What Brings You Joy (Part II)

I want you to keep the words, the message of that song in your mind

because part of this message will touch on that.

Thinking about, as Christians, heaven in a positive way, being a home.

Over the past several months, several of our church members have died.

In fact, let's just say beginning about Thanksgiving until right now.

To the best of my memory, we've had more church family members to die

than in any period like this, this two or three month period in the last 25 years.

Two of the most common words that describe what family members are going through

right after the death of a loved one are sadness and grief.

It's just part of being a human being, isn't it?

It's sad when your loved one dies.

There's a certain amount of grief in just about every death.

However, in each of the services that I've been a part of, the funeral services that is,

I've also seen Christians rejoicing,

seen real joy in the family members of the person who died.

Now, don't misunderstand.

Funerals are not happy places,

but I think it's great when a funeral service has laughter.

I think it sort of eases some of the tension.

It helps you to relax.

There's some things in a funeral about the person who's died

or a family member that you point out that's funny,

and it's like everybody wants to laugh.

They laugh harder during those times because it's like a stress relief.

But funerals are not funny places.

They're not happy places.

But when Christians attend the funeral of a Christian loved one,

there are at least two reasons to rejoice.

Number one, that parent or grandparent, spouse or friend who was a Christian,

you know that at that moment they're in heaven.

Whenever they close their eyes in death to this world,

they open them immediately in the presence of Jesus.

And that's reason to rejoice, for that person at least.

But there's another reason to rejoice.

If you're a Christian, they are, you know that one day,

you're going to see them again.

And in case like my parents whose bodies and minds were worn out,

when I see them again,

they'll be in the best shape I've ever seen.

No more than they've ever known.

That's the reason to rejoice, isn't it?

The idea of rejoicing at a funeral,

it really helps us to understand that there's a difference between

the word happiness, like we use it,

and Christian joy.

I've pointed it out the last two weeks.

Happiness is an emotion of delight.

It's really dependent on what's happening around about us,

if life's going our way or not.

But Christian joy is more of an attitude,

more of even a character quality.

It's part of the fruit of the Spirit.

The Spirit of the Lord, the Holy Spirit lives within us

and enables us to experience this kind of joy

that is not dependent on our circumstances.

It's a joy that has a lot in common with peace within our soul

that we experience when we know we're not just right with God,

but that we're close to Him.

Now, that explains how Paul could make joy one of the themes of his letter to the Philippian Christians.

Even as he wrote from the hardship of being in prison,

awaiting on a trial that could end in his death.

I want you to turn, if you would, back one more time to Philippians 1, verses 18-26.

Philippians 1:18–26

Philippians 1, verses 12-18, he talks about some reasons why he rejoiced.

Philippians 1:12–18

The gospel was being preached,

some of them sometimes not by good motives,

but nonetheless, people were hearing about the Lord,

lives were being changed, he was happy.

And he rejoiced.

He was both happy and he rejoiced.

Well, now we're looking at some other reasons why he rejoices.

We're looking in the middle of verse 18.

If you've got a Bible translation that is in paragraphs,

most likely the new paragraph begins in the middle of verse 18.

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 be at all 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 am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me,

yet which I shall 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.

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.

I want us to look at three reasons why Paul had joy even as a prisoner.

Let's think about it by asking ourselves three questions.

Number one, do thoughts that God will always take care of you bring you joy?

We looked at that the last two weeks.

The idea, no matter what, God is going to take care of me.

My hand's in His life.

Does that bring you joy?

Well, it should.

Verses 18 through 20.

We're not going to look at it anymore.

We've done enough.

Let's move on.

Number two, do thoughts of your relationship with Jesus Christ both now and in heaven bring you joy?

Look at verse 21.

He says, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.

We're going to spend most of our time right there on that one verse today.

So what I want to do is just sort of say, pause.

Let's come back to it.

Look at verse 3 for just a moment.

Or look at number 3, verses 22 through 26.

