In Philippians chapter 1, the Apostle Paul wrote verse
21, for to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. I've been looking at this verse
of scripture for several days. I've been trying to get a message.
on this passage of scripture because I know in my heart there's
so much here, so much truth and beauty and glory for me and for
you and for all who are here. This verse is one of those classic,
one of those great classic utterances of the apostles. It's one of
the few verses in scripture which can stand alone. out of context. It really can't. For to me, to
live is Christ, and to die is gain. It's one of those few verses
in Scripture which can stand alone as a topic, which can stand
alone as a text, which can stand alone as a motto. The last time
I preached from this Scripture was in 1974. I believe that's
correct. The last time I brought a message
from Philippians 121 was 1974. a young man in our church by
the name of Raymond Gearheart. He was 33 or 34 years of age
and he had leukemia. And he went down to Lexington
to UK Medical Center and the doctors there told him that he
had approximately two years to live. He came back home and he
gave such a good witness and such a good testimony during
those two years. They hit it almost on the week,
almost to the day, two years. But during that time his testimony
was so clear and his life was so beautiful and his conduct and conversation
and attitude before these people here was just used of God to
bless every heart. And I think Charlie Payne and
I were down at the Bellefonte Hospital either the day before
Raymond died or two days before, and he was suffering so much
and had just a few hours to live, and he knew it. He knew it well. And we were sitting there talking,
and I asked him this, I said, Different people have different
verses of scripture or passages in God's word that are special
blessing to them. Just some special scripture that
at that time meets their particular need. What would you say right
now? is your favorite passage, and I hesitate to use that word
favorite because we don't want to set one scripture against
another, but what is your watchword? What right in there is the scripture
that you would choose as your, to sum up your whole life, in
this hour, in your experience, in your trial, in your expectation?
He said Philippians 1, 20 and 21. Look at it again. And he
quoted it. You remember, Charlie? I believe
he quoted it, didn't he? He said, according to my earnest expectation
and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that
with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified
in my body. So right now, whether it be my
life, whether he lets me live, or whether I die, but to me,
to live, is Christ, and to die is gain. And so at his funeral,
I brought a message from that text. That's the only time I've
spoken from it, and the last time I've spoken from it, but
I want to bring some thoughts from this scripture today, because
I feel led to, because I feel impressed to, I may totally fail,
but for several days it's been on my heart, and I've asked God
to give me a message, and I'll make an effort to preach it.
Paul, when he wrote this, was in prison. He kept mentioning
his bonds. He had him chained, evidently.
He kept talking about his chains, whether he was in literal chains,
I do not know. But he stood before one of the
governors, he said, I would that you were all together such as
I am, yet without these chains. Evidently they had him in fetters
and chains. And he was in prison. And the
church at Philippi had heard about his troubles. They'd heard
about his sufferings, they'd heard about his trials, they'd
heard about all this persecution. And Paul wrote to them, and I
believe that he's making an effort, and the Holy Spirit's using it
for their good and our good, he's making an effort to give
to this church a right understanding of trials, a right understanding
of trouble. We've got to get trials and trouble,
we've got to get prosperity and success, we've got to get failure,
life and death in the proper perspective. And I believe that's
what Paul is saying to them here. He's trying to give them a true
and right understanding of afflictions and of trials and of trouble.
So let's start at verse 12 and see what he says. He says, I
would you should understand brethren, I want you to understand. I want
you to be confident that the things which have happened to
me, and lots of things have happened to him. He'd been betrayed by
friends, he'd been imprisoned by his enemies, he'd been accused
by false witnesses, he'd been beaten, he'd been scourged, he'd
been whipped, he'd suffered, he was in jail now. The things
that have happened to me. have fallen out rather unto the
furtherance of the gospel. They haven't stopped the gospel.
He said in another passage, he said, I'm bound, but the word
of God's not bound. I'm in prison, but you can't
imprison the word of God. And these afflictions and trials
that have happened to me have been for the furtherance of the
gospel, not to stop it, but to promote it. John Bunyan, who
wrote Pilgrim's Progress, I don't suppose there's a more famous
religious, and I hate to use that word because religious has
been messed up in this day, that word, but there's not another
book that's better known among believers than Pilgrim's Progress.
