Philippians 1:27-2:18

Updated
2001-05-26; 14:32:44utc

IV. Phil. 1:27 - 2:18.

"Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel Without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved; and that by God.

For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death; even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in Heaven and on earth and under the earth, And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed; not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence; continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

Do everything without complaining or arguing,

So that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe

As you hold out the word of life; in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.

But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.

So you too should be glad and rejoice with me."

The key word in this section is humility. Everything Paul says in the selection is derived from the concept of humility. The unity of spirit is the fruit of humility. Inter-personal relations are determined by humility, which causes people to "consider others better than themselves." The humility of Christ is presented as the supreme example to be followed, and the attitude of obedience, which does "everything without complaining or arguing" becomes a testimony of light in a world that lives in darkness. This is the basis for a "conduct ... that is worthy of the Gospel of Christ."

In this way Paul gives his advice in vs. 27. The Gospel is the message of God who became man in order to redeem us by His death. The conduct that is worthy of this Gospel is the conduct that follows the example of Christ.

We don't know the problems that plagued the church in Philippi. Several times Paul uses the word unity or words connoting unity. In 4:2 he even mentions names. Evidently, there were no serious problems that would cause schism as was the case in Corinth. Almost every time Paul speaks about unity or being like-minded, he connects it with the struggle to present the Gospel to people who oppose it. So in vs. 27 where the Gospel is preached there is opposition. This opposition may take the form of human efforts to hinder the preaching, but the reality behind every opposition is that which Paul exposes in Ephesians, where he says: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the Heavenly realms."

Undoubtedly, those are the powers that try to frighten the believers, mentioned in vs. 28. They should be opposed from the basis of the victory of Jesus Christ, of whom Paul says in Colossians: "And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."[ 1 ] But if we, as Christians, use our energy to fight one another, we show clearly that we have no idea what spiritual life is all about. The majority of Christians do not see the great outline of the battle. The Bible gives several examples of armies that destroyed themselves. If the Church of Jesus Christ starts to indulge in self-destruction, it plays into the devil's hand.

The expression "conduct yourselves in a manner worthy" is the translation of the Greek politeuesthe, "be a citizen." The term is very fitting for Romans who live outside the actual boundaries of their homeland in a Roman colony in Macedonia. We have to behave on earth as citizens of the kingdom of Heaven. This thought is further worked out in 3:20,21.

In vs. 29 the boundaries of the meaning of the word grace are being enlarged. Peter says the same in his epistle, where we read: "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name."[ 2 ]

It is obvious that suffering in itself is not good. Pain, sickness and death form no part of God's original plan with man. "Grace," which is the word used in Greek translated "it has been granted," does not pertain to the content of suffering but to the fruit it produces and the attitude we take towards it.

It is also important to note that Paul connects suffering and faith in vs. 29. Both are part of the grace God has imparted to us. We need grace to be able to believe. Our sinful nature keeps us separate from God's truth. To trust God does not come naturally to us since we are suspicious by nature. If we learn to put our trust in God, it is by the influence of the Holy Spirit. We need this certainty that God is real and that He does good to us and that the end will be glory when pain and darkness close in around us. Our natural tendency is to fear, but the experience of God's love takes away fear.

It is also true that our insight in the suffering of Christ deepens as we suffer ourselves, and this will make us understand more of the love that drove Him. This understanding is what God intends to bring about in us. He wants us to answer His love with our love which is the purpose of the grace of suffering. Pain is the reaction of our bodies to everything Satan pours out upon us. Pain does not originate with God, but He built it in as a warning signal and as such it is, undoubtedly, is a divine invention. God uses the weapons of the enemy to destroy the enemy. The greatest example of this is Jesus' victory over the powers of darkness by His death on the cross.

