You'd think I'm taking this out
of context. The context in which Paul spoke
these things was in the light of his persecution and his suffering
and all the things that had befallen him that these dear, beloved
people, when they looked at him, wouldn't think that this was
some kind of curse from God or some kind of punishment from
God. But these things were used of God for the furtherance of
the gospel. His imprisonment, he said, led the people in the
king's palace to hear the gospel. Isn't that something? I think back on him and Silas,
and I believe this is where he learned his lesson about that.
They were shut up in that jail, Paul and Silas. And God saved
the Philippian jailer. And He baptized him and his whole
house that night. Had he not been a prisoner and
put in that jail, they'd have never heard that gospel. But
these things also apply to this. And I titled my message this
morning, The Sum of It All. And this is what Paul's doing
here. He is going somewhat into detail, but then he just pauses. And he says this in verse 21. He said, for me to live. For me. to live, whatever capacity
that is, whatever suffering that might incur, whatever circumstances
it might be presented, for me to live is Christ. It's Christ. And to die is gain. I'm reminded every time I go
to the cancer doctor, every time I go to a funeral, that this
world clings to every kind of superstitious fantasy that they've
ever heard when it comes to these fatal illnesses and life beyond
the grave. If you want to hear some things
that are just not even real, you just go to a funeral and
be quiet and sit back to back and listen to people talk. Listen
to them talk about what they think about life after death.
But believers are not comforted with these things. They're not
comforted with such talk. They need the promises of God. This is what faith requires.
It requires the promises of God. I'm not interested in what men
have to say. I'm interested in what God has
to say. Let God be true and every man
lie. I mean, when God creates faith
in a man, this is what he does. He shuts him up to the Word of
God. He wants to hear from God. Now,
he may hear through a man, and he will hear through a man, but
that man will preach the Word, and he'll go to the Word, and
it's the Word that he bases his faith on. And that Word will confirm God's
message. To be comforted, the believer
needs the promises of God. They need an all-sufficient Savior. They don't need poor little Jesus,
boy, who's just leading an example, and some men will follow and
some men won't. That's not going to do you any
good. They need the promises of God,
and they need an all-sufficient Savior, and they need the strength
of an eternal, sovereign, almighty God. They need the gospel. And they
need it preached in the power of God's Holy Spirit and received
in the assurance of the same. That's how Paul knew the election
of the Thessalonians. He said his gospel didn't come
in word only. It came in power. It came in
the Holy Ghost. And listen, in much assurance.
Well, that's assurance. Assurance in what? That they
believe? No. Assurance in Christ. Isn't that how Paul began this
epistle? I read it to you a while ago.
He said, I'm confident in this very thing that he which hath
begun a good work in you. Who did? He did. Now, if he'd begun the work,
Paul said, I'm confident that he's going to finish the work.
He don't begin something and quit in the middle. That's us. That's what we do. But that's
not how God operates. If God begins the work, He'll
finish the work. I need a gospel preached in the
power of God's Holy Spirit and received in the assurance of
the saints. In Philippians 1, verse 21, Paul makes two bold
declarations that sum up his life in this present evil world
and his hope beyond the grave. Two very bold declarations. He said, for me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Now, I'm going to tell you something.
In our day, we're nearly immune to such statements as this. We've
heard these Hollywood evangelists talk about these things and say
these things, and we're just nearly immune to them. They just
don't take any effect on us. Nevertheless, these things are
true of every believer, every believing saint, and I hope they're
true of you and I. Now, first of all, Paul, let's
look at these statements. We'll look at them separately.
And first of all, Paul makes a statement that not many can
say in their heart. He said, for me to live is Christ. Now, for the salesman to live,
that's the next deal. He lives for the next deal. The
next closing, a better profit margin. For the scholar, he lives
for his diploma's degrees and recognition. For the politician,
for him to live is to win favor with the people and gain their
confidence and rule well in the office that they elect him to.
