Philippians 1:19-30

Philippians 1:19-30

7/10/2022

By: Samuel Sorenson

Introduction

Seasons, there are different seasons that we all go through in our lives. The season of childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle age, old age, and then depending upon where we stand with Jesus, heaven or hell.

We cannot choose what the season will be that the Lord will take us out of this world, but we can choose what our attitude will be, in whatever season we are currently living. Christian, what kind of attitude do you have towards God, towards His word, and towards His people?

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If I were to ask you today, Christian, what are some character attributes that you find attractive about yourself? Is it your willingness to listen to those who are hurting, is it your desire to study up on current events so that you can be polished and informed on the latest news? Is it your prayer life? Do you pray for others to know the Lord Jesus? Do you pray that you would know the Lord Jesus in a more intimate way and so your witness would be stronger?

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For those of you who are young, what are some character attributes that draws others towards you? Is it your playfulness, your eagerness to learn? Your receptiveness to feedback from your parents, or from those who employ you?

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For those young adults out there is it your resolve to see this world come to know Jesus? Is it the desire to see your potential lived out? Is it building strong friendships and relationships? Is it being a good parent? Is it being a person who says what they mean, and means what they say?

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For those who are middle aged, what are some of your attractive character attributes? Is it your resolve to not have too many regrets? Is it to see your children find their calling and live out their full potential? Is it learning how to take all those hard punches that life throws at you? Whether it be paying off your student debt, first home, or some other major expense? Pause. Is it being well read and well spoken? Is it being well received by your friends and family?

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For those of you who are getting close to meeting the Lord, what are some attractive character attributes that you can think of? Is it seeing the trust you have built with people lead to stronger and more fruitful relationships? Is it seeing that one person you have been a witness to for over thirty years finally accept the Lord? Is it developing young people for what they will encounter in this crazy world? Is it knowing that your service to the Lord will end with the statement, “Well done, good and faithful servant?”

What are your giving your life to? Is it watching the next Indy 500? Fellas, is it getting that girl you have had your eyes on over the last year or couple of years? For you ladies is it having that husband, 2.5 kids, and a beautiful home?

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Or is it living a life that is honoring to the Lord? Pause.

That should be our most attractive quality in life. Are we humble servants of Christ, are we living a life that is an example of a servant who seeks to honor God in all we say and do?

Wisdom begins with the fear, reverence, and love of God.

For the Christian the crucial question to ask is, “Does this honor God?”

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This question will keep you from sin, help you have clarity, and give you an eternal perspective in life. If your decisions are honoring to God than your decisions will be fruitful, your relationships will become strong, and your satisfaction and purpose in life will come to pass.

I remember when I was about 26 years old and was wrestling with the idea of submitting my life to the Lord, I asked an older gentleman what I would get if I submitted my life to the Lord? He responded with one word, “everything.”

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You see friends the Lord gave everything to reconcile us to Him through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ, should we as His children not be expected to give all for the sake of His plans and purposes for our lives?

To live is Christ, and to die is gain. This verse is the key verse to the entire first chapter of Philippians. We will unpack that more throughout the message. But for now, I want you to ponder this statement, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Pause

With that being said let us continue our study through the book of Philippians. Today, we are covering the rest of the first chapter of Philippians.

Text:

Philippians 1:19-30

19 For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20 according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I [a]cannot tell. 23 [b]For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. 24 Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. 25 And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith, 26 that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again. 27 Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but [c]to you of salvation, and that from God. 29 For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, 30 having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.

Theses: My purpose in speaking to you today is for you to understand the importance of being in the will of God. (Repeat)

Context

Last week we covered three heart motives for Advancing the Good News of Jesus Christ in Philippians 1:12-18. Those motives were.

1) The preaching of Christ out of envy and strife.

2) The preaching of Christ for selfish ambition.

3) The preaching of Christ out of love.

To give a little history to what is happening, Paul is in prison wondering what is going to happen to him, everywhere he had travelled before his imprisonment in Rome, he was given an audience to kings and rulers. Jesus had told his disciples that they would be hailed before Ceasars and kings. He told them to not worry what they should say for the Holy Spirit would speak for them.

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He had the opportunity to speak to King Agrippa and share his testimony with him and that was told and written of by the people Paul impacted.

Paul was given the opportunity to share with boldness about the unknown God when he was speaking in the temple of idols in Athens in Acts 17:22-31.

Every time Paul testified before these rulers, Ceasars, or kings he would share with great courage his testimony of how Christ saved him and appointed him as an apostle to go out to all the nations and share the good news of Jesus Christ.

Paul realized that if he could fervently share the gospel with these rulers, than if they were saved by the gospel than they could make a huge impact upon the kingdom of heaven.

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The Emperor of Rome at this time is Ceasar Nero, now if you study history, you will find that before Nero was introduced to Christianity that he was actually a fairly decent man.

