Section 3
of Christ must include a concern for the churches and the saints. We may have the concept that the experience of Christ is one thing, but the con cern for the church is another. Not many of us may realize that to experience Christ and to enjoy Christ is actually to care for the church, and to care for the church is to experience Christ and enjoy Him. Our natural tendency is to separate these things. We may think that because we are enjoying Christ, we do not have time to care for the church. Or, on the other side, we may think that because we are so busy in caring for the church, we have no time to enjoy Christ. It is im portant for us to see in Philippians 2:19-30 that these two things must be one. If we truly experi ence Christ and enjoy Him, this should result in a concern for the church and the saints. There is a principle in the Word that if our seeking after Christ and our experience of Christ do not re sult in a concern for the churches and the saints, our seeking and our experience are abnormal. The experience of Christ must be for His Body.
I believe that, deep within, as Paul was testi fying that he was willing to be poured out as a drink offering upon the believers' faith, he was concerned for them. In these verses Paul seems to be saying, "My desire is to be poured out as