Well, what a joy it is to gather
again this evening to look together into God's Word. My goal for
the evening is not to fall backwards into the baptistry that remains
open, A few years ago when I was preaching
here on a Sunday evening, I forgot that the baptistry is left open,
and as I was preaching, I took several steps backwards, and
the people on the sides were trying to motion to me as my
heel was hanging over the edge of the baptistry. So, that would
have been quite a baptismal service. I would have electrocuted myself.
We could have had the funeral all at the same time. So my hands are on the pulpit
right now. I'm attached. So hopefully this
will be a safe endeavor. it's difficult to know what to
preach when you step into a church just for a Sunday and so many
selections from which to choose to preach. And my desire this
evening is simply to encourage you, to build you up, and to
strengthen your Christian faith and your Christian life. So,
with that in mind, I invite you to take God's Word and turn with
me to the book of Philippians, Philippians chapter 1. And I
want us this evening to look at one verse in particular, Philippians
1 verse 21. I want to begin by just reading
this text. The title of this message is
very simply, To Live Christ. I want to begin by reading the
passage. You no doubt are very familiar
with it, and we want to look at it carefully tonight. The
Apostle Paul, as he is in Rome in imprisonment, as he writes
this letter to the church at Philippi, as they are very concerned
for him, he gives this word of personal testimony. He gives
this word of personal statement of faith to them. And Paul says
in verse 21, for to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. The Christian life is Christ. Christianity is not a ritual.
It is not a routine. It is not a religion. Christianity
is a relationship with the living, risen, ascended Christ. Christianity is not a performance.
It is a person. It is knowing the person of Jesus
Christ. To put it another way, Christianity
is not a cause to join. It is not a code to keep. It
is not a creed to repeat. It is a Christ to know and to
follow. Christianity is knowing Christ. It is loving Christ. It is worshiping
Christ. It is following Christ. It is
obeying Christ. It is serving Christ. It is becoming
like Christ. Everything in the Christian life
is rooted and grounded in Christ. In the Christian life, Jesus
is everything. If you have Christ, you have
everything. And if you do not have Christ, you are nothing
and you have nothing. In the words of the Reformers,
Christianity is solas Christos, Christ alone. Salvation is in
Christ alone, and sanctification is in Christ alone, and glorification
is in Christ alone. Charles Spurgeon, the great preacher
of the 19th century, asserted, if Christ is not all to you,
He is nothing to you. He will never go into partnership
as a part Savior of men. If He is to be something, He
must be everything. And if He is not everything,
He is nothing to you. We can only add our amen to this
statement. Christ is everything, therefore
He must be everything to us. Thomas Brooks, a noted Puritan
of yesteryear says, miss Christ and you miss all. He goes on
to say, they do not love Christ who love anything more than Christ. In other words, Jesus must be
our undisputed and unrivaled supreme love or we do not love
Him at all. J.C. Ryle, the great English
Anglican stated, no man ever thought too much of Christ. One thing of which we will never
need to repent and never need to confess is that we have too
high a view of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even the demons called
Jesus the Holy One of Israel. Pilate said, I find no guilt
in Him. Nathanael said, You are the Son
of God. You are the King of Israel. The
Apostle John identified Him as the Word, who was in the beginning,
who was with God, and who was God. Peter said, you are the
Christ, the Son of the living God. And Thomas simply fell down
before Him and said, my Lord and my God. This is the one for
whom Paul lived. This is the one of whom Paul
writes, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. The year
is 61 A.D., and the Apostle is imprisoned in Rome. He has been
arrested with the charge of being an insurrectionist against the
empire. And Paul is awaiting his trial
before Caesar. who has the power of life and
death in His hands and uses that power at His own discretion without
hesitation against any threat to the stability of the empire,
and the Apostle Paul was certainly becoming such a threat. As Paul
faces the real possibility of losing his life, the churches
are concerned for Paul, for he has been the instrument of God,
who has brought the gospel to them, and Paul is a spiritual
father to them because God has used him in bringing the message
to him. So their concern is, will Paul
survive this imprisonment? Or will his life be taken? And
so Paul writes back to them in the book of Philippians, and
Paul says, whether I live or whether I die, either way is