Actually, in every home, back 400 years ago, you found a copy
of the Bible and Pilgrim's Progress. There was a copy in nearly every
home, two or three hundred years ago. Bible and Pilgrim's Progress.
And do you know where it was written? If this hadn't happened,
it may not have been written. John Bunyan was preaching the
gospel of redemption and grace, and they put him in prison in
Bedford. He was in Bedford, he was in
prison. They kept him there 12 years in prison for one thing,
because he preached the gospel. He had several children. One
little girl was blind. They let the children and wife
come to prison to visit him, and they begged him to come home.
Daddy, why don't you come home? All he had to do to come home
was promise one thing, David, not to preach what he was preaching.
to get with organized religion, to get in the stream, the mainstream,
to quit preaching God's sovereignty and God's grace and God's greatness
and Christ's substitutionary work and the resurrection of
Christ and the right of private judgment, grace alone, Christ
alone, blood alone, scriptures alone, the right of private—quit
preaching that, we'll let you go free. All you've got to do
is sign your name. And sitting there in that prison for 12 years,
he wrote Jim Pilgrim's Poplar. Now this is what Paul is saying.
Whatever happens to us, sometimes God uses, shut a man up in prison,
he writes a book. Break a man's heart, he preaches
a message. These things look like to us
to be great affliction. They look like to us to be the
end of the road. They look like to us to be the
closing down of the shop. But not the Lord God. The blood
of martyrs has been called the seed of the church. The more
you try to stamp out the gospel, the more it grows. The more it
grows. That's what Paul is saying here.
Persecution and trouble that have happened to me, God uses
it to promote and further the gospel of his Son. These are
not human means. Human means are glory and greatness
and glamour and glitter and all the other things, you know, success.
Be a success. One fellow told me one time,
if you can't act like a preacher, at least look like one. Look
prosperous, look successful. If you're not successful, look
successful. That's the way the world bases
this thing. That's the way the world judges
things. But not Paul. Look at the next
verse, verse 13. So that my chains for Christ
are known in all the palace. They put me in chains for preaching
the gospel. They put me in a prison for preaching
the gospel. But the knowledge of my preaching
the gospel and why I'm here has spread throughout the palace.
In other words, a couple of Caesar's guards walk up to one another
and say, there's a fellow named Paul, Saul of Tarsus, down here
in jail. What's he in here for? The other
said, all he did was preach that Jesus Christ died on the cross
for sinners with Barren Rose again. And his hope in Christ
and resurrection, is that what he's for? Well, didn't he rob
a bank or something? Wasn't he in there for sedition
or treason? No, he's a man of honesty and
integrity, and he's just in there for preaching to God. And it
spread all over the palace, and he said it went everywhere. I
got a letter this week from a pastor in Missouri, in Cape Girardeau,
Missouri. I went over there a few months
ago and held a meeting. And I read a letter from him
recently, but I got one yesterday, day before yesterday. He's a
Southern Baptist pastor. He pastors a Southern Baptist
church in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. His name is Russell Warner. Well,
every Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock, there's a radio program on the
local station that is sponsored by the Southern Baptist churches
of that area. And each pastor takes his turn
speaking on the broadcast, different months. Well, Russell had a certain
Sunday every three months in which he had the program. Well,
after we went over there for the meeting, he made up his mind
to just stand bold and clearly declare the gospel of God's saving
grace. He called his church together
and apologized because he'd held back on some things to keep them
offending people. And he said, from now on, this
is a free pulpit. We're going to preach the grace
of God in Jesus Christ, whatever it happens, whatever it accomplishes.
And so he got up on that radio program, the Southern Baptist
Hour, 2 o'clock on Sunday afternoon, and preached the grace of God.
And they called him in. And this is what they said to
him. They said, you have an unbalanced message. You preach election
too much. You're not a Southern Baptist.
