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"I am being poured out as a drink offering..."

Text: Philippians 2:17

THE THEME OF JOY

What would your greatest joy be? The apostle mentioned “joy” a number of times in his epistle to the Philippians.

1. Praying with joy for the Philippian brethren because of their fellowship. {Philippians 1:4} (Greek “chara”)

2. Rejoicing that the name of Christ is preached. {Philippians 1:18} (Greek “chairo”)

3. Rejoicing in the hope of helping the Philippians grow further in faith. {Philippians 1:25} (Greek “chara”)

FINDING GREAT AND GENUINE JOY

How wonderful it is to read and be inspired by the apostle Paul as he wrote about finding great joy.

“Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering
on the sacrifice and service of your faith,
I am glad and rejoice with you all.”

Philippians 2:17

1. “Yes”

a) The translators (NKJV) rendered the Greek conjunction “alla” as “Yes”.

b) In normal circumstances this conjunction is translated as a strong contrastive conjunction as “but”.

c) However, this rendition is correct.

d) Paul wrote without fear of the possibility of dying for the sake of the gospel.

2. “And if…”

a) Paul used what is known as a conditional sentence here.

b) He is not saying that it will definitely happen.

c) But if he should be sacrificed he would still be able to speak of having joy in the Lord.

3. “If I am being poured out as a drink offering”

a) This entire phrase translates one single word (Greek “spendo”).

b) This word was used figuratively to describe a libation, a pouring of a drink offering.

4. “On the sacrifice and service of your faith”

a) Paul saw himself simply as a libation for the blessing of the Philippians.

b) This was his heart of love for the brethren.

5. “I am glad and rejoice with you all”

a) This joy was genuine.

b) This joy was palpable and great.