Do thoughts of serving other people, even putting other people ahead of yourself,

does that bring you joy?

Paul wants his friends in this church that he's writing to to know that he's having a hard time deciding

what would be the best outcome of his trial before the emperor.

Look at it again.

Verses 22 and 23.

Yet which I shall choose, I cannot tell.

I am hard pressed between the two.

Now I want you to think about what he's saying.

Paul is saying, I can't figure out what would be best for me to live or die.

As if he had that power to make the decision.

He does it.

He's a prisoner.

The emperor will decide.

I think what Paul is talking about is, he doesn't know how to pray.

He doesn't know whether to pray that he'll live or for God to just go ahead and let him die.

But one of two things is going to happen.

He's either going to be sentenced to death or he's going to be set free.

Here's what I want you to know.

Surprisingly, unbelievably, he speaks of both in positive terms.

If he's sentenced to death, it's going to result in him immediately going into the presence of the Lord.

And that is his desired outcome.

Look at it.

Verse 23.

My desire is to depart and be with Christ.

That is far better.

Real clear.

If he gets his druthers, that's what he wants to happen.

If he's set free though, there's going to be a good outcome.

It will result in his continuing in what he calls fruitful ministry.

And it will benefit his friends there and Phil that he's writing to.

Look at this.

Verse 22.

If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me.

Verse 24.

But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.

I think the way to take this is Paul is struggling over how to pray.

What should I ask God to do in terms of the outcome of this trial?

It's sort of like as he's writing this, he is intentionally thinking out loud.

He wants those people to understand what's going through his mind, the process he's going through.

He's asking.

On one hand, should I ask God for what I really want to do, which is to die now and immediately be with the Lord?

Now, you might think, is he just crazy to actually pray to die right now?

And to die right now for him, keep this in mind, it would be by execution.

Which most likely would be to be beheaded.

Lord, should I pray that I'll just go ahead and die now and go be with the Lord?

And that is, look at it.

That'd be far better, he said.

Here's why he said that.

If you've read Paul's letters in the New Testament, read about his life and ministry in the book of Acts,

he lived an unbelievably hard life.

I mean, he writes about some of the things he went through.

He was beaten, flogged on numerous times.

He was stoned in the midst of a mob riot and one time left for dead.

Drug out of the city and left for dead.

He talks about being cold.

He talks about being in prison multiple times.

He lived a hard life.

And so, as he thought about the way life had been as a Christian for him,

it's probably not going to change.

He thought to himself, I'm tired of getting beat up, being mistreated, being cold and hungry at times.

I'd welcome death.

I'd be through with all this junk.

I'd be in heaven.

I'd be with the Lord.

Life would be better than it's ever been.

Some of us in this room, we've had family members

who have felt that way, maybe talked that way, prayed that way

because of maybe a terminal illness they had,

they were suffering or some other type of tragedy they were going through.

They were not thinking about suicide.

Don't let that thought enter your mind.

Suicide is wrong.

It's sinful always under every circumstance.

It can never be justified.

But we're talking about someone whose life is miserable.

Let me give you an example.

I've talked about an old uncle I had.

Ninety-something years old.

Highly committed Christian.

Lived a very, very active life all many, many years into his 80s.

Well, in his 90s, his health was broken.

He's 90-something years old.

He's living alone.

His wife has died.

He's homebound.

He can't go anywhere.

He can't do anything.

He prayed on a regular basis.

Uncle Dolan prayed on a regular basis.

Lord, take me home like Richard was singing.

Take me home.

Take me out of this world.

Bring me into your presence.

Bring me there where my Christian loved ones are.

And you know, I thought that was a great way to pray.

You may have now or may have someday family members or friends who talk like that or pray like that,

tell you they're praying like that.

Never tell them that's wrong or not good or don't do that.

Pray with them.

That's what they want.

Why would we as Christians who live a miserable existence now not want to pray and ask God to take me out of it?

