To Live is Christ, and to Die is Gain | Philippians 1:21-26

It's indeed a wonderful thing to be together, to pray together, to sing together and to be around the Word of God together,

especially after the week that some of you have had, some of you we know about and some have kept that to yourselves and that's okay.

But there is no better place to be than to be together worshipping our living God and reflecting on the, as our dear brother said before,

Eric, praying and thinking about reflecting on the love letter that God has written to his people.

And so let's ask for the Lord to help us open this passage this morning.

Father, we do ask and we thank you that this is indeed a love letter to your people and that you would please help us this morning

to have ears to hear, hearts to receive and hands to do the work that you were calling us to.

We ask that by the work of your spirit, you would change us and take us from strength to strength, faith to faith,

for the sake of Christ and the glory and praise of God.

In Jesus name we pray, amen.

Renowned poet Willie Podomo, when asked by PBS America about the lost art of handwritten letters,

he responded, texting and emailing have revolutionised the way we communicate, enabling us to be more efficient and stay in touch more easily.

But they've also altered the dynamics of some of our most important relationships.

These days, humans are growing lonelier by the gigabyte.

Social apps connect us before we actually meet.

Bullies thrive anonymously.

Google completes our sentences.

Willie then reflected, I used to be a passionate letter writer.

I wrote my letters by hand so my friends were able to see my redactions and second thoughts.

They were privy to my flaws, celebrations and conflicts.

That's because letters are where I argue, say goodbye, dream, fail, forgive and tell my inner secrets.

Willie then goes on to say, we can't filter our lives or curate our social feeds in handwritten letters.

No, handwritten letters are where we attempt to tell the truth and wait.

I absolutely love what Willie is saying here because it gives us such a wonderful insight into the intimacy and vulnerability

that one can have while personally penning something to a friend.

Now, I'm pointing all of this out to you because the part of the Bible that we are looking at this morning is just that.

It's a personal handwritten letter from a friend to his friends being the church at Philippi.

And what's more, the particular section that we have before us is a section of the letter where Paul was really wrestling with something going on in his mind,

a conflict, if you will, that he wanted his dear friends to know all about.

But why, we might ask, why would the one who had met the risen Christ, who travelled Europe on mission,

who founded their very church, want his friends to know about the conflict going on in his mind?

Well, might I say it was because Paul was doing all of this for a purpose.

And that purpose was for their and by implication, our encouragement.

But before we see why Paul wanted to bring them into this inner conflict that was happening in himself,

first, we might have a bit of a look at the context.

You see, when Paul penned this letter to the Philippians, he was actually in house arrest in Rome, waiting for his day in court.

Now, the charges that were put against him seem to have held such weight that the death penalty could have been sentenced.

Now, as we saw last week, all of this has been told to his friends at Philippi.

And they knew that their mate had been arrested, shipwrecked, shackled and was now awaiting trial.

And so, as we saw, he wrote to them to assure them that not only was he OK, but in no way was the gospel shackled or shipwrecked.

No, just the opposite.

As Paul's arrest and he tells them in the letter that it had actually landed him in one of the best positions he could have hoped for.

And that was because he was in direct contact with the palace guards who had a bit to do with the most influential people in Roman society.

So Paul was in no way distraught or dejected.

No, just the opposite.

He was in awe of the position he found himself in, even pointing out that others had become more confident in the Lord because of his chains.

And they were sharing the gospel all the more because they knew that God works all things out for the good of those that love him.

And all of that is good and well.

And we saw that last week and we noted it.

But that didn't change the fact that Paul was still in prison under Roman guard and most likely facing capital punishment.

But as Paul pointed out, he wasn't too worried about any of that because no matter what happened to him,

he couldn't be shamed because his hope wasn't in his circumstances, but it was squarely in Christ.

That's what he ended with last week in verses 19 and 20.

Paul was saying that no matter what happened to him, that if he remained alive and was acquitted or met death at the hands of an executioner,

no matter what happened, he wouldn't be ashamed because Christ was his hope, is his hope.

And whether alive or dead, if Christ is exalted in the situation, he could never be ashamed.