For the believer, to live is Christ. It's not Christ and, it's just
Christ. It's Christ. To the believer, now I want you
to hear what I'm telling you, Christ is all. If He can't be all to you, He'll
be nothing at all. There's no gray area. There's
no middle ground. He's either all or he's nothing. And the Scripture says Christ
is all. In Colossians chapter 3, Paul
describes the conversion of the sinner. It is, he tells us in verse 9
of Colossians chapter 3, the putting off of the old man with
his deeds. That is, God the Holy Spirit
has convinced you of what you are and you more or less throw
yourself aside like it were a pair of dirty overalls. You take them
off and cast them aside. You quit looking within. You
quit hoping within. You quit trying to doctor up
what's already here. You take that old man and you
put him off. You take him off. You quit looking
to him. You quit hoping in him. You quit
rejoicing in him. And you set him aside. You throw
him on the ground where he belongs, on the dung heap. Him and all
his deceitful ideas and philosophies and the whole mess. And you throw
it aside and you put on the new man. Oh, you say, that's that
spirit of good works. That's that spirit that stirs
me up to tithe. No. That new man is Christ. That new man is Christ in all
of His glory, in all of His perfections, in all of His fullness, in all
of His Godhead, in all of His... Christ is all. And the believer
sees that. There's nothing else. All of
this was a mirage. All of this was deceit. All of
this was lies. Here's the truth. Here's the
glory. It's all right here in Christ. Paul said, If our gospel be hid,
it's hid to the lost in whom the God of this world hath blinded
their minds, blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest
the glorious light of the gospel of Christ should shine unto them. What is that light? It's the
light of His fullness and His glory and His sufficiency. Christ
is all. And to the believer, Christ is
all. And listen to this. He tells us in verse 9, the putting
off of the old man with his deeds. Verse 10, and the putting on
of the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image
of Him that created him. Where there is neither Greek
nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, born or
free, but Christ is all in all. Jesus Christ is not an insurance
policy that you can cash in when you die. That's how he's received
by most men, right there. He's an insurance policy. In
case I do die, Well, I don't want to go out
and meet God without some kind of hope. So I've accepted Jesus
now as my personal savior. I come down the aisle. I joined
the church. I did whatever. I had an experience. I knelt
at an altar. You can go on and on and on with
the things that people are commanded to do. He's not an insurance
policy you can cash in when you die or get out of jail free card
if you can present it judgment. That's the next thing folks think
they can do. There was a whole group of them there, our Lord
described. Whether they were actual men, I have no doubt that
they were. But whether they were, this was
just an illustration that he was giving to the people. But
he said in that day, he said, many shall say unto me, hold
on a minute, hold on a minute. You've got me with the wrong
crowd. You've got me over here with these devils. You got me
over here with these demons. You got me over here with these
unbelievers. Just hold on a minute now. He
said, We preached in your name. We've cast out demons in your
name. We've done many wonderful works in your name. And our Lord turned to them and
He said, Depart from Me, ye workers of iniquity. I never knew you. You mean preaching can be a work
of iniquity? It is if you preach a false hope. You mean doing wonderful works,
working in the soup kitchen and working over here to feed the
hungry and working in the hospital voluntarily? You mean that can
be an abomination to God? It is if you do it for the wrong
reason. Depart from me, you workers of
iniquity. I never knew you. Salvation is
to know Christ. How do we know Him? We know Him
as He's set forth in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We know Him
as He's set forth by the Father in the Word of God. God and man in one person. That's
how we know Him. Christ is all, and in all, to
all that believe. He's all? How is He all? He's all in the eternal counsels
of God concerning the salvation of His elect. We want to know
from God, who is this man? Who is this man? I go back and
find out that in the eternal counsels of God, there was Christ giving preeminence over everything. It pleased the Father that in
Him should all fullness dwell. I find that He's all in the eternal
counsels of God. Everything in the way of salvation,
redemption, and eternal life finds its beginning in Christ.
Election finds its beginning in Christ. He chose us in Him
before the foundation of the world. Huh? Having predestinated us under
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ unto Himself. Everything in the way of salvation,
redemption, and eternal life finds its beginning in Christ.
And those who obtain it in time, who obtain this inheritance of
God, discover that they are to the praise of His glory who first
trusted in Christ. You'd have never found Him except
God the Father trusted His election to Christ, trusted this salvation
to Christ. He trusted everything that He
intended to do for His glory to His Son. They find out that their election
was in Christ, their predestination is in Christ, their acceptance
is in Christ. We're accepted in the blood and
have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. And
then He called us in time by the Gospel to the obtaining of
the glory of our Lord Jesus. Jesus Christ is the reason behind
creation. He's the reason for your being.
When Paul said, for me to live as Christ, he's saying that the
reason for my being is Christ. He come to see that, Russell.
He come to know that. He was put on this planet, God,
Paul said, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me
by His grace. He gave me being for this express
end to glorify His Son. He's the cause of my life. He's
the reason behind it. He's the reason behind my conversion. He's the reason behind my college.
