Preached Sunday, June 3, 2012 from Philippians 2:17-18
Theme: Real joy is to be found in giving our lives for each other as Jesus gave Himself for us.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
We have been studying together from Paul’s New Testament letter to the Philippians. And we’ve been finding that from the standpoint of faith in Christ, it’s a wonderful letter about how to experience prevailing joy.
But from the standpoint of this world’s values and priorities—completely apart from a faith in Jesus Christ—it would be hard to think of this letter as anything but a testimony of a tragically wasted life.
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You see; the human author of this letter was a brilliant and promising Jewish scholar. Formerly, he was known as Saul. As a young man, Saul had been trained under the finest Jewish teachers of the day. He was a well-recognized, in the Jewish faith, as ‘rising star’ in the horizon. Later on in this letter, he writes that he was
circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless (Philippians 3:5-6).
But along the way, he was met by the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, who converted his heart and called him to proclaim His gospel. ‘Saul of Tarsus’ became ‘Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles’. All that was formerly considered “gain” with respect to his credentials, he afterward counted as “loss” for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ.
But his choice to follow Jesus cost him dearly. Later on in the New Testament he tells us that he fulfilled the call of Christ on his life
. . . in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation? (2 Corinthians 11:23-29).
What a contrast! From the standpoint of ‘worldly success’, he began with such great promise; and yet, he had given it all away only to receive what seemed like great suffering and trial and loss. And even as he wrote the letter we’re studying, he was sitting in a Roman prison cell for his preaching of the gospel. As he indicated in the first chapter of this letter, he was uncertain with respect to his immediate future. He hoped—and in fact, even expected—that he would soon be released and allowed to carry on his ministry. But he also understood that he could, just as easily, be dragged instead from his prison cell and put to death by execution.
I wonder what one of his former teachers would have thought of all this. The Bible tells us that he was tutored under Gamaliel—one of the greatest teachers of Judaism in his day. If old Gamaliel had come to check up on the condition of his former student, what would he have thought? Perhaps he would have shaken his head sadly and said, “Saul, Saul, Saul! You were so brilliant. You had such promise. I had such high hopes for you. But you threw it all away for this ‘Jesus’ of yours; and now look at you! A criminal! A beggarly prisoner—needing other people to come and bring you charity! You’ve wasted your life, Saul. All you have to show for yourself is a record of suffering and loss! You could have been so great! You could have been such a success! But instead, what a waste! What a tragic, embarrassing, shameful waste!”
And perhaps what old Gamaliel might have said to him would have been no harsher than what Paul might have said to himself—if he had only thought in worldly terms. “Is this what happens when someone follows Jesus? Is this where serving Him leads to?—a prison cell?—beggarliness?—an execution? Somehow, I don’t feel very ‘blessed’!”
But amazingly, Paul expressed no such bitterness. Far from it! All you have to do is read this letter, and you find that the whole thing bubbles-over with confident, victorious joy. He didn’t consider that any of the many things he suffered for Jesus Christ was a waste. In fact, he went so far as to write to his Christian brothers and sisters in Philippi, and encourage them to enter into the same suffering along with him.
In chapter 1:27-30, he told them;
Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God. For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me (1:27-30).
In chapter 2, he told them;
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain (2:12-16).
If there was any “wastefulness” in all this that concerned Paul, it was the waste of his labors for them if they gave up, and did not suffer for Christ along with him, and failed to proclaim the very same Jesus that he proclaimed in this dark world.
And that brings us to our passage this morning. In the light of all that Paul suffered—and of all that he might yet have to suffer—what a declaration of victory verses 17-18 is! He wrote;
Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me (vv. 17-18).
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Dear beloved brothers and sisters in Christ; you and I need to understand that from the standpoint of the values and priorities of this world, following Jesus Christ looks like a waste of one’s life. In fact, it looks like a very stupid and tragic waste of life. Becoming a serious follower of Jesus often involves suffering, persecution and loss in this world. He demands of His followers a seemingly-pointless denial of the very pleasures of the flesh that make our short lives on earth seem tolerable. He calls His followers to walk a path that leads in the opposite direction from the way everyone else in the world is going. Identifying with Him results in a loss of reputation and intellectual respectability in terns of this world’s version of wisdom and honor. It looks like such a waste!
But you and I also need to recognize that it would only actually be a waste of our lives if what the Bible tells us about Jesus was not true. If, however, what the Bible tells us about Him is the truth—that He is the very Son of God; who, in love for us fallen human beings, willingly set aside the glory of heaven that He shared with His Father, took full human nature to Himself, was born into the human family, lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father’s will, died a sinless death on the cross in order to atone for our sins, rose from the dead, ascended to the Father, is today the Savior of all who trust in Him, now awaits the day when He will receive His redeemed ones to Himself and share His glory with them forever, and will afterwards assume His just role as the Judge of all the earth—then it is a tragic waste of life to give one’s self over for anything other than to Him and His Kingdom! If what the Bible tells us is true, then no price in this world could possibly be too great to pay for Him; and no loss in terms of this world’s treasures could be too much to endure for Him!
