Come back to Philippians chapter
1. A life worth living and a death
worth dying are the believer's attitude as
he or she goes through this life. We have it right here. For me
to live is Christ, to die is gain. When Brandon read this portion
of scripture, he would not guess, if he didn't
know it, that this was written from prison. Does this sound
like somebody writing from prison? What a letter. poured out his
heart to the people, his love and care and concern for God's
people. Philippi was the first place
in Europe where the gospel was preached, and Lydia was the first
one there to hear the gospel, to my knowledge, and to be converted. Paul thanked God for them, And he wanted them to know that
even though he was in prison, their salvation was not in danger. He writes, he which hath begun
a good work in you will finish that work. It's not up to the preacher to
finish the work. That's Christ's work. Salvation is Christ's work
from beginning to end. I'm given the responsibility
and the privilege of preaching Christ to you. But Christ does
the saving from beginning to end. And he which hath begun
a good work in you will finish it. You'll finish it. And that his imprisonment, he
wanted them to know that his imprisonment turned out to be
for the furtherance of the gospel. Not a hindrance, but a furtherance
of the gospel. So much so that God was saving
some of the servants in Nero's house. Nero hated Christians. He hated Christ. He hated Christianity. And what does God do? He invades
his palace and saves sinners right in under his nose. You
know the Lord told Peter when Peter confessed our to Christ
son of the living God and he said upon this rock shall I build
my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it
or the gates of hell will not keep the gospel out and will
not keep the gospel. If God is going to invade your
heart Satan has to step aside. When the stronger man comes into
the house the weaker one has to leave. he has to leave. And he wants them to know that
even though he is in prison, it's not hindered the gospel,
but in other words, it's spread the gospel. It's for the furtherance
of the gospel. And that the brethren were much
more bold to speak the truth because of his bonds. It emboldened them to preach
it. It didn't scare them or make them run and hide, it emboldened
them to preach it. And he wanted them to know that
if he lived, it'd be for the glory of Christ. And brethren,
what I'm giving you, I want this. I want this for me, I want this
for you. I want this for everybody I preach
to. That if I live, I live for the glory of Christ, And the
furtherance of the gospel, Paul said, if I die, is pure gain. It is absolutely pure gain. That is a different view of death,
isn't it? That is a life worth living,
and that's a death worth dying. For me to live as Christ, at
the dice game. Paul's aim in living was for
the glory of his Lord. Christ was the supreme end of
his life. And this belongs to every believer,
not just apostles, not just preachers, this belongs to every one of
us who believe God. This attitude, this spirit, it
belongs to every one of us. Paul's aim was not in gathering
gold, not amassing wealth or education or a following. It was to glorify Jesus Christ. Is that not what we are here
for this morning? Our number one goal to be here
this morning is to glorify Jesus Christ, is to give unto Him the
glory due unto His name. That's our purpose here this
morning. First, that's our purpose. and then to edify you, the church. Paul's aim was to glorify his
Lord. This was the single purpose of
his soul. He craved to honor his master.
You can tell that by reading it. By the reading of the word,
he craved to honor the Lord Jesus Christ. He devoted himself to
this as an athlete would devote himself to winning a prize. He says in verse 20, according
to my earnest expectation in my heart, that in nothing I'll
be ashamed, nothing. Paul was determined, he says
over in Philippians 3, he was determined to know Christ so
much so that he counted everything, everything, but lost for the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus. He says, he goes
on to say, oh, that I might know him in the power of his resurrection. That is, the power of his resurrected
life, that I might know him in that way. That's what he wanted
to know. Paul wanted to know his character.
He wanted to know him more. He wanted to know his purpose.
He wanted to know his person. Jesus Christ can be known. It's
more than just believing some facts about a person. It's knowing
a person. Salvation is not being safe from
going to a place. It's being safe from seeing that
I might be made one with God. That I might know God. That's
different. That's different. Brother, I'm not afraid of a
place. The beginning of wisdom is to
what? Fear God. Fear God. And this, it says in John 17,
3, and this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Can't know
one without the other, but that's eternal life. It's to know God,
to know Him. Paul knew that to know Jesus
Christ, was to know and to have eternal life. And eternal life,
listen now, eternal life is a person. Look over in John chapter one. John chapter one, verse one. I'll wait till I quit hearing
the pages rattle. Give you a chance to get there. That which was from the beginning,
which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which
we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of what? The
word of life. For the life was manifested. John said, we've seen life. We've
looked upon life. We touched life. For the life was manifested and
we have seen it, we bear witness and show unto you that eternal
life which was with the Father and was manifested to us. Life
is a person. Life is a person. John said we
looked at life, we saw life, we talked to life, we touched
life. And Paul says I want to know
that life. I want to know that life. Paul wanted to imitate Christ.
