My Loss to Gain Christ
"But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him..." (Philippians 3:7–9)
Paul not only gave all temporal things to the Lord but he also experienced the actual loss of them. This was followed by the expression of his intense desire that eternal things would now replace those temporal things that had been removed.
"...[B]ut this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth to those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13–14)
I had owned a TV cable system, which I sold so I could attend Bible school. I was told that I was "out of my mind" to do such a thing. However, looking back, I have gained infinitely more than I gave up. In "that day," when we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, I cannot imagine the Lord saying, "Well done, Wade Taylor, you have supplied television to thousands of people."
Now a much higher calling and purpose rests upon my life, and instead there are thousands who have gained eternally through my obedience to the Lord's call. Therefore, this heart cry of Paul has become the desire of my heart and life experience, and hopefully yours also.
Our Specific Calling and Purpose
"...that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death." (Philippians 3:10)
Through redemption and the regeneration of the Holy Spirit, each of us has been set in the Body of Christ with a specific calling and purpose.
"Now ye are the Body of Christ, and members in particular." (1 Corinthians 12:27)
As our spiritual life experience unfolds and develops, we should be able to identify our particular place within the Body and begin to function in our calling and ministry.
"And He goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto Him whom He would: and they came unto Him. And He ordained twelve, that they should be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils." (Mark 3:13–15)
He "calleth unto Him whom He would... that they [put your name here] should be with Him, and that He might send them forth..." Our primary calling is to be with Jesus. We cannot come into the fullness of His calling and purpose for us unless we have first spent time with Him; we cannot give what we do not have. If we are faithful in our being with Jesus, He will be faithful in sending us forth in the outworking of His purpose through us. (Photo via Pexels)
Experiential Identification with Jesus
There are three levels of experiential identification with Jesus in the outworking of our expressed desire to personally know Him (Philippians 3:10):
1. "That I might know Him." We are called to experience an active, personal relationship with Jesus in which we "sup with Him, and He with [us]" (Revelation 3:20). We must come to recognize and respond to His knock upon the "door" of entrance within our spirit. Our prayer should be for us to have an increased ability to hear His voice, and a desire to respond.
2. "The power of His resurrection." To come into a resurrection identity with Jesus, we must first die. Jesus waited until Lazarus stank before He spoke the word of resurrection (John 11:39).
3. "The fellowship of His sufferings." We are called to enter into a higher level of identification with Jesus in which He shares with us a measure of His sufferings concerning the lack of sensitivity to, and desire for, His presence among the redeemed. We are approaching the time of a "catching up" into a higher level of spiritual life and power, "His Parousia" (Strong's 3952). Those who desire a higher level of identity with Jesus are being made ready for this time.
"Out Resurrection"
Paul understood that his coming into these three levels of identification with Jesus would require that he take up his cross in the same condition of mind, "being made conformable to His death" (Philippians 3:10), as Jesus in the taking up of His cross. Therefore, in willing obedience, Paul said, "...I die daily" (1 Corinthians 15:31).
He was expressing the actual outworking of the commitment that he had made to the Lord, the crucifixion of all that he once valued, in order to gain that for which the Lord apprehended him. Now, he could seek an "out resurrection" into a higher realm of spiritual life in identity with Jesus.
Therefore, he prayed, "If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead" (Philippians 3:11). This speaks of our having a present experience of an "out resurrection" from among the "living dead," as well as a future resurrection at the coming of the Lord. Paul is expressing his intense desire to be identified with Jesus in His resurrection life and power.
We also must surrender all things to the Lord, and likewise experience our "being made conformable to His death" (Philippians 3:10). Then, we too can pray for this "out resurrection" and come into the same experience of identification with the Lord that Paul experienced. (Photo via Unsplash)
To do this, we also must pay the price of putting the Lord first in every aspect of our life experience by dying to all else. This will leave us free to follow the Lamb whithersoever He may choose to lead us. Also, it will be accompanied by an intense desire to intimately know Jesus through the experience of an ongoing, active relationship with Him.