Perhaps you’ve been feeling that the Lord Jesus has been extending His hand to you lately, and calling you to follow Him into a deeper relationship with Himself. Perhaps He has been calling you into a new and more challenging area of service for Him. Perhaps He’s calling you to give up some things in your life that displeases Him. Or perhaps He’s calling you to take up something from Him that you have neglected. And perhaps you’re hesitating because you know that it will involve a cost of something that is valued in this world. Perhaps you’re feeling afraid of “wasting your life” on Jesus and His cause.
Or let’s take it a step further. Perhaps you already have been serving Him and laboring for Him for some time now; and have been wondering if all the suffering and labor and loss that it involves is really worth it. Perhaps it’s not so much that you’re afraid that you might waste your life for Jesus—but rather that you’re frustrated and bitter over feeling that you already have wasted much of your life for Him. Perhaps all the trouble and cost has robbed you of your joy in the service of Christ; and you’re about ready to quit.
I believe we will always think that way about the service of Christ so long as we evaluate things in terms of this world’s values and priorities. But look at Paul. None of us could suffer as much ‘worldly’ loss as he suffered in following Jesus. And yet—even though the ministry that the Lord Jesus had called him to had truly cost him everything that is to be valued in this world—he was not bitter at all. In fact, he was joyful about it. And this was because he operated on a completely different set of values and priorities than those of this world.
In these two verses, Paul bares his heart to us and shows us how, as believers, real joy is to be found in giving our lives for each other as Jesus gave Himself for us. And I ask that we look carefully at what these two verses say, see in them the sort of Christ-like values and priorities Paul embraced that led him to experience such joy, and—by God’s grace—embrace them as our own.
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First, notice that Paul experienced joy in his ministry for Christ . . .
1. THROUGH A READINESS TO SACRIFICE ‘SELF’.
In verse 17, he writes, “Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.” And in saying this, Paul is drawing upon an Old Testament picture that would have illustrated powerfully the idea of being completely “spent” in the cause of Christ.
In the Old Testament law that God gave to Moses, God told the priests the instructions that they were to carefully follow with regard to the burnt-offering. The burnt-offering was an offering that pictured complete dedication. It was completely burned, and nothing of it was to remain. And God commanded that, when a burnt-offering was burned on the altar to God, it was to be accompanied with a “drink-offering” of wine. The priest was to bring a certain amount of wine and pour it on the altar upon the already-burning sacrifice. Just imagine the steam that would rise from the fire as the drink-offering was poured out. It would sizzle-away and be gone. And as the Bible says, it would arise “a sweet aroma” or “a sweet savor” to the Lord.
Now; the burnt-offering is a picture of devotion. It was certainly a picture of the devotion of our Lord Jesus Christ on our behalf. But it’s also a picture of the devotion we owe to Him in response. It is a complete devotion—a total giving of one’s self. He gave His all for us; and our all is what we owe to Him in return. And the drink-offering is a picture of the degree to which we are to be willing to yield ourselves to Him. It’s an offering of wine; and wine is symbolic of the joys of this life. When you put them together, it creates quite a picture. It would be as if the person making the offering were saying, “Lord, I give myself completely to You. And as a way of ‘topping-off’ this act of complete dedication to You, I even pour out to You any right I might have to the joys of this life. I completely pour ‘self’ out in dedication to You, and allow myself to be completely ‘spent’ upon You and completely consumed in devotion to Your will.
Now; when Paul wrote this letter, he thought that this might mean literally laying down life. As it turned out, it didn’t mean that then. It would mean that later on, however. In 2 Timothy 4:6-8—just before he was executed—he used this very same analogy and wrote;
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing (2 Timothy 4:6-8).
In that case, it wasn’t a question of “if”. The time had come; and shortly thereafter, he was put to death for the Savior he loved. He even said that he was “already being poured out”. But in the passage before us, it was still an “if”—”and if I am being poured out as a drink offering . . .”
But the point is that, here, we see one of the reasons why Paul had great joy in His ministry to the Lord Jesus Christ—even though it had cost Him much, and even though it would appear as if he had ‘wasted his life’ in serving Christ. It was because he was constantly characterized by a readiness to sacrifice “self” at God’s call. He was ready to be “poured-out”—either by a life of sacrificial service, or by the ultimate sacrifice of martyrdom.
And do you notice something very important in this? In doing this, it wasn’t that Paul was sacrificing his joy. It wasn’t as if he were saying, “I will pour out my cup of joy; and will from this day forward be miserable in the service of the Lord.” Not at all! He says that if he is poured out as a drink offering, he rejoices! The willingness to allow his right to the temporal joys of this life to be poured out on the service of the Lord led to a far more substantial joy in that service!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; right now—even as we speak—our lives are being “spent”. The cup is, as it were, being “poured out” onto something. We can’t stop that from happening. The only thing we can do is make very sure that our lives are being poured out on the right thing and for the right cause.
