Well, good morning. I want to begin with a story.
It was January of 1988, and me and some of my freshman friends, we were still called freshmen back then,
first-year students were on a mid-year break, cross-country skiing in Vermont.
And we stood at the top of a hill.
And if you have ever been cross-country skiing, you will know that this is not a happy place to be
at the top of a hill, because it's hard to go downhill.
I had grown up cross-country skiing, so it wasn't as scary for me.
But for my friends, they looked down this 100-yard hill.
It was not a massive hill.
This 100-yard slope, and thought, we're going to die.
And in my youthful exuberance and great spiritual immaturity, I said, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
You know, when you're 18, it's really easy to say things like that flippantly, isn't it?
Now, past 50, it's a lot more weighty to say something like that, isn't it?
The fear of death is something I've come to see as a very real power in our world and in our life.
So I was studying about this this week.
I actually came across a book, The Worm at the Core, on the role of death in life.
And in this book, three researchers, psychologists and sociologists,
studied the effect of death and the fear of death on people's lives.
Synopsis of this book described it this way.
The fear of death and the desire to transcend it inspire us to buy expensive cars,
crave fame, put our health at risk, and disguise our animal nature.
The fear of death can also prompt judges to dole out harsher punishments,
make children react negatively to people different from themselves,
and inflame intolerance and violence.
It's a fascinating story.
If you want to go, you can search them up on NPR.
I can give you the link later.
It's fascinating what they found as they tried to study how,
when people expressed a fear of death,
how it actually affected the way that they lived.
It prompted reckless living, harshness towards others,
prejudice, selfish ambition, as well as fear, isolation, and a desire for control.
Death casts its shadow over all of life.
It is the one certainty no one is exempt from.
Maybe you've felt this recently in your own life.
Maybe you are mourning the loss of a loved one who's died.
And maybe the fear of your own death,
or of someone you love,
has had a pull on your heart.
Maybe you have, or as I remember in the early days of the pandemic,
where I found it hard not to walk around viewing my neighbors as these clouds of death.
Do you remember that at the beginning of the pandemic,
when we viewed everyone around us as having this 10-foot radius of, like, deadly germs?
And you're really annoyed at the person who went the wrong way in the grocery store aisle
when the arrows pointed the other way.
I viewed them as things I needed to avoid,
because I wanted to avoid death at all costs.
And maybe some of you have studied so much to think,
this pandemic is nothing.
I have to cross a street.
I have to get into a car.
I have to eat food.
There are so many things that could kill me every day.
Fear of death is reasonable.
Good heavens.
So wherever you're at in this spectrum,
the reality of death and the fear of death is, I believe,
something that's common to us all.
How do you think it shapes you?
As we look at our passage this morning in the book of Philippians,
we're going to look at how the Apostle Paul thinks about this.
We're going to think about how he viewed life and death
through the lens of the gospel and how he lived it out.
So if you want to turn with me in the book of Philippians,
we're in Philippians chapter 1.
We're going to be looking at verses 18 through 26.
Philippians 1, verse 18 through 26.
We're going to read it, and then we're going to look at it together.
So we'll start.
If you're in the ESV, it has the break.
We're just going to read the last sentence of verse 18.
Paul writes this.
Yes, and I will rejoice.
For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
this will turn out for my deliverance,
as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not at all be ashamed,
but that with full courage, now as always,
Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
If I'm to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me.
Yet which shall I choose?
I cannot tell.
I am hard-pressed between the two.
My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.
And convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all
for your progress and joy in the faith,
so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus
because of my coming to you again.
Let's pray.
Ask for God's help as we look into His Word together.
Lord, we do ask you this morning that you would be with us as we look into your Word.
Lord, help us to receive the truth of this Word.
We pray that your Spirit would apply it to our hearts and to our minds and to our wills.
Lord, we pray that you would give us alertness this morning,
and I pray that you would give me clarity of speech,
that I might speak the words that you would have me speak.
Lord, so that we might together sit under your Word this morning.
We pray these things in Jesus' name.
Amen.
So remember the context of Philippians.
Paul is in prison.
He has been in prison for his preaching of the Gospel.
He is awaiting a trial,
and he knows that the outcome might be his execution.
And he is in reflecting on these things,
that he shares how the Gospel is shaping his view of life and death.
And there are two things that as he thinks about himself as a Gospel citizen,
living out his calling in this world,
he says two things in this passage.
Gospel citizens are not afraid to die,
and Gospel citizens have lots to live for.
So let's look at these things in this order.
Gospel citizens are not afraid to die is the first point.
You see this hanging off of verse 21,
which is kind of the center of this.
For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain,
and we're going to take those in reverse order.
