09-Chapter Nine Christ Our Example

CHAPTER NINE CHRIST OUR EXAMPLE In our final message we shall consider the thought that Paul presents Christ as our example in the book of Philippians.
In chapter 1 Paul declares that Christ is to be preached. We are to preach up Christ and preach down sin. Christ is the remedy for sin; therefore Christ is to be preached. Christ perfectly meets the needs of sinners; nothing else and no one else is needed.

Whether it be the black man of Africa, the Eskimo, the yellow man, the redskin, the island natives, or the leaders of our educational institutions, Christ alone can meet the need, and no one else.
In Php 1:20 we see that Christ is to be exalted. He only is worthy. Christ has no competitor. He is the only perfect Man who lived a perfect life; therefore He is to be exalted. God will exalt no other.

Verse 21 tells us that Christ is to be lived. He is to live in us. The living Christ is to have His own way in our hearts. It is His life lived out in others that influences the unsaved. It is not an imitation of Christ. It is the real life of Christ in the soul that we are to enjoy and manifest to others.
In Php 1:26 we learn that Christ is to be enjoyed. Many believe in Him who do not enjoy Him. Many preach about Him but do not enjoy Him. It is one thing to believe the truth about Christ; it is quite another to rejoice in His lovely Person.

As we have mentioned before, most of God’s people are not happy Christians. They carry burdens and grieve over unrequited love. There is trouble in the church; their plans have been thwarted; their hopes have been blasted; and they do not enjoy the Lord. Paul wants us to enjoy Him and to believe in Him (Php 1:29).

What a joy it is to have perfect confidence in one, loving that one, confiding and trusting in that one, being happy and comfortable under the guidance and care of that one.

This is our privilege in Christ.
But it is also our privilege to suffer with Christ, as we learn from Php 1:29. Some suffer because of their own peculiarities; others suffer because of their religious idiosyncrasies; some suffer because they are busybodies and want to make everybody believe as they do and do as they want them to do. We may suffer for Christ by our loyalty to Him, devotion to Him, zeal for Him and our knowledge of Him. He makes the battle smooth and sweet when the suffering is really for Him. So Paul could sing in the prison and John could worship on the Island of Patmos and Peter could sleep in jail. In chapter 2 we learn that we are to enjoy the comfort, consolation and solace of Christ. How sweetly He comforts His own! He dries the tears as He did for Mary and Martha. He holds us close to His heart as He did the saintly John. He holds us in His arms as He did those lovely little children. He speaks magic words as He did to the woman of Syro-Phoenicia. It is His comfort, care and consolation that is our own precious portion for the daily Christian life.

We are to let His mind be in us. We are to think His thoughts after Him. My meditation of him shall be sweet (Psalms 104:34).

The mind of Christ in us will make us humble, easy to live with, easy to work with. If His mind dwells in us, we will not be proud, independent, nor self-sufficient. We will feel the need of His presence, the ministry of the Spirit and the fellowship of God’s people. We will let Him arrange our work and service as He desires.

Php 2:11 tells us that we are to confess Him. We are to confess His Lordship and His glory. He is the Master of the sea, the earth, the sky. We are to confess that He is God’s Saviour and ours. We confess His beauty, His power, His majesty, His might. He is the Maker of heaven and earth. He controls the elements. He continues to uphold all things by the word of his power. We should love to confess Him before men and tell about Him and His rich blessings for our soul.
In Php 2:21 we are exhorted to seek for and promote His glory. We present Him first and foremost. He has no second place. He is the Chief, and we are glad to be His soldiers and bondservants. We are to seek the things that will bring glory to Him, and not to ourselves. We should desire His honor, and not honor for ourselves. We are to promote His interests, not our own. He is the One to whom attention is called.
In Php 2:30 we are told that He is to be served. We love to serve Him; we love to work for Him; we love to plan for Him; we think of Him constantly as we preach or teach or give away tracts or hold personal conversations. The work of Christ charms us, allures us, draws us, and holds us. We rejoice in the honor of being His workmen and His servants.
In Php 3:8-9 it is quite evident that we are to be like Christ. The righteousness we receive is through Christ. The faith we have is in Christ. The acceptance we enjoy is because of Christ - “accepted in the beloved.” Eventually we shall be conformed to His image. We cannot be competitors of Christ. We are to be His without reservation and without mortgage. Christ is to own us completely, fully and absolutely.

