MORAL FORMATION RESULTING FROM THE GLAD TIDINGS
We have considered together the elevated character of the glad tidings. It is interesting to remark that in the third chapter of Philippians we see the effect of the glad tidings on one who had been the chief of sinners.
In this epistle, the apostle writes not as an apostle, but rather as one among us, although he could perfectly well present himself as being a model.
When the Lord appeared to Saul, on the road to Damascus, He made to shine round about him a light brighter than the light of the sun; it is thus that Paul speaks of it in his description made to Agrippa. He had seen the Lord in glory, and had heard His voice saying to him, “Why persecutest thou me?”. The Lord identified Himself from above with the saints in their sufferings down here.
It is thus that the truth developed in the apostle’s soul, the glory increasing before his eyes, and in Acts 26, appearing before Agrippa, he is held in all the dignity of a heavenly man. He was greater than Agrippa, than the queen, the Roman governor and all the great men around him. He was conscious of being the greatest of them all, and equally he had the feeling of the approval of God Himself. He says, “I would to God, both in little and in much, that not only thou, but all who have heard me this day, should become such as I also am, except these bonds”. Outwardly, he was just a prisoner in chains, but in fact, he was satisfied and glorified God by the way in which he conducted himself. He had been a blasphemer and persecutor, and so there could be no greater testimony to the power of the gospel than what was manifested in himself. It is interesting to see that, according to this epistle, some years later, in the prison in Rome, he had only one desire, that was to gain Christ, to have Him as his gain.
I think all that is in view of helping us to discern in Paul a spiritual man who is drawing near to the end of his course. We see what marked him, he was always in the exercises of the testimony, his care for the assemblies was constant; while as to himself, what maintained him was the vision of Christ in the glory, and the knowledge that he had what according to God’s grace he himself had found in Christ, without a trace of the first man. And yet it would be Paul—Paul taking on all the moral excellence and attraction of the Man Christ Jesus; and he understood that in God’s ways, all his circumstances would deepen the work of transformation. He passes on all these things, presenting them to us with the authority of an apostle, but presenting himself as an example. It is a good thing to keep in our minds that Christ has accomplished redemption, that He has gone up on high, that the Holy Spirit is come, and that God has manifested all that was in His mind. We read in the first epistle to the Corinthians of “the first man out of the earth, made of dust; the second man, out of heaven. Such as he made of dust, such also those made of dust; and such as the heavenly one, such also the heavenly ones”. Before that it is said, “that which is spiritual was not first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual”. The natural order of things has been introduced as a sort of afterthought, so as to lead to what would abide, and we can have an impression of what is found in God’s purpose for us, as being manifested in Christ Jesus. So that in God’s ways as to Paul, it has been allowed that one should have all that a man down here could have, as he enumerates in verses 5 and 6. But having received in his soul this light brighter than the light of the sun, he came to a judgment of all those things; in comparison with Christ, they were but filth. It is like the elder son in Luke 15, except that he had nothing to show. The elder son came saying, “Behold, so many years I serve thee, and never have I transgressed a commandment of thine”. He corresponds in some way to what Paul had been, for he says, “as to righteousness which is in the law, found blameless”. But we read that the father went out to the elder son and besought him to come in, as if to say, even if what you say is true, it cannot compare to the best robe; and this is what we see in Paul. He has received an impression of the best robe and he desires no other; he wants to reject everything else because he appreciates the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord and the blessings which flow down from the fact that he is found in Him. It is a matter of moral formation in the present time. When we have the expression “in Christ” in Scripture, it is some kind of allusion to our position before God. We are “in Christ”, in contrast to having been “in Adam”. Where the Scriptures speak of being “in Christ Jesus”, that signifies a certain formation in us in the moral features of Christ, the Holy Spirit traces these moral excellencies which were in Christ Jesus and the way in which they were expressed.