Paul surely often thought back over the events that led to the founding of the church in Philippi. It started with a closed door in Asia. After that came the vision at Troas and the crossing over to Macedonia, followed by Lydia's conversion and Paul's imprisonment. He may have asked himself what impression all these things had made upon the Philippians. From a human viewpoint, the situation was a total defeat. What kind of message has a shackled prisoner with a bleeding back to bring? But it was in this seemingly hopeless situation that the church was born. We see how the struggle of Paul and Silas and the way they reacted to their most difficult circumstances spoke more clearly than their sermons did. Their songs of praise in the middle of the night, as recorded in Acts 16:25, opened the door for God's victory in Philippi.

We understand from Paul's words here that the church in Philippi did not have an easy time. The authorities of the city had come to request politely that the apostles leave, but they may have been less polite toward the Christians who remained in the city. Demonic powers must have thrown themselves upon this little group of believers. They had seen, however, in Paul's life what God's grace can accomplish.

When Paul writes these words he is back at square one. There is no better place from which to write this epistle to the Philippians than a Roman prison. The Philippians undoubtedly understood this; they had been there themselves, some as prisoners, some as jailers.

In the first part of chapter two, Paul gives as an example of humility the attitude of Jesus, or as the KJV and RSV put it "the mind" of Christ Jesus. His description of Jesus' humility is unsurpassed in the Bible.

In introducing the subject in vs. 1, Paul laces his remarks with diplomatic humor. He makes an appeal to them in the name of Jesus Christ. The Greek word, translated "encouragement" is paraklesis, which can also be translated as "comfort." In this context the word "appeal" would seem more appropriate. The word is a legal term from which the word parakletos is derived, which is the title Jesus uses for the Holy Spirit.

Although Paul writes in Greek, the form in which he puts his thoughts is pure Hebrew. The "if any" is the Hebrew word equivalent to our question mark. The questions all require a positive answer. Of course, the Philippians experience encouragement from their being united with Christ! Of course, they have fellowship with the Holy Spirit! And, of course, they know the meaning of tenderness and compassion! Paul does not question these things, but he reminds the brethren of the fundamental truths on which their lives are built.

It is necessary for us to pause from time to time in order to realize where we are and to make our spiritual inventory. It is our position that determines our actions. We cannot conduct ourselves "in a manner worthy of the Gospel" if we don't realize what the Gospel means to us and where it has brought us. Such pausing does not mean stagnation; Paul writes this to promote progress.

The important part, of course, is not that Paul's joy be made complete. That is a detail. The Philippians should not grow spiritually just to make Paul happy. Their growth is for the Lord's sake, not for Paul's. But there are stages in our Christian life in which the person of Christ stands less clearly before our eyes than the person who led us to the Lord. This is not bad as long as it is not a lasting situation. Sooner or later it will have to become clear that the Father Himself loves us and that our human relationships have to be subjected to the goal of our relationship with Christ.

What Paul is actually saying is that there is encouragement from being united with Christ, comfort from his love, fellowship with the Spirit, as well as tenderness and compassion; he says these factors should form the basis for our Christian humility. The way he puts it, tenderness and compassion seem to be directed toward Paul, but this doesn't change any of the truth of what he says. The Philippians understood that their effort should be to please not Paul, but Christ. God wants us to pursue holiness, and our holiness demonstrates itself in our relationship with others.

Although Paul doesn't say this in so many words, it is understood from his admonition that our conversion and regeneration do not automatically cancel out sinful tendencies. "Selfish ambition" "vain conceit," "considering others less than ourselves," and "looking at our own interests" are dangers that continue to threaten us. The Holy Spirit will not conquer those without our consent. Those are "the little foxes that ruin the vineyards" (See Song of Songs 2:15). If we open ourselves up for the critical, loving eye of God, we will discover that our best intentions are often mixed with bitter substances. Christ will have to become incarnate in us. It is the humility of Christ, not our own humility that is needed in us.

The fact that humility is mentioned in connection with Christ's attitude proves that the point is not a lack of honor or position or abilities. Real humility presupposes gifts and abilities. A person is not humble because he has nothing and is unable to do anything. Winston Churchill's comment about his colleagues Clement Atlee as "That modest little man, with so much to be modest about," is funny and insulting to the highest degree, but nothing more! It does not define humility. Humility is based on our gifts and achievements. The source of humility is the recognition that our gifts are borrowed and that we are one hundred percent responsible for what we do with them. Humility expresses itself in obedience toward God in the use of our talents, not in the denial of our possession of them. To deny what God has given us and what He has made us has nothing to do with humility. Devaluation of the concept of humility is the result of devilish propaganda.

