Christ, by All Means (Manuscript)

Introduction

How important is Jesus Christ to you? Would you be willing to go to prison for your faith? What if that prison sentence also led to a death sentence? These are legitimate questions we must ask ourselves. People are going to prison and being killed for their faith around the world as we speak. According to the OpenDoors website, more than 260 million Christians face persecution around the world today which is an increase of 15 million people over 1 year. This will someday soon be a reality in our country as we progress towards an anti-God culture that is offended by the words that come from the Bible. If we look throughout history, we will see that many men, women, and children since the death of Christ have boldly given their lives and their freedom for the faith. The old church father Polycarp was given the option to either denounce Christ and live or not denounce Christ and be burned at the stake. He responded by saying, ““Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me any injury: how then can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?” Or what about Ignatius of Antioch when facing death says, “May I enjoy the wild beasts that are prepared for me. I pray that they would be found eager to rush at me, and I will also entice them to devour me speedily and not deal with me as some, whom out of fear they have not touched. If they are unwilling to assail me, I will compel them to do so. Pardon me; I know what is to my benefit. Now I begin to be a disciple. Let no one, of things visible or invisible, prevent me from attaining to Jesus Christ. Let fire and the cross; let wild beasts; let tearings, breakings, and dislocation of bones; let cutting off of limbs; let shatterings of the whole body; and let all the evil torments of the devil come upon me; only let me attain to Jesus Christ.” What would drive people to do something like that? Would everybody who calls themselves “Christian” do the same thing? As we take a look at the text today, we will see what is going on in the mind of someone who is ready to give their life for Christ.

Transition

Before we look into our passage today, I would like to point out what has just been mentioned by the apostle Paul in the first chapter of Philippians. Paul is speaking of how his being imprisoned for the gospel has been used to actually advance the gospel. What the world meant for bad to Paul has actually been used for good. Paul going to prison has actually encouraged others to proclaim Christ boldly. We also see that there was a group of people who were not preaching Christ out of love, but with the intention of afflicting Paul in his imprisonment. This leads us to the text we will be looking at today in Philippians 1:18-26. Let's read.

Philippians 1:18-26

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

To Live Is Christ

Yes, and I will rejoice, 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. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 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. 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.

Verse 18

We continue here with Paul referring to the people who were preaching Christ with the plan of troubling him while he is in prison. Take a look at Paul's mindset here. He says that even though they were preaching Christ in a way that was intended to do him harm, he rejoiced for the simple fact that Christ was being proclaimed. Paul is not concerned with whether they are preaching the gospel from false motives or true, as long as the gospel is preached. This shows that as notorious as Paul may have seemed to some people, he was never there to exalt himself but only the Lord Jesus, otherwise something of this nature would have really bothered him.

Verse 19

Paul has thanked the Philippians earlier in this letter for their partnership with him in the gospel. This partnership has not stopped since Paul has been in prison, as we see here the church has been praying for him. “No man can do me a truer kindness in this world than to pray for me,” says the old British preacher Charles Spurgeon. Paul seems to feel the same way as he finds extreme value in their prayers. He says that through their prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance. There is power in prayer. Through prayer and the help of the Spirit, Paul is sure that what has happened to him will turn out for his deliverance. What is meant by this? Paul is in prison right now, is he thinking that since they are praying for him and the Spirit is going to help that he will be delivered from jail? Or does he have something else in mind? We see more clearly what he is talking about in verse 20.

Verse 20

We see in verse 20 that what Paul was expecting deliverance from was being ashamed of Christ. Paul was in prison for the faith and it was possible that he could also be killed. Through their prayers and the help of the Spirit, Paul expects that no matter what situation this leads to, whether life or death, he will approach it courageously and Christ will be exalted in his body as he has always been.

Verses 21-23

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” I remember reading over this verse many times in the past and having no idea what exactly it meant. To live is Christ. If Paul is alive, he is living for Christ which is great to him. If Paul dies, he will then be with Christ which is even better. This is how you can be in prison, potentially to die and not be worried about the outcome, only that you will honor Christ in whichever it may be. Paul clarifies exactly what he means in verses 22 and 23 by saying that if it is Gods will that he should be released, that would mean that he could go back to the ministry which would result in gain for the church but if he is to go and be with Christ, that would be way better, yet he does not know which one he would prefer.