Now, as we saw, Paul wasn't writing that for the benefit of himself, but doing a couple of things for his friends here,

the church, who were also facing such persecution.

On the one hand, he wanted them to know the ministry of the cross of Christ had killed his fear.

Yet on the other hand, he wanted them to know that they had access to the same grace as they were all together,

partakers in the same good news of Jesus Christ in which he found his hope.

However, this morning we're going to look at a part of this letter that is one of his most dramatic statements.

In fact, it's one of his most dramatic statements to come from any of his prison letters to the church.

And we find it in verse 21.

If you have your Bible's look with me, Paul writes, for to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Now, I want to explain to you why I call it one of the most dramatic statements,

because it captures so much Pauline theology.

It's like a one sentence thesis, if you will.

And I want to show you this by having a look at this to live is Christ and to die is gain sentence in two bits.

So we're going to break it down into two bits.

So first, what does he mean to live is Christ?

What does he mean by that?

Well, to understand what Paul is saying here and the punch that it packs,

we actually need to have a think about what else he has said to the European churches about his life

and how Jesus Christ presently affects it.

You see, Paul hasn't made this statement in a vacuum,

but very much on the back of his doctrine of Christ or Christology, as the scholars would put it.

For him, Jesus is absolutely everything.

In fact, later on in this letter, after Paul talks about his past as a great theologian

and scholar in the Jewish religion, he says, I once thought these things were valuable,

but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.

Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord.

For his sake, I've discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage so that I could gain Christ.

Philippians 3, 7 through to 8, which we'll look at in the coming weeks.

In a nutshell, Paul is essentially saying everything is rubbish compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ.

Why?

Well, it's because of what Jesus has done, Paul says.

And what was that?

Well, look at what else Paul has said about the work of Jesus, particularly to the Christians in Galatia.

Paul writes, my old self has been crucified with Christ.

It's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 2, 20, we've heard it this morning already.

Paul is saying that Jesus loved him so much that he gave himself for him,

which is all language around Christ's earthly sacrifice on behalf of his people,

where Jesus took the place of his people on the cross and was punished for their sin.

In a very real way, Jesus tasted the capital punishment of not just the state,

but of God's wrath on sin on behalf of Paul.

So in light of that, in light of that incredible and awesome work,

Paul's words make that much more sense when he says to the Christians in Colossi,

to those who have put their trust in Jesus saying, for you died to this life,

and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.

And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you'll share in his glory.

Colossians 3.

It's amazing what Paul is saying here. Absolutely incredible.

What is he saying?

Well, essentially that Jesus has done a great work on behalf of his people.

And that work was that he stood in their place and was punished for their sin.

And in the mystery of the great exchange, as Martin Luther puts it,

because of the love of God, we somehow were crucified with Christ and died to this life.

And now because of the grace of God and the work of Jesus on behalf of his people,

Jesus, by his spirit, lives in us.

And so in a very real way, Paul says to live is Christ.

He's saying that because his life is hidden in Christ.

And he's going to live out his life on this earth in the way that God intended him to live it,

namely for the glory and praise of God in all he is and does.

In other words, Paul has resolved to live out in this world the new life that Christ has given him.

And he has resolved himself to that life because he is consumed with his Savior.

Everything in his life is bound up with Christ.

And the passion of his whole being is to know and glorify Christ in all that he does.

Think about it like this.

What Paul is essentially saying is to live for self,

to live for the things of this world like he once used to.

Well, that ain't living.

No, Paul says to live is Christ.

To truly be alive is to live for Christ in this world.

And that's what he has resolved himself to do.

Brothers and sisters, as we've been saying through this series, through the weeks,

as we've been in this wonderful letter,

Paul didn't have some special grace that isn't available to the rest of us.

Not at all, as he started his whole letter by saying to his friends at Philippi

and by implication to any Christian that we are all partakers in the same good news of Jesus Christ.

And so in a very real way, Paul is saying what it means to be a Christian.

Let me say it like this.

If you have seen your sin for what it is and put your trust in Christ with all that you are,

then your life, like Paul's, has very much been hidden in Christ,

which means you very much stand before God fully justified by his grace alone.

You are, as the Bible puts it, saved.

