Gospel Purpose

Introduction

Well, good morning FBC! If you have a copy of God’s Word, go ahead and turn with me to Philippians chapter one...Philippians chapter one. Over the past month we’ve been walking through this letter to church of Philippi, verse by verse, chapter by chapter really trying our best to understand Paul’s heart as he penned this from his home there in Rome. And if you remember, of course Paul was on house arrest waiting for the emperor’s decision on his punishment for sharing the gospel. I mean, Paul had really created a ruckus everywhere he went. He was turning the world upside down with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Even an evil spirit at one point said in Acts 19, “Jesus I know…Paul I know…right?” Listen, Paul was making an impact in the kingdom of God and there were those that just didn’t like that. And so, because of that, Paul was placed on house arrest, chained to a Roman soldier every hour of every day. And this letter…it was basically an update on his current situation but also an encouragement to these Philippian believers. Paul wrote this letter to help them understand what it is they were called to. They were called to something that went beyond themselves. They were called to a higher purpose. And in his imprisonment, Paul knew that as well. It wasn’t about him. It was all about Christ.

The heart of this letter…and we’ve seen this to be true especially throughout the first chapter…the heart of this letter’s the gospel…and the thing he’s constantly reminding these Philippians of is the idea of unity. They’re all unified around Christ and the work He did to bridge the gap between them and God. And listen, if Jesus can bridge that gap between us and God, He can certainly bridge any gap that exists between us. The gospel, as Paul keeps reminding us, it’s what unifies us together as believers. It’s our priority as a believer…That’s what we talked about last week. When we’re growing in our relationship with Christ…when we’re becoming more and more holy, it’ll push us towards that end…the gospel…and the glory of Christ. And listen, the purpose the gospel gives us, as we’ll see today…the purpose is the same for every single person that comes to know Jesus. The purpose it gives us in this earthly life is to wanna magnify Him above all else…and it’s to long for Him. It’s a longing to wanna be with Him.

That’s what we’re gonna see as we approach these verses this morning. And so, if you’re there with me in chapter 1…let’s all stand together as we read verses 18 through 26. Paul writes, “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.”

Listen, imagine for a second that myself and all the other deacons…all of your spiritual leadership…imagine we all went on a mission trip. But listen, we never came back. You didn’t hear from us…you didn’t get any kind of update on our whereabouts. You have no idea where we’re at…And then all of sudden, maybe a month later…we send you an email. You’d probably wanna open that, right?

Listen, that’s kind of what happened here in a way. The Philippians were concerned for Paul. They had no idea what was going on…how he was doing. They didn’t know his status. And yet, in his return letter, he didn’t say, “Hey guys, please contact the Roman officials and your political leaders…please work the system to get me out of here.” No…instead, Paul spends these verses comforting these Philippians. You remember last week? He essentially said, “Don’t worry about me…my suffering…my affliction…it was all meant to advance the gospel.” He said, “The whole palace guard’s hearing the gospel…others are boldly preaching Jesus…Listen, I’m good! Christ is proclaimed and for that I rejoice.” That was his message to them, right?

And now, as we continue is that response…Paul says, “You have no need to be worried…you don’t need to feel ashamed.” He says, “Christ’ll be exalt in my life and in my death.” He says, “That’s the purpose of my existence…that’s the purpose of my calling…that’s the purpose of the gospel in our lives.” He’s comforting his friends before we see his exhortations and encouragement in the last few verses of chapter one which we’ll look at next.

Listen, Paul’s point in our text today? It’s that our purpose as believers…it’s to magnify Christ in everything…life….death….whatever it is. And then in the last part of the passage we see this longing we should have to be with Christ. We should long to wanna be with Him. Even in this life, we should long to be with Him now. That’s Paul’s point here. And listen, you might be sitting there thinking, “Yea, but that was just Paul’s desire…that doesn’t mean it has to be my desire.” Well, at the end of this letter Paul writes, “Do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me.” Meaning, as Christians, it behooves us to look at the words and example of Paul and follow them…because what he writes was inspired by the Spirit of God.

And so, let’s examine these first couple of verses together.

1.) We were delivered to magnify Christ (vv. 18b-21)

You know I’ve mentioned this multiple times before but unfortunately, our English translations, they just don’t always capture the full essence of what the author was trying to get across to his original audience…and here in these verses, there’s one of those instances that are really on full display.