He's the reason behind this work that he began in my heart. He's
the reason behind my being a preacher. For me to live is Christ. That's
what he said. It's Christ. Please the Father that in Him
should all fullness dwell." And he's all in the manifestation
of God's grace to chosen sinners. I don't know anything about God's
will except as I learned it in Christ. You want to know what
God's will is in the redemption of His people? Go to John chapter
6. You go up there and you find
out He said, all that the Father had given me will come to me.
And him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. For I came
down from heaven, not to do my will, but the will of him that
sent me. And this is the will of him that sent me, that of
all which he hath given me I should lose nothing." Huh? That's the
redemptive will of God. You want to know what it is?
Study Christ. He came to do it. He did it by the witch will. He sanctified us once for all
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, the accomplishing
of that will, that redemptive will. He's all in the manifestation
of God's grace to chosen sinners. How do I know that the living
God is purposed to save anybody? How do I know that this whole
thing isn't some big sham pulled over the eyes of superstitious
men by Jews? Because the Son of God took upon
Himself the seed of Abraham, was made flesh and blood, and
confirmed of God to be His Son. Because there had never been
a man who ever lived that could walk out on the brow of the hill
and step up on a cloud and be carried off into glory. Huh? He's the Son of God. Peter said,
you men of Israel, you hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man
approved of God, confirmed of God. This is my beloved son in
whom I'm well pleased. He's approved of God, and he's
approved among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God
did by him right in your midst. You saw it. I just read about
it. They saw it. They saw it. Wouldn't you like to have been
there the day he called Lazarus out of that town? Or that leper who fell down before
Him weeping and said, Lord, if you will, if you will, you can
make me clean. He said, I will. And he was clean. Or the woman who spent all of
her living going to these sorry positions and trying to be cured
of her illness. And she came to Christ. And she
went away healed. And you can go on and on and
on. He said, if you don't believe
Me, if you don't believe My testimony, He said, you better believe the
works which the Father is doing through Me. You better believe
that. When the fullness of the time
was come, that time determined before all eternity, God sent
forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, And He sent
Him to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive
the adoption of sons. That's Galatians chapter 4, verses
4 and 5. God's own purpose and grace,
He tells us in 2 Timothy 1, He gave us in Christ Jesus before
the world began, has now been manifest by the appearing of
our Savior, Jesus Christ. It's been manifest. It came,
John said, my eyes have seen and my hands have handled of
the word of life. I've seen it and bear testimony
to you. Jesus Christ has saved us as
our covenant head and representative. He came as the highest expression
of God's love to his people. What greater love hath any man
than to lay his life down for this one that he loves? There's
no greater expression of love than that. And He came into this
world while we were yet sinners. God commended His love toward
us in that Christ died for us. Being found in fashion, Paul
said, as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. And our great and heavenly representative
He did for us what none of us could do for ourselves. He accomplished
our redemption. And He manifested perfect righteousness. And by His life and death as
our representative, He satisfied divine justice and wrought out
a perfect righteousness on our behalf. Paul said, Be it known
unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man,
through this man, Jesus Christ, is preached unto you the forgiveness
of sin. Through this man, not through
you, not through something you can conjure up, not through your
confidence, not through anything, not through your understanding.
Through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sin.
You lay hold on him, you have forgiveness of sins. You have
a perfect righteousness. You have eternal life. It's all
in him. All in him. And by Him, all that
believe are justified from all things from which you could not
be justified by the law of Moses. We don't preach a salvation that
must be added to by men and women to make it effectual. Its sufficiency
is based on His sufficiency. On His sufficiency. He is the
all-efficient Savior and is in itself. the basis of our faith. Had his work not been fully accomplished,
there would have been no need for preaching. Wouldn't have been any need for
preaching. Wouldn't do me any good to stand up here and talk.
I'd have nothing to call you to. I'd have no hope to offer
you. I'd have no mercy to point you to. I'd have nothing to give
to dying sinners. But his work was effectual. It
was effectual. And to declare to even the angels
in glory His effects of redemption, His accomplished redemption,
God raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His own right
hand. This life, this eternal life, Jesse, which He's given
us, is seated, a living hope, seated at the right hand of God. Ever live it to make intercession
for us. And Christ is all in the rule
of grace as it's shown and given to chosen sinners according to
His good pleasure. Jesus Christ sits upon the throne
of God and of Zion, His church. And by virtue of His personal
work, He's been given power over all flesh for the express purpose
of giving eternal life to all that the Father has given Him.
Read John 17, 1 through 3. Well, what are you saying, preacher?
