A sacrifice, servant and soldier Philippians 2: 17-30

We come upon this passage after being introduced by Paul to the principle in verse 5  that we are to have the same attitude, the same mind as Jesus Christ.  That although Jesus is our sacrifice and our substitute, and only He could atone for the sins of the world, yet at the same time, Christ is also supposed to be our example, our pattern for how we are to live.  As Christ humbled himself to be obedient to the Father’s will – so are we to be obedient to God’s will.  As Christ laid down His life on the cross – so should we crucify the lusts of the flesh.  As Christ served the church – so should we serve the kingdom of God.  If we are to one day be glorified with Christ and reign with Him, then the Word tells us that we must also suffer with Him. Rom 8:17 “and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”

But there is a possibility that because Jesus was the Son of God, we might think ourselves excused of really trying too awfully hard to follow Christ’s example.  After all, we might say, “I’m just human.”  Christ was Divine. Since I don’t know what He knew, and I can’t do what He did,  we might feel justified to let Christ do all the sacrificing and serving, and we’ll just settle down comfortably on the couch and let Him do all the work while we watch TV. 

But the Lord wants us to follow Him. He wants us to mature spiritually.  He wants us to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.  So in addition to the example of Christ Paul gives us three earthly examples of humility and servitude and sacrifice.  Examples of men just like us that lived like Jesus lived.  Of men that were purely human.  So number one, Paul gives us himself as an example of sacrifice.  Number two, He gives Timothy as an example of a servant, and number three he gives Epaphroditus as an example of a soldier.  And so we’re going to look briefly at the characteristics of these three men as their lives correspond to the example of Christ.

First of all, Paul presents himself as an example of a sacrifice.  Vs. 17 tells us “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.”  The drink offering that he is speaking of there is the wine that was brought with the burnt sacrifice in the Old Testament.  When they offered a burnt lamb for their sins, there was also the requirement that a certain measure of wine would be added to the sacrifice as well.  It was the crowning finish to their sacrifice.  God spoke of it in Numbers 15 as a sweet smelling aroma.   So Paul sees himself as something added to the main course, which is their sacrifice and service.  He was humble enough to recognize that he wasn’t the main thing, he was merely an instrument in accomplishing the finishing of their sacrifice of faith, being the aroma that is quickly burned up to bring them to perfection.

Paul speaks of this sacrifice in 2Cor. 2:14 “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.  For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;  to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.” 

So the purpose of Paul’s sacrifice is to enhance and finish the service and sacrifice of the church at Philippi.  And he not only is modeling it, he is calling them to it as well.  He is saying that the sacrifice he is making is his joy, and he is rejoicing in being found worthy to be offered in sacrifice.  He sees this sacrifice as an opportunity to better serve Christ and not a burden, and so he rejoices. Back in chapter 1:29 he spoke of this -  “For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.”

We see a similar example of that rejoicing in trials in Peter and the apostles who were flogged and released with orders not to preach Jesus Christ in Act 5:41  “So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.”

So Paul also tells the Philippians in vs. 18; “You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.”  Paul considered it a joy to be called upon by God to render service as a sacrifice, and he is telling the church at Philippi, that great joy comes through great sacrifice. In fact, the greater the sacrifice, the greater the joy. 

What a contrast to the popular message of the church today.  In modern Christianity there is very little mention of sacrifice.  Instead, the gospel is presented as a means of gain, usually financial gain.  “Come to Jesus and live your best life now.” That’s the popular message today.  And if you preach that message, you can fill a football stadium with people who want to have their ears tickled.  But try preaching Romans 12:1,2, “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service,” and you will empty out the church.  And if any one is left, add the next verse;  “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed, by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”  

Folks, to be a disciple of Christ you are going to have to sacrifice some things, but Paul says thats where you find true joy.  The world tells us that joy is found in obtaining possessions.  Whoever dies with the most toys win.  But simply watch your children or grandchildren just a few hours after opening all their toys on Christmas morning and it doesn’t take much deductive powers to recognize that obtaining things of this world doesn’t bring joy.  Real joy, Paul says, comes from sacrificial living in Christ.

