Hymns, 242, 539

Scripture Reading: Phil. 2:13; 1:19-21a; Acts 16:7; Rom. 8:9

DAY 1 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 2 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 3 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 4 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 5 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 6 Outline　MorningRevival

«　WEEK 5　DAY 1　»

　　Phil. 2:12-13 So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but now much rather in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who operates in you both the willing and the working for His good pleasure.

　　Everything that is covered in the book of Philippians is under God’s operating move. God has a move on this earth, and He moves by His operating. Chapter 2 gives us the overall thought, the all-embracing thought, the all-inclusive thought, of the book of Philippians. This thought is that the moving God is operating in us. Whatever Christ is to us is for the operating of God. We should care for God’s operating in us. Our God is living, moving, and operating in you and me continuously. God’s operating in us can be compared to our blood circulation or to the circulation of electricity. If the flow of blood within us stops, our life will stop. The circulation of blood is life operating in us. The flow of electricity is the operating of the electricity. If the flow of electricity stops in a building, there will be no light there. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 1, “Living in and with the Divine Trinity,” pp. 371-372)

　　Many Christians do not think about God’s move in this way. Some in the Pentecostal movement like to shout, cry out, and even jump. They like a big, outward display, but God’s inward operating in us does not necessarily have such an outward display. The current of electricity in a building is a very good illustration of God’s operating. When we enter into the building, it may seem that nothing is working there because everything is quiet. However, there is an operating going on, and this quiet operating is vigorous. The operating of the electricity in the building enables all the appliances, machines, and devices in the building to move and function. If this electricity is switched off, everything in the building is shut down. The more I have experienced God throughout the years, the more I realize that God’s move within us is a very quiet, fine operation. He operates in us quietly and finely.

　　Although we are Christians, it may seem that we have nothing within us. We may wonder at times what the difference is between us and the unbelievers. The truth concerning regeneration and transformation is very high and great. Even though we have been regenerated and are being transformed, we may feel like common persons. Actually, however, God is operating in us. Although a big building is under the operation of electricity, this operation is quiet and calm. We need to see that God’s operating in us is a miraculous normality. It is altogether normal yet altogether miraculous.

　　D. L. Moody said that the greatest miracle in the universe is regeneration. I agree with this. No miracle is greater than regeneration. Regeneration means that we have the divine life in addition to our human life. We have the divine life, but we may not feel that we can see much of the manifestation of this life within us. We may feel that others who are not regenerated are actually better than we are. Even though we are regenerated, we may lose our temper again and again. However, our being better or worse than others is an outward matter. If we are regenerated, we have the inner realization that something is within us. This “something” is the living and moving God who is now operating in us. Whether a person is outwardly bad or good may be according to his natural birth. What matters is not whether we are good or bad according to our natural constitution but the fact that we have received the operating God. God is now operating in us. If we have the spiritual discernment, the spiritual realizing power, we can see that all the things in the book of Philippians related to God’s operating in us are great. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 1, “Living in and with the Divine Trinity,” pp. 372-373)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1988, vol. 1, “Living in and with the Divine Trinity,” ch. 12

«　WEEK 5　DAY 2　»

　　Phil. 1:20-21 According to my earnest expectation and hope that…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.

　　4:12 …In everything and in all things I have learned the secret both to be filled and to hunger, both to abound and to lack.

　　In order to see God’s operating in us, it would be helpful for us to have a brief review of the book of Philippians,… a book concerning our experience of Christ. Chapter 1 shows us that we need to live and magnify Christ for Him to be our living and expression. Chapter 2 shows that we need to take Christ as our pattern and hold Him forth. In chapter 3 we see that we need to pursue and gain Christ as our goal. Chapter 4 shows us that we need to have Christ as our secret of sufficiency. In verse 12 of chapter 4 Paul declares that he has learned the secret. He uses a metaphor concerning a person being initiated into a secret society with instruction in its rudimentary principles. Actually, this “secret society” in chapter 4 is the Body of Christ. In conclusion, we can say that in chapter 1 of Philippians Christ is our living and expression; in chapter 2 He is our pattern; in chapter 3 He is our goal; and in chapter 4 He is our secret. All four chapters reveal a certain aspect of Christ for us to experience. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 1, “Living in and with the Divine Trinity,” p. 371)

　　Paul says that he magnified Christ. To magnify is to show or declare great (without limitation), to exalt, and to extol. Paul speaks of the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, and he says that for him to live is Christ. At the end of Philippians Paul says, “All the saints greet you, and especially those of Caesar’s household” (4:22). Caesar’s household comprised all who were attached to the palace of Nero. Some of these were converted through contact with Paul and became believers in Christ in Rome. No doubt, some in Caesar’s household became Christians because they saw Christ in Paul…. God’s operating in us is not outwardly spectacular, but in a spiritual sense it is a great matter. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 1, “Living in and with the Divine Trinity,” p. 373)

　　According to Philippians 2:13, God is operating in us. Our salvation is not merely an action; it is a living Person, the Triune God Himself, operating in us. The God Paul speaks of in 2:13 is the Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. According to chapter 14 of John, the Father is one with the Son, and the Son is one with the Spirit.

