I'm gonna begin there in verse 20 tonight, Philippians chapter one, verse 20. Philippians chapter 1 and verse 20. We're going to read through a few verses here this evening. I pray that they will be a blessing to your heart. As we read in Philippians chapter 1 and verse 20 and we see Philippians, a great book that the Apostle Paul uses as a book really of adoration to the Philippians for the people that they are and for their giving and just for their conduct and Christianity. And in Philippians chapter 1 and verse 20, he, uh, the apostle Paul is looking in the next several verses about really how, uh, how we can magnify the Lord in our life and what, what, what is life really? And the apostle Paul sums it up and really in, in one verse, which is there in 21, uh, but we're going to take a 21, 22 and 23 and kind of add it all together. We're going to begin there in verse 20 because he says some things in that verse that kind of relate to these other verses. But he, in essence, really shows us what is the purpose of life. What is life all about? What is living? You've heard somebody say, well, I just want to live life. Hey, I enjoy that. I like the idea of living life. That was the motto that went across my computer screen. What do you call that little thing? You can type in whatever you want on it and it will spin around on your computer. But anyway, it's a little slogan or whatever. Well, mine was, for the longest time, has always been, live life. Man, no matter what, just make sure you're living life. I love the idea of living life, but you know, people have different ideas. what it means to live life. For some people living life is one thing, for others living life is another. For some people living life is to get drunk every night and to get out and party and not remember what you did the next day and who knows who in the world you got with and who knows what in the world happened. For some people that's living life. I don't know about you but I like recalling what I did the previous day. I like knowing that I was able to maintain my integrity and my dignity and my sanity as well. The Bible says the way of transgressors is hard. But it seems that for some people they think that that is living. But I don't call that living. But everybody's idea of living is different. But we see here in Philippians chapter 1 There in verse 20, so let's begin there and let's see what the Bible says. The Bible says, His idea there in verse 20 is that, you know what he says, whether I'm living whether it's through my life or whether it's through my death, what I want to do is I want to magnify God. No matter what it is, no matter what takes place, whether I'm living and serving and whatever it is that God's called me to do, no matter what I'm doing in my life, He says, what I desire to do, and I desire to do it there in verse 20, He says, with all boldness, with all boldness as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. Paul looking for the expectation of maybe hoping to get out of prison and also understanding that if this is where the Lord wanted him to be, then through his life, no matter what he was going through, no matter where he was at, he was going to magnify God. even if it was in a Roman prison. No matter what situation it was, no matter what circumstance he was in, he wanted to make sure that he magnified God, even in desperate times. Being in a prison isn't necessarily the place that you would want to end up, where you'd want to be. But you know what, as he thought about it, he said, you know, even if I'm in prison, I just want to make sure that I'm magnifying God. No matter what my lot in life, no matter what's going on, no matter what's taking place, I just want to magnify God. But he says there in that verse, he says, whether it be by my life or by death, no matter what takes place, I just want to magnify God. You know, if it's pleasing in God's sight, that He takes me home and that I'm able to magnify Him even greater through my death, then so be it. As long as I'm magnifying God, as long as I am furthering the kingdom, then God knows what's best and God knows what He needs to do. So whether it's through my life or whether it's through my death, I just want to make sure that I am lifting up the Lord and that I am magnifying God by all means, by all means possible. Whenever we was, I wasn't able to go down on Friday to my pastor's funeral because I had to work, but Amy was able to go. And while she was down there, she was talking to my pastor's wife, Francis was talking to her and was talking about a couple days coming up to the moment where he passed away. And said that you could tell by the things that he was saying that he knew that his time was coming. That he knew that he was on his way home. He knew that he was fixing to depart. He just felt it in his heart. Well, as that moment came a little closer and he was unresponsive, wasn't able to speak, but obviously he could hear folks around him because they were talking. Somebody had said something and he had his hands on his chest and he gave a thumbs up. Even though he couldn't speak and even though he could