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Philippians 2:12 says, “So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but now much rather in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” What were the Philippians to obey? They were to obey Paul’s word regarding thinking the one thing and being joined in soul. The one thing that they were to think is the experience of Christ for the Body life. We may also say that it is the enjoyment of Christ for the Body life. Paul was imploring the Philippians to think this one thing.
This one thing is clearly revealed in chapter 3, where Paul speaks of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord (v. 8). To experience Christ as our enjoyment for the church is excellent. All other things are dung, refuse, dog food. Anything other than this one thing is refuse, food for dogs, not something for us Christians. As children of God, we should not feed on dog food. Rather, we should eat at the table. According to Matthew 15, Christ came as bread for the children of God, not as food for the dogs. However, when the Gentile dogs under the table ate the bread that was for the children of God, the dogs became children of God. Today we are no longer Gentile dogs but children of God. The Jews, originally the children of God, have rejected the food and have become dogs. The dogs in Matthew 15 refer to the Gentiles, but, as we will see, the dogs in Philippians 3 refer to the unbelieving religious Jews. Although the Jews are God’s chosen people, they do not eat the food intended for the children of God. Instead, they prefer to eat dog food. Dietitians say that we are what we eat. Thus, spiritually speaking, those who eat dog food become dogs, and the Gentile dogs who eat the food of the children of God become children of God. Through eating we have been metabolically transformed from dogs to the children of God.
Although the Philippians had been transformed from dogs into children of God, at a certain point they turned away to dog food. We can easily do the same thing today. The trash can, the place where the dog food, the refuse, is cast, is primarily in the mind in the case of the brothers and in the emotion in the case of the sisters. Therefore, to think the one thing and to be one in soul eliminates the trash can and all the dog food that is in it. We were reborn as children of God, not in our mind or in our emotion but in our spirit. Our dining table is in our spirit. When we get into our spirit, we find ourselves at the dining table where Christ is. The Lord Jesus Christ is our food, and the dining table is in our spirit.
In Philippians 2 Paul was encouraging the Philippians to think the one thing and to be one in soul. The one thing is not merely the objective Christ but the subjective experience of Christ as our enjoyment for the church life. This one thing should occupy our mind all the time. We should constantly be thinking about how to experience Christ as our rich enjoyment so that we may have the proper church life. The Body life is the issue of the experience and enjoyment of Christ. When we enjoy Christ, the church life spontaneously issues forth. Thus, the church life comes out of our experience of Christ.
We should not only think about this but even dream about it. Have you ever dreamed of feasting with all the saints at a banquet? Many of us have had dreams like this. Dreams come mainly from impressions, desires, and thoughts. Often, what we dream about is what we have been thinking about or what we desire. We need to think about the experience of Christ and the enjoyment of Christ until we dream about it. This is the one thing that the apostle Paul charged the Philippians to think about.
When we all think this one thing, we will be one in soul. It is easy for us, the regenerated children of God, to be one in our spirit. As we sing, praise, and pray in the meetings, we are one in spirit. But when the meeting is over, the brothers turn to the mind and the sisters to the emotion. When this happens, we are no longer one. Perhaps in spirit we are still one, but we are not one in soul. The problem with the believers in Philippi was that they were not one in soul. Therefore, Paul charged them to think the one thing and to be one, not in spirit but in soul. Paul told them that whether he was present or absent, they needed to obey his word. He was asking them to drop all other thoughts and to take his word so that they might think the one thing and be one in soul.