Paul had joy—even in the midst of all his suffering in ministry—because he knew that his life was being poured out for the cause of Jesus Christ and His kingdom. He was ready to sacrifice the temporal pleasures of ‘self’; and his life was being emptied out instead as an offering upon something that would last forever!
This is the first great personal priority of Paul that gave him lasting joy in all the trials of service. May God help us also to embrace it as our own!
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Now; it’s very important to notice that Paul didn’t embrace this value in a way that was simply self-focused. If we’re not careful, we can lay down “self” in a “self-serving” and independent way. But Paul didn’t do this. Another thing that verse 17 shows us is that Paul had joy because he served Christ . . .
2. IN COMPLETE UNION WITH OTHER BELIEVERS.
Notice carefully how he shows us this. He writes, “Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.” He tells the Philippians that he is prepared to be “poured out as a drink offering”; but he doesn’t say that it’s on the sacrifice and service of his own work of faith. He tells the Philippians that it is “on the sacrifice and service of your faith . . .” (v. 17b).
To really appreciate this, you need to understand how much Paul felt himself to be in union with the Philippian believers. If you go back through this letter, you see very clearly that Paul saw himself to be in deep partnership with them in the ministry of the gospel. In 1:5, he says that he thanks God “for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now”. In verse 7, he says that “both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace.” He wanted them to stand fast in their labors for the gospel; “For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me” (vv. 29-30).
The Philippian Christians were such partners with Paul in the ministry of the gospel that he considered that he had been ministered to by them! They had heard that Paul was in need; and so they sent a gift to minister to him through Epaphroditus—the man Paul affirmed to them as “your messenger and the one who ministered to my need” (2:25); who helped “supply what was lacking in your service toward me” (v. 30). He wanted the leader of the church in Philippi to be a support to the two women Eudia and Syntyche; and wrote, “help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life” (4:2-3).
Look at how Paul closes the letter. He writes;
Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:15-19).
They served him in the work; and he considered that their service was “a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God”. And he was willing to be poured out as a drink offering—not on his own labors, but “on the sacrifice and service” of their faith. This means that he was not only willing to be “spent” in advancing their faith in Christ, but also to be “spent” as the “drink-offering” on their sacrifice and service to Christ.
Dear brothers and sisters; joy in ministry doesn’t happen by laboring in isolation and independence from one another. It only happens when we give ourselves willingly in the service of Christ for others, and for the service of Christ in union with others.
For Paul, there was no selfish ambition in ministry. He was ready to be “spent” even as the “drink-offering” poured out on the sacrifice and service of others. He greatly valued a cooperative ministry; and that gave him joy. May God help us to do the same.
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So; from this, we see that Paul had joy—even in all that he suffered for the ministry of Christ—because he fulfilled that ministry with a readiness to sacrifice ‘self’, and with a genuine sense of full union with others.
But there’s one more thing this passage shows us. Paul also experienced joy in ministry—in spite of all that he suffered—along with his brothers and sisters . . .
3. IN THE PROSPECT OF MUTUAL REJOICING.
He was able to give all that he gave of himself in service for the cause of Christ, and still rejoice, because he saw his rejoicing to be in partnership with the brothers and sisters in Christ he served. He and they were, you might say, “in this thing together”. They shared together in the suffering; and they would also share together in the rejoicing! He wrote, “Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me” (vv. 17-18; emph. added).
Paul had his eyes fixed upon the glory that Christ would bring to him because of his faithful service. Just before his life was ‘poured out as a final drink offering’ by execution, he said that “there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day” (2 Timothy 4:8). But he also added, “and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” I believe the thought of that shared joy thrilled Paul greatly. I believe he was just as excited to see his beloved brothers and sisters receive the crown of righteousness from the Lord Jesus Christ as he was to receive it himself! He wrote once to the Thessalonian believers and told them,
For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For you are our glory and joy (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20).
To see his beloved brothers and sisters in the presence of Christ in eternal glory—to hear the Master say to them, “Well done!”—was, to Paul, “glory and joy”. That was a motivating value in Paul’s life. It gave him joy in his ministry—even through all that he suffered.
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And dear brothers and sisters; in having these values and priorities—in being ready to lay down ‘self’; in having a passion for the spiritual advancement and co-labors of others; in looking ahead to a mutually shared joy with those he served—Paul was embracing the same values that moved our Savior Jesus Christ to come to this earth and give Himself for us. Paul was simply doing what it says in Hebrews 12:2;
. . . looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).
By God’s grace, may we become motivated by these same values too—and find true and lasting joy in living the “poured-out” life for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.