Rejoice to be Empowered in the Lord
The Triune God is the living of New Jerusalem. Philippians 1 shows us a precursor of this living in our present Christian life. Having the petitions of others and “the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (v. 19), we thereby live Christ (v. 21), and the expression is that Christ is magnified, shown to be fully sufficient (v. 20).
Philippians shows that we should take Christ as our living so that He may be our expression (1:19-21). We should also take His mind as our mind (2:5). We need to gain Him and be found in Him so that He may become our lived-out righteousness (3:8-9). He should be the unique goal of our pursuit (v. 14) and our expectation as we await His return (vv. 20-21). Furthermore, we need to enjoy and be filled with His divine attributes so that they can become our human virtues (4:8).*
Going onward, in verses 4:11-13 Christ is our sufficient empowering in all situations, whether high or low. The key to all of this is to rejoice. Paul tells us that even while in prison with some others announcing Christ out of selfish ambition, “I rejoice; yes, and I will rejoice” (1:18). Even if he were to be martyred, he rejoices (2:17).
Paul exhorts us “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (4:4; 3:1). Let us rejoice always that the power of the Lord in us may overcome all “murmurings and reasonings” (2:14), magnify Christ in all situation (1:20), and give us a foretaste of New Jerusalem.
* From page 44 of Ed Marks, The New Jerusalem—A Corporate Person, Affirmation & Critique Monograph, A&C Press, © Living Stream Ministry (2025).
Posted by Don on August 5, 2026
https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2026/08/05/rejoice-to-be-empowered-in-the-lord/