Secondly, starting in vs. 19 Timothy is presented as an example of a servant.  Timothy’s whole life had been spent in service to the gospel.  His mother and grandmother had raised him and taught him the Word of God since he was a small child.  And at some point at a young age, Paul leads him to the Lord, and he begins to follow Paul and serve in ministry with Paul.   Note vs.22  “But you know of his proven worth, that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving his father.”  And I believe the emphasis there is on serving.  Serving Paul.  Serving the churches.  Serving the gospel.  This was a young man whose entire life was dedicated to the service of the gospel.  And notice the word “proven”.  That ties in with the verse I read from Romans 12, “that you may prove what the will of God is.”  Proven means to have gone through testing and come out the other side still believing, still faithful, still standing.  Timothy proved his faith by service to God.

As far as we know, Timothy did not have a wife, did not have children of his own, did not own  a home, did not have a career.  He left his home, his mother and grandmother at an early age and went on the road with Paul, serving Paul, learning from Paul, sharing in almost all of Paul’s trials and tribulations from Athens, to Corinth, to Thessalonica to even Rome.  He had proven himself faithful.

He shared with the Apostle in all of his trials, and all of his triumphs.  Look at vs. 20: “For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare.”  I remember when my kids were in college, there was a weekend that was designated as parent’s weekend.  And I really felt it was important for us to go see them and support them physically and emotionally.  There is only so much you can do by phone.  I think they were missing home a little by then, school was starting to feel a lot like work, and I felt  it was important for us to reaffirm their commitment by our being there. 

But there were a couple of problems with that.  One, their school was in California, and secondly, there was the matter of my ministry here.  I really haven’t been able to take a Sunday off in 20 years and so I knew that I couldn’t go.  But the next best thing to me going would be if my wife could be there.  And I thought then of this verse in this passage where Paul says, “No one else has a kindred spirit.”  No one else is going to have the same degree of concern for my kids welfare like my wife.  After all, they are her kids too.  And so no one else could possibly feel the same way about my kids and look after my interests than my wife.  I knew she was the next best thing to being there myself.

And perhaps that’s as good an illustration as any of how Paul saw Timothy.  Timothy was as close as a son to him.  And we need to realize that this illustration is an example to us of what Paul is saying should be the attitude of the church.  We should be so unified in our purpose that we have the same love, the same kind of spirit, the same purpose.  We have to lose this type of mentality which sees a separation between clergy and laity.  The Bible doesn’t make that distinction.  There may be different functions, different roles, but there is one body and one purpose.  My hope is that as you spend time in the Word with me, spend time in this church with me, that you will adopt the same love for this church as I have.  And that you will commit yourself fully to serve the church.

Unfortunately though, the modern church has a misconception that the church body exists only to be served by the clergy, instead of being taught that their purpose is also to serve one another as the Bible teaches.  Congregations in many modern churches today are practically anonymous, walking into a darkened auditorium, watching an entertainment driven spectacle on stage, and walking back out again blinking at the sunlight in a confused daze, wondering what it all really has to do with me.

Which leads the average churchgoer to think that Christianity doesn’t really have much application to real life.  It’s presented as some sort of experience where once a week or so you clock in: you go to church, have some sort of emotional driven experience which they call spiritual, and then clock out and go back into the real world.  And that compartmentalizing of what is thought to be spiritual leads to living out our lives in a fleshly, selfish existence. 

I was struck by the phrase, “I have no one of kindred spirit”.  Sometimes it’s easy to get discouraged in ministry when I look around at the lack of commitment, and also at the lack of men and women that are still pressing on for the Lord after being in church for years.  It’s easy to let that get you discouraged.  But in a backhanded kind of way, this statement by Paul is an encouragement to me.  I’m not even 1/10th the man of God that Paul was.  And yet at this time in his life he has very little people around him that are still standing strong.  In 2 Timothy he says, “for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.”  Titus we know was a pastor.  But it seems that Paul is saying here that the lure of this world is so strong, and many people who start out on the journey don’t stay on the path.  They fall away.  And I guess the encouragement for me is that if Paul experienced this, then it should not be thought uncommon if I experience this too.  So instead I thank God for the people that are still standing firm as we continue to preach the Word, in season and out of season, going on our 20th year now.