Why would heaven not be again like he talks about?

And we'll look at it just a little bit later.

That's not a crazy prayer for Paul or anyone else.

But he's also thinking, should I ask God to set me free so that I continue on preaching the gospel,

helping Christians to grow, straightening out trouble in some of these churches

where a lot of Paul's letters were written just to straighten out problems in the church.

Paul knew there's more people to reach.

Paul, in his letter to the Romans, said he wanted to go to Spain.

He wanted to go to what would be called today a frontier mission place,

to reach an unreached people group.

He wanted to go and take the gospel as far west in the Roman Empire he was aware of, basically.

Start new churches there.

He wanted to, as he's saying here, he wanted to help them.

He wanted to straighten out some things, some of the churches.

When you analyze it, Paul's dilemma was a struggle over seeking what would be best for me

or what would be best for other people.

And as we might expect, he chose what was best for others.

Look again in verse 24.

Paul found greater joy, we're saying here,

in staying in this world in spite of the hardships,

to be a blessing to other people, to be a benefit for other people.

We need to put the interests of other people ahead of our own more than we normally do.

And for some people, some people never do.

It may be you, it may be somebody you know real well,

just basically lives a very selfish and self-centered life.

That can't be how we live and be faithful to the Lord.

We need to learn to put the interests of others ahead of our own.

Now Paul is actually going to command us to do this later on in chapter 2, verses 3 and 4.

So we're going to look at that in greater detail when we get to that in two or three weeks.

Let's go back now to point 2.

Do thoughts of your relationship with Jesus Christ right now in this world,

your relationship to Him by faith,

does that bring you joy?

And the thought of one day being with Him in heaven,

seeing Him face to face,

does that bring you joy?

Just think about it in order.

First, do you find joy in your current relationship with the Lord?

Paul expressed his joy like this.

We're in verse 21 and we'll be for the rest of the time.

For me to live is Christ.

He is really saying by that that Jesus is the center of His life.

Jesus is the center and everything in His life revolves around the Lord.

He is focused on knowing, loving, serving His Lord Jesus.

So he wraps, sort of summarizes, you might say.

For me to live is Christ.

Life for Him is all about bringing glory to the Lord,

pleasing Jesus.

Now you know what's going to be next.

Can you say for me to live is Christ?

Let's back up a moment.

I want to make a statement and you fill in the blank.

I want you to think honestly,

the way you are, just you.

Think to yourself,

for me to live is blank.

How would you honestly fill in that blank?

For me to live is what?

Would you say for me to live is family?

For me to live is work?

For me to live is sports?

For me to live is what?

You know what's near and dear to you.

Now don't misunderstand.

All these kinds of things have a place in our lives.

Family and work and making a living and playing sports.

There's just a lot of things that go with living life in this world that's good.

That's helpful.

That's fun.

And none of these things are unimportant.

But Jesus Christ deserves to be at the center of our lives.

And it makes sense.

Think about it.

He is the Son of God.

He left the glory of heaven to come into this world for one purpose.

To die on a cross.

As our substitute.

To pay the penalty for our sins.

He came into this world to die on a cross in your place.

In my place.

It's like He took our sins upon Himself.

He suffered hell.

Separation from God.

That's why He cried out,

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

He died for us.

He arose victoriously from the grave.

He ascended back into heaven.

He's at the right hand of the Father now.

The Bible says,

Praying for us.

One day He'll come back into this world.

He'll make everything right.

He deserves to be the Lord.

The focus.

The center of our lives, doesn't He?

You know, I think all of us

could profit

from making it our consistent prayer

and a real heartfelt desire

to live each day consciously.

More focused on Jesus.

Seeking to know Him better.

To love Him more.

To find ways to serve Him faithfully.

And through His Spirit that indwells us

to cooperate with Him

and develop more Christ-like character.

Things like the fruit of the Spirit.

Love and joy and peace.

Patience.