Confession of humility does not exclude humility. Jesus said of Himself: "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart," (Matt. 11:29) and we should follow Him. But we, in our slyness, are able to simulate humility to manipulate a deeply rooted pride. Charles Dickens, in his famous book David Copperfield, paints the picture of Uriah Heep who keeps on saying: "We are umble people." If Christ were not the Second Person of the omnipotent Triune God, He could not be the humblest Person who ever lived on earth. It boils down to this: we are not humble because of a lack of ability but because of what we do with our abilities. A humble person honors God with what he possesses.

The "mind of Christ," as the KJV calls it, is put before us as an example to follow. We have to understand that we are unable to teach this "mind of Christ" to ourselves. Our sinful nature keeps us from learning. Without the Spirit of Christ, the mind of Christ will remain elusive to us. In the quotation from Matt. 11, Jesus says: "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me." If we accept this invitation, His gentleness and humility will be imputed to us. The image is very fitting. Jesus speaks of a couple of animals that plough together. If we take upon us the yoke of Christ, we share our weakness with His omnipotence; and in ploughing together our hearts are being changed and conformed to His. Pulling the yoke together with Christ is an essential part of our emotional and spiritual healing as sinful human beings.

According to the Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Paul quotes an existing hymn for his description of the glory and humiliation of Christ. The NIV translates "in the form of God," as the KJV puts it, with "in very nature God." The original, however, seems to speak more about the external manifestation than the essence of the divine nature. But whatever the sense, Paul does, obviously, not intend to diminish in any way the character of the Second Person of the Trinity. Paul says the same as John in his Gospel: "The Word was God" (John 1:1b). The Amplified Bible gives the following rendering of vs. 5: "Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God]."

The very nature of God stands in contrast with the very nature of a servant in the following verse. Here again the KJV translates it with "the form of a servant." "The form" does not imply that He would be less God or less man. He is and remains God, the eternal and almighty Creator of Heaven and earth. He "is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being" (Heb. 1:3). This is what is meant by "being in the form of God," or, "being in very nature God." But the translation of the Greek word "arpageon" as "robbery," as the KJV gives, does not seem to be a very good one. The context speaks about something that one would not want to give up under normal circumstances. Here we enter a realm of mystery that is inaccessible for our human spirit. How can we understand the dilemma of an un-created God who would lay aside His divine attributes, which we cannot even imagine or describe? A poor comparison would be if, for one reason or another, a multimillionaire would be presented with the choice of exchanging his status for that of a pauper. Jesus chose to be a pauper because He is Love. Love and humility are closely related. They cannot exist separately. This fact adds to humility a dimension that is seldom added to it on earth; nor is humility added to love in our human philosophy.

"But made himself nothing" (NIV), or, as the RSV puts it: "But emptied himself." The Greek word ekenosen is, probably, the most analyzed word in the New Testament. It seems arrogant to add my personal analysis to this. It should be made clear, however, that there must have taken place a fundamental change when the Son of God exchanged the eternal for the temporal. As human beings, we have little understanding in the essence of our own being. We hardly know who we are ourselves- and even less, what we are. As Christians, we have the advantage over atheists who see man as the product of evolution, in that we recognize a divine element in man. At least we know in what direction our thinking about ourselves should go. But we don't know how to think from the opposite direction. That is why we cannot explain what the "emptying" of the Son of God involved. There are two things that should give a handle to our understanding of the subject. First, as a man, Jesus did not possess the divine characteristic of omnipresence. Second, there is, obviously, an inseparable unity among all God's characteristics. We cannot speak about divine attributes as if they could be broken up into a series of separate factors. To put it another way, if God lacked one of His attributes or if He did not possess that attribute perfectly and eternally, He would cease to be God. It is a logical conclusion that if one of the divine attributes is not active, none are. This does not mean a denial of Christ's divinity. It only means that during His life on earth Christ could not exercise His divine attributes. He became human in the complete sense of the word and lived within the boundaries and limitations in which man lives upon earth. Heb. 2:14, 17 says, "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are; yet was without sin."