Verse 21, it’s one of the most quoted verses in all of the New Testament…Paul writes, “21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” And guys, the reason I start with that this morning is because it’s really the summary of this entire section. Paul’s telling us all about a life that’s worth living and all about a death worth dying. The question he raises is, “What do you live for?” But again the problem that we see here is that our English translations, they just don’t really capture the full beauty of this verse. There’s no verb in the Greek manuscript here. And what happens is we just kind of supply it with the word “is.” But listen, there’s other verbs out there that could do a better job of describing this idea that Paul’s trying to get across about purpose and meaning. Living for Paul…it literally means Christ. Living depends on Christ. Living honors Christ…it magnifies His name. In the Greek…it literally reads, “to zēn - Christos.” Or if you were to directly translate that, living - Christ. Which of course that doesn’t really make any sense in the English translation. Paul also writes, “dying - gain.” There isn’t an “is” in the Greek text. It doesn’t actually read, “living ‘is’ Christ and dying ‘is’ gain.”

Listen, the point I’m tying to get across to you is that this is a very important verse here…I mean we really get to see Paul’s own heartbeat in the rhythm of these words. The living and dying are directly correlated with one another…and here’s the application I want you to see because you can’t understand the rest of this message if you don’t understand Paul’s heart. The application, it all starts with that little phrase at the beginning of the verse. Paul says, “For me,” right? Paul was saying that he would live for Christ. That was his statement there. That was his purpose in life and in death. It was all for Christ…and everyone has to fill in that same blank on a personal level. I mean just think about that for a second…How would you fill in that blank? How would you complete that sentence that Paul wrote here, “For me, living is…..blank?” What is it? For some, it’s filled in with all these cheap substitutes that this world offers…money or sexual pleasure…maybe it’s power or beauty….entertainment….whatever it is.

But listen, using the logic of this passage that Paul wrote, notice what fills in the second blank, “Dying is…what?” For him, if living is all for Christ, then dying is just gain because we get to be with Him, right? You have to understand the second part of that statement. If you live for something, than dying also looks a certain way. If you filled in the first blank with one of those cheap substitutes…If you said, “Living is money,” well then you would fill in the second blank with “Dying is being broke,” right? I mean, you can’t take it with you. If you say, “Living is sexual pleasure…then Dying is having no more pleasure.” If it’s power, “Dying is being powerless.” If it’s entertainment…Dying is having no more fun. If you live for nothing but family, dying is when those things are gone. I think you guys get the picture…Here’s my point. It’s all temporary...What is it that you’re gonna live for? What’s it gonna be that you’ll die for?…Paul took his stand. He knew exactly what his purpose in life was. He knew his purpose in death…and listen, it all pointed to Christ and Christ alone. Paul existed, Paul was delivered all with the purposes of magnifying Christ.

He understood that in this short life, living for anything worldly…living for money or sex or power or beauty, entertainment, family…he knew those things were gifts from God, things meant for us to steward…he knew those things weren’t meant to be our aim in life...because if they become that, they become our idols. And instead of finding joy like we saw pouring out of him last week, we see weights pulling us down. Paul’s aim, his focus…how the gospel had impacted his life…it changed his purpose in life and death. Instead of worrying about all those cheap substitutes…instead of letting those things rob his joy…The gospel allows him to spend his life focusing on something that actually matters. Something that’s gonna matter for next the billion and trillion years. That’s why he’s able say, “living is Christ,” and because of that…because that’s his purpose in this temporal life, “dying has to be gain.” And that statement, that statement alone brings us joy. Living for Christ, it doesn’t only take the sting out of death…but listen, it makes death attractive. Instead of wasting our lives away on empty treasures in this life… focusing on Christ, growing in our Christ-centeredness, it gives us something to hope for…something to reach for. It’s our goal, our purpose. That’s what the gospel pushes us towards…this purpose. To magnify Christ.

And so, how do we do that? Well, I think Paul gives us some examples here. We do it by rejoicing in Him and relying on Him…and listen, we do it by representing Him in this life.

Consistently (v. 18b)

Look back at the end of verse 18 again. In most of your Bibles, they probably have a section break right in the middle of that passage. Paul writes, “I rejoice.” That’s how we ended last week, right? But look at the emphasis this week. He says, “Yes, I will rejoice.” He’s not just rejoicing in his present circumstances…but listen, he’s rejoicing in his future one’s as well. He says, “I ‘will’ rejoice!” Paul rejoices in Christ consistently and constantly. Nothing breaks this attitude for Paul…Nothing. He was choosing to rejoice in the present because the gospel was advancing and he’s choosing to rejoice even as he faces an unknown future.

