Philippians 2:12-30 (Wednesday Evening Bible Study)

Philippians 2:12-30

• Philippians 2:12-18
• 12 Therefore, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose. 14 Do everything without grumbling and arguing, 15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world, 16 by holding firm to the word of life. Then I can boast in the day of Christ that I didn’t run or labor for nothing. 17 But even if I am poured out as a drink offering on the sacrificial service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18 In the same way you should also be glad and rejoice with me.
  • The appeal that Paul makes to the Philippians is more than an appeal to live in unity in a given situation; it is an appeal to live a life which will lead to the salvation of God in time and in eternity
  • Nowhere in the NT is the work of salvation more succinctly stated
    • Vs. 12-13 “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to His good purpose”
  • As always with Paul, the words are meticulously chosen
    • “Work out your own salvation”
      • The word he uses for work out is katergazesthai, which always has the idea of bringing to completion. It is as if Paul says, “Don’t stop half-way; go on until the work of salvation is fully achieved in you.” No Christian should be satisfied with anything less than the total benefits of the gospel
    • “For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to His good purpose”
      • The word Paul uses for work is the verb energein. There are two significant things about this word
        • It is always used of the action of God
        • It is always used of effective action
        • God’s action cannot be frustrated, nor can it remain half-finished; it must be fully effective
  • As we have said, this passage give a perfect statement of the work of salvation
    • Salvation is of God
      • It is God who works in us the desire to be saved.
        • Saint Augustine said “Our hearts are restless until they rest in Him.” “We could not even begin to seek Him unless He had already found us.”
        • The desire for the salvation of God is kindled not by any human emoting but by God Himself. The beginning of the process of salvation is awakened by God
      • The continuance of that process is dependent on God
        • Without His help, no sin can be conquered and no virtue achieved
      • The end of the process of salvation is with God
        • Its end is friendship with God, in which we are His and He is ours
      • The work of salvation is begun, continued, and ended in God
    • Salvation is in our own hands as well
      • “Work out your own salvation” Paul demands. Without our cooperation, even God is helpless. The fact is that any gift or any benefit has to be received. If someone is ill and the doctor is able to prescribe the drugs that will achieve a cure, the individual will not be cured until the drugs have been taken. There is always the possibility that the patient may stubbornly refuse all persuasion to take them. It is so with salvation. The offer of God is there; without it, there can be no such thing as salvation. But no one can ever receive salvation without answering God’s appeal and taking what He offers
  • There can be no salvation without God; but what God offers we must take. It is neverGod who withholds salvation; we are responsible for depriving ourselves of it
  • The Signs of Salvation
    • When we examine the chain of thought in this passage, we see that Paul gives us five signs of salvation
      • There is the sign of effective action
        • Christians must give continual evidence in their daily lives that they are indeed working out their own salvation; day by day, it must be more fully accomplished. The great tragedy of so many of us is that we are never really any further on. We continue to be victims of the same habits, slaves of the same temptations, and guilty of the same failures. But the true Christian life must be a continual progress, for it is a journey towards God
      • There is the sign of fear and trembling
        • This is not the fear and trembling of slaves cringing before their master; nor fear and trembling at the prospect of punishment
        • It comes form two things
          • A sense of our own human helplessness and our own powerlessness to deal with life triumphantly.
            • That is to say, it is not the fear and trembling which drives us to hide from God, but rather the fear and trembling which drives us to seek God, in the certainty that without His help we cannot effectively face life
          • A horror of grieving God
            • When we really love someone, we are not afraid of what he or she may do to us; we are afraid of what we may do to that person. The Christian’s one fear is the fear of wounding God and crucifying Christ again
      • There is the sign of serenity and certainty
        • Christians will do all things without grumbling and arguing
          • The word Paul uses for grumbling (goggusmos) is unusual. In the Greek of the sacred writers, it has a special connection. It is the word used of the rebellious grumblings of the children of Israel in their desert journey. The people grumbled against Moses. It describes the low, threatening, discontented muttering of a mob who distrust their leaders and are on the verge of an uprising
          • The word Paul uses for arguing (dialogismos) describes useless and sometimes ill-natured disputing and doubting. In the Christian live, there is the serenity of perfect certainty and perfect trust
      • There is the sign of purity
        • Christians are to be blameless and pure, and faultless. Each of these words makes its contribution to the idea of Christian purity
          • Blameless (amemptos) expresses what a Christian is to the world
            • A Christian’s life is of such purity that no one can find anything in it with which to find fault. It is often said in courts of law that the proceedings must not only be just but also be seen to be just. Not only must Christians be pure, but also the purity of their lives must be seen by all
