To Live is Christ

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Philippians 1:19-21, for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20 according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

What a clarifying, all-encompassing purpose statement! To live is Christ and to die is gain. We need to repeat it over and over. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote, “We stand here face to face with one of the most sublime and greatest statements ever made.” Then he adds, “Whoever faces this verse must feel that he stands on very sacred ground.” To live is Christ. Can you say that? What is there about your life that says, “To live is Christ and to die is gain?” For many, to live is self-fulfillment and to die is the worst-case scenario. 

We’ll come back to verse 21, but Paul in prison serves as our model for how to live these few short years on earth. In Galatians 2:20 he said, “The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.” So here he says, “To live is Christ.”  Of all the things to invest your life in, Paul says, “I invest my life in Christ” period. 

We’ve seen Paul’s deep love and joyful prayers for God’s people in Philippi. Last week we saw how Paul saw the sovereign hand of God, the providence of God, in his circumstances. Now we continue to hear Paul’s heart as he is there in that Roman prison, chained to Roman soldiers, seeing the gospel make good progress, but yet with uncertainties about his future. Paul is going to tell us how we should manage uncertainties, how to successfully live your Christian life when things look bleak in this world. Three great perspectives held Paul steady like a spiritual gyroscope:  his great confidence, his great determination, and his great life purpose. Let’s look at how these perspectives can work out in our own lives.

Live with the CONFIDENCE that God will take care of you.

Philippians 1:19, for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

Paul’s heart was rejoicing in verse 18 because he knew God was working through his imprisonment by sending out the gospel message. And now he has confidence that through it all, through his circumstances, God would be taking care of him. That’s exactly the confidence we need. We too are in God’s hands and God will use our circumstances for our deliverance. Sometimes that deliverance may be unclear to us. But Paul says he is confident that God would deliver him. What does Paul mean? Does he mean deliverance from prison or deliverance from this life, his death? As we’ll see in verse 25, he believes he will continue in the flesh for continued ministry. 

But through it all, no matter what happens, he lived with confidence in his heart that his God would take care of him. But how? Through what means? Paul identifies two important means that he is counting on.

First, Paul counted God working through the prayers of God’s people. In 1 Thessalonians 3:1-2 Paul says he depended on the prayers of God’s people. 

2 Thessalonians 3:1-2, Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you; 2 and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men; for not all have faith.

In Ephesians 6:19-20 he again asks for their prayers.

Ephesians 6:19-20, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

The prayers of God’s people for God’s blessing on the church and every aspect of ministry, especially the teaching of God’s Word is of utmost importance. “That the Word of the Lord would spread rapidly and be glorified.” Pray every day for your church family and your spiritual leaders and teachers. Paul was confident God would take care of him through their prayers. Whether that care was release from prison or deliverance to preach the gospel boldly, he deeply appreciated their prayers. You’ll remember when Peter was in prison, the church prayed for him. And when God answered their prayers, Peter walked out of that jailhouse and over to the prayer meeting at Mary’s house and knocked on the door. Rhoda came, saw Peter, and ran back in to tell everyone Peter was at the door. “No, he’s not. You’re crazy,” they said, “it must be his angel.” But Peter kept knocking and they finally let him in. They were amazed! They all believed God answers prayer that night. Praise God, our prayer meetings here at our church are seeing an increase in attendance. On a personal level, take time to pray through the folks listed in our church directory. Pray that God would give us boldness, strength, and courage to stand unashamedly for our Lord wherever we are. Some of the sweetest words are, “We are praying for you.” I remember when we first started out on this journey of following Christ back in the 70s, an older couple who knew us assured us from time to time, “We pray for you every day!” Those words gave us confidence of God’s protection over us. 

The second factor in Paul’s confidence was the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Nothing is accomplished for Christ without the Spirit. We believe in the power and rich supply of God’s Spirit to empower the gospel, work in hearts, and strengthen us for the work of the ministry. Paul uses an interesting word, “provision.” It means lavish or generous giving, furnishing abundantly. Paul counted on the lavish provision of the Spirit of Christ to strengthen and embolden him while he was in that prison so that he would never disgrace the gospel or deny Christ. He knew he wasn’t alone. He knew God would provide all the grace he needed no matter what happened. He wanted the Philippians to know his God would take care of him. 

“Be not dismayed what’er betide,

God will take care of you…

Thru every way, O’er all the way;

He will take care of you, God will take care of you!”

Paul lived with that confidence and so should we, regardless of our circumstances.

Live with a strong DETERMINATION to magnify Christ, no matter what happens.

Philippians 1:20, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

Paul’s great expectation wasn’t getting out of prison. No, it was exalting or magnifying Christ in life or in death. “Earnest expectation” has the idea of sticking your head up or out, turning away from everything else and focusing your attention on one thing. If that wasn’t enough, Paul adds the great little word “hope.” No uncertainty here. Paul has an intense, concentrated hope not to escape his difficulties, but what? That God would use his life to magnify or glorify his Lord and Savior. “Above all else, may Christ be magnified and clearly seen in my body” insists Paul. How will this happen?

First, never be ashamed of standing for Jesus Christ. We can learn from this. There’s something about Jesus and the gospel and our proud wicked hearts and lust for approval from others that keeps us from boldly speaking up for Christ. In Romans 1:16 Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel.” He prodded Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:8 not to be “ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me His prisoner.” Think about all God’s people who stood firmly through the ages for Christ. How about those three Hebrew youths? When everyone else was bowing down like fawning toadies before Nebuchadnezzar’s silly 95-foot-high totem pole, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah refused to bow. “We’re not bowing to your golden image.”  They weren’t embarrassed to stand up for the true God of Israel. In 1685 two Scottish women, both named Margaret, were condemned to be drowned at stakes placed in tidewater for refusing to confess King Charles II as head of the church. After the older widow Margaret McLachlin drowned, they asked the eighteen-year-old Margaret Wilson to swear an oath to the king, she cried, “No, no! No sinful oaths for me. I am one of Christ’s children. Let me go.” Slowly the tide came further in and drowned her too as she stood determined to stand for Christ. That’s what Paul tells us here in verse 20. He determined not to be ashamed of Christ in any situation. We too need this mindset, and it takes self-discipline. Remind yourself often of God personally working in your life. Never lose sight of the wonder of Christ’s redeeming work on the cross for your sin. Let your mind and heart fill up with gratitude and love for Christ so you can fight your fear of man and stand up for your Lord Jesus.

One of our Reformation heroes is John Knox. They said he feared the face of man so little because he feared the Lord so much. Matthew 10:28, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Knox brought the Reformation to Scotland. “He spoke plainly, yet with great passion, inspiring the Scots to follow Christ and emboldened them to resist anyone who would deny their freedom to worship God as Scripture commands.” He was a 16th century Micaiah! At Knox’s funeral a Scottish noble said, “Here lies one who never feared the face of man.”  

We could say that about Paul. He was determined “with all boldness” never to be ashamed of Christ in even one thing. We should all pray, “Lord, don’t let me ever be ashamed of you.” Peter said in 1 Peter4:16, “But if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed but is to glorify God in this name.”

The opposite of being ashamed is to magnify Christ in our body. The words “exalt” or “honored” is the word “magnified” given in the KJV, and this is the best translation of megaluno, which means to enlarge, magnify, or show to be great. Psalm 34:3 says, “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.” We all know what it means to magnify something – it means to make large. Paul says, “Now and always I want my life to show forth Christ in all His glory.” He didn’t want even the slightest part of his life to show anything negative about his Savior. He determined to be a Christ-exalting, Christ-magnifying man.

And what instrument or tool was he determined to use to magnify Christ? His body! He knew God had given him a body to be used, not for his own selfish reasons, but for God’s glory. He knew Christ had redeemed his body and now Paul is determined that this physical body – his mouth, his ears, is eyes, his hands, his feet – would be used to show forth Christ. 

Paul gave us very practical directions about magnifying Christ in our body. First Corinthians 6:13, “Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.” One way we magnify Christ in our body is by our purity in life. That includes our tongues. We hear professing Christians using profanity regularly on talk radio or blogs. Some are living together and not married. I remember hearing a caller to a radio talk show asking for help with a financial issue with their boyfriend. The radio host asked, “Are you living together?” “Yes.”  “Are you a Christian?” “Yes.” “Why are you living together with someone to whom you aren’t married? That is a bigger problem than your financial issues.”  

God gave us our bodies to use for His purposes. And then He purchased our bodies with His blood and put His Spirit in us so that we would glorify Him in all we do. Romans 12:1 calls us to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, our reasonable service. And Paul says, “whether by life or death!” We need to embrace this with all our hearts. The great goal of every day is to please God, to magnify Christ, in our thoughts, words, deeds. “If I’m going to live,” Paul says, “I want to glorify or magnify Christ.” “If I’m going to die,” determines Paul, “I want people to clearly see Christ in me. Either way, it’s all about Christ! Christ shall be magnified in my body, in my life or by my death.” Is there any greater resolution than this? 

Live with the GREAT LIFE PURPOSE of Christ.

Philippians 1:21, For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

What an amazing statement. To live means “all of my living.” For me, every single day of my life is Christ. This is one of the sharpest tests of our lives. Can you say that? One of the greatest tragedies is that people have no idea why they are here except to eat, drink, work, pay the bills, raise a family, try to get along with others, pursue pleasure, get old, try to stay healthy, collect social security, and finally lay down and die.  

To live is Christ. Think about what that really means. Why am I here, what is my purpose on this earth? Line up the possibilities that may be given: a great job, a beautiful home, a nice car, a loving family, bigger barns, a bulging bank account (you’ll be giving the nursing home much of it), traveling to exquisite places, standing out as a beautiful specimen of the human race (that will fade fast enough), and gain power over others. Then they may add Christ. What is your purpose in this life? For you to live is…what?

Paul says life is not wealth or knowledge or fame or pleasure or the steel endurance of a stoic. Paul says life to me is Christ first, last, throughout, and always Christ. He is my Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end. He is the second person of the eternal Godhead come into human history through the incarnation, the only human to live a perfect life, to die as the redeeming sacrifice for sinners, who conquered death, ascended to glory, there now as our high priest interceding for us, and some day returning, Prophet, Priest, and King, heir of all things and Judge of the world. Paul says for me to live is Christ and He defines my very existence. “In Christ alone my hope is found.”

For me to live is Christ! Can you say this? Is all that you are and have Christ’s? Is He the treasure of your heart? With the Psalmist in Psalms 73:25, can you say, “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.” Does He have all of you? Does your weekly schedule show that Christ is your all in all? Are you taking up your cross daily by dying to self and following Him as He told us in Luke 9:23? Does your life revolve around Christ and His Word and His authority? Are you living to please Him above all else? Can you say, “For me to live is Christ?”

What about your life shows living for you is Christ? You may not be a preacher, a Bible study leader, or a Sunday School teacher, but you can be a voice for Him to those you meet, faithful to Him in serving His people, and a steward of the wealth He has given you. “Only one life, will soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last.” Everything we do from mowing the yard to holding down a job, paying the bills, washing the dishes, making meals, changing the diapers, and everything else should be done for Christ.

And then Paul adds, “to die is gain.” How can Paul say this? Because he knows for the believer death is a thin veil ushering the believer into the presence of the Lord. He already saw how glorious it will be. Second Corinthians 12:1-4 tells us Paul had already been taken up to the third-heaven and heard glorious things he wasn’t free to tell us about. Plus, Paul preferred death.

2 Corinthians 5:6-8, Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord– 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight– 8 we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.

But Paul knew his work on earth wasn’t finished. We’ll see that next week. Someone said, “A Christian is immortal until his work on earth is done!” Though Sandy Taylor was told she was deceased last week when she went to vote, she’s still quite alive and we’re glad she is! God is not finished with her yet. Paul saw death as nothing but gain, the immediate presence of Christ Himself. In John 17:24 Jesus prayed to the Father that we believers would be with Him to behold His glory. He said to the thief on the cross, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” In His presence is fulness of joy; at His right hand are pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11). 

What about poor lost people? God says they lose eternal love and joy and any hope of being in God’s loving presence forever. They will gain everlasting punishment, eternal destruction, eternal torment, forever away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power (2 Thess. 1:8-9). What a contrast – to die is eternal gain for those who have trusted in Christ vs. to die is eternal loss for people without Christ. Richard Baxter wrote, “Forever is an intolerable thought.”  Forever, eternal, never ending darkness and torment. Be sure death for you is gain. Accept God’s gift of salvation from sin’s penalty through Christ. Don’t gamble with your eternity. 

Paul’s great confidence was that God would take care of him. His strong determination was to magnify Christ in his body, through life or death. And his life’s purpose was Christ alone! What is there about your life that shows Christ is most important. And that for you to live is Christ? Is He your life purpose?