To Live Is Christ, To Die Is Gain (Philippians Sermon 5)

This morning we are going to focus our attention on one of the great statements that Paul made in his life, Philippians 1:21. “For me,” he says, “to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Now, one of the great moments in Shakespeare, I’m not a Shakespearian scholar. I wrestled with it as most of you did in high school literature and didn’t know what in the world that he was talking about, to be honest with you. But, upon more mature reflection, I’ve come to understand Shakespeare a little bit better. And one of the great and dramatic moments in all of Shakespeare’s works is Hamlet’s Soliloquy. As Hamlet faces the question of whether he should go on living or whether he should die by his own hand? Wrestling with that question to live or to die?

To be, or not to be: that is the question:

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;

No more; and by a sleep to say we end

The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks

That flesh is heir to, ’tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep; To sleep:

perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub;

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come

You see, he’s wrestling with whether he wants to keep on living and whether he’d be willing to die. He’s wrestling with a simple question, “to live or to die?” And I find in Hamlet, repulsion rather than attraction. He’s repulsed by life and he’s repulsed by death. Both of them are repugnant to him. What makes life repulsive to Hamlet? The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. A thousand natural shocks.

Anyone who’s been living in this world long enough you know what he’s talking about. What is around the next corner? What’s going to happen to me next? How much more can a body handle? Some of you go through series of shocks, one after the other, and you begin to wonder, what have I done? There’s even a member of our church we were talking with this week and he’s wrestling with that, “Lord, what is going on? Why so many trials all at once?” A thousand natural shocks. The terrible ups and downs of mortal life, with all of its pain and disappointment and suffering. Well, that’s what repels him from life.

What repels him from death? Well, he says, to die to sleep. That sounds good. Perchance to dream, oh there might be something after death. Yeah, that’s the rub. There might be a judgment day. There might actually be condemnation. There might be hell, and that’s the problem. And so he is repulsed from death as well. And it leaves him morose and depressed, discouraged, suicidal. Repulsed by life with all of its suffering. Repulsed by death with its potential for eternal condemnation.

I. Paul’s Argument with Himself: To Live or To Die?

Now, it’s interesting in Philippians 1, we find Paul wrestling with the same question. But how different is his attitude? He’s neither repulsed by life nor repulsed by death. He is greatly attracted to life and greatly attracted to death. He wants to keep on living and he wants to die. He’s attracted by what an ongoing life of service to Christ will bring, and he’s even more attracted for himself to what awaits him on the other side of death. “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” He’s not repulsed by life with all of its suffering. He has embraced it. He wants to know Christ in his suffering; he wants to sing with Silas at midnight in a darkened prison cell again. He wants to feel the presence of Christ no matter what’s going on.

It’s attractive to him to keep on living, even though he’s in chains for Christ, even though he might die a martyr’s death. He might be executed really at any moment because the emperor is capricious that way. At any moment, it could be over for him. He’s accepted it. He’s delighted in it actually. He’s wrestling with it. His is a joyful choice. He’s attracted by life because of all the fruitful labor that it will bring. But he’s attracted more by death. He says in verse 21-26, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know. I’m torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. But it’s more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and will continue with all of you for your progress and your joy in the faith so that through my being with you again, your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.”

You see him wrestling with life and death. Look, the life side of verse 21, “to live is Christ.” The death side, “to die is gain.” The life side, “If I’m to go on living in the body.” The death side, “I desire to depart and be with Christ.” The life side, “It’s more necessary for you that I remain in the body.” But this is not morbid introspection. You wouldn’t be depressed to be with Paul as he works this through. Actually, you’d be greatly ennobled. Greatly lifted up, greatly encouraged to be with Paul as he wrestles through. And that’s why he is doing this for the Philippians. That’s why he wrote it down. He wants them to catch his attitude. He wants them to be drawn into his heart, so that they also would come to the point that they can say the same thing, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Now, we know a profound theological truth is this: Man proposes, but God disposes. Paul’s saying in verse 22 and 23, “What shall I choose? I do not know. I am torn between the two.” But then, in verse 27 he says, “Whatever happens, conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the Gospel.” Now what is he conceding there? He is saying, “In the end, Paul doesn’t know what’s going to happen, and it’s not been given to him to decide.” As he ruminates through, he knows that it’s not given to him to decide. He’s not the king of his life. He’s not in charge of the day of his death. Paul’s rumination is only theoretical. He has no power whatsoever to put it in the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, “Who of you by worrying can add a single cubit to the span of his life’s race?” In other words, “You can’t push the finish line back 18 inches by anxiety. You can’t change it a bit because you’re not king. I am King.”

God has determined that day and that hour according to his wise plan. It says in Ecclesiastes 8:8, “No man has power over the wind to contain it. So also, no one has power over the day of his death.” Did you hear that? That’s profound, isn’t it? And so, we really don’t have the power to decide whether to live or to die, but we do have the ability to decide what attitude we would take toward life and death, and that’s the purpose here. What attitude do you have toward the remainder of your life, your years here on earth? What attitude do you take also to the inevitable day of your death? So Paul ruminates here, not because he thinks somehow that he’s going to seize control of the day of his death from the Lord, not at all. He doesn’t want to. He wants the Lord to be sovereign over that. But he ruminates for the joy of the Philippians, that they would have his joy in life and his joy also in death. I believe therefore that Christianity is the only truly healthy way to look at both life and death. I really think so. You want to have a healthy view of life, embrace this doctrine. You want to have a healthy view of death, embrace this. This is Christianity. To live is Christ, to die is gain.

