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Timothy and Epaphroditus 
(Philippians #9)

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INTRODUCTION

The Christian faith is by no means a solitary business. The grace of regeneration extends to each individual, but because this grace is brought by means of the Spirit of God, one of the first things it does is knit us together with all the other recipients of this same grace. Each Christian is touched by God, but there is only one body. This is manifested in different ways. One of them is the great grace of corporate worship. “I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people” (Psalm 35:18). But another aspect of this is the grace of companionship, a grace that we see several times in this passage. “And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life” (Phil. 4:3, NKJV). 

THE TEXT

“But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s. But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel. Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me. But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly. Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellowsoldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants. For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick. For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in reputation: Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me.” (Philippians 2:19–30).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul had picked up Timothy as his assistant very early on. Several decades after they joined forces, Paul still needs to caution him about not letting people despise his youth (1 Tim. 4:12), and of the need to flee youthful lusts (2 Tim. 2:22). This means Timothy was likely in his teens when he first came onto Paul’s team. Paul’s intention here is to send Timothy to Philippi as his representative (v. 19), in order to learn how they were. Paul says that he has no one else like Timothy, one who would care naturally for them (v. 20). Others were selfish, not seeking out the interests of Christ (v. 21). But the Philippians knew Timothy’s worth, how he had served Paul as a faithful son in the gospel work (v. 22). Paul was going to send him to get news from Philippi, just as soon as he would be able to bring news from Paul. (v. 23). If things worked out, Paul would also follow (v. 24). In addition to sending Timothy, he was also going to send Epaphroditus back to them (v. 25). He was Paul’s brother, co-laborer, fellow soldier, and servant to Paul—but their messenger (v. 25). Epaphroditus was greatly concerned because he knew that they had heard about his illness (v. 26). He had in fact almost died, but God had mercy on both him and Paul (v. 27). Paul was spared sorrow upon sorrow. Paul was therefore very deliberate about sending him home again, to augment their joy and reduce Paul’s sorrow (v. 28).   Paul urges them to receive him back with gladness, and to honor him highly (v. 29). His illness had been work related, and he had risked his life to fulfill the task they had given him to do (v. 30).

THAT NAME EPAPHRODITUS

We should also take a minute to glean a lesson from the fact that Paul’s “fellow soldier” was named (still named) Epaphroditus. That name means “dedicated to Aphrodite,” or Venus, the goddess of sexual love. It is natural and right that we name things after what we love and honor, and I suspect it was not too long in the history of the church before Christian parents stopped naming their kids Epaphroditus. But it is equally important for us not to be too fastidious in the meantime. “Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?” (Ecclesiastes 7:16). Tychicus had a name related to fate or chance, and Mordecai means dedicated to Marduk. 

So you should not be too concerned about meeting someone for lunch on Thor’s Day. Or that some think that Christmas used to be a pagan holiday. That’s all right. We used to be pagans. 

FELLOW SOLDIERS

When the Lord Jesus sent out the seventy, He sent them out “two by two” (Luke 10:1-2). Even though the laborers were few, He did not spread them out into “ones.” Paul goes to Athens alone, but he wanted Silas and Timothy to join up with him with “all speed” (Acts 17:15). After they arrived, the effectiveness of the ministry was amplified (Acts 18:5, 8-10). And when Paul was in Troas, there was a real open door, but he had no peace in his spirit because he hadn’t heard from Titus (2 Cor. 2:12-13). Companionship in gospel work is an assigned strategy.

“Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me: For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry. And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus. The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments” (2 Timothy 4:9–13).

The key to effective ministry. Companions. And books.

SORROW UPON SORROW

Now Paul had just finished saying that if he were to be sacrificed on the altar of the Philippians’ obedience, he would rejoice, and so would they (Phil. 2:17-18). But he says here that if Epaphroditus had died, it would have left him disconsolate (v. 27). Is this a contradiction? It would be if Christian joy were a happy-happy-joy-joy kind of thing, but it isn’t. We are not made out of blocks of wood. It is possible to rejoice in the Lord through tears of grief.

