Lesson for March 1, 2020
The Book of Philippians
Chapter 2:17-18
Verses 17-18
“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. You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.”
Being poured out as a drink offering means to expend one’s life and energy in the function of studying and teaching for the benefit of others. It is a reference to his sacrifice of energy and time being “poured out” in the ministry of studying and teaching.
A pastor must pour his life out on “the altar of sacrifice.” God uses prepared men, and a prepared pastor is one who has prepared himself academically, in life under the will of God, and he is now ready to study and teach accurate Bible doctrine. The altar is study and teach. Sacrifice [study] and service [teaching] by the pastor with reference to Bible doctrine (your faith) is the means of spiritual growth when learned and applied by believers.
The pastor must live a life of sacrifice. His devotion, time and energy belong to the ministry of studying. As a result of his studying he has a service – teaching. The motivation for becoming “a drink offering on the altar” of studying and teaching is his love for God and his love for those who he teaches. The pastor’s greatest joy as a teacher of doctrine is to see those who he teaches advance in the spiritual life.
You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me. Paul’s faithfulness in studying and teaching had resulted in the fact that the Philippians now sharing the happiness of God like Paul. So, they could rejoice together because of their advance toward ultra-super-grace. Paul was excited with the result of the Bible doctrine that he had been teaching. The Philippians would not have advanced this far were it not for the fact that they were positive toward Paul’s doctrinal ministry of teaching. No believer advances without a doctrinally sound pastor-teacher. Paul was saying to these spiritually mature believers in Philippi, “I keep on having inner happiness, and congratulate you all who are advancing with me.”
Sharing the Happiness of God
Sharing the happiness of God is having permanent contentment as your constant companion. This happiness is permanent because it does not depend on the circumstances in your life. It is actually God’s own perfect happiness that He shares with the advancing believer as a grace gift. Sharing God’s happiness is obtained only by consistently learning, believing and applying the Word of God over a period of time. The more time you log under the power and the control of God the Holy Spirit and thinking divine viewpoint, the happier you are going to be. Therefore, sharing the happiness of God is not for the novice believer. It is impossible to share in something that you know nothing about. Being happy is one of the many spiritual blessings that comes with increased capacity. Increased capacity to receive God’s blessing of happiness comes only one way – study and application of Bible doctrine. (Jeremiah 15:16; John 13:17)
It is impossible to be happy as a believer in Christ without obeying the principles and commands we find in the Word of God. Disobedience brings only self-induced misery and discipline from our Heavenly Father. As Christians, we must learn to make good decisions from a position of strength. Our position of strength is in direct proportion to the amount of truth we have stored in our souls and the maximum utilization of that truth to our circumstances. This is what is meant by creating an environment in your soul for happiness. Bible doctrine is stored in the soul and is accessed from the soul by wisdom (application). (Proverbs 3:13)
The spiritually mature state of happiness is a matter of spiritual growth. The believer who reaches this state of happiness does not require overt blessings to sustain his happiness. His state of happiness does not hinge on fame, fortune, promotion or people. His relationship with God has matured to the place that he does not need special blessings in order to be happy. Therefore, God can give special blessings to him, because this believer will not forget the source of his happiness and prosperity. This believer will not be distracted from his personal love for God by any details of life, whether it is adversity or prosperity. This believer’s first priority is intake and application of Bible doctrine so that he can know God and fulfill His plan, His purpose and His will. (Philippians 4:8-13; Revelation 2:1-5)
