Well, this morning we're going to read from 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verses 1 through 10. 2 Corinthians 5, verses 1 through 10. In our passage from Philippians, Paul is going to talk a lot about his hope. He says, to live is Christ and to die is gain. And in 2 Corinthians 5, Paul is talking about a similar thing, looking forward to being with Christ. So let's read these verses together, starting in verse one. For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent we groan, being burdened. Not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we must make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Amen. Let's pray as we come to God's word together now. Lord, we thank you that you have spoken to us. And Lord, that right now, by Your Spirit, through Your Word, that You will do good work in our lives. We pray that You would root out the sin that is deep within us, sins that we know and sins that we may not even see. And Lord, replace that sin with a love for You, a desire to obey, and joy in following You. We pray that you would do this by your spirit and do it powerfully in our lives. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Well, this morning our sermon comes from Philippians chapter one, verses 18 to 26. Philippians one, 18 to 26. I'm gonna pick up halfway through verse 18. Listen to what Paul says here. 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 that 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 to be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 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 Jesus because of my coming to you again. Well, these are the words of Paul writing from prison. Now, what would you like if you were in prison. If you were sitting there, you would probably want justice done. You also probably would want to be released. You would want to get out of prison or maybe simply you would want your life in prison to be a little bit easier. I think basically we would all want our circumstances to be fixed. Well, what does Paul want? as he sits in this Roman prison. Well, he doesn't really want any of those things about his circumstances changed. His deepest desire is for Christ to be glorified no matter what happens to Paul. For Paul, the circumstances don't really matter. Christ matters. Paul's whole life is centered on Christ and on Christ's glory. And he wants Christ to do what will bring him the most glory. I think what we see in Paul is challenging for all of us this morning, because so often we think that something else is more important than Christ. We might not say it, but that's often how we live our lives. And the good news of this passage is not that we look at Paul and say, wow, I'll never get there. The good news is that God is at work. God was at work to change Paul to seek Christ in his glory, and God is at work in our lives to do that same thing, to change us to seek Christ. That's what leads us to our main idea then, that God transforms us so that Christ and his glory is our hope and goal in all circumstances. God transforms us so that Christ and his glory is our hope and goal in all circumstances. Well, as we look at this passage, we're going to see three things. We're going to see that Paul first rejoices in Christ, verses 18 to 21. Paul wrestles with a choice in verses 22 to 24. And third and finally, Paul remains for the glory of Christ in verses 25 to 26. So first, Paul rejoices in Christ. Last week, if you remember, we saw Paul's joy while in prison. That was one of the major themes in the last passage. He rejoiced because God was spreading the gospel in unexpected ways and through unexpected people. And Paul rejoiced at what God had done in the past and was doing in the present in his imprisonment. Well, in our passage today, Paul turns and he looks forward, and he tells the Philippians about his joy for the future. God is going to work everything out in the current situation. Listen to what Paul says, verses 18 to 19. He says, yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus, this will turn out for my deliverance. Paul rejoices because he knows that his present circumstances, as bad as they are, they will turn out for his deliverance. But what does Paul mean? Remember, again, Paul is in prison, so we might expect him to mean that he's confident that he's going to be released from prison. But that is not the kind of deliverance that Paul means. See, Paul is not just thinking about his freedom. He's thinking bigger, and he's thinking spiritually. The word for deliverance here is the word salvation. And I think that helps us to see the bigger picture in Paul's mind. See, if Paul is released from prison, that would be great, and that's something he desires. But Paul is confident that his circumstances will work out for his salvation no matter what. Notice in verse 20, Paul lays out the options in his circumstances. It's life or death. Yes, he could be released from prison, or he could be executed. Those are the two avenues in front of him. And Paul says that whatever happens, whichever way God leads him, whether he lives or dies, it will lead to his ultimate deliverance. God will complete his work of salvation in Paul, either by keeping him alive for a little while longer and using him, or by calling Paul home. That is Paul's confidence. This will work out for my salvation because God will do it. But