Verses 24-26

As Paul struggles to decide which option is better, he points out the fact that staying alive is more necessary on the account of the Philippians. When it comes to Paul's decision of which he would prefer, instead of dying and going to be with Christ which he deems far better, he decides out of love for this church it would be better to stay with them for their progress and joy in the faith. Having someone like the apostle Paul at your church offers great benefits to you as a believer. Paul is responsible for much of the New Testament, knows the Old Testament like the back of his hand, and received what he knows from revelation through Jesus Christ. If Paul is to continue at this church, this means that these believers who have partnered with him in gospel will grow stronger and more mature as they imitate Paul imitating Christ. Not only that, but the joy that comes from knowing Jesus Christ. Is it just me or do you get excited when you see somebody profess their faith in Jesus Christ and are baptized? Every time I see it, it makes me want to cry for joy and I am sure that it brings even more joy to the one being baptized. This is only the beginning. There is much more joy to be had as they continue to learn and grow in their relationship with Christ. Paul's goal in this is that this church’s boasting in Jesus Christ will abound because of him.

Reflection

What is the common theme that we see in this text? I have titled this message CHRIST, by all means, for the simple reason that it is written all over this text. Some are preaching CHRIST out of envy and strife towards Paul but Paul rejoices because CHRIST is proclaimed. Paul may live or Paul may die the only thing that Paul is concerned with is that CHRIST is honored. To live is to live for CHRIST, to die is to be with CHRIST. Paul strongly desires to be with CHRIST but it is better that the church have him with him that they might more strongly boast in CHRIST. CHRIST CHRIST CHRIST. This is what Paul's life was dedicated to. As we look at Paul's life and see that it was all about Christ, my question to you today is what is your life all about? I can remember when I was in school, my life was about everything but Christ because I had not come to know him yet. I was concerned with the football team, hanging out with friends, playing video games, and dating. Maybe as you take a look at your lives tonight, you might see that some of these things have taken priority in your life over Christ. Is Jesus even a priority in your life? Is it important to you that you spend time in the word and prayer daily or do you go from week to week only hearing about Jesus at church? I can hear the Lord saying in the gospel, Peter, do you love me? After Christ had died and risen from the dead, Peter having seen him after he had risen from the dead goes back to fishing. Christ says if you love me, feed my sheep. I am telling you tonight that if you believe in Jesus, he has died to pay for your sin. How can you go back to fishing? How can you go back to your old way of life after realizing that the God who created the universe came to earth in the form of man and died for you so that you wouldn't have to spend eternity separated from his love? Jesus deserves more in our lives than one day a week for an hour at church, he deserves our whole life. I asked you in the beginning of this message what would drive people to give their lives for the faith. The clear answer is that they realized one has given His life for them, his life of way more value, that they may have life, eternal life. When you really process that, you will realize that Christ deserves priority number one in your life, over family, over friends, over football, video games, whatever. Paul realized this to the point where he said that if he was killed for the faith it would be better for him because then he could be with Christ.

Application

My challenge to you today is to live for Christ in a world that does not like him. How can you live for Christ today?

Proclaim Christ. Paul says whether in false motives or true, Christ was proclaimed and he rejoiced in that. Do your friends at school know what you believe? If you don't know how to start the conversation simply ask them what they think about God? This will start the conversation and most likely give you the chance to share what you believe. I would also like to point out that Christ can be proclaimed through your lifestyle. The person that shared the gospel with me did not do it in words but by his lifestyle. Being obedient to the commands of Christ can also be a form of proclaiming Him.

Prayer. Paul finds great power in prayer and so should we. If you are having trouble reading your Bible every day or find yourself doing things that you know you shouldn’t, these are things that we should take to the Lord in prayer. Maybe there is somebody here today that you know is struggling with their faith or struggling with their Bible reading, we see the example in this text that we should pray for one another. I want to challenge you this week to pray at least once a day and to include each day somebody here in this group.

Honor Christ in your body. It is dishonoring to the name of Christ when we as Christians do not walk in purity. If your friends see you talking bad about somebody, cursing, watching bad things, being mean to others, this can reflect how they view Christ because you may be the closest example that they will ever see of a Christian.

Finally, progress and find joy in the faith. The Bible says that faith comes from hearing the Word of God. If we expect to progress, we have to make it a habit of spending time in our Bibles. If you are not doing this, you do not have to start big but you should start somewhere. Start by reading a chapter of the New Testament a day which should only take you a few minutes. While you are doing this, really think about what you are reading. I like to journal as I think about what a passage is saying and it helps me really focus on what is being communicated. This often leads me to great joy which leads me to prayer.

May your life display the message, Christ, by all means.

Lets pray!