The text I want to bring you this morning is Philippians 1, 21. It's a great text. Charles Spurgeon once said, ministers should preach the great texts of the Bible very often. Texts that are so great that if the minister did nothing but repeat the text all sermon long, you'd have a great sermon. Well, this morning we have one of those texts before us. Philippians 121, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. A great text indeed. Now, I trust that every adult, every boy and girl sitting here this morning, wants to live well and to die well. And this text before us teaches us how to live well. For me to live is Christ. And it teaches us how to die well. And to die is gain. So I have just two thoughts to bring to you, simple thoughts this morning. How Christ can be our life and how death can be our gain. So the theme, living and dying well through Christ, how he can be our life and how death can be our gain. Now, this text is written, of course, in the context of Philippians 1, where Paul is talking about his imprisonment to the Philippians. As he thinks about his past, his present, his future, Paul is getting nostalgic. It's a burden for him not to preach. A man who's really called to be a preacher, who's imprisoned, Even though Paul had some freedom to receive friends in this imprisonment, to not be able to preach, in one sense you'd say, a faithful preacher, especially like Paul, would rather die than not preach. But Paul has learned something wonderful in his life. Something he expresses in the last chapter of this epistle. He says, I have learned that whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. He's learned what Jeremiah Burroughs called the rare jewel of Christian contentment. And so he's bowing under this affliction, with holy submission. But as he's writing to the Philippians, he's thinking about his imprisonment, how God can work it all together for good as he writes in Romans 8, 28. And it's almost as if when he gets to verse 20, He lays down his pen, and he's thinking, really, what is my life all about? And he picks up the pen again. And in Greek, you know, there are no helping link verbs. So there are no is's in between words. That's why the two is's in our text are in italic print because they're not in the original, but we need them for English. But really what Paul is saying, and this is a panorama of his entire life. This is my life for me to live Christ to die gain. That's it. That's who I am. That's my identity. That's my life. That's how I hope to live. Well, that's how I hope to die. Well, it's a title. of who He is. He wants to write it, as it were, in the sky. This is my life. This is me. For me to live, Christ. To die, gain. I wonder this morning, can you say that as well? By the grace of God. Is Christ your life? And being in Him, do you know that death shall be your gain? Now, this text needs explanation because there's millions of people today who claim that Christ is their life but really don't know Him. Not savingly, notionally. Nominally, they do. But you know very well we need to experience this Christ. We need to taste of him. We need to know him in the intimate way that the Greek and the Hebrew use the word know. It's an intimacy. Adam knew his wife Eve and she conceived and bear a child. This word know was used both in Hebrew and Greek in a very intimate way. And it's sad that today in English, we say, I know this is a Pope, but I know you, I know God, I know my wife. All these different levels of know we use with one word. Jesus said, this is life eternal to know God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. So that raises the question for us, what does it mean to really know Christ such that my life is Christ? Well, let me suggest four or five thoughts to you. First of all, to live Christ is to be linked with Christ, to be linked with Christ. It's much like boys and girls, A necklace, maybe, with one link linked into the next. You see, the two links are not the same. When you're a Christian, you are not Christ. But you are linked to Christ. You're inseparable from Christ. We call that a rather big, fancy word in theology, justification. I'm connected with Him, united with Him. Our forefathers called it sacred, mystical, union, with Christ. Now Paul, of course, could not always say that. There was a day in which Paul was persecuting those who were linked with Christ. But you know, if you would ask Paul in those days, Paul, fill in the blank now, what is your life? For me to live, what would you say, Paul? He'd have to say, for me to live, Moses. I glory, I glory in my man-made legalism, in my Pharisaic righteousness. For me to live is Moses. But on the way to Damascus, God changed all that, didn't he? You know what happened, you know the story well. God stopped Paul, threw him down, and Paul was astonished. The light shone from heaven. He fell trembling to the earth, astonished, blinded, conquered by God. His friends took him to Damascus. For three days, he couldn't see, he could eat, he couldn't drink, he could only pray. And there in the street called Straight, the Holy Spirit showed Paul who he really was and brought him as a lost sinner before a holy God. and his uncircumcised heart trembled. And he would say at that time, if you had to put a paper in front of him again, for me to live, one word, Paul, sin. I'm a sinner. I'm a lost sinner before a