“As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things” (2 Cor. 6:10).

Who do we follow? Who is our Lord? He is the man of sorrows, acquainted with grief (Is. 53:3). He went to the cross for the joy that was set before Him (Heb. 12:2). He is now at the right hand of the Father, where there is an infinite river of pleasure (Ps. 16:11), and fulness of joy. 

   

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Christ for the Cults & Prodigals (The Continuing Adventures of Jesus #12) (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

Here we see the continuing conquest of Christ extending to the Samaritans. Colliding with their centuries of idolatry and syncretism, the Holy Spirit gets the victory and the Word goes forth with power. The message for us is to trust Him, trust His word, and not lose heart. 

The Text: “And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was a Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles…” (Acts 8:1-25)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

While Saul thought he was in the driver seat, persecuting the church, remember Jesus had foretold that the testimony of the apostles would go from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8), and here the Christians are scattered to Judea and Samaria, preaching the word everywhere they went (Acts 8:1-4). One instance of this was another deacon named Philip who preached and healed in a city of Samaria, bringing great joy (Acts 8:5-8). Among the converts was a magician named Simon who had formerly had great influence over the people, and he believed in Christ and was baptized (Acts 8:9-13). Peter and John were sent by the apostles to come and establish the church there, and when the Spirit was given to the new Christians, Simon offered money to the apostles for that power (Acts 8:14-19). Peter condemned Simon and called him to repentance for his poisonous bitterness and conspiracy of evil, and he asked for prayer, while the word continued to spread (Acts 8:20-25). 

DEVOUT MOURNING

Even during a fierce persecution, devout men carried Stephen’s body to burial and mourned his death (Acts 8:1-2). This demonstrates that funerals and memorials are thoroughly Christian acts. Because Christians are those who have been joined to Jesus Christ who is the Resurrection and they can “never die” (Jn. 11:26), dying in the Lord is sometimes described as falling asleep (e.g. Acts 7:60, Jn. 11:11, 1 Thess. 4:13-16). To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8), but the physical body that we put into the ground is like a seed (1 Cor. 15:35-38). This is why historically, Christians have buried their dead instead of burning them. Luke shows us that from the beginning it was a devout practice to honor the bodies of the dead by burial, especially believers, as a testimony of our hope of the resurrection. Likewise, it is devout to mourn the dead, but we do not mourn as those without hope (1 Thess. 4:13).

THE CULT OF THE SAMARITANS

Remember that the Samaritans were basically a Jewish cult that originated at the time of the exile. Samaria was the capital of Ahab’s Baal-worshipping regime, and when the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered by Assyria, they established syncretistic practices of worship of the true God alongside other false gods (2 Kgs. 17:27-41). In keeping with this, Simon is introduced as one the leaders of their cult (Acts 8:9-11), which first of all underlines the power of the gospel to penetrate even those communities and hearts that may seem to us most dark or enslaved: modern cults, Islam, the LGBT jihad, your family, even you.   

HYPOCRISY & SALVATION

This story underlines one of the hardest areas of faith to understand: the mystery of regeneration and apostasy. Here the text says that Simon “believed” and he was baptized (Acts 8:13). And yet, very quickly, a deep gall of bitterness is revealed with a tangle or conspiracy of evil (Acts 8:23). This should be something of an encouragement just to know that this kind of challenge has faced the church from the very beginning: Jesus had Judas and Paul had Demas (2 Tim. 4:10). We are in good company, if the church continues to deal with some who turn away. Jesus taught that His word would go forth like seed on different kinds of soil (Mk. 4:3-20). Some branches in the covenant vine of Christ are cut out (Jn. 15:1-7). And yet, all whom the Father has given to Christ will be preserved and raised up at the last day (Jn. 6:37-39).