Islam does not give a healthy view of life and death as they submit to a tyrant called Allah, who is absolutely sovereign, accountable to no one, not even accountably consistent with himself. That’s no way to look at life and death. Buddhism looks on life as an endless cycle of suffering and misery from which we need to escape. There’s no purpose to it. The suffering on earth means nothing, and therefore, the only thing you can hope for is to escape from it. Hinduism sees it the same way, the endless cycle of reincarnation. And all you can ever hope for is escape; nirvana, emptiness, like a drop of water into an endless sea, so that you will cease being who you are; nothingness. Atheism holds out nothing for us. Nietzsche was constantly suicidal his whole life. He espoused suicide. He said this, “When one does away with one’s self, one does the most estimable thing possible. One thereby almost deserves to live.” What a horrendous way to look at life. How do you think Nietzsche left the world? By his own hand. God gave him over to it. Nietzsche had said, “The thought of suicide has helped me through many a restless night.” What a sick way to look at life. What a sick way to look at death. And how about Hedonistic Materialism? Everybody’s favorite way of dealing with life and death. “Let us eat and drink and be merry, for tomorrow, we die. So let’s have a biggest party we can have.” Just like Belshazzar, the night that Babylon fell. “Let’s throw an even bigger party than ever before, and take our mind off of the inevitable.” Is it that a healthy way to look at life and death? I don’t think so.

II.  To Live Is Christ

I want to drink in Paul’s attitude. I want it to imbue who I am. I want to understand Paul’s way of thinking about life and death. I want to know what he meant by, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.” So let’s take it in two parts. Let’s look at the first part, “To live is Christ.” What did Paul mean by that? Let’s start with our physical lives. Our bodies, our physical lives here on earth. First of all, we must understand that Christ is our physical life. We cannot take a single breath without Christ. As a matter of fact, we wouldn’t have a body if it weren’t for Christ. It says in Acts 17:28, “For in Him we live and move and have our being.” And the book of Colossians speaking specifically of Christ says, “For by Him,” Christ, “all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or powers, or rulers, or authorities, all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things and in Him all things hold together.”

Now, you may not think that your body’s holding together very well, but it is Christ in fact, who is holding your physical body together, physically holding it together. So you would not have a physical life if it weren’t for Christ. Christ is your physical life. Furthermore, if you’re a Christian, Christ owns your physical body and your days on earth. 1 Corinthians 6 makes this very clear. It’s says, “The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord.” Now, I could focus on the first half with good effect, but there’s the second part. Your body was made for the Lord. It’s the Lord’s. He made it for himself. Your body is the Lord’s, and the Lord for the body. The Lord is for your body. He gave himself for your body, also. By his power, God raised the Lord from the dead and he will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?” And then later in that same section he says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought at a price and, therefore, glorify God in your bodies.”

So when Paul says, “For me to live is Christ”, that means physically. Christ created my body, he redeemed my body, he constantly feeds and nourishes my body. It is his, for he bought it. And therefore, all of our days here on earth are measured out for a purpose and for his glory. Psalm 139:16 says, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book, before one of them came to be.” Well, they were there for a purpose. All of Paul’s days had been measured out. And they have a purpose and that purpose is to glorify God. We are therefore kept alive at his will, for his purpose, for his glory. That’s the whole reason.

And so it says in James 4:15, instead of saying, “Next year we’ll go to this or that city, spend a year, carry on business.” We’ll do all this in the future. Instead of all that, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that,” you see? If the Lord wills, I’ll stay alive, if the Lord wills, I’ll keep on living in the body. And therefore Paul was facing his own physical mortality, unafraid, for he knew he would not die until Christ said so.

In the evenings, my family and I have been reading through John Patton’s biographies, a missionary in the South Pacific. And I’ve told some of this story before, but he was the man who went following a previous missionary who was eaten by cannibals on the beach. He was the next guy in line. Now, what kind of courage would that take? And he was absolutely courageous about that. But one night, he found himself literally, physically up a tree, as bands of murderous natives were roaming the island, looking for him so they could kill him. He had basically very few people who supported his ministry and they said, “You need to run for your life.” And so he spent the night in the tree. And as he said, it was the most spiritually enriching night of his life. He felt closer to Christ, up in that tree, than he’d ever felt his whole life. And he came to the conclusion and you’ve heard this before, but it was John Patton that said it, “The man of God is immortal until he has finished his work on earth.” And he knew he would not die that night.

And so, to live as Christ means, to understand that my life, my time here on earth, is for a purpose, Christ is my physical body. He redeemed it and I will keep living at his pleasure and for his will. And also, therefore, anything that comes to me, any of the circumstances that come to me, come to me through Christ. He’s the one that measures out the trials of our lives. Later in Philippians 4, Paul says, “I know what it is to be in need and I know what it is to have plenty. I can do everything. I can feast, or I can have famine, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can face any trial or any circumstance in my life and even the good things in my life through Christ who strengthens me.” That’s what he means when he says, “For me to live is Christ.” And so all those thousand natural shocks that Hamlet was talking about, the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Paul took them all as directly from God, from Christ himself, for a purpose. That’s the way he looked at his life.

To live is Christ, physically. But it’s also true to live is Christ spiritually, spiritually. Christ is our spiritual life. God sees us, in Christ if we are Christians. In Christ. Look at the very first verse of this book Philippians 1:1, it says there, “Paul and Timothy servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi.” That’s kind of interesting. Their physical address was at Philippi, Philippi was a Roman colony. They had, probably some kind of address system there. I don’t know what it was. But they had a physical address, but their spiritual address was, in Christ Jesus. That’s how God saw them. They were in Christ Jesus. And so he ends the epistle, look at verse 4:21, there it says, “Greet all the saints in Christ Jesus.” So all the saints, their address that you’re supposed to greet; their address is, in Christ Jesus, those who are in Christ Jesus. So at the beginning and the end of the book, he’s saying the same thing.

