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.