That is why Jesus states emphatically that the supernatural manifestations in His life are the work of the Father, which are released through Him because of His faith as man. As an example we quote: Matt. 21:18-22: "Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, 'May you never bear fruit again!' immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. 'How did the fig tree wither so quickly?' They asked. Jesus replied, 'I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ''Go, throw yourself into the sea,'' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.'" This truth adds dimensions to our humanity of which we can hardly dream.

As humans who are born on this earth and who have breathed in the polluted air of sin since birth, we look at life from the wrong side. The Word that became flesh has demonstrated to us the only correct philosophy of life. In His humiliation He has shown us the highest height of human life. His becoming man in itself did not debase Christ. After all, man is created in God's image and Jesus Christ is God's perfect image. Paul uses the word "humbled" only in connection with Jesus' taking upon Himself the load of our sins and dying on the cross. Jesus did not become less by becoming man. Humility has nothing to do with lowliness. Humility is an act of the will which can only be exercised by people of the highest nobility. Pride lowers a man; humility raises him up. J.B. Phillips gives a beautiful rendering of this passage: "For he, who had always been God by nature, did not cling to his prerogatives as God's equal, but stripped himself of all privileges by consenting to be a slave by nature and being born as mortal man. And having become man, he humbled himself by living a life of utter obedience, even to the extent of dying, and the death he died was the death of a common criminal."

Jesus came into this world to die for the sins of the world. He is "the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world" (Rev. 13:8). This provision for the atonement of sin was included in the plan of creation. Jesus accepted this call to be "the Lamb" when He was baptized in the river Jordan. I presume that Psalm 40:6-8 was before His mind as He went into the water: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced, ["but a body you prepared for me" (Heb 10:5)]; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, 'Here I am, I have come; it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.'" Jesus was very much aware of the fact that He had come to give His life. That is why He says in Matt. 20:28: "Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." All other humans are born to live; Jesus came with the specific purpose to die. It is obvious that this goes against the grain of nature. The goal of Jesus' life could only be reached by a series of definite decisions of the will. Those decisions are what is called here "His obedience."

In this light, what does it mean to have "the mind of Christ?" It is clear that our position is not the same as Christ's. He is God and became man. We start as man. Paul addresses Christians. In Christ's coming down to earth, the cross lay before Him. For us the cross is behind. Paul does not work on our guilt feelings by pushing us to be humble in that we would confess our sins. The sin problem is behind us. We cannot show the mind of Christ unless we accept that we have been raised with Christ from the dead and that we are seated with Him in the heavenly realms. In that sense we have the same starting point as He did. But, of course, we don't come down to take the sins of the world upon us. That would mean a senseless repetition. But we identify with men who have fallen in sin. And if the Son of God had to learn obedience, there is every reason that we too must learn to obey. We demonstrate our obedience by giving up that which is rightfully ours. Paul says in Rom. 9:3: "For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race." That is the attitude of humility, the mind of Christ. The elders who fall down before the throne of God and cast their crowns before the throne, in Rev. 4:10, show this humility. Without a crown we cannot be humble.

Jesus refers to this humility several times when He admonishes His disciples to deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Him. He does not say this to fallen sinners, but to the born again person. In Matt. 16:24, for instance, we read: "Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'" This is not a case of exchanging our poverty for His riches, but of our giving up our riches for His sake. As John says in I John 3:16: "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." That is the mind of Christ.

It is on this basis that God exalts. This is the second resurrection. Just as there is a second death, there is a second resurrection although the expression is not found in the Bible. The Father fulfilled His part of the eternal covenant when He "brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep." (Heb. 13:20). And now, He has put Him, as a human being, in a position that is not accessible for angels or archangels. The great hymn of praise in the book of Revelation is: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" (Rev. 5:12). The glory of our Lord Jesus Christ as a man is the same as the glory of God the Father. It makes one dizzy to realize that, as the bride of Christ, we will share in this glory. The New Jerusalem, the bride of the Lamb, has the glory of God, according to Rev. 21:9-11. We don't lose anything by giving up what we have. Our adoration of Jesus Christ as Lord will exalt us to dizzying heights.

