To Live is Christ

Tonight we arrive at what is probably the most well-known verse in the entire book of Philippians and that is Philippians 1:21. I could say this every week as we travel through Philippians but the section of Scripture that we are going through tonight is so encouraging. Even in the midst of global pandemics, tensions and war in Europe, inflation, and more uncertainties than I could list, there is something so sweet to the soul within the passage of Scripture that we are going to look at this evening. The passage is Philippians 1:19-30 and we will break these verses up into three main sections: verses 19-20, verses 21-26, and 27-the end of the chapter but depending on time we may end up pushing that to next week. Our main theme for tonight is the comfort that comes from the hand of a sovereign God and the sure victory that we have as God’s people.

C.T. Studd sign- In my office, there is a sign hanging above my window that I really do look at every single day and reflect on. It’s a quote from a poem by a missionary named C.T. Studd and it reads, “Only one life ‘twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.” That’s really the message of what we are going to read about tonight here at the end of Philippians 1. Our lives are like a vapor, they’re here today and gone tomorrow. One day our lives will be over, your life will be over, and what will matter more than anything? What is the one thing that will have truly cosmic and eternal significance? The things that you did for Christ. My favorite stanza in Studd’s poem reads, “Only one life ‘twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last. And when I am dying, how happy I’ll be if the lamp of my life has been burned out for thee.” That was the prayer and hope of the Apostle Paul and that is the prayer and hope of my life.

I want each and every one of us in here to live a life with the sole purpose of magnifying Jesus Christ. In our lives or in our deaths, our pursuit should be Christ glorified and the joy of our lives should be knowing that whether we live or whether we die, we are a witness to the majesty of our Lord and Savior. Let’s pray and then we will dive into verses 19 and 20.

The Comfort of God’s Sovereignty (Philippians 1:19-20)

Paul writes,

Philippians 1:19–20 ESV

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

Two weeks ago we ended with verse 18 which said, “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.” Paul here is elaborating on the reasoning behind his rejoicing and it connects to two important factors: the prayers of the saints and the spirit of Christ. Don’t belittle the power of prayer as the people of God. Prayer is a powerful tool when it is lined up with the spirit of Christ. Mary, Queen of Scots once said that she “feared the prayers of John Knox more than all the assembled armies of Europe.” Far too often we think of prayer as ineffective. We think of it as a one way letter that doesn’t lead to much of anything. We think of it as a talk with ourselves or a message to blocked ears or an uninterested party. Prayer is without a doubt one of the most powerful tools in the Christian’s entire arsenal. Prayer moves mountains, it puts armies to flight, it causes the world to change. Prayer matters. As much as we could talk about prayer tonight from just this one verse, that’s not the main thing that I want us to look at it. There’s two things that we will discuss briefly in these two verses and that is Paul’s deliverance and why he is able to receive such comfort from this deliverance. What is the deliverance that Paul is talking about in verse 19?

The deliverance that Paul is certain of is not deliverance from prison or even death.

Paul is not saying that he is certain that he will not be killed for the sake of Christ. How do we know this? Look at the end of verse 20: he acknowledges the reality that he could be killed by saying, “Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.” Paul clearly thinks that martyrdom may be an option. If Paul is not certain whether he will live or die, be imprisoned or free, what does he mean then when he says that he knows through the prayers of the saints and the help of the Spirit that this will all turn out for his deliverance? This is where it pays to have a little bit of knowledge on the original language of Scripture. I love the ESV translation of Scripture, I think that it is probably the most accurate translation that we have but I think there is a minor issue with translating the word deliverance in verse 19. I’m not saying that the ESV is wrong in translating it in this way because the Greek form that is used here can mean deliverance. The word that Paul uses here in the original Greek is the word, “soteria” which is where we get our word salvation. I think that if we want to read verse 19 as accurately as possible, we need to read it as, “For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my salvation.” The salvation that Paul has in mind is not being saved from prison or saved from martyrdom, what he has in mind is that through the prayers of the saints and the help of the Spirit of Christ, Paul will ultimately reach his final salvation. Paul is looking at salvation as three-fold: he was saved by Christ (past), he is saved by Christ here and now (present), and he will one day in the future be saved fully by Christ. How does anyone make it to Heaven? Through the work and spirit of Christ! Paul is saying to the Philippians, “Guys, the circumstances that I am in are hard, the race is long, the fight is difficult, but I know that as long as you are praying for me and the Spirit of God is at work, I can persevere to the end. Nothing’s gonna stop me from taking that step into eternity as long as God sees to it that it will happen.” This leads us to our next point: the comfort of God’s sovereignty.

