by T. Austin-Sparks
Reading:
Acts 16:6-13, 16-19, 23-26. Philippians 1:1-2.
We are beginning a meditation in the Letter to the
Philippians with its message as to how the Cross makes
Christ our all, for that is what this Letter really does
bring before us. Not any of us can preach from this
Letter as the standard of our attainment, but we must be
very quiet and humble as we speak of it. Indeed, our
approach must be that of its writer: "Brethren, I
count not myself to have attained, neither am I already
perfect."
When the Apostle wrote the Letter to the Romans, he set
himself to set forth a great and tremendous theological
argument. When he wrote his first Letter to the
Corinthians, he set himself to answer a lot of questions
that had arisen, and to give his judgment on some very
serious matters. When he wrote the Letter to the
Galatians, he gave himself up to issuing a tremendous
challenge and to answering a challenge which had been
issued. When he wrote his Letter to the Ephesians, he was
pouring out a great revelation which had been growing and
growing and growing until it had reached a great measure
of fullness. But now, in writing this Letter to the
Philippians, he is not doing any one of those things. He
does not say: 'Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ', nor:
'I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ.' No official
designation is used and no great treatise is in his mind,
but he simply takes the position of a man - with Timothy
he says: "Bondsmen of Jesus Christ" - and is
about to open his heart as a man to men, as a Christian
to Christians, as a lover of Christ to other lovers of
Christ, and to share what is in his heart on common
ground and on a common level with them.
"Brethren" - he will say presently -
"Brethren, I count not myself to have attained,
neither am I already perfect, but this one thing I
do...". You see, it is the appeal from his own
spiritual life and aspiration. His position is just this:
'Brethren, this is what I have in view, what I am seeking
after, and what I call upon you to join with me in
seeking after!' That is the position of this Letter, and
you and I must come to that position as we approach it,
for here not one of us can give an address. We can only
say: 'Brethren, this Letter is beyond us! All that is
here is far beyond anything to which we have attained! We
cannot preach at one another but here is the Lord's
thought, and let us talk to one another about it with a
view to encouraging one another if it may be that we, by
any means, may also attain.' So that is our
starting-point. May it be that the Lord leads us on from
that to some increased measure of Himself!
We have said that the message which comes out of the
Letter bears upon Christ as our all through the work of
His Cross, and that arises in several particular
connections. Each chapter of the four has a particular
connection. We shall now just look at the first, which
arises in chapter 1, verse 21:
For to me to Live is Christ, and to Die is Gain
'For me to
live is Christ.' Then that means that Christ is our very
life, the very motive of our life, of our being. Asked
what life means, the Apostle would say: 'Just Christ!'
'What does life mean to you, Paul?' 'Christ!' 'What is
your outlook, Paul?' 'Christ!' 'What are you working for,
Paul?' 'Christ!' 'What is your hope?' 'It is Christ!'
'Have you nothing else, nothing else at all in this world
for all your days?' 'No, nothing else. Christ, just
Christ; that is all! For me to live, for me to live is
Christ!'
I think we have already established what we said a minute
or two ago: this Letter is beyond us! I think that if we
were put to the test on that in a number of different
connections, interests, associations and objects on this
earth, we should be weighed in the balances and found
wanting. Well, we will not press it. It would be too
painful and we should all be ashamed. But, again, it is
an object and an aspiration that it should be like that.
Before we go further, let us just look over this chapter
and see what place Christ has here:
Verse 1: "Bondsmen of Christ Jesus."
2: "Peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ."
6: "Until the day of Jesus Christ."
8: "The tender mercies of Christ Jesus."
11: "The fruits of righteousness... through Christ
Jesus."
13: "My bonds... in Christ."
15: "Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and
strife."
18: "What then? only that in every way, whether in
pretence or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and therein I
rejoice, yea, and will rejoice."
19: "The supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ."
20: "As always, so now also Christ shall be
magnified in my body, whether by life, or by death."
21: "To me to live is Christ."
23: "...to depart and be with Christ; for it is very
far better."
