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I warned you guys as we started
this church a number of weeks ago, and some of you who know
me already know that I'm a bit of a movie buff. And from time
to time, I've been known to quote movie lines in conversation.
That's a fun thing to do with friends. Maybe you have that
habit as well. And so I want to do a little bit of a quiz
with you guys and see if you can identify some famous movie
lines that you may hear quoted by others from time to time.
The first one being, and I really hope you guys get this one because
we're starting off with a softball, is I am your father. Anybody know that one? Star Wars,
right? Very good. All right. That was
the warm-up. That was the warm-up. Okay, next. This one will be
a little harder. I'll be your Huckleberry. Tombstone. Very good. Yeah, that was fast.
That was quick on the draw right there. There you go. Okay. Another
good one, we're going to need a bigger boat. Jaws, ah, you
didn't want to lose to that one, okay? And then a personal favorite
of my wife's, nobody puts baby in a corner. Dirty dancing. And then for all those a little
bit younger in the room, do you want to build a snowman? Anybody? Right? Frozen. Very good. So
there are many famous lines. I could have gone on and on.
We could have done a whole Sunday morning of just movie lines, to be honest. But there are many famous lines
in Hollywood, and the same is true of scripture. that there
are certain scriptures that are well known and well spoken of
and often quoted. And as I consider the book of
Philippians, the passage that we're going to look at today
has probably the most quoted or memorized or memorable verse
in the entire book. It is Philippians 121 where Paul
says, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I were
to say that, many of you were to know that this is from Philippians. These words, they jump off the
page as we read them in just a moment, even though it is such
a simple phrase. So simple, so profound, so moving. As I was studying this whole
section of scripture and particularly that verse, verse 21, for to
me to live is Christ and to die is gain, one commentator had
this to say about this verse as it pertains to Paul and this
letter. He says that these words are
the foundation, the center, purpose, direction, power, and the meaning
of Paul's life in Christ. This in many ways was his anthem,
his motto. And it's one that I hope that
after we give it greater contemplation this morning, we can adopt for
ourselves. That each one of us, as we leave
this place this morning, will have in our hearts this attitude,
for me to live as Christ, and to die is my gain. And so those will be our two
points this morning as we open up to Philippians. Philippians
chapter one, if you have Bibles, I would encourage you to open
them up and keep them open in your lap as you are able. If
you don't have a Bible or a digital copy, we do have some Bibles
in the back. We would encourage you to go
grab a copy for yourself. We're going to be in Philippians
1, reading the last portion of verse 18 and going to verse 26. So beginning right above verse
19, Paul writes, excuse me, I almost forgot, would you please stand
for the reading of God's word? Paul writes, yes, and I will
rejoice. For I know that through your
prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn
out for my deliverance. As it is my eager expectation
and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but with full courage,
now as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by
life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ,
and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh,
that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose,
I cannot tell. I am hard-pressed between the
two. My desire is to depart and be
with Christ, for that is far better. So there's a lot that
could be said about this passage, but I really I'm attempting to limit myself
primarily to those words, to live is Christ and to die is
gain. We're going to be looking at
each one of these, to live is Christ, in our first point. And
there's going to be four sub points under this of what does
it mean to live is Christ? And then we'll consider what
it means to have the attitude and understanding that as a Christian,
to die is our gain. There'll be three sub points
under that. But let us start with this first,
to live is Christ. I'll remind you of the context
of what is going on here in this epistle to the Philippians. If
you've been here with us the previous weeks, you know that
this is the Apostle Paul writing to the Philippian church from
jail. He's under house arrest, having
preached the gospel in Jerusalem, having been arrested by the Romans,
having been sent back to Rome and is now chained to a guard
in the hopes that this would stop his ministry. But as we
found out, all it did was go on to embolden his ministry and
bolster it. But yet Paul's future is uncertain. He does not know how much time
he has and he's living with this reminder of, I may have many
days left, I may be released, I may be in prison, or I may
be executed at any moment. And yet he is of great courage
and of great joy because of this attitude that he has represented
so well here in this section. To live is Christ and to die
is gain. We see that Paul is expecting
a greater deliverance. He talks about deliverance and
some people have debated what deliverance Paul is truly expecting.
