Lei Collins Funeral

To Live is Christ, To Die is Gain

Introduction

Text—these are the very words of God

Philippians 1:20–24 ESV

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 be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.

Outline

1. The life that counts is SURRENDERED to Christ (v. 21)

2. The life that counts is SPENT on Christ (v. 20-24)

3. The life that counts is SECURE in Christ (v. 21, 23)

1. The life that counts is SURRENDERED to Christ (v. 21)

To Live is Christ, Death to Self

For the Apostle Paul, to live is Christ—to die is gain.

To truly live means living for Christ.

This is the life that counts—one that is lived for Christ.

But how does that happen?

How can someone live for Christ?

Does that just mean being a good person?

Does that just mean trying to be 1% better everyday?

Does that just mean praying a lot? Going to church?

The Bible tells us that this isn’t just about making some behavior changes.

The Bible tells us that a life lived for Christ is born out of faith.

A life lived for Christ starts with dying to yourself.

A life lived for Christ begins with surrender to Him as Savior.

Galatians 2:20 ESV

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.

Paul’s Conversion

Paul was an Apostle for Jesus Christ—a man sent by God to proclaim the message of salvation.

But he wasn’t always that—he used to be a persecutor of God’s people.

In Acts 9, he was on his way to Damascus to imprison Christians and he was blinded by a bright light from heaven.

Jesus spoke to Paul and confronted him with his sin.

Paul turned from his sin and trusted in Jesus who spoke to him.

After that his whole life changed.

He went from a Persecutor of Christians to a Christian himself!

This is why he could say, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

Same Gospel

The same Gospel that saved Paul is available to you today.

The same Jesus who spoke to Paul longs for you to hear Him today.

You can also say, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”

God

Some people think God is a Tyrant.

Some think He is distant.

In truth, He is an above and beyond God who longs to draw near to you in every aspect of your life!

He created the world and it was good

Creation reflects His goodness and grace

Man

God man human beings to reflect His goodness and grace

He created them in His image

The first two people, Adam and Eve, had a perfect, unbroken friendship with Him

He gave them a Law to keep—they were not to eat of a certain tree or they would surely die

If they did not eat from that tree, they would live

But then, an enemy slithered into the Garden and deceived them into thinking God was a liar

They disobeyed God and sinned and ate from that tree

And since God is not a liar, death entered into the world just as God said it would

It has been here ever since

And all of Adam and Eve’s children have been born with three problems.

We are sinners like our first parents

We are going to die

We will be judged by God for our sin

Christ

Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who took on human flesh

Born of a virgin and conceived of the Spirit—not born a sinner like us

He lived the perfect, sinless life that we could never live

He died on the cross as a substitute, bearing the wrath of God that our sin deserved

He was buried and rose from the dead on the third day, slaying sin and death

His resurrection proves that God accepted his sacrifice and that he is Lord over all

Response

Now he offers His victor over sin and death to you

God commands that we repent—turn away from sin and trying to rule yourself

Place your faith in Jesus and ask Him to save you from your sins based on the work He has done

Those who respond by repenting and believing are forgiven

Declared righteous

Adopted into God's family

Where Living for Christ Begins

This is where living for Christ begins.

It begins with surrender.

“God I will not call the shots anymore.”

“God—I humble myself before you and trust in your Son to save me.”

Many, many years ago, Leila Collins met Jesus.

Just like Paul.

She surrendered.

Her testimony was:

My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Is this your testimony?

Have you surrendered your life to Jesus Christ?

Will they grieve with hope on the day you die because they know you belong to God’s family?

The light of Christ is shining on you now.

Hear His voice in His Word and believe:

Matthew 11:28 ESV

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

2. The life that counts is SPENT on Christ (v. 20-24).

In just a handful of verses, Paul shows us what a life that counts looks like.

