«　WEEK 1　DAY 5　»

　　Phil. 2:2 Make my joy full, that you think the same thing, having the same love, joined in soul, thinking the one thing.

　　4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.

　　We can make a distinction between the experience of Christ and the enjoyment of Christ. The experience of Christ is a matter primarily in our spirit, but the enjoyment of Christ is in our soul…. Consider the example of eating food. It is one thing to eat food and another thing to enjoy it. Sometimes parents force their children to eat certain foods. Although the children may eat out of the fear of being disciplined, they do not enjoy the food they are eating. Rather, they suffer as they eat. Sometimes we experience Christ not in the way of enjoyment but in the way of suffering. We may say, “I must take Christ as my life and live by Him. I have to experience Christ.” But this is not the enjoyment of Christ. Like children who eat without enjoying their food, many times we experience Christ without enjoying Him. Instead of enjoying Christ, we suffer. Thus, we can have the experience of Christ without the enjoyment of Christ. The problem here is with our soul. (CWWL, 1978, vol. 1, “The Experience of Christ,” pp. 338-339)

　　Philippians is a book not only on the experience of Christ but also on the enjoyment of Christ. In Philippians 3:8 Paul says that for the sake of Christ he counted all things as refuse. This is not only a matter of experience but also a matter of enjoyment. The excellency of the knowledge of Christ (v. 8) also indicates enjoyment. Excellency is not mainly for experience but for enjoyment….With the enjoyment of Christ there is a pleasant taste.

　　Although the Philippians were good, they had lost their enjoyment of Christ. They may have had a proper spirit, but there was a problem in their soul. They might have been one in spirit, but they were definitely not one in soul. This is the background.

　　The reason for writing the Epistle to the Philippians was that, although they were for the Lord and cared for His servant and were very good in their spirit, they had a problem in their soul because they did not think the same thing. In their thinking they had a problem. Hence, Paul wrote this Epistle to advise them and even to beg them to be one in soul.

　　Our need today is very similar to that of the Philippians. In chapter 1 Paul said of the Philippians, “I thank my God upon all my remembrance of you, always in my every petition on behalf of you all, making my petition with joy” (vv. 3-4). I feel the same way toward all the dear saints in the Lord's recovery. I can sincerely say that I praise the Lord for all the saints. Nevertheless, I am somewhat concerned that you may not have very much enjoyment of Christ. Perhaps when you first arrived in your locality, you had considerable enjoyment of Him. But as time has gone by, you may have lost this enjoyment. The reason for this is that there is a problem in the soul. Either the sisters are too much in the emotion, or the brothers are too much in the mind. But we all have a problem with our stubborn will. My burden is that this stubborn will would be dealt with. Many of those who have been in the Lord's recovery a long time are like children eating food without enjoying it. When they first came, everything was enjoyable, but many do not have this enjoyment today. The reason many lose the enjoyment of Christ is the problem they have in the soul. The young people may be very active in preaching the gospel on the campuses. They may pray, praise, and shout Hallelujah. But all this may become merely the carrying out of a duty. There may not be much enjoyment of Christ. If you do not have much enjoyment of Christ, it indicates that you are not one in soul. Your thoughts and emotions differ from those of others. The reason Euodias and Syntyche were not one was that they had a problem in the soul. They were not thinking the same thing. (CWWL, 1978, vol. 1, “The Experience of Christ,” pp. 340-341)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1978, vol. 1, “The Experience of Christ,” ch. 4