When your spiritual life becomes more important to you than the details of life, you will be able to enjoy God’s happiness in all situations. Nothing can defeat you because your happiness does not depend on people or circumstances. Your happiness depends on the doctrine that you have stored in your soul. Because your priorities are in order, you have learned that sharing the happiness of God replaces any false, temporary happiness that this world system offers. Sharing God’s happiness builds spiritual self-esteem, increases capacity for life, eliminates fear, increases our ability to endure suffering and continues to advance the spiritually maturing believer. When this advancing believer reaches the point of increased capacity in his spiritual life, God begins to pour out fantastic blessings (not always material) to this believer, which brings glory to Him both now and for all eternity. This means that you are no longer reaping what you sow, you are now reaping what God has sown. (James 1:2-3; Ephesians 2:7; Galatians 6:7-9; Hebrews 3:10-12)
It is impossible to have the capacity to share God’s happiness if you’re not consistently utilizing all of the Problem-Solving Devices in your daily experience. It’s a complete system. As with everything in the Christian life, sharing the happiness of God is only a potential, acquired only through spiritual growth. If the details of life are keeping you from acquiring, storing and using an inventory of Bible doctrine in your soul, you will never experience the necessary spiritual growth required to share God’s happiness. So, here’s the litmus test for you and me. Am I progressing or retrogressing? We certainly never stand still in the Christian Way of Life. If you’re not growing, you’re shrinking! (Proverbs 8:32-34)
Paul’s service to these believers in Philippi meant that he was doing true Christian service. Christian service means serving God, which results in serving others. The proper performance of Christian service is the result of knowledge and application of Bible doctrine and produces divine good under the filling of God the Holy Spirit. Paul’s Christian service to these believers was to teach them Bible doctrine.
Christian service is fulfilling God’s plan, purpose and will for your life which results in divine production. A believer must be filled with the Holy Spirit and in fellowship with God to perform true Christian service. Christian service is related to your spiritual gift. At the moment of salvation, every believer receives a spiritual gift from God the Holy Spirit. He knows the best spiritual gift for each one of us. All spiritual gifts are discovered through learning and applying Bible doctrine. Some people try to select their spiritual gift through emotionalism or arrogance, and it is always wrong. It is the Holy Spirit Who gives spiritual gifts and they automatically begin to function as a believer experiences spiritual growth.
Christian service is related to your Royal Priesthood. Every believer becomes a royal priest at salvation. (I Peter 2:5-9; Revelation 1:6; 5:10; 20:6) As a priest, you represent yourself before God. Christian service is related to our royal priesthood in certain functions. Intercessory prayer is a Christian service to others for whom you pray, provided you do so effectively. This is an invisible ministry. Giving money under the privacy of your priesthood is also an invisible ministry. Giving money is a private matter between you and the Lord. This is grace giving with no strings or percentage attached. (II Corinthians 9:7)
Christian service is related to your Royal Ambassadorship. Every believer is appointed an ambassadorship at the moment of salvation. (II Corinthians 5:20; Ephesians 6:20; Philemon 9) An ambassador does not live in the foreign country for his own personal interest, and we as royal ambassadors live in the devil’s world system to serve Christ’s interests. Overt Christian service related to one’s spiritual gift as a royal ambassador becomes most effective as a believer grows spiritually.
Divine good is the only Christian service that meets the standards of God. Divine good is the good of God; therefore, it is absolute, and the believer is helpless to perform divine good apart from God’s grace and the filling of the Holy Spirit. It is not the deed or service itself that distinguishes between human good works and divine good works, but the spiritual status of the believer performing the deed or service. Consequently, when a believer in carnality performs a good deed, it is classified as dead works as related to spirituality, but when the believer under the filling of the Holy Spirit performs the same deed it is classified as divine good and is divine production.
Christian service is the result of spiritual growth and momentum, never the means. Christian service is a legitimate function of the Protocol Plan of God, but not the means of executing that plan. Christian service, like all functions of divine good, is always the result of the filling of the Holy Spirit, as well as the proper application of Bible doctrine. Therefore, Christian service must always be related to the Divine Dynasphere, God’s power system under the power of the Holy Spirit and Bible doctrine in the soul. Christian service must never be performed to gain the approval of God or others. The Lord Jesus Christ must always be our role model for Christian service as we learn how He served others sacrificially.