26: "Your glorying may abound in Christ Jesus."
27: "Worthy of the gospel of Christ."
29: "To you it hath been granted in the behalf of
Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer in
his behalf."
It is Christ everywhere, Christ in every direction, in every connection; it is all Christ.
Christ Our Life by Way of the Cross
Now then,
we have to see how the Cross had brought Paul to the
place where Christ was his very life, and how it had
wrought in him to bring him to that place. We have read
from the account of how this church at Philippi came into
being, and we picked up the story at the point where Paul
and his companions were moving prayerfully, and in the
Spirit, forward in their great ministry. They reached one
point and essayed to move on in a certain direction, but
they were not suffered of the Holy Spirit to go and
preach in that direction, and, finding that way closed,
they sought to move in another direction, and again the
Spirit of Jesus suffered them not; and so they stayed
still. For the night at least they stayed where they were
and prayed, I suppose, and during that night a vision
came to Paul. You notice that HE saw the vision
and THEY came to the conclusion. The man of
Macedonia stood and appealed, saying: 'Come over into
Macedonia and help us!', and they concluded that the Lord
had called them to preach the Gospel there. So they went
by a straight course into Macedonia, into Europe
for the first time, and came to Philippi. That all seems
fairly straightforward. They went down on the Sabbath Day
by the riverside, supposing that they would find a place
for prayer. I expect that they were looking in all
directions for the man of Macedonia. You know what they
found - a woman, not of Macedonia at all, but from Asia,
where they had been forbidden to go and preach the Word!
Contradiction number one! And then a girl possessed of an
evil spirit bothered, worried, annoyed and vexed them;
not much hope of things in that direction! Contradiction
number two! And then the immediate issue of Paul's act -
they were thrown into the inner prison and their feet
made fast in the stocks! Contradiction number three!
Where is this man of Macedonia? Where is this open door
for preaching the Gospel?
Now I venture to say that you and I might just have sat
down and said: 'This is a terrible case of mistaken
guidance. It is all a mistake! I was quite sure that the
Lord gave me that vision, that the Lord was in that
matter of our coming this way, but everything now argues
to the contrary! Now, seeking to do what I believed to be
the Lord's will, this is where I get landed. I was trying
to follow the Spirit's leading, and checking up as I
went, and this is what obedience to the Lord results in!'
Something like that would go on inside, at any rate, for
the devil would see to it. The situation, the
appearances, the apparent contradictions, on the one
hand, and then bleeding sores and a dark dungeon. These
are things which are calculated to raise very serious
questions about your Divine guidance and being in the
will of God. At any rate, they provide good ground for
the enemy to encamp upon. Well, I have no doubt that it
was a very real and severe test of faith for Paul and
Silas as to their guidance.
How did they survive? How did they get on top of this
situation? For undoubtedly they were on top of it. At
midnight they prayed and sang hymns. Again, I have to
pause and say that this Letter is beyond us, and this
whole matter finds us wanting. I think the answer, at
least, a part of it, to the question of their triumph in
such a situation is this: that the Cross had done a work
deep enough to rule out all personal interests, and
personal interests were so thoroughly ruled out that the
Holy Spirit Himself had a clear way to bring up their
spirits in triumph in spite of darkness in circumstances
and darkness in spiritual appearances. The Holy Spirit
was able to do this. You notice what Paul says in this
first chapter - and it does seem to me that there is much
in this Philippian Letter which is an echo of the
Philippian experiences years before - "For I know
that this shall turn out to my salvation, through your
supplication and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus
Christ." 'The supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.'
Do you not think that that explains it?
We do not want to be too analytical or introspective, but
it will not do us any harm to take account of our own
disposition. If we are quite honest with our own hearts,
is it not true that a very large measure of our darkness
under trial, our failure, our breakdown, our going to
pieces, our loss of position spiritually, is because we
are disappointed, and our disappointment lies very
largely in the direction of something upon which our
hearts were set, something of personal interest even in
the Lord's work; OUR ministry, the WORK -
meaning, of course, the Lord's work and things for the
Lord. We would not call it OUR ambition - perhaps
we have never used the word 'ambition' - but may there
not be an element of that lying behind our vision,
something, even though it were for the Lord, which we had
hoped would be blessed and prospered, and the Lord would
give good success? The whole thing is brought, like
David's enterprise with the ark on the new cart, to a
sudden hold-up and everything seems to go to pieces, and WE
go to pieces; then, when the truth is really known, we
discover that there were really personal interests in it.
