Good Life, Good Death

Good morning and welcome to this gathering of Hope Bible Fellowship. Go ahead and open your Bible to Philippians chapter 1. Stick your thumb in it for a minute because I want to say something before we get going on the message.

This has been a crazy couple of years. I've never seen anything like it. People have stayed home from all kinds of things that they normally would have done. Many people stayed away from any type of large gathering of people. We even had a few weeks where the church did not meet in person. During that time many churches struggled financially due their giving dropping. There are even some who did not survive the pandemic. But the Lord has provided for us here at Hope. Our bills have been paid and we have new people who are joining us. I need to tell you that right now we are currently looking at a shortfall in our budget for the year. What that means is that our giving has not been what it needs to be to support the budget that the church voted to approve at the beginning of the year. Now with all of the crazy happenings of the last couple of years, some of you may have forgotten to give your regular offering occasionally. What I'm asking you to do is to pray about how much you are able to give and how much the Lord would lead you to give and give sacrificially to continue to support the ministry of Hope Bible Fellowship and to help us meet our budget. We believe that God can meet our need. And we believe that God uses the generosity of His people to meet needs. We believe that God will prove himself faithful when we trust in Him.

With that said, we are going to jump back into Philippians chapter one. You'll hopefully recall from last week that Paul is writing to the Philippian church whom he deeply cares for. He's in jail and had just finished recounting that there were some who preached Christ for the wrong reasons but that either way he was rejoicing that Jesus Christ was being proclaimed. He never said they were teaching wrong things, just that they had the wrong motives. Paul had no trouble in calling out false teachers when he was confronted by them. He did so quite strongly in other places. Last week I may have given the impression that these guys were part of the Judaizers but that is likely not true since he did not mention their identity or come against them in his words here. I apologize for my error if I gave that impression last week.

So Paul now moves from saying he rejoices because Christ is being proclaimed to giving them a second reason for his upbeat attitude. Let's read verses 18b through verse 30 and see what the Word of the Lord has to say to us today.

Read

Philippians 1:18–30 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, 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. 27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. 29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Paul gives them the second reason for his positive attitude. He knows that while he is going through this trial of being in prison, he has two kinds of help.

1. Human help - prayers

2. Divine help - given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ

Paul is clearly dependent on the Spirit working. The help here is translated from the Greek word meaning assistance which undergirds and strengthens the object.

As in Ephesians 4:16

Ephesians 4:16 ESV

16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Like a ligament which acts as a support. In the use of the grammar of the sentence it suggests the two kinds of help working together.

In verses 18-21 we see Paul's ambition.

Ambition of Paul

Ambition is not necessarily a bad thing. It depends on what you are ambitious for and why. Paul was ambitious in three ways that we see woven into verses 18b-21 in the first part of this passage.

Paul was ambitious to:

Rejoice in Christ consistently (18b)

Rely on Christ completely (19)

The Greek word in verse 19 translated as deliverance is sōtēriā. It means to rescue from danger.

Represent Christ courageously (20-21)

When we understand what Paul's great ambition was, we can understand why he faced the following dilemma.

Analyzing his dilemma

We come to a point where Paul tells the Philippians about this dilemma that he is facing. He wants to stay and continue his ministry on earth but he also wants to go into eternity because it would mean he would get to be with Jesus Christ. It's a good reminder that heaven is only heaven because Jesus is there. I want you to think about how you feel about heaven. I once heard a famous preacher said something like, "If you could have all of the glories of heaven and every benefit that is promised to us but Jesus was not there, would you still want to go there?"

How you answer that question will tell you something about your relationship with Christ Jesus.

If Paul was allowed to live longer, he was committed to continuing to reveal Christ.

But if he died, his death was gain because he would be with Jesus. Paul saw the benefits of both.

When he says that living would mean fruitful labor, it would mean that more Gentiles would believe the gospel. It means he would be concerned with Christ's concerns, His values, and His mission. And that is what it means for us as well. As long as there is breath in our lungs, no matter our life situation, we should be concerned with what Jesus is concerned with. We should value what Jesus values and we should be on mission with Jesus, in line with His mission.

Appealing to the Philippians

Beginning in verse 27, Paul makes an appeal to the Philippians to live their lives in a way that is worthy of those who claim the name of Jesus.

Paul is concerned that they stand firm in one sprit. This is a phrase that is a reflection of the military pride of the Roman army. Roman armies were at the ready for battle regardless of the strength of the enemy or distractions of the culture enticing them. The church must have the same readiness.

Being of one spirit is an expressing of the unified attitude of the believers.

One mind - or one accord - literally "same soul". This is Christians of the church sharing life. Contending as one person. When they are together they prevent divisiveness. To stand firm involves contending together. When we say contending, it comes from sports teams contending for a prize. It's harmony that achieves God's purposes and not individualism. And when we stand together, unified, as one body, that standing involves not being scared. We do not fear our opponents because we stand firm together with the strength of Christ and the prayers of the brothers. One of Paul's main concerns throughout this letter is the unity of the church.

Standing firm together strengthens us individually. It gives us confidence to boldly proclaim and not fear the opposition.

Standing firm in word and deed

Galatians 5:1 ESV

1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Ephesians 6:14 ESV

14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

Colossians 4:12 ESV

12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.

Acknowledging what has been granted to them

In verses 29 and 30 Paul does something interesting. He acknowledges two things that have been granted to the Philippians believers.

The first is:

1. To trust in Christ (v. 29)

Paul had come to Phillipi preaching the gospel and it was granted to them to understand and believe the gospel. The truth that Jesus is God. That men have sinned and Jesus gave his life willingly on the cross in our place for our sin and rose from the dead after three days. They trusted in this message that it meant forgiveness for their sin and that God would create in them a new heart and give them a new nature and grow the fruit of the spirit in them.

The second is:

2. To suffer for Christ (v. 29b-30)

Faith is not an accident. It's a gift given by God.

Suffering is not an accident. It's a gift granted by God. It will sanctify us and glorify Him.

These things have been granted to us and it ought to drive us to have the same kind of ambition as Paul. Ultimately, it should line us up with Jesus.

Conclusion - (musicians)

Our ambition should be:

Rejoice in Christ consistently

In all things, whatever comes our way...

Rely on Christ completely

For everything we need.

Represent Christ courageously (20-21)

Be of one spirit and one mind. Stand firm with other members of your local church, linking arms and standing as one body. Your relationship with Christ is personal but it’s not private.

Let all of this bring you boldness to stand fearless against opposition as we rejoice in, rely on, and represent Christ.