So Paul says, I am not afraid to die.
When you start off in verses 18 and 19,
Paul's in prison.
He's facing maybe a death sentence.
And how does he start?
I will rejoice, for I am confident.
I have eager expectation and hope.
His attitude is not one of dread in his circumstances,
but one of confidence.
What is his confidence in?
It's in God.
It's that God is sovereign in the circumstance,
and that God, his life is in God's hands.
And so he starts with this perspective of confidence in God.
How does he have that confidence?
Well, because as verse 21 says,
even death, which feels to most of us like the worst thing that could happen,
even death would be gain.
He says, I know I'm going to this trial,
and it could go either way.
But you know what?
How bad could it be?
If I die, what happens?
If I die, I gain something.
I get to go and be with Christ.
Paul's entire perspective is shaped by the truth of the gospel
that many of us here this morning know and profess to believe,
that Jesus Christ came to rescue us from sin and death and judgment.
Jesus Christ came in through his life,
and particularly in his death for us,
he died a death for us,
so that we might not die,
but live when we have faith in him.
This is the passage we read earlier in John 11.
And Jesus comes to Martha and says,
why are you weeping for your brother?
Because I am here.
I am the resurrection and the life.
And if you believe in me,
even though you die,
you will yet live.
You will have this eternal life.
For the hope of what God has done for us in Christ
is that because of what Jesus has done,
when we are connected to him by faith,
we have both forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life.
So that even if we die,
we will not die.
But we will be living with God forever.
This is the great hope of the Christian gospel.
And Paul applies it to his circumstance,
and he says,
what's the worst thing that can happen to me?
It's gain.
Because I'll go and be with Jesus.
He does not only say that it's gain,
but he says it's actually better.
Look with me at verse 23.
22 through 24 is fascinating
because Paul lets us in on the internal ruminations.
Like, what do you think, guys?
Should I go or should I stay?
If I go, do you know what I get?
I get something better than anything I could get on this earth.
I get to be with Jesus.
This is his greatest treasure.
And the word depart here is this really cool word.
It's used in some context to talk about a ship
that's leaving its moorings and heading out into open water.
Think about a ship that's tied up to a dock.
It's got anchors in the water
and ropes that are connecting it to the dock
so that it doesn't run away.
But when it departs,
it loses all of those things
and it picks up the sail
and the wind fills the sails
as it heads out to the open water.
And Paul says,
that's what I'm doing.
My life is going to be like heading out
into the open water
of eternal life
in the presence of Jesus.
And that's all I want.
That's the best thing
that could ever happen to me.
So he says,
no more anchors,
no more ropes,
no more chains,
but to worship him.
Now there's an important theological point here
that I want to spend just a minute on
because Paul has an immediate hope.
He says,
if I die,
I will be in the presence.
I will be with Christ.
Theologians have wrestled with the timeline
of what happens when we die
and what it really looks like.
The question of the intermediate state
between now
when we are physically living
and the eternal state
when we will live forever
in some context,
in some shape related to God or not,
under his judgment
or in his presence.
There's this intermediary step
that the Bible seems to picture.
And Paul gives us a pretty strong clue here
about what that looks like.
We may make mistakes.
We might think that
that in-between time
might be just a soul sleep
where we're unconscious.
But Paul says,
no,
I'm going to go and be with Jesus.
There's some of us
who might think
that in this in-between time
that there might be opportunity
for ongoing spiritual progress.
I'm becoming more sanctified
or I'm getting rid of,
I'm purging my life
of the rest of my sin.
This is part of the idea
of what purgatory is.
But again,
Paul says,
no,
this is not
what it looks like.
And finally,
some might think,
and this might be
the greatest temptation
for some of us,
is to think that actually
this is what the final state
looks like.
That when we die,
we go and be with God
in some spiritual form.
And that's all there is.
But instead,
the hope of the gospel
is that one day
there will be a resurrection
and our souls will be reunited
with a resurrected body.
And that the picture
at the end of history,
the end of redemption,
is that we will live
in a physical world
with God
that He has made new
and is without sin.
And what a glorious place
that will be.
So for Paul,
this is a great hope.
The great hope
that if I die right now,
I am going to be with Jesus
and my soul
will have fellowship
with Him.
Now,
this is not for Paul
a death wish.
He does not have
a morbid fascination
with the afterlife,
nor is he an escapist
that simply says,
this suffering is too great.
I just wish it would end.
He's not denying
that death is an enemy
and a great trial.
He talks about,
in chapter 2,
verse 27,
we'll see this
as it relates
to his co-worker Epaphras,
that if he had died,
it would have brought sorrow
upon sorrow for him.