victory. If Paul lives, he knows that
he will have extended opportunities to serve the Lord Jesus Christ
here upon the earth and to bring glory and honor to the name of
Christ through the preaching of the Word of God. But if Paul
dies, Paul understands that this too will be gained, because it
will be the means by which Paul will go directly into the presence
of the Lord Jesus Christ, that he will graduate to glory and
stand clothed in the righteousness of Christ, faultless before the
throne of Christ, there to worship Him forever and ever and ever. This is the kind of faith that
we all need to have, where for us to live is Christ. And I trust that tonight that
you're not living for anything else. I trust that you're not
living for anyone else. You may make your living down
in the marketplace. You may serve the Lord in your
home. You may be a student in the schoolroom. But all of those things are peripheral
to that which is central and foremost, which is to live for
Christ. No matter where you live, no
matter what you do, no matter what your vocation is, no matter
what your lot in life is, it must be that we say tonight,
for me to live is Christ. And if we can say, and it be
true of our soul, that for me to live is Christ, then to die
will be gain. But if we live for anything else
or anyone else, for us to die will be loss. It will be the
greatest loss and the greatest tragedy that there could possibly
be. So this small text, Philippians
121, should in many ways be a guiding light to us tonight, to reveal
to us what must be the very essence of our life and of our soul here
upon the earth. Now, this message, this text
is very easy to divide. There are only two points, and
the two halves of this verse are very simply this. First,
I want you to see, number one, to live is Christ. That's the
first part of this verse. To live is Christ. And then we will look at the
second half of this verse under the second heading. to die is
gain. It's a very simple outline, and
I believe it will serve us well as we look at this really monumental
text of Scripture. Please note with me first, number
one, to live is Christ. This verse begins with Paul saying,
for to me, this is emphatic, And Paul is drawing our attention
to his own statement of faith. He does not have a second-hand
religion. Paul is saying, to me, in the
depths of my soul, in the very core of my being, when Paul says,
for to me, he is saying, I don't care what anyone else does on
planet earth, as for me, for to me. And Paul says, regardless
of what my friends are doing, regardless of what those around
me choose, regardless of what the majority says, regardless
of what the world is doing, for to me, this is what is most real
in my life. He says, for to me, to live. for to me to live." And when
he says, to live, he is talking about the entirety of His being
and His soul here upon the earth, not just to exist, but for me
to live, he says, is Christ. The verb, is, is not in the original
language. It's been supplied by the translator
in order for this sentence to read more smoothly. But as Paul
wrote this to the church at Philippi, he literally wrote, for me to
live, Christ It's a more dramatic and emphatic way to state his
singular allegiance to Christ. What Paul is saying, my whole
life is Christ. The sum and substance of my life
is Jesus Christ. The very essence of my being
is Christ. And Paul is saying, I do not
have anything going on in my life, whether near the center
or at the periphery, but that it is not under the lordship
of Jesus Christ. Paul does not say, for me to
live is Christ and anything else. He does not say, for me to live
is Christ and anyone else. Rather, he says, Christ is everything
to me. For me to live is Christ. In Colossians 3 verse 4, Paul
says, Christ is our life. Of course, Jesus said in John
14 verse 6. I am the way and the truth and the life. And without Christ, there is
no life in us to experience, no eternal life, no abundant
life, no supernatural life, for Christ is the life. But to have
Christ is to truly live. To have Christ is to live life
as God intended. Now, there was a time in Paul's
life when he did not live for Christ, just as there was a time
in your life when you did not live for Christ. At that time,
Paul lived for himself. Paul lived for dead religion. Paul lived for his own reputation. Paul lived for his own cause
before he came to know Christ and before he came to live for
Christ. Paul lived independent of Christ. He lived in opposition to Christ. He lived without Christ until
that day on the Damascus Road. As Paul had letters in hand,
as he left Jerusalem and on that Damascus road, he was headed
to apprehend the Christians and to bring them back to Jerusalem. Paul was a man on a mission. He had That mission was to resist
everything that Jesus Christ claimed to be, and to resist
everything that Christ stood for. It was Paul's goal to eradicate
the name of Christ from the surface of the earth. And as Paul, who