          • Pure (akeraios) expresses the inner being of a Christian
            • It literally means unmixed, unadulterated. It is used of wine or milk which is not mixed with water and of metal which has no alloy in it. When used of people, it implies motives which are unmixed. Christian purity must result in a complete sincerity of thought and character
          • Faultless (amomos) describes what a Christian is in the sight of God
            • This word is especially used in connection with sacrifices that are fit to be offered on the altar of God. The Christian life must be such that it can be offered like an unblemished sacrifice to God
        • Christian purity is blameless in the sight of the world, sincere within itself, and fit to stand the scrutiny of God
      • There is the sign of missionary endeavor
        • Christians offer to all the word of life, the word that gives life. This Christian missionary endeavor has two aspects
          • It is the proclamation of the offer of the gospel in words which are clear and unmistakable
          • It is the witness of lives that er absolutely true and honest in a world which is warped and twisted
          • It is the offer of light in a world which is dark. Christians are to “shine like stars in the world”
            • The word used for “shine like stars” (phosteres) is the same as is used in the creation story of the lights (sun and moon) which God set in the dome of the heavens to give light upon the earth
  • Christians offer and demonstrate honesty and truth in a twisted world and light in a dark world
  • Pictures From Everyday Life
    • This passage concludes with two vivid pictures, which are typical of Paul’s way of thinking
      • He longs for the Christian progress of the Philippians so that at the end of the day he may have the joy of knowing that hey has not run or labored in vain
        • The word he uses for labor (kopian) has two possible pictures in it
          • It may paint a picture the most exacting toil. It means the labor to the point of sheer exhaustion 
          • It may describe the toil of the athlete’s training and what Paul is saying is he prays that all discipline of training he imposed upon himself may not go for nothing
      • One of the features of Paul’s writing is his love of pictures from the life of an athlete.
        • In every Greek city, the gymnasium was far more than a physical training ground. It was in the gym that Socrates often discussed the eternal questions; it was in the gym that the philosophers and the sophists and the wandering teachers and preachers often found their audience. 
        • In the Greek world, there were the Isthmian Games at Corinth, the Pan-Ionian Games at Ephesus, and every four years the Olympic Games
        • The Greek cities were often at war with each other; but when the Olympic Games came, no matter what dispute was raging, a month’s truce was declared so that there might be a contest in fellowship between them. Not only did the athletes come, but also the historians and the poets came to give readings of their latest works, and the sculptors came to make statues of the winners
        • There can be little doubt that Paul had been a spectator of these games in Corinth and Ephesus
          • Where there were crowds of people, Paul would be there to seek to win them for Christ
          • But apart from preaching, there was something about these athletic contests which found an answer in the heart of Paul
            • He knew the contests of the boxers. He knew the foot race, the most famous of all contests. He had seen the herald summoning the runners to the starting line; he had seen the runners press along the course to the goal; he had seen the judge awarding the prize at the end of the race; he knew the victor’s laurel crown and of the winners’ exultation. He knew the rigorous discipline of training which the athletes had to undertake, and the strict regulations which had to be observed
        • So his prayer is that he may not be like an athlete whose training and effort have counted for nothing. For him, the greatest prize in life was to know that, through him, others had come to know and to love and serve Jesus
      • But in vs. 17 Paul presents another picture
        • He took picots form the ordinary affairs of the people to whom he was speaking. He had already taken a picture from the games; now he takes one from religious sacrifice
        • One of the most common kinds of sacrifice in Greek and Roman religions was a libation, which was a cup of wine poured out as an offering to the gods
        • For instance, for non-Christians, every meal began and ended with such a libation, as a kind of grace before and after food
        • Paul here looks upon the faith and service of the Philippians as a sacrifice to God. He knows that his death may not be very fare away, for he is writing in prison and awaiting trial. So he says he is fine even if “he is poured out as a drink offering…”
        • In other words, he is saying to the Philippians, “Your Christian faith and loyalty are already a sacrifice to God; and if death for Christ should come to me, I am willing and glad that my life should be poured out like a drink offering on the altar on which your sacrifice is being made.”
  • Paul was perfectly willing to make his life a sacrifice to God; and if that happened to him, it would be all joy. He calls on the Philippians not to mourn at the prospect but rather to rejoice. To him ever call to sacrifice and to toil was a call to his love for Christ, and therefore he met it not with regret and complaint but with joy
• Philippians 2:19-24
• 19 Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon so that I too may be encouraged by news about you. 20 For I have no one else like-minded who will genuinely care about your interests; 21 all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know his proven character, because he has served with me in the gospel ministry like a son with a father. 23 Therefore, I hope to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. 24 I am confident in the Lord that I myself will also come soon.