Well, he said, I preach the same thing that J.P. Boris and Scarborough
and these men who founded your seminaries preach. He said, I
preach the same thing as in your abstract principles, as I like
to call it, which all the professors sign. Well, they said, it doesn't
matter. It's an unbalanced message. He
said, would you meet with me and you show me from the scripture
where that I'm not preaching the message of the word of God?
The fellow said, well, sometime in September I'll try to get
around to it, but you're off the air. And you know, amazingly,
the station called him in and they said, we've had a lot of
letters and phone calls of people who've been listening to you,
and we want you to take every Sunday morning and come on live
and preach your message. That's a fact. Well, you know,
when men shut doors, that's all right. Let them shut the door.
Let them shut the door. Our discomfort may be used of
God to bring eternal comfort to somebody. Brethren, I tell
you this, we're not to judge things as they appear, by feeble
sense. God may shut us up for 10 or
15 years. He may shut us up like John Bunyan
for 12 years. He may put us in prison. But
if we'll stay faithful to Christ and to his gospel and his word,
God's going to promote the gospel through our affliction, through
our trial. Now, I promise you that. I just
know it so. And that's what Paul is saying
here. He's saying, I want you to understand something. that
trials and imprisonment and difficulties and the wrath of men and even
shutting us up in prison and closing our mouths and stopping
our efforts will, he said, result in the furtherance of the gospel.
Now, God's not going to use a compromiser, but it'll result in the furtherance
of the gospel. And look at verse 14. And he
said, many of my brethren in the Lord, many preachers, Waxing
confident by my bonds, are more bold to speak the word of God
without fear." In other words, Paul's problems were not only
used to stir up people in Caesar's palace and outside the church,
but it stirred up some fellows in the church. It challenged
his attitude. Now watch this, you who are going
through some trials right now. Your attitude and your spirit
under those trials. will help somebody, some believer.
And not only, you say, well, unbelievers are impressed by
Paul's dedication and by Paul's patience and by Paul's spirit
and attitude. I know unbelievers are sometimes can't understand. How can that person be so strong?
Here he suffered and persecuted, men have turned against him,
or he's suffering in body and facing death, and he stands so
firm. I'm impressed. Well, they're
impressed for a while. for a little while. But listen,
the believer is impressed for a long while. The believer is
impressed for a long while. And Paul in prison here for preaching
the gospel and doing it boldly, some of the preachers said, well,
old Paul encourages me, and they went out and preached the gospel
a little stronger. I think they wanted to go down
to jail with him, some of them did. They just preached a little
stronger. Compromise will encourage compromise. Courage will promote courage.
It will encourage other people. They may be, some day they may
have to go through the same trial. And they watch you and listen
to you. And when they face this trial,
your courage will give them courage. And your patience will make them
patient. And your courage and boldness
to stand for the truth will encourage them to do the same thing. Now
then look at verse 15. And he says, and he takes in
all the preachers and teachers, and he says they're encouraged,
they're boldly preaching the gospel. Now, some of them indeed
preach Christ even of envy. Now let me read these three verses.
Let's put them together. Some preach Christ even of envy,
some of strife, some of goodwill. One preached Christ of contention,
not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds. That's
those that preach Christ through envy and strife. But the other
of love, knowing that I'm set for the defense of the gospel.
What then, what does it matter? In every way Christ is preached
and I rejoice. Now let me tell you this, I don't
know a great deal about these people. But I know this, this
is one dead sure certain thing. These men were truly preaching
the gospel or Paul wouldn't have rejoiced in it. Now, they may
have had a spirit of envy, they may have had a spirit of strife,
they may have had a spirit of contention. But I guarantee you,
these men he's talking about here were preaching the gospel. Otherwise, Paul wouldn't have
rejoiced. He said, if any man preach any other gospel, let
him be accursed. I don't care if it's an angel
from heaven, whether he's a preacher, teacher, or an angel from heaven.
So I know this about these people. I'm going to try to define them
for you. But I know this, Paul says they're preaching the gospel.
