Turn to Philippians chapter 1,
title this message, What is it for me to live? What is it for me to live? What is my life? We all have a life to live, and oftentimes it's full of trouble.
And Paul really in this epistle to the Philippians is going to
show them that there is a purpose in trouble. The gospel is spread
oftentimes through trouble. And God is the one who sends
us our afflictions and they have a purpose in them. We have a
life to live and we have a death to die. To die is gain. Sounds like strange language.
You'd think he's, most would think that he was a little touched
in the head. To live is Christ. To die is
gain. Romans 14, 7 says, We do not
live to ourselves, nor do we die to ourselves. We were not made for ourselves. All things were made by Him and
for Him. Everything that exists was made
for Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Made for Him. Made for His
glory. We have a life to live. We have
a death to die. Now, since the fall of Adam,
men and women Natural men and women seek to live unto themselves. They seek their own happiness.
And the reason is they have not the life of Christ in them. You'll notice Paul does not say,
for me to live is for Christ. It is Christ. That life that God gives in the
new birth is Christ. It's the life of Christ. It is
truly the life of the Son of God in you. However, for the believer to
live is very different than for the unbeliever. The unbeliever
lives for themselves. The believer lives unto Christ. He lives unto Christ. For me
to live is Christ. The believer has two lives. We
have that natural life that we're born with, life of the flesh. We have that natural life that
we come into this world with, we get from our parents. And
then we have that spiritual life that we receive in the new birth,
that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. We have two lives. And that spiritual life is Christ
in the soul. It is Christ in the soul. And I wanted to note this. I
started thinking about this when I was over here in a study yesterday.
This has been on my mind for a little while. This is not just
for the apostles. For me to live as Christ is not
just for me standing behind this pulpit. This is for everyone
who believes God. This attitude, this spirit, is
for everyone that believes God. For me to live is Christ. Christ
is the life of all who believe God. Now, I've started here in
verse 12. Paul wants the Philippians to
understand that the things that has happened to him He's in prison now when he writes
this letter. He's in prison in Rome writing this letter. And
he wants them to understand something about trouble, trials, and what
he's going through. He's put in prison. And he wants
them to understand that the gospel that he preaches is not hindered.
He said, I am in bonds, but you know what? The gospel is not
bound. You cannot bind the Word of God.
Not at all. And he wants him to understand
that the gospel is actually being spread, is being spread. While Paul was in prison, he
had the opportunity to preach the gospel to the Praetorian
guards, the imperial guards, the ones who were given charge
to watch over him, to guard him He's now preaching to them. And
God saved some of them. And some of those servants in
Caesar's house will see this here. This is what Paul said. Don't be discouraged by my bonds. Be encouraged. God has a purpose
in it. There is an absolute purpose
in everything that comes our way. I can't see it all, but
I'm telling you, there's a hand of God in it. There's a purpose
in it. In Paul being in prison, God's hand was in it. God's purpose was in it. Many
times the gospel is spread through afflictions. Turn over to Acts
chapter 8. Acts chapter 8. Often, often the gospel is spread
through afflictions. Acts chapter 8, here in verse
1. And Saul, now this is after the death of Stephen. You know
Saul stood there and held his clothes and consented to his
death. And this is right after the death of Stephen. And Saul
was consenting unto his death and at that time there was a
great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem.