how will God do it? Well, Paul says that God's work will be accomplished through two ways. Verse 19, for I know that through your prayers and through the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will happen. God will work through prayers and through the Holy Spirit to deliver Paul. If you think about what's going on with Paul's thinking about his salvation, not just getting out of jail, but his salvation, then the Holy Spirit makes even more sense here. We know how important the Holy Spirit is for our salvation. Not just bringing us to salvation, but growing us, keeping us all the way to the end. He's the one who empowers us. He encourages us. He helps us to persevere. He keeps us connected to Christ. He grows us in holiness. All of those things and more are part of how the Holy Spirit applies salvation to us. And this is what he is going to do to use Paul's circumstances for Paul's eternal good. The Holy Spirit will be at work in Paul. But Paul also says that God will use the prayers of the Philippians for the same goal. Again, these are not just prayers about getting Paul out of prison. That's how we might pray for Paul in these circumstances. But Paul's goal was bigger. Salvation, however that's going to be accomplished. And so the Philippians prayers were bigger as well. And Paul says that God hears and answers the Philippians prayers for God to work out these specific circumstances to lead to Paul's salvation. This statement is a reminder that God has given our prayers an important part in His plan of salvation. So we have an amazing privilege to be able to pray for one another. We're not just praying for someone to get better. We are praying for that, yes, but also praying bigger prayers, like for God to use the present circumstances in our brothers' and sisters' lives for eternal good. We are always praying the biggest prayers possible that God would save unbelievers and that God would fully save and glorify believers. An amazing privilege to pray and to pray big prayers for one another. So Paul rejoices as he thinks about what's going on. He rejoices because he knows that God is going to use all of these things for his salvation. And in verse 20, Paul also explains that he is so confident in this truth because he knows that Christ will be glorified in him no matter what happens. This is part of his salvation that Christ is glorified. Christ is made great in Paul's life. Listen to what Paul says again. For I know that this will happen, as it is my eager expectation and hope, that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage, now as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. Paul is confident, and he's confident in a contrast. He says, I could be ashamed, but that's not going to happen. But what I do know is that Christ will be honored in my body. No shame, but honor." Now that contrast maybe doesn't make a lot of sense to us. Because think about what does Paul mean? I think part of the difficulty is Paul is talking about being ashamed. And when we think of being ashamed, we often think about how we feel. That's how we use that word, right? We feel embarrassed. or we feel shame. And the Bible sometimes does use the word of shame that way. But I don't think Paul is saying that he's going to be embarrassed by what happens to him in prison. Sometimes the Bible talks about shame in terms of how God treats us. It's like disgrace. It's being let down by God. You put your trust in God and he fails you. That would be the idea of shame here. And Paul is confident that that will not happen. That he will never experience that kind of shame because God never lets us down. He never abandons his people. We will never be disgraced by God turning his back on us. It's like what the psalmist says in Psalm 34. Those who look to him are radiant and their faces shall never be ashamed. That's the confidence that Paul has. God will never let him down. And the confidence that Paul has placed in God for his salvation, that confidence will be vindicated. Now the way that this happens, the way that God comes through for Paul is by honoring Christ in Paul. What happens to Paul will glorify Christ. As Paul says, that's been the great principle of his life. Now, as always, Christ will be honored like this. All the way through Paul's life as a Christian, Christ has been glorified through Paul. Think about Paul's life and you see that. In Paul's faithful service, Christ has been glorified. And in Paul's many sufferings, Christ, the suffering Savior, has also been glorified. Well, as Paul is facing now, not just suffering, but maybe even the potential of death, he knows that Christ will be glorified, yes, if he's allowed to live, but also if he is sentenced to death. No matter what, Christ receives glory. But how is that the case? You know, if Paul's released, then Christ will receive glory. It might be easier for us to see that, because Paul, right, he's going on trial, he's gonna proclaim the gospel, the truth will be known, and Christ will rescue Paul, and he will release him. So Christ will get glory that way. But if Paul dies, Christ will still be glorified because Christ will ensure, he will make Paul faithful unto death. The truth of the gospel will not just be in Paul's words, but in Paul's death. He will die the death of a saint and Christ will be with him through death and he will save Paul completely. So Paul knows