To Live is Christ

My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all courage, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Now if I live on in the flesh, this means fruitful work for me; and I don’t know which one I should choose. I am torn between the two. I long to depart and be with Christ—which is far better— but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. Since I am persuaded of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that, because of my coming to you again, your boasting in Christ Jesus may abound.

(Some Bible translations may have verse 20 as the middle of a sentence carrying on from verse 19. The Christian Standard Bible from which I have been preaching over the past month has these two verses as separate sentences. The reason why translations have different punctuation or sentence structure from other translations is because there was no punctuation in ancient Greek. The majority of the language was written in lower-case letters, except for proper nouns like names, with no punctuation to tell where one sentence ended and another began. Different translation teams will make different decisions about how to treat the text when there could be various ways to handle it, like with Philippians 1:19-20.)

This morning we continue through our series in Philippians. In the last couple of weeks we have started into the body of this letter where Paul is giving his readers an update as to what has been happening with him during his Roman imprisonment.

We have looked at how Paul being in chains has caused this ripple effect encouraging other Christians to be even more fearless about sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Last week we saw that not everyone who was preaching Christ while Paul was in prison was doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. There were some who wanted to make life miserable for Paul by spreading the gospel so the Roman authorities would be even more likely to hurt the apostle as he is in chains.

In all this, Paul didn’t care what motivations people had for spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, as long as the truth of Christ was preached. He believed that the truth of Christ would lead to his salvation - which I stated likely meant his release from prison.

In today’s passage, we get to one of Paul’s many famous statements from this letter. We will see how Paul considers his life in view of the truth of Jesus Christ. Though Paul has suffered so much in his life as he has proclaimed Christ to the nations, he sees it all as suffering for the sake of Christ. Everything he does, as we see from Scripture, is mean to bring as much glory to God as possible.

Big Idea: Our lives are meant to honor Christ

Lets dig in!

Philippians 1:20

My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all courage, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

Paul shares that his expectation and hope is to not be ashamed about anything. This feels like a bit of a contrast from the boldness that Paul wrote to the Romans about when he said,

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…”

It feels much like Jesus in the garden praying to the Father, “ If you are willing, take this cup from me - nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.” Jesus knew the path God the Father had set before him and he walked it. Paul is also choosing to walk the path the Father has set before him.

When Paul says that he hopes he will not be ashamed, we must remember that Paul is describing a Christian hope that is different from the world’s. He uses hope with the word “expectation”.

“Hope is not taking a deep breath and hoping/wishing things are going to turn out all right. It is assurance that God is going to do what he says he will do.” (RC Sproul)

Paul knows God will give him the strength to be bold for Christ, to have courage, and that Christ will be honored in his body - honored by Paul’s continuing to stand for the gospel of Jesus Christ as long as he is alive, or by Paul’s death at the hands of his Roman jailors because he will not stop preaching the gospel.

We should have this same hope. If we are truly servants of God than our bodies, this is another way for Paul to say “all that he is”, should bring honor to the Lord, both in how he lives and how he dies.

Philippians 1:21

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

Paul gives further definition to honoring Christ in his body with this climactic declaration, “To live is Christ and to die is gain.” By continuing to live and run the race that the Lord has set before him, Paul is honoring Christ. He is serving his master faithfully by proclaiming the word of God and declaring that Jesus is Lord no matter what circumstances he finds himself in, whether free or in chains, or as he will say later on in this letter, whether living in plenty or in want.

Everything that he does in his life is supposed to bring glory to God. That is how all of us as Christians should live our lives - everything we do, say, or think should be done to the glory of Jesus Christ.

The very first Sunday that I ever preached here at Living Word, when I was still applying to be your pastor, my sermon was on Romans 12:1-2 and how our worship is more than just the songs we sing on a Sunday morning before the pastor preaches. We must see the entirety of our lives, everything we do, say, and think as worship to our creator.

How we respond to tragedy, how we respond to good news, how we treat our spouse or our children, even how we work at our jobs is a reflection of our love for Christ.

Colossians 3:22-24

Slaves, obey your human masters in everything. Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but work wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people, knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord. You serve the Lord Christ.

Paul says here that the work we do for others should be seen first and foremost as being done for the Lord. When you work at your job, you should work at it like Jesus is the one you directly report to. When you show love and respect to your spouse, you should love them like you are showing that love and respect to Jesus.

