“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 2:16-18).
Introduction
A part of working out our salvation
is witnessing about the Lord to the lost. The apostle Paul takes the preaching
and teaching of God’s word very seriously, for if the Philippians failed in
this area, then he had not taught or encouraged them sufficiently. If they
failed to testify of Christ, then he had failed in his ministry too.
Holding
forth
The first six words of :16 make for
an excellent motto for any church or individual Christian. We should have a
desire to uphold the word of God in both word and practice. “Holding forth”
literally means ‘to apply’ and carries the same idea from :15; therefore we
ought to be light bearers who shine brightly with “the word of life”
wherever we go. “The word of life” is also Christ living in and through us. “That
which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our
eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of
life” (1 John 1:1). The purity of Scripture and its teaching relating to
holiness and sanctification in daily life must be maintained, especially since
we live in an ungodly world and amongst those who are not ashamed of twisting
the word of God. It is tragic that instead of holding fast to the Bible and its
principles for godly living, many Christians live so close to the world that
they are totally ineffective as witnesses. We have been given the power to
change the world rather than it having the power to change us. “But ye
shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be
witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto
the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8) … “And he said unto
them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark
16:15).
“The day of Christ” in this
verse can only refer to the time when the church appears before Him as His
bride. “That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having
spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without
blemish” (Ephesians 5:27). No preacher wants to see all his hard work
wasted by believers backsliding and becoming apostates, instead he desires to
see them standing before Christ as members of the pure church. This is why a
true preacher will impress upon his hearers the need for faithfulness, holiness
and separation from the world. The church is only kept on earth until “the day
of Christ” so that it can minister to the lost. “And the Spirit and the
bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst
come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely”
(Revelation 22:17).
The church of Christ is obligated to
“holding forth the word of life” the “gospel of Christ” which is “the
power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Romans 1:16).
The gospel is the “word of life” because by its very nature it transforms
the lives of those whom it touches. But how can it touch them unless we hold it
forth? “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and
how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they
hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14). The upholding of Scriptural
truth must be done in both word and deed.
Sacrifice
and service
Notice that Paul reintroduces the
idea of personal sacrifice once again. He was willing to lay down his life for
the Philippian church, that is, he would rather perish than see them being
corrupted by false teaching or through strife. It was a joy to give himself for
the spiritual welfare of the believers. The word “offered” also includes the
thought of physical death, for the same word appears in 2 Timothy 4:6 where Paul
writes, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is
at hand”. The verse that follows reveals that he had upheld the gospel
throughout his life and serves to illustrate Paul’s commitment to Christ and
the church. “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have
kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). The word “offered” can be translated
as “poured out”, which is interesting in light of what Paul previously wrote
about Christ’s humiliation, “He humbled himself, and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).
Sacrifice and service will forever
be part of the believer’s responsibility while he lives on this earth. The
Lord Jesus expects all those who follow Him to have this level of obedience. “If
any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily,
and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Paul basically states the same thing in Romans
12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your
reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by
the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable,
and perfect, will of God”. Such sacrifice and service is proof that the
believer has truly committed himself wholly to the Lord. “For ye are bought
with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are
God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:20).
Paul wanted the Philippian church to
rejoice also. The believers there were excited about the preaching of God’s
word and thus thrilled with the ministry of the apostle. They would soon rejoice
when Paul was released from prison, for they would see him face to face again.
Conclusion
Even if he had to die in prison,
Paul was content in the knowledge that he had done everything he could to help
the Philippian church to live for the Lord. By “holding forth the word of
life” we too will one day rejoice in the presence of Christ. It is going to
take sacrifice, service and commitment in our lives if we are going to see the
lost coming to the Lord. This means that it cannot be accomplished if impurity
or ungodliness reigns in our lives, otherwise we are nothing more than
hypocrites, and those we cause to follow us are “twofold more the child of
hell” than ourselves (Matthew 23:15). If we are ever going to live the
Christian life we must do it the way that the Bible describes. If we are ever
going to draw the lost to Christ then our method must be in accordance to what
Scripture advocates.
