Scripture Reading: S. S. 2:8—3:5; Matt. 16:24; Phil. 3:10
Ⅰ
We need to see a vision of Christ in His resurrection as depicted in Song of Songs—2:8-13:
A
The Lord is the Lord of resurrection, and in this section He manifests the vitality and power of His resurrection.
B
Christ empowers His lover by showing her the power of His resurrection by the gazelle's leaping upon the mountains and the young hart's skipping upon the hills—vv. 8-9:
１
It is by the power of Christ's resurrection that we determine to take the cross by denying the self—Matt. 16:24.
２
It is by the power of Christ's resurrection that we are enabled to be conformed to His death—Phil. 3:10; S. S. 2:14.
C
Christ encourages His lover by the flourishing riches of His resurrection— vv. 11-13.
D
The reality of resurrection is Christ as the life-giving Spirit indwelling and mingled with our regenerated spirit—1 Cor. 15:45b; 6:17.
E
In the mingled spirit we experience the resurrection of Christ, which enables us to be one with the cross to be delivered from the self.
Ⅱ
We need to see a vision of the cross—Gal. 6:14; 2:20; 3:1; 1 Cor. 2:2:
A
The cross is precious in the eyes of God because the cross terminated all the negative things and released the divine life—Rom. 6:6; Heb. 2:14; John 12:24.
B
In His economy God has given us one person—the all-inclusive Christ—and one way—the cross—1 Cor. 2:2; Phil. 2:5-11.
C
God governs everything by the cross and deals with everything by the cross— Col. 1:20; 2:14-15.
D
The way that God has ordained, uplifted, and honored is the cross of Christ— Gal. 6:14:
１
The cross is the centrality and the universality of the way to accomplish God's economy—Col. 1:20; 2:14-15.
２
In order to progress spiritually and to have the church life, we need to experience the cross—1 Cor. 1:2, 9, 18-23; 2:2; 3:6, 9; 12:27.
Ⅲ
We need to see a vision of the self—Matt. 16:22-24; Luke 9:23-25:
A
The self is the embodiment of Satan—Matt. 16:23-24:
１
The soul became the self when something of Satan was added to the soul.
２
When the mind, the thought, of Satan was injected into the human soul, the soul was corrupted and became the self—Gen. 3:1-6; Matt. 16:22-25.
３
The self is the soul plus the satanic mind, the mind of Satan—v. 23.
４
To be in the self is to be incorporated with Satan—vv. 22-24.
B
The self is the soul declaring its independence from God—Gen. 3:1-6:
１
Whenever the soul is not dependent on God but is independent of Him, the soul immediately becomes the self—1 Cor. 2:14.
２
The self is independent of God; it does not care for God's will or for God's interests—Matt. 16:22-23; cf. 6:9-10, 13b, 33.
C
The self is the greatest problem to the building up of the Body—16:24; Eph. 4:16.
Ⅳ
In Song of Songs 2:8—3:5 the Lord calls His lover to be delivered from the self through the oneness with the cross:
A
The cross is signified by the clefts of the rock and the covert of the precipice— 2:14a.
B
Christ wants to see her countenance and to hear her voice in the cross as the clefts of the rock and the covert of the precipice—v. 14b.
C
Philippians 3:10 matches Song of Songs 2:8-14; the cross that is described here is subjective and experiential:
１
The objective cross must become our subjective experience—Gal. 2:20.
２
"O, Cross of Christ, I take thee / Into this heart of mine, / That I to my own self may die / And rise to thy life Divine"—Hymns, #477, chorus.
D
To be delivered from the self means to be saved from the self through becoming one with the cross of Christ—S. S. 2:8—3:5:
１
We need to be delivered from the subjectivity of the self—from taking the self as the center and principle object—Luke 9:23.
２
We need to be delivered from the peculiarity of the self—our biased and warped characteristics—cf. Rom. 8:29:
ａ
Our peculiarity frustrates us from the richer experiences of Christ, from living Christ, and from being built up as the Body of Christ—Eph. 3:8; 4:16; Phil. 1:20-21a.
ｂ
Our peculiarity frustrates our experience of Christ's resurrection in the church life—cf. John 11:24-25.
３
We need to be delivered from the love of the self—Luke 9:24; Rev. 12:11.
Ⅴ
The issue of our being delivered from the self through our oneness with the cross is that we experience the flourishing of resurrection life, we experience and enjoy Christ, we grow in the divine life, we are beautified through transformation, and we become conscious of the Body of Christ and live in the Body, through the Body, and for the Body—Phil. 3:10; Col. 2:19; Rom. 12:4-5, 15; 1 Cor. 12:12-27.