　　Philippians 1:19 speaks of the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. There can be no doubt that the Spirit who supplies us is the Spirit who indwells us. But this Spirit cannot be separate from the God who operates in us. If we… consider the context of the book as a whole, we shall see that the God who operates in us is the Triune God. He is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. He is the very God who is Christ in us (2 Cor. 13:3a, 5) and the Spirit dwelling in us (Rom. 8:11).

　　In Philippians 2:13 Paul says that God operates in us “both the willing and the working for His good pleasure.” Where within us does this willing take place? It must be in our will. This indicates that God’s operation begins from our spirit and spreads into our mind, emotion, and will….The grace of Christ is with our spirit [4:23]. However, God’s operating to will in us involves not only our spirit but also our will. Therefore, God’s operation must spread from our spirit into our will. As God operates the willing within us, He carries out His working. This corresponds to Romans 8, where we see that God works not only in our spirit, but also in our mind and eventually in our physical body (vv. 6,11). We will in our will, and we work in our body. The Triune God operates in us from our spirit, through our will, and then into our physical body. (Life-study of Philippians, pp. 103-104)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Philippians, msg. 5-6.

«　WEEK 5　DAY 3　»

　　Phil. 1:19 For I know that for me this will turn out to salvation through your petition and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

　　Acts 16:6-7 And they passed through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, yet the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

　　God’s operating in us is with the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:19)…. In Philippians 2:12 Paul charges us to work out our own salvation. On the one hand, the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ will turn out to be our salvation, and on the other hand, we have to work out our salvation. Philippians 1 and 2 refer to the same salvation. This salvation is the working out, the issue, of the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, and this salvation is something that we work out in our living. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 1, “Living in and with the Divine Trinity,” p. 373)

　　The interchangeable use of the Spirit of Jesus [in Acts 16:7] with the Holy Spirit in verse 6 reveals that the Spirit of Jesus is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a general title of the Spirit of God in the New Testament. The Spirit of Jesus is a particular expression concerning the Spirit of God and refers to the Spirit of the incarnated Savior who, as Jesus in His humanity, passed through human living and death on the cross. This indicates that in the Spirit of Jesus there is not only the divine element of God but also the human element and the elements of His human living and His suffering of death as well. Such an all-inclusive Spirit was needed by Paul in his preaching ministry, a ministry of suffering among human beings and for human beings in the human life.

　　Just as the Spirit of Christ is the reality of Christ, so the Spirit of Jesus is the reality of Jesus. If we do not have the Spirit of Jesus, Jesus will not be real to us. But today Jesus is real to us because we have the Spirit of Jesus as the reality, the realization, of Jesus. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 857)

　　[In] Acts 16:7… the Spirit of Jesus is a special term. Its meaning differs from that of the Spirit of God. Since Jesus was a man and is still a man, “the Spirit of Jesus” is the Spirit of the man Jesus.

　　Why was it that when the apostle Paul would go to a certain place to preach the gospel, “the Spirit of Jesus” did not allow him? Why does the Scripture not say “the Spirit of God” instead of “the Spirit of Jesus”? There must be some reason. When we look into Acts 16 and see the environment of that chapter, we realize the need of the Spirit of Jesus. In this chapter there is much suffering and persecution. Paul was even put into prison! In such a situation “the Spirit of Jesus” was really required. Jesus was a man who continually suffered intense persecution while He was on earth. Therefore, “the Spirit of Jesus” is the Spirit of a man with abundant strength for suffering. He is the Spirit of a man as well as the Spirit of suffering strength. In persecution while preaching the gospel, we do need such a Spirit—”the Spirit of Jesus”!

　　If we read the context of verses 6 and 7, we see that “the Holy Spirit” who was leading the apostle Paul in his preaching of the gospel was “the Spirit of Jesus.” It was “the Holy Spirit” who was leading the apostle; but “the Holy Spirit” at that time and in that incident was acting as “the Spirit of Jesus.”

　　The Spirit of Jesus is not only the Spirit of God with divinity in Him that we may live the divine life but also the Spirit of the man Jesus with humanity in Him that we may live the proper human life and endure its sufferings. (CWWL, 1965, vol. 1, “The All-inclusive Spirit of Christ,” p. 563)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 79; CWWL, 1965, vol. 1, “The All-inclusive Spirit of Christ,” pp. 551-570

«　WEEK 5　DAY 4　»

　　Rom. 8:9-10 But you are…in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Yet if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness.