holy God. He saw his heart. He saw his bad nature, his bad heart. that manifested itself in his bad record, a stranger to God, a stranger to grace. But there in the street called Straight, the Holy Spirit also showed Paul what he never saw before. The scales fell from his eyes. He says, it pleased God to reveal his son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen. His creator became his redeemer. And he learned to love the Lord Jesus Christ. He learned to find all his life in the Lord Jesus Christ as his substitutionary righteousness, his exquisite salvation, his treasure, his delight, his all in all. Christ became his Redeemer, his Savior, his Lord, his all. What a glorious thing that is. when a sinner by the grace of God may believe in Jesus Christ alone for salvation and God may be just and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus. But boys and girls, maybe that word justification is still a very big word for you. So let me try to bring you an illustration to help you understand it. There was once a boy named Tom. And Tom built himself a nice boat. And every day, he'd go down to the river, and he'd run along the bank of the river, and he'd have a string attached to his hand, and he'd float that boat, sail that boat, if you will, along the river. Until one day, Tom went when it was quite windy, and the wind took the string out of his hand, and the boat sailed away. Tom was very sad, but there was nothing he could do. A few days later, he's walking through a downtown area, and he sees his boat in a store window. And he goes in, and he says to the store owner, I want my boat. Well, the store owner says, that would be $25. No, no, Tom says, you don't understand. That's my boat. The store owner says, you don't understand. I bought that boat. So Tom goes home, he gets all the money together, nearly all he had, and he comes back and he buys the boat and he walks out of the store with the boat and he clasps the boat to his chest and he says, now twice I've owned you. First I made you, but now I bought you. And you see, boys and girls, what happens? What happens when a sinner is saved is that Jesus who made you, also buys you with a precious price of what we call his double obedience, his passive obedience. When he paid for sin on Calvary's cross, paid for all the sins of his people, all the hell that they deserved, he took upon himself for their sake. and gave them his righteousness, his heaven, for their sake. I call that his passive obedience. He suffered all the way to the bitter death of the cross, but he also perfectly obeyed the law for his people. You see, it's not enough to have all our sins wiped away. That just leaves us neutral. The way to life eternal for Adam, had he not fallen, would have been perfect obedience to the law, to love God above all, to love his neighbors himself perfectly. And if he had continued that way, he would have gained eternal life. And so what Jesus comes to do is he comes to wipe away all the sin through his suffering, but also to give a right to eternal life through his active obedience to the law. So for 33 years in this world, he loved God above all, every second, every tick of the clock. He loved God, he loved God, he loved God. His will was to do his father's will always. And he loved his neighbor as himself. And he didn't have to do that for himself, he was perfectly righteous. He did that so that when a sinner believes in Jesus Christ alone, this double obedience, passive obedience to pay for sin, and active obedience to obey the law, the two things we need to have done for us to stand right before God, and the two things we cannot do by ourselves, we need a savior, an infinite savior to do them, because only an infinite savior can satisfy an infinite God, Jesus came to do. And when a sinner, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, truly believes in Christ alone for salvation, you see, at that moment, he's justified, he's linked with Jesus Christ through the double obedience of Jesus so that God can be just and the justifier of him who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then Jesus can say, twice I've owned you, first I made you, but now I've paid the price for you. linked together. You see, if for us to live is Christ, we need to be linked with Him. We need to be justified in Him. But secondly, to live Christ is not only to be linked with Christ but to have life in Christ. To have a real relationship is to have life. You've got to have life in Christ. We call that a fancy word too, boys and girls. It's called sanctification. When you are justified, you see, when you're made right with God, in your state before God, then you need to have the fruit of that in your life so that you love Him, so that you live unto Him, so that you know Him. Think of it this way. When a couple gets married, they come down this aisle separately, don't they? They're two people, a man and a woman. After the vows are said and the ceremony is done, when they walk back out, they walk out hand in hand, don't they? As one. From this day on, they're one in their state. But it takes a whole lifetime, doesn't it? A whole lifetime to really become one in their spirit, to think alike, to speak alike, to act alike, to really become one. And you see, to have life in Christ means that You become more and more one with him. You love him. You want to know him better, better