barely move, He was letting them know in His own way, I suppose, that I can hear you and everything is going to be alright. It was almost like, you know, I see that and I'm thinking, wow, what a wonderful peace that He must have had. I don't know what the Lord was giving Him during that time. You know, when people are passing on, we don't know what it is, what God's doing for them in that very moment. You know, the Bible says precious in the sight of the Lord. is the death of His saints. We understand that God is there with us, that He is there with His people as they are passing on. And we praise the Lord for that. And so we see that He says in the text as we move on, He says, I just want to magnify God in my life or by my death. What was interesting is they said that after a period of time, even though he was unable to respond vocally, that there were times when he was reaching up, his eyes were closed, and he wasn't able to speak, but there were times that he would lift up his arms and lift up his hands like He was trying to grab a hold of something. Now whether or not he was seeing heaven coming a little bit closer, I don't know. But I tell you what, what a great thought that he was seeing heaven maybe perhaps getting a little bit closer to him. Maybe he was seeing the Lord Jesus on his way. Maybe the Lord had opened up his spiritual eyes and he was able to see heaven coming. I don't know. But he died peacefully and it seemed like that he died looking forward to going to heaven. And something interesting that I've never actually seen anybody do when they did the funeral, they actually had the Christian flag that was folded up and presented to the family. He wasn't in the military, so he wasn't given a military flag, but he was given a, the family was given a Christian flag that was folded up and given to them for his long time service in the ministry. I thought that was neat. But anyways, but why did he do all that? I mean, why did my pastor do all that he did? Why do you do what you do? I mean, why is it that you're here in church tonight? I mean, really, what's the reason why that you're here? I think the reason why is because part of, probably part of the reason why everybody's here tonight It's because you know that there's a reason to be here. And that you know that there is a cause. You know that there is a purpose. And because you want to magnify God in your life, and because you want to honor God in your life, and because you understand and know that church is that important. That no matter who is there, how many are there, or how few are there, that you desire to magnify God in your personal life, regardless of the decisions that other people make. And so there we see the very same thing there in Philippians 1 verse 20 where he says, you know what, whether it's in my life or whether it's in my death, I just want to make sure that I'm magnifying God. I just want to make sure that no matter what that he is lifted up because look at verse 21 he says for me to live is Christ and to die is gain but notice there in verse 21 he says for me to live is Christ but you know what not for everybody to live is Christ but he says for me to live is Christ And as I was telling you earlier, everybody has their own idea of what it means to live. Some folks have the idea that doing drugs, that's how you live. Alcohol, that's how you live. Prostitution, that's how you live. Whatever it is, gambling, that's how you live. All these different things. This is how you live. You say, well, it may not necessarily be sinful things that we're involved in. We're just out. Doing what we want to do well doing what you want to do is to some folks That's just how you live, but the Apostle Paul said you know what my idea of living is far different than everybody else But then then what some other people may say he says for me to live as Christ in other words He was saying you know what for me to live is to me living as Christ is doing everything that you can to live for God, doing everything you can to follow in His steps, doing everything you can to be well-pleasing to Him, doing everything you can to serve Him. He says, for me, that's what living is all about. Because apart from Christ, what is really living? I mean, He's my Master. He's my Creator. He is all that I have. He is all that I is. And so... For me to understand or me to know what real living is, he says, for me, living is living for Jesus. For me, living is walking with Him, having a personal relationship with Him. For me, living is growing with Him. He says, for me to live is Christ. You know, for some folks to live, it means, you know what, they have to have all these followers. perhaps on Instagram, or they have to have, you know, so many people give them so many likes on Facebook, or they're not happy today. You know, there are some folks out there that, that's what they live, that's how they live. You know, they live off of the opinions of others, and they live off the thoughts of others, and there's folks out there that live off the off of these things that really offer no real significance to these people's eyes, but they