And listen guys, the reason for that, the reason he’s able to rejoice even in things that haven’t yet happened, it’s because he had certainty in his deliverance. That’s exactly why he says, “Dying is gain.” That’s why he continues, “because I know it will lead to what? My deliverance,” he says. And listen, Paul wasn’t talking about his imprisonment here. He wasn’t talking about being delivered from there…The Greek word he uses here literally translates into salvation. Paul was saying, “I know it’ll lead to my salvation.” And how’s that happen according to Paul, through their prayers and the help of the Spirit. Paul was saying that what God started in Him, He’d bring to completion...and for that, Paul was able to rejoice because no matter what he faced, no mattered what he encountered, no matter what or where his heart led him, the Spirit of God was going to keep him and bring him to completion because he was all God’s. He was a saint. He was set a part for God and by God. And for that, Paul was able to rejoice consistently and constantly.

Let me ask you a question? What are your plans for the future? Maybe you’ve heard that question lately? And maybe, maybe you have these great plans…or....maybe you don’t. Maybe you have no idea. But can I give you a challenge this morning? Whatever it is, whether you plan on going to a foreign nation to share the gospel, or to plant a church, maybe you have these plans to buy a new house or start a new job…maybe it revolves around school…I don’t know…listen, whatever it is, make this your plan for your future: “I will rejoice in Christ all my days.” Rejoicing, especially in the difficult times, guys, it magnifies the name of Jesus. And listen, whether you know it or not, you’ll always rejoice in the things that really matter to you. And when you’re able to rejoice in the difficult moments of your life, what it really shows the world is that your treasure isn’t anything in this world. Listen, everything can fall apart…it can feel like everyone hates you…and yet you can still sing because Jesus is your treasure.

Guys, can I be real with you for a second. Being a pastor’s hard. And I’m gonna be honest, I’ve been going through some of the worst times I’ve ever faced in my entire ministry. I mean, I’ve never experienced anything like this. It’s impossible to please people. It’s impossible to make everyone happy. People can be mean. Even those we look up to in ministry. And sometimes I sit back and I just think, “Wow, am I really this awful? Have I really been this poor of a leader? Have I really come in as a wolf in the body of Christ?” It’s like everything I try to do is under minded or challenged in some way. And it impacts me. It discourages me. And I won’t even get started on the feeling I feel when I go home sometimes…Listen, being a pastor’s wife or better yet, being a pastor’s kid, it’s even harder. They see all this bad stuff from different angles. They see dad or husband getting beat up and bruised…they see him getting knocked down and being criticized. And guys, sometimes it scares me that some of the things I have to deal with in my ministry, I’m scared it’ll just turn those I love more than anything away from the church. That’s one of the greatest fears I have as a pastor. I don’t want my wife…I don’t want my kids to hate the body of Christ. But you know, sometimes its them that God uses to minister to me.

Even in the midst of all this, it’s their encouragement that keeps my spirits lifted. That’s my wife’s number one ministry....it’s to me. It’s to keep me encouraged. And it’s there constant outlook on the future that encourages me, that gives me reason to rejoice. On some the my hardest nights, nights where I stood up all night pouring tears out, my wife would just tell me, “Don’t worry…God’ll take care of it. God’s got a plan.” She would just tell me, “Make much of Christ, and give the rest to Him.” And listen, I get it, some of you are gonna get mad…I’m sure I’ll have some e-mails tomorrow morning or whatever…and listen, I love you…I do…that’s why I’m still here...but my job as your pastor is to magnify Jesus, it’s to teach you how to magnify Jesus. It’s not about us. It’s not about you. It’s not about what we’ve done for 200 years. It’s not your family being here for a lifetime. It’s not about your wants or desires. It’s not even about what you feel is best for this church. It’s about magnifying Jesus above everything else…because as so many of you have said before me, it’s His church. And guys, when we do that. When that becomes our purpose. When we get past all the selfishness our hearts put out of us. It doesn’t matter what we face. It doesn’t matter the discouragement or the frustration…it doesn’t matter how much hurt you feel…it doesn’t even matter if people do things that upset you...you can rejoice because you know you’ve made it all about Jesus. And that outlook, it brings us joy. And guys, when the gospel’s impacted your life, it’ll give you that purpose to rejoice in Christ consistently…It’ll cause you to wanna magnify His name constantly.