Is he expecting to be released? Or is this maybe the greater
deliverance of vindication in salvation that although he's
being jailed and treated like a criminal, he'll ultimately
be vindicated as he goes to be with Christ. The latter is probably
more true than the other. But nevertheless, Paul is joyful
in these circumstances because of his attitude that his whole
life was dedicated to living for Christ. And my hope is that
is what our dedication before the Lord will be as a result
of our faith in Christ as well. And so we must ask ourselves,
what does it mean to utter the phrase, to live as Christ? And
so I have four sub points. We'll be jumping around to some
other scriptures, some other writings of Paul as he fleshes
out some of these ideas in a little bit more detail. But the first
thing that I think is important to note as we consider what it
is to live is Christ, is to first understand what it is to be made
spiritually alive. We cannot utter this statement
to live as Christ without first having tasted of God's salvation
that is only made available through the gospel, through believing
in Jesus, through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. So I want to share from some
of the scriptures that Paul writes in other places, like Ephesians,
of what is our natural state before God apart from faith. Ephesians 2, four through five,
gives us a very clear picture. This again is Paul writing, and
he says this, but God being rich in mercy because of his great
love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our
trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have
been saved. See, what many of us may not
realize is that before coming to faith in Christ, you were
dead. Yes, your body may have been
breathing, but spiritually, you were dead. You were dead in your
trespasses and sins. You had no relationship with
God. You're not even warm to the idea
of having a relationship with God. God needed to do a work
in your heart through his spirit to make you alive. Spiritually
alive. Alive together in Christ. And this is a pure act of grace
from God. This is not from anything that
you did. There is no means by which you deserved such an action. It is a free gift of grace from
God. And what a gift it is to be made
spiritually alive, to finally see God as he is, as the good
and wonderful creator and sustainer of all things, and to put your
faith and trust in him. Scripture speaks of this idea
of being separated from God as death. Often it's not just Paul. You may be familiar with the
story of the prodigal son that Jesus tells in Luke chapter 15. The son who forsakes his father,
who chooses to live a life in rebellion and debauchery and
sin. who comes to a moment of repentance
and returns to his father and his father receives him. And
I want you to note one of the things that the father says about
this son as he returns. This is Luke 15 verse 24. For this my son was dead and
is alive again. He was lost and is found and
they began to celebrate. to be separated from our father,
though we may have breath in our lungs, though there may be
blood in our veins, is to be dead, is to be separated from
the most important relationship, the relationship that you and
I were created to have. And so life becomes meaningless
apart from it. It's as if we are already physically
dead. And so salvation is often talked
about as new life from going to death to life. Or, as another
familiar passage may talk about, about being born again. John
3, 3. Jesus replied, very truly, I
tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are
born again. Before we can ever utter the
words, to live is Christ, we need to experience the new life
that God offers us through Jesus, by the gospel, in faith. We need
to be made spiritually alive to these things. And I recognize
that some of us in this room may think we're alive, when we're
actually dead. Because you are still lost in
your trespasses and sin without any hope Well, let me offer you
that hope today. That your sins can be forgiven. That your relationship with God
can begin and be restored. That you could go from being
dead to be made alive and experience the meaning and purpose and love
and joy that can only be found in a relationship with our God. And it's by faith that this happens. Faith in the message of the gospel.
That Jesus, who was God, became a man. That he lived a life without
any sin, and chose freely of himself to bear your sin on that
cross. That it wasn't just the physical suffering of Christ,
although horrific it may have been, the spiritual suffering
of him taking God's wrath in his body and making atonement,
full payment for your sin on your behalf, to where there is
no more wrath left over for your sin. He died, he was in the grave,
and he rose again, vindicated that he was indeed God, that
he was indeed our Savior, that your sins truly are forgiven
in him. He ascended into heaven and is
one day coming again soon to make all things new. And we believe
that message. We are given new life. God's
spirit comes into your heart and you are now made alive once
again. And so if the Lord is working
in your heart today, to be able to utter the phrase, to live
as Christ, then come to Christ for salvation, be made spiritually
alive. That is the first thing that
I see is necessary in order for us to understand this phrase,
to live is Christ. Secondly, to live as Christ is
to die to sin. that this old life that we have,
it was characterized, it was marked, it was controlled by
sin and by our desire to sin. There's nothing we could do to
have changed ourselves, to change our desires, but yet because
we are now made spiritually alive, because now God's spirit dwells
within us, we are able to walk in righteousness and the power
of the Spirit. That we can put to death the old ways of our
life. This is what Romans 6, 11 through
12 speaks of. Again, this is the Apostle Paul
writing. He says in the same way, count yourselves dead to
sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let
sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. See, prior to Christ, sin reigned.