Ephesians tells us that God chose us in Christ, before the foundation of the world, to be the holy and blameless in his sight. It also says that God will give us every spiritual blessing, in Christ. And therefore, in Christ, we may approach God with freedom and confidence. In Christ, we may call God, Abba Father. In Christ, all of our sins, all of them, are forgiven by his blood. In Christ, we are new creations. In Christ, we are dead to sin and alive to God. Therefore, “in Christ” means for us spiritually, what “in the ark” meant for those in the days of Noah. If you’re in the ark in the days of Noah, you’re saved from the wrath of God produced by a flood of water. And so spiritually, “in Christ” means you are saved in Christ, from the wrath of God brought on by a flood of fire; the lake of fire. It’s the place of safety and protection. In Christ, safety. Outside of Christ, destruction. And so that was their spiritual address. So when Paul says, “For me to live is Christ,” it means, “I see myself, spiritually, in Christ, and in no other place.”

Now, we’ve been studying in the international class the Gospel of John. The Gospel of John is a masterpiece. It cannot be explained, humanly. And it has two purposes, I think, two main purposes. One is to prove to us, to give us good evidence that Jesus of Nazareth is God the Son, God in the flesh. But secondly, that by believing that, we may have life in his name.

And it goes through the whole book, to explain what that life is like:

• It’s like having an abundance of high quality wine at a wedding banquet.
• It’s like being born again.
• It’s like having a spring of water inside us, welling up that we can drink from any time we’re thirsty.
• It’s like being a lifetime cripple, unable to get even near a pond of water, and then Jesus speaks a word and you can walk with great physical strength. That’s what that life is like.
• It’s like having bread from Heaven that you can eat any time you’re hungry.
• It’s like having rivers of living water from within you, flowing out.
• It’s like having a brilliant light around you, which alone is a light in the infinite darkness of this world. Jesus is the light of the world.
• It’s like being born blind, never seeing any color, nothing, and then suddenly Jesus spits on the ground, makes mud and washes it off, and then you can see everything. That’s what it’s like.
• It’s like having a good shepherd who will lead you in paths of righteousness and lay down His life for His sheep.
• It’s like having resurrection after death, after you’ve been dead four days. By His word, you come alive again.
• It’s like having the Master wash your filthy, dirty feet and then giving you the power to wash other people’s dirty feet.
• It’s like taking a journey, the destination of which is more glorious than you can imagine, with a sure and certain guide. Jesus is the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Him.
• It’s like being grafted into a living vine and having sap just flowing through you.
• It’s like a woman in labor, in great suffering and afterwards doesn’t even remember because of the joy of what was brought forth.
• It’s like having a great High Priest stand at the right hand of God, praying for you until you are finally in His presence, seeing His glory.
• It’s like having Jesus, the Son of God, dying physically on the cross, His blood shed in your place, so that you can be free from the wrath of God.
• It’s like seeing Jesus and being able to put your fingers in His wounds and knowing He has physically risen from the dead, and because He lives, you’ll live forever.
• And it’s like having Jesus make you a breakfast by the sea, and ministering to your troubled conscience and giving you a work that will take the rest of your life to do.

That’s the summary of John’s Gospel. I know we’re doing Philippians here, but to me, I think this is one of the greatest, clearest descriptions of what it means “to live is Christ.” Go through John’s gospel and you will know what life is. It’s all of those things. That’s what Paul was thinking about when he was saying “for me to live is Christ,” spiritually.

But, thirdly, Christ is also our purpose in life. There’s a reason why we’re left here and we’ve already touched on it, but as soon as Paul trusted in Christ for the forgiveness of his sins, he also yielded to him, submitted, he knelt before him and said, “You are my king. Command me, and I will obey. Whatever you say, I will do.” The rest of his physical life, therefore, was spent to glorify Christ, to glorify him by growing up into perfect Christ-like maturity, to imitate his character and his nature in holiness.

That’s what it means to live is Christ. And I think one of the central lessons of all that is to learn, paradoxically, to live is Christ means to die every day like Christ. To die to yourself, to die to selfishness, to what it is you wanted to do today, to your own purposes in life. Paul says, in Philippians 3:10, “I want to know Christ, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings. Becoming like Him in His death.” I want to learn how to die every day, to die to myself. I’m so selfish. I’ve got an agenda for myself at every moment to learn how to give that up, for the benefit of God’s people and for the glory of God’s name. To learn how to do that, that’s what it means to live is Christ. And it’s ironic that, I think, here in Philippians 1:21-26, Paul is the most like Jesus you’re going to find anywhere. Jesus gave up perfect enjoyment of heavenly comfort and came down to suffer on earth for the benefit of God’s people and the glory of God’s name.

Paul is willing to forego, if it were up to him, and it isn’t, but if it were up to him to forgo heavenly enjoyment for a time, and to go through suffering on earth, even being chained like a prisoner, beatings, scourgings, rejection, whatever, for the benefit of God’s people and for the glory of God’s name. He’s very much like Jesus here, I think. Probably more than you’ll find him anywhere else. And so he says, “I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far, but it’s more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you. For your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you, again, your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.” How selfless is that?  I’m willing to stay here and suffer for you, for your benefit. Oh, I’d love to be like that. Wouldn’t it be sweet to be that other-centered and how much is Jesus working that in our lives? And so therefore, he’s saying, to live is Christ means to think this way, to learn how to suffer and to die. And for nothing? No. Not for nihilistic, atheistic nothingness, not at all, but for fruit. This will mean fruitful labor for me, eternal fruit, good things. People saved, people’s lives transformed. Fruit for Christ. So what do we mean to live is Christ? Well, first of all, it means physically, to know that your body was created by Christ. It’s sustained by Christ for Christ’s purposes, and you will not die a moment before it is Christ’s will for you to die, to live is Christ. To live is Christ also means spiritually, to know that God sees you in Christ, if you’re a Christian. He sees you that way and every good thing you have in your life, all your blessings come because you’re in Christ. And it means that Christ is your purpose in life, that you would grow in Christ’s likeness, to be like him in his life and in his death, and also, to bear fruit for his glory. That’s what it means, in my opinion, “To live is Christ.”