place so much power in these other people's opinions. You know, for some people to live, as I said, it's to have so many followers on Instagram or to have so many friends on Facebook. You know, I've got friends that have thousands of friends. on Facebook, and I dare say they probably don't know half of them. Amen? I mean, people send friend requests. I mean, they do you just as they do me. They send a friend request, and really, you're thinking in your mind, who are these people? Well, they're friends of a friend of a friend, and where you met them one time, and now they want to be your friend, so you, you know, whatever, you friend them, and you really don't know them, you don't never speak, you don't never talk, you'll never see them again. But there they are on Facebook, and they're your friends. But listen, some people, they have to have that. They rely on the thoughts and opinions of others. I mean, that's just to them that's living. For some people living is being famous. I mean, you know, if they're not famous, if they're not well-known, they're not well-liked by everybody, then to them that's not living. But there's some people out here that to them living, real living, means that everybody has to know who you are. You have to be the most popular. You know, you have to be the most well-liked and all of these different things. And listen, that's not what real living is. But for some people, real living is having as many, much as possessions that you can have, you know, whether it's a house or a car or land or whatever it is that you got. To some people, that's what real living is. But that's not what the Apostle Paul said. For some people, living is going to different places. Listen, if there is anybody, if there is anybody that enjoys traveling or enjoys going places or anything, it is me. I mean, I have an adventurous bone. I have an adventurous spirit. I like to venture out. I'm a wanderer. I like to get out and just kind of wander around. Listen, I'm good with that and I'm happy with it. But you know what? That's not really what living is. Even that is not. Because you know, what is living? The Bible says to live is Christ. To live is Christ. I mean living, what is real living? I mean, we come up with all these ideas what real living is. I mean, you know, and we have a worldly frame of mind of what real living is, but the Apostle Paul, he said there in verse 22, he says, but if I, he said, verse 21, I'm sorry, he says, for me to live is Christ. You know, he says that the whole purpose of living, the whole idea of what real living is, It's just to follow Jesus and just to live for Him. And he says, you know what? No matter whether in my life or in my death, I just want to do everything I can to magnify Him. But there in verse 21, he says, for me to live is Christ. And then he says, and to die is gain. He says, did you know that when you die, you really gain a whole lot? Now, I'm not saying that I want to die right now, but I am looking forward to the day when that comes. Because when that day comes, I'm going to gain far more than I was ever possibly able to get down here. I mean, you think about all the things that heaven is waiting for us, and you haven't even scratched the surface of what God's got waiting on you. Amen? Isn't that something to think about? I mean, you can think about all the greatness of heaven. You can come up with all different kinds of conceptions, and all kinds of imaginations on how great heaven is, and how beautiful it is, and what all is there, and the time that you're going to have, and who you're going to see, and who you're going to talk to, and all these different expectations you may have in your mind about what heaven is going to be, and once you've come to the greatest conclusion, you still haven't even scratched the surface of what it's going to be like. And so the Bible says, he says, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. And so what does that do? And what it does is it helps us to understand that, listen, the whole purpose to life, the whole purpose to living isn't what we can do out here in this world, isn't where we can go out here in this world, isn't what we can have out here in this world. Because what did the Bible say? The Bible says, what shall I profit of, man, if I gain the whole world and lose his own soul? I mean, what's it going to do? Well, I mean, we'll profit. I mean, you could own everything that there is to own in this old world. You can have all the money. You can have all the land. You can have all the possessions. You can have it all. And if you did, if you did. What good would it do you? Because you know what, if you died, once the day you die, the world's not gonna, you're not gonna be able to take anything with you. Job said, naked came I out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return to the earth. You know, he knew, listen, I brought nothing in this world, I'll take nothing out. And so the whole idea is when Paul says here in this verse, When he says for me to live as Christ and to die as gain, what he's showing is not the whole purpose of what living is, but he also