He writes this letter to the Philippian church—a congregation in ancient Greece

In this part of the letter, he is explaining how the entire trajectory of his life is about the advance of Jesus’ message of salvation—even his imprisonment

Paul’s Legacy

When it comes to preaching the Cross of Jesus Christ, Paul is:

Unashamed (v. 20) — “I will not be at all ashamed”

He does not shrink back from being identified with Jesus

Whatever the cost may be

Paul was determined to live His life for Jesus Christ and preach Jesus Christ, no matter what

Bold for Christ (v. 20) — “With full courage”

Boldness and courage do not mean that you lack fear

Bold and courage mean that you do not allow fear to cause you to be disobedient to Christ

Paul is BOLD for Christ

You see it at the end of the book of Acts

He goes from authority figure to authority figure in both the Jewish and Roman world and he tells every single one about Jesus, knowing they all the power to make his life very hard...OR EVEN END IT!

Honoring Christ (v. 20) — “Christ will be honored in my body”

If Paul’s boldness gets him killed, then Christ will be honored in his death.

If Paul is able to continue to live courageously and boldly, then Christ will be honored in his life.

Either way, Christ is honored and that is all Paul cares about

Living for Christ (v. 21) — “To live is Christ...”

For Paul, living = living for Christ.

To be alive is to serve Jesus.

Sometimes something great will happen and people say, “What a time to be alive!”

For Paul—any day where he serving Christ is a great time to be alive.

In fact—being alive is defined by living for Jesus

Fruitful Work for Christ (v. 22) — “If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me”

Paul says, “If I am living, I am going to be productive for Jesus.”

If a Christian has breath in their lungs, they should desire to live faithfully and fruitfully in all things

Our Lord never thought of a relationship to him that does not issue in fruitfulness for him.

Vance Houston Havner

When Jesus talked about His disciples, He assumes they will be faithful and their lives will produce fruit because Christ is working through them

John 15:5 ESV

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Living for the sake of others — “But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.”

Paul is torn between two minds.

This is way it is for Christians.

To live is great because you get to honor Christ in your body.

But to die is GAIN because you get to go into the presence of Christ and into His glory

As Christians we are citizens of heaven:

Philippians 3:20 ESV

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

When a Christian dies, they leave this country and go to their homeland—the place there Savior is.

That is TRULY GAIN! Better than any gain on this earth.

And yet, Paul is willing to put off the gain for the sake of the Philippians.

It is “more necessary” that he would remain alive for their sake—on their account

This shows you Paul’s selflessness as a Christian man and as a pastor

He will do anything for Jesus, which includes giving himself to serve Jesus’ church

Lei’s Legacy

When I thought of these things, I thought— “Paul’s funeral must have been easy to preach.”

He basically wrote his own homily by telling about his zeal and passion for the Lord Jesus Christ in life and in death

Well— I have to tell you… Lei’s service is hard to preach because we love her and miss her. But she kind of wrote the homily for me too.

Lei was very Paul-like with her life.

She was unashamed and bold about Jesus.

She was an evangelist

She loved inviting people to church

She loved to ask me to pray for her family members who didn’t know Jesus

Vee said if they went to the doctor and she had her bag with Bible verses on it, she would sit the bag so it was on display, hoping to spark conversation

She so deeply wanted to see people saved

She honored Christ.

In my time of knowing Lei, she spent her energies:

Communicating God’s truth through dramas and skits in different settings in our church

Raising money for missions through the Magic of Christmas concert with the Goins-Phillips family

Teaching women

Loving her Sunday School class well

Putting out the flowers—or making sure Lei and Mel did

Praying for the lost, her family, her church and her country

Making sure her pastors knew what was happening in the lives of her friends so we could pray and check on them

Being incredibly hospitable

Helping other church members get healthy

The list could go on.

The bottom line is the Lei Collins ferociously honored Jesus Christ in her life.

She lived for Christ.

Even as she could not go out of the house much anymore, Lei counted her suffering as joy.

She told me that God had given her more time to read her Bible and pray.

She felt closer to Him than ever.

