Philippians 1:18-26 - Dying and Rising

Introduction

Paul Miller, the author of the See Jesus Bible studies that we have used on Thursday nights, tells a story in his book The J-Curve about giving a presentation about prayer at a pastor’s conference. As he gave his presentation, about half of his audience were busily scrolling through their phones, completely ignoring him. Afterwards a friend of his was very upset, telling Paul how horribly that audience treated him. But Paul responded that he didn’t mind—they were demonstrating by their behavior that they were more important than he was; that he ranked lower than them in importance. But that was okay, Paul said, because people treated Jesus the same way! So he was actually being invited into the life of Jesus by the disregard he received from those self-important pastors!

This is almost exactly the same thing that we saw happening to the Apostle Paul last week, isn’t it? His competitors in ministry wanted to show that they were more important, more valuable, more competent than Paul—he had the bad form to be thrown in jail, after all!—while they were smart enough and clever enough to avoid arrest and keep preaching! We saw last week that Paul’s priority was Christ, not himself, and so it didn’t matter who got the credit, as long as Jesus was preached!

Philippians 1:18 ESV

18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice,

In the following verses of chapter 1, Paul unpacks a bit more of what is going on in his heart that gives him this unshakeable joy in the face of the scorn and boasting of his competitors over him. His life is not governed by the rise or fall of his reputation with his competitors—the rhythms of Paul’s life were governed by the dying and rising of Jesus Christ:

Philippians 1:19–20 ESV

19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 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.

If we grasp what Paul is telling us here in these verses we will not only unlock the theme of this book that shows up time and time again, but we will also have a wellspring of hope and courage and sacrificial love that will sustain our joy in Christ in any circumstance we find ourselves in. And so this is what I want to show you from Paul’s words here in Philippians 1:18-26—that

The Christian’s life is GOVERNED by the DYING and RISING of Christ

Christian, you do not evaluate your life on the basis of the rise and fall of your reputation, your joy and peace and contentment are not determined by the rise or fall of your nation—your life is governed by the rhythms of the life of Christ in you. This is part of what Paul is saying in verses 19-20 of our text:

Philippians 1:19–20 ESV

19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 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.

How does Paul say that his imprisonment will “turn out for his deliverance”? By the prayers of the people in the church in Philippi and “the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ”. Here’s what I think Paul is saying here: Because Jesus Christ died and was raised, and because the Spirit of Jesus Christ now lives in Paul (Gal. 2:20), that means that Paul has confidence that he will be raised up as well!

Now, we are accustomed to thinking of our being “raised with Christ” in terms of the Great Resurrection at the end of human history—we will receive our resurrection bodies and be present with Christ for all eternity. And of course that is our great hope and consolation. But for the Apostle Paul, the death and resurrection of Christ was not just a “one-time” reality at the start of his Christian life (when he died to sin and was raised to life by his profession of faith in Christ at his salvation) or a far-off future event at the Day of Judgment. For Paul, the rhythm of dying and rising with Christ was everywhere in his life. All of the Christian life is a series of dyings and risings. Paul’s life was governed by the dying and rising of Christ’s life in him.

For example, Paul’s imprisonment was a kind of “death”—his liberty was taken away, and he also suffered the “death” of the disregard and scorn of his competitors. But Paul does not spend these verses complaining about his imprisonment or pleading with the Philippians to work the system to get him released; he doesn’t bemoan the gross miscarriage of justice he has suffered at the hands of the government authorities. Instead, the life of Christ in Paul gave him

I. A life of HOPE instead of DESPAIR (Philippians 1:19)

His competitors were taking the opportunity to “kick him while he is down”—to try to build themselves up by humiliating him in his imprisonment (Phil 1:17). But for Paul, the “death” of being humiliated and scorned and disregarded and made a laughingstock was not a source of despair—he was glad to enter into that kind of “death” because he knew that for the Christian every death is followed by a resurrection!

We have HOPE for deliverance from our CIRCUMSTANCES

because our lives are governed by the dying and rising of Christ! It is so easy for us to become weighed down with despair by our circumstances—whether it is the accelerating failure of our political infrastructure or the lingering effects of the economic turmoil we’ve been in—it may be a family situation or a health issue or a conflict at work that feels like a “dying” in your life. But if you belong to Jesus Christ—if you no longer live but Jesus Christ now lives in you, then there is no dying that you will go through in your circumstances that will not be followed by a rising!

You may not be able to see it coming, you may look around you and say there is no way that you can get out of your circumstances. But if you are a Christian, then it is impossible for that dying to not be followed by a rising! This is what Paul was saying here in verse 19: “I know this will turn out for my deliverance, because the Spirit of Christ lives in me, and His dying is always followed by a rising!”

Now, make no mistake: That “resurrection” may not look the way you think it should—Paul says that his “deliverance” might take place by his being released from prison (cp. 2:23, “as soon as I see how it will go with me”) or he might get out of prison feet first (whether by life or by death”—v. 20) But either way, Paul had hope for deliverance from his circumstances because his life was governed by the pattern of the dying and rising of Christ!