thrusts forward the thought of knowing that if we live for God, we do the best we can to live for the Lord, and we focus on eternity. We focus on the rewarded hand. We focus on finishing the race. We focus on the Lord Jesus. And he says there in verse 21, to live as Christ and to die as gain. is gain. You know, I was thinking about as I was studying through the verse and was just kind of thinking about, you know, whenever the Lord called me to preach. And I remember thinking to myself, I thought, well, you know, how am I going to, what am I going to do? I mean, you know, here I was, just a young guy, I was in my early, you know, early 20s, mid 20s. And I think 24 years old, 24 years old, God called me to preach and I'm sitting there thinking to myself, what am I going to do? I have, you know, I really have no idea what to do. I mean, all I know is that God's called me to preach. Other than that, I have no idea what to do. And so the Lord just kind of led our whole family along. And I tell you what, God was so faithful. and everything that he has done to bring us even to the very point that we are right now. And I remember thinking to myself, I told Amy that night, I said, you know what? I was scared half to death to even tell her. I said, God's called me to preach. And, you know, she didn't laugh at me and she didn't, of course, she didn't scold me or anything like that, you know, but she was thinking about herself. She wasn't so concerned about me being a preacher. She told me she was concerned about what she was, how she was going to be. Her concern wasn't about how God was going to use me and whether or not I could do it or not. She told me she was just thinking about herself. How am I going to be a pastor's wife? Am I going to be able to do this? But the Lord equipped me just like He equipped her when He called us together into it, not just one of us on our own. But I remember leaving out the next day and just thinking about, you know, the Lord called me to preach and was just so excited and had never spoke to anybody in my whole life. I've never stood in front of anybody ever in any time and spoke in front of anybody. and so thinking about all these things now it's just like well Lord how am I gonna how am I gonna leave I mean you know I got a house and I got you know I got a couple cars you know I do have some debts so how am I gonna how am I gonna get out of this thing and I told you the story before I had somebody come knock on my door a friend of ours actually Didn't know nothing about what was going on in our life, but knocked on our door and said, hey, I tell you what, you ever thought about selling this place? I said, I sure have. He says, well, how much you want for it? I said, I'll let you know. And so we figured out what it would cost for us to be debt free. I called him and said, this is what I'm asking for. He said, fine. He bought the house right there, paid off everything we had. So now I didn't have a house. Now I didn't have a house, so I'm thinking to myself, okay, now, Lord, what am I gonna do now? I did tell you, I told you that if you wanted me to preach, you was gonna have to get rid of my house and get rid of all my debt and get rid of all this stuff so I can go to Bible college and start completely over, you know, and I said, you're gonna have to do it. Two weeks later, it was done. I didn't have nowhere to go, didn't have nowhere to live, so you know what I did? I said, hey, Dad, you mind if I come live with you for a little bit? Sure, come on. So I went over there, went to go live with Dad, and while I was over there, While I was over there, the Lord just continued to work and continued to bless and provided for us the whole way, even through Bible college. I was able to walk away scot-free, had no debt at all, was able to maintain the very same way with no debt at all, moved to Virginia with no debt at all, and was able to come up here and do what God's called us to do up here. And the whole time, the whole time, it was just amazing to see how God had worked and just done different things. And you look back and you say, wow, you know what? It's just almost amazing how you see God stepped in here and how God stepped in there. And every time you begin to throw up a question, well, how is this going to be taken care of? And how is this going to work? And how is this going to happen? And you just see every step of the way how God intervened and how God did things the whole way. And when I went to Cornerstone, it was almost kind of like the same thing almost kind of happened here. When I went up there, they had people, you know, coming up there all the time, calling up there all the time, you know, wanting to be the pastor or whatever. And they said when I started coming up there, said everything stopped. It was almost like somebody turned the faucet off. You know, God knows how to open a door, and God knows how to shut doors. But see, God knows how to open doors for you, and He also knows how to shut doors for you. And so the same thing, you know, in essence is going to happen here as well. But we see that to live is Christ, to die is gain. And