I'm saying that Jesus Christ is all in the providence of human
circumstance. He's all. He's all in the minds
and hearts of men and in the preaching and hearing of the
gospel. He's all. He can give life or withhold
it. He can break a man or leave a man to himself. He can curse
or bless. It's in His hands. God made Him
Lord of the dead and the living. Paul said, He revealed His Son
in me that I might preach Him among the heathen. Everything
that is revolves around the person and work of Jesus Christ. Everything. Creation. Providence, salvation,
and the glory of the true and living God. All these things
revolve around Him. Paul tells us in Colossians 1,
17 and 18 that He is before all things, and by Him all things
consist. And He is the head of the body
of the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things, all things, He might have the preeminence. Somebody's mother said to their
son who is now a believer. She said, you're committing blasphemy
concerning the Trinity when you try to say Christ is all. No,
I'm not. It says here in Colossians chapter
1, it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. You're not going to offend the
Father by bragging on Christ. You're going to exalt the Father.
You see what I'm saying? That's what Paul is saying, isn't
he? Here's the preeminence. Here's everything. Everything
revolves around Him from all eternity. People say, well, I saw Christ
in a vision and I did this and I did that. Let me tell you some
people who did see Him. John saw Him. He said, I fell
down at His feet like a dead man. I don't hear anybody saying
that. Daniel said, I saw him and my
comeliness melted into corruption. This is my beloved son, God said. Hear ye him. Hear him. Everything that is revolves around
the person and work of Jesus Christ. Having fully accomplished the
redemptive will of God, God in turn, Paul says, hath highly
exalted him, given to him a name above every name, that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow. Every knee. Angels in glory are going to
bow their knee to him. Demons in hell are going to bow
their knee to him. This unbelieving world in that
day is going to bow their knee to Him. And every believer bows
his knees to Him. Oh, God hath highly exalted Him,
giving Him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow to things in heaven, and things in earth,
and things under the earth, and every tongue shall confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord. But that's not all. He's Lord
to the glory of God the Father. Without compromising one thing
in that glorious character of God, he's Lord. Seated on Zion's hill, Lord of
salvation, Lord of all things. And he did it to the glory of
God the Father. Now, of all that I've said and
read to you today, Do you see anything to even hint that you
should live a life that does not completely revolve around
Christ? Huh? Set Him first in your life. Set Him first. Now, I'm telling
you, set Him first and let everything else revolve around that. Let
it revolve around that. Oh, you say, if I do that, Kids
ain't going to like me no more. They sure won't. I ain't going
to lie to you. They'll think you're an oddball.
They'll think you're from Mars. Kids ain't going to like you
no more. You're going to find divisions with your own relatives. But you better set him here and
let everything revolve around him because he's all. He's all. Christ is not some sideline,
some second place love, some alternative life. Christ is all. He said for me to live is Christ. It's Christ. Now let me tell
you something. If you can't make this first
declaration, you can't near about make the second one. To die is gain. It's gain. Our Lord said, whosoever
will save his life, he'll lose it. He'll lose it. You want to set what you believe
and what you do and who you identify with, and you want to do that
to save what little bit of life you have in standing with men,
you go ahead and do it. But our Lord said, whosoever
shall save his life shall lose it. But whosoever shall lose
his life for my sake and the gospel's sake, the same shall
save it. For what shall it profit a man
if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Believers are men and women who
by the grace of God have been taught to seek those things which
are above, where their Lord and Savior sits at the right hand
of God. Seek those things. That's where
the treasure is. That's where the life is. That's
where the blessings are. They're all in Christ. Seek those
things. And all these other things, he
said, will be added to you. Huh? No, we won't seek these
things and let that go by the wayside. You better not. He said, set your affection,
set your love on things above, not on things of the earth. Their lives, he said, are hid
with Christ in God. Our gain is measured not by what
we have in this world, but by what is promised to us in the
world to come. That's why we look at death as
a gain. I'm never going to gain absolute perfection in this world.