It does seem to me that in Paul's case the great factor
in his triumph continually - for he was a triumphant man
- in the midst of terrible adversities and trials and
difficulties and sufferings all the way through the years
was his utter disinterestedness; that with him there was
no personal interest at all. It was Christ. The Cross had
smitten everything personal, and this Letter to the
Philippians is full of that. Take this fragment, for
instance: "Some indeed preach Christ even of envy
and strife, and some also of good will: the one do it of
love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the
gospel; but the other proclaim Christ of faction, not
sincerely, thinking to raise up affliction for me in my
bonds" (verses 15-17).
How mean, how contemptible, how wicked to preach Christ
with a motive like that! To preach Christ in such a way
as to afflict one of Christ's servants! What does Paul
say? 'Contemptible wretches! The Lord bring His judgments
to bear upon them!'? Not at all! 'Oh, what does it matter
how they preach Christ? Christ is preached, and that is
all that matters. Therein I rejoice and will rejoice!' I
tell you that it wants a crucified man to say that! A man
is in prison in bonds; other men are trying to hit him
when he is down and are using the very Gospel or the
preaching of the Gospel - their manner of preaching the
Gospel - to that end. Then this man says: 'That is all
right. I will simply stand all that and thank the Lord
that, however they preach, so long as Christ is preached,
that is all that matters!' I say that it is a crucified
man who can say that, a man who has no personal feelings
or interests.
You know what he says a little later in the Letter about
all the things that were gain to him. 'I was this, and I
was that, and I was the other. I had this and I had that,
and I was in a position. Yes, but these things which were
gain to me I counted loss for Christ' - "Yea,
verily, and I count all things to be loss for the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for
whom I suffered the loss of all things, and to count them
as refuse, that I may gain Christ, and be found in
him" (chapter 3:4-8). You see, the Cross has dealt
with name, reputation, position, advantages and
everything that was personal. This man has come to the
tremendous vantage ground of perfect disinterestedness
and selflessness, and it is the working out of the
principle that the Holy Spirit follows the way of the
Cross.
The Spirit Follows the Way of the Cross
That is
true right through the Word. The Cross leads the way of
the Spirit: the Spirit follows the way of the Cross. We
sing:
"Enlarge our soul's capacity,
Cut deeper channels, Lord.
Room for the floods of blessing new,
According to Thy Word."
'Cut deeper
channels' - the Cross cutting the way for the supply of
the Spirit. Here is the message, if we said no more. Paul
was a man who was crucified to self. The Cross had
wrought that in him, and the supply of the Spirit of
Jesus did the rest. Oh, I cannot preach at you! I can
only say to you: 'Brethren, will not the Holy Spirit
spontaneously take the course which the Cross has opened
up? Will not the Spirit of Jesus come in and lift us up,
even in our sufferings and our sorrows, when we have got
rid of that horrible, hateful, obstructive self-interest,
self-pity, self-consideration, self-realization and
self-strength?' I am sure our hearts must be smitten by
this word if it is true. If you and I - and this is the
sum of the whole Letter - can really come, by the grace
of God, to the place where the Cross has wrought in us so
that we are delivered from all self-interest, on its weak
side and on its strong side, the Spirit of Jesus Christ
will make a difference in our case in the time of
adversity which will turn the midnight into midday,
darkness into light, and make us sing in a dungeon. At
least it is worth thinking about! In Paul's case the
Cross had resolved everything into a matter of Christ.
