Learn the Secret of doing all things in Christ and Practice being in Christ Daily

As believers in Christ, we need to learn the secret of doing all things in Christ as the empowering One; we do not only have Christ in us but also we are in Christ, and we should not do anything by ourselves but in and with Christ. Amen!

This week in our morning revival we come to the topic of, Learning the Secret of Doing All Things in Christ as the Empowering One for Us to Live Christ, Magnify Christ, and Gain Christ for His Glory in the Church.

The book of Philippians is a book on the experience of Christ; it is part of four books we consider as the heart of the divine revelation. Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians are the four books that are the heart of the divine revelation.

The main emphasis in Philippians is the matter of the experience of Christ; what we see here is not mainly doctrine or revelation but the experience of Christ.

Paul had a special relationship with the church in Philippi, for this was the first church he established in Europe, they supported him in the furtherance of the gospel, and they were in general a healthy church.

But his speaking to this church is concerning taking Christ as our living, our pattern, our goal, our power, and our secret; and all these matters are in the context of our experience.

In the matter of living Christ and magnifying Christ, Paul didn’t just tell the saints to live Christ and magnify Him: he showed them a pattern of doing this.

Actually, while Paul was in Philippi, he was put in prison and, even during the earthquake that took place at midnight, he was still magnifying Christ.

His desire was to magnify Christ.

Paul said that even though some would preach the gospel not with good intentions toward Paul, he still rejoiced.

They wanted to cause suffering to Paul, but Paul took Christ as his everything.

Paul’s one desire was to magnify Christ and live Christ; this is what we see in Phil. 1. In chapter 2 we see how Paul took Christ as his pattern, especially the Christ who humbled Himself.

Paul also encouraged the saints in Philippi, especially the sisters who were serving, to take Christ and follow Him as their pattern, working out their own salvation.

There were some “dogs” that surrounded the saints, but even in the midst of all these things, the saints needed to take Christ as the pattern and the goal, stretching forward and forgetting what is behind, so that they may gain Christ.

This is what we should do in our Christian life today; we need to forget about our background, our past, and even our experiences yesterday, and just stretch forward to Christ today.

We need to gain Him and experience Him in a fresh, new way today.

Learn the Secret of Doing all things in Christ as the Empowering One in our Experience

In Phil. 4:11-13 Paul said that he learned the secret of doing all things in Christ as the empowering One.

This phrase, “I have learned the secret” literally means “I have been initiated.”

It refers to a person being initiated into a secret society with instruction in its rudimentary principles.

Paul used to be fully in Judaism, but one day he was converted to Christ; since that day, he was initiated into Christ and into the Body of Christ.

Paul learned the secret of how to take Christ as life, how to live Christ, how to magnify Christ, how to gain Christ, and how to have the church life; all these are rudimentary principles.

Furthermore, the fact that Paul learned the secret, in whatever circumstances he was, to be content, shows that he had come into a new situation and environment, and in that situation, he learned the secret.

Whenever we are put into a new situation or a new environment, we need to learn the secret of being content in that environment.

We need to learn the secret of doing all things in Christ as the empowering One in our experience.

When we move to a new country or to a new continent, we need to do a lot of learning, for the way people eat, live, and work there is very different from what we were used to.

If some from Europe would go to visit the churches in the Far East, they need to learn to eat with chopsticks, otherwise, they may not be able to eat at all.

There’s a learning involved, and there is a secret we need to learn.

As believers in Christ, we need to learn the secret of doing all things in Christ as the empowering One.

The secret of learning Christ is Christ; He is the secret, and we need to learn Christ in all things.

We need to be initiated into Christ, learning the rudimentary principles of how to take Christ as life, how to live Christ, how to magnify Christ, how to gain Christ, and how to have the church life.

Many times we get frustrated in our Christian life and in the church life because we have not learned the secret.

We may even think we can’t take this anymore, that we have to move somewhere else, for we just can’t bear the situation we’re in.

We need to learn the secret of the Christian life and the church life.

We need to learn to enjoy Christ whether we are with the saints or we are “in prison.”

We need to learn the secret of being in Christ and doing all things in Christ as the empowering One in our daily experience.

After Paul was converted to Christ, he was initiated into Christ and into the Body of Christ; he then learned the secret of how to take Christ as life (Col. 3:4), how to live Christ (Phil. 1:21a), how to magnify Christ (v. 20), how to gain Christ (3:8, 12), and how to have the church life (1:8, 19; 2:1-4, 19-20; 4:1-3).

Whether we are in meetings with the saints, at work doing our job, or limited in a situation where there are not a lot of saints, we need to learn the secret of enjoying Christ and experiencing Him in all things.

We may abound or we may lack; we may be well received or rejected; we may be joyful or made sorrowful; or we may be free or very limited – in all things, we need to learn the secret of doing all things in Christ as the empowering One in our daily experience.

May we ask the Lord to train us and show us the secret of the Christian life so that we may declare one with Paul, I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me.

There is a secret to the Christian life; there is a secret that unlocks the full experience and enjoyment of Christ.

Lord Jesus, we want to learn the secret of doing all things in Christ as the empowering One. We open to You. Show us what is the secret of being content in all situations, no matter the circumstance. Lord, we want to learn the secret of how to take Christ as life, how to live Christ, how to magnify Christ, how to gain Christ, and how to have the church life. We open to You and to the fellow members in the Body of Christ that we would be initiated into the rudimentary principles of taking Christ as life, living Christ, magnifying Christ, gaining Christ, and having the church life in the Body of Christ. Amen, Lord, may this be our experience day by day, that in everything and in all things, we may learn the secret of enjoying Christ and magnifying Christ!