Paul didn’t despair in his circumstances, and we see in verse 20 also that he didn’t despair in the shaming he received from his competitors. The first part of verse 20 says :

Philippians 1:20 ESV

20 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.

Because of the dying and rising life of Christ in us,

We have HOPE for deliverance from SHAME (Philippians 1:20a)

as well. Paul knew that part of the dying life of Christ included the shame that Jesus experienced at the hands of His adversaries—stripping Him naked on the Cross for all Jerusalem to see, hurling abuse and scorn and hatred at Him as His life drained away. Paul refers to this later in the letter when he writes that Jesus “became obedient unto death, even the death on a Cross” (Philippians 2:8).

But what does the next verse say?

Philippians 2:9 ESV

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,

Once again—do you see it? the death of shame and humiliation Jesus suffered was followed by vindication for all eternity, as He “endured the Cross, despising its shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). Paul says, “since Jesus death in humiliation and shame was followed by a rising to vindication and honor, I have hope that I will be delivered from shame as well!” Paul’s “eager expectation and hope that he would not be at all ashamed” was grounded in the rock-solid assurance that since the Spirit of Christ lived in him he would experience the same kind of deliverance from shame that Jesus did!

The Christian life is governed by the dying and rising of Christ—it gives us a life of hope instead of despair, and we see that it gives us

II. A life of COURAGE instead of COWARDICE (Philippians 1:20)

Paul says that he is “full of all courage” that Christ will be honored in his body, whether by life or by death”. “Whether by life means you have courage for

Honoring Christ in your LIVING

This was the source of Paul’s courage—that he knew he would be delivered from the shame and scorn of his enemies. And so he could live courageously for Christ, “despising the shame” because of the joy that waited for him—whether he was vindicated in this life or in the next.

It is far too easy for Christians to become cowed by the pressures of the world around them that hates their commitment to Christ. We are tempted to keep our heads down, “go along to get along”, don’t make waves, don’t draw attention to ourselves and hope we can just slip along under the radar. But that’s not the way the Apostle Paul looked at his life, is it? He knew that no matter what kind of “dying” came his way in the scorn or hatred or reviling from his enemies, he could endure it because he knew that there would be a “rising”—and because he knew that even suffering the scorn made him more like Jesus!

John 15:18 ESV

18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.

We often read this verse and take the encouragement from it that “Jesus knows how we feel when we are hated by the world”—but don’t ever forget that this is a two-way street: When the world hates you, it invites you into Jesus’ life as well! Not only does He understand how you feel, you get to understand what He felt! When you are hated, reviled, “cancelled” by this world, you get to become more like Jesus!

Paul says that Christ will be honored in his body “whether by life or by death”—courage for honoring Christ in our living, and courage for

Honoring Christ in our DYING

Paul was ready to honor Christ no matter what—whether in the life that he lived, or in the death that he died. He knew he would be delivered from prison one way or another—either on his feet, or feet first—but it was a deliverance either way! Paul was ready to honor Christ by loving Him more than he loved his own life. In 156 A.D., when the Apostle John’s last surviving disciple, Polycarp, was threatened with execution for not offering incense to Caesar, he is said to have replied, “Fourscore and six years have I served him, and he has never done me injury; how then can I now blaspheme my King and savior?” He loved Christ more than his own life, and honored him with his death.

But aside from honoring Christ in his physical death, Paul had courage to honor Christ in the dying to himself that came about because of his imprisonment and the scorn of his opponents. When we come to Philippians 3, Paul will specifically refer to how he had to “die” to his own pride in his self-righteousness so that the power of Christ could raise him to new life:

Philippians 3:8–9 ESV

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

Paul’s life was governed by the rhythm of the dying and rising of Christ—it meant a life of hope instead of despair, a life of courage instead of cowardice, and

III. A life of SACRIFICIAL LOVE instead of SELF-LOVE (Philippians 1:22-26)

Look at verses 22-24 with me:

Philippians 1:22–24 ESV

22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.

Paul tells the church in Philippi that he is torn between two options, both of which were good! Paul understood that he would be honoring Christ whether he died or whether he lived. There was no “bad option”—he was

Free to RECEIVE the REWARD of Heaven (Philippians 1:23)

He was free to die and be with Christ—which he knew was “far better”. Awakening in the presence of his Savior, leaving all of the turmoil and danger and scorn behind and receiving his reward of being with Jesus was a good thing. Because Jesus had died and was raised to His eternal kingdom, Paul knew that when he died he would be raised to his eternal reward

Ephesians 2:7 ESV

7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

But instead of taking that good and right and glorious reward, Paul also knew that he was

Free to DEFER the REWARD of Heaven (Philippians 1:25-26)

Verses 25-26 say

Philippians 1:25–26 ESV

25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

Paul knew that he would gain Christ in his death, but he also knew that if he deferred that reward, if he said (in effect) “Heaven can wait”—he was doing the same thing that Jesus did when He left Heaven for the sake of His people! Because Paul’s living and dying was governed by the living and dying of the life of Christ in him, he was free to do as Jesus did—Jesus “did not count equality with God as a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:7). And in his own way, when Paul “did not count eternity in the presence of God a thing to be grasped” was becoming more like Christ in his sacrificial love for the church!