in his person, better in his natures, better in his offices, better in his states. You want to have better communion with him. You want to know him as your teaching prophet, as your sacrificial interceding priest, as your ruling and guiding king. It's a sad day. for a believer when he puts his head on his pillow at night and says, I have to admit I had no communion with Jesus today. It's a sad day. Because Christ is my life. But if I have communion with Christ that day, it's a good day, no matter how bad the other things were that happened to me. The aim of my life, is that I want to be sanctified. I want to grow in my relationship with Christ. I want to have not only union with Him, but communion out of that union through His Word, through the means of grace, through the pursuit of spiritual disciplines. For me to rejoice is to rejoice in Christ. He's my life. So again, If I were to put that piece of paper in front of you all this morning, and all it said was, for me to live, and you can feel in only one word, what would you put down if you were honest? Don't think about it too long, just from your gut level. What's your life? What's your life really like? What is the emphasis of your life? What is your passionate love? What is your goal in life? Would you put down my spouse? Children? For me to live is my reputation? Money? Or would you put down Christ? He's my life. He's everything to me. Oh, to live in Christ and by Christ and through Christ and to Christ and for Christ, for me to live Christ. That's my passion. That's my life. That's my love. What a blessing to be able to say that. And that's really our third thought. You see, when you live Christ, you're not only linked to Christ and you find your life in Christ, but you have love for Christ. Paul said to the Corinthians, the love of Christ constrains me. In other words, boys and girls, the love of Christ is the engine that makes my life tick and chug along and brings all the cars of my life behind me. It's my strength. It's my hope. It's what drives me. I love Him. He's everything to me. You know, there was an old saying in the ancient world that all roads lead to Rome. You know that, right? And many of the roads did lead to Rome. Well, for Paul, he could say all roads lead to Jesus Christ. Have you ever noticed Paul's epistles, how amazing it is? If you just look, even on this page in front of me right now, I'm reading, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Christ, Lord Jesus, Christ, Christ, Christ, Jesus Christ, Christ, Christ. This is just 10 verses. And all of Paul's epistles are like that. Everything, everything, everything. leads Paul to Christ. Spiritual areas, practical areas, doctrinal areas, it's all about Christ. Are there divisions in the Church of Corinth? Is Christ divided, he says. Is there an immoral man in the assembly? He says, purge out the old leaven that you may be new lump, for Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Are there immoral temptations in the church? Well, Christ is the answer. Such were some of you, but you're washed, you're sanctified, you're justified in the name of the Lord Jesus. What are you to be like as a husband? Well, you're to love your wife the way Christ loved the church. What are you to be like as a wife? Well, you're to respect and show submission to your husband as the church does to Jesus Christ. How are you to behave as children? Children, obey your parents in the Lord Jesus Christ, for this is right. How are you to forgive each other? As Christ forgave you, Colossians 3. How are you to be generous in your giving? As Jesus was, who gave so much for us, 2 Corinthians 8. You see, when Paul exhorts us to humility, he says, put on the mind of Christ. When he exhorts us to holiness, it's on the ground that we're crucified and risen with Christ. Christ is the answer to every problem. Christ is the need that everyone has, be they lost or be they saved. He's all I preach this, Paul. I determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He's the sum and substance of my ministry. For me to live is Christ because I love Him. He's everything. Thomas Brooks, the Puritan said, Christ is lovely, Christ is very lovely, Christ is most lovely, Christ is all lovely, Christ is altogether lovely, Christ is always lovely, Christ is the most sparkling diamond in the Father's ring of glory. Jesus himself says, if you love me, keep my commandments. You see, when you're a Christian, You love him, and you want to. That's why sin is such a burden to you. You want to please him. Just like someone you love. If you have a great marriage, you don't want to hurt your spouse. You love your spouse. And a thousand times more, the bride of Jesus loves the bridegroom, Jesus Christ, and doesn't want to go against him, doesn't want to sin, wants to keep all his commandments. I love him for me to live Christ. And when I sin, I feel like I die. Oh, I wish all sin to me were dead. I wish I could put a sword through it. I wish I could mortify it all. Oh, to live and to love and to be linked with Jesus Christ. But then fourthly, for me to live Christ is to have likeness to Christ, likeness to Christ. You see, a Christian is called to be an imitator of the Lord Jesus Christ, Ephesians 5. And if you really love someone, you really love someone, think especially of a good marriage. Think of a marriage of 60 years. Husband