no matter what happens, it doesn't matter. Christ is going to win. Christ will be glorified. Christ's glory is what is most important to Paul. Paul is not concerned about what's going to happen to him. He is not concerned that he might die. What he is concerned about is whether Christ will receive glory. And he's absolutely confident that that will happen. Now why is Paul able to do this? Why is he focused more on Christ than on his circumstances? Why aren't death and life more important than Christ to Paul? Well, in verse 21, Paul provides the answer. For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. These are some of the most famous and most precious words in the entire Bible. They are well worth memorizing if you haven't. Because in just a few words, Paul explains one of the fundamental principles of the Christian life, that Christ is everything. If you get that, you will understand so much, not just about Paul, but about your life as well. Christ is everything. Think about Paul's words here. To live is Christ, to die is gain. He's got everything in view. Life and death, now, the future, everything is about Christ. He says to live now is Christ. That means that Christ is the one and only focus of Paul's life. Every part of his life is done for Christ. But Paul's also making a deeper point. Paul lives in Christ. Christ is the one and only source of Paul's life. And it is because Christ is the source that he is also the focus of our lives. to put it like Jesus himself did, Christ is the vine, and we are the branches, and Christ enables us to bear much fruit by being connected to him. Paul makes a very similar point in Galatians 2.20. As he thinks about his life, he says, I have 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 for me. So everything about Paul's life is Christ. But so is death. Because Paul says, not just to live as Christ, living now for Christ, great. But he says to die is gain. Dying is gain. We win something when we die. Because as Paul says in verse 23, we will be with Christ. Life is about Christ and death is about Christ as well. When we live for Christ now, Christ is with us by His Holy Spirit. But when we die, we immediately go right into Christ's presence in heaven. No waiting, no nothing. We're with Christ. And that is far, far better than what we have now. Everything in Paul's life now and in the future is centered on Christ. Really what Paul is doing in both parts of this verse is he is describing our union with Christ. He's saying to live is to be united with Christ now. And to die is for that union with Christ to be fulfilled in heaven. That's what he's looking forward to. It is easy for us to say a verse like this, and it is very hard for us to live it out. We really struggle with what Paul says. How would you fill in that sentence for yourself? To live is what? For you, what is the driving principle of your life? Is it you and what you want? And that's what the world around us is telling us, right? Just look at the advertisements and that's what they say is important. You deserve whatever, the car, the vacation, treat yourself, you deserve that. Or maybe another principle of your life is other people. It's your family, it's others around you, you live to serve others. Maybe it's work. or maybe it's power or politics or sports or hobbies. I mean, the list can be endless. We let so many things govern our lives. But if we find our life in anything but Christ, then we aren't truly living. Now we know that the world around us is not following Christ. If you are not a Christian, then what Paul says, to live as Christ, that makes absolutely no sense to you because you are living for something else. But as Christians, we even do something more subtle because we say, yes, Christ plus something else. Maybe it is plus me or plus others or plus work or plus a hobby or plus something else. And if it is ever Christ plus something, That something tends to take over and run your life. Paul is saying that Christ must run, must sustain, and must shape every part of our lives. And we see that that is actually true and that that is being worked out in our lives when we can say both to live is Christ and to die is gain. Because when we die, we get more of what we want or we get more of who we want because we get Christ. That's how we need to look at death. For most people, death is scary. For some it's true, it's a relief from the struggle of life, but that's not something really to look forward to. But for the Christian, death is gain. Because through death we receive the fullness of eternal life. Eternal life is what? It's knowing God. It's knowing our Savior, Jesus Christ. And when we die, we will stand before them face to face. We get more of what we have and we get more of what we want because what we have and what we want is Christ. This is the great principle that gave Paul joy while in prison. This is why he could rejoice no matter what circumstances he faced. To live is Christ and to die is gain. Christ will be glorified no matter what and Paul would have Christ no matter what. Now I know that this has been a long first point. Yes, we are still on the first point. The last two points will be shorter, I promise you. But it is so important. I wanted to take the time because it's so important to understand this is the foundation of Paul's faith and it's the foundation of our faith as well. The circumstances we face are not what is most important in our lives. Christ is what is most important. If we get that and we live like that, then our lives will be so, so different. but we do need to move on with Paul. He rejoices in Christ. We've seen that. But we see in verses 22 to 24, secondly, that he also wrestles with a choice. He's been talking about living or dying. He's been talking about gaining Christ. And so that leads to his choice. What is better for Paul? Is it better for him to live or is it better for him to die? Listen to what he says in verse 22 to 24 again. 