Jesus talked to his disciples in a similar way telling them that whenever they fed the hungry or gave clothes to the naked, they did it for him.

So as Paul says that to live is Christ, that everything that he does in this life should be to the glory of God, Paul says that if he were to die, it would all be gain for him. He would no longer deal with the suffering in his body and of this world, but would be in glory with the Savior, completely restored.

Our death’s should also bring glory to Christ.

Next Step: Does my life point others to Christ?

The world does not understand this motivation for life. In the first chapter of Romans, Paul tells his readers how humanity has rejected God to serve the things that are created instead of the Creator himself. Because of how sin has distorted everything in this world, those who have not had their hearts and minds transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, they see life as being about themselves and what they want. They worship themselves, they worship the earth and animals, as Paul says they exchanged the truth of God for a lie. They may reference a “higher power” but only in a sense of vague acceptance that something is probably out there.

How often do we hear people say that they are going to follow their own truth. We see people who will advocate for protecting various species of animals in the wild and yet those same people would balk at protecting children in the womb. We may also hear a lot about people making sure to do some “self-care”. And while I am not opposed to someone taking some time for themselves, if our focus is only on taking care of ourselves, I believe we have missed the point of what Christ calls us to in this life. We see Paul address this in the rest of this passage.

Philippians 1:22-23

Now if I live on in the flesh, this means fruitful work for me; and I don’t know which one I should choose. I am torn between the two. I long to depart and be with Christ—which is far better—

Paul shows an understanding here that if continues to live on earth, God has a purpose for it. The apostle knows that living on means “fruitful work” for him. The ministry of Paul had been extremely fruitful and had shown the work of God in his life. The fruits of his labor throughout his missionary journeys had been abundant up to this point (though I think we could say that he still had fruitful work happening while in prison).

If Paul were to be released from prison he knew that God would continue to work through his ministry. Even so, Paul struggles with which option he would rather have, to the point he is “torn between the two”. He admits to his readers that it would be far better for himself to “depart and be with Christ”. He went so far as to say that he longs for it.

Why do we think that Paul would have longed for this to be the case? What would make Paul so tired of this life, when he has seen so many people come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ through his missionary journeys, that he just wants to be with Jesus, almost like he wishes that this imprisonment would be the end of his road on the earth.

I think that one aspect of it is that he had seen the glory of the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus to the point it blinded him. He had seen Jesus and wanted to be in his presence again.

There is another aspect of Paul’s life though that I think we have to take into account when we think of why Paul was so eager to be with Christ again. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians 11. Paul is defending his apostleship to a church that has false apostles - Paul refers to these false teachers as “super-apostles” - trying to lead the Corinthian church astray. And so Paul is telling them of his qualifications and of the things that he has suffered for the name of Christ.

2 Corinthians 11:24-28

Five times I received the forty lashes minus one from the Jews. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea. On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, and dangers among false brothers; toil and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and without clothing. Not to mention other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my concern for all the churches.

If you consider the lashings, the beatings, stoning, imprisonment, shipwrecks, and more that the apostle has had to endure over the course of his ministry, it would not be surprising if he constantly dealt with some kind of pain in his body at all times. It would be understandable for him to want to be done with this life and to be with Christ. (Pictures of freed slaves in the late 1800s with scars on their backs)

At the same time, I believe that Paul knew that his suffering had a purpose. That the sufferings he was experiencing in his body were temporary and that God would help him through these challenges. And as we have seen earlier in this letter, Paul seems to believe that this imprisonment is not the end of the road for him in this life.

Philippians 1:24-26

…but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. Since I am persuaded of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that, because of my coming to you again, your boasting in Christ Jesus may abound.

Here we see more humility from Paul. As he has just stated how much he desires to not be on earth and in this body anymore but to be in heaven with the Lord, he changes his focus from himself to his readers. Remaining “in the flesh is more necessary” for them. Paul sees the calling of God as a teacher and evangelist as the most important thing for him right now, even if it is not what he desires at this time. Paul was so convinced of the need for these Philippians to have him remain as their teacher that he knew he would continue to live for a while and help them with their “progress and joy in the faith.”

Paul knew that in spite of his struggles and suffering God still had a purpose for him. His suffering in this life should not keep him from fulfilling the mission that God had placed on Paul’s life.