So he's not saying
death is nothing,
but he is saying
that death instead
for a believer
will be a gateway.
It is not lost,
but it is gain.
And when God
brings it to our lives,
it will be better
than here.
So one commentator says,
when the Christian dies,
all the uncertainties
and dangers of life
are behind,
and all the certainties
and safeties
lie ahead
in the presence
of Jesus Christ.
to die is gain.
Can you say that
for yourself?
I remember wrestling
with this question
as my first wife
battled cancer.
We wrestled with
these thoughts together
because we wanted
her to stay.
We had hopes,
we had dreams,
we had kids,
but we also knew
that her life
was in God's hands.
As we went ahead,
we took every day
to worship God
and to serve,
and I saw her
increasingly say,
for me to live
is Christ.
As long as I get
to stay,
that will be
a glorious thing,
but to die
is gain,
and I will go
and be with Jesus.
Jesus.
Maybe this
is a pertinent word
for us today
as we think about
navigating the pandemic
in our world today.
It's very easy
for the fear of death
to have taken
a great root
in our hearts.
Now,
there is place
for reasonable precautions,
and there's place
for discussion
about what reasonable
precautions are.
But for a Christian,
we must not navigate
those discussions
out of fear of dying.
Have we allowed fear
to take up residence
in our heart?
Has it shaped
our response
to this pandemic
in unhealthy ways?
Mask or no mask?
Vaccine or no vaccine?
No vaccine?
Is fear controlling you?
Paul would say,
for a believer,
we must allow
the hope of the gospel
and the truth
that to die
is gain
to uproot
that fear
in our hearts.
Now,
here's a hard truth.
If you have not
trusted in Christ
this morning
for your salvation,
then your fear
of death
is real.
You fear death
because your soul
knows that you
are not right
with God.
Every human heart
knows it.
It is why
as humanity
we fear death
so much
and why it controls
us so much.
But Jesus
invites you
into the world
that Paul displays,
the world
of the gospel
where death
is not
the last word,
but death
is a gateway
to glory.
where death
is an enemy
but it is
a defeated one
and where
there is a hope
and a promise
of eternal life
with our creator
and our God
and our redeemer
and our savior.
Jesus invites you.
He has risen
from the dead,
trampling over death
by his death.
Because of his death
and resurrection,
death has lost
its sting
and he invites you
today.
Come believe
in this gospel
and be free
of death
and be free
of the fear
of death.
Paul doesn't just say
to die is gain.
He also says
for me to live
is Christ.
There are lots
of reasons
to live
for Paul
and by that
he means
staying here
on earth
in the flesh.
one of the
really interesting
things about
this passage
is he thinks
about his future
is that it seems
pretty sure
that Paul's confident
that God's going
to release him.
Verse 20,
verse 26
and you can look
at chapter 2,
verse 27.
Paul is expecting
to see the Philippians
again.
He is saying
I expect to see you.
Now he says this
under God's sovereignty
because he's already said
I don't know
what the outcome's
going to be
but he says
I actually have
this great hope
and expectation
that this is going
to happen
but my desire
is not simply
that I would escape
from prison.
My desire
is that this would
turn out
for my deliverance
and that word
could have a lot
of different
it might refer
to his salvation
like whatever happens
this is going to turn
out for my eternal salvation
because I know
the gospel
but it also could mean
vindication
that what's going
to happen
the outcome
of this trial
is going to vindicate
the hope
of the gospel
and if I die
people will see me
dying for Christ
and they will know him
more because of it
but if I live
it will be so that
I can go and continue
my gospel ministry
that I will continue
to honor Christ
by letting other people know.
This is what verse 22 says
look at it with me
verse 22
if I'm to live in the flesh
that means fruitful labor
for me.
Paul's life has been
all about ministry
we saw that last week
in verses 12 through 18
Paul wanted everyone
to know Christ
he didn't even care
if other people
were doing it
for bad motives
and ways that were
trying to hurt Paul
he said if Christ
is being known
that's my greatest desire
in this life
and so for Paul
that's his whole
his whole focus
as long as I am here
may more and more people
come to know
the Jesus
that I know
and the hope
of the gospel
that I have believed
in and proclaimed
that Christ
would be glorified
in others.
