To Me to Live Is Christ

Q: What does the Bible say about trials and suffering?

The Bible teaches that trials and suffering are part of God's sovereign plan to further His gospel and accomplish His purposes. In Philippians 1:12-14, the Apostle Paul emphasizes that even his imprisonment has served to advance the gospel. Trials and afflictions, rather than indicating God's absence or disfavor, can often play a crucial role in revealing His glory and furthering His redemptive purposes. Many believers struggle with the problem of suffering, questioning how it aligns with a loving God's plan. However, Paul exemplifies how one can endure hardships with a view toward God's greater purposes, understanding that his life, whether in joy or pain, is meant to magnify Christ (Philippians 1:20). Through the lens of Scripture, we see that challenges can lead to opportunities for witnessing and proclaiming the gospel more boldly.

Q: How do we know that God's purposes are being accomplished in suffering?

God uses suffering as a means to accomplish His redemptive purposes, as shown in the lives of many biblical figures. Throughout Scripture, suffering is often a tool God employs to achieve His will. For example, Paul cites numerous instances, such as Joseph’s imprisonment and Abel’s death, as moments that, while painful, were instrumental in fulfilling God's overarching plan (Genesis 50:20, Hebrews 11:4). Paul himself endured prison, which resulted in boldness among other preachers (Philippians 1:14). This perspective encourages believers to see beyond their immediate struggles, affirming that God can use every situation, whether triumph or trial, to draw His people closer to Him and to call out His elect. Such insights reassure Christians that their suffering is not in vain and is under God’s sovereign control, ultimately contributing to His glory and the advancement of the gospel.

Q: Why is understanding God's purpose important for Christians?

Understanding God's purpose helps Christians endure hardships and maintain focus on glorifying Christ. The grand design of God’s purpose is to glorify His Son and redeem His people, not merely to ensure our personal happiness or comfort (Philippians 1:21). This understanding reshapes how Christians face life's difficulties. When believers grasp that God uses their challenges for greater purposes, it motivates them to endure and find peace in their circumstances. Paul illustrates that whether he is abounding or in need, his ultimate aim is the glory of Christ (Philippians 4:11-13). By focusing on God's purpose, believers can shift their perspective from self-centered desires to a Christ-centered life, fostering spiritual growth and resilience amidst suffering.

Now, the title of this message that I'm going to bring tonight
is, To Me, to Live, is Christ. To Me, to Live, is Christ. But my message has its beginning
over in the book of Acts, chapter 16. the Book of Acts, chapter 16,
something very, very interesting here. We see the Apostle Paul determining
and desiring to go to certain places and preach, and God literally
forbidding him to preach in those places, and then miraculously
revealing unto him where he is to preach, in Acts 16, beginning
with verse 6. Now, when they had gone throughout
Phrygia and the regions of Galatia, they were forbidden of the Holy
Ghost to preach the word in Asia. And when they would come to They
are saved to go to Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered them
not. Don't go there. So passing by
Mysia, they came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul
in the night. There is still a man of Macedonia. Now Philippi is the chief city
of Macedonia. stood a man of Macedonia and
prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia and help us. And
after he had seen that vision immediately, we endeavored to
go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called
us for to preach the gospel unto them. Therefore, loosing from
Troas, we came with a straight to Samothracia, and the next
day to Neapolis, and from thence to Philippi, which is the chief
city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony, and we were in
that city abiding certain days. In other words, he stayed there
a while and preached. And you know how God blessed
his ministry. We have Lydia, we have the Philippian
Javier, we have all of these others who came to know the Redeemer. Turn with me to Philippians,
chapter 1. Now, then, the Apostle Paul is
in prison. He is in prison in Rome. He had
preached to these people at Philippi, and a church had been raised
up there, and They had a pastor, and now months have passed and
Paul is in jail. And when these people of Philippi,
these friends of his, heard that he was in jail, they sent their
pastor, Epaphoditus, they sent him up there to take some presents
and their goodwill and wishes to the Apostle Paul. Epaphroditus visited with Paul
a while, and then he returned back to the church at Philippi. Paul sent this letter by their
pastor to them, the book of Philippians. He sent this letter to them. There are several subjects. I'm not going to mention the
many subjects that Paul deals with in this epistle to the But
there's one subject especially that he dealt with. He wanted
this church at Philippi to have a true and right understanding
of trials and troubles and sorrows and difficulties. He wanted them
to have, he's in jail, here's the great apostle, The man whom
God had used to bless them, they'd seen him perform great miracles,
they'd heard him preach marvelous messages. Now he's in jail, and
some of the believers down here in Philippi, I'm sure, were having
a little struggle with that. What's God's servant doing in
jail? Why is the Apostle Paul locked up in a dungeon? What's
the problem? And so he writes to them concerning
this subject that we might have a right and true understanding
of afflictions and of troubles and trials. You see, a believer's
life is made up of joy and sorrow. A believer's life consists not
only of triumph but of trouble. of trouble. For example, just
a few months prior to this, Paul was here in this city preaching
the gospel, mightily, greatly used of God, having unusual success. God called him here and sent
him here and blessed him while he was here. But now he's in
jail. Now he's in prison. And he writes
this letter, and he calls himself the prisoner of Jesus Christ,
the prisoner of Jesus Christ. And you know, when I thought
of this, when I thought of Paul being in jail there in Rome,
it wasn't a jail like we have out here at Summit, I'm sure.