Now, perhaps some of you have gone beyond me, and even
yet there lurks somewhere in your mind this question:
'Yes, but those who are most utter for the Lord, most
out-and-out and most thorough-going for the Lord, are
very often the ones who have the greatest reason to
wonder whether the Lord is for them.' And yet when that
question arises - and I must press this again - there is
a tremendous deliverance from the sting of that sort of
thing when you know, and the Lord knows, that you have no
other concern but for His glory. I think the sting of
discouragement, disappointment, despair and doubt is very
often found just in the tail of some self-interest which
means disappointment, personal disappointment as well as
disappointment for the Lord. Well, what I see here in
Paul's case is that, with the destruction of these
self-elements, he came to a position which was a very
strong one. This position - "For me to live is
Christ" - in his case was a very strong position in
the hour of deepest difficulty and trial. "I KNOW
that this shall turn to my salvation." "Now I
would have you know that the things which have happened
unto me have fallen out rather unto the progress of the
gospel." That is a strong position!
A Strong Position
What is the
strength of it? It is this: that the sovereignty of God
is behind it. If you and I can come to the place where
this is true in our case - "For me to live is
Christ" - where the Lord Himself knows that it is
true and not just something said by us, then I believe it
is a position which has the sovereignty of God behind it.
See them at Philippi again! They were there for the Lord,
and for the Lord only, without any kind of interest at
all apart from His interests. Well, the situation which
arose was a very difficult and perplexing one, apparently
full of contradictions, but look at the sovereignty of
God behind it!
How strategic it was, to begin with, in that it was an
open door into Europe! And what an assembly came into
being!
"I thank my God upon all my remembrance of you,
always in every supplication of mine on behalf of you all
making my supplication with joy, for your fellowship in
furtherance of the gospel from the first day until
now" (1:3-5).
What an assembly! And what a sovereign act to make the
first members of that assembly the very gaoler and his
family! Where Lydia came in I do not know. She was
evidently a commercial traveller, and you know that that
meant great possibilities for the Gospel, for she linked
up Asia and Europe. It is all very strategic and
wonderful, and God is behind this whole thing - and yet
what a complication! If you sit down with the thing at
the outset and take the situation which immediately
arises, you say: 'Well, this is a mess! This is a
mistake. You have made a blunder this time!' And you give
it all up and lose your confidence in God. Well, Satan
knew better than that: and these men who had not any
personal interests did not go down under despair. They
proved the sovereignty of God. And Paul in another prison
years afterwards in Rome wrote this Letter and just
touched on the same thing - that the sovereignty of God
was behind a crucified life: "I would have you know
that the things which have happened unto me have fallen
out rather unto the progress of the gospel." "I
know that this shall turn to my salvation." The
sovereignty of God! It is a strong position, but we
cannot be sure of sovereignty unless we are well
crucified. If there is any sovereignty of 'I' or self,
the sovereignty of God is set aside.
An Emancipated Position
And then it was a very emancipated position. How unfettered Paul was by human judgments! It did not matter a scrap to him what people thought or said or did. He was a free man all the time, whether he was in prison or out. Why? Simply for this. If you and I KNOW that we are not out for something here, that our hearts are really for the Lord and the Lord only, it is a wonderfully emancipated position to be in. What does it matter? Let these men preach in the manner in which they mean to bring harm upon us, preach against us, and even use the Gospel as an instrument against us! What does it matter? We are emancipated; we are on top of that! All are emancipated who are delivered from self. If we know that there is no question about our utterness for the Lord, we are not worried very much about things said and things done.
A Joyous Position
And I see,
too, what a joyous position it was, and I say: 'I see
it.' I am not telling you that I have got it, but I see
it. Someone has said that the Letter to the Philippians
can be summed up in a very brief sentence. It is this:
"I rejoice! You rejoice!" And that is the
Letter - "I rejoice and you rejoice!" It is
full of joy right through - joy in the Lord. And what is
the secret of joy? If you ask what the secret of misery
is I can tell you very quickly: to be occupied with
yourself. The secret of joy is to be occupied with the
Lord.
May the Lord lead us into Paul's secret: the supply of
the Spirit of Jesus Christ by the Cross!
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