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In the first chapter we saw that Philippians is a book on the experience of Christ. Chapter 1 reveals that the way to experience Christ is through keeping ourselves in the fellowship unto the gospel by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. If we would remain in the fellowship unto the gospel by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, we need to be in one spirit with one soul. In Philippians the special point regarding the experience of Christ is this matter of being with one soul. Being one in soul is not only for the experience of Christ but even the more for the enjoyment of Christ. Our experience of Christ should also be an enjoyment of Christ. For example, children may eat food under the threat of being disciplined if they do not eat, but they may not enjoy what they are eating. Likewise, if we are merely in one spirit, we may experience Christ and yet not enjoy Him. To experience Christ with enjoyment we need to be in one spirit with one soul.
According to the Bible, the soul is for enjoyment. To have enjoyment we need desires, emotions, and feelings. The more emotional we are, the more we will long for enjoyment. Enjoyment is mainly related to the soul. In order to enjoy Christ, we need to have a proper soul, a soul that is one with the souls of other saints. We need to ask ourselves whether we are many souls or just one soul.
Every soul has an opinion. If in one place there are five hundred souls, then there will be five hundred opinions. However, if we all have different opinions, we will lose our enjoyment. If everyone in a family, for example, has the same opinion, that family will have a wonderful time of enjoyment. But if the father, the mother, and the children have different opinions, there will be no enjoyment in that family. When we all have one opinion, the situation among us will be heavenly.
If we do not have any opinions, we are not human. To be human is to be opinionated. Opinion, however, is not a bad word. In the Bible a human being is not called a spirit or a body but a soul. For example, the Bible says that seventy persons, or souls, of the family of Jacob went down to Egypt (Gen. 46:27). Furthermore, the New Testament says that three thousand souls were added (Acts 2:41). Thus, a person is a soul. The basic element of the soul is opinion. Therefore, if you had no opinions, you would not be a soul. The strongest person is the one who has the strongest opinions. By a person’s opinions you can know how strong he is psychologically.
Of all the churches in the New Testament, the best church was the church in Philippi. This church was fully established; it was in sound order. In the beginning of his Epistle to the Philippians, Paul addressed the saints, the overseers, and the deacons. This indicates that the church at Philippi had been established. The elders were not merely elders; they were also overseers. All the saints in the church were zealous for the gospel and for the Lord’s interests. Furthermore, those in this church took care of the needs of the apostle Paul. The church in Philippi was much different from the church in Corinth, which was a mess, with lawsuits, fornication, and debates about doctrine, the Lord’s table, and the spiritual gifts. But in Philippi everything was very good. Why then was this book written? Paul wrote this book because the Philippians were not one in their way of thinking. Rather, there was discord among them. In other words, they were not one in soul. As we have seen, they did not have the same love for one another. Therefore, Paul encouraged them to have the same love. To some brothers and sisters their love was hot, but to others it was cold. We can sympathize with the apostle Paul because among us today we have different levels of love, not the same love. The Philippians had problems both in the mind and in the emotion. Because of these problems, the Epistle to the Philippians was written.
As we have seen, in the second chapter of this book Paul begged the Philippians to sympathize with him. Paul seemed to be saying, “If you have any encouragement in Christ toward me, any consolation of love, any fellowship of spirit, any tenderheartedness and compassions, please make my joy full.” Paul was very sorrowful over the discord among the Philippians, but in wisdom he did not tell them how sorrowful he was. Instead, he spoke a positive word, asking them to encourage him and to have mercy upon him. In asking this, he was implying that their discord was causing him to suffer. Paul seemed to be saying, “Do not cause me further hurt by your discord. Be merciful to me. If you have mercy on me, an old man in prison for the sake of the gospel, you will fulfill my joy by thinking the same thing and by having the same love. O Philippian brothers, I am weeping in prison for you because you are not in one accord, because you are not one in mind and in soul. I beg you to have compassion toward me. I need your compassion to heal the wound within my heart that has been caused by the discord among you. Please make my joy full. When you think the same thing and have the same love, my joy will be made full.”