Far too often the state of the modern church goer  can be summarized in vs. 21: “For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.”  At best, Jesus is some sort of addendum that serves to help us achieve our earthly goals.  But that theology is in direct contradiction to the Biblical view that our earthly goals should be subjected to the service of Christ Jesus.  A servant is concerned first and foremost with his Master’s concerns, rather than his own.

And then the third example Paul presents is that of Epaphroditus as a soldier.  If the examples of Paul and Timothy seem unattainable because we think they are something of giants in the faith, then Paul gives us another example who is simply an average guy in the church. A man virtually unknown in history other than in these few verses.  And because of that he is really our best example.

So Paul describes Epaphroditus as a soldier, but he also calls him a brother, and a fellow worker, and a messenger and a minister.  Additionally, I think you can easily make the case for Epaphroditus also as an example of a servant as was Timothy, and a sacrifice as was Paul.  But I have chosen soldier as the best description of Epaphroditus because I think the position of a soldier encompasses all of these things.

A soldier is commonly referred to as being in the service.  They are someone who has left the comforts of civilian life to live a life dedicated in service to their country. They are trained and conditioned to perform their duty, even to the point of risking their life.  So I feel like a soldier encompasses so many of the characteristics that Paul wants to model for us.

Not a lot is known about Epaphroditus.  He is mentioned again in chapter 4:18 and it is clear from that verse that Epaphroditus was sent by the church at Philippi to minister to Paul by the means of delivering a monetary gift for his support.  But vs. 30 of chapter 2 gives us a little more insight into what this mission cost him.  It says that he risked his life to complete what was lacking in the church’s service to Paul.  What that means is that the gift that had been taken up by the church for Paul for his financial support could not exactly be sent by registered mail, or by Fed X, and so somebody had to be willing to travel from Philippi to Rome to take this money to Paul. By foot, that would have been an 800 mile journey that would have taken two months. That’s just going one way.  To return would take another two months.

So they had chosen this man Epaphroditus as someone who was willing and able to make the sacrifice and undergo the rigors of travel, and willing to leave his home and friends and family for the sake of the gospel.  I think the scripture is telling us that he went on this trip at some great risk to his own life.  Travel in those days wasn’t easy.  It was a long, dangerous trip.  He was carrying a good deal of money, and it would not be inconceivable that there would have been people who were willing to murder him to get their hands on that money.  And so he risked his life, perhaps traveling alone for a great distance, to faithfully bring this money to Paul. 

I think the thing that makes Epaphroditus such a great example for us is his ordinariness.  He wasn’t a pastor.  He wasn’t an apostle.  We never hear of him again.  And yet God used him in a great way and his name is preserved forever in heaven because of his service to Christ, to his apostle and to his church.  So Paul calls him a fellow soldier.  Perhaps he had actually been a soldier.  We don’t know, but we do know that he was something of a risk taker. 

In fact, vs. 30 uses a term for the phrase “risking his life” which was “paraboleuomai”, which during the days after the formation of the early church was the basis for a group who called themselves “The Paraboleuomai” which meant the Gamblers. They took as their hero Epaphroditus who gambled with his life. And it was their aim and their mission to visit the prisoners, to visit the sick, especially those with infectious, dangerous, communicable diseases. It was their mission to unhesitatingly, unflinchingly and boldly proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ in every environment without any hesitation.

Epaphroditus was a name that among Greeks was connected with the goddess Aphrodite,  and they called upon her for luck when playing dice games or gambling games by using the name Epaphrodite.  And so Paul is using a play on words here, saying Epaphroditus gambled his very life in service to Christ.  

Now whether or not Epaphroditus was somehow injured in this journey and his wound became infected and he almost died, or whether or not he put himself at risk in some other way to bring the gospel to people, we don’t know for sure.  But we do know that Paul tells us that he got very sick, unto the point of death.  Vs. 27 tells us that “For indeed he was sick to the point of death, but God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow.” 

And notice, by the way, that there is no mention of Paul healing this soldier of Christ.  By this time, this is nearing the end of the Apostolic period, a time when the Apostles had been given certain miraculous abilities for the confirmation of their gospel. 2Cor. 12:12 tells us that “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.”  They were a miraculous attestation from God that He was speaking His gospel through these specific men.  But now it’s near the end of the Apostolic period and you begin to see these powers begin to wane.  Paul tells Timothy in another passage that he should drink a little wine for medicinal purposes because Timothy had stomach problems.  He didn’t send Timothy a special handkerchief that he had prayed over and told him to put it on his stomach.  Instead, he tells him to drink some medicine.  And in this case of Epaphroditus, we understand that God spared this man and he recovered from his sickness.  Paul seemed to have nothing to do with it.