Philippians 2:12 says, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Since the Philippians were already saved, why did they still need to work out their salvation? When I read this verse as a young man, I was troubled by it and wondered why these saved ones still needed to work out their own salvation. Furthermore, Paul told them to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. When we were saved, we were saved in joy, not in fear and trembling. Thus, the salvation spoken of in this verse is different from eternal salvation. We receive eternal salvation, and there is no need for us to work it out. It has already been accomplished, completed, and presented to us as a gift. But there is another kind of salvation that needs to be worked out. When something is presented to us as a gift, we need only to receive it and enjoy it. Take the example of a dinner that is prepared for you. You do not sit at the dining table eating the food in fear and trembling. No, you enjoy the food. There is another kind of salvation, not for us to receive joyfully but for us to work out fearfully. Although we have been saved, we still need to be rescued from certain things. As long as you need to be rescued, it proves that you are in a situation that is not positive. You may not be in the big hell, but you may be in a little hell.
Two of these little hells are seen in verse 14. This verse says, “Do all things without murmurings and reasonings.” One little hell is called murmurings, and the other is called reasonings. Murmuring is a hell for the sisters, and reasoning is a hell for the brothers. Murmurings come from the emotion, and reasonings come from the mind. Thus, both the brothers and sisters need to be rescued — the brothers out of their mental hell and the sisters out of their emotional hell. Although we are the saved children of God, we may still fall into the hell of murmuring or into the hell of reasoning. Both our murmurings and our reasonings are little demons. Thus, we need salvation.
The way to be saved from the hells of murmuring and reasoning is to obey the word of the apostle Paul to think the one thing and to be one in soul. When we think the same thing, we do not murmur or reason. Instead, we experience Christ as our enjoyment. Every part of our mind, emotion, and inner being is filled with the experience and enjoyment of Christ.
Although we have been saved from the eternal hell, we still need to be saved from the small hells of murmuring, complaining, reasoning, and arguing. Every married couple has experienced the exchanging of words. This is a hell. Because the wives murmur and the husbands reason, there are arguments. During the course of such an argument, both the husband and the wife fall into a hell because they are not thinking the one thing. This illustrates how we need to think of the experience and enjoyment of Christ for the church life. If a husband and wife would think one thing, there would be no exchange of words; the wife would be rescued from the hell of the emotion, and the brother would be saved from the hell of the mind. This is a daily, practical, and present salvation. We need to work out this salvation with fear and trembling.
Paul wanted the Philippians to stop their murmurings and reasonings. But how can people stop murmuring or reasoning? It can only be done by turning our thinking to the experience of Christ. Brothers, think this one thing. Sisters, you also think this one thing. If we all think the one thing, there will be no reasonings and murmurings. This is the way to enjoy Christ.
The book of Philippians reveals in detail the way to enjoy Christ. We may consecrate ourselves and follow the inner anointing but still not have very much of the enjoyment of Christ. However, if we think the one thing, immediately the enjoyment of Christ will be our portion. We all know the doctrine that the proper church life comes out of the experience of Christ, but we may not know the practical way to experience Christ. The wives murmur against their husbands, and the husbands reason with their wives. When we do this, where is the enjoyment of Christ? It disappears. Instead of enjoying Christ, we are in a little hell. As we have seen, the way to be rescued from this hell is to think the one thing. Whenever we do this, we are immediately in the enjoyment of Christ, and our family life and church life become very pleasant.
Verse 13 says, “It is God who operates in you both the willing and the working for His good pleasure.” We can work out our own salvation because God works within us. God is mysterious, invisible, and abstract, but He is nonetheless within us. We need to be in fear and trembling lest we miss God, who is our daily salvation. If we miss Him, we miss this practical salvation. It may seem that it is impossible for us to work out our own salvation. If the Philippians had said this, Paul might have replied, “Don’t you know that God is working in you? He is working in you both the willing and the working. You may say that you do not have the willingness. But God is working the willingness into you. He is also working in you for the working out of His good pleasure. He works in and you work out. Thus, there is no need for you to do the work by yourself.”