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 to be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account." Do you hear the struggle in Paul's voice? Now, in one sense, it's not really a choice. He doesn't get to choose what happens to him. Paul can't choose to live. He can't choose to die, right? He's definitely not thinking about something like suicide. But he's stuck between which option is better. And what's important for us, I think, is to see how Paul thinks about his two options. How does he think about life, and how does he think about death? We see very clearly what Paul wants is to die, because he will be with Christ. We've already seen that. Verse 23, my desire is to depart and to be with Christ, for that is far better. I mean, that is one of the greatest understatements of the Bible. It is far better than what I have now. But Paul also recognizes the value of his life. And the value of his life is really the spiritual importance of what's going on. Because for Paul, life means serving Christ and his church. Verse 22, if I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. in verse 24, but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. See, when Paul thinks about his life, he's not thinking about all the fun things he's going to get to do if he gets out of prison. He's not thinking about all the projects he's going to finish or the places that he's going to visit. Now to be clear, those things aren't bad. It's good to have lists like that and goals like that. But notice that Paul does not view his life primarily about himself. He's not looking at himself and what he can get from life. He says, I will live so that I can work for Christ and for his church. To say it another way, Paul will live for the spiritual benefit of others, not because of the earthly advantages for himself. Now, as we see with Paul, it is good. It is very good to want to be with Christ. That is the great hope of the Christian life. And I think as we get older, that desire gets stronger and stronger. But Paul is also content. to wait for that time, to wait to be with Christ, and in the meantime, to be used by God to spiritually benefit others. That is an incredible, humble acceptance of God's will. So, as Paul wrestles with his choice about what is better for him, he makes the decision not just about what would be better for him in a worldly way, but what will be better for the church. How can God use him in the years to come? Well, this decision then leads to Paul's conclusion, as we see third and finally, that Paul remains for the glory of Christ. to 26. Paul says, 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 Jesus because of my coming to you again. Makes it clear. Paul's desire now is to remain to help the Philippians and particularly to help them in their progress and joy in the faith. He wants to help them to continue to grow in their faith and to find joy in the faith. That's a very basic description of the Christian life, growth and joy. Paul wants to help the Philippians in these ways. But Paul tells them that his presence with them will be most useful because they will glorify Jesus Christ because of him. Notice how he turns the focus away from himself and back to Christ. They will glorify Christ because Paul was released, and they'll glorify Christ because of what Paul teaches them. The ultimate focus is not on Paul, but on Christ. If you think about what Paul's already said in this passage, then Paul's basically telling the Philippians, I want Christ to be glorified in my life or in my death, and if he gives me life, then you're gonna do that. You are going to be some of those who will glorify Christ and accomplish that goal. You will do what is most important, not just to rejoice in my release, but to praise Christ our Savior. So all the way through this passage, from the prison cell where Paul is, to this future that he's imagining in Philippi, Paul's focus is not as much on himself or on his circumstances as it is on Christ, and how Christ will be glorified through Paul no matter what happens. All of Paul's existence revolves around Christ, and that's what he wants to be true, the Philippians as well, for them to find their life in Christ. He doesn't just want that for the Philippians, he wants that for us as well. We are also those who need to live in Christ. as Paul demonstrates here, but how? How can we do what we see here and what does it look like? Let me give you two points of application here. First is that loving Christ like this is a result of God's work. I know that may sound obvious, but we need to start here because another way of saying that is that loving Christ and seeking his glory is part of our salvation. This is what God does in us. This is what God works in us. See, you will love Christ if He has saved you. On the