you know, everything, looking back, looking back, I could sit here if I wanted to and I could say, well, you know what? If I wouldn't have left North Carolina, if I'd have stayed down there, then maybe I'd have had this, maybe I'd have done that, and who knows, maybe I'd have made more money, maybe I'd have went some, maybe I'd have done who knows what I'd have done, you know, whatever. But you know, that's just our fleshly mind. And we have to understand that, listen, to live is Christ, to die is gain. What is more important? What is more important? Having an extra hundred square foot on your house? Is that really what's more important? Is what's more important? Is your car being one more year older? I mean, one more year newer? Is that really what's more important? Is what's more important, really, is having just a little bit more money in your bank account? I mean, is that really what's more important? Or, let me ask you this, or is this really what's important? Is that you followed God, and you walked by faith, and even when you didn't know, and when you couldn't see, and you couldn't figure things out, you followed the Lord, and God opened up every door, and God shut every door, and you was able to see God move in miraculous ways that you can't even begin to even explain to people. That right there is by far more of a blessing than anything I could ever even imagine even possibly feeling like I even gave up, if I even gave up anything. Because I'm not so sure if I really did. I left it behind. I don't know if I'd say gave it up. I'd say I just left it behind because I was reaching forward to something that was a whole lot better. You know what that was? because to live is Christ and to die is gain. And so, and you, in your life, your own personal life, you can think, you know, moments, things, you can think, happened the very same way in your life, how you've seen God move and how you've seen God work and how you've seen God move in different aspects of your life and those times when you thought to yourself, how is this gonna happen and how is this gonna work out and how is this all gonna be done? And you look back and you see how God was there every step of the way and blessed you beyond measure and God shows you and God shows you through experience and God shows you through the things how He's moving in your life that to live is Christ but to die is game. But you know the sad thing is, the sad reality is this. There's a lot of people in this world that will never really understand that truth of what it means to really live for Jesus because those folks Those folks won't be people who are willing to necessarily, I guess, separate themselves from the world. Those are the folks, they're not willing to take that step of faith. They're willing to trust Jesus enough to get saved. But after that, you know, well, you know, I don't know about the direction, I don't know about this, I don't know about that. There's a lot of people, you know, they want to see the hand of God move, they want to see the power of God on their life, but they never see it hardly and they never experience much of it because they're not willing to continue to take those steps of faith that is pleasing. to the Lord in His sight. They're not willing to be obedient. They're not willing to follow and be a disciple. But there are other folks, such as maybe perhaps you here tonight, how you've seen God move in your life and how you can't explain how things worked out. And it's almost like, I mean, some of it was just, it just seems like it's even supernatural. You can't even begin to even try to explain to people how God moved, but you do know that to live is Christ and to die is gain. You do know that you want to magnify God. You do know you want to lift Him up. You've seen God do so many amazing things in your life that God is showing you that, listen, as long as you keep living for me and as long as you keep walking with me that I will show you every step of the way how I will be there for you and how I'll be there with you. I mean, I can give you story after story after story from the last almost nearly 11 years of pastoring of how God's been there and done so many amazing things for our family. I'd wear you out tonight with the stories and you say, you bragging? Well, I'm just saying that I'm just saying that, I don't know if, I guess I'm bragging on Jesus, does that make sense? I'm just bragging on God, not bragging on me, because I ain't nothing to brag about. I'm just bragging on how good God's been. And you have those stories too, it's not just me, but every single one of you out there tonight, you have, you could unload, you could unleash, you could unload the wagon and dump it all out right here, and we can share story after story after story here tonight that would probably, all of us, would probably just blow our minds on how God's moved and worked in our life. Why? Because to live is Christ. To live is Christ. That is what real living is. Real living is seeing God move in your life in such a tremendous way that you can't even explain it. And a lot of people don't have that. Why? Because