The Grand Dichotomy
A Study in Philippians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Introduction
We’ve been going through our study of Paul’s letter to the Philippians. We’ve learned that the Philippians were a very up and coming metropolitan church. They had grown quickly, not only in size, but in standing in the Christian community. They had an abiding love for the brothers and enjoyed their favor. But as with any movement of God, it was not long before they began to experience the persecution by a world that hated and rejected it. Such was their lot, such is ours.
The Philippians did have something very special going for them, they were a church that was actually born out of the very persecution they were now facing. Paul the apostle started that church after spending the night in a Philippian jail and displaying the joy and peace that is only possible with a mature and completely dependent relationship with God Himself. By choosing to worship God in the midst of a terrible dungeon, Paul released the power of God to perform such a miracle that a vibrant new church was instantly born.
Now that the church was suffering persecution, their old friend Paul would write a letter of encouragement and comfort to them. Paul’s letter was written by a man who found true peace of mind. Even though he was imprisoned at the time! Even though he might soon be a martyr!
Paul had the joy that comes from peace of mind, and wanted to share it with others! As we study Philippians we are going to find that Paul lays out three principles for the people of his day all three principles speak of Joy and Peace.
I want us to keep these in mind as we do our study, and I will revisit them at the beginning of each teaching until we’ve gone through the entire book, with the hope being that at the end we will have glimpsed at the heart of God, through Paul, to grant you His joy and His peace no matter what the circumstance.
The Nature
The Man
The Messiah
1. Paul reveals the the nature of true peace and joy!
Rejoice in the Lord always—again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all people. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything—but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the shalom of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Messiah Yeshua.
Joy is found only in the Lord, and the peace that He give surpasses understanding, and once He gives it, He garrisons it like a fortress.
2. Her reveals a man who provides an example of what produces joy and peace.
3. Finally, Paul reveals the messiah Who is the ultimate source of this joy and peace.
He lays out the mindset of this Lord who provides peace and joy as well as the exaltation of Him who give the peace and joy.
In fact in Chapter 1 we see Paul laying down the basic foundation for achieving this peace and joy. Here are His three keys:
1. Refuse to get bitter
When we are in the midst of our trials, it is easy to get bitter. It is easy to blame God or others, the basic truth is that God has given us so much to be grateful for, how can we allow bitterness into our heart?
2. Know the promises of God
Don’t cling to silly stuff. Little sayings that may help us get our mind off of the task at hand do nothing to steel our resolve in the long run. However, knowing that God has an ultimate overall plan for your life will absolutely fortify you with peace.
3. Praise God for what He has given you
When we complain about our lot or our situation, all we do is make it bigger in our mind. If we look at the stuff that God has done for us and given us, we will be unable to see our own bad situation because our troubles are puny and dimmed in the light of His faithfulness.
To Live is Messiah
To Live is Messiah
Paul next gives the grand dichotomy of the Christian. I say it is a grand dichotomy because it is the ultimate win/win even though the choice is life and death.
for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance, through your intercession and the help of the Ruach of Messiah Yeshua. My eager expectation and hope is that in no way will I be put to shame, but that with complete boldness Messiah will even now, as always, be exalted in my body—whether through life or through death. For to me, to live is Messiah and to die is gain. But if to live on in the body means fruit from my work, what shall I choose? I do not know. I am torn between the two—having a desire to leave and be with Messiah, which is far better; yet for your sake, to remain in the body is more necessary. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for the sake of your progress and joy in the faith— so that your confidence in Messiah Yeshua might overflow because of me through my coming to you again.
As if suddenly aware that the Philippians may actually become distraught at the thought of him in chains may be too much to bear, Paul quickly adds his unwavering knowledge that his current situation will turn out for his deliverance through what? YOUR PRAYER and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. In the midst of their trial and persecution, Paul reminds them that they are someone in this world and that in fact, he very much relies on their prayers. It is as though Paul is telling them “Hey, don’t give up, this whole thing is bigger than you are!” Which brings us to our first point today: life is bigger than your current problems. He reminds them “Not only should you be praying for me, but you know, people are actually watching you!
My eager expectation and hope is that in no way will I be put to shame, but that with complete boldness Messiah will even now, as always, be exalted in my body—whether through life or through death.
Although this shouldn’t really be a problem to them because now we get to the great dichotomy, and that is that whether we live or die we win!