So how do we parse this? The tendency of many has been to either downplay the word and sacraments, since it is sometimes empty or hypocritical, emphasizing the “invisibility” of the true church, or else over-emphasizing the efficacy of the visible ministry of the church, while making salvation something that comes and go, depending on the day or week or year. The Reformed tradition has sought to avoid both extremes by emphasizing the sovereignty of God and faith His Word. This translates into a high view of the word and sacraments, and the efficacy of the visible church, while insisting that the Spirit is totally free. Calvin described it as “all men have not that grace given them in baptism, which grace is there figured.” God really does give grace, but not all men receive it by faith in Christ. Calvin says this of Simon: “And although the receiving of baptism did profit him nothing then, yet if conversion followed afterward, as some men suppose, the profit was not extinguished nor abolished.” Many prodigals come home.

CONCLUSION

This story does not tell us what happened to Simon. It only closes with Simon asking the apostles to pray for him and the word continuing to go forth (Acts 8:24-25). Church tradition mostly suggests that he continued in his sins (hence the sin/crime of “simony”), but this story is what God has given us. And this is for our good: both a warning and a comfort. 

The warning is to guard your own hearts and watch out for all bitterness and tangles of evil. We have no official system of simony in our modern evangelical churches, but there’s plenty of buying and selling of favors and flattery and popularity contests and man-pleasing. This game can be played with hospitality, friend groups, educational methods, or even theology. But you can’t buy the Holy Spirit. And this is where the poisonous root of bitterness fundamentally comes from: the sovereign Spirit who gives and rules as He pleases. Contentment is the opposite of bitterness: it rests in the Father’s gifts of His Spirit in all things (Phil. 4:11). 

But there is a great comfort here as well: the gospel came to the Samaritans. While wicked men were plotting, Christ was saving all kinds of Samaritans. While the nations rage, Christ is still saving sinners, including the ones who once professed faith and have turned away in bitterness or apathy. We serve the God who raises the dead. Why does God allow this? For His own glory, but also so that we will pray more faithfully, so the Word will go forth, and so our joy will be even greater when He saves.

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Why “All of Christ for All of Life”

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INTRODUCTION

As God has called different ministries to various aspects of His kingdom work in this world, they have often been characterized by different tag lines or summary statements. William Carey, the father of modern missions, said, “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.” Desiring God says that “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” Hudson Taylor is known for saying that “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.” And we have summarized the emphasis of our ministry here with “All of Christ for all of life.” Depending on the context, we might add for “for all of Moscow,” or “for all the world.”

THE TEXT

“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:18–20).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The Great Commission can be divided into three parts. The first is the declaration. All authority has been given to me” (v. 18). The second is the commandment. “Go ye therefore . . .” (vv. 19-20a). And the third is the promise— “I am with you always . . .” (v. 20b).

Because Christ has been given all authority both in Heaven and on earth, this means that this commission trumps the wishes of all others. We are given this task on the basis of the authority that has been given to Christ. We know that He has this authority of the strength of multiple passages. He has been given the nations as His inheritance, the ends of the earth for His possession (Ps. 2:8). He approached the Ancient of Days and was given dominion, glory and a kingdom that will never be destroyed (Dan. 7:13-14). The government will rest on His shoulders, and of the increase of that government there will be no end (Is. 9:6-7). In short, He has the authority to issue this command. 

The command is to go out and to do so on this basis. He says “Go therefore.” The basic verb is matheteuo, which means to disciple. Disciple the tribes, the nations, the ethnoi. No civic unit is excluded. This is to be done by baptizing them in the triune name, and by teaching them to obey everything Jesus said.

Then there is the promise. Jesus says that as we engage in this task, He will be constantly with us, even to the end of the age (v. 20). And we see elsewhere in Scripture that this does not exclude the “age to come” (Eph. 1:21).  

CONSIDER ALL THE ALLS

The word for all in this passage is pas. It is used four times. Jesus here claims to have all authority (exousia). He tells us to disciple all nations. He explains that this involves teaching them to obey all the commands He ever gave. And He concludes by telling us that He will be with us all the time.