But the thing we should take away from the illustration of Epaphroditus is this example of a soldier.   A soldier who was willing to give his life in service to his King, for the sake of the Apostle Paul and Timothy, his ministers, and for the sake of his church at Philippi.  Now that he is well, Paul says in vs. 25, I am planning on sending him back to you.  And Paul is obviously sending him back with this very letter, this Epistle to the Philippians.  First, Epaphroditus risked his life bringing this gift to Paul, he is injured and becomes so sick he almost dies, and now he is headed back home again, willing to put his life at risk once more for the sake of bringing the Word of God to his church.  This trip was about 800 miles one way, and would have taken about two months to complete, including travelling part of the way on ship which could only be done in certain weather.  And so it was no easy task, and it was no small sacrifice.

John McArthur said and I quote, “ultimate joy comes from the ultimate offering of one's life to the will of God.”  God does not always require the ultimate sacrifice of losing your life for the sake of the gospel.  Paul and Timothy would eventually die in service to Christ.  Paul was likely beheaded, and his statement that he was being poured out as a drink offering was probably prophetic in that he was looking at shedding his blood for the cause of Christ.  Timothy would go on to Ephesus to be it’s first pastor, and while speaking out against a lurid worship of the goddess Diana he would be bludgeoned to death.  Epaphroditus we don’t know how he died.  We might assume that he died a normal death in his old age.  But one thing we do know, he was willing to lay down his life in service to the kingdom of Christ.   He risked his life repeatedly. 

We may not be called upon to risk our life, but we are called upon to be willing to lay down our lives as a living sacrifice in service to the cause of Christ.  We are called upon to be a servant to the body of Christ.  And we are called upon to forsake this world and all it’s enticements for the austerity of soldiering in the service of the King.  Paul said in 2Tim. 2:3  “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.  No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.”

Paul said to the Philippians concerning Epaphroditus, when he completed this life risking trip to carry the epistle back to the church at Philippi that they should “Receive him then in the Lord with all joy, and hold men like him in high regard.”  And this is the hope and joy set before us as well, when we are willing to live our lives like Paul, like Timothy, like Epaphroditus, Jesus promises us that there will be a day when we will be received at our home in heaven with joy.  When the Master will say, “Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.”

Shine like lights, Phil. 2:14-16

Phil. 2:14  “Do all things without grumbling or disputing;  15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,   16  holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.”

As we consider today’s passage in our ongoing study of Philippians, it is a good idea to review the previous doctrine that Paul has presented thus far, in order to understand correctly what we are looking at today and be sure to keep it in the proper context. 

This section of scripture really begins when Paul tells us that Christ’s example of a servant’s attitude is to be our attitude as well.   He said in vs. 5, have this same mind,  have this same attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.  So as Jesus humbled himself to be our servant and serve God’s purposes, not seeking his own glory, so our attitude should be one of humility and service, as we present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God, which Romans 12 tells us is our reasonable service of worship.

And furthermore, Paul says, not only did Christ have this attitude of humility and servitude, he says Christ was obedient to the will of God.  Again, Christ is our example.  We need to be obedient to the things God shows us in His Word.  That should indicate the necessity of knowing God’s Word.  How can we know the true God and know what He requires of us if we don’t know His Word?  Without that absolute truth, we end up fashioning a god in our own image, making an idol of our own creation, as we determine what we think God should be like, rather than learning what God actually is like.  The Word is the only authority for absolute truth.

In regards to this obedience, Paul reminds us in vs.10 that one day every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  And we discussed in great detail last time what the word Lord signified, not only to the Gentile, but also to the Jew.  In both cases, it meant that to confess Jesus as Lord meant being exiled in most cases from either the Jewish or Gentile communities.  It quite possibly meant the loss of one’s property, the loss of one’s job, the loss of one’s family, and even at times the loss of one’s life.  That’s why Paul makes the correlation in vs. 8  that Jesus was obedient  unto death, even the shame of a cross.  And again, Jesus is our example for us that would claim to be His disciples.  We go where He goes.  We pattern our lives after His life.  And as we confess Him as Lord, we bow our knees to His will and His purpose, not just in lip service, but in life service.

