Scripture Reading: Phil. 2:17-18; 2 Tim. 4:6; Rom. 15:16
In 2:17 Paul says, “But if even I am poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and priestly service of your faith, I rejoice and rejoice together with you all.” In 2 Timothy 4:6 Paul also refers to himself as a drink offering: “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand” (lit.). Since everything Paul covers in the book of Philippians is related to the experience of Christ, this must also be true of the drink offering referred to in 2:17. If our experience of Christ has not come to the point where we have been constituted as a drink offering, we have not yet experienced Christ to the uttermost. When we experience Christ to an exceedingly high degree, we shall become a drink offering.
The drink offering was additional to the basic offerings revealed in Leviticus chapters one through seven (Num. 15:1-10; 28:7-10). The basic offerings were types of various aspects of Christ. The drink offering was a type of Christ as enjoyed by the offerer, an offering that fills him with Christ as the heavenly wine and even causes him to become wine to God. The apostle Paul became such a drink offering by so enjoying Christ that he could be poured out by the shedding of his blood upon the believers’ faith as a sacrifice to God.
The burnt offering, the meal offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering were the basic offerings, but the drink offering was not. The five basic offerings covered in chapters one through seven of Leviticus are types of various aspects of what Christ is to God on our behalf. If we read Numbers 15:1-10 and 28:7-10, we shall see that the drink offering was something additional. If one of the basic offerings was offered without the drink offering, this was an indication that there was something lacking with the presentation of the basic offering. The one who offered the basic offering must have been rather poor. Actually, the drink offering signifies that the offerer himself becomes the drink offering. However, this does not mean that the offerer can be such a drink offering according to his own natural constitution. Rather, he must enjoy Christ to such an extent that Christ fills him, saturates him, and permeates him. Christ is the heavenly wine for our enjoyment. When we enjoy Him by taking Him into us, we shall become filled with Him and thoroughly saturated with Him. In this way we shall become the wine to be poured out as a drink offering upon the offerings we present to God.
With the typology in the Old Testament as a basis, Paul came to regard himself as a drink offering poured out upon the sacrifice and priestly service of the believers’ faith. For years Paul had been drinking of Christ and enjoying Him so that he came to the point that he was filled with Christ and saturated with Him. Eventually, Christ as the heavenly wine caused Paul to become a constitution of wine in his very being. This was the reason Paul could consider himself wine poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice he offered to God as a priest.
In 2:17 Paul speaks of “the sacrifice and priestly service of your faith.” The sacrifice of the believers’ faith means that the faith of the Philippian believers was considered by Paul a sacrifice offered to God by him as a priest (Rom. 15:16), and his offering ministry was considered a priestly service. The issue, the result, of Paul’s ministry was the faith of the believers. Faith in 2:17 is all-inclusive. It refers to much more than the act of believing. Faith here includes all that the believers have received and enjoyed. Ultimately it includes what the believers themselves are. This faith was the result of Paul’s ministry. Paul’s ministry resulted in the all-inclusive faith of the believers, the faith which Paul offered to God as a sacrifice.
To be sure, the sacrifice of the believers’ faith was full of Christ. It included Christ as the basic offerings. When we experience Christ in these different aspects and enjoy Him as these basic offerings, this experience and enjoyment become our faith. Experientially, the enjoyment of Christ as the basic offerings eventually becomes our faith. Hence, this faith is constituted of the Christ we experience and enjoy.
We must not make the mistake of understanding the faith spoken of in 2:17 in a shallow, superficial way. Faith is a constitution of our experience of Christ. As such, it could be viewed by Paul as a sacrifice to be offered to God. The faith which can be offered to God as a sacrifice is a constitution of our enjoyment of Christ. The amount of faith constituted in us is in proportion to our enjoyment of Christ. The more we enjoy Him, the more we have the faith which is constituted of the enjoyment of Christ.
During the years I have been ministering in this country, the saints have been enjoying the Christ ministered to them. They have experienced Christ and enjoyed Him in many different aspects. As a result, within the saints there is a constitution, and this constitution is called faith. There is no better word to signify the enjoyment and experience of Christ in its various aspects than the word faith. This was the word used by Paul in 2:17, and we cannot improve on it. Paul uses the word faith to denote the totality of our enjoyment of Christ and experience of Him. Therefore, faith is the total expression of our experience and enjoyment of Christ.