Vs. 11 says: "And every tongue [should] confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." All glory and honor, both the glory of Jesus as well as the glory given to us, is due only to God. The first sin occurred when the glory of one creature did not flow anymore toward God. Lucifer became Satan and Adam became a sinner. As Isaiah 42:8 says: "I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another." We have to be watchful at this point. In one of her books, Corrie ten Boom writes that she was embarrassed by all the praise and honor she received. She decided to take all the compliments that were given her during the day and present them to the Lord as a bouquet. All honor that is given to us belongs to God. Without Him we would crawl upon the surface of the earth as despicable creatures. If we are honorable, it is because God made us so.

The word "therefore" in vs. 12 is a loaded word, one of the most explosive ones in this chapter. If the previous verses would go to our head we would have missed the point completely. A realistic observation brings us to the conclusion that everything Paul says here surpasses our natural situation by far. "Fear and trembling" are healthy reactions and complete and unconditional obedience is the only way to progress. Obedience has to be learned. The Philippians had started to obey God because Paul had admonished them to do so, and he had been their example. There was a danger that their obedience would slacken in Paul's absence. In the beginning people are often not obedient for Christ's sake. In early stages of our spiritual life, we often do certain things because people tell us. When I came to know the Lord, people often gave the following succinct advice: "Go and ask the Lord yourself!" If we are able to adapt a similar attitude by which we can hear the voice of the Lord when we ask Him for advice, we are on the right track.

When Paul talks about working out our own salvation, he does not mean that we have to be converted and born again by our own effort. What is meant is the sanctification of our lives and the maturing of what God has planted in our hearts. Also, "fear and trembling" has nothing to do with being afraid of God, but it means being serious about Him and our relationship with Him. The fact that we would not even desire our own renewal and progress if God did not help us to want this shows how absolute the havoc is that sin has created in our lives. God has saved us, and He Himself will keep on working on our salvation until we have been changed into His image. The work will be completed when we see Him in glory. This is what Paul also says in chapter 1:6 "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." But we play an active part in this process. In our own strength we can only hinder what God wants to do. We have the power to be negative. Our effort will have to consist of our continuing to relinquish the negative tendencies and areas of our lives and surrendering them to the control of the Holy Spirit. In II Cor. 10:5 Paul speaks about [demolishing] "arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, [taking] captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." In that context Paul speaks about his ministry to others, but we should apply the same principle to our own lives. It is often our tendency to deny entrance to the Holy Spirit to certain areas of our lives. Working out our salvation consists mainly in handing over the keys. The faith factor in this process is the realization that God takes pleasure in us. He loves us, and He expects us to surrender to Him because we love Him. So working out our salvation with fear and trembling is in reality a growing in love.

The practical side of this "working out" of our salvation demonstrates itself in the way we do our work "without complaining or arguing." Our love for God is like a diamond with many facets. There is the side that sparkles towards God, but there is also the side of our testimony towards "a crooked and depraved generation." The way in which we do our work sets us apart from the gray masses; and it makes us shine like stars in a dark universe. Our first testimony should be our life; what we say is the lesser part of our testimony. Most people don't listen to what we have to say, but they look at what we do.

This paragraph is made more interesting by the fact that Paul draws himself into the picture. It almost sounds as if the apostle has doubts about the fruit in his own life. This may have been true to a certain extent. Most of God's children are more aware of their sins and shortcomings than of their sanctification. Moses did not know that his face was shining. We read in Ex. 34:29; "When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD." That is a healthy sign. If we are too sure that we will get the prize, we cease to run the race; this means that we will no longer surround the people we have won to the Lord with our intercession.