She understood that her suffering would produce endurance

Endurance produces character

Character produces hope, which does not put us to shame

If illness wanted to her health, she would her extra required rest time to pursue Jesus.

If illness took her son, she would go and help get a scholarship fund going in his name for Christian youth.

If circumstances in her church would change and take away her senior adult pastors and give her a 26 year old pastor—then she would love and encourage him.

...And even offer him some loving correction when he was mistepping.

She was fruitful for Jesus.

We really cannot control fruitfulness for Jesus.

All we can do is be faithful and leave the results to Him

However—the truly faithful are inevitably fruitful.

I have no doubts that Lei has entered into glory and heard the words, “Well done good and faithful servant. Enter into rest.”

And her heavenly reward of knowing Christ and His glory speaks to her fruitfulness

For all she produced for Jesus and laid up as treasure in heaven, is coming to her now!

She lived for the sake of others.

One sister in our church reached out when Lei went to heaven and said, “She was my rock.”

People don’t talk about you like that because of one phone call.

They talk about you like that when you are a seemingly ever-present friend

And you can’t be that unless you are willing to sacrificially love others like Lei did

From Mel to her kids to her grandkids...

...To her church members...

...To her pastors...

...Lei, in the pattern of her Lord, would lay herself down for other people

The Life That Counts

This is the life that counts!

The life SPENT on Jesus!

A life that is bold and unashamed.

A life that brings Jesus great honor.

A life lived for Him.

A life that is faithful and fruitful

A life lived for others

This is what the SURRENDERED life looks like.

And this is a life well-lived—the one spent on Christ.

Lei’s life counted because of who she poured it out for.

Will you do the same?

3. The life that counts is SECURE in Christ (v. 21, 23)

Finally, I want you to see why we are confident about the eternal home of Leila Collins this morning.

To die is gain (v. 21)

My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better (v. 23)

Clearly being with Christ in Paradise is better than being here on Earth

But how do we know that we will get there?

Christ Has Made a Promise

Because the same Jesus that we SURRENDER to and SPEND ourselves on...

...The same Jesus who have SAVED...

...He has made a promise.

John 14:1–3 ESV

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

What the Scriptures teach us about afterlife for Christians is this:

After Jesus died and rose again, He ascended into heaven

One day He is going to return

Until that day, when Christians die, their souls go to be with Christ in Paradise

This is where all of God’s people who have gone before us are currently enjoying glory

But it gets even better!

One day, Jesus will return and here is what the Bible teaches:

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 ESV

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

Once Christ returns, He will establish His Kingdom fully and finally in the New Heavens and the New Earth

And all of His resurrected people, dwelling in bodies patterned after His, will dwell with Him forever—Just as God always intended

Revelation 21:3 ESV

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

All of this will come true!

How do we know?

Because the One who said He would die and rise again, died and rose again.

The One who said He would ascend, ascended into heaven.

He has come through on every Promise yet

His Cross and Resurrection and Ascension serve as proof that He will come through on the promise of eternal Resurrection Life as well

The life that is SURRENDERED to Christ and SPENT on Christ is SECURE in Christ because Jesus has done it all.

He has lived. He has died. He has risen. He has ascended.

And He will come again.

Our Confidence for Lei

This means that our confidence for Lei has nothing to do with her being a great:

Schoolteacher

Mother

Wife

Friend

Church Member

It has everything do with the fact that she surrendered her life to Christ.

We know that is true because He made her fruitful.

She spent her life on Him.

And now—based on what HE HAS DONE to save her—She is SECURE in Him.

Her death is her gain.

Our loss for now.

But her GLORIOUS gain.

Conclusion

Have you surrendered to Christ?

Have you turned from your sin?

Have you believed in the crucified and risen Savior?

Do you spend your life on Christ?

Do you live for yourself or will you live for Someone greater?

Are you secure in Him?

Where will you spend your eternity?

John 14:6 ESV

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Get right with God through His Son.

Lei would tell you nothing else matters today.