Kindness.

Goodness.

Faithfulness.

Gentleness.

Self-control.

These kind of things.

You know, when Jesus is at the center

of our lives like this,

He will enable us

to be better at everything

we need to be doing.

He will enable us to be better

in all of our relationships.

I'm a better husband.

I'm a better grandfather.

I'm a better pastor.

I'm a better everything.

But I'm really focused in

on seeking to serve the Lord

in these ways.

Seeking to honor Jesus

for the way that I treat people,

the way that I do my job.

All of us are that way.

You're a better student,

better at whatever you do at work,

wherever you are at home,

wherever you are at church.

We're all better

when Jesus is at the center of it.

We're doing it as if we're doing it for Him.

We're wanting to honor Him.

Now,

we can have a relationship with Jesus

in this world now

that brings glory to Him

and really does give us

satisfying joy.

And that's what we should be experiencing.

That's why the Lord gave us the Scripture,

gave us the privilege to pray,

to develop this kind of relationship with Him.

Excuse me.

Let's think now about our future relationship.

Do you find joy in thinking about

your future relationship with Jesus in heaven?

Paul expresses that like this,

and to die is gain.

And this is,

as I mentioned a minute ago,

it's just amazing

that Paul could say,

and to die is gain,

knowing that the way he's going to die

in this situation would be executed.

Paul's thoughts

couldn't have been

on the process of death,

how it was going to happen.

Paul's thought had to be

on the person,

the Lord,

that he was going to be with.

It's going to have to be on the,

his thoughts are going to be on the,

the better life that was in store for him

on the other side of death.

But in both life and death,

he's focused on,

on Jesus,

his Lord,

center of his life.

Life in this world meant

that he would live for Jesus.

Death would take him out of this world

where he would live with Jesus.

Let's just think.

Can you honestly say right now,

to die is gain.

And the truth is,

most of us in this room,

just about all of us,

if not every one of us,

we're not really excited

about the thought of dying today.

I mean, I'm not.

I don't want to die today.

I don't think anybody here,

under normal circumstances,

I mean, look,

you're healthy enough to be here.

You got out,

there's snow on the ground.

You got to be in pretty good health,

mentally and physically to come.

So,

it wouldn't be normal

if you sit there and think,

oh, I wish I'd die.

Death is gain.

It's just normal and natural to think,

I'm going to live,

like Paul,

I want to live now and be productive.

I want to be fruitful now.

It's okay.

We should want to live in this world

as long as we can be productive.

It's not wrong.

Paul is not all about dying

and we shouldn't be as Christians.

But the fact is,

none of us are going to live in this world forever.

Unless Jesus comes first,

you're going to die.

I am going to die.

And there's not one thing in the world

that can be done about it.

I don't know if you ever think about this.

Everybody in here,

we're all aging.

Some of us have gotten along further down the road,

but every one of us in here,

we're aging.

You ever stop and think about

how life has passed by so quickly?

That song that Richard sang,

it was,

obviously,

I can't even remember now.

B.J. Thomas,

he came out with that song

or

he made it popular for him

when I was in seminary.

I can remember him

singing it on the radio.

And in my mind,

it just seems like it wasn't any time

that I heard B.J. Thomas

singing that song on the radio.

But it's been

40 years.

40 years.

And some people laugh,

it's older than me now.

But let's just think.

Think about how fast

our lives go by.

I don't want this to be morbid,

but a lot of us in here,

you know,

we're in that fourth quarter.

So death is a reality.

We should not try

to ignore it

because we cannot escape it.

So we need to be prepared

for death.

Let me just say this,

if you're not a Christian,

the only way

and the first way,

the most important way

you can prepare

is to put your trust in Jesus

as your Lord and Savior.

Repent of your sins.

Commit your life to Him.

The only way

to have a relationship

with Jesus in heaven

is to begin it now

on earth.

But as Christians,

one of the best ways

we can prepare for death

is to think

what we will gain.