This was a very unhappy, unwholesome place. I thought about Paul down
there in prison in Rome, and I thought, that's not the way
we do things. That's not the way we'd do it
at all. If we were in charge, if we were in charge, we wouldn't
do it this way. We wouldn't put our chief apostle
in prison, would we? That's not the way we do things. In fact, actually, if we were
in charge, we would always be successful, wouldn't we? We'd
never fail. If I were in charge, I'd always
knock a home run every time I got up here to pray. Every time you
sang, it'd be just a powerful spiritual uplifting. Everything
we did here would be successful, everything. That's why I have
my wife. If we were in charge, we'd always prosper. We'd never
be poor. We'd never have to wonder how
we was going to meet certain obligations. If we had our way, we'd never
be sick. If I had my way, there wouldn't be anybody in here ever
sick. How about it? Isn't that right?
Well, you know that's so. You know that's so. I'd make
them well like that. It is up to me. If I had my way,
not any of you'd die. We'd just all go to heaven together.
I'd just set a date, and we'd all leave here. Wouldn't be no
more caskets down here. If I had my way, you, that's
right, you would too. If I had my way, there'd be no
tears ever shed here, except for joy. There'd be no pain,
there'd be no suffering. That's right, don't get holier
than thou now, if you had your way, it would be the same way. I do know this, I'd never allow
my chief apostle and the greatest preacher on the earth to lie
in a jail cell. I wouldn't put up with that.
I wouldn't do that, if I had my way. And that's one reason Paul's
writing this letter. This is indicated by our prayers. I listen in on my own prayers
and on everybody else's, and this is the way we pray. It's so difficult to pray, Lord, as I walk through this valley
and go through this trial, Give me grace to bear it and accomplish
your purpose in it all." We don't pray that way. We pray, Lord,
put a stop to this right now. That's the way we pray. End it
right now. We don't pray this way, Lord,
give me the grace to bear this burden and to accomplish your
will. No, we say, Lord, move it. Do
it now. It's so difficult to pray, Lord,
use me where I am. No, we pray, Lord, put me where
I want to be. It's so difficult to pray, Lord,
you gave me this cross to carry and this thorn in my flesh. If it be thy will, remove it,
but if it's not thy will to remove it, thy will be done. We don't
pray that way. heal me, deliver me, free me,
prosper me, bless me, right now. That's the way we do things.
That's the way we want things done. It's so difficult to pray this
way, and yet we know this is the way we ought to pray. Lord,
if I can by living or dying accomplish your purpose, so be it. If I
can by abounding or being do your will, so be it. If I can
in public, if not in private, glorify Christ, so be it. If
I can by success or by failure be used to call out your sheep,
so be it. But that's not the tone of our
prayers. the tone of our prayers and our
desires tend to cater to this flesh. My will, my way, my desires,
my plans. Somehow, somehow, I don't know
where we get this, but it's in modern day religion. Somehow
we get the idea that the success of God's kingdom has something
to do with our In other words, if we're successful
and the Church is successful and things are going well, we've
got the idea that God is blessing. Somehow God's kingdom is connected
with our succeeding. But when we're not succeeding,
when we're failing, when we're in great burden and trials, and
perhaps we're few in number, we say, God's not blessing. So
we connect the blessings of God with whether or not we are succeeding. Do we not? And yet, listen to
this. I just ran down through the word,
and listen to this carefully. To accomplish God's purpose,
to reveal God's power, to illustrate God's redemptive glory, Abel
had to die at the hands of his brother. In dying, Abel accomplished
God's purpose. If that was left up to me, it
wouldn't have worked that way. But that's the way God worked
it. Here Abel came, bringing the
sacrifice, the blood, just like God had told him to worship faithfully. This guy over here,
sinning against God, coming in his own self-righteousness? And if we had our way, it would
have been reversed. But this guy is the one who died.