was then Saul of Tarsus, was traveling to Damascus, while
on that trip he came to a sudden encounter with the living Christ,
as Christ appeared to him and literally knocked him off his
high horse, and knocked him to the ground. And Paul in that
moment looked up and said, who are you? And in that very moment,
he came into an encounter with the living Christ, he came to
know Christ, and his life was dramatically altered at that
moment. There is no way that anyone can
meet Jesus Christ. and enter into a relationship
with Him without their life being significantly and dramatically
changed. Listen, if your religion hasn't
changed your life, you better change your religion. Because
to come to know Jesus Christ as one's personal Savior and
Lord is to become a new person in Christ, and the old things
are passed away, and behold, new things have come. This happened
in Paul's life. And he gives his testimony later
here in the book of Philippians of just this encounter with Christ. And in Philippians 3, beginning
in verse 7, Paul has this testimony to give to us. And this is our
testimony as well. In Philippians 3 verse 7, he
writes, whatever things were gained to
me." And when he says, what things were gained to me, he is referring
to his religious heritage, he is referring to his religious
achievements, he is referring to his spiritual reputation,
he is referring to his family lineage, he is referring to his
self-righteousness, he is referring to his own good works, Whatever
things were gained to me that He once clung to and found His
identity in those things, He says, those things I have counted
as loss for the sake of Christ. Verse 8, more than that, I count
all things. There's nothing outside of that.
All things are all things here. I count all things, everything
and anything that was in my life previous, I count all things
to be loss. in view of the surpassing value
of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the
loss of all things, and count them but rubbish, count them
but excrement, so that I may gain Christ." Paul thought of
his life like an accounting spreadsheet. where on one side there were
gains and assets, and on the other side there were losses
and debits. And before Paul met the Lord
Jesus Christ, before he encountered Christ on that Damascus road,
Everything in his life that he clung to, that he lived for,
that he looked to was on this side of the accounting spreadsheet
under gain, under assets. And in that moment, he met the
risen, living Christ on the road to Damascus. And in that moment,
everything that he once considered to be a gain, everything that
was an asset in his life, he immediately transferred everything
in his life to the debit column, to loss. And there is one journal
entry in the asset side, and that one journal entry is Jesus
Christ my Lord. To have Christ is to have everything,
and everything in one's life that you once lived for, that
you once cherished, that was once the most important thing
to you in your life, it is now to be considered as loss that
I may have Christ. All of my previous good works,
all of my previous church attendance, all of my previous religiosity,
all of my striving to keep the law, all of my family lineage,
all of my religious heritage, in a moment was transferred and
considered loss, now that he has Jesus Christ. Has this transaction occurred
in your life? Have you come to meet the risen
Christ by the power of His Spirit through the ministry of His Word?
Have you encountered Christ and has Christ encountered you? If so, then your life will measure
up with Paul's testimony here that everything that I once clung
to and lived for to give myself a right standing before God,
I now consider it all to be as rubbish. And the one journal
entry that has been made in your life by faith is Jesus Christ
my Lord. That is what Paul is saying.
There was once a time when he did not live for Christ, and
then he came to know Christ, and now Christ is everything
and he lives for Christ. Let's develop this just a little
bit more. Here is what Paul is saying.
And number one, Christ is now the purpose of his life. Paul has no other side issues
going on in his life. no competing rivals, no other
agenda. Paul now, his entire reason for
his existence is Christ. You ask Paul, what is the purpose
of your life? Paul says, Christ. Paul lived
for Christ, he preached for Christ, he traveled for Christ, he was
persecuted for Christ, he was imprisoned for Christ. This says
something about how Paul spent his time, his effort, everything. He lived to glorify Christ. So, that is number one. Christ
is the purpose of his life. And second, Christ is the priority
of his life. Jesus Christ is Lord of Paul's
life. Jesus is number one in Paul's
life. And Paul recognizes that Jesus
has the right to rule his life. Nothing supersedes Christ in
Paul's life. Everything yields to Christ. Christ must have first place
in everything. First place in our families.