Now, Paul rejoices in the thought that he is to be found in Christ and desires that everything contributes to his increasing formation according to Christ: “to know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, if any way I arrive at the resurrection from among the dead”. He took part in the sufferings of Christ, very great moral excellencies. We remarked on a previous occasion that the Lord Jesus had learned obedience through the things He has suffered and the more one bears these sufferings of Christ, the more they bring comfort. Paul desired to take part in those sufferings seeing the moral glory that attached to them, and then he says, “being conformed to his death”. The death of Christ has been unique, and at the same time it has been the accomplishment of every moral excellence in devotion to the will of God in obedience and in love for the saints. Paul desired to be conformed to such a death; it did not matter in what way he would be led, suffering or martyrdom, he saw that this would contribute more and more to his formation in Christ Jesus and he gloried in the prize of the calling on high of God in Christ Jesus.
He speaks then in a very encouraging way: “Not that I have already obtained the prize, or am already perfected; but I pursue, if also I may get possession of it …” It is encouraging to see the apostle put himself alongside of us as one who had not already arrived at perfection. He sets before us the necessity of having one thing in mind and to consider the goal: “I pursue, looking towards the goal”. Nothing will help us better to pursue the race than to have our eyes firmly fixed on the goal, without being turned aside by whatever it may be and pursuing to the end. It is not only the end that we consider, but there is also the goal of the race, which is the full thought of being found in Christ. That is our calling. The epistle to the Hebrews says that we have been called with a heavenly calling. The danger with the Hebrews was to be held back by earthly things.
In the second epistle to Timothy, it is said that we are called with a holy calling, thus emphasising the holiness of this calling in the face of the corruption already mounting up in the Christian profession, but here it is spoken of as a calling on high of God to show its elevated character. If Adam had not failed, he would never have been more than an earthly man, but now what is introduced is that there is in Christ an order of manhood that draws its character from One who has come into manhood and who is more excellent.
The apostle says in the first chapter: “that your love may abound yet more and more in full knowledge and all intelligence, that ye may judge of and approve the things that are more excellent”. May we be with God in the judgment we have of what is really excellent, rejecting all that men pursue and what they even consider very desirable.
Then the apostle makes an appeal: “As many therefore as are perfect, let us be thus minded; and if ye are any otherwise minded, this also God shall reveal to you”. He emphasises the importance of the things to which we give our minds, for the enemy can do great damage if he is able to occupy our minds with what is not worthy, hence the great importance that our minds should be controlled and particularly at the Supper, for an appeal is made there to our minds and affections. The Lord says to us, “This is my body, which is for you”. It is a case of our minds being affected by the presentation of Christ and particularly by the presentation of His body. The more Christ is before us, as the One who became Man (for that is what His body would recall) the more we will be delivered from every form of selfishness or finding our own satisfaction, for such things should be immediately rejected by the presentation of Christ. So the Lord does not leave us more than a week without presenting Himself afresh before us.
It is thus that the apostle appeals to us, so that we should have a similar feeling: “if anyone be otherwise minded, this also God will reveal to him”.
He adds, “Be imitators all together of me”. We may well think how remarkable it is that the Spirit should tell us to be imitators of Paul; we might expect that He would command us to be imitators of Christ; but He tells us to imitate Paul, although not diverting us from Christ, for Paul was imitator of Christ. The Spirit of God speaks of Paul as of someone who had like passions as ourselves, he was not perfect, but by the Lord’s grace he had been led in great measure to conformity to Christ, and although there had been what had marked him at certain moments, he nevertheless kept a sole object before him; not being diverted from Christ. Christ was his object; this is why he is able to present himself before us as model.
Then Paul speaks of the sorrow he had on account of those who walked otherwise, speaking of some who were enemies of the cross of Christ. The cross of Christ is that which we must always keep in our mind, for it is in it that God has expressed His judgment of the first man in his totality. The cross of Christ is something that we must always carry in our hearts.
