Christ Our Life

Title: “Christ, The Believer’s Life”

Text: Philippians 1:21

Philippians 1:21 KJV 1900

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Introduction: This morning, we need to connect with Heaven and Earth Simultaneously.

Our Lord is One Who Places People in our lives for Very Particular and Very Specific Purposes. He does this to shape us into the individuals which He has Designed for us to become. Romans 8:28–29 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

This is what God was Doing In and Through Paul. And, He is doing the Very Same Thing In and Through us. Paul, or then Saul, which Stood in the midst, Participated and Consented to the Death of Stephen to be Stoned.

Recall the Scene: Acts 7:54–60 “When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” Acts 8:1 “And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.” Right here, is where

First, Holy Ghost Conviction Gripped the Heart of Saul. Can you remember the moment when God began to Deal with you and Draw you to Himself? I do! TESTIFY!!!

Second, Christ-Centered Conversion. Acts 9:3–9 “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.”

Third, God-Glorified Completion. Philippians 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” Paul knew and Lived in the Reality of God’s Promise. 2 Timothy 4:6–8 “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” Remember to EXPOUND!

“For to me, to live, IS CHRIST; and to DIE IS GAIN.” This is Christianity spoken in ONE SENTENCE!!!

He looks at these two roads stretching before him, and he says:

“To live—is Christ, and to die—is gain. I am in a strait betwixt two. I desire to depart, and yet for your sakes I would tarry a little longer.”

Life and death have lost their old significance to him, because there is one vision that fills the horizon whether he look this way or that. Here it is Christ, and there it is gain, and gain is Christ, and Christ is gain. There is no darkness but only light, for everywhere he sees the Master. That is Christianity.

Now, beloved, I want to take that estimate of Christian life and meditate upon it for a little while. Do not expect me to exhaust it, for in this text lie all the possibilities and potentialities of the Christian life.

“To me to live is Christ.” What did the apostle mean? There are seven things which he might have meant. By these words he intended to say that:

1. Christ was the author of his life. It was as though he had written, “To me to live at all is Christ.”

2. Christ was the sustainer of his life. “To me to continue to live is Christ.”

3. Christ was the law of his life. “The conditions in which I live my life are summed up in Christ.”

4. Christ was the product of his life. “To me to live is to reproduce Christ.”

5. Christ was the aim and influence of his life. “To me to live is to lead men to Christ.”

6. Christ was the impulse of his life. “To me to live is to be swept along under the compassion of the Christ.”

7. Christ was the finisher, the crown of his life. “To me to live is at last to be what he is, and to find the crowning of all my manhood in him.”

Christ the end, as Christ was the beginning. Christ the beginning, and therefore Christ the end. Whether this man looked back upon the past, at the present, or into the future, within or without, behind, above, or beyond to the consummation—wherever he turned his eyes, he saw Jesus only.

I. Paul is Consumed with the Person of Christ “For to me”

A. He was Consumed with the Grace of Christ Galatians 1:15 “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,” Ephesians 2:8–10 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

B. He was Consumed with the Glory of Christ Galatians 6:14 “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”

Meaning: “He is all Taken Up with Christ.”

II. Paul is Controlled by the Person of Christ “To Live”

A. He was a Loyal Servant to Christ Philippians 2:21 “For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.” Slave

Joseph Carroll: “If you are not a slave of Jesus Christ, you are not a son of Jesus Christ.”

B. He was Led by the Spirit of Christ Romans 8:14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Son

III. Paul is Complete in the Person of Christ “Is Christ” Colossians 2:10 “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:”

A. He was Truly Satisfied with Christ “Christ was Enough” Philippians 3:8 “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,”

B. He was Totally Surrendered to Christ “Set Apart” Romans 12:1–2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” I Surrender All. Have You?

IV. Paul is Comforted by the Person of Christ “And to Die is Gain”

A. He did not Fear Death 1 Corinthians 15:51–58 “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

B. He did not Fight Death 2 Timothy 4:6–8 “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

He fought the Good Fight of Faith!

Now finish it. Write under it what Paul did. That is your estimate of life; now add Paul’s estimate of death:

“To me to live is money; to die is—I cannot write ‘gain’ after that. To die is loss. I shall leave it all. Naked came I out of my mother’s womb; naked shall I return thereunto.”

“To me to live is pleasure; to die—oh! do not talk to me about death! It is the last thing I want to think about. I want my pleasure, my laughter, this hollow crackling of thorns under a pot; ’tis all I have! Let me have it, but in God’s name do not talk about death. Why, man, I do not like to walk down the street in the dark because I think of death. I cannot write that.”

“To me to live is fame.” Now, finish it. “And to die—no, I cannot. For if they put my name on a marble monument, directly it is erected, nature, with mossy fingers, will begin to pull it down. I cannot write that. To die is to perish, to be forgotten! What is fame when I am gone? I cannot write it.”

No, beloved, and you cannot write Paul’s estimate of death after anything except Paul’s estimate of life. If, by God’s great grace, you can write, “To me to live is Christ,” you can write, “To die is gain.” To die is to see Him more clearly, to be closer to Him, to enter into larger service for Him, to touch the height and the depth and the length and the breadth of His life; “to die is gain.” You can only write it if you write the first.

Somebody else says: “Well, I have never written the first; can I start?”

Yes.

“Where can I start?”

Where he started.

“Where did he start?”

“Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” That is it. Will you say that?

“Yes, we will do it. Is it easy?’

No, it is not easy. The cross is there, crucifixion is there, the ending of self is there, the abandoning of everything, of hope, and wife, and child, and home, and friends, and ambition, all is there. “Lord—I have had other lords—Lord, I have been governed by self, I have been governed by human loves, I have been mastered by passions, I have been swept along by ambitions; Lord, Nazarene, depose these other lords and be King.”