He wanted to be like his master. He wanted to be meek and lowly
like him, be merciful like him, gracious like him, truthful like
him, just as him. He wanted to love as Christ loved,
don't you? I would to God I could love my
neighbors myself. I wish I could do that. Wish I could love God as Christ
loved God. But I tell you this, let me give
you a good news here. Christ loved God perfectly. Christ loved his neighbor as
himself. Everything he did was right. And that is my righteousness.
That's my righteousness. He wanted the Spirit of Christ
that it should, that it would dwell in him, reign in his heart. That grace would reign in his
heart. He didn't care for personal ambitions.
He did at one time. At one time. At one time he went,
he went after the flesh. He went after personal ambitions. You know what the believer's
ambition is to be? I won't give it to you. This is the believer's
ambition. And I believe this takes time
and maturity, growing, and grace, and the knowledge of Christ.
Here's the believer's ambition. Oh, that I might know Him. That I might be found in Him.
Not having my own righteousness, but the righteousness which is
of God, which is the righteousness of Christ. That's our ambition. And everything else is secondary
to it. Everything else. Christ was his only reason for
living. He had become his only reason
for living. The only reason I exist. Listen, the scripture says all
things were made by him and for him. Now we know that the only
reason anything exists right now is for Jesus Christ. But
I want a heart that wants to live that way. I want a heart
that just beats for Christ's sake. Paul wanted to make the
gospel known to as many people as he could. At one time he was
Saul the Pharisee and he didn't want anything to do with the
Gentiles. He didn't want anything to do with people like you and
me. We were the dogs. He didn't want dogs in the house.
But now he wanted to preach the gospel to all that he could freely
preach to. And he was determined not to
know anything among the people that he preached to. Not that
he wasn't interested in them. But he didn't want to know anything
among them except Jesus Christ and Him crucified first. This
issue This issue of what thinking of Christ had to be established
first if we're going to have fellowship. Really, if we're
going to have fellowship. How can two walk together except
they agree? Can't do it. This issue must be settled first
or we cannot build a relationship, not a long-term relationship.
Can't do it. And here's why. Because evil
companions corrupt good manners. I have what the world has, but
the world doesn't have what I have. And that's not going to rub off
on them. But they're going to rub off on me because I have
what they have. And Paul did not count his own
life dear unto himself. He says over in the book of Acts,
I don't remember what chapter it was, this hit me here not
long ago when I was reading, this is the pinnacle of discipleship.
He said, I count not my life dear to me. And I might finish my course.
And I read that and I had to sit back and think about that. I count not my life dear to me. That's the pinnacle of discipleship.
He did not count his own life dear to himself. He said that
to die would be gain. Can I say that? Can I say that
right now to die would be gain? Can I say right
now it's a good day to die? It's a good day to die. He knew that only glory waited
for him. For as long as he lived, he'd
make Christ known. That was his purpose. He was
determined to enjoy his Lord. All his comforts, all his happiness,
came from his communion with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
where it came from. That's where his real joy and
happiness came from. His communion with Christ. And
Paul never regretted this course. To live, for me to live, is Christ. We never read anywhere in the
Word of God where Paul even gives a hint of regret. He says, I
count it all loss. It's all loss. And I don't believe, and I know
so, that no one has ever looked back No believer whose life has
been lived for Christ has ever looked back and regretted it.
And regretted it. No, no. For me to live as Christ
is the, that's the place we want to come to. That's the place
we want to grow into. That's it. Our aim should always
be for the glory of our Lord and not our own. We have been purchased with a
price, the price of blood, the price of suffering, the price
of torment. We've been purchased with a price.