and wife just love each other so much. Have you ever noticed an old happy couple? They're so close. They can finish each other's sentences. They think alike. They know each other so well. Actually, they start to look alike sometimes. And you see, that's what the believer wants. If you love Christ, if your life is in Christ, if you're linked to Christ, if you can say, for me to live, Christ. You want to be like Him. You want to be able to resolve to make that resolution that Thomas Boston, that great Scottish divine, made one day when he wrote in his diary, resolution, I will go nowhere, I will do nothing without leaving the aroma of Jesus Christ behind. You see, when you become like Christ, people see Christ in you. And that is the highest compliment a Christian can ever receive when someone genuinely says to him, I see Christ in you. And that's what Paul had. The Bible speaks of it this way. He had the savor of Christ, the smell of Christ. Wherever he went, people realized this is a man. This is a man linked to Christ. This is a man who loves Christ. This is a man who has his life in Christ. This is a man who's being conformed to the image of Christ. He's more and more like Christ. And that, after all, is the goal of all true Christianity. The goal is not just to get saved by a minimum criteria and slip into heaven at a minimum level. The goal is to be saved that I might be conformed, Romans 8 29, that you might be conformed to the image of Christ. Oh, to be more like him. Then for me to live is Christ. And what is it to be like Christ? I suppose it's a thousand things. John says if everything Christ did was to be written down in a book, the world could not contain the books that should be written. But I think if you boil it all down, you can reduce it down to three major things. If you really grow to be more like Christ, it means first of all to be growing in having a servant heart. A servant heart. Christ did not come to be served, but to serve. You see, by nature, we're just selfish, aren't we? I fly a lot on planes, and often I use plane time as a catch-up time to get some sleep, and I lay my head back. You always hear people talking behind you. And it struck me over the years. People talk together, this is what it sounds like. Well, the way I feel, or the way I think of it, the way I wish, what I do, it's just like self, self, self. Two people talking about themselves to each other. It's so selfish. It's the way we are by nature. But when you become more like Jesus, You develop a servant heart. You care about the Lord's reputation. You care about other people. You care about other never-dying souls. And actually, that's the way we were created. You know, when I was 16 years old, I had a brother, 19, and he walked into my bedroom one day and he said, Joe, he said, I figured out what life is all about and I can say it in one word. I said, really? What's that? He said, service. I said, what? Explain. He said, well, it's quite simple. God made us to serve. He made us to serve him. He made us to serve each other. Adam was to serve Eve. And he made us to serve creation. They were to dress the garden and keep it. And doesn't it make sense that the only way we can be happy then is to live for the purpose for which we were created? To live, to serve the glory of God and the well-being of man and the well-being of this world. And so life is all about service. At the time, I said, well, yeah, that sounds pretty nice. Now I think it sounds very good, some 50 years later. That's what life is all about. And you see, when you become more service-oriented, when you truly live for the glory of God, to enjoy Him forever, to serve Him, and you want to serve the well-being of others and you want to serve in your work for the well-being of your employer. There's a satisfaction, isn't there? Because that resonates with the purpose for which you were created. But also there's a satisfaction because you know deep down you're becoming just a little bit more like Christ when you become service-oriented. So to become more like Christ is to grow with a servant heart. But then to to become more like Christ is to grow with a loving heart. Christ loved people. He was a people person. The disciples said, don't bring your children to him. That wasn't kosher, you see. It wasn't kosher to bring children to a man who claimed to be a prophet. But Jesus was angry with them. He said, suffer the little children to come unto me, for such is the kingdom of God. And then, Well, if a prophet were ever to come within hundreds of feet of a leper, the leper would have to be ushered away. He'd be crying out, unclean, unclean. Jesus goes up to lepers, and he touches them, and he heals them, and he's almighty. No sinner's too big for Jesus. No heart is too hard for Jesus. No one is too bankrupt for Jesus. Jesus loves sinners. There's nothing that could hold Jesus back from loving his people. To be like Christ is to love as Christ loved. Is there somebody in your life right now that you're loving who cannot give you anything back in return? That's Christ-like love. What can we give to Christ but our sin? And he loves us. And so when you become more like Christ, you learn to love without thinking about return. You learn to give. You learn to really care about people. You learn to see every unconverted person as a mission field. And you want to find opportunity. You