Genesis 8:20

Genesis 8:20 And Noah built an altar to Jehovah and took of every clean beast and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

The altar is a type of the cross of Christ, and the offerings are types of the different aspects of Christ. The building of an altar and the offering of offerings on it signify the offering of Christ to God through the cross. In the church life, the first thing we must do is not to work for God but to go to the cross to be terminated; then we need to experience Christ and offer to God the Christ whom we have experienced in different aspects for God's satisfaction. 

Colossians 2:11

Colossians  2:11 In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ,

God's intention is that we would be brought to our end and that, in fact, we have been brought to our end already. Why is this God's intention? God intends that we be brought to our end because He desires that Christ would be everything to us. We have to be "out", so that Christ can come in; we have to be dethroned, so that Christ can be crowned; and we have to be brought to our end, so that Christ can be everything to us. 

- "the Mystery of God and the Mystery of Christ" P54

Philippians 3:12

Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained or am already perfected, but I pursue, if even I may lay hold of that for which I also have been laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

the Christian life is a life of gaining Christ. How much have you gained of Christ? This is a crucial question. We grow in life by gaining Christ. The degree to which we have gained Christ is the degree to which we have grown with Christ. We all need to gain Christ in order to grow in life. Spiritual growth is measured by how much we have gained of Christ.

- "Life Study of Philippians" P193

Colossians 2:7

Colossians 2:7 Having been rooted and being built up in Him, and being established in the faith even as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Growth is for building and building is the result of growth. When we grow up in Christ, we are built up with others. Without growth, there is no building. When we speak about the building of the church, we must remember that the real building of the church is the growth of all the brothers and sisters. We are built together by our growth. Thus, without our growth we can never be built together.

- "the Mystery of God and the Mystery of Christ" P45

The Mystery of God and the Mystery of Christ Lee, Witness LIVING STREAM MINISTRY

 

Philippians 3:8

Philippians 3:8 But moreover I also count all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse that I may gain Christ

After we receive the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, we shall be willing to suffer the loss of all tings and count them refuse in order to gain Christ and be found in Him. As a result, we shall know Christ experientially. If we do not have the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, we shall not be found in Christ, for it is having the excellency of the knowlege of Christ which makes us willing to suffer the loss of all things and count them as refuse in order to gain Christ and be found in Him. Then, once we have gained Christ and are found in Him, we shall know Him; that is, we shall enjoy Him and experience Him.

- "Life Study of Philippians" P172

Romans 9:23

Romans  9:23 In order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He had before prepared unto glory,

God created us as His vessels to contain Him and express Him. God makes known the riches of His glory upon us, His vessels, which He has prepared unto glory. We were predestinated by His sovereignty to be His containers, vessles of honor, to express what He is in glory. 

John 12:24

John  12:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

According to the principle of the nature, if a grain of wheat is never sown into the earth, it will remain forever as one grain of wheat; but if this grain of wheat is buried into the earth, then it will bear much fruit. 

In the same principle, the Lord Jesus had to go to the cross to die in order to bear much fruit. As the result of the life-releasing death and life-dispensing resurrection of the Lord Jesus, we have become the many sons of God, simply by believing into Jesus and receiving the divine life. Hallelujah! we are the "much fruit"!

Philippians 1:5

Philippians  1:5 For your fellowship unto the furtherance of the gospel from the first day until now,

The saints in Philippi had fellowship unto the gospel, participating in the furtherance of the gospel through the apostle Paul’s ministry. This participation included their financial contributions to the apostle (Phil. 4:10, 15-16), which issued in the furtherance of the gospel. This kind of fellowship, which kept them from being individualistic and diversely minded, implies their oneness with the apostle Paul and with one another. This gave them the ground for their experience and enjoyment of Christ, which is the main point of this book. The Christ-experiencing-and-enjoying life is a life in the furtherance of the gospel, a gospel-preaching life, not individualistic but corporate. Hence, there is “the fellowship unto the furtherance of the gospel.” The more fellowship we have in the furtherance of the gospel, the more Christ we experience and enjoy. This kills our self, ambition, preference, and choice.

- "Life Study of Philippians" P13

Genesis 12:8

Genesis 12:8 And he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to Jehovah and called upon the name of Jehovah.

An altar means that we do not keep anything for ourselves. An altar means that we realize that we are here on earth for God. An altar means that our life is for God, that God is our life, and that the meaning of our life is God. So we put everything on the altar. We are not here making a name for ourselves; we are putting everything on the altar for the sake of His name.

Ephesians 3:16-17

Ephesians 3:16 That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man,

Ephesians 3:17 That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

We all need to be strengthened into our inner man so that Christ will be able to make His home in our hearts. Our heart is composed of all the parts of the soul -the mind, emotion, and will - plus the conscience, the main part of our spirit. 

Through regeneration, Christ came into our spirit. Subsequently, we should allow Him to spread Himself into every part of our heart. Since our heart is the totality of all our inward parts and the center of our inward being, when Christ makes His home in our heart, He is able to control our entire inner being and supplies and strengthens every inward part with Himself. The secret of Christ making His home in our heart is the stregthening of our inner man. 

- "Life Study of Ephesians" PP785-786