As we have pointed out, Paul regarded this faith, constituted of the believers’ experience and enjoyment of Christ, as a sacrifice which he could offer to God as a priest. Although I by no means presume to compare myself with Paul, many times in prayer I have had the sense that the enjoyment and experience of Christ found among the believers is an offering which I can present to God. There is among the saints in the Lord’s recovery a kind of faith which is the constitution and totality of their experience and enjoyment of Christ. This faith can be found in every local church in the Lord’s recovery. The saints have a faith which is a constitution of their experience of Christ and enjoyment of Christ over the years. This is a sign that the ministry has not been in vain. The ministry has resulted in a constitution which comes out from the saints’ enjoyment of Christ and experience of Christ. In 2:17 Paul refers to this constitution as faith.
Based upon the principle in the Old Testament that the drink offering required a basic offering, Paul regarded the faith constituted of the believers’ experience of Christ as the basic offering upon which he could pour out himself as a drink offering. God in heaven must have been very happy with this situation. How pleased He must have been to see the faith as the basic offering and also to see the drink offering! On the side of the believers, there was faith; on the side of the apostle, there was the drink offering. What a marvelous scene! No wonder Paul could say that he rejoiced with them all! Paul rejoiced to have his blood shed as a drink offering upon the sacrifice of the believers’ faith. He not only rejoiced, but he rejoiced together with all the saints. To rejoice together with others is to share joy with them. The apostle shared his joy with the Philippians in his martyrdom over their faith. This implies a congratulation to them. I believe that the Triune God was also rejoicing with Paul at such a happy, joyful scene.
Both the believers’ faith as the basic offering and the drink offering are something which has been constituted over a period of time. Faith does not grow and develop suddenly, for it is a constitution of the believers’ enjoyment of Christ and spiritual experience. Likewise, a drink offering can only be produced out of our experience with the Lord. In order to become a drink offering, we need to be filled with the Lord and saturated with Him. Only in this way can we have the spiritual constitution which makes us a drink offering. What a tremendous matter that sinners such as we can be constituted into heavenly wine for God’s satisfaction!
As a result of their experience of Christ and enjoyment of Christ, the believers have a constitution which Paul terms faith. In the eyes of God, this faith is so excellent, beautiful, and marvelous that He considers it a sacrifice offered to Him. Paul, after experiencing the Lord for so many years, especially during his imprisonment, became a constitution of heavenly wine that could cheer God and make Him happy. The sacrifice of the believers’ faith was satisfying to God, and the drink offering was cheering to Him. Thus, the drink offering is a cheering offering presented in addition to a satisfying sacrifice. The sacrifices were very satisfying to God. In the Old Testament, the one who offered the drink offering presented something which, in type, came not from the flock or the herd, but out of himself and his experience. In the New Testament we see that through his personal enjoyment of Christ and experience of Him, Paul became cheering wine poured out before the Lord. His experience of Christ constituted him into wine to make God happy.
In 2:16 Paul expresses his concern about laboring in vain. According to verse 17, Paul realized that his labor among the Philippians had not been in vain. He knew that their faith was the basic offering upon which he could pour out himself as a drink offering. The words if even I am poured out as a drink offering indicate that Paul thought of himself as one who was continually being sacrificed for his ministry. His use of the word even suggests that he was sacrificed to the uttermost. He considered martyrdom as a pouring out of himself upon the sacrifice of the believers’ faith. From the human point of view, Paul eventually was slain. But from Paul’s viewpoint, martyrdom was the pouring out of himself as a drink offering. Throughout the years, he had continually been sacrificing himself for his ministry. However, it was not until the time of martyrdom that he was poured out to the uttermost as a drink offering. Although Paul had made great sacrifices, he had not poured himself out in this way. Now if even he was poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and priestly service of the believers’ faith, he could rejoice together with them all.
