Outline
Ⅱ
In the midst of the dark and corrupt world, our function is to shine as luminaries, holding forth the word of life—Phil. 2:12-16:
A
Christ is the sun, with the church as the moon and the believers as the planets to reflect Him by holding forth the word of life; to hold forth the word of life is to apply it, present it, and offer it to the world by living out Christ—Acts 5:20.
B
The God who operates in us (Phil. 2:13) is the supplying Spirit (1:19), the power of resurrection (3:10), and the empowering Christ (4:13); to shine as luminaries (2:15) is to magnify Christ (1:20), and to hold forth the word of life (2:16) is to live Christ (1:21a).
C
We must aspire to know Christ as the power of resurrection, the inner operating God, the One who empowers us, to shine as luminaries in the world for His magnification—3:10; 2:13; 4:13; 1:20.
D
The power that physically released Peter from prison was the power of God, but the power that Paul experienced while remaining in prison was the power of resurrection—Acts 5:18-20; Phil. 1:19; 3:10:
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In God's New Testament economy God's intention is not an outward miracle but an inward miracle; the inward marvel is that Christ as the Spirit is wrought into us to be our salvation, inwardly sustaining, strengthening, and empowering us in our weakness to shine out Christ—2 Cor. 12:7-10.
２
The empowering Christ is the secret to our shining out Christ for His expression in any kind of environment or circumstance, and the secret of this secret is the all-inclusive Spirit of Jesus Christ in our spirit as our daily and moment-by-moment salvation—Phil. 1:19; 4:23.
Morning Nourishment
Phil. 2:15-16 That you may be blameless and guileless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine as luminaries in the world, holding forth the word of life, so that I may have a boast in the day of Christ that I did not run in vain nor labor in vain.The Greek word rendered “luminaries” [in Philippians 2:15] refers to luminaries that reflect the light of the sun. The matter of shining as luminaries indicates our ability to function. Praise the Lord that we are able to shine! We are not only children of God but are also luminaries with the heavenly function of reflecting Christ as the real sun. Every kind of life has its particular function…As sons of God with the divine life, we have the function of shining. In our daily living we should not merely behave ourselves according to a certain standard—we should shine. (Life-study of Philippians, p. 399)
Today’s Reading
As luminaries, the believers shine among those in this crooked and perverted generation [Phil. 2:15]. Actually, we have no light in ourselves; we are luminaries reflecting the light of the sun, Christ. Christ is the unique sun, and the church is the moon reflecting Him…. World here refers to the dark, corrupt world, which is usurped by Satan (1 John 5:19; 2:15-17). In the world can be rendered “in the universe.”The word of life [Phil. 2:16] is very different from doctrine in dead letters. The word of life is the living breath of God (2 Tim. 3:16), the Spirit who gives life (John 6:63). We have the Lord Jesus as our pattern (Phil. 2:6-11), we have God operating in us (v. 13), we are God’s children possessing God’s life and the divine nature (v. 15), we are luminaries qualified to reflect the divine light of Christ (v. 15), and we have the word of life to hold forth, to present to others…By such [a divine and rich provision] we are well able to carry out God’s salvation to the full extent.
The word of life we are holding forth is actually Christ Himself (John 1:1, 4). To hold forth the word of life is to apply it, to present it, and to offer it to the world by living out Christ. In order to have the experience of Christ revealed in the book of Philippians, we need to have Christ as our pattern, we need to have the Triune God operating in us, we need to be children of God with the divine life and nature, and we need to be luminaries positioned to reflect Christ.
We should allow the word of Christ to dwell in us, to inhabit us, richly [Col. 3:16]. Then we will have the word of life with which to shine. In order to hold forth the word of life, we must first have the divine life within us…The more we are nourished by feeding on the word of life, digesting and assimilating this word, the greater will be the accumulation of the word within us. Then spontaneously, we will shine with the very word of life we have taken into us. This shining will then be our holding forth, our presenting, the wonderful word of life to others…If we daily digest Christ as the word of life, accumulating the riches of the Word in a subjective, organic way, we will have something living and organic to share with others. This is the proper gospel preaching and proclamation of the truth…This is the way to magnify Christ and live Him.
May we be liberated from every kind of bondage in our dealing with the Word and the Spirit. If we exercise our spirit to pray-read, sing, and psalm Philippians 2:14-16, we will praise the Lord that we are children of God and luminaries shining by holding forth the word of life. If we practice pray-reading these verses word by word and also exercise to sing the Word of God, we will be permeated and saturated with the rich supply from the living Word. Then our inner being will be filled with the riches of Christ. Spontaneously, unconsciously, and even unintentionally, we will live a life that expresses Christ and holds forth the word of life. (Life-study of Philippians, pp. 111-112, 400)
Further Reading: Life-study of Philippians, msgs. 12—13, 21, 23, 29, 46