Sin was your king, sin was your master, and it was all you could
do to follow that master. But yet, now that you've been
made alive, you can put to death that master in your life through
God's spirit. that you can live for Jesus,
with Jesus. Paul speaks of it again this
way in Galatians chapter two, verse 20. He says, I've been
crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but
Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the
flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave
himself up for me. When you trust in Jesus, Christ
comes and lives in you, and he will manifest himself through
his spirit in a number of ways. When we come to faith and we
have this attitude, I'm putting to death my old way of life,
and I'm choosing to walk in newness of life, following my new, wonderful,
glorious, loving master, who is Jesus. Our lives as a result
of the new life in Christ are now characterized by growing
righteousness, that we are made more like him. We are not made
perfect, not until he comes again or we go to be with him. We are
growing in sanctification, growing in righteousness, and this, again,
is a grace of God. It is a work of God, not of yourself.
And it's a sign, it's an evidence, it's fruit of what it is to genuinely
have been made alive in Christ. That this obedience, it's not
required for salvation, but it is a byproduct of your salvation. That as someone who's been made
alive in Christ Jesus, you will bear what the Bible calls as
good fruits, works of righteousness. You will begin to resemble Jesus
the longer you walk with him. And so to live as Christ is to
die to sin, to turn from our sin and to turn to our Savior
more and more each and every day. Thirdly, to live as Christ
is to die once again, but to die to the things of this world. We not only have sin to battle
against, but we have this world to battle against. And the things
of this world would lead us astray. Many of us are living for things
that are other than Christ. that we may not call sin, but
our pursuits of the world, be it success, recognition, relationship,
belonging, pleasure. These are worldly things that
apart from Christ, many people are living for. Paul himself
was one of them. He had a lot of things going
for him with regards to worldly standards. He was born in the
right family. He went to the right school.
He chose the right profession. He was rising in recognition
and authority and power with regards to Judaism. But when
he was confronted with following Jesus, he turned from all those
things and said, none of them matter. In fact, they are rubbish. They are worthless in comparison
to Christ. We'll talk more about this later
in our study of Philippians, but this is exactly what Paul
says later in Philippians chapter three, verses four through eight.
Paul says, though I myself have reason for confidence in the
flesh also, if anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence
in the flesh, I have more. Circumcised on the eighth day
of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of
Hebrews. as to the law of Pharisee, as
to zeal a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the
law, blameless. He had everything going for him
in this world with regards to worldly standards. But verse
seven, but whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake
of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as
loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus,
my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered
the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that
I may gain Christ. You see, Paul understood that
there was nothing in this world, no treasure, no recognition,
no glory, no pleasure, that could compare with what He has in Christ. That for Him, Christ was everything,
so much so that He was willing to give up everything else for
the sake of knowing and serving Him more. So to live as Christ is to be
made spiritually alive, it's to die to sin, it's to die to
the world, and then here in this passage we also hear Paul say,
to live as Christ is more fruitful labor. Verse 22. Paul, as he's wondering,
am I gonna live, am I gonna die? Which one is better, to be with
Christ or to be here with you? And he says this, he says, if
I am to live, in verse 22, in the flesh, that means fruitful
labor for me. And Paul is rejoicing in this.