Paul knows that his imprisonment will work towards his salvation because he sees the sovereignty of God behind every action.

We talked about this 2 weeks ago. When men and women understand that God is sovereign over all, believers can walk into the furnace of affliction with supreme confidence in the fact that whether they live or whether they die, they belong to Christ and nothing can separate them from that reality. Paul understands that if God is sovereign over big things, He is sovereign over the little things. It’s sad that so many of us can say that we trust God with our eternal lives but we don’t trust Him with our physical lives here and now. I’ll be honest with you, I cannot think of anything sweeter than knowing that my God holds all things in His hands and nothing escapes His notice. I found nothing more beautiful than knowing that death cannot touch me until God allows it. When death comes, and it comes for all, God is not surprised by its arrival. Paul firmly believes that the Gospel will shine forth whether he lives or whether he dies and this is the greatest joy that he has in life. As we see through the history of the Church, Paul continues to impact lives even though he has been dead and buried for a long time. Paul’s magnification of Christ’s glory is the reason that he gets up in the morning.

David Strain writes,

When you make much of Christ, when the true dimensions of His greatness are clearly seen by you, it will place everything else in your life, your every circumstance and trial, into its correct proportion. Trials will be permanently unable to rob you of joy. Christ and His exaltation will be your goal and delight. He will be your joy, never your circumstances.

Paul says in Romans 14:8

Romans 14:8 ESV

For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.

There is nothing in all creation that can separate you from the love of Jesus Christ. God is ours whether we are awake or asleep. If death could not hold Christ, death will not be able to hold those that belong to Christ. When you leave here today, leave knowing that the greater you magnify Christ, the greater your joy will be. If your greatest joy in life is Christ magnified, even death will just be the door that you walk through to that which you desire more than anything. When Philip Melanchthon, one of Martin Luther’s closest friends, was on his deathbed, his son-in-law asked him if he needed anything and Melanchthon’s only response was, “Nothing but heaven.” Would he have benefited from having his health restored? Sure. But did he need that? No. Because all he needed was that which awaited him in Heaven. Let’s turn now to Philippians 1:21-26.

The Sure Victory of God’s People (Philippians 1:21-26)

Philippians 1:21–26 ESV

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

This shows us the sure victory of God’s people. Paul’s entire life is summarized in his devotion to Jesus Christ. His very reason for breathing is Christ, his reason to get up in the morning is Christ, his reason to go through persecution, imprisonment, and martyrdom is Christ. Christ is at the center of Paul’s very life. If you take Christ out of Christianity, you are left with nothing of any value whatsoever. Paul is stuck in a difficult spot because he desires to stay alive because he sees the gains that can come from it but his greatest desire is to depart and be with Christ. Paul sees his death as gain, as profit, not because he’s suicidal or has a death wish but because he recognizes that death is the doorway into eternal life. Death is the last hurdle to pass. For Paul, death is not a tragedy, it’s a triumph because Christ has triumphed over death by death and because Christ is raised in victory, the people of God will be raised in victory. Death is gain because Paul knows that as soon as his eyes close for the last time in this life, his eyes will gaze upon that which he longed for all of his earthly life. He will behold Christ. He will stand before His throne and see He that his entire life was devoted to. Understand that we as Christians are incredibly rational people. We don’t deny the existence of suffering and death. We know very well that suffering and death happen. Every single person will confront death at some point. Hebrews 9:27 says, “it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” We know that death comes to everyone but we also know that death is not sovereign. Death does not have the final word over us. D.L. Moody said,

Some day you will read in the papers that D. L. Moody is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now. I shall have gone up higher, that is all; out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal—a body that death cannot touch; that sin cannot taint; a body fashioned like unto His glorious body.

This was Paul’s understanding of death. Death is not the end, it is only a new beginning. Paul said, “If my life is gone tomorrow, it’s gain! Death=Gain! Death=Profit! Death=the acquiring of that which I long for more than anything! Death brings me to the throne of Christ!” There is something very important that I want you to notice in verse 21 and that is how it is not applicable to every single person.

Paul’s statement does not apply to everyone: It is profoundly personal for each and every one of us.

I want to look at this from 2 angles but let’s start at the end of verse 21 and work back to the beginning.

If you are not a Christian, death will not be gain.