Paul’s word here is very touching. I can testify that time and time again I have been deeply touched by his word. Here Paul implies that he was always a sacrifice for his ministry. We who serve the churches and minister Christ to the saints must learn of Paul to become a sacrifice. If there is no sacrifice, there can be no ministry. We should not think that the more we sacrifice, the greater will be our reward. Ministry is a matter of sacrifice, not of compensation. Eventually, we need to reach the point where we can say that even if we are poured out as a drink offering, we shall be happy and rejoice together with all the saints.
It is significant that Paul says, “I rejoice and rejoice together with you.” The reason he speaks of rejoicing and then of rejoicing together with the saints is that two constitutions are involved: the faith of the believers as one constitution, and the apostle as a drink offering as the other. In the pouring out of the drink offering, these two constitutions answer to each other. It is not possible for there to be rejoicing on one side, but not on the other side. The apostle rejoices, and the believers respond by rejoicing with him. This was the reason Paul could say, “And in like manner you also rejoice and rejoice together with me.”
It is not normal for one of two parties to rejoice and the other not to respond with rejoicing. If you rejoice before a living person, that person should respond with rejoicing. Here in 2:17 and 18 both parties, Paul and the believers, were rejoicing. When Paul rejoiced, the believers responded with rejoicing. Those who had the constitution of faith rejoiced with the one who had been constituted into a drink offering poured out upon this faith. What a marvelous interchange there was between Paul and the believers in Philippi! What a wonderful fellowship and communication! On the one hand, Paul said, “I rejoice and rejoice together with you all.” On the other hand, he said, “You also rejoice and rejoice together with me.” What a marvelous situation with everyone rejoicing together!
We may be amazed that Paul’s approaching martyrdom was a cause of rejoicing. Paul expected that the Philippians would share their joy with him by congratulating him in his martyrdom for the sake of their faith. Paul’s martyrdom became a situation filled with rejoicing. This was made possible by the fact that with the believers there was the constitution of faith, and with Paul there was the constitution of the drink offering. As we have indicated, neither of these constitutions can be produced in a quick way. It takes much time to develop them.
In this message we have seen that the drink offering is an offering additional to the basic offerings; that the basic offerings typify various aspects of Christ; that the drink offering is a type of Christ enjoyed by the one offering Him, an offering that fills the offerer with Christ as heavenly wine and makes him wine to God; and that the apostle became such a drink offering through the enjoyment of Christ so that he could be poured out upon the sacrifice of the believers’ faith. The faith of the Philippian believers was considered by Paul a sacrifice he offered to God as a priest. According to Romans 15:16, Paul viewed himself as a priest offering the Gentile believers to God as an acceptable sacrifice. Furthermore, the service of the Philippian believers was also considered by Paul to be a sacrifice, and Paul’s offering ministry was considered a priestly service.
According to 2:17 and 18, Paul and the believers in Philippi rejoiced mutually, sharing their joy with one another. Paul rejoiced to pour himself out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice of the believers’ faith, and he shared his joy with them in his martyrdom over their faith. Then the Philippian believers rejoiced in Paul’s drink offering and even congratulated him in his martyrdom for the sake of their faith. Actually, the believers’ response of rejoicing was a kind of congratulation offered to Paul.
The two constitutions we see here — that of the believers with respect to their faith and that of Paul with respect to his becoming a drink offering — represent two peaks of the experience of Christ. On the side of the believers, there is the peak of faith, and on the side of the apostle there is the peak of martyrdom. This martyrdom was Paul’s pouring out of himself as a drink offering. As one who loved the Lord Jesus and enjoyed Him to the uttermost, Paul was eventually constituted by Christ into heavenly wine poured out as a drink offering unto God. How meaningful and how marvelous! Both Paul and the saints in Philippi could respond to each other with rejoicing. Paul rejoiced over the believers, and the believers rejoiced over Paul. This mutual rejoicing was also a mutual congratulation. They congratulated one another for their success. Paul congratulated the believers for their success in faith, and they congratulated him in his success in martyrdom. Here in this mutual rejoicing and congratulation we see two peaks of the experience of Christ. May we all go on until we arrive at these peaks in our experience and enjoyment of Christ.