We can’t always know why we go through the troubles and hardships that we face in this life. I cannot give you a reason why miscarriages happen, why so many people suffer from cancer, why people in their 20s and 30s suffer from chronic illness or chronic pain other than we live in a fallen world, a world where sin has broken everything.

How often in this life, as Christians, do we find ourselves asking God why we are going through this trial or that? We hear unbelievers say all the time, “Why would a good God allow this to happen?”

Romans 8:28

We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

Notice that it does not say God will make all things good for those who love him. It says that he will make those things work for the good of those who love him. I believe that God was using these circumstances for Paul, to show him how God would provide. We read from 2 Corinthians earlier where Paul listed all of the things that he had gone through in his missionary journeys as he preached the gospel to others. It was just one chapter afterward we see Paul mentioning that he prayed for God to take away the thorn in his flesh and God basically told him no -

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.”

Whether we are dealing with persecution for declaring the gospel or dealing with chronic pain in our bodies from age or illness, we must remember that God will work through us in our weakness for his purposes. If we were always healthy and strong and had no weaknesses, no sins, no struggles, we wouldn’t need a Savior. But we do deal with sickness, pain, weakness, and sin. That is why we need the Holy Spirit working in our hearts and minds to remember that we do nothing in this life on our own strength - because our strength will fail us every time.

I have said this many times already here at this church, God does not teach us how to love people by putting us with nice, loving, gentle people. When we need to learn how to love people, God brings unlovable people who will likely drive us up the wall. It is then in our weakness that the Lord provides his strength to us, helping us to show his love to people and a world that needs it.

Romans 8:18

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.

The Holy Spirit points us to Jesus who knew that the suffering, pain, and torture of the cross would not compare to the glory of doing the will of the Father. When we have put our faith in Jesus Christ, we have a hope for our future beyond our trials and sufferings, a hope that God loves us and will take care of his children.

Remember during Advent we looked at Joy - Hebrew 12 …”for the joy set before him”

There is a quote that is often attributed to the Baptist preacher from the 1800s, Charles Spurgeon:

“I have learned to kiss the waves that throw me against the Rock of Ages” – Charles Spurgeon

(Quick explanation of the analogy)

Spurgeon saw the trials in his life as a new opportunity to put his trust and faith in God. He suffered pain in his feet from gout that made it difficult to stand at times. He dealt with depression that often clouded his thoughts. But through the power and help of the Holy Spirit, he looked past his present sufferings and looked toward Christ - again, just like Christ looked past the sufferings of the cross and toward the joy of exultation that God the Father had in store for him. Spurgeon knew that the trials of this life are temporary.

That quote from Spurgeon reminds me of one of my grandfathers. Every time my grandpa Bud had to go to the hospital because of another stroke, or to have his pacemaker put in, or because of an infection from his kidney dialysis, his response was, “I guess there is someone in that hospital that needs to hear about Jesus.” My grandpa saw his pain and suffering as an opportunity to share the love of Jesus.

Next Step: I will ask God how my trials can glorify him.

Paul also states that the result of him again coming to the Philippians would be that their boasting in Christ Jesus may abound. By Paul continuing to live and even visiting the Philippians again it would show them the power of God even more. They would have even more faith in the Lord and who he is. Paul was willing to deal with the hardship and trials of this life a little while longer if it meant that others would be able to greater see the power of God at work.

Paul understood the ultimate purpose of our existence: to glorify Jesus in all we do. Whether through victories or trials, every moment of our lives is an opportunity to exalt Him. He recognized that even in suffering, God was working through him to reveal His strength and advance His kingdom. Paul’s life was not centered on personal comfort or success but on the surpassing worth of knowing and serving Christ.

What about your life? Is it centered on glorifying Jesus, or are you chasing after the fleeting pursuits of this world? Without Christ, our lives are empty and ultimately lead to eternal separation from God. But through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, we are offered forgiveness, new life, and the power to live for His glory.

God is calling you today to surrender your life to Him, to exchange your brokenness and sin for the hope, purpose, and joy found in Jesus.

If you have never trusted Jesus as your Savior and Lord, I urge you to do so now. Turn from sin, believe in His death and resurrection, and surrender your life to Him.

Next Step: I will submit my life to Christ

Let us pray.

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