Not many of us rejoice about more labor, more things to do. But for Paul, it was a joy to
serve Christ in his flesh here on this earth. To not only serve
Christ, but to love his bride, which is the church. That there
was joy in being poured out for these things. For enduring suffering
and persecution and all kinds of lack here on this earth, but
there was joy in the labor that God was giving him. Verses 25
and 26 here in Philippians says, Paul had confidence that at the
end of the day, it was not his time to go to be with the Lord,
but that God still had more things for him to do. namely to serve his church, the
Philippians being one of those very local churches. Talked about
last week how Paul's imprisonment would be two years. But those
two years were not a vacation or a suspension from fruitful
labor. In fact, those were abundant
years of labor for Paul as he wrote to the Philippians, as
he ministered there in Rome, and as he did countless other
things. And as a result, God bore fruit in his ministry and
brought joy not only to Paul, but to the church. He was used
by God in the Philippian church. He was used by God to serve every
church and every Christian, and this is the fruitful labor that
he gave himself to. Colossians 1, 28 and 29 talks
about this labor. saying that he is the one we
proclaim, proclaiming Christ, admonishing and teaching everyone
with all wisdom so that we may present everyone fully mature
in Christ. This was what he was laboring
for. To present everyone fully mature in Christ to this, and
I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully
works in me. So Paul is contending, Paul is
straining, but he's also seeing the power of God, of Christ,
work in him to do these things. And you and I are no different.
If we are to say to live as Christ, it's not only to be made spiritually
alive, it's not just to die to sin, it's not just to forsake
the things of this world, but it's to commit ourselves to the
fruitful labor that God would have us do while we are here
in the flesh. We often think that this is the
role of Paul, of the apostles, of the pastors, that they are
the laborers, they are the workers. No, we all are. In fact, more
so you than us. We are the equipers. We are the
coaches. We are those who deploy you for
ministry. Look at Ephesians 4, 11 through
12. Paul, again, writing, It says,
so Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists,
the pastors, and the teachers to equip his people for works
of service so that the body of Christ may be built up. You were created to live for
Christ and to engage in fruitful labors. to serve his church,
to grow his kingdom, to present others fully mature in Christ,
to reach new people with the gospel, to bring him glory through
your faithful obedience, that others may see your good works
and glorify your Father in heaven. To live as Christ is fruitful
labor. And this, my friends, is a joy.
It is a joy. It is a joy to be made alive
in Christ. It is a joy to finally be able
to turn from sin, to forsake the things of the world that
promise joy, but do not give lasting joy, and to be engaged
in the fruitful works of ministry. This is what gives us happiness,
enjoyment, pleasure, to serve God, to be with God, to love
God, and to love His people. And this type of joy, not only
do we get to experience it, but it's infectious. That you can
be infected with this type of joy when you live this out in
this way. It inspires others, it moves
others, and the opposite is true as well. When you live for sin,
when you live for worldly things, when you are not alive in Christ,
when you're not engaged in ministry, You're missing the great joy
that God has prepared for you. Maybe you've experienced this in social settings. You've been
around people who seem to have it all. and they wanna tell you
how they have it all. They wanna tell you about their
fancy things, new car, new house, all these worldly things that
promise happiness, that promise joy. Maybe hear them talking
about all the sinful pleasures that they so proudly partake
in because they bring so much joy and satisfaction in their
life. And maybe you get to hear about
all their success and whatever profession that they have chosen
to live in. I've been in those conversations.
I've been in those social settings. And let me just tell you, they
look miserable. That you could see that what
they're speaking of is ultimately leaving them empty. And it doesn't
produce life in me in those conversations as they share all these things
either. One of two things happen, either in my weakness and in
my flesh I become envious and jealous of all the things that
they have that I don't, or I pity them. I'm sad for them. Maybe
I see their arrogance or their pride and it's not fulfilling. But yet
the opposite has been true. I have known some wonderful brothers
and sisters in Christ who don't have much. with regards to worldly
possession, who don't have much with regard to fame or success,
yet they have Christ and they serve his church. And let me
tell you, being around those people is a great encouragement
to me. If you ask me who do I want to sit down and have coffee with
for an hour, I'm taking that person every time. Because they
encourage me to find my joy, my purpose, my life, And that's
here what Paul is doing, that despite his meager circumstances,
being imprisoned, being without, facing death, His hope is that
he's imparting some of the joy that he has found with Christ
to these Philippians, that they may press on, that they may be
encouraged by him. This is why he writes in verse
25 and 26, convinced of this, I know that I will remain and
continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith,
so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ because
of my coming to you again. You see, living for Christ not
only brings you joy, but gives others ample cause to glory in
Christ as well along with you. That joy that we have in Christ
is indeed infectious. And so as we consider these four
things, what it is to live as Christ, let me ask you this,
what are you living for? What are you living for? Many
of us may still be living for the things of this world. We
may still be looking for that sense of power and authority. For enough money to finally make
us happy. Not just meet our needs, but
make us happy. That recognition, that success, that pleasure,
that relationship. What are you living for? For honest, many of us still
may be living for sinful things. for the things of this world.