And they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea
and Samaria. except the apostles, and devout
men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentations over
him. As for Saul, he made havoc of
the church, entering into every house, and hailing men and women,
committed them to prison. Therefore, they that were scattered
abroad went everywhere preaching the word." Preaching the word. It did not shut them up. They
went everywhere preaching the Word. And Paul is telling them
the Word is being preached here. It's not bound. It's being preached. Even, listen, in verse 13, even
in Caesar's house, even in Caesar's palace. Now, who could do that
but God? Do you know who Caesar is at
this time? Nero. Nero was the one who persecuted
the Christians. He was one of the biggest tyrants
against the Christians of all the Caesars. When Rome burned,
about half of Rome burned, he used the Christians as a scapegoat
and blamed it on them. And they started persecuting
them. Well, the church is in his house, in his palace. God
put the church right in his palace. Now, only God can do that. Look
over here at the last chapter of Philippians. In chapter 4, verse 22, and all the saints
salute you chiefly, mainly, they that are of Caesar's household. They that are of Caesar's household. Right there in Nero's house,
God put His servants. He put his family right there
in that house. And they knew, he says here,
they knew, and they know why I'm in here. Those centurions,
those guards and those servants, they knew that Paul was in prison
for preaching the gospel. For the gospel of God's grace,
they knew Paul was put in prison. And they knew it. God made them
know it. Made them to know it. And this
encouraged, he says in verse 14, and many of the brethren
in the Lord were acting confident by my bonds. My bonds have encouraged
many of the brethren to go out and preach the gospel. Many of
them, much more bold to speak the word without fear. Oh, when we go through trials,
everyone's watching. You can be sure of this. Everyone
that knows you is watching you. They're watching you. You go
through trials, they're watching you. And the brethren will be
emboldened by our conduct or discouraged by it. And Paul says,
they have been emboldened by my conduct, by my bonds. We preach. All this when I left
the house. We preach every day. Not just
me. Not just now. Every one of us
preached a message today before we ever came here. Every one
of us preached a message by our conduct before we came here. Every day we do. Every day we
preach a message by our conduct. Now Paul says there are some
who indeed preach Christ, even of envious strife. Can that happen? Well, Paul said it did. Can those
who preach the gospel fall into such a spirit? Sad, but so. Sad, but so. Now, you know, Paul
says here that Christ was preached and He rejoiced. They who preached
even of envy and strife or envy here and contention, they preached
the gospel or Paul would not have rejoiced in it. They did
not preach another gospel. They preached the gospel and
Paul said, I rejoice in it, even though it's sad. It's sad that
their motive was to do me harm. They were jealous. We still have
that old nature. We still have that old nature. And it rises up. It raises its
ugly head. And it raises its ugly head especially
among those who preach. You say, have you ever been jealous?
I tell you what, I've been envious a few times. I wish I had preached
that sermon. You remember when the Lord We'll
look at this here probably this week. He hires those service
that go out into the field. One hired early in the morning,
then noon, and then one of them's hired at the 11th hour. And then
whenever he calls, calls them in and pays them up, you know,
the first one gets a penny and the last one gets the same. The
last ones were upset. They were upset. But how in the
world did these people work an hour? Get the same as I have. Boy, so much sin still left in
us. So much of that old nature rises
its ugly head up. So much of it. Some preach Christ
out of a wrong motive. Some preach Christ out of love.
And Paul says, but I rejoice. I rejoice. I rejoice in this.
For I know that this shall turn to my deliverance. from this
place, from this prison, through your prayer and the supply of
the Spirit of Jesus Christ." He knew. Paul was confident that it was not time for him
to die. For me to live is Christ to die is gain, but he knew it
wasn't time. And he was confident that he was going to come out
of this prison through their prayer and through the supply
of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. according to my earnest expectation and my hope that in nothing,
in nothing I shall be ashamed." You know, he said and wrote over
there in Romans, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. I'm
not ashamed of him. I'm not ashamed of being in prison.
I'm not ashamed of these bonds. I'm not ashamed of his service. Paul said, I'm not ashamed. But
that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified
in my body. And I thought of this today.
Can I say this? Can I say this fully, whether
it be by life or by death? All saying, I pray that Christ
be magnified in my body, whether He lets me live, whether He brings
me out of this prison and I live. Or if I die, it doesn't matter
to me. It does not matter whether I
live or whether I die. As long as Christ is magnified
in my body by what I do in this body. As long as He is magnified. Brethren, I hope and pray That
I and you can say that. That we can, if not now, we can
mature into that position where whether I live today or die,
it really doesn't matter. It really doesn't matter as long
as the Lord Jesus Christ is magnified. If I preach one message, just
one message, if that's all I preach and Christ is magnified, that's
enough. Isn't that enough? If I do one
thing today, if I say one word today, and Christ is truly, I
mean truly magnified, His name is truly lifted up, that's enough. I can die. I can die. And Paul says here in
this verse, verse 21, for me to live is Christ, and to die
is gain. Paul at one time was a Pharisee,
a Pharisee of the Pharisees, a Hebrew of the Hebrews. He was,
I think, a wealthy man. He was a very well-educated man.
But when he met Christ on the road to Damascus, Paul lost his
life, and yet he was given life. When
he met the Lord Jesus Christ, and I read to you over in Acts
8, he made havoc of the church. He was persecuting the church.
He was locking them up. He was consenting to their death.
And here is a man who hated and despised Jesus Christ, who now
says, He is my life. What a change. Only God can do that. Only God
can do that. All the instructions in the world,
all the teaching in the world cannot do that. But the hand
of God can do that. The Spirit of God can do that.
He counted all things, he says over in Philippians 3, as loss.