If we live, then we can continue to do the work to which God has called us. If we die, then we are free to go home and be with Jesus. Tough decision, even Paul had to wrestle with it.
For to me, to live is Messiah and to die is gain.
For him, it was much better to just die and go home to be with Jesus, but remember the previous verse? People are watching! Not only how I live, but also how I die. They are watching not only how I succeed, but how I behave and react when faced with my own failures. So to him, it’s not just about checking out and dying a sudden death, He is very concerned about how God’s reputation will be affected by his actions.
Saints, people are watching. According to Hebrews there is a cloud of witnesses that should be our motivation for clinging to our faith with an indomitable spirit!
Therefore, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also get rid of every weight and entangling sin. Let us run with endurance the race set before us, focusing on Yeshua, the initiator and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame; and He has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
Paul demonstrates that this is done by putting his own needs on the back-burner.
yet for your sake, to remain in the body is more necessary. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for the sake of your progress and joy in the faith— so that your confidence in Messiah Yeshua might overflow because of me through my coming to you again.
See, he’s looking beyond himself at the big picture. First he gives them the something to think about beyond themselves, then he gives the the example of doing something “for your sake”. He doesn’t stop there though, far beyond just their needs, he goes back to the big picture.
Only live your lives in a manner worthy of the Good News of the Messiah. Then, whether I come and see you or I am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit—striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the Good News and not being frightened in any way by your opponents. For them this is a sign of destruction, but for you salvation—and that from God. For to you was granted for Messiah’s sake not only to trust in Him, but also to suffer for His sake— experiencing the same struggle you saw in me and now you are hearing in me.
Notice what he’s saying now? He’s saying “watch me… follow me as I follow Yeshua! Look at the example I’m giving you. I cope with my own chains by looking out for the needs of others first.” He tells them that this is the true consolation in Messiah, this is where they will find comfort. Watch:
Therefore if there is any encouragement in Messiah, if there is any comfort of love, if there is any fellowship of the Ruach, if there is any mercy and compassion, then make my joy complete by being of the same mind, having the same love, united in spirit, with one purpose. Do nothing out of selfishness or conceit, but with humility consider others as more important than yourselves, looking out not only for your own interests but also for the interests of others.
Isn’t that amazing? Paul is saying the way out of your own despair, the way to shake yourself out of the depression and fear in which you find yourself is to focused on the needs of others! In fact in verse three he straight up tells them focusing on just their own needs is selfish ambition or conceit. Instead, he tells them, take on lowliness of mind. In other words – be humble!
See what Paul is doing? He’s laying it out just like we talked about in the beginning:
1) the nature of peace and joy is the grand dichotomy – to live is Christ to die is gain,
2) the example of the man that produces joy and peace is to look beyond his own needs and to theirs.
But then there’s the final piece to the puzzle:
3) The revelation of Messiah or in other words, all this stuff he’s telling them to do look to Jesus as the source! He defines what lowness of mind means!
Have this attitude in yourselves, which also was in Messiah Yeshua,
Who, though existing in the form of God,
did not consider being equal to God
a thing to be grasped.
But He emptied Himself—
taking on the form of a slave,
becoming the likeness of men
and being found in appearance as a man.
He humbled Himself—
becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
For this reason God highly exalted Him
and gave Him the name
that is above every name,
that at the name of Yeshua
every knee should bow,
in heaven and on the earth
and under the earth,
and every tongue profess
that Yeshua the Messiah is Lord—
to the glory of God the Father.
So now I ask you, why did Jesus come to earth and endure those horrific things? For what reason did He humble Himself? Right, to redeem us! So then He purposefully went into the situation for us! Now if in the course of following Christ, we find ourselves in a situation that is uncomfortable or downright unpleasant, what should our attitude be according to Paul? “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus”. Are you excited about this yet? Paul has just revealed Jesus as the source of Joy and peace as it relates to this particular passage, now wait for it because this gets good.
Therefore, my loved ones, just as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence—work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For the One working in you is God—both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
We’re about to crack open a scriptural difficulty here without even meaning to, but this is what happens when you do a methodological study – in context! OK, so the context here is enduring trials for the sake of each other – look at Paul’s example – yes, but look at Jesus our example even more and look at the very next word – therefore!
