«　WEEK 1　DAY 1　»

　　Phil. 1:20-21 According to 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.

　　Our Christian living is a mystery. Our Christian love and humility are also mysterious. The humility taught by Confucius was not a mystery. But when we Christians live out humility, this humility is mysterious. Whatever we live out from within us should be mysterious. Regarding our humility, others should say, “We cannot explain the kind of life this person lives. Although he is humble, his humility is different from that of others. His love is also different. It seems that he does not love anyone, but actually he loves others. His love is mysterious. There seems to be no limit to his love.” Although human love is limited, the proper love lived out by a Christian is unlimited. Hence, it is a mystery.

　　Often I have heard people say, “I simply cannot tolerate this anymore. This situation has exhausted my patience.” If our patience can be exhausted, this indicates that it is not the patience of Christ. We Christians need to live out a patience that is unlimited. The more the circumstances exhaust our patience, the more patient we are, for our patience is inexhaustible. This is a mystery. It causes others to wonder how we can be so patient. (CWWL, 1978, vol. 1, “The Experience of Christ,” pp. 321-322)

　　To magnify Christ is to express Christ without limitation. It is to show to the whole universe that the very Christ who is our life and by whom we live is unlimited. According to the human concept, Christ is limited. But when people see us living by Him, they will realize that He is not limited. If the apostle Paul had not been put in prison, no one would have understood how unlimited Christ was. It was through Paul's imprisonment that the Christ by whom Paul lived was expressed as the unlimited One. Because Paul's endurance was Christ Himself, it would have been impossible to exhaust his endurance no matter how long Paul had been kept in prison. Hence, it was inexhaustible and unlimited. Sometimes Christians ask others to pray for them because they are coming to the end of their endurance. Such endurance is not Christian endurance, for it is not endurance magnified. The Christ whom we experience as endurance cannot be exhausted. If we live by Him, He will be magnified; that is, He will show forth His exhaustlessness. Because Paul's endurance was Christ, it was unlimited. Such an unlimited endurance is the magnification of the unlimited Christ. To the universe this is a mystery.

　　[In Philippians 1:20] Paul says that Christ would be magnified in his body. Not many Christians know the significance of the word magnify in this verse. Some may say that to be magnified means to be expressed, exalted, glorified, or honored. Yes, it does mean these things, but these words do not touch the significance of the word magnify. For Christ to be magnified in us means that we experience the unlimited Christ. Christ is magnified through His unlimitedness. For example, our love is limited because it is not Christ. The reason there are so many separations and divorces is that human love is limited. Christ is unlimited, but we are limited. If we live by Christ in any matter, that matter will be unlimited. But if we live by ourselves in the same matter, it will be limited. If we love others with our own love, we will discover that eventually our love will be exhausted. The ones we love will place more and more demands upon us to exhaust our love. The love of a husband is exhausted by his wife, the love of parents is exhausted by their children, and the love of the elders is exhausted by the saints. Although we may be exhausted, Christ is never exhausted. The more love we require, the more love He affords to meet our requirements. Therefore, to live by Christ in the matter of loving others is to magnify Christ by His unlimitedness. (CWWL, 1978, vol. 1, “The Experience of Christ,” pp. 322, 405-406)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1978, vol. 1, “The Experience of Christ,” chs. 1, 11