This is the man who counted everything at one time as a gain. Everything
he did was for his gain. And he said, now it's nothing
but loss for Christ. For the excellency of the knowledge
of knowing Christ. He forsook all and followed Christ. He said he suffered the loss
of all things for Christ's sake. He lost it all and forsook it
all. What Paul is saying is this.
Christ is my life. I do not have spiritual life
apart from Him. He is my life. He's the reason
I live. He's the reason I exist. I'm
telling you, as I read this, I thought, Lord, make that so
to us. Make this so to us. For me to
live. It's not my job. It's not to
make money. When you're raising children,
it's not my children. It is Christ. And these other things fall in
place as we follow Him. It's Him. That's what Paul is saying. Christ
is my life. For me to live every day is Christ. For me to get up out of bed is
Christ. For me to go through the day
is Christ. This is not just for an apostle. This is for us. It's for us. For Paul, it was
very personal. He said, Oh, for me, for me, he was possessed. Now listen, he was possessed
and he was obsessed with Jesus Christ. You know, I've learned
that if you want to worship something, whatever it is you worship, you
do become obsessed with it. Whatever it is you are obsessed
with, that's what you worship. If Christ is our obsession. He is our worship. He's the one
we'll worship. He's the one we'll follow. True
Christianity is a very personal matter. Paul said, for me. It's as if he's saying, I don't
know about anyone else, but as for me, to live is Christ. Everything else has to get in
line. Everything else has to get in line. Paul ate and drank
and slept and lived Jesus Christ. They thought he was a fanatic.
I wonder if we could be charged
with that. Could I be charged with being a fanatic? Because if Felix says, you're
crazy, you're mad, Paul, you've lost your mind. Too much studying. You've been in the study too
long. No, I haven't lost my mind. I'm just obsessed. I am obsessed
with this person, Jesus Christ. I'm obsessed with Him. Oh, I tell you what, this was
more than a profession for Paul. Christianity is not a profession.
It is a living union with the Son of God. It is a real living
union with the Son of God. His heart's desire was to glorify
His Lord in life and in His death. While I live, what time I have
left, I want to glorify Christ in my
life, in the preaching. You know, I can say this. I'd
like to live longer for this reason, and that's to preach.
To preach Christ. Because once it's over here,
it's over. I won't preach anymore. I won't
need to. Everybody there believes. Everyone there knows Him perfectly. You and I can only suffer here.
What did He say down here? Well, let me find my place. For
unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, it is a privilege
given to you, not only to believe on Him, but to suffer for His
sake. Well, this is the only place
we can do it. It's the only time we can do it. There's no suffering
there. There's no tears there. There's
no sorrow there. It's perfection there. And I can say I'd like to preach
the gospel a little longer. I'd like to be able to stand
here and brag on my Lord a little longer before I go home. But
if, if it's not His will, if it's His will to take me, that'd
be alright too. And I pray that in my death He'd
be magnified. Pray He'd be magnified in my
life, your life, and when it comes time to die, He'll be magnified
in our death. That He'll allow us to die graciously.
bring us to that point. And Paul says it was very personal
and very active to live. To live. To exist. To move about every day. Whatever
it is I do. To live. He said to live is Christ. It's Christ. Everything Paul
did And I know Paul. You know, you go over and read
Romans 7. He struggled with this flesh. But he's saying, the tenor
of my life, all that I do is for His glory. It's for the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ and the good of God's elect. And
I hope, pray that God brings us to this place. Christ is our
life. But there's also a maturing into
this. A growing in grace and knowledge
of Him. And as we do that, These things
become less and less. That's what I want to see in
myself and in you. These things become less and
less. Christ becomes all in all. I decrease and He increases. That's what I want to see. We
must come to this place. For me to live is Christ now. This is not something That's
going to happen afterwards, after we leave. No, this is now. This
is now. For some, to live is to make
money. For some, to live is to obtain
faith. For some, to live is to have
power. For the believer, it's just Christ. It's Him. For me to live is Christ. It is Christ who gave me life. It is Christ who sustains my
life. It is Christ in me who is life. It's all about Him. And knowing Him. Being joined
to Him. Worshipping Him. Giving Him the
praise and the glory for all that I have and all that I shall
have. It's Him. What is it? What is it for you
to live? What is it? Paul says, it's Christ. And for those who believe, it
is Christ. For me to live is Christ. I tell
you what, that makes doing everything else that much better. That makes
handling all this other stuff that we have to do that much
better. That much easier, really. When
you don't get so attached to these things, it don't hurt to
let them go. It's Christ. That's what it is.