This life service is what vs. 12 is talking about, to work out, or live out our salvation, to live out the righteousness that God has put in us, and he adds the phrase, with fear and trembling.  This idea of fearing God is a foreign concept to the modern day Christian.  After all, no one fears Santa Claus. No one fears a slavishly over indulgent loving grandfather, which is how most Christians portray God. You may remember that during the Iraq War they had a phrase we heard on the news every night which was “shock and awe.”  And in some ways, this phrase fear and trembling makes me think of shock and awe.   During the Iraq War it meant that the army of Iraq trembled in fear of the overwhelming power and might of the United States military.  And I think to some degree that is what Paul is getting at here.  As we consider the holiness of God, as we consider the wrath of God,  as we consider the magnificent gift of our salvation, as we consider the extent of Christ’s suffering and shame, as we consider the wrath of God which Christ took upon Himself in order to serve as our substitute and sacrifice, then we should live out our salvation with an awe and reverence for the grace and mercy that has been bestowed on us.  We should consider our responsibility and stewardship that God has entrusted us with, with a healthy measure of fear and trembling. 

Anyone who has studied theology cannot hear the phrase “fear and trembling” without thinking of the famous book with that very title  by a 19th century well known philosopher named Soren Kierkegaard.  The subject of his book was Abraham and his journey of faith when he went to Mount Moriah to sacrifice his son Isaac.  The scripture says, Abraham believed God and He counted it to him as righteousness.  Abraham’s salvation was by faith in what God promised.  But the test of Abraham’s faith was in being obedient to what God asked him to do, to sacrifice his only son, the son of promise.  And with fear and trembling, Abraham was obedient to God’s command, taking his son and tying him to an altar, and even raising his knife to kill his son, because he believed that God must raise him from the dead in order to keep His word.  

Perhaps that kind of obedient faith is what Paul means when he tells us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, trusting in the promises of God, being obedient to offer our lives as a living sacrifice to God, even though it may cost us all that we hold dear in this world, because we believe that God will raise us up to live a new life with Him.

Not long ago,  I was talking to my wife and somehow we got on the topic of people who once were a part of our fellowship and now have fallen away.  They once were faithful.  They once were eager to hear the Word.  They once were learning and growing in their faith.  And yet today they are no longer with us.  Many of them no longer have anything to do with the Lord.  They became distracted by the enticements of the world.  They became distracted perhaps by a girlfriend or a boyfriend.  They became enticed by the desire for a career.  They were lured away by drugs or alcohol.  And they strayed away from the fellowship, strayed from God’s word, and eventually rejected the preaching of the truth and turned to the amusements of this world.  They turned away from the priceless treasure of salvation for a cheap imitation of life offered by the the snake oil salesmen of the world.  Jesus said in Mark 8:36  "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?” 

This great stewardship of salvation should fill us with fear and trembling as we recognize that God has chosen us to be the vessels of His mercy, that He has entrusted us with the message of the gospel, that He has filled these jars of clay with nothing less than the treasure of the Spirit of God Himself, who now lives in us, working in us, conforming us to the image of Jesus Christ, as it says in vs. 13, His Spirit is now working in us to do HIS will, and to perform what pleases HIM.  That God would choose to do this in us is an amazing thing, and it should be a humbling thing, and it should fill us with fear and trembling at the awesome responsibility that we have been given to live out this great salvation.

Now having that understanding of the preceding verses, we now come to our text which follows logically upon the prior verses.  Having then this great responsibility, this awesome stewardship, having been entrusted with such a great salvation, Paul says in verse 14, “do all things without grumbling or disputing...”  Which begs the question, do what things?  And it simply refers back to those righteous responsibilities that are part of living out your salvation, of working your salvation out to the world.  It says, in all the things that God has entrusted you with, in all the things God has told you to do, as you work them out, do them without grumbling or disputing. 

