A Closer Look at the Book: PHILIPPIANS
“Not Your Average, Run of the Mill Christians”
Philippians 2: 17-30
Pastor Steve N. Wagers
March 13. 2010
1. Paul: The Joyful Soldier
A) Sacrificial in His Giving
B) Beneficial in His Living
2. Timothy: The Mindful Steward
A) Righteously Cooperative
B) Reliably Committed
3. Epaphroditus: The Faithful Servant
A) The Affliction that Grieved
B) The Attitude that Gripped Him
Vance Havner once said that, “Most Christians are so subnormal that if they ever began to live normal the world would think they were abnormal.”
George Gallup, Jr. said: "While religion is highly popular in America, it is to a large extent superficial; it does not change people's lives to the degree one would expect from the level of professed faith."
To put it very simply, most Christians live an average Christian life at best. The average Christian spends little time in Bible study and prayer. The average Christian rarely shares their faith. The average Christian may go to Church on a regular basis, but such things as Christian service and spiritual growth are not important to them.
In all honesty, someone who spends time in the Word of God and prayer; who is passionately and persistently sharing their faith; who seeks the will of God and does the will of God, and puts Christ first in every aspect of their life by today's standards is not your everyday Christian.
The Christian life that many live is normal by man’s standards, but subnormal by God's standards. Many times, what we accept as a fair Christian life is in God's eyes a failing Christian life. It may be an average Christian life but it is certainly not the acceptable Christian life.
D. Martyn Lloyd Jones said, “If we Christians are indistinguishable from non-Christians, we are useless. What a tragic peril for us to go from being saviors of our society to supplying materials for footpaths.”
A speaker, who when in a town, would always read the local newspaper to learn a little about the place he was in and the people to whom he would be speaking. He was to speak in Bloomington, Illinois. He arrived on Saturday night, bought a paper and began to read it. It seems there are two small towns or suburbs next to Bloomington, one called "Normal" and the other "Oblong." As he was looking at the paper, he came to the society section and he came across the headline, "Normal boy marries Oblong girl."
As we come to the close of Philippians 2, Paul speaks of 3 Christians who were anything but normal. They represent those who are not your average, run of the mill Christians.
1. Paul: The JOYFUL SOLDIER!
I recently read this.
I’ve been a dead weight many years
Around the church’s neck;
I’ve let the others carry me
And always pay the check.
I’ve had my name upon the rolls
For years and years gone by;
I’ve criticized and grumbled too,
Nothing could satisfy.
I’ve been a dead weight long enough
Upon the church’s back;
Beginning now, I’m going to take
A wholly different track.
I’m going to pray and pay and work
And carry loads instead;
And not have others carry me
Like people do the dead.
The very mention of the name of Paul doesn’t remind us of one who was a dead weight for the cause of Christ. Even in the midst of struggles, sorrow, and suffering he remained a joyful soldier.
A) SACRIFICIAL with His GIVING
(17-18) “17 Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all. 18 For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.”
When Paul uses the word “offered,” he was speaking of the possibility of death by execution. He is writing from prison and knows that any day he could be carried to be executed.
The word that he used to describe his death, “offered,” was a word used in connection to the offering of a sacrifice. In other words, Paul viewed his death as an offering unto God.
He used the same word in 2 Timothy 4:6,
"For I am ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand."
Paul looked the giving of his life as a sacrificial act of worship. It was an offering to the God who saved him and sustained him. He did not run from such a death but rejoiced in such a death.
(16) “Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.”
Paul knew that he would shortly be ushered from the earthly world to the eternal world. He knew that his life’s work would be over; thus, he did not want his life to be summarized as running or laboring in vain.
The Scottish preacher, G.H. Morrison wrote: "Be good and true: be patient; be undaunted. Leave your usefulness to God to estimate. He will see to it that you do not live your life in vain."
God will never allow a life lived for His glory to be in vain. We often talk about being willing to die for Jesus, but the truth of the matter is that He has never asked us to die for Him, only to live for Him.
There are many who will be ashamed at their death because they lived a shameful life. Paul viewed his death as a sacrifice, placed upon the altar of worship, offered unto God. Do you share that same sentiment?
B) BENEFICIAL in His LIVING
As I mentioned last week, in Old Testament times, when a person brought an animal sacrifice to God, he also brought wine to be poured out as an accompanying libation. The amount of wine depended on the value of the sacrifice. The more impressive sacrifices required greater amounts of wine.
And since wine is symbolic of joy and exhilaration in the Bible, we could say, "The greater the sacrifice, the greater the joy." The pouring of wine on the Old Testament sacrifice taught the truth that the way of sacrifice is the way of joy.
(17) "Yea, and if be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all."
Paul said that if he died it would be with joy and there would be no regrets. Why? His life was bearing fruit in the Philippian believers. His giving would be sacrificial because his living had been beneficial.
First, he spoke of their "sacrifice." The word is the same that he used in Romans 12:1 when he told the believers in Rome to present their bodies a living sacrifice. Paul's words were a testimony that they had given their life to God and were living for Him.