III. To Die Is Gain

What does it mean then, “to die is gain”? It struck me how shocking this really is if you understand it. It’s really quite shocking. If you come at it quickly and lightly, you’re going to miss it. Imagine if it said this, “For me, to live is Christ, and to die is something better than Christ.” That would be blasphemous. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine Paul saying that? For me, to live is Christ, and then finally, I get on to something better. That doesn’t make sense, but he said, “For me, to live is Christ and to die is something better, gain,” right? But it’s got to be Christ-centered gain. You see? Or else, it’d be blasphemous. Paul doesn’t want anything but Christ. If you don’t believe that, read Philippians 3. He wants Christ. He wants Christ all the time. He wants to know him. He wants to be like him. He wants to see him. He wants to be resurrected like him. He wants a body like him. He wants every part of Christ. So, for me, to live is Christ and to die is something different or better? No. Never. And therefore you should not think of death this way.

For me, to live is Christ and to die is the pearly gates. For me, to live is Christ and to die is the streets of gold. For me, to live is Christ and to die is to see all of my loved ones that have gone before. For me, to live is Christ, and to die is to see these spectacular spiritual sites that you can’t even put into words. Oh, no, no. For me, to live is Christ and to die is more Christ. That’s what it means! More Christ! Now, Paul had already had some enticing glimpses, hadn’t he? On the road to Damascus, how would you like to be converted like that? A vision of the partial glory of the resurrected Christ. How do I know it was only partial? Well, flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. Paul would have been incinerated by the full glory of Christ. And so, Christ turned it down to a low level and still it blinded him physically for many days. But he never forgot the spiritual light inside him. He never forgot the vision of Christ. It changed everything and it put in him a yearning to see it again. I want to see it again. And then, God, at some future time gave him another glimpse. He mentions it in 2 Corinthians 12, “I know a man in Christ who, fourteen  years ago, was caught up to the third heaven.” What is that? What does it mean to be caught up to the third heaven? Well, tell us more, Paul.

“Whether it was in the body or out of the body, I do not know but God knows. And I know that this man, whether in the body or apart from the body, I do not know but God knows, was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to talk about.” Now, that must have been something, too. Inexpressible means you can’t put it into words. Not permitted means you’re not allowed to try to put it into words. And so Paul said, “I’m just going to keep that one to myself. I won’t even tell you it’s me who saw it.” I know a man in Christ who went through this. No, it’s him because later he said, “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations.” It was Paul, definitely. But it was just such an incredible experience and he tasted it and he wanted more. He wanted to see him. He wanted to be in his presence. He was so hungry and thirsty for it every day.

And so therefore, Christ’s deepest longing has become Paul’s deepest longing. What is Christ’s deepest longing for you if you’re a Christian? John 17:24, “Father, I want those whom you have given me, to be with me where I am and to see my glory. The glory you’ve given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” What is he asking for you? He said, “I want you to get all the way to the end and be glorified and see me like I really am. I want you to see me 100%. I want you to see my full glory. I want you to be with me forever and I want you to see my glory.” That’s Christ’s deepest desire for you. How long has he been having that desire? The way I read the Bible, since before the foundation of the world, he’s had that desire for you. Only recently were you let in on it, when you were converted. He set his love on you before the foundation of the world and late in time he brought you in on it, when you were converted at your Damascus road experience whenever that was.

Paul was brought in on this eternal love and little by little, Paul’s heart got transformed so that Christ’s greatest desire for Paul became Paul’s greatest desire for Paul and for Christ namely, I want to be with Christ and I want to see his glory. I want to be with him. Everything else doesn’t matter. Philippians 3:8, “I count it rubbish, [all of it rubbish,] that I may gain Christ and be found in him not having a righteousness of my own which comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ. I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection, fellowship with sharing the sufferings.” I want him. And so Christ’s deepest longing for Paul has become Paul’s deepest longing as well. Totally matched.

What do we mean then, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain? Well, I’ve already tipped my hand when I said it means more Christ but I think, well look at it this way, freedom from imperfection, freedom from pollution. Freedom from imperfection, for example, do you realize you’re carrying around with you right now, a sin nature? Say, “Yes, I am well aware of that. I’m well aware of my sin nature. My sin nature and I are well acquainted with one another. And it doesn’t take much for us to get well acquainted again.” Unfortunately, it’s true. Paul put it this way in Romans 7:18-20, “I know that nothing good lives in me. That is in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good but I cannot carry it out, for what I do is not the good I want to do. No, the evil, I do not want to do, this I keep on doing. Now, if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it but it is sin living in me.” Say that with revulsion, “it is sin living in me that does it.” He continues to explain in Romans 7:21-25, “So I find this law at work, when I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law, but I see another law at work in the members of my body waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

That is a victory cry of somebody not yet fully saved. That’s right. I said, not yet fully saved because our salvation isn’t complete until we have our perfect resurrection bodies. And so, when Paul says for me to live is Christ and to die is gain, it means more salvation. Freedom from that wretched internal sin nature. Also, I said it’s freedom from imperfection, our relationship with Christ is imperfect. Now don’t misunderstand me. There’s nothing imperfect in the work of Christ and there is nothing imperfect in justification by faith. No, not at all. God sees you in Christ, holy and blameless, but there’s something imperfect that is incomplete in your relationship with Christ. 1 Corinthians 13:12 says, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully even as I have been fully known.” Now, when he says, “Now, we see in a mirror dimly” he is saying we do see- we are not blind anymore. We do see, but we see poorly. We see just in part, we see in a mirror dimly.