I’m sure that Paul laid a heavy testimony on Nero, realizing that Nero would probably have the biggest impact for Christ ifhe received Christ.

Paul’s testimony was so powerful, and Nero’s rejection of Christ was so detrimental, that it has been argued by historians that Nero became demon possessed after he rejected Christ.

In Nero’s persecution of the church, he became inhumane, He would set Christians on fire and light up his garden in the evenings riding in his chariot fully naked and race through the paths of his garden.

Paul was going to be facing Nero a second time and he did not know if Nero was going to put him to death or not. Nero did see that Christ was a threat and that Christians were a threat too because, Christians would not deny Christ as Lord and Savior, however they would not acknowledge Ceasar as lord.

Pause

Well, we do know that Nero does end up beheading Paul, but at this point in the text Paul does not know that.

Plural Noun Proposition: Today I want to illustrate three benefits of being in the will of God. Repeat

1) The benefit of Christ being magnified by your obedience.

2) The benefit of seeing spiritual fruit in your own life and other people’s lives.

3) The benefit of living out the gospel results in more intimacy with Christ and more peace with death.

Let’s look at the first benefit of being in the will of God.

1) The benefit of Christ being magnified by your obedience. Repeat

Look with me again at the text. 19 For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20 according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.

Paul’s boldness and understanding that if he is in the will of God, he would not be ashamed or fearful of what man would do to him. He understood that Christ would be magnified rather he lived or died.

Imagine if you would, being in a prison awaiting to hear if you are going to be pardoned and free to leave, or if you are to be executed? What would your mindset be? Pause

For the non-believer the thought of execution would more than likely be anguish.

I have read several testimonies and spoken to several people who work in the medical profession and many times they have stated that the look of a non-believer’s face is that of terror.

On the flip side the look on the face of a believer was that of peace. For Paul these words, “For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20 according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.”

Indicate that he had come to terms with the fact that he was going to be in the will of God and therefore taken care of rather he would remain here on earth or depart and be with Jesus. The benefit of Christ being magnifiedby his obedience was something that gave Paul great joy.

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Friends are you holding on to things of this world with a closed fist? Are you putting all your hope, faith, and trust into temporal things? If that job, relationship, or earthly goal does not come to pass are you going to say that I am a loser in life?

Or are you going to have the attitude Paul had and say whether by life of by death Christ will be magnified?

Christian, I want to challenge you to hold onto things of this world with an open hand. It is important to understand that our loved ones will die, we will lose parents, siblings, and children. We need to develop a mindset that earth is not our home.

We need to be sharing Christ with our friends and family but be at peace if they choose to reject Christ. God is sovereign and has a plan and purpose for everything and we need to rest in that.

Let us now look at the second benefit of being in the will of God.

1) The benefit of seeing spiritual fruit in your own life and other people’s lives.

(Repeat) Pause.

Look with me again at the text, “21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I [a]cannot tell. 23 [b]For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. 24 Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. 25 And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith, 26 that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again.”

The key verse in this entire chapter is verse 21, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.” What a statement!! How many of us can honestly say that we look at scripture and our relationship with Christ and long for heaven so much that we say to live is Christ and to die is gain?

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Paul had seen Christ’s life play out in his own adventures, Paul would share the gospel and people would either respond favorably or they would want to kill him. There was nothing in between. However, no matter how many times in the past he had been persecuted through stoning, imprisonment, or whipped, Christ rescued him.

When he was shipwrecked and a poisonous snake had bit him, he shook the serpent off into the fire and continued on as if nothing had happened. So, Paul understood that God was in control and could take him to heaven or leave him here on earth.

In studying this passage one scholar stated, the statement “to live is Christ” is magnified by the statement “to die is gain.”

Often Paul spoke of Christ as his life. In Gal 2:20 he said, “I live by faith in the Son of God.” In Col 3:4 he stated that Christ “is your life.” These two passages differ in context and concern. The emphasis in Gal 2:20 is based on salvation; in Col 3:4, Paul speaks to the mysterious union between Christ and the believer. In this context he spoke of glorifying Christ through whatever means he had. The statement is completed by envisioning death as a better state than life. Thus, “to live is Christ” must mean that Paul so totally wanted to glorify Christ that as long as he lived everything about him was to point people to Christ. This was accomplished in part by the chains which were “manifested in Christ” (1:13); but even if he were called to die, it would be an occasion for Christ to become prominent. Death was a gain because he would see the Lord, enjoy him, and no longer endure the difficulties he was called to bear on earth.[1]

Paul is torn between staying here on earth and seeing the spiritual fruit that God was bringing about through the work of proclaiming the gospel, and being at peace with Jesus in heaven.

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The benefit of being in the will of God was that Paul had seen the fruit of his labor. He could rest in knowing that his purpose for being on this earth had been fulfilled. He could say with all satisfaction, 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

2 Timothy 4:7-8.

Now let’s look at the third benefit of being in the will of God.