Take the example of driving a car. When we drive a car, does the car move us, or do we move the car? We do not have the power to move the car. Thus, it is the car that moves us. For us to move the car is extremely difficult. But for the car to move us is an enjoyment. If we are out of gasoline, we must move the car. But if we have plenty of gasoline, the car moves us and we enjoy driving. Likewise, as we work out our salvation with fear and trembling, God is working in us both the willing and the working. Because He works in, we can work out. This is like driving a car that is already running. If the car were not running, we could not drive it. In like manner, because God is working within us, we are able to work. Eventually, this is not something fearful; it is an enjoyment. The only reason to be fearful is that we may miss the mysterious, marvelous God within us. We need to care for the indwelling God. If we take care of Him, He will drive the car; that is, He will work in us so that we may work out our salvation.
Again I say that we work out our salvation by thinking the one thing. This is the key. We need to think the thing that God is working in us. But when we reason, God stops working. And when He stops, we do not have any enjoyment; rather, we are in a hell. Likewise, our murmuring about things causes God to stop working and puts us into a little hell. The only thing that can cause our reasonings and murmurings to cease is to think the one thing. We need to remember the experience of Christ and to recall how excellent the enjoyment of Christ is. To think this one thing locks the gates of Hades. Even if a brother offends you many times, you need to be occupied with Christ as your enjoyment. Do not care for the brother’s offense or allow it to touch you. Rather, have your whole being filled with the thought of the enjoyment of Christ. When our being is filled in this way, we will have no capacity, energy, or room to think of anything else. If our being is filled with the thought of enjoying Christ, nothing will be able to offend us. Instead of being troubled or offended by others, we will say, “I am thinking the one thing. Hallelujah for the excellency of the enjoyment of Christ! Hallelujah for the experience of Christ!”
Because God is working in us both the willing and the working for His good pleasure, we can do all things without murmuring or reasoning. If God does not work in us, we will be murmuring and reasoning all the time. The occupation of the brothers is to reason, and the occupation of the sisters is to murmur. If the brothers do not reason and if the sisters do not murmur, they will all be unemployed. They will be silent. When we think the one thing, everything else is excluded.
Verse 15 says, “That you may be blameless and guileless, children of God, without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine as luminaries in the world.” The word that at the beginning of verse 15 indicates a result, an issue. Because we think the one thing and enjoy God’s working within us to work out our salvation and do not murmur or reason, we are blameless and guileless. We are like doves, not like scorpions. Murmuring is like the sting of a scorpion. Whenever anyone murmurs, the poison is injected into someone. Such murmuring ones are not guileless. Consider how many people have stung others by their tongue. Through their tongue the poison of death has been spread to many others. Thus, they are not guileless. However, when we think the one thing, we are blameless and guileless, for we have the enjoyment of Christ. Then, actually and in a practical way, we behave like children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation.
The first part of verse 16 says, “Holding forth the word of life.” In this generation we shine as luminaries. We do not shine with our own light. Rather, we are luminaries reflecting the light of Christ. The world is a satanic system. In the midst of this organized satanic system, we shine as luminaries, holding forth the word of life. There is no need for us to behave. We simply need to think the one thing in order to be full of the enjoyment of Christ. Then we will be blameless, guileless children of God without blemish, shining as luminaries in the midst of the satanic system of this crooked and perverted generation. As we shine, we are holding forth the word of life. This is not our conduct or behavior; it is our testimony.
Most of today’s Christians are far off the mark. They are taught to behave, to conduct themselves in a certain way. But there is no need for us to behave ourselves, because we are shining as luminaries and holding forth the word of life. This is not behavior; it is a spontaneous testimony, the living out of the Christ whom we experience and enjoy.
Verse 16 also says, “That I may have a boast in the day of Christ that I did not run in vain nor labor in vain.” If the Lord’s servant can boast in us, then everything is all right. But if he does not feel positively about us, then we are in difficulty.