We need to forsake those. We need to put those to death
and turn to Christ and live for him. My assumption is that many
of us are actually living for what may be considered good things. That for me, my greatest purpose
in life is to be a good father, to be a good husband, to be a
good ministry leader, These things in and of themselves
are not bad, but they are not ultimately what we should be
living for. We should be living for Christ. Put things in their
proper order. One of the greatest idols and
hindrances that I see within the church amongst believers
are these good things. Family, marriage, good, but not
ultimate. Live for Christ. And when you
do that, you'll be meeting all those obligations better than
you ever could by yourself. What are we living for? Let us
live for Christ. But now let's turn to this idea
that Paul shares. To die is gain. It must have been so frustrating
to be Paul's captors, to be Paul's persecutors, because nothing
works. Threaten him to stop preaching
the good news, he doesn't listen. Persecute him, counts it a joy
to suffer for Christ. Lock him up, finds a way to convert
his captors. Threaten him with death and he
says, oh please, how wonderful that would be to be with my Lord
and Savior. That there was nothing that could
deter this man because his faith was grounded in Christ. That
he was going to spend every waking moment, whether in jail or not,
whether persecuted or not, living for Christ. That even if you
threatened him with death, he could rejoice because he saw
that as his gain. Verse 23, he says, I'm hard-pressed
between the two. My desires depart to be with
Christ, for that is far better. It's terrible grammar in English,
but a lot of commentators, when they were looking at how to translate
this from the Greek, if you were to take a literal wooden translation,
it would say it would be much more better to be with Christ. And so, how can we have this
attitude that Paul has here? To die is gain. First, to die
as gain is beneficial to us because it frees us from the brokenness
of this world. I don't know if you're like me,
but I get weary at times of how broken this world can actually
be. If you don't know how broken
it is, just turn on any news channel anywhere and you will
see brokenness everywhere. You may not even have to turn
on the TV. There may be brokenness in your own home, brokenness
in your workplace. This isn't just physical suffering
or evil things. Sometimes it's just the reality
of death, disease, and decay. Every birthday is less fun because
it's just a reminder that things are breaking down. They're not
working like they should, or at least not like they used to.
And the hope that we have is that God's gonna make all things
new. That when we die, this brokenness that we have to trudge through
life, it's done. And that it's good and right
to groan for these things, to long for these things. It's not
just us, it's all of creation that desires for restoration,
for God to make things new. Romans 8. Verses 20 through 23,
Paul speaks of all of creation crying out for the brokenness
to be fixed. He says, for the creation was subjected to frustration,
not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected
it in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from
its bondage to decay and brought into freedom and glory of the
children of God. We know that the whole creation
has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the
present time. Not only so, but we ourselves
have the first fruits of the spirit grown inwardly as we wait
eagerly for our adoption to sonship and redemption of our bodies. To die is to be free of this
brokenness. God won't fully consummate all
things until Christ comes again, but yet we would get a shortcut
to the front of the line to go and be with him now. Our ultimate
hope is that God will make all things new, that all the evil,
all the suffering, all the brokenness in this world will be made right. This is the great hope that we
see in Revelation as it paints the picture of the new creation
that we await in Christ. Revelation 21, three through
four says, And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
Look, God's dwelling place is now among the people that he
will dwell with them. They will be his people and God
himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away
every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or
mourning or crying or pain. For the older things has passed
away. Do you groan along with me and
all of God's people and all God's creation to see this brokenness
restored? This is why to die is gain, because
it brings an end to our longing. To die is gain is also to be
free from the struggle of sin. To be free from the struggle
of sin. God has given us great power, great ability through
his spirit to resist sin, to walk in newness of life, but
this side of heaven, it will forever be a struggle. And I grow weary of that struggle
from time to time. And I long for the day in which
that struggle will end, where I will not have to strive to
choose what is good. It'll just be. This struggle
is true, I believe, of every born-again Christian still battling
against the sinful flesh, but wanting to yield to the spirit
in our life. Paul so well pictures this struggle
in Romans 7, 15 and 19. Maybe you'll resonate with this.