Abraham, in order to accomplish God's purpose, had to send one
of his sons out into the wilderness and take the other one up on
the mountain and take a knife and attempt to slay him. Well, there's not but one fellow
worshiping God here now, and that's Abraham, and he's got
one son, and he's about to kill him. We're going to put an end
to the whole program of God right here in one fell swoop of a night. That's not the way you do things,
not humanly speaking. To do God's will, to accomplish
God's purpose, Joseph must be hated, sold into slavery, cast
into prison, humiliated and embarrassed. Israel, to accomplish God's purpose,
had to serve 400 years in Egypt in slavery. David, man after
God's own heart, went to his grave mourning over his children. it be not so with my house." John the Baptist, to accomplish
God's purpose, to do God's will, had to be beheaded at 31 years
of age. Peter? What's God's purpose for this
man, Peter, this bold, impulsive leader of the gang? How did God
put Peter on the pulpit at Pentecost? Humiliated him, let him deny
his Lord, let him boast that he'd stand no matter what anybody
else did, let him curse and swear and claim he didn't even know
him. That's not the way to win respect for a fellow, make him
a pastor. Lazarus got to die. has to quit the ministry to enter
the ministry. Demas had to forsake Paul. The Church
of Jerusalem, how did God send them forth to preach the gospel?
He killed about one-third of them, and that got them out preaching
the gospel. That's right. He didn't have the seven deacons,
he stoned him. God moves in mysterious ways. He is not your wonders, not your
success, not your way. He is wonders to perform. He
is not going to share his glory. He is not going to let one finger
of flesh be lifted in competition with his son. Epaphroditus, this pastor here,
Paul wrote and said, he's sick, he's so sick, he's sick unto
death. You see, this is, and you'll
see this as Paul writes this letter, that our fundamentalist
modern religion has a million miles missed the purpose and
glory of God Almighty. With its health and wealth and
prosperity and success and all these things, they don't even
know who God is or how God works. What God's doing, God has done.
What God will do, God has done. And Paul must lie in a cell in
a Roman prison to accomplish the will of his master. And from this jail cell, he writes
in verse in verse 12 of Philippians 1, if you want to join me there,
verse 12 of Philippians 1. From this jail cell he writes
to these people, and he said, I want that you should understand,
brethren, that these things which happened unto have fallen out, have resulted
in the furtherance of the gospel. You mean you're talking about
this arrest and false accusations and humiliation and imprisonment? That's what I'm talking about.
These things that have happened to me, these afflictions and
these trials, these things that have fallen out, have happened
unto me. have been used of God for the
furtherance of the gospel to accomplish his purpose." Now,
if we can just see something here. The grand design and purpose
of God, the great and grand design and purpose of God on this earth,
is not your comfort in this life. It is not your personal well-being
in this life. It is not your success. It is not even your good health
or happiness. That's not God's grand and great
design in this world. God's great and grand design
is the salvation of his sheep, the redemption of his church.