And those are a couple of interesting words.   Grumbling can also be interpreted as murmuring.  Whispering.  Muttering under your breath.  It was a word that was often used in reference to the tribe of Israel when Moses brought them out of the land of Egypt.  They hadn’t  even crossed the Red Sea when they started complaining sarcastically to Moses that maybe there hadn’t been any graves in Egypt, so he had taken them into the wilderness to die.  Then once God had opened up the Red Sea for them and destroyed the following Egyptian army, they quickly forgot that and started complaining and murmuring and grumbling again against God and Moses.  It was the pattern of their life.  They grumbled about the food God provided, they murmured they were thirsty, they complained about Moses’ leadership, and even whined to Aaron that Moses was spending too much time on the mountain with God.  And Numbers 21:5 tells us that God called this grumbling sin and eventually punished them for it by sending fiery serpents among them. So then grumbling is a sinful, emotional, gut level complaint about the circumstances God has chosen for your life and the requirements He has for your conduct.

We need to remember that sometimes God allows difficulties to come into our lives for His purposes.  Verse 13 just finished telling us that God is working in you for His will and His purposes, and now when He does so, who are we to complain that everything is not working out like we would like? 1Peter 4:12 tells us;  “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.”

 We need to remember that Romans 8:28 tells us that God uses all things, good and bad, for His purposes, and ultimately for for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.  It may not always be fun or enjoyable at the moment, but we need to remember that God is working  out His will in our life.  He is in control and we shouldn’t grumble against that.

And the second word is disputing which comes from the Greek word dialogismos.  It is the root of our word dialogue.  It means to argue, debate, discuss with God the reasoning behind His will.  Arguing with God over what He has given us to do.  Trying to debate with Him to get Him to change His mind or His will.  It means questioning of God’s will and purposes in your life.  Why do I have to be single?  Why do I have to endure this hardship?  Why have you allowed me to go through this difficulty?  It’s an attitude of discontentment.  Hardly the attitude that Christ had as He considered the cross, is it?  Jesus prayed, “not my will, but your will be done.”

So whatever circumstances I find myself in, as a Christian I need to recognize that God has in His sovereign will put me in this place of duty, in this position of service and I must bear up under the burden of hardship or difficulty or trial and trust God to work it out and work in me that which is pleasing to Him.  For instance, perhaps God has chosen you to be single.  It’s not something that is easy, especially in this modern culture.  It is a difficult place where God has put you.  It’s lonely, it’s painful.  And yet God has placed you there for His purposes.  And as a consequence you are perhaps more devoted to Him than you would be if you were married.  You provide a special service to Him that others cannot provide.  So what a shame to spend your life murmuring or complaining against God’s will for you to be single.  What a shame to waste your life in disputing God’s will and try to get Him to change His mind.  And you can substitute any number of other circumstances in place of the word single.  Like sickness, like cancer, like being poor, like jobless, or wherever God has placed you, don’t complain.  God has His purpose, and thank God that He has considered you worthy to suffer if necessary for His name sake.

I am ashamed to confess that I am often guilty of the sin of grumbling and disputing with God about the place that He has put me in to serve.  I complain about everything, from the snail’s pace traffic on 26, to the climate, to the way the wind changes on a whim, to the lack of consistent surf, to the lack of commitment to the fellowship, to the lack of appreciation for the preaching of the  Word of God.  I grumble and complain all the time.  And lately I have found that it has affected my attitude, and I get disgruntled.  I realize that I should be grateful that God has even chosen me for service in any measure.  I don’t deserve to be chosen for service for God.  But He has given me a very great honor in giving me the opportunity to serve him, no matter what size the church, no matter what the cost of service.  I should be honored to serve Him.  God has convicted me to stop complaining and start conforming to the attitude of Jesus Christ and follow the pattern of His service.

As hard as it might be for us to see at the moment, many times God allows us to suffer so that we might be a greater testimony for Christ.  Vs. 15 tells us that this is “so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world.”  Even though our circumstances may be difficult, we endure them without sinning in murmuring or disputing God, but submitting to His will, so that we might be a testimony to the world. You know, as Christians we are either being an example or an excuse.  An example of Christ that others can follow or  an excuse, an excuse not to take Christianity so seriously.  An excuse that we’re all just a bunch of hypocrites.  You’re either an example or excuse.