First place in our marriages. First place in our profession.
First place in our mission and ministry. First place in matters
of intellect. First place in time. First place
in love. First place in conversation.
First place in pleasures. First place in eating. First
place in play. First place in athletics. First
place in what we watch. First place in art. First place
in music. First place in worship. Jesus
Christ is the undisputed Lord over everyone's life, and it
is recognized by those who come and follow Christ. Christ is
the purpose of His life. Christ is the priority of His
life. Christ is the passion of His
life. Nothing excites His heart more
than Jesus Christ. Nothing thrills His soul more
than the glory and the majesty and the supremacy of Jesus Christ. Paul is enthusiastic about Christ. Paul is excited about Christ. Paul is fired up for Christ. And that must be true in all
of our lives, or we have left our first love. Jesus said in
Matthew 10 verse 37, "'He who loves father or mother more than
Me is not worthy of Me.' and he who loves son or daughter
more than me is not worthy of me." For us to say, for me to
live is Christ, means that He is the passion and the priority
and the purpose of our life. Fourth, He is the pattern of
Paul's life and our life. Everything in Paul's life is
to be an emulation of Christ. Paul understands for him to live
for Christ means that he must follow Christ and that he must
become like Christ, that he must be a reflection of Christ. And as he looks at the glory
of Christ, it's his desire that he be transformed into that very
same image from glory to glory. Paul seeks to think like Christ. Paul seeks to speak like Christ,
to act like Christ, to react like Christ. This is what it
means to live for Christ. that He is the pattern of our
life. Also, Paul would say that Christ
is the partner of his life, that he has entered into close fellowship
with the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul longed to know Christ day
by day more and more. He desired to have a deeper,
more personal relationship with the living Christ. In Philippians
3 and verse 8, he speaks of the surpassing value of knowing Christ
Jesus my Lord. There is nothing of any greater
value in my life, Paul says, than to know experientially Jesus
Christ in my heart and soul. Paul says in Philippians 3 and
verse 10, that I may know Him. That was what was driving the
Apostle Paul. If you were to lift up the hood
of his life and look at the engine in his heart and soul and see
what was driving this Apostle on his missionary journeys, driving
him to stand up in the synagogue to preach Christ, driving him
from city to city and town to town and being willing to suffer
persecution Paul would say, I'll tell you what is driving me,
what is motivating me. It is that I may know Christ
and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering. And there's one more heading
that I want to give you as we're thinking about what it means
to live for Christ. Number six, Christ is the power
of His life. As Paul seeks to pattern his
life after Christ, he knows that he cannot do this in his own
strength, for who among us is sufficient for these things?
No, there must be the very power of Christ at work within us by
His Spirit if we are to become empowered and emboldened to be
like Christ. And Paul writes in Philippians
4 verse 13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens
me. When I was in college, I had
that verse written out on a piece of paper. and it was with pins
put on the bulletin board over my bed so that every night as
I crawled into bed in college and felt the challenges and the
responsibilities and the duties and the stresses that were placed
upon me as I was being stretched beyond what had ever been stretched
before in my life, I looked at that text again and again and
again. I can do all things through Christ
who strengthens me, all things within the will of God, all things
within the purposes of God, but Christ must be the power of our
lives. Paul writes in Colossians 1 verse
29, I labor, striving according to His power that mightily works
within me." Paul was not passive in the Christian life. Paul was
aggressive. Paul was not letting go and letting God in his life. Paul was a dynamic force for
the Lord. Paul was putting one step before
another. He was moving out to serve the
Lord and to live for Christ. he did not do it in his own strength.