　　The Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ are not two Spirits but one. Paul used these titles interchangeably, indicating that the indwelling Spirit of life in Romans 8:2 is the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit of the entire Triune God. God, the Spirit, and Christ—the three of the Godhead—are all mentioned in verse 9. However, there are not three in us; there is only one, the triune Spirit of the Triune God (John 4:24; 2 Cor. 3:17; Rom. 8:11)….The Spirit of Christ implies that this Spirit is the embodiment and reality of Christ, the incarnated One. This Christ accomplished everything necessary to fulfill God’s plan. He includes not only divinity, which He possessed from eternity, but also humanity, which He obtained through incarnation. He also includes human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. This is the Spirit of Christ in resurrection, that is, Christ Himself dwelling in our spirit (v. 10) to impart Himself, the embodiment of the processed Triune God, into us as resurrection life and power to deal with the death that is in our nature (v. 2). Thus, we may live today in Christ’s resurrection, in Christ Himself, by living in the mingled spirit. (Rom. 8:9, footnote 4)

　　The Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of the One who passed through death and entered into resurrection. The Lord’s death was an all-inclusive termination, and His resurrection was an all-inclusive germination. The Spirit of Christ, therefore, is the totality, the aggregate, of the all-inclusive Christ with His all-inclusive death and resurrection. Because we have this Spirit in us, we have the all-inclusive Christ and His all-inclusive termination and germination. Because the Spirit is the reality of Christ, we may say that this Spirit is the pneumatic Christ. By the Spirit of Christ we partake of Christ in His resurrection life and power, His transcendency, and His reigning authority. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 856)

　　In Acts 16:7 we have “the Spirit of Jesus,” while in Romans 8:9 we have “the Spirit of Christ.” In Romans 8:9 “the Spirit of Christ” is used interchangeably with “the Spirit of God.” It tells us that the Spirit of God today is the Spirit of Christ. The emphasis of “the Spirit of Jesus” is upon humanity and the strength for suffering. But the emphasis of “the Spirit of Christ” is upon the resurrection and the imparting of life. Persecution in the environment faced in Acts 16 required suffering strength in humanity. But the death in our nature dealt with in Romans 8 requires resurrection power in the imparting of life. Thus, in Acts 16 it is “the Spirit of Jesus” who led in the preaching of the gospel under persecution. But in Romans 8 it is “the Spirit of Christ” who raises us up from any kind of death-element and animates us by imparting life into us. In the verses following Romans 8:9 we read, “If Christ [who is the Spirit of Christ] is in you, though the body is dead…the spirit is life…. And if the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you” (vv. 10-11). The Spirit of Jesus is the Spirit of the incarnate and suffering Jesus. But the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of the resurrected and life-giving Christ. By the Spirit of Jesus we can share “the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,” but by the Spirit of Christ we can partake of “the power of His resurrection” (Phil. 3 :10), identified with Him in the transcendency of His ascension and in the authority of His enthronement. By the Spirit of Jesus we share the Lord’s humanity and His suffering strength. By the Spirit of Christ we partake of His resurrection life, His resurrection power, His transcendency, and His reigning authority. (CWWL, 1965, vol. 1, “The All-inclusive Spirit of Christ,” p. 564)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1990, vol. 1, “The Spirit,” chs. 2, 12

«　WEEK 5　DAY 5　»

　　Phil. 1:19 For I know that for me this will turn out to salvation through your petition and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

　　John 7:39 But this He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed into Him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

　　The Spirit of God was there from the beginning (Gen. 1:1-2), but at the time the Lord spoke this word, the Spirit as the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9), the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:19), was not yet, because the Lord had not yet been glorified. Jesus was glorified when He was resurrected (Luke 24:26). After Jesus’ resurrection, the Spirit of God became the Spirit of the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Jesus Christ, who was breathed into the disciples by Christ in the evening of the day on which He was resurrected (John 20:22). The Spirit is now the “another Comforter,” the Spirit of reality promised by Christ before His death (14:16-17). When the Spirit was the Spirit of God, He had only the divine element. After He became the Spirit of Jesus Christ through Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, the Spirit had both the divine element and the human element, with all the essence and reality of the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ. Hence, the Spirit is now the all-inclusive Spirit of Jesus Christ as the living water for us to receive (7:38-39). (John 7:39, footnote 1)