And I rejoice. Now we have a tendency sometimes
if a fellow doesn't like us, or doesn't do things like we
do them, to write him off as not preaching the gospel. Now
I'll tell you this, if a man compromises the character of
God, he's not preaching the gospel. the attributes of God. He's just
and righteous, holy and without sin. If a man compromises the
fall of man, the condition of man by birth, by nature, by practice,
he's compromising the gospel. If a man doesn't preach the effectual
substitutionary work of Christ, he's compromising the gospel. But if he disagrees with me on
how a church ought to be governed, If he disagrees with me on whether
you ought to have elders, deacons or bishops or whatever, that's
a different story. If he disagrees with me on some
rules of life, like some of these Jews wouldn't eat pork, some
of them would. If he disagrees with me on what to do on Sunday,
whether to stay inside and sit by the fire or whether to go
outside and shoot basketball on Sunday afternoon, that's a
different story. See what I'm saying? And this is what these
men, let me tell you what I believe this is saying here. Now these
men preached the gospel. They preached the gospel. Or
Paul wouldn't have rejoiced. And I mean the gospel of grace,
of free grace, of sovereign grace, of God's grace. The gospel of
substitution, satisfaction, redemption in Christ. They preached the
gospel. But watch these verses. Some preach Christ of envy. What
did they envy? They envied Paul's gift. They
were just jealous of him. I don't understand that. It's not right, it's not commendable,
but it's normal. It's normal human behavior. That's
just so. Paul was a gifted man. Paul was
a successful man. Paul was a man in whom the Spirit
of God dwelt, on whom the power of God dwelt. And wherever he
went, things happened. And these men, it just didn't
happen that way. They weren't as gifted. They
weren't as successful. And they envied Paul's guilt.
Every one of us experiences this once in a while in our human
natures. Envy. Jealousy. And Paul said, I understand
that. We're not all apostles. We don't
all speak in other languages. We don't all have the gift of
healing. And this is something we have to battle and have to
fight. But Paul said this, he said, I don't care if they do
envy me, just so they preach Christ. And notice he said strife. Some out of strife. What does
that mean? Contention. The strife wasn't over the gospel,
Cecil. It wasn't over the gospel. The
strife was over what? We have it today over words. Words. Are you premillennial
or postmillennial? Well, I'm revolutionary, postmillennial. Somebody said, well, you're not
saved. What's that got to do with being saved? Are you a Baptist
or are you a Methodist? Well, I'm a Methodist. I was
raised a Methodist. Do you believe the gospel? Yes.
Well, then you're saved. What's that got to do with being
saved? There are a lot of Baptists who hate the gospel. But this
contention was over government. How to govern a church? practices,
prophecy, less understood doctrines. That's what the strife was. It's
a striving about words. That's what it is. And Paul said,
I don't care if he preaches the gospel. Wonderful. Wonderful. Some preach Christ in a selfish
manner. Look here at the next verse,
16. The one preached Christ of contention,
not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bond. Let me
give you what I wrote here. Some of these men hope to call
attention to Paul's troubles. There he is. Everywhere he goes,
he meets with trouble. Everywhere he goes, he divides
people, homes, families, churches. Everywhere he goes, there's a
riot. Everywhere he goes, there's trouble. He meets with trouble,
with persecution, with punishment, and here he is in prison. Now,
they said, we preach with little difficulty and with a little
opposition. Maybe, maybe Paul's troubles
are of his own making. Maybe Paul would just do it like
we do it. He wouldn't have all that. He
wouldn't wind up in prison. See, that's what the... Maybe
Paul would just settle down a little. Just not be so plain and so bold
and so... You know, there's a way to say
something, yeah? Say it so men can understand
it. That's the only way I know to say it, Bruce. Just so they
know what you're saying. And let's leave the results up
to God. But he thanked God. He said, verse 17, some of them
preach Christ out of love, love for Christ and love for me, God's
instrument. He said, some men realize that
I'm the one that brought them the gospel and they love me for
it and they'd die for me. That's what he said. I brought
them the gospel and my troubles, he said, are their troubles.