the calling out of his people. That's God's great and grand
design. That's why Christ came into this
world. That's why our Lord suffered, and that's why he died. That's
why he went through all of this agony and humiliation to redeem
a people. And whatever God does, be it
my abounding or abasing, be it my success or my failure, be
it my health or my sickness, be it my joy or my sorrow, whatever
it might be, if God is using me as an instrument of his purpose
and will, I don't matter. It is his purpose and will that
is at stake, not what happens to me. It's not what happens to me. That's what Paul said, if you
hold Philippians 1, and it's so important, it's such an encouragement
to me, if I can learn this, and to you, if you can get hold of
this, that the grand design and purpose of God on earth is not
creature comfort. It's not health and wealth and
success and happiness. This is not our home. The great and grand design of
God is to glorify his Son, to call out a people for his name,
to accomplish his redemptive glory, and he'll use whomever
he will in whatever way he will, be it his joy or his sorrow,
be it his success or his failure, but he'll use those whom he'll
use. Like he used Pharaoh, I raised
you up! that I might accomplish my purpose. That's right. That's right. And that's what Paul is saying
here in 2 Timothy 2, if you'll hold Philippians 1 and turn to
2 Timothy 2.7. Now watch it. Consider what I
say now. Consider what I say now, and
the Lord give you understanding. See what he's saying there? Second
Timothy 2, 7, consider what I say now, and the Lord give you understanding
in all things. Remember that Jesus Christ of
the seed of David was raised from the dead, according to my
gospel, wherein I suffer trouble. I suffer trouble as an evildoer. Paul wasn't an evildoer, but
he suffered trouble as an evildoer, even under change. But the word
of God is not bound, O Paul's bound, he's in chains, he's in
prison, he's shut up, but the word of God, the purpose of God,
the glory of God, it's not shut up, it's not in chains. Therefore,
I endure all things for the elect's sake. I'll endure prison, I'll
endure the death of a loved one, I'll endure pain and agony, I'll
endure poverty, I'll endure loneliness, I'll endure embarrassment, I'll
endure whatever, if that's God's purpose for the redemption of
his elect. You know what he's saying? I
don't matter. He does. He does. His will. We pray that
way, thy will be done. We don't Thy will be done. My Lord meant
it when he wept in Gethsemane's garden and blood came out of
the pores of his body. He said, God, if it be thy will,
take this cup from me nevertheless. Not my will, but thy will be
done. Well, he's going to do his will.
Paul said, I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they
may obtain that salvation which is in Christ Jesus. with eternal
glory, that's what it's all about. Look at Philippians 4, and see
if that's not what this is saying. Philippians 4, verse 10, Paul
said, But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last
your care of me hath flourished again, wherein you were all so
careful. You wanted to help me, but you
lacked opportunity. Verse 11, Not that I speak in
respect of want, I've learned in whatsoever state I am to be
content. I know both how to be abased
down at the bottom, and I know how to abound everywhere and
in all things. I'm instructed both to be full
and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. But I can
do all things through Christ who strengthens me. His will, that's the ultimate
and grand design. However, it matters not where
he uses me, it matters not how he uses me, it matters not when
he uses me, it matters not how long he uses me, it matters not
if he even uses me, but he's going to be exalted and glorified. And that's what Paul is saying
here to this church in verse 12. I want you to understand
this, brethren. I'm trying to make it clear to you that the
things which have happened to me, I know you're sitting down
there in Philippi wondering what's going on. God's got Paul in prison. Paul's our friend, Paul's our
pastor, Paul's our leader, Paul's our teacher, Paul brought the
gospel to us. And God got him up there rotting
in a Roman cell waiting to be executed. What in the world is
going on here? And he said, I want you to understand
that the issue is not Paul or Paul's comfort. or Paul's prosperity. I want you to understand that
whatever happens to Paul, or however God pleases to use Paul,
doesn't matter. It's the gospel that's the issue. The presence of the gospel. Is anybody willing to be submerged
in such a glorious objective? Is anybody willing to count or
not be counted, to speak or remain silent, to be prosperous or poor,
to suffer affliction or success, what else, but just to be engulfed
in and submerged in that great,
grand and glorious purpose of Almighty God? to call out a people
for his name. I tell you, if there is, oh, what joy and glory will be his. Verse 13, he'll be the very accomplishment
of his goal. Verse 13, so that my chains,
my bonds, Paul wasn't in prison for breaking
the law. He was in prison for preaching
the gospel. And that was generally known
throughout all of Caesar's court and palace, the issue that Paul
was the gospel. That's what he's saying here.