Rather than take his rightful reward in heaven, Paul was content to defer that reward and “remain and continue with” the church “for their progress and joy in the faith”—he was free to live a life of sacrificial love instead of the self-centeredness of the world around him. His adversaries were only thinking about their own advancement, their own pride and boasting; Paul was thinking of the church’s advancement in joy in Christ! Because the rhythm of the dying and rising of Christ in his life, Paul was free to live a life of sacrificial love instead of the selfishness of the world around him.

Christian, if you have the Spirit of Christ living in you, if the life you now live in the flesh you live by faith in Jesus Christ who loved you and died for you and rose for you, then you have this same wellspring of unquenchable joy in you! You are free to live with hope instead of despair! No matter what circumstances you find yourself in, no matter how far things deteriorate, if you belong to Jesus Christ there will always be a rising! It might not look the way you want it to, it might come in a way you cannot expect, but it will always come, it has to come—because Jesus didn’t stay in the grave, you won’t either!

No matter the turmoil our nation and our political system is in—and for the record, it is rough—for you, Christian, there is always a rising! There is always a rescue! How do you know whether this shaking and tumbling down, this “death” of everything this rebellious, wicked nation trusts in isn’t just God’s way of preparing for a revival the likes of which this nation has never seen? Faithful Christians have been pleading with God for a revival in this country for decades—what if this collapse is God’s way of bringing this country through a “death” so that it is prepared for a “rising” of repentance and faith in the Name of Jesus Christ?

How do you know whether the failures and flame-outs of so many churches and denominations and celebrity Christian evangelicals over the past couple of years isn’t the death that is coming ahead of a glorious and powerful resurrection of the Church to a holiness and righteousness and power and authority to proclaim the Gospel that it hasn’t had in this country for centuries? If your life is governed by the dying and rising of Christ, Christian, it is not a possibility that there will be a resurrection of your circumstances—it is a guarantee! Mind you, it might not come the way you want it to, and it might not come when you want it to; but if your life is governed by the dying and rising of Christ, it will come!

Christian, the dying and rising of Christ in you gives you courage in this world! How many times have you neglected to take a stand for Christ or avoided getting into a Gospel-discussion with a friend or family member because you were afraid of being rejected? But see here what Paul tells you in these verses—when you suffer for the sake of His Name, you get to enter into Jesus’ own experience! Do you shy away from sharing Christ with your family members because you don’t want them to scorn you? Many of you read a couple of weeks ago in Mark’s Gospel how Jesus Himself was scorned by His family:

Mark 3:21 ESV

21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”

When you “die” through the disregard and scorn you receive for sharing the Gospel with those who are closest to you, you not only have the assurance that Jesus understands you, but you also come to understand Him better! You live the same scorn He did, you experience the same heartbreak He did—and He makes you more like Him! And never forget that one of the same brothers that came to take Jesus away in Mark 3 went on to write one of the New Testament books! Jesus’ half-brother James went on to repent of his unbelief and serve Jesus—you can have the same confidence that that same rising may come to your family as well!

Christian, the dying and rising of Christ in you gives you the freedom to honor Christ in your dying. We do not know whether any of us will ever be called to honor Christ with our bodies in our physical death—but every one of us certainly will honor Christ in the other “dyings” that come into our lives: Dying to your pride when you are reviled, dying to your “rights” when they are taken from you, dying to your comfort and security when your livelihood is threatened, dying to “the way life used to be” as God continues to pour out His righteous judgment on a nation that even now is “doubling down” on its hatred of God and His Word.

And not only are you free to die to those things, you are free to lay them down in sacrificial love for others! Just as Paul could defer his right and good and well-deserved reward of Heaven for the sake of his friends, so you are free to lay down your comforts, your security, your rights and even your life for the sake of your church family, your neighbors, your friends—and even your enemies. Because His Spirit lives in you, you are free of the self-centeredness and “self-love” of this world. You are free—whether by life or by death—with all hope, with all courage, with all joy—to live your life in step with the dying and rising of your Savior, Jesus Christ!

BENEDICTION

Hebrews 13:20–21 ESV

20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:

Paul says that he was full of “eager expectation and hope” that he would be delivered from his circumstances (i.e., his imprisonment). What circumstances are you going through that make it hard for you to experience that kind of hope? How does the certainty of Jesus’ resurrection give you grounds for hoping that you will be delivered from your situation?

Paul said that he had courage to honor Christ “whether by life or by death”. What are some ways that you have found yourself having to “die” to yourself in order to honor Jesus?

Take some time this week to read through the book of Philippians and look for ways that Paul refers to dying and rising in his life—pray that God will use the example of Paul’s joy in Jesus’ dying and rising to give you joy in the midst of the difficult circumstances you face this week.