The Greek prefix in the phrase joined in soul in verse 2 may also be translated “together.” Paul was telling the Philippians that they needed to be together in their soul and that they should not hold different opinions. If we each think differently, it is an indication that we are not together in our soul. In such a case, we do not have a co-soul but an individualistic soul. Therefore, Paul was begging the Philippians to have mercy on him by thinking the same thing and by not having any discord among them. He asked them to think not only the same thing but even the one thing. Paul expected that all the believers in a locality, no matter how great the number might be, would think the same thing, have the same love, and be together in one soul.
In verses 4 and 5 Paul offers the Philippians the remedy for their sickness. They suffered from the sickness of not being one in soul. We have the same illness today. I have the assurance that all the saints are one in spirit, but I doubt that we are one in soul. Are you certain that you are one in soul with the other saints? If you are not one in soul, then you are ill just as the Philippians were.
The longer we are in the Lord’s recovery, the more we will learn and the more experiences we will accumulate. When many of us saw the light regarding the Lord’s recovery, we dropped everything of the past and came together to practice the church life. Everything was splendid and wonderful, and we enjoyed a church-life honeymoon. After a certain period of time, however, we learned more and accumulated more experiences. Then, out of our learning and experiences, new inventions came forth. Many of us have invented better ways to do things. This causes us to think differently, for every new invention is a different way of thinking. Therefore, because we have a problem in our soul, we need the book of Philippians.
When we came into the church life, we did not have very many opinions. But after staying in the church life for a while, we came to have many opinions. This is not healthy. The remedy for this illness is first to take care of the request of the apostle Paul, who begged that his joy might be made full. To fulfill the joy of the Lord’s servant, we need to think the same thing, have the same love, and be together in the soul. Furthermore, we should do nothing through rivalry. When we hold to our various opinions, rivalry is unavoidable. Rivalry comes from the desire to have the preeminence, to be number one. Instead of seeking preeminence for ourselves, we should give it to others. Furthermore, when we are in our opinions, we seek vainglory. Among the Philippians there was a form of competition. This discord was due to their opinions. What came out of their opinions was rivalry and the seeking of vainglory.
Paul told the Philippians that each man should regard not his own virtues, but each the virtues of others also. Paul was telling them not only to take care of him, but also to take care of the other saints. Then he told them to think that which was also in Christ Jesus. What He thinks we also need to think. Our thinking should be His thinking. This means that in all things we need to be one with Christ. If we cannot be one with Christ in competing with others, we must stop competing with them.
Paul goes on to point out Christ as the example. Christ was in the form of God and actually was God Himself. Because He had such a standing, it was not robbery for Him to be equal with God. I believe that as Paul was writing this, deep within he had the feeling that some of the Philippian saints were committing robbery. For example, suppose I do not have the ability to be a leader; nevertheless, I desire to be a leader. In this matter, I rob others of their leadership. Christ, however, did not commit robbery in being equal with God. Although it was not robbery for Christ to be equal with God, He emptied Himself, not insisting on this equality. Furthermore, He humbled Himself, being found in fashion as a man and taking the form of a slave. This means that Christ gave up His high standing and took not only the form of a man but the form of a slave. This is an example and pattern for us.
The only way we can follow Christ’s example is by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. The divine Spirit within us today is the very Spirit of Jesus. When we do things out of rivalry or when we compete with other saints, the Spirit of Jesus is not expressed. But when we take care of the request of the apostle Paul and regard the virtues of others, we enjoy the supply of the Spirit of Jesus. By doing this, we spontaneously drop our opinions and are together in one soul.
Many Christian teachers have encouraged others to imitate the pattern revealed in Philippians 2, but it is impossible for us to imitate Christ. For example, we can never be like a lamb. In order to be like a lamb, we need to have the life of a lamb. Likewise, it is impossible for us to imitate the Lord Jesus. The standard of His humility is too high for us. Hallelujah, the Spirit of Jesus is in us! By the Spirit of Jesus we can be just as humble as He was. By the Spirit of Jesus we can fulfill the request of the apostle Paul and care for all the other saints. By the Spirit of Jesus we can drop all our opinions and be one in spirit and in soul. By the Spirit of Jesus we all can think the one thing and have the same love. This is the testimony of Jesus, the oneness, and the building. This is the practical church, the church lived out of our inner being. This is the Lord’s recovery. For this, we need to be one in soul.