This commandment is frankly staggering, and it is no surprise that the promise is attached to it. And even despite that promise, we still have a tendency to cook this commission in the reduction sauce of careful exegesis, and  

THE REASON WE ARE OVERWHELMED

The reason we are so often overwhelmed in our Christian lives, whether singly or when considering the church at large, is that we have reduced the monumental task to one that is bigger than we are, but one we still think we might be able to handle. But we can’t, because we are fighting in our own wisdom. The task is enormous. If we keep it that size, then we are going to have to look beyond ourselves to the power and strength of God. Christ gave the promise for a reason. After Isaiah said that of the increase of His government there would be no end, what else did he say? “The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.”

And this is why the statement of the great Thomas Chalmers is so pertinent. “Regardless of how large, your vision is too small.”

INTO THE CORNERS

Now “all of life” includes absolutely everything, and that can be scary. This means family life, education, economics, resource management, divorce law, sacraments, warfare, moon exploration, word processing, AI, robotics, watercolors, and the cooking of soufflés. If you think I am leaving anything out, just throw that in. So where do we start?

Not surprisingly, we start with your own heart. Repent of your sins. Look to Christ. Trust in Him as your only possible righteousness. From there it should move out to your family, and the principal and characteristic note there should be godly kindness. Not push-over kindness, and not intransigent harshness. Kindness. From that position, consider your vocation—scholar, merchant, tradesman, or other—and in that vocation seek to combine high honesty and peerless competence. 

As we learn to excel in what God has called us to, what happens? “Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown men” (Proverbs 22:29). Working quietly with our hands, on the task that is right in front of us, is God’s appointed method for getting us to fan out across the globe (1 Thess. 4:11). So the process should be heart > family > world. And you are equipped at every stage of this process when you appear before God, together with your family, on the Lord’s Day, in order to worship Him. 

Sin is off limits, naturally. But nothing else is.

CHRIST IS LORD

In a saner time, the word secular did not mean godless. Secular meant auto mechanics as distinct from singing psalms in worship—but secular did not mean godless. It did not mean unbelieving. The secular world was not an autonomous realm, but rather the realm of the kingdom outside the church proper. 

The sacred space is here, as we are gathered to worship God in the name of Jesus Christ. This is the day that is set apart, and this time is consecrated to sacred use. The bread that we break here is the body of God. But the bread that you break over lunch tomorrow is not polluted bread. You say grace over it. It is consecrated to secular use, in the name of Jesus Christ. And the same thing goes for everything you might touch. 

“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). 

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A Cascade of Love (Troy)

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Sermon Text – John 15:9-12

INTRODUCTION

When it comes to the subject of love, man has attempted to capture its essence using a variety of arts. The singer songwriter composes a ballad. The Hawaiians dance the hula. The artist paints a couple, enjoying a sunset. The poet writes a sonnet. And there have been plays and movies and concertos and books, all attempting to capture love and communicate its virtues. Now, given that the scriptures teach that God is love, that love is his very nature, that love flows out of Him as the fountainhead of life, christians have a particular artisanal advantage when they want to sculpt or paint or sing about love, because they can define it, “This falls under the category of love, while this falls under the category of hate.” We have a foundation to produce lovely things, because we know what love is. We worship a God who defines what love is by His very nature. He exists, and love, pours out on the human race in a myriad of colors, and shades and hues. God is love.

And so I too, would like to take the brush and paint a picture for you. And do what we humans cannot help but do, and image the invisible God of love through artistic expression, particularly, through the art of preaching. 

THE FLOW OF LOVE FROM THE FATHER TO THE SON

If you are seeking for the perfect picture of a loving relationship, look no further, because there is absolutely no barriers, nothing standing in the way from the Father’s love reaching the heart of his son.  He sends the son, and the son goes. He assigns a mission, and the son accepts without grudge. His disposition is the same as the Father, and they both think that the mission is wonderful. He says, “Have you not read this scripture: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes.’” Jesus says, “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.”

When Christ took on human flesh and dwelt among us, he kept the law perfectly, including the greatest commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” Jesus was never in a location that He wasn’t supposed to be. He never was doing anything that He wasn’t supposed to be doing. He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.” 