wake up in the morning and you say, Lord, help me to speak a good word about thee to someone today. Open a door for me to speak to that unconverted grandmother or that unconverted son or that unconverted friend or neighbor. You love people when you become like Christ. And then thirdly, to be like Christ is to grow in having a humble heart, not a servant heart and a loving heart only, but a humble heart. He was meek and lowly. The more we're like Christ, the more humble we are. Of course, humility is a tricky thing because the more humble you are, the more proud you feel yourself to be. Humility is a grace that never recognizes itself. As soon as you think you're humble, you're proud. But Augustine said it so well when someone asked him, what are the three graces the church needs most today? His answer was humility, humility, humility. Now I'm not saying, I'm not asking you this morning, do you have this linkage with Christ, this love for Christ, this life in Christ, this likeness to Christ? Do you have it to the degree you desire? That will never happen for any believer on this side of the grave. It will happen on the other side. But I'm asking you this morning, is your life, Christ, is that really the essence of what makes you tick? And can you say, by the grace of God, I cannot deny that I have something of these four things. I can't deny I'm linked to Him. I can't deny that I have love for Him. I can't deny that He's my life to some degree. A likeness, oh, that's a hard one because I feel so unlike Him. But yes, there are times I can't deny that I do hunger and thirst after His righteousness. I do know what it means to be meek before Him. Yes, some small beginning. of likeness to him. I can't deny that. And you too can say, for me to live Christ. But if you can say that, you can also say for me to die gain. Because to live Christ and to be in Christ is to be living well, and to be living well is to be dying well. Spurgeon put it so well. He said, the best way to die well is to live well, and the way to live well is to be dying every day to your own righteousness, so that when the day of your death comes, you just have to die one more time and enter into the joy of the Lord. Death. Gain? How can that be, Paul? Paul, aren't you Aren't you exaggerating a bit? Death is awful. Have you ever had a loved one die? Have you ever tried to kiss a loved one who's dead because you love and you were just drawn? It's awful. It's like kissing the wall. Death is separation. Death is terrible. Paul, how can you say death is game? Death is ugly. Death is one of the worst things that can possibly happen to you. You want to live forever? You want everyone else around you to live forever, don't you? Isn't Paul exaggerating? No, he's not. Because death brings the believer into gain, as awful as death itself is. You know, as a pastor, probably the most awkward moments in the ministry is when you're standing beside a casket with loved ones, and you're looking into the casket, and nobody knows what to say, especially if the person's not saved. Nobody knows what to say. It's an awkward moment. And then finally one of the relatives will blurt out, at least in America, something like this, didn't they do a good job? Or doesn't she look nice? You really don't know what to say. Because death never looks nice. And you don't want to lie. And you don't want to be rude, it's a tender time, you just don't know what to say. Death is always ugly. It's unnatural. You weren't born to die. So, Paul, how can you say this? Death is gain. Well, Paul can say it for two reasons. First, because of what he leaves behind, and second, because of what he receives. Now, I grant you, he leaves behind some good things. He leaves behind a good friendship with Timothy and Silas and other friends. But you see, in heaven, his relationship with Timothy and Silas will be better than it ever was on earth. I once preached a sermon on heaven in the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, and a man came up to me afterward, and he said this to me. He said, everything you said about heaven was so true, and it cheered my soul, but he said, there's one thing that bothers me. I love my wife so much, I'm going to miss her in heaven. I said, no sir, no sir. You have a better relationship with your wife in heaven than you ever had on earth. Not the same kind of sexual relationship, but a relationship focused on Jesus. And you'll recognize one another in heaven. You'll both be completely focused on him. Everything will be better in heaven than the very best things on earth. But also think of the other things that Paul left behind. He left behind this body of sin and death. He left behind a life that at best, he said, was only labor and sorrows. He left behind a life of affliction. Twice he was beaten with rods. Once he was stoned. Three times he suffered shipwreck. No more. He was in perils of the sea, perils of the wilderness, perils of false brethren, weariness, painfulness, hunger, thirst. He underwent fastings. He suffered cold and nakedness. It's all done. No more thorn in the flesh that he never did quite fully understand what it was, but learned to bow to. No more lust of the eyes. No more lust of the flesh. No more pride of life. He leaves behind all unanswered prayers, all vexing riddles. My dad used to say, some children of God go to the grave with more vexing