Then he spoke of their "service." The word means, "Ministry." They were living in the will of God and doing the work of God. This was his fruit, his life in flesh and his ministry in shoe leather.
Paul could die without any regrets because he knew the he would live on in the lives of the Philippians believers. He had led them to Christ and helped them grow as Christians. They were monuments to his life and ministry.
When we meet Christ, we should want to meet him with a life of service and lives that are serving. We should want to meet Him with a life that is honorable to Him and leave behind lives that are honoring Him.
When our physical life is over, our spiritual life will continue to live on. The seeds we have sown, and the tears we have shed to water the seed will continue to live on the lives of others. Like Abel, “he being dead, yet speaketh.” Some of the loudest talking we will ever do will be when we have ceased talking.
Can you point to someone that is going to heaven because of you? Can you point to someone that is in church and living for God because of your life? What could be greater than to come to the end of your life, knowing that because of your life, you will leave behind fruit?
Lyman Beecher was a scholar and preacher in his day. His sermons were printed in newspapers throughout the country. When he was on his deathbed someone said to him, "Dr. Beecher, you are a great intellect and a brilliant scholar. Tell me, what do you believe is the greatest thing that a human being can be or do with his life?" Lying on his deathbed, he replied, "The greatest thing is not that a man should be a scientist, important as that is; not that a man should be a statesman, as important as that is; not even that one should be a great theologian, immeasurably important as that is. The greatest of all things for one human being is to bring another human being to the Lord Jesus Christ.”
How will you meet Him? Will you meet Him empty-handed? Will you meet Him with fruit for your labor? Will your death be sacrificial because your life was beneficial?
2. TIMOTHY: The MINDFUL STEWARD!
Timothy was Paul’s son in the faith; however we now learn that Timothy was also Paul’s steward of the faith. He was cautiously mindful, and mindfully cautious of the faith entrusted to him.
A) RIGHTEOUSLY COOPERATIVE
(20) “For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state."
The word "likeminded" is made up of two words, "equal" and "soul." Paul was saying, "I have no man with a soul equal to Timothy's." Paul was declaring that Timothy was not your everyday kind of Christian. He was not an average believer. There were many believers in Rome, but Timothy was in a class all by himself.
Back in verse 2, Paul said,
“Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.”
Paul’s desire had been granted in young Timothy. He had found a man who shared his burden. Timothy was not serving in competition against Paul, but in cooperation with Paul.
(22) “But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel.”
One of the biggest burdens of a pastor’s heart is to find those who are “likeminded,” and are righteously cooperative for the sake of the gospel. Far too often the shepherd finds sheep that are more interesting in competing than in cooperation.
How encouraging it is, and how much more work can be accomplish when we cast away the minors and cooperate with the majors. Far too many pastors get a vision from God; share it with their congregation, only to see the vision drop like a lead balloon, because it was not the idea of one of the congregants.
I should not ever need to remind you that we are on the same team. There is one Captain, and His name is Jesus. As a gift to the church, God has placed a quarterback, the pastor, to lead the team as God leads Him.
What would happen if the 5 players on the court started competing against each other to see who scored the most point, made the most headlines, and had more highlights on ESPN?
But, look at the teams that might not have the most talent, but win because they cooperate with the game plan, learn each of their respective roles, and play with one common vision, purpose, and spirit. Mark it down; they will win more games consistently than the team competing against itself.
A number of years ago, I heard Bill Gothard give a classic illustration concerning the spiritual gifts of the body of Christ. He imagines a party, and they’re getting ready to serve the dessert. The person carrying the dessert trips and the dessert falls on the floor.
All of a sudden the various gifts kick into gear. The person who has the gift of prophecy says, “That’s what happens when you’re not careful.” The person with the gift of mercy says, “Don’t feel bad; anybody could trip and fall.” The person with the gift of service says, “Hey, let me help you clean it up.”
The person with the gift of teaching says, “The reason that it fell is because it was too heavy on one side.” The person with the gift of exhortation says, “From now on, let’s just serve the dessert first, and put it in the middle of the table so it won’t fall.”
The person with the gift of giving says, “Don’t worry about it; I’ll buy a brand new dessert.” And the person with the gift of administration says, “Jim, get the mop. Sue, please help pick it up. Mary, you go fix some more dessert.”
May God give us some more people like Timothy, likeminded, and righteously cooperative for the glory of Jesus.
B) RELIABLY COMMITTED
A conversation is said to have taken place between a hen and a hog when they passed a church and observed the subject of the pastor's sermon: "How Can We Help the Poor?" After a moment's reflection, the hen said, "I know what we can do. We can give them a ham-and-egg breakfast!" The hog protested, saying, "The breakfast would be only a contribution for you, but for me it would mean total commitment."
In Timothy’s case, the Christian life, and his service to the Lord was a matter of total commitment.
(19) "19 But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state.”
It’s almost as if Paul is saying that when Timothy gets to Philippi, he will rest much easier. Why?
(21-23) “21 For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's. 22 But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel. 23 Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me.”
The word "proof is the Greek word ‘dokime’. It was commonly used to describe the testing of metals or coins for purity. It could refer to the process of testing or the result of that testing which was approval or disapproval.