I quoted a scripture to a young man this past week, we are not
our own. I'm my own person. I'm not. I'm not. I wouldn't want to be. I'd be belonging to an idiot. Wouldn't I? We've been purchased with a price. I don't own myself. I don't want
to own myself. You're not the servants of men,
you're the servants of Christ. I told him this, I said, the
scripture says, we do not live to ourselves, nor do we die to
ourselves. We're not our own. The Lord said this, because I
live, you shall live also. The reason I have life is Christ. Christ, he's the reason. Our
daily goal should be that Christ be magnified by our conduct,
our attitude, our witness, whether, listen, whether we are free or
bound, whether we are healthy or sick. If I get sick, if I get sick, the Lord let me
get sick. The Lord sent me, sent it to me. I don't get just accidentally
get sick. The Lord, His hand is so minutely
in our lives, in our daily lives, that nothing, nothing, nothing
happens without Him. Nothing. It's not what do I want to do,
but Lord, what would you have me to do? James said, if you're
gonna go into a city and do business, don't just say, I'm gonna go
here or there and I'm gonna do business. No, he said, and he's
talked to believers, the world's not gonna say this, but if the
Lord will, if the Lord will, we'll do this or that. Our existence
is nothing but vanity apart from Jesus Christ. Is that right? That's right. We only exist for
Him. All that we have spiritually,
all that we have physically, all that we have materially comes
from Him, who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. That means He owns it all. That's
what it means. That means He owns it all. And this attitude belongs to everyone who believes
in their heart that God has redeemed them by the blood of Jesus Christ. Every one of them. And then Paul says, for me to
live is Christ, but then he says to die is gain. He lets the Philippians
know that while he's in prison, if I die here, it's nothing but
gain for me. Don't feel sorry for me. Don't
weep for me. It's all pure gain. We all must
die. It is appointed unto men once
to die, and after this judgment, what says in Hebrews 9? Unless the Lord comes back right
now, we have to die. No one escapes his call. Just
go to the graveyard. and you'll find graves of all
sizes. You'll find the rich and the poor buried in the same graveyard. Same graveyard, young and old.
I had a great aunt that buried, she had 14 children and buried
eight of them before she passed away. And some of, most of them, most
of them were at birth, but not all of them. Not all of them. The believer must die also.
But how do you look at it? What is it to you? What is it
to me? I know it's coming. I know it's coming. It's gain. It's gain. The word gain here means profit.
Death, a profit. Dying a profit? It's like a business
term. Profit? Advantage? It's advantage? You know, does the world see
death as an advantage? The world sees death as a loss?
A life cut short? A dream shattered? All they see
is the end. And you know what, for them,
it is. It is. But that's not what you
see. You who believe, that's not what
you see. That's not what I see. We see
great advantage. We don't see a life cut short,
but we see eternal life. Eternal life. We see life just
beginning. Just beginning to be absent from
the body is to be present with the Lord. Isn't that what it
says? That's what it says. Let me give you some advantages
that death brings to the believer. We see the final end of sin. I can't even begin to explain
or describe the vileness, the wretchedness, the evilness of
sin. And that is what I am by nature. I am sin by nature. That's why
Christ was made to be sin. He had to be made what I am,
that I might be made what He is. Sin. It's the final end of sin. In
this flesh, sin is the source of nothing but humiliation and
sorrow. You know that every trouble I
have, every trouble I have in this flesh is rooted in sin. It's rooted in sin. Sin is always warring in our
members. Paul said, when I would do good,
evil is present with me. That which I would not do, I
do. That which I would do, I don't
do. Sin has made a mess of us. Sin
has marred everything about me. It's marred my mind. Do you realize
how brilliant you and I are going to be one day? Our mind is going
to be, we're going to have the mind of Christ. Perfect. My sin has marred my mind, my
body, my desire, everything about me. It's marred everything. Everything. There's nothing about me sin
hasn't destroyed or touched. It wars in our members. It brings
us into captivity, Paul said, to the law of sin and death.
And I tell you what, the moment I shut my eyes in death, sin
is gone. It cannot follow me beyond the
grave. It can't go there. It can't go through that door.
Christ said, I'm the door. It can't go through that door.
I'm going to go through it. And then secondly, we are fully
delivered from doubts of our standing before God. Is any of
you this? Am I? He is. Surely, sometimes
I think, how in the world could I call myself a Christian? How
in the world could I call myself a believer? John Newton said,
"'Tis a point I long to know. Oft it gives me anxious thought.
Do I love the Lord or no? Am I his or am I not?" If you
have these doubts, you will have them no more. Because doubt will
give way to reality when you stand in his presence. And then we are delivered again.
We are delivered from temptation. What does the Lord tell us in
the disciple's prayer? Deliver us from the evil one. Deliver us from temptation. We never know when it's coming. Our greatest temptation may be
right out there waiting on us. He had to be faced, he had to
be dealt with. Peter said, Lord, I won't deny you. No, no, I won't
deny you. He said, oh, yeah. Before that
rooster crows three times, before that rooster crows, you're going
to deny me three times. What a temptation. Peter, Satan
has desired thee the siftiest wheat, but I prayed for you that
your faith fell not. But he's desiring to take you
and just show what you're made of. Nothing. Just like Job, just
let me have him. I'll get him to curse you to
your face. Let me have Peter. Let me have Peter. You see what
happened, don't you? He denied the Lord three times.
