Most Christian teachers know that the book of Philippians is a book of experience. Philippians is a book on the experience of Christ. In the arrangement of the books of the New Testament, Philippians comes between Ephesians, a book on the Body, and Colossians, a book on the Head. Thus, between the Body and the Head we have the experience of Christ. This means that the way to get from the Body to the Head is through the experience of Christ. This is a strong indication that if we would know the Head, we must have the experience of Christ.
In Philippians Paul speaks about the experience of Christ in a very peculiar way. According to our concept, to experience Christ we must clear the past, consecrate ourselves to Christ, open to the inner anointing, and obey the anointing. Along with this, we need to pray a great deal and have fellowship with the Lord and with one another. This concept of experiencing Christ is not wrong. It is normal and very common. However, in Philippians Paul does not speak of the experience of Christ in this way. It took me more than forty years to understand the way Paul speaks of experiencing Christ in Philippians.
Philippians 1:5 says, "For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now," and verse 6 continues, "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." These verses indicate that the fellowship in the gospel is a good work, a work initiated by Christ. Christ will perform this work until the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians unveils the fact that the experience of Christ is the fellowship in the gospel until the Lord Jesus comes back. Notice that in verse 5 Paul does not speak of the preaching of the gospel, but of the fellowship in the gospel. Have you ever noticed that there is such a term in the New Testament as the fellowship in the gospel? No doubt you have heard of the fellowship of the Spirit, for this is very common. The fellowship of the Spirit is in our concept, but the fellowship in the gospel is not. From the time we are saved until the time the Lord Jesus comes back, our Christian life should be a gospel-preaching life. We are not here for our education, job, or family, and we are not here to earn money or to gain a reputation or position. We are here to live a gospel-preaching life, a life that preaches Christ. Our living should be our preaching. If someone asks your profession, you should say, "My profession is preaching the gospel." Thus, our life is primarily a gospel-preaching life. Whether I speak or remain silent, my life, my living, my being, and my entire person are a preaching of Christ.
Our gospel-preaching life should not be individualistic; rather, it must be corporate. This is the reason that in the preaching of the gospel we have fellowship. The word fellowship is rich in meaning. The Greek word rendered fellowship, koinonia, means communication, mutual interchange. As far as the preaching of the gospel is concerned, today's situation is very poor. Either Christians do not preach the gospel or they preach it individualistically, not corporately. Every evangelist is individualistic. It seems that the more evangelistic people are, the more individualistic they are. In their preaching of the gospel there is no fellowship. Because there is no fellowship in the gospel, there is no experience of Christ.
Even if we clear the past, consecrate ourselves to the Lord, and follow the inner anointing, we still may not necessarily have that much experience of Christ. But if we preach the gospel in a corporate way, we shall be full of the experience of Christ. The book of Philippians does not speak of clearing the past, consecration, or the anointing. But it does speak of the fellowship in the gospel. I am very glad that many among us are zealous for the preaching of the gospel on the campuses. But I wonder if in this preaching of the gospel there is the fellowship in the gospel. If we simply engage in the preaching of the gospel, we shall not have very much experience of Christ. The experience of Christ is not mainly in the preaching; it is in the fellowship. We need to preach the gospel in fellowship. As long as you have fellowship in your preaching of the gospel, you will experience Christ.