And Paul proved by his life that it was real. It was genuine with
him. He proved it by his life. If
Christ is my life, I won't have so much problems letting these
things go. If Christ is my life, I will
not have problems, so much problems. I know I'm still in this flesh.
Loving others better than I love myself, if Christ is my life. Everyone has a model that they
would like to be like. Everyone has, there's somebody
that you know in your life that you kind of model, that's impressed
you. You say, I'd like to be like
that person. I'd like to have the kindness
of that, know the way that person is. There's somebody you look
at and find as a model. Paul said, Christ is my model.
That's why he's saying, Christ is my model. And Christ is our
model. He is our life. And to die is gain. To die is gain. How do we view
death? How do we view it? Is death viewed as a gain? You
know we have to die. It doesn't mean we're all going
to live to be old and then I visited young graves and I remember when
I was just a boy, I mean just a boy, first time I was ever
at a funeral and it was in a home, they held it in a home and it
was just a baby, about like that, just a baby. Is it gain to die again? Is it? To the vast majority,
it is viewed as a total loss. And you know what? It is. To
the vast majority of the human race, it is a loss. I'm not talking about infants
or mentally handicapped people. I'm talking about people who
grow up and live and die. To the vast majority, they don't
believe. But to the believer, to die, It's pure gain. It's all in the
gain column. It's all gain. Losing sin is
a gain. Losing these heartaches, losing
these body aches, that's not a loss. That's a gain. That's a gain. Gain a new body? We looked at
that here not too long ago. In the resurrection, when this
mortal puts on immortality, that's a gain. Oh, what we had to look
forward to. A new heaven, a new earth? To
be made in His likeness? That's a gain. Paul said, for me to live is
Christ and to die is gain. But if I live in this flesh,
if it's God's purpose for me to continue to live, I'll continue, by the grace of
God, to glorify my Lord. Yet what I shall choose, I leave
it to Him. Whether I choose to die or to
live, I leave that matter to Him. Just like I said, I'd like
to preach the gospel to you for a few more years, but I'll leave
that matter to Him. I'll leave it to Him. For I'm
in a strait. Have you ever been in a straight? You've got this choice and this
choice. I mean, as Paul said, have you ever been in a straight
whether to live or die? I'm in a straight between two. Having a desire to depart. Now, I have to say this, though,
you know, parents of young children, you want to live. You want to
be the parent. There's nothing wrong with that.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to be the parent of that child
and seeing it grow up. But I hope that we mature. Here's what I pray that we mature
into. I'm in a straight betwixt two.
Having a desire to depart this life and to be with my Lord. To be with Christ. to be away
from all this. For a man to say that, for a
man and woman to say this, that person has cut loose, cut ties
on everything except Him. Which is far better? Which is
far better? Even though, like I said, I'd
like to live and preach the gospel longer, but which is far better
for me? I'll tell you which is far better
for me. To be with the Lord. It's to be with Christ. That's
far better. But Paul says, nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more
needful for you. In other words, for me to hang
around a while. Paul said for him to hang around a while. It's
evident it's more needful for them. They needed Paul. They
needed the Apostle Paul. And Paul understood that. God
gave him an understanding of that. Therefore, he knew he was
going to be around a while. He knew he wasn't going to die
at that time. And having this confidence, he says, see, I know
that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance
and joy of faith, that I may be a blessing to you. There comes
a time to die, but not today. Not today. Because God's still
going to make me a blessing to you. Here's the reason that your joy
that your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for
me by my coming to you again. For me to live, I wish I could
say that like I feel it, but I have felt this yesterday morning when I started
looking at Genesis and that scripture hit me, for me to live is Christ
But you know, I thought about today's game, I thought about
flying back, flying over to, flying to Iowa. That's up, that's
up somewhere. Flying to Iowa and flying back. You know, I switched planes six
times. That's too much. I'll tell Joe next time, that's
too much. That wore me out. But each time
we took off, Now, you cannot say you don't think whether it's
going to make it or not. I mean, you'd have to be as plumb
gone not to think that mentally. But each time we took off, I
thought about that. And I thought, Lord, if it's Your will, you
know, I'd like to arrive home and preach the gospel one more
time. But if not, if not, if not, it's all right. It's all
right. It's alright. For me to live
is Christ and to die is a game. If I can't glorify Him, there's
no reason to live. You know, there's no reason to
live. But to be used of God, not just in this pulpit, every
one of us. Every one of us is used of God where you are. To
be used of God to magnify and glorify His name. as we live,
and when it comes time to die. And would you ever be alright?
Well, you'd be alright.