When it comes to the exchange of love between the Father and the Son, there is no shame involved. There is no instance where one party loves the other party, less or more. They both infinitely love each other perfectly, with no sin.

THE FLOW OF LOVE FROM THE SON TO US

At the end of John’s gospel he says, “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” So where do we start when talking about the love of Christ? In the story of the prodigal son, the wayward young man, returned of his own volition, convinced of his own folly, recognizing that being his Father’s servant was superior to tending pigs in a foreign land. Jesus uses the story to reveal the hard heart of the nation of Israel during his ministry. 

But I’d like to borrow the characters in Jesus’s parable to draw another analogy. Imagine that the prodigal did not return willingly, but rather was dragged back home. Maybe he got in trouble with the law; he was to be executed. So the authorities took him home to have a discussion with his Father. The father sees a platoon of Roman soldiers in the distance, and his son being led in shackles. It’s been five years since the incident. When his son figuratively ripped out his heart and rebelliously asked for his inheritance early, an unprecedented display of disrespect. An offense that was essentially communicating, “Father, I wish you were dead.” Oh, how the Father wished everyday that the son’s silhouette would break over the horizon in the distance, and he could run to him, and hug him, and forgive him. But the soldiers reach the house, his son hangs his head in shame and the captain says, “This man is to be executed for his crimes. We’ve come to make an offer to you. Your life for his. We will execute you, and we will let him go free. What say you?”

You already know what he would say, don’t you, because he did it for you. You are that man in shackles. It is you who were in rebellion and spit in the face of your father. You wanted things your way, you wanted the inheritance now, so you could squander it and gratify your sinful desires. And you are quite right to stand there, with your head to the ground in shame. But the reason you do not look your Father in the eye, is because his look of love would melt you, as he says to the captain, “I accept, please set him free, kill me, and exonerate him.”

THE FLOW OF LOVE FROM US TO OTHERS

Like an expansive orchard, abundant with ripe fruits, life presents us with an endless harvest of opportunities to love others. It starts in the home, with your own family. It radiates out towards the church body, your neighbors, your co-workers, your friends, and even strangers. The author to the Hebrews reminds us to “not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”

The catechism of the world teaches that you should hate your enemy. And the tactics of this hellish dogma include slander, attack, bearing false witness, stubbornness, and an unwavering moral indignation. The operative word there being “moral”, as it’s only a supposition of morality, a decoy, a stool made of two legs. These are blunt and crude instruments. But the Christian is not afforded any of these. We function and operate under a completely different paradigm of truth, God’s law, and the love of Christ. As such, slander is off limits. Bearing false witness is forbidden. But we are not to see this as a disadvantage. That would be like coveting their stick, when we’re armed with a sword.

CONCLUSION

Having reached the end, keep in mind that our love for the world and for each other, thanks be to God, is not something we have to psych ourselves up for because the power does not originate with us. The cascade of love has the power to split rock, and then shape it over time. The rock conforms to the flow of water, not the other way around. The barriers we once had, that prevented us from loving others, have been washed away. The waters of baptism have cleansed us, freeing us to be channels, and canals, and aqueducts that carry the love of Christ to the ends of the earth. 

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No Murmuring at All
 (Philippians #8)

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Introduction

We have been focusing on like-mindedness and joy. But the particular like-mindedness and joy that Paul is urging upon the Philippians is not simply something that would create harmony and happiness within the body of Christ. It also creates a dramatic contrast with the only other way of attempting to be human, the way pursued by those who are outside of Christ. Christians who are living like Christians shine like stars against the darkness of a complaining generation. 

The Text

“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all. For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.” (Philippians 2:12–18). 