Paul says, I do not understand what I do. For what I want to
do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do. If I do what I do not want to
do, I agree that the law is good. And it is, it is no longer I
myself who do it, but sin living in me. For I know that good itself
does not dwell in me, that is in my sinful nature. For I have
the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do what I want to
do, but the evil I do not want to do, this I keep on doing. This is the struggle that we
face. that our sinful flesh will always lead us. Though our desire
is to serve the Lord, we will battle with sin. And that battle
is tiresome, and to be with Christ often seems so much better. Lastly, to die is gain. And this
is most important of all. To die is gain, is to be with
Christ. To be with Him. He is with us
now. We have fellowship with Him,
we have communion through His Spirit, but to die is to actually
be with Him. in the truest sense of the word.
There are many scriptures that I can put here, but let me encourage
you with just these four. 2 Corinthians 5, 8, we are confident,
I say, and prefer to be away from the body and home with the
Lord. Now there'll be a time when we'll
be with the Lord, both body and soul, in the new creation, but
when you die, instantly, you are with the Lord. present in front of you tangibly. 1 Corinthians 13, 12, famous
chapter about love, but look with me in verse 12. It says,
for now we see only a reflection as in a mirror. Then we will
see face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall
know fully, even as I am fully known. You will see Jesus face
to face. This was the same hope, not just
in the New Testament, but the Old Testament as well, to be
with God. As Adam and Eve were with God,
walking in the garden, Job cried out in the midst of his suffering.
Job 19, 26 to 27, he says, and after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh, I will see God. I myself will see him with my
own eyes, I and not another, how my heart yearns within me
for this. We know this promise to be true
that we will be with Jesus in death immediately because this
was the promise that Jesus himself gave to one of the criminals
on the cross. Jesus answered him, truly I tell
you today you will be with me in paradise. There was no delay. To be away from the body is to
be home with the Lord. There's no temporary waiting
area, there's no purgatory. If you are in Christ, if you
have trusted in Christ, to die is your gain because you go to
be with Him and there is nothing better than to be with Christ. You know, some people like to
think of heaven as just doing your favorite activities all
day long. We know that's probably not true,
not that we won't have things to do, but we'll be less concerned
with doing those things than being with Christ our Savior.
Some people find their greatest hope in heaven to be reunited
with loved ones, and yes, you very likely will be, that will
not be the best part of heaven. It'll be to be reunited with
your Savior. Being with Jesus is better than
everything, which is why to die is seen as our ultimate gain
because we get to be with Christ. And there is power in understanding
this and living this out. If you have the idea to live
as Christ and to die as gain, then there is nothing here on
this earth that can stop you from serving Christ. No threat,
no persecution, no obstacle can turn you away from that. Because
every moment you're living for him, and as you live for him,
if those come against you to tell you to stop, you know that
what they do to harm you is actually for your good, because you get
to be with him. If you've ever had a chance,
I find great encouragement, maybe sound weird to some of you, but
to read about some of the martyrs of the faith and the great boldness
that they had, not only to live for Christ, but to die for him
as well. Because so many of them saw it
as their ultimate gain. And I think the most moving story
of martyrdom in church history that I can think of is by a man
named Polycarp. Early church father and Christian
was killed because of his faith in Christ and his refusal to
pray to Caesar or hail Caesar. I wanna read for you the account
of his martyrdom. Ultimately, he was accused of
being an atheist. That's kind of an interesting
thing for Christians back in the ancient day to be accused of, but that's
what they were. They were atheists. They believed
in only one God, instead of the multitude of gods that the Romans
and the pagans did. And so, Polycarp was brought before the Roman
guards, and the account of his martyrdom reads as such. When
the crowd heard that Polycarp had been captured, there was
an uproar. The pro-council asked him whether
he was Polycarp. On hearing that he was, he tried
to persuade him to apostatize, saying, have respect for your
old age. He was 86 years old. Swear by
the fortune of Caesar, repent and say, down with the atheist.
Polycarp looked grimly at the wicked heathen multitude in the
stadium, and gesturing toward them, he said, down with the
atheists? Swear, urged the procounsel.