riddles than with answered prayers. But no more. You see, death will be gain, gain. There'll be no more sin for you too, dear believer. Think of it, no more sin to be done with that greatest enemy of my own soul. I'm the greatest enemy because I'm the sinner, but sin is always trying to regain lost ground. But to be done with it, to have to no more say with Paul, evil is always present with me. To be absolutely perfect, to be pure in heart and never grow weary. and never grow weak, but to be full of energy and strength and fiber to serve the Lord world without end, to be totally fixed on Jesus and to have nothing draw me away. Oh, death shall bring me gain. No more sin. No more Satan. No more temptation. No more temptation to be tempted. No more problems with worldliness. No more problems with my old nature. No more tears. No more pain. No more night. No more sickness. No more dying. No more death. No more curse. Death. Gain. Because of what I leave behind. But even more, death shall be gained because of what I receive. You see, dying already brings us into communion with Christ's sufferings. Dying gives us a unique experience of Christ's all-sufficient grace. Dying transforms us into the image of Christ more perfectly. Dying is our last and perhaps greatest opportunity to witness for Christ's glory. Dying brings us into Christ's presence. One old Scottish divine said, death is like a wheelchair that rolls me into the presence of the Savior where wheelchairs are needed no more. Yes, in heaven I will receive everything I've always longed for on earth. In heaven, I will be brought into perfect eternal life with Christ. It will be totally fulfilled because I live, ye shall live also. Dying will grant me an introduction into the perfect knowledge of Christ. I know Christ here, but by blinks and glances, said Samuel Rutherford, but there I will be able to gaze on his face forever without ever looking away and not being ashamed. I'll be absolutely as holy as Jesus is holy. The angels cover their faces with their wings in the presence of the Holy God, but the believer in the great day shall gaze upon him without embarrassment. What a glorious thing that will be. Sweet, sweet, perfect, full, rich, unending, uninterrupted, glorious communion with Jesus Christ, my bridegroom, my all and in all. You know, we have a number of foreign students at our seminary, and recently there's two Nigerians that came to see me, and one was a new student, one had been a student for three years, and when he introduced the new student to me, the new student would look at me like this. And the other student noticed it, he said, oh, no, no, no, he said, you're in America now. In Nigeria, you don't, you're rude if you look your professor in the face, but in America, you're rude if you don't look your professor in the face. So then the poor man, he tried to look at me just a tad longer and he'd go, but he just could not look at me for any length of time. And isn't that what you experienced, dear believer? You just, you gaze upon Christ, but 10 seconds later, there's some worldly thought. Something goes awry, your sin drags you down. But finally, oh, to gaze on him and not be thrown away, to center upon him, to have no wandering thought, to commune with him in perfection, to love him perfectly. no more blinks and glances, no more through a glass darkly, but face to face, to be with Him, to know Him, to bask in His smile, to bathe in His love. Oh, death will be gained, forever gained. I worship Him perfectly. I won't get in the way anymore. I won't be my enemy anymore. There'll be nothing, no world, no sin, no Satan, no me that stands in the way of this relationship. It will be perfect communion with a perfect Triune God. I will know the Father perfectly, the Son perfectly, the Spirit perfectly. And then I'll have perfect communion with the saints as we focus only upon Jesus and upon the Triune God through Him. No trivial conversation. Rich, glorious, everything in heaven will be good. All good will be walled in, all evil will be walled out, and Jesus Christ will be all and in all. All for me to live is Christ. And to live Christ is to die, gain. What a future, what a future. You know, Spurgeon used to say, God's people have the best of both worlds. They've got joys in this world that the world knows none of. But the best is yet to come, the glorious eternal joy of being with Jesus forever. To die is game. Precious, precious in the sight of the Lord is the dying of His saints. He wants them home. It's hard on us. because the church on earth becomes one poorer and the triumphant church becomes one richer. But you see, God wants his people with him to be with him forever. Are you ready to die? To die well? You've got to live well. And how do you live well? You live well by living in Christ. If Christ is not your life, you see, then I need to tell you, you're not ready to die. You're not ready to die, boys and girls, young people, parents, grandparents, if your life is not Christ. In fact, if you're not found in Christ, your death will be tragic. It'll be the opposite of heaven. It will be hell. Hell's a place of total loneliness. No fellowship, no fellowship in hell. You know, when I was first ordained into the ministry at the age of 25, the very first pastoral visit I was called upon to do, I've never experienced anything like it ever since, someone called me