“For our commonwealth has its existence in the heavens, from which also we await the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour, who shall transform our body of humiliation into conformity to his body of glory”. That is where salvation in its fulness will be seen and realised.
Then at the beginning of chapter 4, the apostle brings in a note of rejoicing, he says, “Rejoice in the Lord always”. The expression “in the Lord” often comes in this epistle.
God’s appeal is seen in Christ Jesus, but “in the Lord” is the position down here where the truth of God is contested; the Lord on high controls everything and we can take our part in the conflict with the feeling that He will be victorious. The Lord will be manifested as faithful and all powerful, the truth will go through everything, and we all can go through with it, in the measure in which we are committed.
So Paul urges us to rejoice in the Lord; it is a thought which stimulates us to take part in the conflict with the full knowledge that we are on the side which will prevail, and all this in rejoicing in the Lord.
In the book of Revelation, it is said, “Blessed they who die in the Lord”. “In the Lord” is a kind of military term and we must rejoice, having our part in that.
The apostle makes an appeal to two sisters so that they should be of the same mind in the Lord, as if to say to them: if you do not resolve your difference, the enemy will get in. It is a matter of being of one mind in the Lord for the love of the truth, of setting aside every personal consideration so that the truth should be established. If we are all formed by Christ, personal elements will disappear. It is thus that Paul makes an appeal to these two sisters, mentioning them by their names and exhorting them to have the same mind in the Lord. As if to encourage us, he says, “Let your gentleness be known of all men. The Lord is near. Be careful about nothing …” The Lord is near for our support and to encourage all those who are ready to support the conflict of the glad tidings.
Then he brings in what we have in the knowledge of God: encouraging us to be careful about nothing, “but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God”. I believe that the idea of prayer includes the idea of demanding intelligently, that is to say that we know what to pray for; while supplication, gives the idea of intensity of demand; both must be presented with thanksgiving. We have to consider that we have nothing to do with God without thanksgiving; I believe that every time we approach to Him, we must be marked by this, for the position of favour in which we are established abides, and God is not diverted from the purpose that He has formed. Thus, in everything our requests must be presented with thanksgiving and “the peace of God, which surpasses every understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts by Christ Jesus”. It does not say that we will necessarily receive what we have asked, but what we will have is the peace of God that surpasses every understanding. It is a thing that is set before God and which is left to Him, knowing that He is supreme on the earth and in heaven, and that He can order all that is for the best for the good of His saints.
Then the apostle reminds us in speaking to us of the things that are to fill our minds. Verse 8 is in view of helping us as to the things which must occupy our minds. I have no need to say what God’s thoughts are and what is in view among the saints; their readiness to suffer for the truth, faithfulness to the truth, their expression of love, all these things are true, noble, just, etc … as well as the precious things of God contained in the Scriptures; so that there is a great extent to occupy our minds.
The apostle makes reference to himself one more time. He says: “What ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, these things do; and the God of peace shall be with you”.
Paul had learned all this with God in the circumstances in which he was found, being satisfied in himself. We have all in Christ and by the Holy Spirit, but nobody can fully embrace all that is in Christ and in the Spirit. The Spirit has established His abode in us, so that we are kept living, with Christ, with God, and with the things that are above. The Spirit is the wonderful link between the saints. He is also the Spirit of truth, so that there is no need for us not to be satisfied in whatever our circumstances may be. Paul himself had arrived at that. A man serving in the enjoyment of all that is a man satisfied in the circumstances where he is found, he is a man that Satan cannot overcome, he must be a witness to the glad tidings, he glorifies God, and that is the true glory of a man, to glorify God. A man who seeks his own glory comes from Satan, but the Son of God has been manifested to undo the works of the devil and to accomplish redemption, and he has given us the Spirit, so that all that has marked Himself as Man should be formed in the saints.
May the Lord bless the word.
ST ETIENNE
11th November 1949
Translated from the French magazine, ‘Ondées’, March 1951
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