Listen, I keep having people ask me how we’re gonna get past all this conflict at the church…we’re not…not until we make it our purpose to magnify Jesus above everything else…and not until we begin to care about the things He cares about. We have to understand unity in a biblical perspective and that’s exactly what Paul’s been saying. The gospel’ll push us towards magnifying Jesus consistently.

Completely (v. 19)

But look at verse 19, it’ll cause us to rely in Him completely. Again, in verse 19, Paul talks about where the source of his joyful confidence is found, right? He says he’s relying on the prayers of the Philippians and of course, the sufficiency of the Spirit of God. Many scholars actually believe Paul was reflecting on the life of Job and quoting him, “Even if He kills me, I will hope in Him…Yes, this will result in my deliverance.”

And of course, we talked about what Paul meant by deliverance…He was talking about his final salvation. And the context to Job here’s important because in Job it was the issue of standing before God and his vindication. And so, what Paul’s saying here is that everything that’s happened to him, good and bad, he’s reflecting on his own experiences in light of Job. God’ll work all these things out for Paul’s ultimate good. And if things do go badly for Paul, God’ll provide what he needs through the Spirit so that Paul can endure and remain a good witness to the end. Paul was showing confidence completely in the sovereignty of God…And listen, he plans to be sustained in the trials he faces…through prayers and through the Spirit of God.

And so, how can we do we magnify Jesus by relying in Him completely? Well, for Paul to be able to say to “live is Christ,” He needed the Spirit of Christ to say this and to actually live it out, right? You can’t live for something you don’t have. And so, we have to be changed by the power of Jesus and be filled with His Spirit. That’s what gives us the confidence in His sufficiency completely!

Courageously (vv. 20-21)

Paul says, “It’s the power of the Spirit that allows him to see his future with so much joy.” But in verse 20, he writes that he hopes or that he fully expects that he won’t be ashamed by anything. Listen, when Paul uses that word hope here, he’s not saying what we think it means. It’s not a “I hope the New Orleans Saints’ll win the Super Bowl this year.” Or, “I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow.” That’s not what Paul mean’s. He’s confident in the power of Christ. He’s confident that he’ll represent Jesus because of, again, the sufficiency of the Spirit and the sovereignty of God. He’s simply saying that his goal is to magnify Jesus. It’s to represent Christ in both his life and his death. And he says, “I won’t be ashamed…I’ll do this with all the boldness it takes.” “It doesn’t matter what prison you lock me in. It doesn’t matter what suffering I face. It doesn’t matter what trial I go through…I’m going to courageously represent Christ before the world and in my defense of the gospel.” That’s what Paul’s saying here. And guys, this is how we magnify the name of Jesus above everything else…it’s to care more about His glory over our own…and to do it in a way with courage…with boldness.

That’s why Paul said, “to live is Christ and to die is gain.” He was going to use his life and death to be bold for Christ…to be courageous. And guys, this outlook didn’t just make him an unstoppable force in the kingdom of God, it gave him joy in some of the most miserable circumstances. I mean, do you see the power of this perspective? “Kill me? Fine whatever…I’ll be with Christ. Let me live? That’s cool too, I’ll live for Christ! Make me suffer? I’ll just experience joy and get rewarded in the end anyways.” That’s the mentality of Paul here…and guys, when the gospel’s really become the priority in our lives like what we talked about last week, that becomes ours as well…and it’ll cause us to courageously stand for Christ.

The gospel helps us understand that we were delivered with the purpose of magnifying Jesus.

2.) We were delivered to long for Christ (vv. 22-26)

But the gospel also helps us understand that we were delivered to long for Christ. As we move into the next several verses, Paul just continues to open up his heart here. He wants them to understand how he’s kind of processing everything. And when he sits back and just thinks about his circumstances, it’s really a win-win for Paul. To live means he gets to magnify Jesus with fruitful labor…and because of that, to die means being with Jesus in the fullest sense. Paul literally found a love greater than life itself…and this vision of being with Christ, it inspired him to endure in his circumstances. It gave him joy in everything he faced.