That's what he said, and my troubles are their troubles. They know
I'm set for the defense of the gospel. But verse 18, let's get
to this. He said, what difference does it make? What thing? What
difference does it make? What difference does it make
what men think of me, he said? What difference does it make
if they insist on becoming obstinate and difficult and carry on needless
strife and petty quarrels? Let them carry on their quarrels.
Let them carry on their strife. Let them carry on their situation. He said, what difference does
it make? Christ is preaching. And I rejoice, and I'm going
to keep on rejoicing, because I know that all this is going
to work together for my good, all things work together for
good to them who love God with a call according to his purpose.
It's going to result in my good. In verse 20, he said, This is
my expectation and my hope, to magnify Christ, that in nothing
I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now. As I always have and as I, right
now, in this trial, in this trouble, that Christ may be magnified
in my body, whether it be by life or by death, whether in
prison or out of prison, whether in pain or trial, whether in
life or death. I'm not ashamed. I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I'm not ashamed of these
chains, he said. I'm not ashamed of these chains. I know whom
I have believed. And I'm persuaded he's able to keep that which
I have committed to him against that day. Look at this, that
Christ may be magnified, that Christ may be exalted. My friends,
let me tell you something. And if this is not being preached
today, you will not, I guarantee you, and I'm not saying I have
a new revelation, nothing new about this, it's old as creation,
it's old as the new covenant. This old is the purpose of God.
This is no new thing, but I never heard this all the time I was
growing up, till I came in 1950 to hear the gospel I'm trying
to put. This is so. Almighty God, now I won't be
very careful how I say this, but I want to say it in such
a way that you'll understand what I'm saying. The eternal
purpose of Almighty God, the grand design. What is God's grand
design in redemption? Jonathan Edwards wrote a book
on the history of redemption, and in that book you've got a
chapter, God's design in redemption. What is God's grand design? I
mean in the covenant, in the fall, in the Old Testament tabernacle
and types, in the giving of the law, in the incarnation of his
son. in the life of his Son, in the
death, in that awful, ignominious, suffering death of Christ, in
the burial resurrection of Christ, in the enthronement, exaltation
of Christ, in the second coming of Christ. What is God's grand
design? To keep you out of hell? Did
God do all that just to keep you out of hell? Now, you think
about it. Did God do all that so the circle wouldn't be broken? We say, will the circle be unbroken?
Did God do all that? Is that God's grand design to
reach down on the dunghill and pick up a bunch of maggots and
wash them and clean them and take them to heaven so he can
brag on them? Not according to this book. God's grand design
in redemption is to do what? To glorify his Son. Now I'm telling
you the truth. This is so, Charlie, that's his
grand design. You fit into this design as you
fit into Christ. That's exactly right. There's
just two men in this Bible. There's two men. Everybody's
related to one or both. As in Adam we died, in Christ
we're made alive. By one man came death, by another
man came life. That's what the book says. There's
federal headship, there's representation. That's what scripture teaches.
As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall bear the
image of the heavenly. The first man is of the earth
earthy, the second man is the Lord from heaven. And we're all
identified and associated with Adam in his fall, in his devastation,
in his degradation, in his depravity. By God's grace, there's some
men associated with Christ in his restoration, in his regeneration,
in his redemption. That's so. God has set out to
glorify Christ. God's grand design and end and
purpose is given in the parable of the king who said, I'm going
to honor my son. A king made a feast. Christ gave
this. He said the kingdom of heaven
is like a certain king which made a feast to do what? To honor
his son. That's why the feast was thought
of, that's why the feast was prepared, that's why the people
were brought together, and that was the end and grand objective
of that feast was to glorify that Son. And when he brought
everybody in, he gave them a special garment to honor the Son. A special
garment, made evidently like the Son's garment, or likened
unto the Son. And one fellow came in. He wasn't
there to honor the Son. He wasn't there to exalt the
Son. He wasn't there to magnify the Son. He was there to get
in on the eats. That's a good thing. I'd like to go to heaven,
wouldn't you? Well, man be a fool to say no. I mean, up there they
eat well, they sleep well, they don't work. It's an eternal retirement. It's fun and games eternally. It's no pain or no sorrow forever
and ever. Who wouldn't like to go to heaven?