He did it in the might and the power that only Christ can provide. This is what it meant for Paul
to live for Christ. Christ was not an addendum to
his life. Christ was not an appendix to
his life. Christ was not a footnote to
his life. Christ was not a mere segment
of Paul's life. Christ was not one room in the
house of his life. Christ was everything in Paul's
life. Christ was the Alpha and the
Omega and everything in between. Everything in Paul's life was
brought into alignment with Christ, was brought into submission under
Christ. Everything had to square with
Christ or it was out of place in his life. Everything must
be in sync with Christ and honor Christ and glorify Christ. This is what Christ must be in
our lives. Is Christ this to you? Has Christ
come into your life and into your soul? Have you met the risen,
living Christ? Are you living full out for Christ? Are you consciously aware that
everything in your life must be brought into conformity and
into alignment with this chief cornerstone, Jesus Christ. Now, second, not only to live
is Christ, and this is what the Christian life is, then second,
to die is gain. Paul goes on to say in this passage,
For to me, to live is Christ, and now here it is, and it's
inseparably bound together. The second half can never be
separated from the first half. The first half of this verse
ever and always leads to the second half. It is not either
or, it is both and. for to me to live is Christ,
then this is the only conclusion and summation to which my life
may come, for to me to live is Christ and, meaning inevitably,
therefore, to die is gain." For Paul will say, to die. is gain
was not an ivory tower statement for Paul to make at this time
in his life. This was not a theorizing or
a philosophizing on Paul's part, for Paul is facing trial before
Caesar, who has the power of life and death over him. And
it would be not death by natural causes, but death by execution
by capital punishment. So, as Paul says, to die, this
is very real in Paul's life. This is what is staring Paul
in the face this very moment. And I'm sure that in a congregation
of this size as we gather tonight on the Lord's Day, There must
be many of us here tonight for which death is also very real. For some of you here tonight,
you may be approaching what you are coming to understand would
be the end of your life. There has been a doctor's report.
There has been made known to you that the end is approaching.
You may be living with someone in your family or someone in
your house who is a believer in Jesus Christ, who is staring
death square in the face. And for you tonight, this is
not a philosophical discussion. This is as real as it gets. And God has brought you here
tonight and directed me to preach this text, that there would be
this intersection for the encouragement of your heart, for the lifting
up of your soul, so that you would not be downcast, but that
you would have the truth of God more firmly embedded in your
heart and soul, that you would be strengthened in your inner
person, that you could stare death square in the eye and say,
oh death, where is your victory? That is as it was for Paul as
he writes this, and that is no doubt as it is for many here
tonight. So, notice what Paul says. To
die, he writes, is gain. What a strange statement to make. How unlike the world's philosophy. How unlike what the world says. But those who live for Christ,
this is the right and only estimation. To live, he says, is gain. You need to know that this verb,
is, is also not in the original. And Paul, writing in a staccato,
abrupt fashion in order to stylistically make an emphasis, he says, to
die. Gain. Paul understands death
for him will mean immediate gain. It will mean exponential gain.
It will mean eternal gain throughout all of the ages to come. This
word, gain, is a very strong word. It means profit, advantage,
reward, benefit, winnings, For Paul, death is the gaining of
a lifelong passion, which is Christ. For Paul, death is the
means by which he will enter into the very presence of the
Lord Jesus Christ and the fulfillment of the longing and the desires
of his heart to look full into the face of his Savior, Jesus
Christ, and to at last be in His presence. Death is gained
because it marks more of Christ. and more of Paul to Christ. Death is gain because it relieves
him of earthly burdens and lets him totally focus upon adoring
Christ and glorifying Christ. Where life is simply Christ,
death is simply gain. Now, in what way specifically
is death gain if we live for Christ? Well, first we can say
it is gain because death means a better place. We go to a better
place. We leave this world of sorrow
and woe and sin and chaos and persecution and depravity and
corruption. We leave this world and we go
to a much better place than this evil world. No one picture can
communicate the fullness of all that this better place is. It
is known as heaven. The word heaven just means heights.