If we were one in soul, we would have the genuine enjoyment of Christ. But if there is rivalry and the seeking of vainglory among us, we will not have any enjoyment of the Lord. Instead, there will be sickness, dryness, and desolation. The Spirit of Jesus, of course, does not want this. In order for us in the church life to experience Christ as our enjoyment, we need to drop our opinions, have one soul, think the same thing, and have the same love.
The experience of Christ is for the church life. The Christ revealed in chapter 2 and pursued by Paul in chapter 3 is not for individual experience but for the Body life. In Philippians 2 Paul encourages us to think the one thing. This one thing is Christ in our experience for the church life. Although we need to drop our opinions, it is impossible for our mind to be vacant. It needs to be filled with something. If it is not filled with this one thing, something else will fill it. Therefore, we need the vision that God’s economy is focused on Christ as our experience for the church life. If our mind is filled with this one thing, there will be no room for other things to come in. Then spontaneously we will drop our opinions and care for the request of the apostle Paul and for all the other saints. We will look not only on the gifts and graces we have received but also on all the qualities, advantages, and good points of others. Spontaneously, we will be balanced.
We are accustomed to looking at our own abilities, attributes, and qualifications. The remedy for this is to look at the qualifications of others. A saint once said that if we look at ourselves once, we need to look at Christ ten times. In the same principle, if we look at our ability once, we need to look at the abilities of others five times. This will keep us from extremes. The natural man, however, likes to look on his own work, ability, and qualifications. This causes us to go to an extreme. If we are all at this extreme, what a confusion there will be among us! But if we all look on the good points of others more than on our own good points, we will be balanced and rescued from extremes. We will give up our peculiar way of thinking and spontaneously be one in soul with the other saints. In this one soul we not only experience Christ but also enjoy Him.
To repeat, we need to be not only one in spirit but also one in soul. Instead of so many different opinions, we should have just one thing about which to think. We should constantly think one thing and have the same love toward everyone. This will rescue our soul from all differences and enable us to be one in soul. If we were all in one soul, thinking the one thing, the situation in the church life would be heavenly. But if we continue to have many different opinions, there will be no enjoyment. Although we may experience Christ, we will lack the enjoyment of Christ.
Humanly speaking, it is impossible to be one in soul and to think the same thing, but it is easy by the Spirit of Jesus. We do not merely have an outward pattern, for this pattern is in our very being, living Himself out from within us by the Spirit of Jesus. Thus, He is not merely our pattern but also our life. As He lives Himself out from within us, we can easily drop all our opinions. We all need the vision that Christ, who is the pattern, is within us as life to live Himself out of us. For example, He never insisted upon being anything. Now we have a life within us that never insists on being anything. Rather, this life always humbles Himself, empties Himself, and takes a lower place. Eventually, God the Father exalted Christ to be the highest and gave Him the name that is above every name. Thus, there is no need for rivalry or competition or for the seeking of vainglory. As we enjoy Christ as life within us, eventually God the Father will exalt us and bring us into glory, but there is no need for us to seek even this kind of glory. It depends upon whether or not the Father gives it to us. The most important thing for us to do is to experience Christ as our enjoyment today so that the church may be built up. The building of the church is His glory. Eventually, His glory will become our glory. This is the way for us to be preserved in the Lord’s recovery until He comes back.
If we do not take this way, the Lord’s recovery will be damaged through our opinions accumulated over the years. This will change the nature of the recovery and cause it to become part of today’s Christianity and a continuation of the history of divided and divisive Christianity. May the Lord have mercy upon us to keep us from this. We need to pray, “Lord, keep us and preserve us for Your economy. For the fulfillment of Your purpose, we want to be just like You. We want to have You not only as our pattern but also as the life that enables us to drop our opinions and to be one in soul with all the saints.” If we are like this, the Lord will have the glory, we will have the enjoyment, and the church will be built up. This is the proper way to enjoy Christ.