　　The Spirit of Jesus Christ [in Philippians 1:19] is the Spirit mentioned in John 7:39. This is not merely the Spirit of God before the Lord’s incarnation but the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit with divinity, after the Lord’s resurrection, compounded with the Lord’s incarnation (humanity), human living under the cross, crucifixion, and resurrection. The holy anointing ointment in Exodus 30:23-25, a compound of olive oil with four kinds of spices, was a full type of this compound Spirit of God, who is now the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Here the Spirit is not the Spirit of Jesus as in Acts 16:7, nor the Spirit of Christ as in Romans 8:9, but the Spirit of Jesus Christ. The Spirit of Jesus is mainly for the Lord’s humanity and human living; the Spirit of Christ is mainly for the Lord’s resurrection. To experience the Lord’s humanity we need the Spirit of Jesus. To experience the power of the Lord’s resurrection we need the Spirit of Christ. In his suffering Paul experienced both the Lord’s suffering in His humanity and the Lord’s resurrection. Hence, to Paul the Spirit was the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the compound, all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit of the Triune God. Such a Spirit has and even is the bountiful supply for a person like Paul who was experiencing and enjoying Christ in His human living and resurrection. Eventually, this compound Spirit of Jesus Christ becomes the seven Spirits of God, who are the seven lamps of fire before His throne to carry out His administration on earth for the accomplishment of His economy with the church, and who are the seven eyes of the Lamb for the transfusing of all that He is into the church (Rev. 1:4; 4:5; 5:6).

　　Because the Spirit of Jesus has particular reference to the Lord’s suffering, and the Spirit of Christ, to His resurrection, the Spirit of Jesus Christ is related to both suffering and resurrection. The Spirit of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of the Jesus who lived a life of suffering on earth and of the Christ who is now in resurrection. The Spirit of Jesus Christ is the reality of the One who lived on earth in humanity and of the One who resurrected from among the dead and who is now both in the heavens and dwelling in the believers and who will be the center of God’s economy for eternity. The reality of such a Jesus and such a Christ is the Spirit of Jesus Christ. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 857-858)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Spirit with Our Spirit,” ch. 2; The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 80, 88

«　WEEK 5　DAY 6　»

　　Phil. 1:19 …This will turn out to salvation through…the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

　　4:11-13 …I have learned, in whatever circumstances I am, to be content. I know also how to be abased, and…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. I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me.

　　In Philippians 1 the apostle was suffering imprisonment and expecting deliverance. For the suffering he needed the Spirit of the suffering Jesus. For the deliverance he needed the Spirit of the rising Christ. The bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ was all he needed to face his situation at that time. (CWWL, 1965, vol. 1, “The All-inclusive Spirit of Christ,” p. 565)

　　The Spirit of Jesus Christ is the bountiful supply. The Greek word for bountiful supply refers to the supplying of all the needs of the chorus by the choragus, the leader of the chorus. This bountiful supply of the all-inclusive Spirit of Jesus Christ is for us to magnify Jesus Christ by living Him…. First, we live Christ; then we magnify Him….While Paul was in the Roman prison, he did not shame Christ but magnified Christ by his living of Him every day. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 1, “The Central Line of the Divine Revelation,” p. 511)

　　We need to see what the bountiful supply of the Spirit includes. First, the bountiful supply includes the divine person with the divine life and nature. Thus, the bountiful supply includes divinity. Divinity includes the divine life, nature, being, and person; in other words, it is God Himself.

　　The bountiful supply also includes an uplifted humanity, a humanity with a proper life, living, nature, and person. The Lord Jesus is both God and man. Within Him there are both divinity and humanity. Thus, when He was on earth, He lived as God and also as man. All that the Lord passed through in thirty-three and a half years of life on earth is now in the all-inclusive Spirit. Therefore, divinity and humanity, including the human living of the Lord Jesus, are in the bountiful supply of the all-inclusive Spirit.

　　On the cross the Lord Jesus died a wonderful death. The all-inclusive death of Christ dealt with every negative thing in the universe. By His death all sinful things were terminated. This wonderful death is also included in the bountiful supply of the Spirit. Christ’s resurrection and ascension are included as well.

　　The bountiful supply of the Spirit also includes the divine attributes and the human virtues. God is love and light, and He is holy and righteous. These are some of His attributes. Furthermore, as a man Christ has all the human virtues. Both the divine attributes and the human virtues are in the all-inclusive Spirit of Jesus Christ.

　　The submission and love that we need day by day are also found in the bountiful supply of the Spirit. Although the Bible commands a wife to submit to her husband and a husband to love his wife (Eph. 5:24-25), in ourselves we actually do not have either genuine submission or love. Instead of submission, we have rebellion. Instead of a proper love, we have an unbalanced, twisted love. As we enjoy the bountiful supply of the Spirit, we partake of the ingredients of this supply without being aware of it. For example, we may love others without being conscious of the fact that we are loving. In like manner, we may be submissive without realizing that we are submissive….True love and true submission are always spontaneous and not something of which we are conscious. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 4106-4107)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 346, 351, 403; CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 1, “The Central Line of the Divine Revelation,” ch. 18