This is what it means to be a Christian.

It means that you are one who has wholeheartedly put your trust in Christ

because the Spirit of Christ is changing you wholeheartedly.

And because your heart is being changed by the work of the Spirit,

it means that the things of this world will grow strangely dim.

And living for Christ will more and more become our priority as we're pilgrims on this earth,

sojourners, as Hebrews puts it.

That's why Paul could say to live is Christ,

because Christ living in him had transformed him.

Everything else to him had become secondary.

And he had found real life in knowing, loving, serving, glorifying, enjoying, and communing with Jesus Christ.

For Paul, that was real life.

And God had given him that real life in Christ.

To put it plainly, Paul's entire life was Christ living in him.

And when Paul laid hold of the truth of the gospel, laid hold of the person of Christ,

he forsook living for anything else.

That is what the Spirit of Christ had done in him.

That's why he could say nothing else compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ.

Is that the same single focus of our life?

Can we say this morning for us to really live, to really be alive,

to live is to live for Christ.

Have you found Christ to be everything in your life?

Can you say that to live is Christ?

Well, as we see this morning, genuine and authentic Christianity means for Christ to live in us

and for us to live for him in this world.

That's first.

For Paul, for any Christian, to live is Christ.

But then Paul adds, secondly, to die is gain.

Now church, on the back of what we've just seen in the first part of this sentence that we have before us in verse 21,

the second part falls in quite naturally.

You see, in light of everything that Jesus has done on behalf of his people,

how he took our place, how he took our debt,

how we now stand at this very moment fully justified before the God of the universe

with only heaven before us and hell behind us,

how can we not say with Paul that to die is a far greater gain than living here on this earth?

Now before any one of you answers that question,

we want to understand what Paul is getting at here.

Because he in no way has a death wish, nor was he hoping to die,

though in saying that, he has a great hope in death that he is now wrestling with.

Let me explain it.

You see, Paul using the word gain,

he was saying that he was going to receive a great profit through death.

And that was because he now saw death as ushering him into something greater than anything that this world had to offer.

Because of Christ, death had only become a servant of transport, if you will.

The grave would only graduate him into glory.

That was Paul's great hope.

Because of Jesus, because of the gospel, because of this hope in Christ and his work,

death would only ever serve to transport him into the immediate presence of Jesus.

And so for Paul, when he says to die is gain,

well it's because he sees death as a sort of servant, ushering him in before the throne of Jesus.

So in no way was death a tragedy for Paul or something to be feared in any which way.

Very much a triumph.

Brothers and sisters, this is incredible what we're hearing, incredibly liberating,

that the best day of our life will actually be the last one.

That's because for the Christian, the grave isn't sovereign, but only a servant that brings us to our Lord and Master.

That is the confidence of every man, woman and child who has put their faith in Christ.

That to die is to only gain something greater.

And that greater thing is to stand before Christ and behold him as he is.

To be in the glory of our Saviour.

To be in heaven with the angels.

To be with Jesus himself for all eternity.

That is all that death is to the Christian.

It's all it is.

That's all it will ever be to the Christian.

Something that will usher us into the presence and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

To die is gain, says Paul.

All of this is good and true and amazing and such an encouragement to any Christian reading through this letter.

But this leads Paul into a struggle that he's now going to talk to us about in verse 22.

He starts by saying, if I go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labour for me.

In other words, Paul is saying that death will bring an incredible gain because he gets to be with Jesus.

So in no way is he afraid of death, no far from it, he longs to be with Jesus.

It's a problem.

On the one hand to die is gain, to get the presence of Christ to be in heaven.

Yet on the other hand, to continue to live here will mean that there will be fruitful labour in telling people about Jesus,

seeing them converted, helping believers be built up in their faith,

serving the church and encouraging all those he comes across with the good news of Jesus Christ.

So he states the problem for us in black and white.

Verse 22.

I don't know what to choose.

I don't know.

In other words, he's saying he's stuck between two things.

And both of those things are such wonderfully good options.

And so he's kind of saying to his friends here at Philippi, I'm not sure what to pray for.