Denied him. We never know when it's coming
or how severe it'll be. But in glory, there'll be no
more temptation. Be no more temptation. No more
of that. No more sin. Not tempted by sin. Not tempted by self. Not tempted
by Satan. Not tempted by the world. Won't
even know what that is anymore. And then, fourthly, we'll be
delivered from all enemies. You have no idea. You and I have
no idea how many enemies there are. You say, well, I know somebody
doesn't like me. I know a whole lot of people
don't like you. There's a whole host of invisible
spirits that absolutely hate you, that you don't even see. And we'll be delivered from all
that. A world that hates us, a devil that hates us, and all
those demons that hate us. And then we'll be delivered from
suffering. Suffering. Health will not fail again. Won't fail again. Our minds will be brilliant,
as I said. Aging process stops. You know what you're looking
at here? The aging process. You're seeing the process of
sin. You're seeing the effects. You're seeing the effects of
sin. I have a picture of me and Vicki
at her prom. I'll show you the effects of
the scene on me. I'm not going to show it to you,
but I have that picture on my phone. I was telling the guy
the other day I went to school with, I said, do you want to
see lapse photography? Speed lapse photography? Because after
I hit the button, there's a picture of me and her sitting at the
Tamarack just a few months ago. And we're talking 41 years ago,
42 years ago. And so I showed it to him, and then I said, now
watch. And I hit that button, and a picture of me and her came
up. And he said, with me, he goes, whoa. He said, you've really
aged, haven't you? That's the effects of sin. That'll be over. That new body,
it won't have all this. It won't have it all. Our health won't fail us again.
Our minds will be brilliant. The aging process will stop.
And all this will be over. And then we'll be delivered from
all labor. All labor. You gotta go to work
tomorrow, don't you? Gotta get up, gotta go to work.
You know, sin puts the sweat in work. That's what puts the sweat in
work. Because God, when he created Adam, he said, dress the garden
and keep it. Everything was perfect. And after
he fell, he said, by the sweat of your brow, you're going to
eat your bread. You dread going to work tomorrow?
You say, well, that job, I'm not happy with it. Well, if you took sin out of
it, you'd be happy with it. You'd be happy with it. Just
take sin out of it. And then we'll be delivered from
death. We'll never die again. Oh, death, where's thy sting?
Well, these are advantages. Look at the advantage of this.
Death, where's your sting? Grace, where's your victory?
It's gone. It's gone. And we will be delivered
into the presence of God through the blood and righteousness of
Jesus Christ. And we will rejoice in his presence.
And we'll stand there with everyone that's our friend. everyone that's
a friend. Nobody will think you're weird.
You won't have cliques. You won't have cliques. You know,
like you did in high school and stuff, you know, you have these
cliques. You don't have that. You don't have different levels
of society and some are looked down on and some are up on top
and some are in the bottom. You don't have that. You have
to all be one. Wouldn't that be amazing? Wouldn't
that be amazing? Everybody's one. Same mind, same
aim, same goals. One advantage. Now we can see
why Paul said, for me to live is Christ who dies gain. If Christ
has done all this for me, we just sang that last song. If he's done all this for me,
then how else could I live? How else? How could I live for myself if Christ has done all this for
me? Our aim should be for the glory
of Christ to be sold out to him lock, stock, and barrel. And
no one who has spent their time, their money, Their life over
the gospel of Christ has ever regretted it. No one's ever regretted
it. I think what you regret is that
you didn't do more of it. That you didn't do more of it.
We never look back and feel that we missed something. I tell you
what, if you missed Christ, you missed everything. You've missed
it all. If I have Christ, I have it all.
All things are yours in Christ. I have it all. You're looking
at one of the richest people ever on this earth. And I'm looking
at some of the richest people on this earth. You are. All things
are yours. It's just our Father's wisdom
as to how He dispenses it out right now. Apparently I couldn't
handle Him more than what I got. Oh, to be able to trust God to
just bring us home and give us what we need on the way there. Let this be our passion and goal.
If for me to live is Christ, then to die will be gain. But
if for me to live is not Christ, to die will not be gain. It'll
be a total loss, just like business, a total wipeout, total loss.