according to His operation by which He is able even to subject all things to Himself.”

From this portion, we see that Paul took Christ as his expectation.

He eagerly awaited the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come and transfigure the body of his humiliation and conform it to the body of His glory.

Paul experienced Christ as his everything to the extent that he took this Christ whom he experienced to be his expectation.

This is why he was not disappointed, depressed, or anxious concerning his future, though he was in prison; his only expectation was Christ.

He lived Christ, he magnified Christ, he experienced Christ, and he took Christ as his expectation. Wow.

The reason we’re disappointed with ourselves and anxious concerning our future is that we have another expectation besides Christ.

We may expect this or that, but our expectation may not be Christ.

May we learn from the pattern of Paul to live in the experience of Christ day by day and eagerly await the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, to come and transfigure our body of humiliation, conforming it to the body of His glory.

May we take these verses and pray over them, asking the Lord to make this a reality in our daily experience.

Lord Jesus, we take You as our expectation. We take You as everything today in our daily experience, and our only expectation is Christ. Amen, Lord, our commonwealth exists in the heavens, from which we also eagerly await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ! Yes, Lord, our expectation is nothing else but the coming of Christ to transfigure the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of His glory! Amen, Lord, we believe that You will do this, according to the operation by which You are able even to subject all things to Yourself!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Minoru Chen in the message for this week, and portions from, Life Lessons, vol. 3, lsn. 29 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Knowing, Experiencing, and Enjoying Christ as Revealed in Philippians (2023 Memorial Day Weekend Conference), week 1, entitled, Taking Christ as our Everything to Gain Him by Denying our Self and Turning to our Spirit.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Christ is everything, article by Ron Kangas in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – Christ is the reality of all things, a portion from, General Sketch of the New Testament in the Light of Christ and the Church, A – Part 2: Romans through Philemon, Chapter 11, by Witness Lee.
  – How to Experience Christ Living in You, via, Bibles for America blog.
  – Christ as our everything, a portion from, General Sketch of the New Testament in the Light of Christ and the Church, A – Part 2: Romans through Philemon, Chapter 11, by Witness Lee.
  – Living Christ as the Constituent of the New Man, via, Living to Him.
  – The apostle’s secret of sufficiency in Christ, a portion from, Life-Study of Philippians, Chapter 29.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Oh, what a thought! Oh, what a boast! / Christ shall in me be magnified. / In nothing shall I be ashamed, / For He in all shall be applied. / In woe or blessing, death or life, / Through me shall Christ be testified. (Hymns #499 stanza 3)
  – May the mind of Christ my Savior / Live in me from day to day, / By His love and pow’r controlling / All I do and say. / May the Word of Christ dwell richly / In my heart from hour to hour, / So that all may see I triumph / Only through His pow’r. (Hymns #401 stanzas 1-2)
  – Lord, Thy life abundant, / Flowing, rich and free, / Constantly refreshes / And empowers me. / Death by life is swallowed, / Weakness is made strong, / All my bonds are broken, / Gloom is turned to song. (Hymns #841 stanza 4)