My chains in Christ are manifest in all the palace and in all
other places. Everybody knows I'm not here
for breaking the law, I'm here because I'm a servant of Jesus
Christ. Everybody knows that. That's the issue, I've made it
the issue, I've held their feet to the fire on this one issue,
that it's the glory of Christ, that's my issue. And he said that, the words got
around everywhere. The words got around everywhere,
that this man is here because he's a servant of and a Jesus
Christ and a preacher of that gospel of God's grace. My bonds,
my chains are for Christ's sake, he said. This is all for Christ's
sake. I'm not your prisoner, Nero. I'm his prisoner. You're nothing but a second or
third cause. He's the first cause. You didn't
put these chains on my wrist. He did. You may have me here because
you hate me, but he's got me here because he loves me. You may have me here to punish
me, but he's got me here to use me to preach the gospel to one
of your guards. One of your princes. One of your
chief captains. That's why I'm here. These chains
are temporary. God put me here. God chained
me and put me right here to preach to that fella in the next cell.
That's why I'm here. You didn't put me here. I'm in
this hospital bed to tell that doctor who God is. The devil
didn't make me sick. He might have made you sick.
He didn't make me sick. God made me sick. Because he
wanted me in that bed at that time, in that place, for that
purpose. That's what Paul knew. I'm not
a prisoner, Nero. The world has no claim on me. The devil has no authority over
me. Every step I take, if I'm his child, is by his direction. to be used for his glory, if
I'm his child. Now, I may be an ambitious minister
of the devil, but if I'm his minister and his child, here
for his glory, then where I am, he put me there. There may be
a dozen second and third causes, but I'm on assignment. That's
right. I'm on assignment. And the words got around here,
he said, that verse 13, the words got around, that these chains
are for Christ's sake. Be careful to keep that the issue. I've known a lot of preachers
to fall into different situations where they're persecuted for
something else. Paul got this thing all straightened
out at the beginning of his ministry. He said, I'm determined to know
nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. And
if I got a quarrel with anybody on any other basis, drop it.
The issue is Christ. Christ alone. It's not the Baptist
church. It's not church ordinances. It's
not the millennium. It's not tongues and the charismatic
movement. It's not even Calvinism or Arminianism. The issue is Jesus Christ. That's
the issue. Then he said in verse 14, now
watch this, and he said it's had effect on some preachers
too. He said in verse 14, and many of the brethren in the Lord,
many of the preachers, they found out Paul was in prison. They
found out about Paul's patience and Paul's faithfulness and Paul's
determination to preach the gospel. They found out he's in jail.
and how he was reacting to his affliction and to his trial.
And he said many of these preachers waxing bold and confident by
my chains, by my patience, by my faithfulness, by my example,
well they are much more bold to preach the word of God without
fear. If God wants to inspire those
preachers over there to preach the gospel boldly without fear,
how is he going to do it? Put Paul in prison. Put Paul
in prison to inspire those fellows. That's God's way. That's the
reason the fellow said one time, don't ask God to use you, he
might. And the God of heaven, I know
the way that men picture God today, I know. This little old
silly, sentimental, impotent, emotional granddaddy up in heaven,
somebody, he doesn't really have a name, he's just somebody up
there. But the God of the Bible is love, but he's holy. And the God of the Bible who sets out to accomplish a
purpose, is ruthless in his dealing with men to accomplish that purpose. And he'll do his will in the
armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. And
whatever it takes, if a man is his man, he'll put a smile on his face
or he'll put tears in his eyes. You'll give him a son, or you'll
take one away. You'll give him health, or you'll
give him sickness. You'll give him long life, or
you'll kill him. But he'll use that instrument
to accomplish his purpose. And that's what I'm saying. If
you can't take that God, you better make you another one,
because that's the one you're going to meet in judgment. He's
false. That's right. So your Paul says,
I'm in jail here. But some of these preachers,
because of my imprisonment, because of my suffering, they've waxed
bold. Now he said, all of them don't
like me. All of them don't like me. He said here in verse 15,
some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife. Some of them
are jealous of me and envious of me. Some of them don't like
the way I do things, and we have a little conflict. But some are
goodwill. Some of them love me. Some of
them are my friends. But he said, those that preach
out of envy and strife, they preach Christ of contention,
not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bond. But the
other of love, they love me. And they know I'm set for the
defense of the gospel, but verse 18 says, what does it matter
whether they like me or they don't like me? What does it matter
whether they're my friends or they're not my friends? What
does it matter whether they're envious of me or jealous of me
or love me? What does it matter? It doesn't
matter at all, notwithstanding every way, whether in pretense
or in truth, Christ is preached. What difference does it make?" He said, these men really preached
Christ? Oh, certainly they did, or Paul wasn't rejoiced in their
ministry. They didn't like him so much,
but that didn't bother him. They could think what they wanted
to of him, because One man doesn't matter. It's the man, Christ
Jesus. That's what he says. If they'll
preach Christ, let them say what they will about Paul. Let them
think what they will about Paul. It doesn't matter. Well, I'm not going to speak to you.
That's all right. Speak to God. I ain't nothing
no how. That's what he's saying. What
difference does it make whether I'm in jail or out? What difference
does it make whether I'm dead or alive? What difference does
it make? As long as Christ is preaching. This man is so submerged. This man is so intent. This man
is so obsessed with the preaching of Christ and the glory of Christ.
He doesn't care what men think of him or what God does with
him. be content wherever he is, a
prison or a palace, what difference does it make? Friendship or hatred, what difference
does it make, as long as Christ is? If they weren't preaching
Christ, he wouldn't have gloried in it because he says anybody
who preaches any other gospel, let him be accursed. And I'm getting at what I'm getting
at here now, for me and for you. This is so important. What does
it matter? And that's what he says there
in verse 18, what then? In other words, what does it
matter? Notwithstanding every way, whether in pretense or in
truth, whether in joy or in sorrow, whether in success or failure,
whether in long life or short life, what does it matter? and I therein rejoice." I rejoice. Is it any wonder God
blessed this man? Oh, yeah, he said, and I will
rejoice. And I will rejoice. Is it any
wonder God used him with a heart like this? Is it any wonder that God blessed
him like he did? For I know, verse 19, I know
this, that this is all going to turn to my salvation, it's
all going to effect my deliverance, all of these things. God's already
singled me out for glory, singled me out for sonship, singled me
out as a joint heir of Christ, a tent or a cottage, what do
I care? through your prayer and the supply
of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, verse 20, according to my earnest
expectation and my hope. What is your expectation and
your hope, Paul? That in nothing shall I be ashamed. He that believeth on Christ will
never be ashamed. In nothing I'll be ashamed, but
that with all boldness is also As always, so now. As always,
so now. As always, whether down there in Philippi preaching,
as always. Whether they're on Mars Hill
surrounded by the debaters and the philosophers, as always.
Or whether in the Roman prison, as always. Or whether on the
chopping block getting my head cut off, as always, so now. Christ shall be magnified in
my body whether I live or whether I die. Whether I live or whether I die. These men didn't brag on themselves. These men didn't promote themselves. They promoted Christ, the glory
of God. These men here didn't, he said,
who is Paul? Who is Apollos? Who is Cephas?
Just ministers by whom you believe. We're God's husbandmen, husbandry. He that preaches, he that plows,
he that waters is nothing, it's God that gives the increase.
So it really doesn't matter, what does it matter? My expectation
and my hope is to be like him. Christ be magnified whether by
my life or by my death. Look at verse 21. For to me,
to me to live is Christ. To me to live is Christ. Somebody asked me one time, do
you suppose that you could step down out of that pool pit and
sit down here with the rest of us and let somebody else stand
there and pastor and preach? If I know God, I can. I don't
understand that kind of talk. What does it matter whether you're
here or down there? What does it matter whether you're
in jail or out, if Christ be magnified? What does it matter? He says to me to live is Christ. The merchant says, what is it
to me to live? The merchant says to me to live
is gold, silver. The laborer says to me to live
is a comfortable living. The student says to me to live
is learning, respect, wisdom. Friends, the politician says
to me to live is power. The entertainer says to me to
live is glory and fame. And here a humble believer now
confined in prison having known all these things at one time,
says to me to live is Christ. To me to live is Christ. And
they all laugh, and they say, will your Christ give you gold?