If you aren’t a follower of Christ, I hope you understand the urgency of this. If you are not a Christian, death is nothing but loss. There is no light at the end of the tunnel, there is no absorption into the wild blue yonder, there is no nirvana or place of paradise, there is no nothingness or annihilation that removes the soul from existence, there is only hell. Hell is real and time is short and hell is far worse than you or I could possibly imagine. It isn’t like the cartoons where you have this guy dressed up in a red suit with horns and a pitchfork and a lot of fire all around you. In John Milton’s poem, Paradise Lost, Satan says the famous line, “It is better to reign in hell than serve in Heaven” and this is the mindset of so many in our world. There is no such thing as reigning in hell. The way that we talk about hell shows that we have no idea what we are talking about. Hell is a place of everlasting punishment.

Thomas Watson said,

The wicked in hell shall be always dying but never dead. The smoke of the furnace ascends forever and ever. Oh, who can endure thus to be ever upon the rack? The word “ever” breaks the heart.

George Whitfield would plead his listeners with tears in his eyes by saying,

Consider the torment of burning like a livid coal, not for an instant or for a day, but for millions and millions of ages, at the end of which souls will realize that they are no closer to the end than when they first begun, and they will never, ever be delivered from that place.

Hell is forever and for those that are not a follower of Christ, this existence is the closest thing to heaven that they will ever experience. Some say that what makes hell, hell is that God is not there. Paul does say in 2 Thessalonians 1:9

2 Thessalonians 1:9 ESV

They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,

In some way, the presence of God is not in hell. Certainly that would make hell an absolutely miserable place. But Revelation 14:10 says, “he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.” How do you justify these two seemingly contradictory statements? I would argue that it is like this: all the blessedness of being in the presence of God is removed by those that are in hell and those that are in hell experience only the perfect justice and wrath of God while Christians experience nothing but perfect mercy, love, and favor in Heaven. Michael Horton said.

“Hell is not ultimately about fire, but about God. Whatever the exact nature of the physical punishments, the real terror awaiting the unrepentant is God himself and his inescapable presence forever with his face turned against them.”

Even in the depths of hell, man cannot escape the presence of God. We see that Philippians 1:21 is not applicable to everyone but is solely applicable to those that love Jesus and long for His appearing. Let’s look at this verse from one other angle quickly:

If you claim to be a follower of Christ, is Christ at the very center of your life?

Many people can say that the love Jesus or are a follower of Jesus without Him being the very center of their lives. For many Christians, this verse is not their life verse. Their life verse is a modified version that says, “For me to live is Christ AND_____.” Something else is always there. Christ is not the sole possession of their lives, He is not the great treasure that they have abandoned all else to receive, He is important but He is not everything and their lives are not defined by their devotion to Him alone. So, I ask is Christ the very center of your life? Steven Lawson asked

“Nothing else compares to the surpassing value of knowing Christ. Is this the same single focus of your life? For you to live, is it Jesus Christ? Have you found Christ to be everything in your life? Can you say that to live is Christ? This is what it means to be a genuine Christian. It means to live in Christ and for Christ.”

We could probably spend months looking at Philippians 1:21. That’s the heights and the depths of this glorious truth but let’s look at one last thing that these verses remind us

We as Christians will have victory over death

For the Christian, death is always gain. It is not a matter of if we have victory over death, it is a matter of when will we get to fully embrace the victory that is already secured for us. Richard Sibbes wrote,

What greater encouragement can a man have to fight against his enemy than when he is sure of the victory before he fights?

Paul reminds us of the great victory that we have in Christ in Romans 8. A victory that will never fade or be destroyed. Death is swallowed up in victory by Jesus.

Romans 8:35–39 ESV

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

One day as we stand in the presence of God and bask in the glory of our Lord and Savior of Jesus Christ, we will be able to think on this verse and we will be able to look at death and we will agree on this reality: when it comes to Christ, death is gain. Let’s go ahead and read Philippians 1:27-30 but we will save it for next week because there is so much in it that is worth focusing on. It highlights what the life that is devoted solely to Christ looks like but I want us to go ahead and read it because if possible, I want you to meditate it on the week ahead and start thinking how this could be applicable to your walk with Christ now.

Living Worthily (Philippians 1:27-30)

Philippians 1:27–30 ESV

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, 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. 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, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Is your manner of life worthy of the Gospel of Christ? Think about that this week and we will dive into this more next week. Let’s pray.