“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, so that you will be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish 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 in the day of Christ I will have reason to boast because I did not run in vain nor labor in vain. 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. And you also, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.” Philippians 2:14-18 ^LSB

On the final Sunday of 2023 we continued our studies in Philippians with our third and final engagement in chapter two, verses fourteen through eighteen, giving special attention to the passage’s final commands to rejoice and share our joy. Commands that are a contrasting complement to the passage’s opening command to not grumble or dispute (offenses that are wholly antithetical to rejoicing in sacrificial service to Christ).

Now, while giving our attention to this final portion of the text and its commands to rejoice and share joy amidst our sacrificial service to Christ we reviewed what preceded it: the opening command, its build out, and The Day of Christ.

First we noted that the command to do all things without grumbling or disputing is very clear in its scope. All things means all things. A simple concept but one that we commonly struggle to apply – hoping for and/or chasing after exceptions. And whether or not such exceptions may be found – their pursuit is the wrong application of our efforts. And this interest in exceptions usually reflects our failed appreciation of just how ugly these offenses truly are before God and man. 

Therefore we reviewed working definitions of grumbling and disputing and what such conduct expresses of our theology.

For our definitions we chose to use John MacArthur’s explanations as they provided a good representation of how many others have expressed these terms and what can be observed of them in the Scriptures.

Grumbling: “It is a negative response to something unpleasant, inconvenient, or disappointing, arising from the self-centered notion that it is undeserved.”

Disputing: “It has the basic meaning of inner reasoning…. But it soon developed the more specific ideas of questioning, doubting, or disputing the truth of a matter.” 

When seeing these matters for what they are it is curious that we so often pursue exceptions to give ourselves an allowance to preserve and exercise them in our day to day lives. Especially when we consider what such conduct expresses of our Theology too. Namely, that grumbling and disputing, by their very nature, represent and express a failure to recognize that God is good, that God is just, that God is sovereign, and that God is working out His plans, which, by design, use a diversity of persons and avail themselves of the suffering and disappointments that accompany this life.

So, it is peculiar when we have to admit to ourselves and one another that even when seeing these offenses for what they are… it is still hard to forsake them. Indeed, it is hard work to walk in the obedience that God has called us to in this life which is why it is good to also remember what immediately preceded this passage. 

“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12-13

Here we observed that we were not only commanded to work out our salvation with fear and trembling but were reminded that it is God who is at work in us both willing and working for His good pleasure. Therefore while we work hard in all areas of sanctification, including the mortification of those offenses that so tenaciously cling to our hearts, we are encouraged that God has provided both the desire and means to obey.

Next we refreshed our attention to the fact that while challenging… when we do these things well we show ourselves to be: “…blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom [we] shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life….”

And with this we recalled that the language here was a reflection of Paul beautifully inverting Moses’ prophetic rebuke of Israel who was notorious for their grumbling and disputing. And in both this inversion of Moses’ rebuke and the incorporation of Daniel’s final prophetic message Paul drew out the nature and character of the children of God who shine as lights while negotiating a dark and unbelieving world. A people who persevere in their holding fast the word of life and who are winsomely evangelistic in their holding forth the word of life. All of which provided Paul confidence that he will have reason for boasting or grounds for eruptions of joyful and worshipful pride in The Day of Christ.

The Day of Christ that not only centered this passage’s commands but also the totality of Paul’s life and the joy that accompanied his sacrificial service to Christ. 

The Day of Christ being that moment in history in which Christ gloriously returns and takes His people to Himself and then goes on to righteously evaluate and reward them. 

A day that, when kept in view, strips away a desire for finding exceptions to the prohibitions against grumbling and disputing and that is rich in a rejoicing that is eager to be shared.

So, it is with a view to The Day of Christ that Paul frames and then expresses both his sacrificial service and his final commands of joy in this passage.

“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. And you also, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.” Philippians 2:17-18 ^LSB

Now, we noted here that, while Paul employs the language of sacrifice in other places, references to drink offerings are quite limited – only appearing twice in the New Testament. The second reference is also by Paul and once more expresses the image of being poured out or being fully spent. However, the second reference comes at the end of his life and is explicitly an image of his final pouring of himself out… the season in which the man who died daily would soon die.

Here, however, the image is that of his complimentary accompaniment of the Philippians’ own sacrificial service, albeit by way of a full and final pouring out of himself in service to Christ. He expresses this by way of a first class conditional clause: “But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith… and I am….”

Paul was expressing that he was being fully spent in sacrificial service… but by the nature of the language and the role of a drink offering, this was not an act of solitary service but service in concert with the Philippians. Therefore Paul’s spending of himself was a shared work among faithful gospel co-laborers.

This was the language of complementary service being executed among mutually sacrificing friends. The Philippians were not bystanders to Paul’s work but were themselves commended for their sacrificial service of which Paul himself comes alongside with the giving of himself as an accompanying offering to their own offering. And in this he found tremendous joy! So much joy that he wished to see it spilled over to others and he then in turn directs them to like action too. “And you also, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.”

Therefore, while Paul gave of himself we need not overlook that the Philippians sacrificially served Christ too. The Philippians gave of their time, their resources, their people, their prayers, and their strength in service to Christ – all with joy and a view to The Day of Christ.

So, how might we evaluate the sacrificial service of Paul and the Philippians? Here are seven points of action from our passage, Philippians 2:14-18.

1. Do not grumble or dispute. It not only makes you ugly, but it is dishonoring to God, and it gravely diminishes your usefulness.
2. Cultivate holiness in your thoughts, speech, and conduct. Be blameless, innocent, and unblemished sacrifices. The Lord is not only worthy of such sacrifices, He expects them.
3. Let your light shine in this dark world.
4. Hold fast and hold forth the word of life. There are innumerable people in your sphere of influence and experience that need the hope of the gospel.
5. Keep The Day of Christ ever before as you run and labor well… never may it be said that we ran or labored in vain.
6. Spend yourself in service… leave it all on the field as it were… and do not worry about what that will require of you… after all… when it is all said and done you get a new body anyway.
7. Rejoice… rejoice and share your joy.

Seven points of action that, if framed with a view to The Day of Christ, will prove to be grounds for great boasting as we have not labored nor run in vain.

Grace and Peace,

David B. Crowe

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