cross, Christ died that our sins could be forgiven, and our sin, at its most basic, is hatred of God. We have to have that forgiven. But Christ also died so their hearts would be changed. And when the Holy Spirit applies that salvation to us, he changes our hearts so that when we put our faith in Christ, we go from hating him to loving him. Christ becomes the loveliest, most important person in our lives. You see that, don't you, when someone comes to faith? You can see that switch so often flip in their lives. And it's amazing. But do you realize that's true in your life as well? Even if you've been a Christian for years, God has made Christ most important in your life. And the way he's done that is not just by putting Christ out here for us to look at, but actually in our salvation by uniting us to Christ by the Holy Spirit. So Christ is now not just the goal of our life, that we wanna be like Christ, so that's good. He is the source of our life. His love for us produces our love for Him. This is all how God reorients our entire lives away from ourselves, away from sin and toward Christ and toward His glory as our Savior. So the way we're going to love Christ is through God's work. And the second point of application is that this keeps going in our lives. We're not going to get to a point where we've got it all sorted out. God is constantly at work in our lives to increase our love for Christ, to look away from our circumstances, especially our struggles, to look away from those things that grab our attention, and instead to look back to Christ to see that He is most important and that He will do what is good and right for us. He will receive the glory. But this is a process, and it's often a slow process, and there's no magic bullet. There's no 10 steps to serving Christ like Paul. It's the ways you know. God works in us through His Word as we hear the truth. And as He takes that truth and He buries it deep in our hearts, He works in us through prayers. We call out to Him. We praise Him and we ask Him for help. He's at work in us through worship. He's at work in us through our brothers and sisters. And He is sometimes most at work in us in our circumstances. Because He takes all those things that we know and then He puts them to the test. When He brings us maybe into a trial like Paul, There are so many things that are trying to pull us away from Christ, even good things. But we need to pull back and with God's help we will grow to see Christ is our all in all. Do you see that kind of fruit in your life? Do you love Christ and seek his glory more than when you came to Christ? Some of us are looking back on decades of our life in Christ. Do you want Christ to be glorified more now in whatever happens in your life than you did before? One of the tests is when you have circumstances that you don't like. So often we let our circumstances control our life and our faithfulness, but Christ and his glory more and more will control our lives and not the things around us. You won't find your worth in your work or your relationships, a change in your health won't throw you out of whack. Instead, you will want Christ to do what is best, and you will serve Him in whatever circumstances He puts you in. That's true in our life, and that is especially true as we can sit with Paul, and all of us one day will face death. unless Christ returns. Because the ultimate test of our faith is not life now. The ultimate test of our faith is really death. But for Christians, to die is gain. To die is gain because we will be with Christ and that is far better. This is the process that God will work in our lives to pull us away from things here, ourselves and others and other things, to point us to Christ and His glory so that even as we face death, we are able to seek Christ and his glory. That is what God worked in Paul, and that's what he's going to work in each one of us as well. We will more and more desire Christ, and desire to be with Christ, and what we desire most, what we want most, is exactly what God gives us. That's one of the things to look forward to, that as much as we want Christ now and as much as we have Christ now, God will work out those things in our life so that we can really say to live is Christ and to die is gain. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that we don't live just for the here and now. We see so many people around us wrapped up in themselves, or in others, or in the world, or their work, or all sorts of things. But we thank you that you have saved us, and when you saved us, you have changed us. So now that we can begin to say with Paul, to live is Christ and to die is gain, help us to grow into that truth so that our lives are shaped and empowered by Jesus Christ, our Savior, that we share in His resurrection life. And Lord, help us to look beyond our circumstances, to trust you, that you will do all things well, that you will glorify Christ through us no matter what, and that we can even, we know that that's true even through our death, that in our death, you will save us finally and completely from this world of sin, and disease and problems, and that you will give us what we desire, which is you. We look forward to that, and we pray that you would do those things in your good time, but Lord, we also pray that you would come quickly and do these things. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.