BRIEF INTRO: In my last post, we studied Paul’s exhortation to the Philippians regarding their obedience to the revealed Word of God and his plea for them to “continue” in such obedience. In verse twelve, we saw words of affirmation, “just as you have always obeyed”. . . “much more in my absence,” and, words of exhortation, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”
In this study, we are going to continue to focus on what Paul is telling these people in regards to their salvation and, I believe, answer some questions that some of you may be struggling with currently as you seek to “rightly divide the word of truth.”
So, welcome back. Let’s dive in! Are you ready?
13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to [a]desire and to work for His good pleasure 14 Do all things without complaining or arguments; 15 so that you will [a]prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you [b]appear as [c]lights in the world, 16 holding firmly the Word of life, so that on the day of Christ I can take pride because I did not run in vain nor labor in vain. 17 But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. 18 You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.
FOCUS ONE: GOD’S PART (13)
What a great thought, “God is at work in you,” Christian!!
Paul said this much back in 1:6 (He began a good work in us and will perfect it).
The writer of Hebrews said: (13:21 that “He is working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ.” So, Christian, be encouraged! You are not alone; even if you feel that way sometimes, God is working in you!!
Now, in our text, we see that Paul states two ways in which this is true. First,
To Desire or to Will, depending on your translation. God reveals His will unto us and coaxes us into adopting His will as our own.
Second, we read, “to do OR work.” Not only are we energized to know His will, but we are empowered to do His will as well. (The Holy Spirit is the key – John 14:16 “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, (Paraclete, one who comes alongside) that He may be with you forever. (God works in, through His Spirit, so that we can work it out!)
God doesn’t just save us and leave us to sort out His will. He moves in our lives and brings us into His work. Before we were saved, God worked on us, John 16:7-11. Now that we are saved, He works within us, John 16:13. The Holy Spirit gives us understanding as to what the will of God is for our lives, and He creates within us a desire to carry out that will.
One commentator makes this point: “That is how the Christian life operates! God reveals His will to us, and we follow Him in obedience, John 5:19-20! The Christian life is not one of passive involvement. We don’t just sit around watching God do all the work. No, He places within us a desire to be involved in that work. God shows us what to do, and we go and do it. That, after all, is why He saved us – Ephesians 2:10! God saved us to work, and He has equipped us for that work, 1 Corinthians 12:7, 11. Obviously, then, there should be natural reverberations of this in our daily lives.
Such reverberations manifest themselves in private and corporate living – living out our salvation in our daily lives. Reread 14-16.
- Becoming—blameless and innocent, cr. 1:10 (crooked, perverse generation).
- Being—-lights in this world (gospel witness)
Both of which have a strong emphasis on our personal and corporate testimony for Christ. Christian, our testimony of Christ, should be uppermost in our thinking so -as- to affect all our attitudes and behaviors.
Is that true of you and your testimony?
A. Are you careful how you speak to others?
B. Are you mindful of what you do and do not participate in?
C. Are you a complainer?
“Complaining seems to be the American way of life. Most conversations are complaints about the government, the economy, the taxes we pay and even about the weather. Among Christians, we hear complaints about the sermon – too long, too dry and too pointed. Or there are complaints about the congregation – too large, too cold, too small, too emotional or too impersonal. Complaining is not just an American pastime. It is a human race pastime because all men do have a sin nature which tends towards the negative rather than the positive. Complaining is a spiritual problem and it has to be dealt with and spiritually defeated.” (Arnold)
The Philippians were commanded not to be complainers (14). They were not to complain about the difficulties they would experience or the persecutions that will come upon them as they worked out their “own salvation in fear and trembling,” in carrying out God’s good pleasure in their own lives.
They were to live their lives in such a way that no one would be able to criticize them. Their lives should be clean and innocent before a watching world!
A specific Old Testament passage is behind Paul’s words. In Deuteronomy 32:5, in the song of Moses, in referring to the grumbling and unbelief of the children of Israel in the wilderness, Moses says, “They have acted corruptly toward Him, they are not His children, because of their defect; but are a perverse and crooked generation.” Paul here refers to them and all Christians as “children of God.”
Paul turns that around here and says that we are God’s children, living amid a crooked and perverse generation. So we must be careful not to grumble and dispute, as Israel did in the wilderness, (because) as God’s people we are supposed to shine forth in this dark world as lights, holding forth the Word of life, the gospel of Christ.
