LOSING THE ENJOYMENT OF CHRIST
Our need today is very similar to that of the Philippians. In chapter one Paul said of the Philippians, "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request 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.
THINKING ONE THING
It seems that it is impossible for us all to think one thing. Nevertheless, the Bible charges us to do this. Paul’s word in Philippians about thinking one thing is not history. In other words, he was not telling us how the Philippian believers were thinking one thing. On the contrary, it is a word of advice. In our humanity it is impossible for us to carry out Paul’s advice. But it is possible by the Spirit of Jesus. If we live by the Spirit of Jesus and not by our soul, we shall be able to think one thing. Notice that Paul does not say to praise concerning one thing, or to pray one thing. To praise and pray are matters in the spirit. Thinking, however, is a matter in the soul. As we have seen, the hindrance to enjoying Christ is not in our spirit, but in our soul. And the problem is mainly not with our stubborn will or perplexing emotion, but with our troublesome mind. But our mind is affected by our emotion and will. If our emotion is not finely tuned and if our will is not subdued, we shall not think properly.
DEALING WITH THE SOUL
FOR THE ENJOYMENT OF CHRIST
For years, we have spoken about the experience of Christ and the enjoyment of Christ, but we have not seen the detailed way to enjoy Christ. Therefore, l have been burdened to give a number of messages on the way to enjoy Christ. In order to enjoy Him, we need to deal with every part of our soul, especially with our mind. If our way of thinking is dealt with, we shall have the proper taste for Christ and we shall both experience Him and enjoy Him. We shall not only eat, but enjoy what we are eating. Whether or not we enjoy the food we eat depends upon our taste. Concerning Christ, our taste is mainly with our soul. This is the reason that concerning the experience of Christ and the enjoyment of Christ, we need to deal with the various parts of our soul.
(The Experience of Christ, Chapter 3, by Witness Lee)