Summary of the Text

Paul says that the Philippians are beloved of him, and he remarks on their past pattern of obedience to apostolic authority. As they have been obedient, he wants them now to be much more obedience in his absence (v. 12). The command they are to obey is the requirement to work out their own salvation, and to do so with fear and trembling (v. 12). The reason given why they are to do this that God Himself is working in them, to will and to accomplish according to His good pleasure (v. 13). What should this “working out” look like? We begin by doing all things, not most things but all things, without murmuring or disputing (v. 14). Notice the link between an absence of disputing and like-mindedness. Living this way sets up a dramatic contrast between them and the backdrop of a crooked and perverse time (v. 15). Such blameless and harmless sons of God would shine out as lights against the pitch blackness of a murmuring and disputing world (v 15). Paul wants them to hold forth the word of life (the gospel) so that he might have additional cause for rejoicing in the day of Christ (v. 16). Since he was laboring for the fruit of the gospel in their lives, this would be evidence that his labors were not futile (v. 16). If their obedience were to be the altar upon which Paul was to be sacrificed, he would rejoice and rejoice together with them (v. 17). If he departs to be with Christ, they would triumph together with him (v. 18).  

Work Out, Work In

Paul here tells them to work out their own salvation, so let us consider this first. The reason given for them working out their salvation is that God is working in their salvation. They are to work out what God works in. It is the same root verb in both uses. As God works His will into us, and as He works His good pleasure into us, we work out that same salvation by exhibiting to the world what God exhibited to our souls.

The Pelagian says that God works in nothing, we work the whole thing out. The antinomian says that God works in everything, and we have to do nothing. 

But how much of your salvation is worked into you by God? 100%. And how much of your salvation is worked out by you? Also 100%. As the great Augustine once put it, “Grant what thou commandest, and command what thou dost desire.”  

If we recognize the awesome grace that is involved in this, what we work out is not going to be done in a spirit of showboating, but rather with a demeanor of “fear and trembling.”

What Comes Out in This Working Out

So Paul tells us to work out our salvation. But when we work it out, what is it that comes out? The opposite of murmuring. “Do all things without murmuring and disputing.” Any salvation that is being worked out is a salvation that is resolved to be done without moaning, complaining, grumbling, murmuring, kvetching, fretting, bellyaching, carping, fussing, groaning, grousing, whimpering, whining—and have you ever noticed how many words we have for this? Kind of like  the Eskimos and snow.  

The Stark Contrast

This is a living out of the gospel, the word of life (v. 16). The crooked and perverse nation is the world without the gospel, and is assumed to be sheer darkness (v. 15). When the gospel comes to people in this dark world, and they look to Christ, the end result is that they are saved, and begin to work out that salvation. The fruit of that salvation is love, joy, peace, and all the rest (Gal. 5:22). The fruit of light is that which is good, and right, and true (Eph. 5:9). The fruit of this grace is faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, and the rest (2 Pet. 1:5-8). But in this place, Paul sums up the contrast by saying that the result of working the grace of this salvation is an absence of complaining. 

Think about what happens when you congregate with your unbelieving acquaintances. What do they complain about? They complain about their husbands and wives. They complain about their children. They complain about their parents. They complain about their pay. They complain about the weather. They complain about the stupidity of co-workers. They complain about taxes. They complain and complain, and are in the process of turning into a cluster of grumbles themselves. 

One of the most potent evangelistic things you could do is simply express gratitude publicly for the things that they like to complain about. 

Bring This Back to Christ

Remember the context here. Paul ends this passage by considering the prospect of him being sacrificed on the altar of their obedience, and he rejoices in that. When he commands them later to “rejoice always” (Phil. 4:4), he is not telling them this in the context of a minor problem like sore feet. Paul is cultivating the mind of Christ in his life, and he is urging the Philippians to do the same thing in theirs.

We have just finished considering how Christ made Himself of “no reputation” (Phil. 2:8). Did He have anything to complain about? Was there nothing in the treatment He received that was worthy of a murmuring spirit? Anguish, yes, but complaining . . . no. 

And this is why we are privileged, as believers, to look straight at the cross of Christ. When we do, we also are looking at all the complaints of all of God’s elect. We see them all, but we see them all crucified.  

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