Verse 17 says, “Even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice, and I rejoice together with you all.” In this verse Paul seemed to be saying, “You Philippians are offering something to God. I would like to pour myself out as a drink offering upon your sacrifice.” The thought here is quite deep. According to Leviticus, God ordained that His people offer Him daily five main offerings: the burnt offering, the meal offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. However, in the first six chapters of Leviticus there is no mention of the drink offering because at that time the children of God did not have the adequate experience of Christ. In other words, at that time Christ was not in them as wine. When you pour yourself out as a drink offering, you need to have a great deal of wine within you. This means that much of Christ has been received into you. The drink offering is not only the objective Christ, like the Christ offered to God in the burnt offering or meal offering, but the subjective Christ who has been taken into us. To pour out the Christ we have experienced is to pour out the wine of the drink offering. As the Lamb, Christ could be only the objective burnt offering, not the subjective drink offering. Therefore, Christ must be the wine we drink in so that we may pour Him out as the drink offering.
Paul seemed to be telling the Philippians, “How good it is that you are thinking the one thing and enjoying Christ. This enables you to have something to offer to God as a sacrifice. I would like to pour myself out as a drink offering upon your sacrifice. This means that I would like to pour out the Christ I have experienced upon your experience of Christ.” This is what we in the church life need today. All the saints need to think the one thing in order to have the full enjoyment of Christ. Then when they come together, they will be able to offer Christ to God as a sacrifice. Moreover, the church also needs the apostles and the leading ones to have the abundant experience of Christ subjectively to pour out as a drink offering upon the saints’ offering. What a rich church life this is! When the children of Israel entered the good land, they had a great deal of wine to drink. Thus, they had the wine to pour out as a drink offering before God. This means that their experience and enjoyment of Christ had become much higher than it was the wilderness. In the church life we have not only the Christ experienced by the saints and offered to God as offerings, but also upon these offerings, there is the pouring out by the leading ones of the Christ they have experienced. This means that the enjoyment of Christ is poured upon the enjoyment of Christ. This produces a sweet-smelling savor to God. This is the church life that issues out of the full enjoyment of Christ. On the side of the Philippians, it was the sacrifice offered to God. On the side of the apostle Paul, it was the drink offering. Both are the result of the enjoyment of Christ.
The result of the pouring out of the drink offering upon the offering of the saints is rejoicing. This is the experience of Christ for the church life. The leaders rejoice with the saints, and the saints rejoice with the leaders. We rejoice with one another, and we rejoice together. Because there is rejoicing, there is no murmuring, reasoning, weeping, or suffering. We all need to say, “Lord, recover us to such a high degree. Raise our meetings to such a standard that whenever we come together, many sacrifices will be offered to God, and much wine will be poured out by the leaders upon the offerings of the saints.” This is possible only by our thinking the one thing and by being one in soul.
Recently, we have been unjustly accused of being mind benders. We do not bend the mind — we rob it. The church life robs the devilish things from our minds. In the church life we help all the saints to think one thing — the enjoyment of Christ for the church life. We all think of the experience of Christ for the Body life. In doing this, we are obedient.
Whenever we think other things, we are disobedient and rebellious. To think something other than the one thing is to rebel against God’s economy. God’s economy is that we think the one thing. Has a certain brother offended you? You should not think about that offense, for God’s economy does not allow you to do so. If you think about the offense, you rebel against God. This is a serious matter. Murmuring is also rebellious. God’s economy does not allow us to murmur. To do so is to be disobedient.
We all have our disposition, and we all are accustomed to murmuring, reasoning, and complaining. But if we are enlightened concerning reasoning and murmuring, we will say, “Lord, forgive my rebellion. I don’t want to be a rebel in Your economy. Rather, I want to be obedient, obeying Your economy to think the one thing. Although certain ones have offended me, I do not want to think about the offenses. Instead, I want to think only of the enjoyment and experience of Christ.” To do this is to work out our salvation. The salvation in Philippians 2 is actually the proper oneness. To work out our own salvation is to work out this genuine oneness. When we are not in the genuine oneness, we are in some kind of hell. Thus, we need the salvation that is the genuine oneness. We need to be one not only in spirit but also in soul. As we have said again and again, we need to think the one thing. When we think the one thing, we are one not only in spirit but also in soul.