In December 4, 2002, there was a total eclipse viewable in Australia. And the Australian ophthalmological, I have a hard time saying that, you’re going to have to work on me, but eye doctors said, “You should never, never look at the sun directly, you might go blind. So if you want to see the total eclipse, what we recommend is that you make a pinhole in a white card and get against another white surface and let the rays of the sun go through the pinhole and you will see the shape of the eclipse. Now, you are not seeing it directly, you’re seeing it indirectly and you’re seeing it 100% dimmer or more than it was but you will save your eyesight this way.” This is a little bit like 1 Corinthians 13:12. We see kind of indirectly and dimly because we can’t handle the full revelation of Christ but then we shall see face to face. We will lose our imperfect relationship. We have been given the Holy Spirit now, the indwelling Spirit as it says a deposit, a down payment, guaranteeing a full inheritance. That’s the Holy Spirit, 2 Corinthians 4 and Ephesians 1 both teach the same thing.

There is a webpage dedicated to Bill Gates’ net worth. That’s true. It is factually based but the whole thing seems to me to be a spoof. He is presently worth $36 billion. That’s hard to believe, $36 billion. He has three children, one of them is seven, and the others are younger. If he and his wife were to die tragically and if they were to leave their full estate to their children and divide it equally, each one of them would get $12 billion. Now what’s a seven-year-old to do with $12 billion? Probably not spend it well and frankly, I don’t even know how they would spend it. That’s an awful lot of money. And so probably what would happen is it would be put in trust until they reach their majority, until they reach to their full age. And they would be given a monthly stipend to live on and their monthly stipend, how it compares to your monthly income, you can ruminate on, probably greater. But at any rate, certainly enough to live on, absolutely enough to live on, and someday they will come into their full inheritance.

That’s what the Holy Spirit is for you and me. We get that internal spirit crying, Abba Father, bringing relationship with Christ to us all the time, but it is just through a mirror dimly. It is just a down payment. It’s a monthly stipend, the full inheritance waits. For me to live is Christ and to die is to come into my full inheritance. Face to face fellowship with Jesus Christ forever. And on that day, I will be perfect and so will you if you’re a Christian. We’ll be free forever from indwelling sin, our emotions will be perfect, our intellect will be perfect. Our bodies will be perfect, just like his resurrection body, and we will have the infinite gain of full salvation in Jesus Christ. Now physical death’s the only way. The only way is to be separated from your physical body, because flesh and blood cannot inherit all this. And so, we must die, and therefore for me to live is Christ and to die is the way I come into that gain. And so, I embrace it as a doorway into eternal blessedness.

 IV.  Application: What About “For You…”?

Now what application? I guess I just want to ask you a simple question. What about for you? What about for you? Paul said, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” But it’s not necessarily so for you. First of all, if you’re not a Christian, it is not true that to live is Christ, not at all. If you’re not a Christian, you’re living to please your sin nature. You’re in bondage to sin and breaking God’s laws every day and you’re under God’s wrath. And neither would it be true to die is gain. It actually would be infinite loss, for you would lose your soul, and “what would it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose forever his soul?” So, I urge you today to come to Christ. I’m not assuming that every one of the number of people that are listening to me today are born again. And therefore it cannot be true that everyone who is listening to me today can say with Paul, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Don’t walk out of here without salvation through faith in Christ. Trust him now. Trust him in your heart for the forgiveness of your sins.

But if you’re a Christian, it may also be the case that you don’t think of it the way Paul did. Is your attitude the same as Paul’s? Do you think of your life to live is Christ? So that your physical body is his? When George Muller was asked the secret of his service, all the things he did for orphans in England in the 19th Century, he said this, “The secret is this: there was a day when I died, utterly died, to George Muller his opinions, preferences, tastes, and will. I died to the world, its approval or censure, died to the approval or blame even of my brethren and friends. And since then, have studied only to show myself approved unto God.” That’s a mysterious statement to me. What do you mean, “there was a day when I died”? Was it some kind of spiritual experience for him, maybe so, I don’t know. But the way I interpret it is this, you know the day George Muller died to himself is the day he became a Christian. Whether he thinks of it that way or not, that was the day he died. Because it says in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but the life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Do you think of life that way? For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. And what about your attitude toward death? Do you see it as gain? Do you see it as gain for yourself, that you don’t need to fear death anymore. I have seen Christians face death with incredible courage and so be a witness to everyone that observed them. And I’ve also seen Christians face death in a very shameful faithless way that brought dishonor to their claim to be Christians. There’s no guarantee that you’ll do it one way or the other. Do you think like Paul for me to live is Christ and die is gain? Are you preparing for that day, the day of your own death? And furthermore, do you think that way in terms of your Christian relatives who have died, that they have come into infinite gain? And so your grief should be minimized somewhat by realizing that and that God will give you what you need to get through. Apostle Paul said, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

Carolyn and I are reading through a biography of Adoniram Judson, the great missionary to Burma. This was a man that suffered incredibly. He lost two wives in the mission field. He labored for seven years before seeing his first convert to Christ. And by the way, when he came to Burma, there were no Christians. 38 years later at his death, the government registered 210,000 Burmese Christians. Incredible fruit. But he suffered greatly. They thought he was a British spy and so they incarcerated him. He was under the death sentence and thought that he would be executed and he received a stay of execution. He saw something like seven years of labor on a Burmese New Testament, go up in flames when it burned in a fire. This is a man who suffered greatly for Christ and on his deathbed he was asked about his life and his view of death. And he said, “I am not tired or weary of my work and neither am I weary of the world. Yet, when Christ calls me home, I shall go with the gladness of a boy bounding away from school. I’m not weary of the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and a thousand natural shocks, bring them on if Christ might be glorified. But I’ll tell you what? When he calls me, I’m ready to go”

These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.