I'll be filled with doubt. I'll be filled with unbelief. I'll be filled with all of these
things right up to the time they close my casket and put me in
the ground. But not there. Not there. I'll see Him as He is. I'll know
Him as He is. And I'll be just like Him. Huh? To die is gain. A preacher, it
don't look much like gain. It looks like pain and suffering,
fighting for every breath. Yes, I know it does. But Paul
said, our afflictions, which are but for a moment, they worketh
for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Now
listen, while we look not on the things which are same, All
I thought I could do was stand in the living room and look through
the bedroom door and see Miss Peggy in there where her head
was back and her mouth was open and she wasn't coherent that
anybody else was in the world, just hanging on for a few more
hours. It didn't look much like gang,
but I could see past that. I could see past that into the
Christ seated at the right hand of God. And if this woman truly
is a believer, the minute she took her last breath, she was
in the presence of the Lord. And she has what I want. She
has what I hope for. You see what I'm saying? He said
to live is Christ is everything. I see Him as everything. To live
is Christ, but to die is gain. It's game. A believer cannot look upon the
loss of a believing loved one and not rejoice and be comforted
by the benefits which they have now received. Isn't that what
you saw when you saw your mama, huh? I know she's your mama,
and you miss her. I know that. I miss her. We all
do. But I tell you, I wouldn't have
her back for anything. She has what I desire and what
I want, to be with Him. And I tell you, if you have Him,
you have everything there is. You have what this world could
never give you. If you gained the whole world,
you still wouldn't have what you have with Him. Paul said,
you're over here grumbling and running around and fighting amongst
yourselves over which preacher you was converted under. He said,
don't you know the world is yours? These preachers are yours. Don't you know you're a son and
an heir and a joint heir with Christ, an heir of God? Don't
you know that? Oh, my soul. A believer cannot look at the
loss of a believing loved one and not rejoice and be comforted
by the benefits which they've now received physically. to leave
this broken down frail and corruptible bodies to be clothed with a house
not made with hands eternal in the heavens. Not an ache or a
pain, not a sigh nor a grief, not a regret or a tear. For God
Himself, I don't even, I can't even enter into that. God Himself
shall wipe away all tears. No aging, no sickness, no more
death or dying. In this, Paul said, we groan
earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is
from heaven. And we do groan not to be unclothed,
but to be clothed upon that mortality might be swallowed up in victory.
He said, we're confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent
from the body than to be present with the Lord. And again, he
said, I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared. with the glory that shall be
revealed in us. And if the physical benefits
are so great, what of the spiritual? At the very best, at the very
best, I see through a glass dimly. I mean, after I've studied and
read and prayed and done all these things and the Lord begins
to unveil things to me and reveal things to me and the message
begins to go to my heart, at the best, I'm seeing through
a glass dimly. But then, I'll see Him face to
face. I'll see Him in His pure, unveiled
glory in that day. Spiritually now, we have the
token, the earnest of our promised inheritance. What is this token? What is this earnest of our inheritance? It's Christ revealed to you and
in you through the gospel, and you by it being sealed by the
Holy Spirit of promise." That's the earnest. That's what I have
now. In olden times, precious documents
were sealed with a family seal. They had an insignia on a ring
that went on the finger of the head of the household and on
his son's when they reached a certain age. And they'd take precious
documents, and they had a little thing here of wax, and they'd
heat it up, and they'd drop that wax on that envelope where it
was sealed, and they'd take that ring and push it down in there
and seal it. When the prodigal son came back
to his father, he had it made up in his mind. I'm not worthy
to be your son. But if you could, I know you're
merciful and gracious, and if you could, just let me take a
place out there with the servants. Just let the servants live better
than what I've been living. The servants are blessed far
above where I've been. If you could, just let me have
a place out there. And the father came out and put
his arms around him and hugged him and kissed him and called
for the ring, put the seal on his finger. This told everybody,
this is my son accepted in full favor. What he seals, I seal. Seal with the Holy Spirit of
promise. You can have all your experiences
and you can have all your visions and have all your walking down
aisles and decisions. Give me faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. You have that. You've been sealed
by the Father. The ring has been put on your
finger. You're His son. Oh, my soul, what would it be
like to never have another doubt or temptation or evil thought?
What would it be like to have an unmolested thought? A pure motive, a flawless affection,
what would it be? Those of us who truly know the
benefits and gain of the believer's death wouldn't have them come
back if we could. But above all, the believer knows
that though he dies, yet shall he live. He that believeth in
me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. His death is not
death like it is to an unbeliever. His death is unto life everlasting. He said, I'll never leave you.
I'll never forsake you. Never cast you out. Oh, but what
of my evil heart? What of this flesh? What of my
doubts? You take all your ifs. You put
them on a silver chain and you hang that chain right around
the neck of the Lord Jesus Christ. He'll answer all your ifs. If
I had a righteousness, He's my righteousness. If I could just
please God, He did it. Huh? Oh, if I could never have
a doubt, He never had a doubt. Or if I just knew God would hear
my prayer, He said, I know my Father heareth me always. Take all your ifs, winch them,
hang around His neck. And you've got everything God
has for sinners. God helped you to do that today.