1) The benefit of living out the gospel results in more intimacy with Christ and more peace with death. Repeat

Look with me at the last section of scripture here, 27 Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but [c]to you of salvation, and that from God. 29 For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, 30 having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.

Friends we as the church are the most important pillar in the community. We are Christ’s bride, so our conduct is important. It is critical that we are unified in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the sake of the gospel.

The Christian’s stand is “in one spirit.” This is the first of the several words for unity that bind together Philippians 1:27–2:4. The word “spirit” is used in parallel with the word “soul” and thus refers to the attitude that characterizes the church. Paul drew on the imagery of persons to describe the function of the body of Christ. It is unnecessary to distinguish between “spirit” and “soul” here. They both explain the immaterial part of persons, and the point Paul made was that the church was to unite inside and out. Both “one spirit” and “one soul” means that there is no divisiveness.[2]

NO DIVISIVENESS!!!

We are not to be terrified by our adversaries, if we are in the will of God, we are performing His plan and purpose for our life. This means that we as a church need to become powerful because when times get tough, we need to be a light to the community. And the light always shines in the darkness!!!! We will not be seen by the community as a beacon of hope if we are divided.

Transition:

Brothers and sisters when it comes to Christian Suffering, there is no way around suffering in life. However, God is completely aware of our earthly condition. The psalmist says (Psalm 103:15-17), “15 As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. 16 For the wind passes over it, and it is [a]gone, And its place remembers it no more. 17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children.

God does not give us more than we can bare, and many testimonies have been told about how God comforts and gives grace to those who are persecuted for His cause. We are not to lose heart when various trials and tribulations come against us. We are to anticipate trials and to count it as all joy. James 1:2-4, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces [a]patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be [b]perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

Charles Spurgeon the great 19th Century Preacher, once said, “Trials teach us what we are, they dig up the soil, and let us see what we are made of.”

Pause

One Commentator stated

Paul had to develop a theology of suffering. He did so without becoming calloused to human need and without accepting suffering as good. The danger for Christians at Philippi and elsewhere was that they would become calloused and indifferent to human need. Suffering is evil because it comes from sin in the world. Paul realized the benefits and privileges of being involved in a battle for the truth and that battle scars were inevitable. The supreme model of that was Christ. Christian we should remember that general suffering sometimes comes because we live in a world which suffers as a result of sin.

Christians are called to a unique suffering because of their identification with righteousness in an evil world, that it is a divinely given privilege to be involved in. We are therefore, to take heart if we are called to suffer. Our steadfastness demonstrates the reality of our relationship to God.[3]

Closing

So how should we respond to these benefits of being in the will of God? Friends my purpose in preaching this message today was for you to understand the importance of being in the will of God.

There are different ways we can look at life. Culture will tell us that we are to live our life now, if it doesn’t taste good, sound good, or feel good than it’s no good.

There are three lies that culture gives regarding death.

Number one deny death, ignore that death will happen, and just live life without any thought of what may happen to us.

Number two to hasten death, in other words suicide. Friends we are living in an epidemic of suicide. I did some research on this to understand what the impact of this epidemic was, and this is what I found:

In 2020, 45,979 Americans died by suicide.

Suicide is the 12th leading cause of death in the U.S.

Every day, approximately 125 Americans die by suicide.

There is one suicide death in the US every 11.5 minutes.

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It is critical that we are doing our part as the church to reach out to those who are hurting and let them know that there is hope in the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Number three to cheapen death: Culture says things like oh he is in a better place now, or oh she is finally resting. Depending on if that person is a Christian or not that person may be in a better place, or in a place of eternal torment.

C.S. Lewis once said, “There are no mere mortals, every person we encounter is either an immortal horror, or an eternal splendor.”

Pause

The truth is this, life is temporary, and we are on this planet for a finite amount of time. Christ gives us a better option, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

When you live for Christ, you are one of His soldiers in His Army. In war there are gains and losses, but if we live for Christ then when we die, we make gains for the kingdom of heaven.

For the Christian this world is just a place we are passing through and we are pilgrims that are returning home to our eternal dwelling place.

For those who do not know Christ, this world is as good as it is going to get this side of eternity. I will give you this warning if you are fighting the will of God and you have not given your life to Christ, the bible gives us a frightful warning in Hebrews 10:31, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Today if you do not know if you would go to heaven when you die let me invite you to say yesto Christ’s drawing and invitation.

Let’s close in a word of prayer.

[1]Melick, R. R. (1991). Philippians, Colossians, Philemon (Vol. 32, pp. 84–85). Broadman & Holman Publishers. [2]Melick, R. R. (1991). Philippians, Colossians, Philemon (Vol. 32, p. 89). Broadman & Holman Publishers. [3]Melick, R. R. (1991). Philippians, Colossians, Philemon (Vol. 32, p. 92). Broadman & Holman Publishers.