I.     Paul’s Argument with Himself: To Live or To Die?

A.    Hamlet’s Depression

Act 3, Scene 1: The most famous soliloquy in Shakespeare, Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, ruminates over the question of suicide

To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end

The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, ’tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep;

To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come

Hamlet wrestling with a simple question: should I keep on living or not? What repels him from life? “The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” and “A thousand natural shocks”… the terrible ups and downs of mortal life with all its pain and disappointment and suffering

What repels him from death? “To die, to sleep, perchance to dream… ay there’s the rub, for in that sleep of death what dreams may come?” He is repelled from death by the possibility of judgment day, of wrath and of hell

Either way, he is gloomy, depressed, morose and suicidal… repulsed by life with all its suffering, repulsed by death with all its potential for eternal judgment

In Philippians 1, we find the Apostle Paul doing the exact same ruminating… pondering between life and death, and whether he would like to live or die. But how different is the Apostle Paul’s attitude

NOT repulsed by life with all its suffering, NOT repulsed by death with all its potential for judgment and wrath

NOT AT ALL

His is a joyful choice, between two delightful options

B.    Paul’s Joy

1.    Attracted by life, despite all its suffering

2.    Attracted more by death, because of its eternal reward

vs. 21-26 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.

Life… death…

Vs. 21 “To live is Christ”

Vs. 21 “To die is gain”

Vs. 22 “If I am to go on living in the body…”                     

Vs. 23 “I desire to depart and be with Christ”

Vs. 24 “It is more necessary for you that I remain in the body”

No morbid introspection and dark depression here… I would be delighted to live, and I would be delighted to die

C.    Man Proposes, God Disposes

Vs. 22-23 “Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two”

Vs. 27 “Whatever happens…”

In the end, Paul doesn’t know for sure what will happen… because the day of our death is completely in the hands of a sovereign God

1.    Paul’s rumination is only theoretical

2.    He has no power whatsoever to affect the span of his life one cubit

3.    God has determined that day and that hour according to His own purposes

Ecclesiastes 8:8 No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has power over the day of his death.

4.    YET Paul ruminates anyway, because he wants the Philippians to understand his way of thinking… his JOY in life and his JOY in death

D.    Christianity the Only Truly Healthy View of Life and Death

1.    Islam: grim submission to an absolute tyrant, Allah, who promises you nothing and will deal with you as he sees fit… fatalism is rampant in Islam

2.    Buddhism: mortal life is nothing but suffering, and the only salvation is freedom from the body and freedom from suffering… physical life is meaningless and to be escaped from

3.    Hinduism: endless cycles of reincarnation, trying to achieve ultimate emptiness in Nirvana, becoming like a single drop of water melted into an endless sea

4.    Atheism: Nietzsche declared that “God is dead”… and ended up by taking his own life

Friedrich Nietzsche: “When one does away with oneself one does the most estimable thing possible: one thereby almost deserves to live.”

“The thought of suicide has helped me through many a restless night.”

5.    Hedonistic Materialism: “Let us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” “He who dies with the most toys wins.” No… he who dies with the most toys dies, and after that faces judgment

All of these views have a perverted perspective on both life and death

Only Biblical Christianity can embrace life with overwhelming joy: despite all “The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” and “A thousand natural shocks”.. .

Only Biblical Christianity can embrace death, judgment day, and eternity with joy and expectancy! Here alone is true health in a sad, sick, suicidal world

II.     To Live Is Christ

A.    Christ is our Physical Life

1.    We cannot take a single breath without Christ

Acts 17:28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’

Colossians 1:16-17 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

“To live is Christ” = my physical body is Christ’s for He made it and holds it together

2.    Christ owns our bodies and our days on earth

1 Corinthians 6:13-15 The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

“To live is Christ” = my physical body is Christ’s for He purchased it with His blood and owns it for His service

3.    All of our days are measured out for His glory

Psalm 139:16 All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

a.    not too few days

b.    not too many days

c.    we keep living at His will, for His purposes, for His glory

James 4:15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

Paul was facing his own mortality unafraid, for he knew that he would not die until Christ said so

Illus. John Paton in the tree: “I am immortal until God is finished with me.”

4.    The circumstances of our physical lives are chosen by Christ, and He gives the power needed for each

Philippians 4:12-13 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

In every way, Christ was Paul’s physical life

“To live is Christ” = Christ created my physical body, holds it together moment by moment, gives me every day of physical life, and He bought my physical body with His blood… I live every moment in the body at His command… He chooses my physical circumstances and gives me everything I need for physical life

5.    The moment Paul trusted Christ, his earthly life was forfeited for Christ’s glory:

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

B.    Christ is our Spiritual Life

1.    God sees us “In Christ”

Philippians 1:1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons

Physically, their address is “at Philippi”… spiritually, their address is “in Christ”… that’s where God sees them Same at the end of the epistle

Philippians 4:21 Greet all the saints in Christ Jesus.

·       God chose us “in Christ” before the foundation of the world

·       God will give us every spiritual blessing in Christ

·       In Christ we may approach God with freedom and confidence

·       In Christ we may call God Abba Father

·       In Christ all our sins are forgiven

·       In Christ we are new creations

·       In Christ we are dead to sin and alive to God

Illus. In Christ means for us spiritually what being “in the ark” meant during the flood of Noah… inside the ark meant salvation from drowning physically in the wrath of God, in the floodwaters of the earth; so also being in Christ means salvation from drowning eternally in the wrath of God, in the floodwaters of the lake of fire.