And this fellow came in to enjoy the food, enjoy the fun, the
fellowship. He had no regard whatsoever for the Son. How do
you know that? He didn't have on a wedding garment. And all
the guests were there, and when the King came in, the first man
he spotted was that fellow without the wedding garment. He stood
out. He wasn't there. All of them were there for the same
purpose. They were all dressed the same
way. They all had the same regard,
except one fellow. He stuck out like a sore thumb.
And the king went over and said, how come, or what are you doing
here, or why did you come here? That's what he's saying. He wasn't
criticizing his dress, he's saying, why did you come here if you
didn't come to honor my son? What are you doing here if you
didn't come to honor the son? That's what he's asking. How
comest thou hither without a wedding gown? He's saying, how come you
come in here not to honor my son when you know that's what
this is all about? This is for the glory and the honor and the
praise and the exaltation of my son, to magnify my son, and
you didn't come for that purpose?" And he was speechless, and he
said, bind him hand and foot. Let me show you some scripture.
Turn to Romans chapter 11. Now this is, my friends, you'll
never hear, and I'll never say, anything that's more important
than what I'm saying. I ask you elders, is that true,
there's nothing more important than what I'm on right now. Is
that right, Chuck? And Jeff, you know this, so God is going
to honor the Son. And we will participate in God's
honor and glory in Christ. He said, I'm the vine, you're
the branch. I'm the head, you're the body. And here in Romans
11.36, listen to this. For of him, through him, to him,
are all things. Who's the him? Christ. This is
the him book here. H-I-M, to whom be glory forever
and ever. Turn with me to John 5, 23. John
5, 23. And you know this fellow Smith,
this president of the Southern Baptist Convention, got in a
whole lot of trouble recently because he said that God didn't
hear the Jew when they prayed. Because they didn't pray through
Christ. They didn't believe Christ was the Messiah. Well, he made
a mistake saying that. He brought the whole world out
on him, where he singled out the Jew. He's picking on the
Jew. If he'd have said the black man, he'd have been in the same
trouble. Or the Indians, he'd have been the same. That's minority. But
let me tell you this. God doesn't hear any man pray
except through Christ. That's what the Bible says. Christ
said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to
the Father but by me. That's God's Word. They wanted
to hang Bailey Smith, why didn't they hang the Apostle Paul? He's
the one who said that. I mean, Christ Jesus said that,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. And then Paul said
this, other foundations can no man lay than that which is laid,
Christ Jesus. Why don't these churches hang
Paul? Other foundations can no man lay. John 5, 23, listen to
it. That all men should honor the
Son. Even as they honor the Father,
he that honoreth not the Son, he that worshipeth not the Son,
he that glorifieth not the Son, honoreth not the Father which
sent him. I don't care what you do. There's
one mediator between God and man, and that's the man Christ
Jesus. Miss Christ, you miss God. Now, Bailey Smith should
have added that. But the problem is, maybe he
doesn't know that. Maybe he doesn't know substitution,
mediatorial redemption. Maybe he doesn't understand it.
Turn to Romans 8.32. But that's the basis. It's not
just the Jew. We needn't pick on the Jew or
anybody else. It's just the fact that man is
a sinner and God is holy, and there's an irreconcilable war
between them, enmity. There's a great gut fix which
no man can pass, which man's salvation is impossible. And
God sent his son, the great high priest of the covenant, the great
mediator. The God-man came down here where
man is and became a man, was identified, numbered with the
transgressors, took our place, identified with us, and God's
wrath fell on him, God's judgment fell on him. He, by his obedience,
gave us a perfect standing. He, by his death, before justice
gave us a perfect position and lifted us and now God can have
dealings with us and God can speak to us, we can speak to
God because of Christ. Without Christ, God is still
where he is and we're still where we are in the mud hole. Without
Christ, God is unreachable, unapproachable. The scripture says, seeing we
have a great high priest, let us come bolder before the throne.