“Because Jesus humbled Himself for us then we need to obey – like He did. Obey what? Was this a general obey? What context is Paul saying all this in? Here is what is clear from the context – obey the command to love one another and endure that which you are going through not as unto me, but as unto God. Now here is the cool part, the text is translated as “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” the Greek word that is translated as “work out” is KATERGAZOMAI which can also be translated as perform or do.
The word “with” is meta which can also be translated as in or amongst. So then if we take those slightly different translations of that phrase it becomes:
“Perform (or do) your salvation in or amongst the fear and the trembling” In other words, when the time of trouble comes, don’t just give your salvation lip-service, ACT ON IT!
Back in the day, when the Dallas Cowboys were still God’s team, before the great apostasy and their fall into the pit of shame, the great Tom Laundry had a policy against celebrating a touchdown. If a player made a touchdown he was forbidden from doing any kind of dance shuffle, putting the ball in the air- nothing! Why? “Because” Laundry said, “I want them to act as though they’ve been there before.”
Act like you’re saved and you believe that there’s nothing that the world can throw at you to take your joy and peace – because guess what? Jesus said the peace He gives is not like the World’s.
“Shalom I leave you, My shalom I give to you; but not as the world gives! Do not let your heart be troubled or afraid.
But how do we know this? Well let’s keep reading our passage.
Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you might be blameless and innocent, children of God in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation. Among them you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that I may boast in the day of Messiah that I did not run or labor in vain. But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and the service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. The same way, you also—rejoice and share your joy with me!
Again, he’s telling them to contrast themselves with the people of the world – because people are watching!
holding fast to the word of life, so that I may boast in the day of Messiah that I did not run or labor in vain. But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and the service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. The same way, you also—rejoice and share your joy with me!
Now he takes that admonition that none of this is about them. It’s about something bigger, and he tells them what that something bigger is. In the day of Messiah I have not run in vain!
He says that even if he’s being poured out as a drink offering, all of the sacrifice and service will have been worth it. now he tells them again to rejoice! What does rejoice mean? It means to express the joy that’s inside of you.
What is Joy?
What is Joy?
The question then remains, “What is joy?”
The Greek word for joy is “CHARA” according to the Vine’s dictionary it means “joy, delight, or gladness.” It is closely related to the word “CHARIS” which means grace and “CHARISMA” which means gift.
We might then thing of CHARIS and CHARISMA as that which produces the “CHARA”.
It is important we understand the close relationship between joy and gift so that we can understand a very important principle: We have or show joy in direct response to the value of the gift received.
You’ve heard me mention from the pulpit that our joy as Christians is not based on outward circumstances the way happiness is, it’s based on something much more lasting. It is based on the gift we receive when we call upon the name of Jesus for our salvation. When we learn to see the gift and its greatness, then the rest just fades away. This is what victorious living looks like!
So what exactly has God given us?
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
So we know that the gifts from God are good and perfect. They come from heaven from our Heavenly Father. He can give the best gifts because there is no shadow of turning with Him.
The most valuable of these good and perfect gifts then is...
For sin’s payment is death, but God’s gracious gift is eternal life in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.
Eternal Life! This involves freedom from the condemnation of sin and it was purchased by the blood of Jesus! But with eternal life we also receive a restored fellowship with God as we journey through life.
With a gift as great as this, shouldn’t our joy just overflow? It did for one person...
He ordered the chariot to stop. They both got down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and Philip immersed him. When they came up out of the water, the Ruach Adonai snatched Philip away. The eunuch saw no more of him, for he went on his way, rejoicing.
So then Paul is giving them exactly what they need to experience that Joy. He gives the it is they are to rejoice about specifically. Beloved what they are to rejoice about has everything to do with the grand dichotomy – that is. No matter what happens the Christians win. We win!
Putting it All Together
Putting it All Together
So I ask you today, what is it that you’ve been facing? Now without really dwelling on it, I want you to find one other person in the room and find out what it is they’re going through. Now, instead of asking God to come to your aid, I want you to lift up that brother or that sister and lift him up. Focus on praying for them today because remember – this life is about more than you.
If Paul could do it, If Jesus could do it, then surely you and I can do it as well. Like the song says, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim. In the light of His glory and grace.”
Let’s pray.
Ye va ra khe kha YHWH vehyish me re kha
ya'er YHWH panav ehlekha vihu ne ka
yisa YHWH panavv ehlekha vey-a-sem lekha shalom
“The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.” ’