Those who are satisfied with all that Jesus accomplished for them on the Cross, [but] desire to go no further, will never hear the Lord say to them, "Well done, you good and faithful servant: you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things: enter you into the joy of your lord" (Matthew 25:21).
Apprehending Eternal Things
There is a present experience in apprehending eternal things that are available to us. Thus, Paul's intense prayer, "If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead" (Philippians 3:11). He did not want to live any longer apart from the Lord. He knew the difference between religiously existing and spiritually living. There is a quality spiritual life and experience that is available to us, but it must be intensely desired and sought after.
We are called to experience this "out resurrection" from among the "living dead," and to move toward this higher realm of spiritual life. It is up to us as to how far we will go in cultivating a quality spiritual life experience, our living in resurrection fellowship with Jesus.
We should never become satisfied with the present state of our spiritual experience and take eternal things for granted. Paul had a marvelous, intense spiritual experience, yet he continued to pray:
"Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:12)
This is one of the most powerful and necessary prayers we could ever pray: "that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended" (Philippians 3:12). We have been truly apprehended of Him. But, the Lord looks upon us, as He did those who received the talents, to see what they would do with them delivered "to every man according to his several ability" Matthew 25:15). Thus, there is a present experience in our "apprehending" that which the Lord has for us. (Photo via Pxhere)
The world looks for natural abilities, but the Lord's view of us relates to our desire toward Him. Thus, these expressions by the apostle Paul moved the heart of the Lord toward him: "That I may know Him"; "If by any means I might attain"; "I follow after, if that I may apprehend"; "I press toward the mark" (Philippians 3:10–12).
Seeking Him "That I May Apprehend"
Our coming into this present experience of identification with Jesus depends on our seeking Him, rather than our resting in all that has been accomplished for us upon Calvary's Cross, which is our judicial standing. We already have this; we do not need to appropriate it. But we are to seek the purpose that Jesus had in mind when He apprehended us.
During 1957, I was seeking the Lord concerning ministry and thought that anything that was worth doing was already being done. I felt that others had the personality and the ability to do better. Then this verse on "apprehending" became personally real to me, and I began to hold it before the Lord that I might apprehend that for which He apprehended me.
I placed myself fully in His hand and trusted Him for the processing of my life to bring about the preparation within me for a ministry, whatever it might be. The Lord has been faithful. As I look back over the years, I can only marvel at the wisdom and goodness of the Lord and His continued hand upon my life. He hears and answers our prayers.
He places within us the desire to be apprehended for the very purpose that He had in mind when He first touched our spirits. We must believe this and begin to seek the outworking of that for which we also were apprehended (Philippians 3:12).
And then, in "that day," Jesus will be able to say to us, "Well done" (Matthew 7:22; 25:21).
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Wade Taylor
Parousia Ministries | Wade Taylor Ministries |
Wade Taylor Publications
Email:Â nancy@wadetaylor.org
or joanne@wadetaylorpublications.org
Websites:Â www.wadetaylor.orgÂ
|Â www.wadetaylorpublications.org
Wade Taylor graduated to Heaven on February 29, 2012. He served others as a teacher and spiritual father for over 50 years. He was respected and loved by many for his quality of spirit and walk with his Lord. He was an anointed author, bringing forth deep truths of the Spirit with a clarity and simplicity that drew the reader up into a closer walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. For more of his writings please visit www.wadetaylor.org.
Nancy Taylor Tate serves in Parousia Ministries, carrying the vision passed on from her father, Wade Taylor. Her books, "That I Might Know Him," and "Walking in His Ways," are readily available on Amazon. In addition, Nancy hosts Parousia Ministries Gatherings and travels, from time to time, to speak and pray with others. Nancy's special gift of relating to and loving people stems from her own love for Jesus and His Kingdom. Her spiritual life messages flow into the hearts of those to whom she ministers. Nancy has an expectation for visitation and carries a prophetic word that speaks into that which the Lord is doing today. For deeper life teachings and to learn more about the vision of Wade Taylor Ministries/Parousia Ministries, please visit www.wadetaylor.org.
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