Reproach Christ and I will set you free. And Polycarp's response
is, Eighty-six years have I served him, Polycarp declared, and he
has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my king and
my savior? The procouncil further goes on
to threaten him. He says, I have wild animals
here, the procouncil said. I will throw you to them if you
do not repent. Call them, Polycarp replied. It is unthinkable for
me to repent from what is good to turn to what is evil. I will
be glad, though, to be changed from evil to righteousness. If you despise the animals, I
will have you burned. Polycarp responds, you threaten
me with fire which burns for an hour and then is extinguished,
but know nothing of the fire of the coming judgment and eternal
punishment reserved for the ungodly. Why are you raiding? Bring on
whatever you want. Church history has it that he
was indeed burned. alive and yet made not a sound. How frustrating that must have
been for that pro council to offer the most wicked and horrendous
threats that he could think of and only have Polycarp respond
rather lackluster. Because he saw his death as his
ultimate gain. 1 Corinthians 15, 55 and 58. Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and
the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, he gives
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear
brothers and sisters, stand firm, let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully
to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor to the
Lord is not in vain. If you can view death as your
gain to be with Christ, then nothing can move you. Nothing
can move you. So the question is, are you able
to view death in this way? It's a strange thing. By no means
should we pursue our death in reckless ways or self-harm by
any means. We are to continue on in fruitful
labor for as long as the Lord would have us. But yet, do we long to be with
Christ? Do we see it as being far better
than remaining here in the flesh? Are there things in this world
that you view as better than Christ? Things that you wish
to continue on and to live for? In some ways, it's appropriate
to feel that struggle. Paul longed to live for the good
things of serving Christ in his church. He was hard-pressed between
the two. But if we're honest, sometimes
what we're hard-pressed between is not choosing to serve the
Lord or to go be with the Lord. It's selfish means of, I just
want to be here a little bit longer. There's more that life
has to offer me before I'm ready to spend forever with you. You
know what those things are called? Idols. things that you're more
devoted to than devoted to the Lord. If you think that there
is something worth staying here longer for that would bring you
more joy, more fulfillment than what Christ has to offer you
in eternity, then you have an idol. To be with Christ is much more
better. And when you are not afraid to
die for Christ, then you'll truly be able to live for him. But
if we have this attitude that to die is our gain, then we will
be better equipped to serve him with our life. Because he is
our ultimate, he is our everything, he is what is best. So as we conclude, to live as
Christ for things we made spiritually alive to die to sin, to die to
the things of the world, and to commit ourselves to fruitful
labor while here on this earth, while also knowing that to die
is our gain. It is our gain because we will
be free from brokenness, free from sin, but most of all, we
will be with Jesus. would we be able to make that
our greatest life motto? The thing that we are able to
quote most often for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Let me close in prayer. Father, I pray that your spirit would do a work
in the hearts of the believers gathered here today in such a
way that we truly could have this attitude that Paul expressed,
to live is Christ, to be made spiritually alive, to turn from
sin, to turn from the things of this world, and to serve you
and your bride, the church. Lord, if there's anything in
our life that we are slow and reluctant to surrender before
you, would you lead us in your spirit to bring those before
you now in quiet prayer? Father, I ask that we would also
have the mind of to die as our gain because it is to be with
you, that the things that we would long for most were to be
with you or to see you come again and make all things new. More
than milestones in our life, more than success in this world,
more than fame, more than money, more than pleasure, that we would
want you, Jesus, most of all. And if you can put that deep
in our heart through your Spirit, Or would you use it to help us
not just die well, but to live well for you? Knowing that all
of it is for you, Jesus. It's only by your Spirit that
these things are possible. And so, Lord, we pray that you
would do it. In the name of Jesus, amen.
To Live is Christ. To Die is Gain. (Phil. 1:18-26)
Series Philippians
In this message, we look at four truths of what it means to say "to Live is Christ":
- To Be made Spiritually Alive
- To Die to Sin
- To Die to the World
- To be involved in Fruitful Labor
Secondly, we look at three reasons for why we should be able to say, "To Die is Gain"":
- To be free from brokenness
- To be free from Sin
- To be with Jesus!
We hope this message encourages you to live more for Jesus!
| Sermon ID | 108232329284231 |
| Duration | 50:27 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Philippians 1:18-26 |
| Language | English |
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