up and said, a member of your church is dying. Will you come to the hospital right away? And I went right away. I walked into the room before the family got there, and I didn't know this person, but it was a member of my church, and she was dying. And I'd never seen death in my life, so it overwhelmed me. The death look was on the face, the whiteness, and the hard breathing. But astonishingly, there was another person in the room who was dying at the same time. And that person was just groaning, I had a God-fearing father, I had a God-fearing father, I had a God-fearing father. And I actually stood there in the middle of two dying people. And suddenly I realized, I was like Aaron standing among the dead. And I realized that neither person could hear each other. They were like eight feet away from each other and they couldn't hear each other. There is no fellowship between them. In hell, there will be a continual dying and yet never dead, but there'll be no friendship in hell. No communion. You'll get no comfort from having other people there. You'll get no comfort from Satan, because the Lord is the Lord also of hell, and Satan will be as miserable as everyone else. You need the Lord Jesus Christ. Young people, let me just say it as plainly as I can. You can be the most popular young person among your peers. You can get straight A's on all your report cards. You can be handsome or beautiful, sought after by young men or young women. You could have everything going for you. You could have riches. You could have all the things that the typical young person today would desire. But I mentioned Spurgeon. You know what Spurgeon would say to you? If you have all that but you don't have Jesus, you've got nothing but a coffin on your back and you will soon have grave dust in your mouth. This life is but a moment and eternity comes. You need the Lord Jesus Christ. You need to repent of your selfishness, your sin, your heart sin. You need to repent and believe the gospel and flee to Him. And don't live for this world. Samuel Rutherford said it so well. Build your nest in no tree here on earth. For God has sold the entire forest to death. Well, let me close this sermon with two illustrations. One on living well and one on living poorly. You know, when David Livingstone died in Africa, the famous missionary, The African people loved him so much. It seems gross to us, but they actually cut out his heart and they kept it in Africa, literally. And they sent his body back for an honorable Westminster Abbey funeral. And on the day when the hearse went by, there were thousands of people on both sides of the road to pay tribute to David Livingstone. Actually, I was in Westminster Abbey just two, three weeks ago and saw the stone of his burial. But in the crowd that day, there were two men, a man rather shabbily dressed and a pastor standing behind him. And as the hearse went by, the shabbily dressed man just kept saying over and over again, you were right, Davey. You were right, Davey. You were right, Davey. And when the hearse went by, the pastor tapped him on the shoulder and said, could you explain to me what you meant by you were right, Davey? Oh, the young man, the older man now, who's shabbily dressed, said, David Livingstone and I grew up in the same church. It was a Bible-believing church. But when I was a young man, I said to David Livingstone, I'm going to go my own way. I'm going to make a lot of money, and then someday I'll come back and serve the Lord after I'm rich. David Livingstone said, that's not the way to live. He said the only way to live is to live Jesus Christ. And I tried to prove David Livingston wrong all my life and now I'm old and it seems too late and I just realized he was right. He was right. He was right. There's only one way to live. Only one way to die. In Jesus Christ. And then my second, my last illustration is from a friend of Charles Spurgeon, actually, whose name was Roland Hill. He was a very great preacher, rather eccentric man. But he was quite discouraged over the lack of fruit in a certain season of his ministry, upon his ministry, and crying out to God for a breakthrough. One day he's pacing his study, he's burdened, and he looks out the window and he sees a pig farmer going to market. His pig's just following him, straight into the slaughterhouse. The man comes out, and Roland Hill is there to meet him. And he says to the pig farmer, how do you do it? How do you get people to follow you, or pigs rather, to follow you to their own death? And I can't get people to follow my message of Jesus Christ, to follow my Savior to life eternal. Oh, the pig farmer says, didn't you see what I was doing as I walked along? I just had a few crumbs in my pocket. And every few steps, I just let out a few crumbs. of pig's food. And you know those pigs are so foolish that for a few crumbs they will walk right into their death. Dear young people, older ones too, but young people, I just want to say to you lovingly, please don't do like the prodigal son and follow the pig's food trail and end up in a pigsty eating pig's food. the pig's food of this world. That's all the world has to offer you is pig's food. Don't die for pig's food. But bow before Jesus Christ. Confess your sin, believe in him, follow him. And don't rest until you can say, for me to live Christ, that's it. And to die gained by the grace of God. Amen.