In fact, I'm not sure to tell you what to pray for because at the end of the day, if the Romans sentence me to death,

well, they're actually doing me a favour.

However, if I do find myself being freed, I'll get to do some real meaningful work here.

It's here in verse 23 that Paul really brings us into the wrestle that's happening in himself.

The real wrestle, verse 23.

I'm torn between the two.

I desire to depart to be with Christ, which is better by far.

But it's more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

Amazing.

I mean, if you've read any prison letters on death row,

the amount of those letters that have been written through the centuries to judges trying to justify one's actions

so that pardon might actually become a reality seems to be the drive of most prisoners.

Not for Paul.

Not for Paul. He's actually saying that a verdict that would spare his life would kind of be like a minor inconvenience.

He'd be disappointed because he's so excited about seeing Jesus face to face.

It's right there in verse 23.

I'm struggling, my friends, because I desire to depart to be with Christ, which is better by far.

It's more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

I like what Paul's doing here.

It is such a personal letter.

He's really letting us into his thinking.

And he's breaking down the problem into two things that he's torn between.

Two ways to live kind of thing.

To depart is better for him, but to stay is better for them.

Now, remember, Paul is bringing us into this inner monologue of conflict because he wants us to be encouraged.

And so let me say, as soon as he says that, as soon as he writes down,

to depart is better for me, but to stay is better for you,

we kind of get the answer to where he's going to land, right?

I mean, once he said something is better for others,

well, we know how Paul is going to resolve this whole thing.

And sure enough, in verse 25, he gives us the answer,

which is essentially, if it's better for you, then I know how we should be praying, dear ones.

Might I just say, Church, as a side note here,

Paul is giving us an awesome masterclass in the application of living his life out in this world as Christ would have him.

Reflecting our Lord in this situation, in all that he is, think about this.

Think about the gospel.

Was it better for Jesus to stay in glory in heaven with all the angels worshipping him, crying out,

Holy, Holy, Holy, or for him to come to earth, to take flesh and to be crucified to a cross, naked,

whipped, humiliated, rejected of his own people, then buried in the tomb of a practical stranger?

Was that better for Jesus?

Absolutely not.

But it was a great need because the sin of God's people could be paid for in no other way.

And so in his love and grace, Jesus came and in his love and grace, the Father sent.

And so our apostle is living out what the spirit of Christ had done in him,

that transforming power in that it is better to serve than be served.

In other words, Paul's application is drawn directly from the life of Christ,

from the love and grace of the one who put our needs before his own.

And so with Paul's confidence in Christ and his trust in God's providence in this whole situation,

Paul spells out his conclusion for us in verse 25.

Convinced of this, I know that I'll remain and I'll continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith.

It's amazing what Paul is saying here because he was so convinced and persuaded that it was more necessary for him to stay.

It was better for his friends to stay and to serve them, that God would indeed keep him around for a little while longer.

In other words, he knew that there was still needs in the church.

And so he was convinced that he would remain on earth in order to serve those needs with the gift and gifts that God had given him.

So he greatly desired to be with the Lord face to face.

He's let us know that.

But he knew that his ministry and even his life had been crucified.

His life, his ministry, his gifts, they were no longer his.

They belonged to somebody else.

And the age of self-serving had passed away.

If there was a need and Paul could help, he knew what he was to do.

He knew how to pray.

He knew how to get the churches praying for him.

And that was to pray to reflect his Lord and Savior in all that he was doing.

And so he was convinced that he would remain for the time being to serve his friends in their progress and join the faith.

So church, might I say that Paul can only say any of this because of the hope that he had in the gospel.

I mean, none of this would make sense if he didn't truly believe in himself that Christ had paid it all, that he had taken the whole debt.

And so might I ask you a question this morning.

Do you believe the same thing that our apostle says that he believes, that to live is Christ, to die is gain?

Well, this morning, if you would say yes, then let this be a great reminder to all of us, every single one of us in this room this morning.

Because of Jesus, everything has been turned upside down in our lives.

Death, which was once the great instrument of fear, has now become the great servant that will usher us into the eternal awesome presence of our Savior.

And the grave, which was once our pit of despair, has now become but a door that we pass through into the arms of our loving Savior.