they're not willing to walk by faith. They're not willing to take that extra step. They're more concerned about this and having this in the world and having that in the world and having that in the world. They're more concerned about the possessions. They're more concerned about the fame. And they're more concerned about the popularity. They're more concerned about all these little frivolous things. At the end of the day, it's not going to amount to a hill of beans. But then there's other folks that say, you know what, to me living, for me living is seeing Jesus live through me. To me living is seeing the Lord do things through me. To me living is seeing God bless my family. To me living is seeing God do things that I never would have ever even imagined that he would ever do. To me, that's living. And the Apostle Paul says, for to me, to live is Christ. That's what living is. It's about following Him. To live is Christ and to die is gain. Because when we die, what do we get? Well, we go to heaven and we are able to rejoice there with our Creator, with the Son of God, the Lord Jesus, to see Him forever. I mean, we're able to go to heaven and enjoy all that heaven is. He says, for me to live is Christ, to die is gain. He says, whenever I leave out of here, man, it's a promotion. When I leave out of here, I'm going to heaven. When I leave out of here, man, I'm going to be able to see my Creator. So the day that I die, it's going to be a promotion to me. For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. It's not a loss. He says there in verse 22, he says, if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor. He says, you know, if I continue on living, he says, then I'll be able to continue to serve, and as I continue to serve, then, I mean, that's gonna be a blessing. He says, you know, I'll still be able to do that, and that'll be great. He says, if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor. You know, I'm gonna continue to lay up treasures in heaven. I'm gonna continue to be able to be a blessing to other people, He says, but yet what I shall choose I want not. He says, I really don't know what I'd rather do. He says, I don't know if I'd rather stay here and continue to lay up treasures in heaven or if I'd rather just go on to heaven right now. Yeah, he says, I'm kind of in a straight there in verse 23. He says, I'm in a straight betwixt two. having a desire to part and to be with Christ, which is far better. He says, you know what? I'd love to stay here longer and serve the Lord. I'd love to stay here longer and lay up more treasures in heaven. I'd love to stay here and continue to preach the gospel and to see people get saved and see the power of God work in people's lives. He says, I'd love to do that. That is great. He says, you know what? To me, it seems far greater just checking on out of here and going on to heaven. He says, to me, that seems far greater. He says, but I'm in a straight between the two. I want to stay here and I want to serve God. I want to continue to do what God's called me to do, he says, but I also have a desire to depart and to be with Christ. And I believe that's what my pastor wanted, too. He had a desire to be. He had desire. to be with Christ. I believe he knew that his day was coming and he knew that he didn't have that much longer and he was ready to go. And as heaven was coming that much more closer he was doing everything he could to grab a hold of it as it was on his way until he finally got there. To live is Christ and to die is gain. A desire to depart and to be with Christ. You know what the word for depart there means? It has the idea of a boat that's connected to a dock. You ever been down to the beach or went down to the lake and you got down there and there was a boat and it was tied up to the dock. It couldn't go nowhere, you know, because it was tied up. But the idea of that word to depart there in the Greek has the idea of a boat that is sitting at a dock and it's tied up, it can't go anywhere, it can't do anything. But then to depart, the idea is the rope's been cut or it's been loosed up and now it's sailing off into the wild blue yonder, if that's what you want to call it. And that's the whole idea. He says, I have a desire to be here and to serve and work and continue to magnify God in my life. He says, but I also have a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which he says there in verse 23, is far better, far better. When you think about tonight, some things and you imagine, like I said, the stories that maybe perhaps you have here this evening. Maybe you'd like to share one tonight of just how good God's been or what God's done for you. Anybody got anything they'd like to add to it? Just something that would just, just amazing how God moved in your life, how God worked in your life, or just something that God's done. Anybody got anything like that they'd want to share this evening? Anybody got anything? Bro Willy? Yes, sir. As you said, good isn't good enough. Almost like you feel like you need to invent another word. Amen. Yes sir? Amen. Anybody else got anything they want to add to it?