No. Silver and gold have I none. Will your Christ give you comfort
and ease, comfortable living? No, he said in this world I'd
have trouble and tribulation. Well, will your Christ give you
respect in the world and many friends? No, he said my enemies
would be in my own household. Well, will your Christ give you
power in the world and glory? No, he said they'd cast me out
of the synagogue, and those that kill me would think they're doing
God a favor. Then how can you say to live,
for me to live, is Christ? Well, it is. What you fellows
are talking about is not living. Your gold and your silver and
your ease and your comfort and your respect and your power and
your glory is not life. Those things are perishing grass,
a vapor. appears for a little time. A
flower that fades, grass that withers. What I'm talking about is life. You see, I'm already dead to
those things. I've already run that race. I've
already come through that place. That's death. That's death. I'm already dead
to this world that I might live to God. By Christ the world is crucified
unto me and unto the world. Christ is my life. To me, to
live, is Christ. Well, explain that. All right,
turn to Colossians 3. To me, to live, is Christ. Colossians 3. Now watch this. Colossians 3.1, if you then be
risen, now to be risen you've got to have died, dead and buried,
and risen with Christ. Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. And set your affection, singular,
your mind. soul on things above, not on
the things of this earth. This earth will pass away. For you're dead. For you're dead. And your life, your life, what
is it to live? To me, to live is Christ. And
your life is hid with Christ in God. Why does he use the word
hid? Well, that's because of the secrecy
of it. The world doesn't understand
this language. The only people that understand this language,
Christ is my life. When Christ who is my life shall
appear. Christ in you, the hope of glory. The only people who understand
this kind of talk are those who are in Christ by divine grace. Your life is hid with Christ
in God. That's the secrecy of it. That's
the security of it. It is hid. Your new life, your
eternal life, your eternal glory, your eternal joy, your eternal
treasure is in a safe place. You know, if you had a ring that was big as an acorn, the
world's most famous diamond, boy, you'd put it in a safe place,
wouldn't you? I mean a safe place. I don't know whether you can
find a place on this earth safe enough for it. Somebody figure
out how to steal it. So I've got a diamond. I've got
a pearl. It's in value. Nobody knows the
value. So God's got it in a place where
it cannot be stolen. It cannot be taken from me. It's
in God. It's in God. This life of mine,
this life, this treasure, this wonderful blessing God's given
me, it's in God. It's here in God. No man can pluck them out of
my Father's hand. All right, here's the certainty
of it. You see, the secrecy of it, the world doesn't understand
it, it's here with Christ in God. And the security of it,
it's here with Christ in God. And the certainty of it, it's
here with Christ. You reckon anybody will ever
take Him out from where He is? You reckon anybody will ever
supplant Him? You reckon anybody will ever
infringe on His rights? No, sir! God's going to destroy
everything in opposition to Him and make His enemies at His footstool,
and my life is in Him! with him. He's been given the
charge of my life. And I guarantee you through his
righteousness, his blood, his mediation, his exaltation, I'm
going home without a doubt." So you talk about your gold and
silver and and your joy and happiness and your success and failure
and your big churches and stained glass windows and all your friends
and popularity. To me, the mayor is Christ. I'd move out here on the North
40 tomorrow, honestly, and fish. I don't ever have to hear my
name spoken again by anybody except him. That's right. That's right. If he wants to put me in jail,
that'll be all right. He'll be there. Isn't that right? He'll be there. That's all right.
I just don't understand our ambition. I don't understand ambition.
for anything but Christ's glory. I don't understand ambition for
anything here on this earth. I don't understand the clamoring
for it, the greed for it, the ambition, the surge that people
go through, the status symbols, all this trash. I don't understand
it, if you know him, if you've ever got a glimpse of him. Utterly, absolutely worthless. I'm dead, he said, to this world. To me, to the living Christ.
Because my life is His. Ain't nobody knows what I'm talking
about but some of you. Some of you do. And it's safe
because it's in God. And it's certain because it's
with Christ. He undertook to accomplish it.
We're just marking time till we go home. Some of our friends
have already gone on ahead of us. We're just marking time. Somebody said, what do you do
for a living? I trust Christ for a living.
I mean, no, oh, you mean how to supply my food on the table? Well, I work a certain job, but
my ambition is to be like him. That's my lesson. That's my lesson.
Isn't that a beautiful story? I just want you to know, he said,
don't worry about old Paul, because everything that's happened to
me is on purpose, and it's for the pleasure of the gospel. And
I'm willing for that. All right, Mike, come lead us
in a hymn.

To Me to Live Is Christ

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To Me to Live Is Christ

What does the Bible say about trials and suffering?

How do we know that God's purposes are being accomplished in suffering?

Why is understanding God's purpose important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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