It's like Paul said elsewhere, death is swallowed up in victory.

Death, where's your victory? Death, where's your sting?

The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Brothers and sisters, if you have put your trust in Christ, death is but a blink.

But what is gained is eternal.

Our lives have been hidden in Christ.

And while he has us on this earth, it is our great privilege to live for him in all we do.

All that to say our apostle was convinced of it, it changed the way that he looked at life as he faced the prospect of capital punishment.

He could sit there under house arrest in those circumstances and say, I've got two options before me.

They're both pretty good.

I know what I'd like, but I know what you need.

So I'm convinced of the way that things are going to work out here.

So I'm going to see you pretty soon.

And so like Willie Podomo helpfully made us aware of with the intimate letter writing comments that he made,

such thoughts and wrestles can come from the pen and be put on paper to our friends.

That's what our apostle is doing here through the inspiration and the work of the Holy Spirit.

He's letting us in, pulling back the curtain, if you will, and sharing his struggle with the church.

Yet, as I said, it was all for a reason.

And that reason was for our great encouragement.

Remember the context here.

They're worried about their mate in prison.

And so he wrote to comfort them and give them joy.

He tells them that he knows he's going to see them again, and he reiterates it in verse 26, saying,

I'll see you again, brothers and sisters, so that through my being with you again,

your boasting in Christ will abound on account of me.

Paul knows beyond a shadow of a doubt, it's good for him to remain because in remaining,

he can serve his dear friends and help them trust in Christ all the more.

And part of that, for this moment at least, will be them seeing him released from the most

extraordinary circumstances so that he can come to them and be with them again.

So as we end our time this morning in this incredibly personal part of Paul's letter to his dear friends,

I want to ask of you this morning just two questions.

Two questions.

The first is this.

Are you ready to die?

Are you ready to die?

The apostle Paul was prepared for such a departure as he sat in prison.

Can you say the same of your life, that you're ready to stand before the Lord?

Well, let me say to you this morning, there is only one way to be prepared for that future.

And that future will touch every single one of us in this room.

The only way to be prepared for it is to be found in Christ.

What if some tragedy took you over today?

Could you say that you were ready to meet your maker face to face?

Well, if you have never done so, you are not hearing this by accident this morning.

I plead with you in the name of Jesus to turn to the Lord, to confess your sins, to commit your life to him.

You are surrounded by a multitude of people that can help you and pray with you.

Second question is this.

If you have already surrendered your life to Christ, if you would say that you have put your trust in him,

then as we have heard this morning, there is only good news that ever awaits you on the other side of the grave.

But as we all know, we're not there yet.

And so we have the great privilege to no longer live for ourselves in this world, but to live wholeheartedly for Christ.

And as we've seen this morning, only by living for him, who is the object of our faith, the source of our life,

will we be ever able to say that to live is Christ.

Church, as I have reflected on this passage this week,

I must say there are areas of my life that still need work on for the Lord to really come into.

And the question that I have for you is this.

When you hit the prayer closet this week, when you come before the Lord in that secret place,

as the things of your heart are revealed to you,

would you endeavor to talk to the Lord about kicking those so-called doors down?

We have them. Would you confess them?

Would you ask the Lord to help you to give things over to him?

Church, I want to challenge you on this. I have been challenged myself.

Take with you Philippians 1.21 with you into prayer this week.

And ask the Lord to help you to believe and live like the one who wrote it.

And ask for the Spirit of Christ in you who's doing the work to change you so that you might live in the reality of all that the Lord Jesus has for his people.

For the sake of the praise and glory of our God that we do so.

Would you pray with me?

Father, again, we thank you for this prayer, this love letter that you have written to your people.

Father, you know the hearts and minds of every single one of us in this room.

You know the things that we are hiding. You know the things, the deep recesses of our hearts.

Father, I ask that you would please draw your people by your kindness and mercy.

Father, that you would, by your grace, show us that we can live in freedom because of the Spirit of Christ working in us.

Father, we thank you that death is gain for all those who have put their trust in you.

This is indeed wonderful news.

And we ask the Lord that we would praise and worship you all the more for it.

In Jesus' name, Amen.