  • Since Paul cannot come to Philippi himself, he intends to send Timothy as his representative
    • There was no one so close to him as Timothy was. We know very little detail actually about Timothy, but the record of his service with Paul shows his loyalty
    • He was a native either of Derby or Lystra. His mother Eunice was a Jew, and his grandmother’s name was Lois. His father was a Greek and the fact that he was not circumcised would seem to show that he was educated in Greek customs
    • We don’t know how or when he was converted to Christianity, but on his second missionary journey Paul met him and saw in him one he could clearly use in the service of Jesus Christ
    • From that time Paul and Timothy were very close. Paul could speak of him as his child in the Lord. He was with Paul in Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Corinth, Ephesus, and he was with him in prison in Rome
    • He was associated with Paul in the writing of no fewer than five of his letters—I and II Thessalonians, II Corinthians, Colossians, and Philippians; and when Paul wrote to Rom, Timothy was mentioned with him in sending greetings
    • Timothy’s great value was that whenever Paul needed information from some church or wanted to send advice or encouragement or rebuke and couldn’t go himself it was Timothy he sent. Timothy was sent to Thessalonica, to Corinth, and to Philippi. In the end, Timothy was also a prisoner for Christ’s sake
    • Timothy’s great quality was that he was always willing to go anywhere and in his hands a message was as safe as if Paul had delivered it himself. Others might be consumed with selfish ambition, but Timothy’s desire was to serve Paul and Christ.
• Philippians 2:25-30
• 25 But I considered it necessary to send you Epaphroditus—my brother, coworker, and fellow soldier, as well as your messenger and minister to my need— 26 since he has been longing for all of you and was distressed because you heard that he was sick. 27 Indeed, he was so sick that he nearly died. However, God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 For this reason, I am very eager to send him so that you may rejoice again when you see him and I may be less anxious. 29 Therefore, welcome him in the Lord with great joy and hold people like him in honor, 30 because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up what was lacking in your ministry to me.
  • There is a dramatic story behind this. When the Philippians heard that Paul was in prison, their warm hearts were moved to action. They sent a gift to him by the hand of Epaphroditus. What they could not personally do, because of distance, they delegated to Epaphroditus. Not only did they intend him to be the bearer of their gift; they also intended him to stay in Rome and be Paul’s personal servant and attendant. Clearly, Epaphroditus was a brave man, for anyone who proposed to offer himself as the personal attendant of a man awaiting trial on a charge which carried with it the death penalty was laying himself open to the very considerable risk of becoming involved in the same charge. In truth, Epaphroditus risked his life to serve Paul
  • In Rome, Epaphroditus became ill and was near death. He knew that news of his illness had filtered back to Philippi, and he was worried because he knew that his friends there would be worried about him. God in his mercy spared the life of Epaphroditus and so spared Paul yet more sorrow. But Paul knew that it was time that he went back home—and in all probability, he was the bearer of this letter
  • The problem was that the Philippian church had sent him to stay with Paul, and if he came back home, there would be some who said that he was a quitter. Here Paul gives him a tremendous testimonial which will silence any possible criticism of his return
    • Paul is again very meticulous in his wording about Epaphroditus. He was his brother, his fellow worker, and his fellow soldier. He was one with Paul in sympathy, one with him in work, one with him in danger. He had stood in the firing line. Then Paul goes on to call him your messenger and the minister of my need.
      • The word Paul use for messenger (apostolos) literally means anyone who is sent out on an errand; but Christian usage had given it a greater significance, and by using it Paul ranks Epaphroditus with himself and all the apostles of Christ
      • The word he uses for minister (leitourgos) was a magnificent secular word
        • In the cities of ancient Greece, there were men who at their own expense undertook certain great civic duties because of their love for their cities
        • It might be to pay the costs of a delegation, or the cost of putting on one of the dramas of the great poets, or of training the athletes who would represent the city in the games, or of fitting out a warship and paying a crew to serve in the nave of the state
        • These men were the supreme benefactors of the state, and they were known as leitourgoi 
      • Paul takes the great Christian word apostolos and the great Greek word leitourgos, and applies them to Epaphroditus. “Give a man like that a welcome home. Hold him in honor, for he risked his life for Christ.”
  • Paul is making it easy for him to go home. It is touching to think of Paul, in the very shadow of death, showing such consideration for Epaphroditus. He was facing death, and yet it mattered to him that Epaphroditus should not be faced with embarrassment when he went home. Paul was a true Christian in his attitude to others, for he was never so immersed in his own troubles that he had no time to think of the troubles of his friends
  • There is a word in this passage which later had a famous use
    • “Risking his life” is the word paraboleuesthai. It is a gambler’s word, and means to stake everything on a throw of the dice. Paul is saying for the sake of Christ, Epaphroditus gambled his life
    • In the days of the early Church, there was an association of men and women called the parabolani, the gamblers. It was their aim to visit the prisoners an date sick, especially those who were ill with dangerous and infectious diseases
    • In AD 252, the plague broke out in Carthage; the people threw out the bodies of their dead and fled in terror. Syrian, the Christian bishop, gathered his congregation together and put them to work burying the dead and nursing the sick in that plague-stricken city; and by so doing, at the risk of their lives, they save date city from destruction and desolation
  • In all Christians, there should be an almost reckless course which makes them ready to gamble with their lives to serve Christ and other people