Illus. John’s Gospel has two main purposes in teaching: 1) to teach that eternal life comes through faith that Jesus is God in the flesh; 2) to teach what the nature of that life is

·        Eternal life in Christ is possible only because He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1)

·        Eternal life in Christ is like an abundance of high quality wine at a wedding banquet (John 2)

·       Eternal life in Christ is like being born again (John 3)

·        Eternal life in Christ is like having a personal spring of water inside of you, from which you can drink whenever you thirst (John 4)

·       Eternal life in Christ is like being able to walk when you were paralyzed (John 5)

·       Eternal life in Christ is like eating bread from heaven every time you are hungry (John 6)

·       Eternal life in Christ is like having rivers of living water flowing from inside you (John 7)

·        Eternal life in Christ is like having a constantly brilliant light by which you can walk through this dark world (John 8)

·        Eternal life in Christ is like being born blind, never able to see color, then all of a sudden, your eyes are opened and your soul is ravished by a beauty you could never have described, but now can’t live without (John 9)

·        Eternal life in Christ is like having a good shepherd who will guide you into perfect pasture and who will lay down His life to guarantee your eternal safety (John 10)

·       Eternal life in Christ is resurrection from the grave when there was no other hope (John 11)

·        Eternal life in Christ is being willing to die like a seed, knowing full well that a harvest of blessing will come from our suffering (John 12)

·        Eternal life in Christ is like having our filthy feet washed by a perfectly humble King, then being given the power to wash each other’s dirty feet like He did (John 13)

·        Eternal life in Christ is traveling a journey with Christ to a perfect mansion where we will live with God forever (John 14)

·        Eternal life in Christ is like being a branch on a vine, in which the life-giving and fruit- bearing sap never stops flowing through us (John 15)

·        Eternal life in Christ is like terrible birth pains that give way to a permanent joy that no one will be able to steal from you (John 16)

·        Eternal life in Christ is having a great High Priest who prays for you, and who will make you as perfectly one as the Father and the Son are one (John 17)

·        Eternal life in Christ is having God take on a body, be condemned, spat upon, scorned, rejected, mocked, flogged, and crucified for your sins (John 18-19)

·        Eternal life in Christ is the resurrection from the dead with a perfect body that will never be subject to death again (John 20)

·        Eternal life in Christ is having Christ make breakfast for your hungry body, speak peace to your troubled soul about your sins, and give you a work of eternal significance to do for the rest of your life on earth (John 21)

When Paul says “For me, to live is Christ”, he meant all this and much more

When Paul says “For me, to live is Christ” means that spiritual life comes from Christ and from no other source Paul was dead in transgressions and sins before he met Christ on the Road to Damascus

Paul was dead in pride, dead in selfishness, dead in covetousness, dead in faithlessness, dead in blasphemy, dead in murderous thoughts and hatred… dead even while he lived, following an energetic, ambitious, Jewish career in the Pharisaic path

“To live is Christ” meant that his old life was dead to him forever… he was eternally made alive

“To live is Christ” meant that his true life was hidden forever with Christ in God… kept safe in heaven

C.    Christ is our Purpose in Life

As soon as Paul trusted Christ the Savior for the forgiveness of His sins, He knelt in His heart before Christ the King and said “Command me, my King, and I will obey!”

It meant the rest of his physical life on earth was to be used up and spent for Christ’s purposes

1.    Personal growth in holiness = “Christlikeness”

a.    that Paul would stop living for himself and his own glory

b.    that Paul would stop relying on himself to achieve his purposes

c.    that Paul would imitate Christ in His pattern for life, character, and behavior

“To live is Christ” = Every moment, I want to become like you, my Lord… I want to imitate you in everything; Even more, I want to be WITH you in everything; I want to know you completely

This is especially true in terms of suffering… Lord, teach me how to die… to die to myself every day, and to live only for your will

2.    Personal suffering in His image and pattern

3:10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death

None of us knows how to die… Paul wanted daily lessons from the master, Jesus Christ… to be conformed to his death

Amazingly, in his attitude in these verses, the Apostle Paul is the MOST like Christ Willing to forgo his personal enjoyment of heaven for the benefits of God’s people

Vs. 23-26 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.

This is Paul just like Jesus… who departed the throne of glory to come suffer the cross for us

3.    Personal fruitfulness by His power for His glory

a.    Paul’s continued life in Christ is for a purpose

b.    God wastes nothing!! Christ wastes nothing

c.    every painful event of Paul’s life was measured out to accomplish God’s end… FRUIT

vs. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me.

Fruit: progress of the gospel (vs. 12… by being poured out for the gospel; 2:17) Fruit: progress of the Philippians in the gospel (vs. 26)

Ultimate purpose: THAT CHRIST BE EXALTED

Vs. 20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

God is willing to keep Paul suffering in chains if it would bring the most glory to His beloved Son, Jesus Christ

Even more, Paul is willing and delighted to do that… if His suffering and living would exalt Christ more, let it come

If His departure from earth would bring Christ more glory, let it be… nothing else means anything Summary: To live is Christ means Christ gave me my physical life to begin with, sustains it every moment, controls its every circumstance… Christ is also my spiritual life, and God sees me only in Christ; therefore Christ is my purpose in life: to grow in holiness in the pattern of Christ, to learn how to suffer and die in the pattern of Christ, and to exist for the fruit of the glory of Christ

III.     To Die Is Gain

A.    Shocking Statement

1.    “To live is Christ” … Christ is the pinnacle, what could be “gain” compared to that

2.    If the sentence read “For me to live is Christ, and to die is a vacation home in the mountains” it would be blasphemous… or “For me to live is Christ and to die is a paradise filled with all kinds of sensual pleasures”

3.    The only way this thought honors God is that the “gain” is absolutely God-centered

For me, to live is Christ, and to die is MORE CHRIST

That is the greatest desire of Paul’s heart… to get the treasure hidden in the field, the pearl of great price… the reward can be nothing less that Christ Himself, in a far greater and better way

B.    Paul’s Enticing Glimpses

1.    On the Road to Damascus

Acts 26:13 About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions.