It is the very heights of heights where God is and where God lives
and where God dwells, but it is called paradise. Jesus said
to the thief on the cross, today you will be with Me in paradise. The word paradise means a beautiful
garden, a beauty beyond our imagination, there with the river of the water
of life clear as crystal, there with the tree of life bearing
twelve kinds of fruit. No, paradise is a glorious place. It is a better place. No wonder
Paul says, to go, to be with Christ is gain. Jesus said, in my Father's house
are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have
told you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where
I am, there you may be also. And the idea is that we live
all in the Father's house with fellowship and close proximity
and intimacy and communion and togetherness in the family of
God with our Father in heaven. And as we saw this morning, Ultimately,
salvation in the wedding feast pictures our wedding feast in
heaven where we will be in joy with the Lord forever. So, to
die is gain. means a better place than this
world, it means a better body and soul and mind as well. Because the moment that we enter
heaven, we will be given a glorified body and a glorified soul perfectly
suited for our new environment in heaven. We will be in a body
that will allow us to serve the Lord and worship the Lord without
the limitations and the restrictions that we now feel in our body. In that day, the Spirit will
be willing and the flesh will be willing. The body will be
willing as well. And we will never grow weary
in worshiping God and serving the Lord. We will have a heightened
ability to enjoy the pleasures of heaven in our glorified body. We will never sin again. We will
never fail one another. We will never fail the Lord.
We will never need to confess our sin. We will never need to
repent. we will have a glorified body,
and our sin nature will be eradicated, and we will be in a far greater
state, in a far greater place. there will be a greater reward.
Our reward in this world is little. Sometimes it comes to us, but
we must remember that we are laying up treasure in heaven
where thieves do not break in and where rust does not corrupt. Our treasure is in another world. There will also be a better community,
There, when we are with the Lord in heaven, we will directly fellowship
with the Lord as we will see Him with eyes of faith and have
access to His throne of grace. We shall commune with Father
Abraham. and with King David and the Apostle Paul. No wonder
Paul says, to die is gain. I have a mother there. I have
a father there. I have recently buried my precious
aunt who is now there. What a glorious thing it will
be to leave this world and to be with Christ in heaven. It
will be a far better community there than it is here. I've heard
someone say, to dwell up above with those that we love, that
will be glory, but to live down below with those that we know,
that's another story. and how challenging and difficult
it is here in this world with even the best of friends and
the closest of family. There are still misunderstandings.
There are still hurt feelings. There are still disappointments.
But there above, around the throne of God, it will be perfect love. As Jonathan Edwards said, it
will be a kingdom of love that is exponentially superior to
the greatest moments of love that we have ever experienced
here in this world. But finally, not only a better
community, but to die is gain means a better vision. Upon our
arrival there, our greatest joy will be not streets of gold,
not gates of pearl. Our greatest joy will not be
to see Abraham and David. Our greatest joy will not be
a new body or an eternal reward. Our greatest gain will be to
see the Lion-Lamb Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, to behold
His nail-pierced hands and His glorified body, to see Him not
as He once was, as the meek Messiah, not to see Him as the humble
carpenter, not to see Him as the lowly servant of the Lord,
Rather, we shall see Him not as He once was, but as He now
is. We shall see Him as the sovereign
Lord of heaven and earth in His glorified state. We shall see
upon His head many diadems, meaning unimaginable sovereignty invested
to Him with many diadems. his head and his hair white like
white wool like snow, his eyes like a flame of fire, his feet
like burnished bronze made to glow in a furnace, his voice
like the sound of many waters, his face like the sun shining
in its strength. A Lamb standing as if slain,
having seven eyes and seven spirits. We shall behold the glorified
Christ with our glorified eyes. We shall see Him just as He is. 1 John 3 verse 2 says, in that
moment faith will give way to sight. And then will come the
fulfillment of our Lord's prayer in John 17, verse 24. Father, I desire that they also
whom you have given me be with me where I am so that they may
see my glory which you have given to me. That prayer will be answered
in that day. That is why to die is gain, for
we will enter in before His throne and we will see the glory that
belongs to Him alone. We shall see Him shining in the
full splendor of His majesty. We shall see Him radiant, brilliant,
ablaze in holiness, gleaming in righteousness, luminous in
grace and mercy, shining brighter than ten thousand suns in the
sky above. And in that moment, we will be
instantly electrified with joy. We will be captured with bliss.
