Phil. 2:17 But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice, and I rejoice together with you all. Judg. 9:13 But the vine said unto them, Shall I leave my new wine, which cheers God and man?
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. 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. 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. 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. Here Paul implies that he was always a sacrifice for his ministry. 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. (c) Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Philippians, pp. 119-120. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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