Paul says in 2:16: “Holding firmly (fast, forth) to the word of life, then on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless.”
Now, in case you missed it, the gospel is central to all of this! It is the gospel and the Jesus of the gospel that saved them. It is the gospel that produces godly behavior in them. The gospel makes any fruitful witness to a lost world (1 John 1-4).
These dear people whom Paul loves so much, whom he brought the “word of life” to, this healthy church is to offer the Word of life to the lost souls around them, and for that to be effective, their lives need to be conformed to the gospel. They are to imitate their savior!
1. Obedience
2. Reverence
3. Self-less-ness
4. Sacrifice
5. Put sinners above Himself
Friends, Jesus Christ, left the splendor of heaven, temporarily laid aside His privileges as the Son of God, to take on the body of a human being. Humbling Himself to the point of death, even death on a cross, to publicly be the propitiation for sinners, like us, by shedding His lifeblood for the forgiveness of our sins. You see, we are all dead in our trespasses and sins until God, being rich in mercy and because of His great love for us, took our place and paid our debt. Jesus took upon Himself our sin so that we can, by faith, receive His righteousness!
It is by His grace that anybody is ever saved and forgiven. Do you know of that grace, dear friend?
So, it seems for Paul that if these folks would continue in their obedience
And pursue Christ-like-ness, faithfully living out and sharing the “word of life” Paul’s joy would be complete (vs.2), and he would have cause to rejoice that all his sacrifice and service for these people was fruitful and not in vain or purposeless.
Such a life. Living by faith, walking humbly and obediently before the Lord daily, serving others, shining as lights in a sin fallen world is not easy. There is a price to pay as a faithful follower of Christ.
FOCUS TWO: Cost of our salvation (Read 17-18) (not salvific, but that which is incurred daily living it out).
a. Sacrifice
b. Service
c. A joy
What does Paul mean by being poured out as a drink offering, and what does that have to do with His exhortations up to this point?
The first recorded occurrence of a drink offering was given by Jacob in Genesis 35:14, right after God changed his name to Israel. Drink offerings were also included with burnt and grain offerings in God-ordained sacrifices, including the morning and evening sacrifices of Exodus 29:40. A drink offering was common in Jewish worship. There was a primary animal offering on the altar and then the secondary drink offering, which was poured out, usually on top of the primary offering.
At the writing of this letter, the Apostle Paul was waiting for the verdict from the Roman court as to whether he would be executed or set free. The possibility of being martyred was very present for him. Paul sees his own life possibly coming to an end, and it is a picture of this drink offering that is poured out on top of a sacrifice. He sees the faith of the Philippians being a sacrifice, and he sees his own life being poured out (sacrificed) on top of it.
He views the shedding of his blood secondary to the Philippian’s primary offering of sacrifice and service, which flows out of their faith in Christ. Their service and sacrifice for Christ were more important than Paul’s martyrdom. Yet, Paul rejoiced in the privilege and honor of dying for Christ if he was called upon to do so.
Paul, In 2 Timothy 4:6, used this metaphor as well. He sensed the end of his ministry, again compared his efforts to wine poured out of a vessel onto an altar. Paul sees his own “pouring out” as a thing of joy, a good thing, something that might be sweet to God. His testimony for Christ was paramount in his thinking and affections. Paul was showing true humility in that the service of the Philippians was more important than his death. He tells the Philippians that such sacrifice should be counted as joy, and they can rejoice in it together!
Dear reader, our testimony of Christ should be uppermost in our thinking to affect all our attitudes and behavior, whether that is unity in the church or a faithful gospel witness to a lost world. It will shine brightly when we are filled with joy, even amid trials.
Are we ready to serve the Lord even to the point of imprisonment and death if the Lord should ask it?
Are we ready to sacrifice everything if the Lord should ask us to reach the world with the truth of Christ?
If your answer is “yes,” then you have the mind of Christ in the area of service.
But if your answer is no, what has to be confessed, put off/on, what has to become a priority in your life for your answer to become a “yes?”
Dear Christian, our obedience to the Word and Will of God, is the difference between:
Unity or disunity within the church
Selfishness or self-less-ness
Humility or arrogance
Complaining or praising
Holding fast the Word of life or neglecting the Word of life
Being lights put under a basket or lights placed on top of a stand to shine forth Joy rejoicing or grumbling and complaining
How will you walk away from this post today after hearing God’s Word to us?
7waysfromsunday 
Much application from this devotion
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