See for Paul
as he says
to live is Christ
he's not talking
about being freed
so that he can retire
you know
put his feet up
at the baths
in Ephesus
and you know
drink juleps
he's gonna
he's gonna continue
in this hard work
of ministry
and it's not
so that he can
thumb his nose
at the rival
at his rivals
and say
see
God loves me
more than he loves you
Paul isn't concerned
about those things
at all
Paul's greatest hope
is that the Philippians
would be growing
in faith
this is what it says
in verse 25
look with me
it says
convinced of this
I know that I will remain
and continue
for your
with you all
for your progress
and joy
in the faith
so that in me
you may have
ample cause
to glory
in Christ Jesus
Paul says
oh Lord
if you let me stay
and set me free
may it be
so that other people
will give praise
to you
for the fruit
of the gospel
in my life
and in the lives
of those around me
you know
I've had the privilege
over the years
of meeting
lots of people
who've served
Christ
in some of these ways
one person
who I think of
in particular
John Hinkson
is a member
of our
of our congregation
and his
mother and father
grew up as missionaries
in Eastern Europe
they went into
Eastern Europe
before the wall fell
John tells great stories
of that
but his mother
who is
I don't know
how old she is
she's got to be
close to 90
but
and she is still going
she is a picture
of Paul
for me to live
is Christ
and she has
a condo
in California
and she has
an apartment
in London
and she has
an apartment
in Russia
where they serve
for many many years
and everywhere
she goes
she's finding people
to open the word
of God with
to let Christ
be known
to encourage them
in their faith
the believers
in Russia
that she has
invested in
have become leaders
in the church
in those places
and when she comes
she's a great
encouragement
and I think
of what Paul
says here
and I see
her life
as an example
of someone
who has said
to live is Christ
and to die is gain
and that lived out
this life of ministry
to other people
her perseverance
is an example
to many
because of her faith
in Jesus
and friends
we need to recognize
that it is not
without cost
because to live
as Christ
means walking
the path
that Jesus walked
and Jesus path
was not one
from greater
and greater
victory and glory
it was one
of suffering
it was one
that walked
to the cross
in humble service
with the desire
only to please
the Father
and to bless
the world
another commentator
Gordon Fee
says this
too often
for us
it is
for me
to live
is Christ
plus work
and leisure
and accumulating
wealth
and relationships
and if the truth
were known
all too often
the plus factor
has become
our primary passion
for me to live
is my work
etc
both our progress
and our joy
regarding the gospel
are altogether
contingent
on whether or not
Christ
is our primary
singular passion
this is an
infinitely greater
option
than the great
than the self
gratification
which dominates
our culture
how do you
finish that sentence
for me to live
is my job
my studies
my family
my success
my reputation
my earthly
comfort
for Paul
to live
is Christ
this is the
greater option
that is before
us
and as we're
encouraged
by fee
is Christ
our primary
and our singular
passion
do we long
above all things
to know him
more
do we long
above all things
to make him
known
with the people
around us
are we pursuing
this as a church
in our fellowship
with one another
connecting with
one another
and spurring
one another
on in our
faith
are we thinking
about how
in our family
lives
that our
primary goal
is that we
would know
Christ
more and
more
as husbands
and wives
as parents
as children
as roommates
are we thinking
about how we
can make Christ
known to the
people in our
world
the people
that we
rub shoulders
with
the people
that we
study
with
the people
that we
work
with
the people
that we
play with
it all
flows from
beholding Christ
as Paul did
as we continue
on in the book
of Philippians
Paul will lift
up Christ
in chapter 2
as the one
who left
the comforts
of heaven
to be our
savior
to lay down
his life
for us
humbling
himself
even to death
on a cross
and now
he is raised
to this place
of highest
exaltation
would we
not consider
him
this is the
one for
in chapter 3
Paul says
I count all
things as
loss
for the sake
of knowing
Christ
and being
found in
him
when we
see Christ
this way
then we
can say
to live
is Christ
to die
his gain
so we
can sing
what we
just sang
a few
minutes ago
with every
breath I
long to
follow Jesus
for he
has said
that he
will bring
me home
and day
by day
I know
he will
renew me
until I
stand with
joy
before the
throne
to this
I hold
my hope
is only
Jesus
all the
glory
evermore
to him
and when
the race
is complete
still my
lips shall
repeat
yet not
I
but through
Christ
in me
friends
when we
have this
when we
see Christ
like this
the fear
of death
fades into
the background
we live
with an
assurance
of hope
that death
is not
our end
and with
a clear
eyed vision
that as long
as we are
here
we have
Christ
to follow
and to serve
and to glorify
so that others
may know
him as we
have come
to know
him
let's pray
together
oh lord
who is
sufficient
for these
things
oh lord
have mercy
on us
who are so
easily
distracted
whose love
so often
grows cold
towards you
how often
we esteem
many other
things
as greater
than you
oh lord
work in our
hearts
uproot
in us
a fear
of death
so that we
might live
for you
for as long
as you give
us life
and so that
we might
die with
hope and
eager expectation
of glory
with you
we pray
this in
Jesus name
amen
for you
see you