2.    Caught up to third heaven

2 Corinthians 12:2-4 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know– God knows. 3 And I know that this man– whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows– 4 was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.

Paul had had a taste of the supernatural glory, and he wanted it forever

C.    Christ’s Deepest Longing Has Become Paul’s Deepest Longing

1.    Christ’s Deepest Longing for Paul

John 17:24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

Christ wanted to give Paul that inheritance so much He died to make it happen!!

2.    Paul’s Deepest Longing

Philippians 3:8-11 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ– the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Christ’s longing for Paul began before the foundation of the world

Paul’s deepest longing was set the moment he trusted Christ on the Road to Damascus

D.    What Gain? Freedom from Imperfection

1.    Present state:

a.    imperfect personally through constant abiding sin

Romans 7:18-25 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do– this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am!
Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God– through Jesus Christ our Lord!

b.    imperfect in our relationship with Christ

1  Corinthians 13:12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.

“Now we see” = we have some knowledge of Christ, we are no longer blind… BUT

“we see in a mirror dimly” = not the direct glory of God, but dim reflections of it in His creation and in the prophetic word

Illus. On December 4, 2002, there was a total eclipse viewable in Australia… the Australian Society of Ophthalmologists made it very clear that there was no safe way to view the eclipse directly without risking blindness… they advocated the “Pinhole Method”:

This is the simplest and safest way to view the Sun. Take a piece of card and use a pin to pierce a small hole. Facing away from the Sun hold the card up so that light passes through the hole on to a wall or other flat surface. An image of the Sun should be visible. You can use this method to see the changing shape of a partial solar eclipse.

Although this method is the safest, it does have the disadvantage of producing a faint, small image. The size of the image is roughly equal to the distance between the pinhole and the image, divided by 100. The farther the distance between the pinhole and image, the fainter the image will be.

So is also the image we have of Christ in physical revelation and in the Scriptures… it is merely “seeing through a glass darkly”… but someday, we will see “face to face”

Also: downpayment versus full inheritance:

2  Corinthians 5:4-6 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.

Illus.: Monthly stipend from Bill Gates’s fortune… Gates has three children and his present net worth is approximately 35 billion dollars… if he and his wife were to die and he were to leave all his money evenly divided among his three children (ages 1 to 7 years), they would each get about $12 billion. Usually these estates are held in trust until they come to adulthood and into their inheritance… and they are usually given a monthly stipend to live off… the Holy Spirit is our monthly stipend of experience of Christ until we come into our full inheritance… the stipend itself proves we are heirs of a much larger fortune

2.    Future gain

a.    personal perfection

Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

Hebrews 12:22-24 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

This is part of the “gain” that death will bring… perfection in mind, emotions, spirit… eventually perfection in body as well:

Philippians 3:20-21 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

b.    perfect fellowship with God

1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.

1 John 3:2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

Revelation 21:1-4 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

E.    Physical Death the Only Way

1 Corinthians 15:50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

1.    Only by leaving behind the mortal bodies can we survive seeing Christ in all His glory

2.    Our mortal bodies would be incinerated by Christ’s full glory… the corruption in us would cry out against us and we would perish

3.    For Paul, death has become the great doorway into eternal joy and perfect glory

For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

IV.     Application: What About “For You…”?

FOR ME, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

A.    Do You Have Paul’s Attitude Toward Life?

1.    Do you acknowledge that your physical life is Christ’s to do with as He pleases?

George Mueller: To one who asked him the secret of his service he said:

“There was a day when I died, utterly died;” died to George Mueller, his opinions, preferences, tastes and will– died to the world, its approval or censure– died to the approval or blame even of my brethren and friends– and since then I have studied only to show myself ‘approved unto God.'”

What day was that? Galatians 2:20 tells us it happened once for all time when he trusted Christ:

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

But from then on, it was up to George Mueller to keep “considering himself dead” to selfish interests… it happened once for all at conversion, but it was made effective daily be reckoning on Mueller’s part:

Romans 6:11-12 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.

2.    Do you understand that your spiritual life is Christ, in Christ, only in Christ, all of Christ?

3.    Do you embrace your calling to live a life worthy of the gospel while you are still on earth? To grow into Christlike character and holiness

To learn how to die like Christ did… to lay yourself down for Christ’s glory

To be fruitful for Christ’s reputation… to lead lost people to Christ, to spend yourself on behalf of the poor and needy, to be fervent in prayer, to be willing to suffer that Christ’s Kingdom will advance both inside you and around the world?

B.    Do You Have Paul’s Attitude Toward Death?

1.    I have seen some Christians face death with dignity, courage, and peaceful expectancy

2.    I have seen other Christians face death with fear, undue terror, and dishonoring faithlessness

PREPARE TODAY to embrace your own death with joy as Paul did

3.    I have seen some Christians live life timidly because they loved their lives on earth too much and feared death too much

4.    I have seen some Christians so cherish Christ and His promises that they lived every moment ready to die if He called them home…

Adoniram Judson, missionary to Burma: originally sailed with his wife to India, but was rejected by the government there; suffered greatly from the deaths of his first two wives, a son and a daughter; waited six years for his first convert, saw years of labor go up in smoke when his translation of the Bible into Burmese was destroyed in a fire before it was finished; arrested as a British spy, was in prison for twenty-one months and sentenced to be executed, but his life was spared. When he arrived in Burma in 1813, there was not a single Christian in the whole land; when he died 38 years later, the government listed over 210,000 Christians!!

“I am not tired of my work, neither am I tired of the world; yet when Christ calls me home, I shall go with the gladness of a boy bounding away from school.”