Seeing we have a great high priest, let us draw nearer. But if we
don't have a high priest, we're going to wind up like a zyre
with leprosy in our forehead if we try to approach God without
a suitable priest with a suitable sacrifice. That's Christ. Romans 8.32, listen. He that
spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall
he not with him, where is God's mercy? With him freely give us
all things. It's all in Christ. Look at Ephesians,
just a moment, chapter 2, or chapter 1. Ephesians chapter
2. He says here in chapter 2 of Ephesians, verse 10, that in
the dispensation of the fullness of time, He might gather together
in one all things in Christ, whether they are in heaven or
which are on earth. In Christ we have obtained an
inheritance. You see that? In Christ. We are joint heirs with Christ.
God looks with favor upon his Son because we are in him, because
we are of him, because through him we have acceptance. God looks
with favor on us. Look at the next line in verse
11, Ephesians 1. It says, "...in whom we have
obtained an inheritance, being predestinated," this is all predetermined
by God's grace, "...according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will," watch it now,
"...that we should be to the praise of his glory who first
trusted in Christ." That's what it's about. That's what it's
about. That's what the purpose, that's
what the plan, that's what the covenant is all about. God has
set out from eternity past to glorify his son. Turn to Romans
chapter 8 just a minute. One more time. Romans chapter
8. Let me show you something here. And I know this fellow,
this fellow who had a man at a conference, Chuck Harris, and
he was quoting a man. And I preach this way wherever
I go. This is what I preached. Same thing I'm going to preach
tonight, same thing I'm saying now down where I was the last
two weeks, I'll preach this next week. This man told Chuck Harris,
he said, well, what's wrong with that mayhem, fellas? He's made
an idol out of Jesus Christ. He's made an idol out of Jesus
Christ. Well, let me tell you something. I confess that is
exactly right. That's exactly right. He's my
God. I feel like Thomas when he found
my Lord and my God. I plead guilty, because I tell
you, you can't exalt him too much. If you think little of
Christ, you think little of God. If you know little of Christ,
you know little of God. That's just so. It says here in verse 38, I'm
persuaded, this is my persuasion, that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature
shall be able to separate us from the love of God. Where is
it? Well, God's a sweet old gray-headed granddaddy sitting up there that's
in love with everybody. You don't know the God of the
Bible. The wrath of God abideth on the ungodly. That's what Scripture
says. He that believeth not on the Son, the wrath of God abideth
on him." Your God is not just if he can love evil. You say,
he doesn't love evil, he loves the sinner. He doesn't love his
sins. How can you separate them? If you could take my sins away
from me, I wouldn't have any problem. That's what Christ did.
That's how God can love me because I'm perfect in Christ. I hear
that all my life. Where is that found? In the book
of Hezekiah? God loves the sinner and hates his sin. You got them
separated, they're one and the same. The natural mind is enmity. That's what scripture says. His
mind, your heart, the heart is deceitful above all things. God says the whole heart is sick,
the whole head is faint. From the sole of your feet to
the top of your head, there's nothing lovable in you. Where's
God's love? Look at it. It's in Jesus Christ
our Lord. That's what I'm trying to say.
I'm saying we're chosen in Christ. We are redeemed, made righteous
in Christ on the cross. Our sins are put away in Christ.
Right now he's on the right hand of God and we're seated with
him. And one day he said to his disciples, I'm going to prepare
a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place,
I'm coming back for you, that where you are, where I am, there
you may be also." We are in him, in Christ. We're exalted in him
in everything, and that's God's grand design is to glorify. And
that's the reason Paul comes down to verse 21 of Philippians
1, back to the text. He said, so to me, whether in
life, whether in prison, whether in the hospital. whether in failure,
whether in poverty, whether in riches, whether in success. He
said, I know how to abound. He said, I've sat with emperors. I've walked with prominent men.
I know how to abound. I've eaten good food. I've sat
at the table and eaten all the fine foods. I've worn nice clothes. I know how to abound. But he
said, I've been in prison too. And he said, I've been in the
deep, I've been in shipwreck, I've floated around on a raft.