We will be overjoyed with happiness. We will be ecstatic. We will
be euphoric. We will be enraptured. No wonder
Paul says, to die is gain. Who are you living for? What
are you living for? We are all living for someone
or something. We all have a supreme passion. We all have a chief pursuit in
this world. If we live for anything or anyone
other than Christ, then to die is loss. But if we live for Christ
supremely, daily, sacrificially, selflessly, then for us to die
is gain. Think of the saints of God as
they have come to the end of their life. Think of the martyrs
as they lived for Christ. What was their testimony as they
came to the martyr's stake? In my preaching Bible, I have
a picture of John Rogers, He was born in 1500. He was executed
for the name of Christ in 1555. He was the first Marian martyr. He was the first martyr to be
burned at the stake by Bloody Mary. He was a pastor in Smithfield
in London. He was a Bible translator. He
went to Europe and came in contact with William Tyndale, who was
translating the Bible into the English language. And it is believed
that possibly William Tyndale led John Rogers to a saving knowledge
of Jesus Christ while at Antwerp, when Tyndale died in 1536. John Rogers took up the work
and took up the task and completed the translation of the Bible
into the English language, the very first translation, Old Testament
and New Testament, to be translated from the original languages into
the English language, treasure of all treasure for English-speaking
people. He became a marked man by Bloody
Mary, and Bloody Mary issued the edict that he be arrested,
which he was. He was imprisoned, and he was
ordered to be martyred in Smithfield immediately in front of his church,
there to intimidate the congregation, there to send a message to the
living as their pastor would be dying. They came to Rogers
the night before his martyrdom. They came to Him and called upon
Him to repent and to recant of His work of translating the Bible
in the English language and to repent of His view of the gospel
as He believed in salvation by grace alone, through faith alone,
in Christ alone, and He would not equivocate as it related
to the Lord's Supper. John Rogers, who had lived for
Christ ever since he encountered the risen Christ, said, that
which I have preached I seal with my blood. The sheriff in
the cell said to him, you, sir, are a heretic. Rogers said, that
shall be known at the day of judgment. The sheriff said, then
I will never pray for you. Rogers said, but I will pray
for you. John Rogers was taken to the
stake. To this point, no one had been martyred like this in
England. Would this go through? Would
this become reality? The entire church turned out.
The entire community lined the streets as John Rogers was led
to the stake on February the 4th, 1555. The French ambassador
to England was standing there, and he said that as he saw John
Rogers pass by, it looked as though Rogers was going to his
wedding day, so confident in his faith in Jesus Christ. Rogers knew for me to live is
Christ, and to die is gain. Rogers understood, you can cut
my head off, but you cannot head me off, because I am living for
Christ, and I will die for Christ. And as he was led to the stake
there to be strapped, his wife and his eleven children gathered
around him and sought to pull him away, but he pressed on. And there John Rogers was set
aflame, and they said it looked as though he was taking a bath
as he washed his hands in the flame. As he lived for Christ, so he
was fearless to die for Christ. He understood that death would
be but the usher who would escort him into the immediate presence
of Christ for whom he lived and of whom he preached. Death would
be his handmaiden who would serve him in taking him to Christ. Beloved, this is how we must
live. And if God should call us to
bear such witness, this is how we must die. For me, to live
is Christ, and to die is immediate, exponential, eternal,
unrivaled. gain that shall accrue in value
and interest throughout all of the ages to come. We do not fear death because
we live for the one who has conquered death by His own death and resurrection. Let us live for Christ as never
before. Let us pick up our pace. Let
us widen our stride. Let us stretch our gait. Let
us pick up the pace. Let our eye be more singular
towards Christ. Let our heart be filled with
greater allegiance and loyalty and affection for Christ. Let us live for Him with all
that there is within us.