Practice the Secret of being in Christ so that we Allow the Christ who Dwells in us to Live in us

The secret of doing all things in Christ as the empowering One, the secret of the Christian life, and the secret of being content no matter what situation we’re in is that Christ is in us and we are in Christ.

We all know that Christ is in us, for verses such as Col. 1:27 and 3:4 clearly tell us this.

But what about us being in Christ, do we realize what this means? How can we apply the fact that we are in Christ?

For example, we may get a ride in a car to the meeting; the secret to coming to the meeting is simply to sit in the car and let the saints drive us to the meeting.

It would be foolish of us to grab the wheel and start driving or try to get out of the car.

When we were saved, Christ came into us to regenerate us, and God put us in Christ.

We are now in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17); He is our “heavenly car” into whom we have been put, and we simply need to remain in Christ.

Instead of us doing this or that, speaking this or that, or going here or there, we need to realize that we are in Christ, and we need to practice the secret of being in Christ.

Instead of us doing things, we need to allow the Christ who dwells in us to live in us.

We may feel that Christ is in us, for there’s another Person living in us, and many times we feel Him speaking to us concerning particular situations.

But we may not have the feeling that we are in Christ.

We need to practice the secret of being in Christ.

On one hand, we need to learn the secret of doing all things in Christ as the empowering One.

On the other hand, we need to practice the secret of being in Christ.

How can we practice the secret of being in Christ? First, we need to realize that Christ lives in us.

Therefore, we need to deny the flesh and the natural man; anything that is of the natural man needs to be counted as a loss on account of Christ.

We should not base our confidence on what we are by nature, nor should we trust or rely on what we are in the self; we should base our confidence on Christ.

If we trust in the Lord and base our confidence on Christ, we will not do anything by ourselves, for we’re not alone: another person lives in us.

This Person who lives in us has His own feelings, thoughts, will, and desires; we do not live alone, but Christ together lives in us and with us.

Christ is in us and we are in Christ. Hence, before we act or do something, we need to wait on the Lord and see if He is the One who acts or does something.

This matter of waiting on the Lord, turning to Him before doing something or acting, is the real denial of the self.

We need to turn to our spirit again and again, realizing that Christ is in us and we are in Christ.

We need to contact the Lord and check with Him to see if He wants to do this or say that.

May we practice the secret of being in Christ so that in our daily living we would stop, wait on the Lord, and be one with Him in doing things and speaking things.

May we realize that Christ lives in us, deny the flesh and the natural man, and not do anything in and by ourselves but in Christ and by Christ.

May the Lord have mercy on us that we may learn the secret of doing all things in Christ who empowers us, and may we be diligent to practice the secret of being in Christ.

Lord Jesus, we want to practice the secret of being in Christ. Hallelujah, Christ is in us and we are in Christ! Praise the Lord, we believers in Christ have Christ dwelling in us and we are in Christ. May we see this, dear Lord! May we realize not only that Christ is in us but also that we are in Christ! May we learn to count all things as loss and not treasure or appreciate anything of our natural man, but fully rely on Christ. Oh Lord, we depend on You. We look to You. We do not want to do anything apart from You. We turn to You as the living Person in our spirit. Remind us to check with You, again and again, Lord, concerning all things. Save us from just doing things in ourselves and by ourselves, without waiting on the Lord so that He may live in us and do things in us. Amen, Lord, keep us turning to You, waiting on You, and doing all things in Christ!

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 Ricky Acosta in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1978, vol. 1, “The Experience of Christ,” ch. 10 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 2, entitled, Learning the Secret of Doing All Things in Christ as the Empowering One for Us to Live Christ, Magnify Christ, and Gain Christ for His Glory in the Church.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – The personal and intimate experience of Christ, article by Ed Marks in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – Doing all things by Christ and in Christ, a portion from, The Experience of Christ, Chapter 10, by Witness Lee.
  – What Does the Bible Say about How to Be Content? Article via, Bibles for America Blog.
  – Living an uplifted humanity in the One who empowers me, a portion from, The Glorious Vision and the Way of the Cross, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee.
  – Knowing, Experiencing, and Living the All-inclusive Christ for the Genuine Church Life — Week 2 — newsletter via, Church in Regina.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – We have been many years in religion, / We have been many years in our mind, / We have been many years in emotions, / Always seeking, but never to find. / Now we’re learning to turn to our spirit, / Now we’re learning to take Christ as life; / Now we’re learning to feed upon Jesus / And be freed from all struggling and strife. (Hymns #1141 stanzas 2-3)
  – I have learned the wondrous secret / Of abiding in the Lord; / I have tasted life’s pure fountain, / I am drinking of His word; / I have found the strength and sweetness / Of abiding ’neath the blood; / I have lost myself in Jesus, / I am sinking into God. / I’m abiding in the Lord / And confiding in His word; / I am hiding in the bosom of His love. / Yes, abiding in the Lord / And confiding in His word, / I am hiding in the bosom of His love. (Hymns #564 stanza 1 and chorus)
  – Pray to fellowship with Jesus, / In the spirit seek His face; / Ask and listen in His presence, / Waiting in the secret place. / Pray to fellowship with Jesus, / Fully opened from within, / With thy face unveiled, beholding, / Single, pure, and genuine. (Hymns #784 stanza 2 and chorus)