He said, I've been scourged, how many, three times? He said,
I've been beaten with stripes, I've been spit at, I've had my
name brought through the mud. He said, I know how to be a base,
but I don't care. He said, whether it be in life
or death, for me to live is Jesus Christ. Paul says for me to live. It's not health, wealth, pleasure,
flesh. It's Christ. He is my life. Actually, the
believer has two lives. Could I give you this and try
to wind this up? The believer has two lives. The
first life is the one he inherited from his parents. I was born
in 1926. in Fairfield, Alabama, of my
mother and father, and they gave me this flesh, this body, by
God's pleasure. I inherited from them flesh,
family, earthly existence, very little inheritance, but a personality,
all of it perishing. It's all dying. My mother's dead,
my father's dead, my brother's dead. You see, if my sister and
I were the only ones left, she'd be gone, I'd be gone. After a
while, none of that, the world will know it no more. But now
I have another life, Christ gave me. Now what did I get from him?
Grace, spirit, an eternal family. My family here will never die.
I'll never be separated from them. Eternally, heavenly inheritance,
all this is lasting. See what I'm saying? So Christ
is really, he is our life. What I have here, what I got
from my parents is so temporary, the fashion of this world faded.
Life is like the wind, it's like a vapor. All of these are things
that are not substantial. The wind, it's gone. Vapor appears
for a little while and then the mist is rolled away. A flower
blooms for a day, place know it no more. But this life of
Christ, eternal. You know, God, the presence of
Christ in his Spirit, lets life be lived with a purpose. Ain't
that right? A purpose. Life is lived in Christ
with peace. Life is lived in Christ with
hope. Now I've got to give you this
to close. I can't close this message without
reading it. Philippians 1.21, for me to live is Christ, to
die is gain. Now, preacher, how can any man
in his right mind say dying is gain? How can any man in his
right mind call death gain? Well, Paul did. In fact, he desired
death. He said in verse 23, I have a
desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.
The only thing that keeps me here in the flesh is what? my
relationship to you. How can a man say death is gain?
Well, I'll tell you how. A man dies and loses his life,
earthly life, earthly life, but he gains eternal life to die
no more. When I go to sleep in death,
I'll never go to sleep again. I'll never die again. He loses
his place on this earth, which is just a temporary place anyway,
but he gains an eternal home. He loses his family and friends
for a while, only to be joined with them eternally. You know,
if you were over here, and your home and friends and family,
everybody's over there, and the only thing between you is a deep,
dark river, wouldn't you cross over it? Well, sure you would.
Because that really makes the river not so bad. If everything
you have is there, and everything you hope for is there, and everything
you expect is there, then you want to be there. And that's
what Paul is talking about. A man dies and loses his natural
body, but Paul called it a wretched body. A wretched man that I am,
who shall deliver me from this body of sin? You know, I'm tired
of sinning, aren't you? I'm tired of thinking what I
ought not to think. I'm tired of saying what I ought
not to say. Oh, don't you get tired of that? Don't you wish
you was dead sometime? Now be honest. I wish I was dead
sometime. I wish this old nature was dead. That's what I'm talking about.
This old body was dead. Because that's the only way I'm
ever going to never sin again is to die, Chuck. I've got to
die. That's the only way I'm ever
going to live. And that's what Paul's talking
about. And that becomes a reality. He says, for me to live is Christ. Yeah, we're going to lose all
sin, all suffering, all tiredness, all weariness, all weakness,
all pain, all tears, all fears, all doubts, all limited nothing.
You think about that. And gain everything. I'll be
honest with you. I'd love to take this whole congregation
this morning if I had my power to do so. and just breathe on
you and take every one of us to glory. I just, would you go? Oh boy, I say, let's turn to
Revelation 21 and quit. Revelation 21, he says here,
and I want to read this, I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the
first earth were passed away and there was no more sea. And
I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God
out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And
I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle
of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and
they shall be his people. God himself shall be with them
and be their God, and God will wipe away all tears from their
eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain.