Philippians 1:18-26: Living Christ

Philippians 1:18b-26: Living Christ

Our Scripture reading this morning comes from Philippians 1:18-26. Hear now the words of the Living and True God:

¹⁸ …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.

May God bless the reading of his Word.

What constitutes the good life?  What makes life good?  Answers to that question vary widely, depending on who you ask and what they find important.  But regardless of what we deem important, we all probably hope to attain a good life, if not thee good life.  Many see a good life as a life of happiness.  In fact, Aristotle says, “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.”  He sees happiness as the whole point of life.  Our Founding Fathers suggest that God endows us with unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  But can happiness bear such a hefty burden?  Does our happiness constitute the greatest good?  Does it constitute the good life?  Many others see happiness as a byproduct of something else.  For instance, a motivational poster from the 1970’s—a poster that no doubt adorned the walls of many teenaged girls’ rooms says—“Happiness is like a butterfly, the more you chase it, the more it will evade you.  But if you notice the other things around you, it will gently come and sit on your shoulder.”  In other words, happiness will find you when you stop chasing it.  Good advice.  Sappy.  But sage at the same time. 

Many see happiness as the byproduct of living a purposeful life, a life infused with meaning.  In his book, Man’s Search for Meaning, Holocaust survivor and psychologist, Viktor Frankl does not see happiness as the greatest good.  He says, “Happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself.”  In other words, your happiness cannot serve as the goal.  You must dedicate yourself to a higher cause to find purpose.  He would have you focus on purpose.  Do you think he’s right?  And if so, how do you get there?  In his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey suggests that we begin with the end in mind.  He asks us to imagine our funeral.  Who would attend?  And what would they say about us?  And then work backwards from there thinking about how we might get there, using the finish line as the criterion by which we examine everything else.

But might I suggest that we go even further than that? Rather than think of the end as our funerals, we might think instead of where we will spend eternity, and what it takes to get there.  Now I do not suggest that we have the ability to work our way to heaven or work our way out of hell.  I do suggest that we consider what we live for.  In today’s text, Paul considers that very thing.  And concludes that to live is Christ and to die is gain.  That constitutes the good life.

 When so many other things vie for our attention as to what we should find important and, subsequently, how we should spend our lives, Paul offers the only clear solution. As Christians, if we want to live a good life, then we would do well to consider the main idea of our text this morning: God’s people must courageously honor Christ in life or death, confident to live for Christ and convinced that death is gain. 

 Paul, writing from prison to the church at Philippi, expresses joy in ch1, exhorting God’s people to abound in love out of gratitude for God’s work in them. For, despite trial they endure or motive they have, Paul calls them—as he calls us—to proclaim Christ.  But we not only proclaim him.  We also…

I. Courageously Honor Christ in Life or Death, 18b-20

Plenty of preachers, teachers, and evangelists who have fallen into moral failure have proclaimed Christ.  But we must not stop there.  We must also courageously honor Christ, both in our lives and in our deaths.  Fortunately, God has not left us on our own, to work his will in a vacuum by ourselves.  No.  He gives us the church.  And he gives us his Spirit. 

A. The prayers of fellow believers and the Spirit of Jesus deliver us, 18b-19

He says, “Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance.”  What does he mean by deliverance?  Well, he does not mean eternal salvation.  Sometimes in scripture the word ‘deliverance’ means eternal salvation.  But Paul does not mean that at all here.  Here he means deliverance from his immediate situation.  He knows that despite whatever outcome God intends for him, whether God leaves him in prison, releases him, or allows him to perish, the prayers of his fellow believers and the Spirit of Jesus Christ will help him through this.  So, Paul communicates joy, even in the gravest of circumstances. 

He rejoices that they pray for him.  He rejoices that the Spirit of Jesus helps him.  He knows both of those will deliver him from his circumstance, regardless of whether he lives through it, or dies because of it.  Now I don’t know about you, but if I sat in prison, chained to a guard, deprived of my freedom, my letter to my fellow believers might look a little different.  I might inquire after a good lawyer, or request a care package to meet my needs or wants, or ask for a visit to keep my spirits up, or convey my hardships asking them to pray for my relief.  But not Paul.  He does mention prayer, but he does not ask for it.  He rightly assumes the believers in Philippi have prayed for him and will continue to pray for him.  And notice that he does not concern himself with the outcome.  He trusts that God faithfully uses them to work his will, trusting whatever may come.  He uses his energy to rejoice in their prayers. 

But even if he had not heard from them, he still has other means available to him.  He has the Spirit of Jesus Christ.  When he refers to the Spirit of Jesus Christ, he uses that phrase interchangeably with the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of God he later refers to in ch3.  He says, in effect, “Friends, I am not alone.  I not only have your prayers.  I also have nothing short of every member of the Trinity here with me.  And in that I rejoice.”  Have you ever felt truly alone?  I know I have in brief moments of despair.  I felt that when I first deployed to Afghanistan.  When I first arrived, danger seemed to loom, my ministry had not begun, everyone I loved felt far away.  But then I remembered that God came with me to that place.  And so did the prayers of his people.  Friends, believers never truly walk alone.  They can know the reality that Jesus remains right there with them.  That produces confidence in God and joy in Paul.  So, what else could he hope for?  Well, he does hope for more…

 B. He hopes to honor Christ in life or death, 20

He rejoices that through their prayers and the help of Jesus this will turn out for his deliverance, “as”—he says—“it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.”  As shameful as it would have proved to some to endure a prison sentence, particularly in that time and place as Roman citizens, where citizens prized honor and public praise and feared public shame, Paul sees no shame in his circumstance.  “What does it matter what happens to me if Christ receives honor?  Let me live?  Doesn’t matter.  Let me go?  Doesn’t matter.  Let me languish?  Doesn’t matter.  Kill me?  Still doesn’t matter.  Only that Christ receive honor.  Give me courage for that, God.  That matters.”  Which begs the question, does that matter to you?  That no matter what you go through, that no matter what shame you might have to endure, that no matter how much courage you have to ask God to give you, that Christ receive honor in and through your life?  Now by your presence here, I would guess that you want it to matter.  But does it matter?  If it does, you can walk courageously unashamed of your Lord, emboldened to live for him or die for him, trusting that whatever he gives will turn out for the best.

 Have you ever heard the catchy song, “Grenade” by Bruno Mars.  Now I do not necessarily recommend Bruno Mars.  In fact, I don’t think I can name another one of his songs.  But I have heard this song as you probably have while pumping gas at gas stations and ordering food at fast food eateries, where we endure constant bombardment by a cacophony of pop music.  But I digress.  In the song, Bruno sings about what he would willingly do for the woman he loves.  He says, “I’d catch a grenade for ya, throw my hand on a blade for ya, I’d jump in front of a train for ya”—still not sure what jumping in front of train might do for his loved one, but okay—“you know I’d do anything for ya…but you wouldn’t do the same.”  Friends, Christ did even more for ya.  Would we do the same?  Paul would.

 Paul looks beyond his circumstance and sees with eyes of faith that regardless of whether Paul’s persecutors relent and deliver him in this life, Paul knows that God will deliver him.  How?  By the prayers of the believers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ that Christ would receive honor in any and every  circumstance, whether Paul lives or dies.  Paul does not primarily concern himself with physical deliverance from prison.   He concerns himself with persevering spiritually, growing in godliness, that no matter what circumstance God allows him to go through, he will continue to respond in a sanctified, godly fashion, growing in holiness, becoming more and more like his Lord with each passing circumstance that Christ receive honor through him regardless of circumstance.  In any and every circumstance, he desires to reciprocate what Jesus did for him, despite his feeble efforts, not to obtain salvation, but to live out his salvation.  Friends, it doesn’t matter what hardship we might endure.  It pales in comparison to having the wrath of God poured out on us for the sins of the world, as Jesus had done unto him.  Can we, like Paul, concern ourselves with persevering spiritually, knowing his promise that if we seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, then all these things will be added to us?  So, let us courageously honor Christ in life or death.  That we might…

II. Confidently Live for Christ, Convinced that Death is Gain, 21-26

In fact, Paul presents that as his whole reason for living in v21.  He says, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”  Why is death gain?  Because he lives for Christ.  Death cannot be gain, any other way.  If you live for anything other than Christ, death is loss.  Which begs the question, “What is living to you?”  If I took out the words ‘Christ’ and ‘gain’ from v21, what might you put in their place?  For to me to live is… what?  To die is… what?  Now for some, to live is their kids.  For others, to live is work.  To live is personal happiness.  To live is entertaining oneself while trying to avoid thinking about death at all costs.  At best, for some to live is service to some worthy cause.  And to die?  Well, what is that?  To die is something to put off as long as possible.  To die is something tragic for those who answer anything other than living for Christ.  For to live for anything other than Christ means that death is loss.  Have you ever attended the funeral of an unbeliever?  Have you experienced the hopelessness of that grief from unbelievers around you?  Have you walked away from that experience profoundly sad that some have lived for something that didn’t last?  And now death is loss.  It’s not gain.  How could it be?  Now for some people in other faith groups, they might go a step further than some and say to live is God.  But Paul does not say that.  That’s not nearly specific enough. 

For Paul, living is Christ.  Why would he say that?  Because he knows, as he declares in Colossians 1:16, “For by him”—by Jesus—“all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”  Likewise, Acts 17:28 says, “In him we live and move and have our being.”  Friends, we live in Christ’s world, called to live as Christ’s people.  Giving our lives to anything less than that falls woefully short of why God created us.  Whether we know it or not, whether we live it or not, life equals Christ, death equals gain for the believer, counter-intuitive to everything the world would have you believe about life and death.  It’s all about Jesus.  Using an economic comparison, you could say that Paul does not diversify his holdings.  He does not spread out his spiritual, emotional, and mental resources across a mixture of investments.  He does not diversify his portfolio.  Instead, he puts every ounce of himself into Christ.  He bets it all on Jesus.  Because he knows that only one life twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.  That’s why death is gain; because death is not the end.  Death is gain for the believer because we awake in Christ’s presence.  In the meantime, we see…

A. The dilemma of living between two worlds, 22-24

“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.”  Now don’t think for a second that Paul means to take his own life into his hands.  Don’t think for a second that Paul just wrote some kind of sanctified suicide note.  He simply conveys his inner conflict of how he longs for Christ to take him home.  But he knows that should Christ keep him here in this life, Paul still has work to do.  Dare I say this should become the dilemma of every Christian as they grow: the desire for Christ to take us home, coupled with the reality that that decision remains God’s choice, not ours.  And until he does take us home, we have work to do.  We have people to serve.  We have an obligation to glorify God in our lives.  

Paul concedes here that in a sense living might prove more difficult than dying.  For life has no permanence.  We experience only one constant in this life.  Change.  We live a transitory existence.  Someone once described Christians as a ‘colony of heaven, waiting for the homeland,’ where we implore people to vacate the kingdom of darkness, and take residence in the kingdom of God’s beloved son.  So, if we draw breath, we—like Paul—have work to do.  You might say that our remaining in the flesh might prove more necessary for someone else.  Which begs the question, whom has God left you here for?  Whom has he called you to serve?  And how’s that service going?  I confess, my service gets spotty at times.  I get tired, lazy, distracted, impatient, selfish, and foolish.  And at times, I long for heaven, particularly when the going gets tough.  But to remain in the flesh might prove more necessary for someone else.  So, God, I pray that you would strengthen each of us for whatever you might have.

 B. The need to persevere wherever God has us, 25-26

He says, “Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith.”  Just as the gospel advanced in v12 despite Paul’s imprisonment, so too will the faith of the Philippians advance, or progress—same Greek word here—as Paul continues to minister to them.  I want you to notice two intended outcomes of discipleship, that a more mature believer should have on a younger, or less mature believer.  We remain on this earth and continue with one another for other believer’s (1) progress in the faith, and (2) joy in the faith.  In other words, we help each other grow and we help each other take delight in the faith.  Have you ever basked in the presence of an older, more mature believer who truly lives out the faith?  And do you walk away encouraged, joyful, and hopeful that by God’s grace you too might progress to that point someday?  I know I have.  That suggests that I have spent enough time with other believers to notice it in the first place. 

But if we jet into the worship service right before it starts and jet out right after it ends, never going deeper with one another, we will only experience a limited amount of progress and joy.  And if we limit ourselves to the worship service, then progress and joy will probably only come from the person in the pulpit.  Meaning that we have staked most of our progress and joy on one person, and a few occasional guest speakers.  And if we do that, we will miss out on all the other believers and their various gifts.  Because we haven’t gotten to know them.  We haven’t seen how they might help us progress and take joy in the faith.  Friends, people in this congregation have spiritual gifts that the person in the pulpit does not have.  So, failing to get to know those other people, means we limit the amount of progress and joy we might otherwise experience.  And we limit what progress and joy in the faith others might gain from us. 

Why would we do this?  Some of us may falsely believe that we have little to offer because we have not gotten very far in our faith.  But where else in our life does that logic play out?  For instance, in our jobs, we typically start at the bottom.  Does that mean we work less?  No.  We might even work all the harder to catch up, doing our best to serve as contributing members of the team.  And hopefully as we go on, we make more and more progress and take more and more joy in it.  For instance, I have served in the military for over 28 years.  And I started the bottom.  And after 28 years of service, you would expect that I made some progress through the ranks, right? —As surely as you did or will do in your own career.  And you would expect that after that length of time, I must like, I must take joy—to a large degree—in what I do.  But I fear that we have too many 28-year Christians who operate like they just joined the workforce: little commitment, little joy, little love for all that entails.  I know I spent years as a young Christian making little progress and taking little joy in it all, because I could not answer with certainty, “For to me to live is Christ, to die is gain.”  I don’t think I truly believed that for a long time.  But God, in his grace continues to get a hold of me, causing me day by day to think differently.  It is never too late to grow and change. 

Friends, we should not feel ashamed for starting at the beginning.  But we should not content ourselves with staying at the beginning.  In 1 Corinthians 3:2, Paul laments the fact that some of those he ministered to still operated like spiritual babies, needing milk when they should handle solid food.  Just as we must progress and take joy in our careers if we hope to persevere, we should also progress and take joy in our faith if we hope to do the same.  And once we do, we then turn around and help others progress and take joy as well.  Now I have no intention of shaming any of us.  I only desire to encourage us to prioritize our relationship with Christ, so we can say with Paul, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.”  That’s the good life!

Until he takes us home, we, like Paul, remain for someone else’s progress and joy in the faith, “so that in me”—v26—“you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.”  So, v26 gives us the ultimate reason—or the intended outcome—of why we, as believers, remain.  Surely it benefits others, as we see in v25, but ultimately it serves to glorify Jesus Christ.  In other words, we do not glory in the believers who help us along the way.  We give that glory to Jesus.  Jesus declares in John 4:23, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.”  Friends, we exist to worship.  And haven’t you noticed that every single person you know, even the atheists, worship something.  So, what might prove worthy of worship?  For what purpose did God create us?  God intends only one answer to that.  In the Westminster Catechism, the first question and answer clarify this.  It asks, “What is the chief end of man?” Or put another way, “What is man’s purpose?”  The answer?  “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.”  We see this in 1 Corinthians 10:21, “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”  We exist for that purpose.  We live in Christ’s world to bring Christ glory, as we purposely grow more and more like him, as we purposely worship him.

 In Numbers 23:10, the prophet Balaam, made a curious statement.  Do you remember the story?  King Balak, living in the land of Canaan in the days of Moses and Israel wandering in the wilderness, called upon the prophet Balaam to come and curse God’s people.  As you may know, Balaam tried and failed to do so, with God repeatedly forbidding Balaam to curse Israel, even warning him through the mouth of his donkey and through the intervention of an angel of his danger if he spoke anything other than the words God gave him.  And as he prophesied, he said this, “Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his!”  Great words, if only he knew what they meant.  You see, Balaam failed to realize that if you want to die the death of the upright, of the righteous, you must live the life of the righteous.  Unfortunately, Balaam died by the sword among the rest of the wicked at the hands of God’s people.

 If we might say with certainty, “to die is gain,” we must say with equal certainty, “to live is Christ.”  Christ must serve as our all-consuming passion.  Granted, we will not live that passion perfectly this side of heaven.  But do we at least trend in that direction?  Do we really put our faith and trust in Christ alone?  Or do we put our faith in Christ, plus something else?   

Jesus did not live a perfect life, die to pay for sin as a perfect sacrifice, perfectly raise from the dead, and ascend to glorious perfection, only for us to live perfectly content to worship Jesus among other gods or other things.  No.  God says in Isaiah 48:11, “My glory I will not give to another.”  God says we shall have no other gods before him.  God’s people must courageously honor Christ in life or death, confident to live for Christ and convinced that death is gain.  That, my friends, is the good life, the only life worth living, that death be gain.  I have tried and failed repeatedly to waver between two opinions, following God while following other gods.  And I lived miserably in between, never truly faithful to God and never truly progressing or taking joy in my faith but never abandoning it altogether.  How long will you waver between two opinions?  I have good news.  None of us need to live that way. 

But no effort of ours will induce faithfulness.  Only when we see our lives as forfeit, and give them to God, trusting he can do better with our lives than we can, will we experience what Paul experienced, will we say what Paul said, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”  So, as we come to the Lord’s table today, as we prepare our hearts to receive the elements, let us prayerfully ask God that we might see our lives as forfeit, that we might give our lives fully to God, trusting that he can do better with our lives than we can, praying that Paul’s reality would become our reality that for us, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.