His image is to be impressed upon us. His likeness is to be imprinted upon us. We are to be called by His Name and are to call upon His Name and upon no other. We are to be like Christ in every respect.

Php 3:12 indicates that we are to understand Christ and understand why He has called us. We are not to follow in ignorance nor darkness. The Lord does not want us to be ignorant nor to walk in the shadows. He wants us to understand and to know His will. He wants us to grasp in some measure the reason He has called us to be His own and what He expects of us after He has called us. What wonderful opportunities there are; what privileges, what open doors! The Lord enable us to enter them.

Php 3:20 expresses the fact that we wait for Christ. We look for His return. We watch for the marks of His appearing. Columbus discovered the West Indies long before he sighted land. Land birds flew through the rigging, lit on the spars, settled on the deck, and he knew that land was near. So our Lord is sending the birds, the tender leaves, the sprouts to remind us that the day is not far distant when the Prince of Peace will come to a warring world and bring peace.

We close our discussion of this precious book of Philippians by observing in chapter 4 that we are to be true to Christ. We are not to be vacillating, blown about by the winds of doctrine, nor washed away by the flood tide of public opinion. We are to be rooted and grounded in the truth and our faith is to be fixed firmly on this wonderful Rock of Ages, Christ Jesus our Lord.

Php 4:4 tells us that we are to rejoice in Him. We have already observed this, but Paul speaks of it often. In chapter 3:1 he mentions it. In I Thessalonians he mentions it. In fact, because of its supreme importance he will not let the subject rest. Joy in the Lord is an absolute requirement for a happy, profitable, useful life.

There is an imitation joy which does not come from the heart. There are exclamations of joy which are not inspired. When the preaching is over, the countenance is sad and the heart is heavy. This is not the real joy of the Lord.

The person who is happy in Christ will be found happy bending over the washtub, or sitting at the piano, or clerking in the grocery store, or pounding the typewriter, or selling merchandise. Wherever he is, his heart will be glad, his countenance will be radiant and his lips will be filled with praise. That is what Paul desired for his children by faith in Christ Jesus.

Php 4:7 indicates that we are to enjoy the peace of God and be kept by Christ both in our heart, the seat of our feelings, and in our mind, the abode of our thoughts. It is essential that we have peace both in heart and mind. Sometimes the heart grows heavy, and sometimes the mind is confused. We need the keeping power of our blessed Lord in order that we may think straight and feel happy.

Let us close our meditation by noting in Php 4:13 that we are to work with God and for His glory. We are not to be lazy Christians nor indifferent. We are not to shirk our duty nor ignore our privileges.

We are to let our blessed Lord have all of our time and talents. He can make the weakest Christian carry out an important mission. He can engrave His image on any kind of stone and make that one to do His wonderful will.

Let us serve our Lord with gladness, with reverence and with godly fear. Let us seek to become better servants, to improve our knowledge of God and of His Word, to become more efficient in the Scriptures and in diagnosing the need of many hearts. Let us not be content merely to drift along and enjoy only a few of the blessings of God. Let us strive to be workmen that are not ashamed.

It may be clearly seen from a careful study of the entire Word and of this lovely book of Philippians that Christ Jesus is the center of all of God’s plans and arrangements.

It is His Name that is called upon us and we are to be His bride. He is the One who is King of kings and we are His lawful and loyal subjects. He is the One whom we imitate in our walk and talk and thought.

Our songs of praise are concerning Him and His wonderful work at Calvary.

- We depend upon Him as the limb of the tree depends upon the trunk of the tree.
- We feed upon Him as the wee baby lives by the mother’s breast.
- We grow up in Him to a full stature because His life is to be manifest in our mortal body.

He is the subject of our Gospel. He is the gathering center of His Church. It is His power that is given to us for judgment and for blessing. It is His Name that causes angels and men to fall in adoration and demons to flee. It is the risen, glorified Man Jesus, made both Lord and Christ, to whom all authority has been given in heaven and earth. He is the One who accompanies us through the valley of the shadow. Our life is hid with Him in God. He has gone to prepare a place for us and it is with Him that we shall walk in white.

Surely He is our example and pattern. Surely He is the goal, the aim and the object of the life of every believer.

~ end of book ~

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