Dilemma (vv. 22-23a)

But let’s take some time looking at these verses together. Look back at verse 22 and 23 again. Paul’s torn between these two options, right? He kind of asks this rhetorical question that really shows us the value of both. This is why he’s so “torn” or “pressured.” And this is an interesting term here because it literally means to be pressured by a crowd...it’s used to show the power of a fever…or being compelled by love. This is Paul’s dilemma. He knows this life’s about fruitful and meaningful labor that magnifies Jesus…But he knew death was better. And that’s why its a win-win for Paul. It’s like saying, “Would you like a filet or a rib eye?” Either’s good, right? And guys, it’s the same for us today as Christians. Living means we get to live for Christ. We get to represent Him and make His name great. And guys, dying means so much more. We get to be with Him. That’s our ultimate hope, right? And so, that’s Paul’s dilemma. He wants to stay and make much of Christ through his life but he longs so much to be with Him.

Desire (v. 23b)

But look at the end of verse 23 again…Paul really shows us his desire. He preferred to die! Why? Again, because it meant being with Christ, and guys, for him, that was so much better. Listen, dying for Paul…it’s wasn’t about some reward…it wasn’t about the golden streets or the mansions in heaven…it was all about Christ. It was about being with Him. It was all about a more complete, and close, and intimate relationship with Him.

Listen, that word “depart,” it’s a word used to describe a ship setting loose its mooring. Paul was saying death’s like a boat; it takes you to where you wanna go. Death’s not an enemy for the Christian…and instead it’s Paul ultimate desire. Paul longs to be with Christ.

Decision (vv. 24-26)

But look at these last couple of verses. What’s Paul decide? Even though Paul knew that being in Jesus’s presence was so much better, he chose to live out his days for the sake of the church....all to magnify Jesus. Even though death was better, he decided that he should stay for their benefit. And listen, we don’t really know why he had this confidence he’d be set free. Maybe because he knew Rome really had no reason to punish him or maybe, from a spiritual perspective, he believed God had more work for him to do. I mean, there was work to do…things that were necessary all for the progress of these Philippians and for their boasting in Christ. He knew he had to do these things before going to be with Christ, which is a whole nother sermon…he knew exactly what God wanted him to accomplish…but with all this in mind, Paul made the decision to stay and live for Christ even though he longed to be with Him eternally.

Closing

Church, let me give you an example for a moment…Why is it that our lives as believers is meant to magnify Jesus and long for Him? Because…He’s the only one that knows what’s he doing. Let me show you this…I’ve been talking a while about my new found love for golf, right? What do you think is the worth of this putter when it’s in my hands? I mean, whatever the retail of it is, right? Outside of that, it’s pretty worthless…Just ask Larry....I average like 5 putts per hole. It’s awful. But let’s say we put this same putter in Tiger Woods hands…what’s it worth then? A lot, right? What changed? That man actually knows what to do with this thing, right?

Guys, it’s the same with our life. My life in the hands of Jesus is always worth more than in my hands…Why? Because He knows what to do with it. On our own, we’re sinful…we’re wicked....we’re selfish…we freely chose to rebel against God. And because of that, everyone of us deserves a death where all of God’s wrath is poured out on us. That’s what we deserve. And guys, that’s what happens when we place our lives in our own hands. That’s the outcome in every situation where that happens…Hell! Damnation! God’s wrath! But when we repent and believe, when we place our lives in Jesus’s hands, our worth…our outcome....it all changes. And because of that....because of this new destiny…because of this salvation He’s given us....our life’s purpose becomes His magnification....and all we long for…is to be with Him.

Guys, would you take a moment and just bow your heads and close your eyes?

Guys, would you take a moment and just bow your heads and close your eyes? tm? When people around you interact with you, do they leave that encounter seeing Christ? Has He magnified? What about this…do you long for Him even now? Do you think it’s a gain to die…to leave this earthly place? I mean really ask yourself that question. Do you long for Him? Listen, you might say, “What’s this got to do with my relationship with Jesus?” Listen to me, because this is what the gospel pushes you towards. It pushes you towards these two purposes. And guys, if you lack these things in your life then you need to drastically mature in your faith…Or you might not actually be His and you need to repent and believe today.

Listen, I have no idea what it is but before we take the Lord’s Supper this morning, you need to seek Jesus. And guys, we need to be serious about our hearts this morning. As your pastor…as the lead elder at First Baptist Church, because we’re experiencing so much disunity and division among our family, I won’t be taking it with you this morning. I’m going to administer it, but I’m not taking it. It’s my responsibility to lead you…I’m held accountable for you and because of that…I know its a serious deal. Listen, maybe there’s bitterness in your heart…maybe you have some kind of negative feelings....I’m urging you, you need to get those things right this morning before you take communion. And so, you do that as our deacons come.

Prayer