Knowing, Experiencing, And Enjoying Christ
As Revealed In Philippians
Message Three
Being One in Soul to Enjoy Christ by Thinking the One Thing,
by Being One with Christ in His Inward Parts,
and by Allowing God to Operate in Us
the Willing and the Working
for His Good Pleasure
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Phil. 1:8 For God is my witness how I long after you all in the inward parts of Christ Jesus.
Phil. 2:2 Make my joy full, that you think the same thing, having the same love, joined in soul, thinking the one thing.
Word of Appetizer
It is possible for us to have the experience of Christ without the enjoyment of Christ; the problem here is with our soul; how can we be one soul?
In order for us to be one in soul, we need to think the one thing: the one thing in Philippians refers to the subjective knowledge, experience, and enjoyment of Christ.
In order for us to be one in soul, we need to be one with Christ in His emotions, His “inward parts.”
In order for us to be one in soul, we need to work out our own salvation by cooperating with the inner energizing God, who operates in us both the “willing and the working for His good pleasure.”
Spiritual Burden
Philippians is a book not only on the experience of Christ but also on the enjoyment of Christ; the experience of Christ is primarily in our spirit, but the enjoyment of Christ is in our soul (our mind, emotion, and will). We need to be one in soul to enjoy Christ by thinking the one thing, by being one with Christ in His inward parts, and by allowing God to operate in us the willing and the working for His good pleasure.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
Strictly speaking, Philippians is a book not only on the experience of Christ but also on the enjoyment of Christ; the experience of Christ is primarily in our spirit, but the enjoyment of Christ is in our soul (our mind, emotion, and will).
In order for us to be one in soul, we need to think the one thing: the one thing in Philippians refers to the subjective knowledge, experience, and enjoyment of Christ; the one thing is the pursuing of Christ to gain Him, lay hold of Him, and possess Him.
In order for us to be one in soul, we need to be one with Christ in His emotions, His “inward parts.”
In order for us to be one in soul, we need to work out our own salvation by cooperating with the inner energizing God, who operates in us both the “willing and the working for His good pleasure”.
The Experience of Life
To be with one soul requires that, after having been regenerated in our spirit, we go further to be transformed in our soul; if we are not one in our affections, thoughts, and decisions, we are not with one soul; as long as we are not one in soul, we are not in the fellowship unto the furtherance of the gospel, and our conduct is not worthy of the gospel.
When all the members in the church are in one spirit with one soul, this oneness will be convincing, subduing, and attractive, and we will experience Christ and enjoy Him.
Practice and Application
In order to live in the reality of the Body of Christ, we must enjoy Christ by loving Him to the uttermost, and in order to love Him, our thoughts need to be rescued from being hardened (2 Cor. 3:14), blinded (4:4), rebellious (10:4-5), and corrupted (11:2-3).
We need to exercise our spirit with our subdued and resurrected will to choose to work out our own salvation by cooperating with the indwelling Triune God, who operates within us the willing for His good pleasure.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 The more fellowship we have in the furtherance of the gospel, the more Christ we experience and enjoy (Phil. 1:4-5; 4:4)
(Please illustrate that the Christ-experiencing-and-enjoying life is a life in the furtherance of the gospel, a gospel-preaching life.)
T2 We can have the experience of Christ without the enjoyment of Christ (Phil. 3:8)
(Please illustrate that the experience of Christ is a matter primarily in our spirit, but the enjoyment of Christ is in our soul.)
Day 2
T1 To be one in soul means to be one in our affection, love, thought, and decisions (Phil. 1:27; 2:20)
(Please illustrate with experiences that to be with one soul for the gospel work is more difficult than to be in one spirit for the experience of Christ.)
T2 Nothing is more convincing than in one spirit and with one soul (Phil. 1:27; Rom. 12:2)
(Please illustrate that our experience of Christ should also be an enjoyment of Christ.)
Day 3
T1 Experiencing Christ for the church life (Phil. 2:2; 3:8)
(Please illustrate that the excellence of experiencing Christ as our enjoyment for the church life)
T2 The subjective experience of Christ as our enjoyment for the church life (Phil. 2:2; 3:8)
(Paul was encouraging the Philippians to think the one thing. What the one thing refers to?)
Day 4
T1 We walk or conduct ourselves according to Christ’s bowels (Phil. 1:8; Col. 3:12)
(Please illustrate that Paul took the inward parts of Christ Jesus as his own inward parts in caring for the church.)
T2 During his imprisonment, Paul begot Onesimus through the Spirit with the eternal life of God (John 3:3; Philem. 12)
(Please illustrate that Paul considered Onesimus not only his child, but also his heart.)
Day 5
T1 God operates in us both the willing and the working (Phil. 2:12-13)
(Please illustrate that if we take care of Him, He will drive the car, that is, He will work in us that we may work out our salvation..)
T2 The Lord considers the submission of our will a most beautiful thing (Isa. 3:16; S. S. 4:4)
(Please illustrate that from which two aspects Song of Sons 4:4 shows the submission of man’s will.)
Day 6
T1 Although we have been saved, we still need to work out our salvation (Gen. 6:14; Matt. 24:37-39)
(Noah also was saved before he began working on the ark, so why did he need to build the ark?)
T2 We have to build up Christ for you to abide in Him (Gen. 7:7; Matt. 24:37-39)
(Please illustrate that what it means to build up Christ.)