When Paul says he hopes the Philippians will hold high the banner of the Gospel so he can boast, he does not mean to indulge in vain thoughts about himself. The situation in Philippi was not like that in Corinth where people were split apart in groups: one calling themselves "Paul," another "Apollos," another "Christ," and all the time each group was trying to outmaneuver the other (I Cor. 3:4). The situation in Philippi was quite the opposite. Paul knows that he is in danger of being put to death, and so he examines the reason that this could happen, so that he would know how to bear his lot. The German philosopher Nietsche has said: "If we understand the 'why' we can bear the 'how'! So Paul wrote these words against the background of a possible Roman execution. He is not talking about his salvation or the possible loss of it. He thinks about his crown. He does not want to appear before the Lord with empty hands. Maybe he had the parable of the talents in Matt. 25:14-30 in mind.

Paul speaks about the fruit of his life at different occasions. This doesn't relate in every instance to the conversion of people. In II Cor. 11:2 he speaks about the purity of the church. "I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him." It is a wonderful thing to bring a daughter into the world, but the task of the parents does not end with the birth of the girl. Even in a spiritually minded church as the one in Philippi, Paul is concerned about the purity of the church, and he is ready to give his life so that the glory of God may be manifested in them. Our crown does not only exist in people we lead to the Lord, but also in the quality of life these Christians demonstrate in their spiritual growth. The efforts required to make our spiritual children grow are more demanding than the energy it takes to bring them to Christ. To illustrate this, Paul uses images like a race, like heavy labor, and like the pouring out of the blood of a sacrificial animal at the foot of the altar. And even the drink offering that is poured out upon the altar is symbolically meant as the pouring out of blood.

The drink offering or libation occupied a special place in the Israelite worship. Wine is not mentioned in the book of Leviticus, except in Lev. 23:13. There were no grapes in the desert. There is mention of the drink offering in Num. 15, after the spies had come back from seeing the promised land and after they had brought back the grapes of Eskol. In Num. 15:5,7 and 10 the quantity of wine is indicated in accordance with the kind of sacrifice that was brought. There are two things to be noted in this connection: the sacrifices mentioned were not meant to expiate sin. They were sacrifices that were a sweet aroma before the Lord, such as the burnt offering, the food offering and the peace offering. All these sacrifices were brought after the land of Canaan had been conquered. When Paul mentions the pouring out of his blood and compares it to the pouring out of a drink offering, he rings notes of victory, of gratitude, of love and of intimate fellowship with God; such as was expressed in the sacrifices mentioned above.

Four times in a row Paul uses a word that expresses joy. In Greek it is the same word. The NIV translates it "glad" and "rejoice." The KJV says "joy" and "rejoice." The spiritual growth of a church demands sacrifice both from the children and the fathers. But whoever loses his life for Christ's sake will not only find real life, he will also find the key to the joy of Christ. A lack of joy can almost always be traced back to an unwillingness to sacrifice.

In this selection Paul illustrates further the principle of sacrifice. These verses describe daily experience with difficulties, sickness and sorrow. They start with Paul's concern for the Philippians, a concern which is only mentioned in these verses and nowhere else in the epistle. This concern manifests itself in Paul's very human and earthly emotions. The spiritual victory which is such a dominant feature in this letter does not exclude human emotions and concerns. The spiritual will ultimately conquer all the facets of human life, but this is a slow process. Often the attitude that we are so spiritual and that we have the victory in every domain can do a lot of harm both to ourselves and to our testimony to others. We create more freedom by honestly admitting concern than by simulating a spiritual victory.

We have to conclude from the above that being in good spirits is not the same as rejoicing in the Lord. We should not confuse the two. Our joy in the Lord is a constant factor which is not influenced by favorable or unfavorable circumstances. One of my friends once crossed the Atlantic from Europe to America by ship. One evening as he was leaning over the railing of the top deck, a girl came up beside him. As they were looking at the setting sun, she said, "Looking at the beauty of this sunset it is not hard to believe in God, is it?" To which my friend answered, "What do you do when it rains?"

[ 1 ] Col. 2:15

[ 2 ] I Pet. 4:12-16