And just look quickly at how Paul uses three different words to describe basically the same thing.  He says in our example we are to be “blameless, innocent, and above reproach.”  I think the idea is that of the sacrificial lamb in the OT.  It was to be spotless, without blemish.  Now the lamb was a picture of Jesus Christ; the sinless, blameless, above reproach, sacrificial lamb that takes away the sins of the world.  But as Christ was, so are we to be.  “Have the same mind in you that was in Christ Jesus.”  He is our example and we are to follow his pattern. Our lives should be lived in such a way that criticism doesn’t stick.  We are to be above reproach in our conduct and even our motivation.

Now concerning this testimony to the world.  Paul describes the world as “a crooked and perverse generation.”  And I don’t think that there was ever a time when this statement was more true than it is today.  Even an unbeliever must see that the world is a perverse place, a place where right is called wrong, and light is called darkness.  It seems the world is completely upside down lately.  I can’t help but believe that Christ is coming back soon. Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”

And that is the state of the world.  The world is in darkness.  2 Tim.2:26  says the world is in the snare of the devil, and they are enslaved by him to do his will.   But for those that are Christians, Paul says we are to shine like lights in the darkness.  This is our testimony to the lost world.  As Christ was the light of the world, so we are to reflect that light to the world as well.  You know, the most effective witness to the world is our changed lives.  Our testimony, how we live and how we act, speaks much more loudly than our words do. 

Jesus said in Mat 5:14  "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;  nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”  You know what, it’s a whole lot easier to make converts than it is to make disciples.  Making disciples means that someone has to follow you around at work, or follow you around on the weekend, or whatever.  A disciple watches you, and sees what you’re doing and how you do it.  And folks, that is what we are commissioned to do.  Not just have great big altar calls and see a bunch of people come forward swept along on an emotional tide, but to individually disciple people to become followers of us, and in the process become followers of Christ.  Now that’s a tall order, but that’s our orders.

Then finally the last verse,  vs. 16 tells us in this process of being a shining light to the world by living out our salvation to the world, Paul says in that process to “hold fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.”  Now why does Paul throw that in there?  I believe it is because we need to keep a strong grip on the Word of God.  It is the absolute truth in a world without absolutes.  It is the key to being obedient to God’s will.  It is the power of God unto salvation for the world.  And more and more, as it has always been, it is the thing most under attack by the enemy.  

In 1 Timothy, Paul warned Timothy in chapter one of false teachers who would stray from the truth and end up suffering shipwreck in their lives.  And this is a constant concern of the Apostle Paul for the Christian.  If Satan can get you to stray away from God’s word, then he can get you to stray away from the truth, and the omission of that small, seemingly insignificant detail of our busy Christian lives has the effect of a ship’s captain that sets a course just one degree off his course.  At first, he may not see a big change of direction, but eventually it leads to destruction.  They soon find their lives on the rocks, shipwrecked in regards to their faith, and especially in regards to their testimony. 

Satan would love to see you suffer shipwreck in your faith, ladies and gentlemen. Not only to destroy you, but to destroy the faith of those who are watching you.  And his first strategy is always to get you to abandon the Word of God.  Paul says “Hold fast the Word of God.”  Hold fast is a term that means tie your ship securely, to set your anchor in a way that it will not move.  Hold fast.  Stand firm in your commitment to keep the Word of God the main thing in your Christian walk.  So that in the day that Jesus Christ returns, the day when Christ will judge the living and the dead, the righteous and the unrighteous, in that day, we will be found not to have run in vain or toiled in vain.

Yes, the place where God has placed you to serve may be tough. You may not see a lot of earthly rewards now.  But Jesus is coming back.  And one day, whether we are alive or dead, we will be raised incorruptible.  And we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.  In that day, I hope that I will find that I have not run in vain or toiled in vain.  That Jesus might say to me on that day, “'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.”  I pray that you will find Him saying that to you as well.  That you were faithful to perform your service to him in a way that brought glory and honor to Jesus Christ. 

One of the things I’ve traditionally done during the Christmas season is around Christmas Eve we go for a drive in the car and look at Christmas lights.  Something about seeing the lights on a dark sky look beautiful.  And I think it’s cool how even the humblest little house or trailer can look really beautiful when they decorate it all up with lights.   This world is a dark place, but God has given us the job of being a light to the world, shining as an example of Jesus Christ.  Let your light so shine before men in such a way as to bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ.  "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;  nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”