Now on one hand,

as I said earlier,

death relieves us

from all pain and sorrow

in this world.

But even if you,

if you're a Christian

and you're relatively young,

you in the prime of life

have even reached

the prime of life yet.

You'd say,

life is good for me.

Well, if you're a Christian

and you die today,

life is still,

or death is still

going to be gain for you.

Death is always,

for a Christian,

going to be better

than what life is

here on earth,

even when life

is at its best.

Death is going to

usher us

to the presence

of Jesus

where there will

only be joy

and happiness.

Only be that.

That'll be our life

from then on

forever and ever.

So,

let's think.

I need to have

in my mind

for me to live

is Christ,

but to die

is gain.

Don't fear death.

Don't think

this is something

that should never

be talked about.

In fact,

if you're a Christian,

don't just dwell on it,

but let your family

members know

my faith and trust

is in Jesus

and whenever I die,

don't you worry

about me.

I'm going to be

in heaven

and life's going

to be better

than it's ever been.

And if you have

any doubts

about their salvation,

say,

and I hope

to see you there,

but I only will

if Jesus is the

Lord of your life.

We need to think

to die is gain.

Now,

I want to make sure

that we don't miss

a vitally important

point

that Paul is making

with this whole statement.

To me to live

is Christ

and to die

is gain.

The only way

death is going

to be a gain

for anybody

is if

it is centered

now

in Jesus.

I read an article

the past week

or two,

some of you

probably read it

as well,

on ESPN.

there was a

pro football player

talking about

how hard

it was

for a lot

of NFL

players

to retire.

He was talking

about just

the changes

they went through.

It was just

a traumatic

experience

for them to retire.

And he said,

and I quote,

he said,

for many of those men,

life is

football.

football.

And when there

is no more

football,

they have a very

difficult time

living life.

what we need

to think is

when our life

comes to an end,

if it's true

that our life

has just been

about sports

or work

or money

or popularity

or anything

like that,

dying

will only

bring us

loss.

It will not

bring us

gain.

if sports

is your God

or if you

are your God

or if another

person is your God

or something

is your God,

when you die,

you're going

to lose it all.

You're going

to have

nothing

but torment

in hell

if Christ

is not

your life.

so the only

way for death

to be

a gain

is to have

our faith

and trust

in Jesus

and Him

be the true

Lord

and focus

of our lives.

Now let's be

real honest.

For most of us,

there are

many days

when we

cannot say

for me

to live

for me

to live

as Christ.

Let's be all

honest.

I'll be

at the top

of the list.

There's a lot

of days

where I cannot

honestly say

for me

to live

as Christ

because He's

not really

the center

of my life.

You'll have

to admit

that too.

We all

have our

struggles.

Some of us

more than

others.

So what we

need to do

right now

is just

if we

can't say

right now

for me

to live

as Christ

Jesus

is not

the center

admit it

to God.

Confess

it

as sin.

In fact,

confess

as sin

whatever

or whoever

you have

allowed to

be the

center of

your life

instead of

Jesus.

Repent

of it.

Change

your mind.

Change

the way

you're

living.

Ask

God

to help

you.

Then

make a

commitment

that with

God's

help

you're

going to

seek

to live

each

day

with

Jesus

as

the

center

of

your

life.

In

other

words,

He's

going to

be your

focus.

You're

going to

seek

to know

Him

better.

Spend

time in

the Word,

in prayer,

talking to

Him.

Love

Him

more.

Be

more

faithful

in

serving

Him.

In

fact,

do what

you do

for other

people as

God,

start now.

We need

to do

this.

Start now

asking God

to give

you the

desire and

the ability

to live

this way

every day,

to make

it our

prayer in

the morning,

at lunchtime,

in the

afternoon.

You know,

when we fail

to live

this way,

and we

all will

at times,

just confess

your sin

again.

Some of

you right

now,

you may

be very

serious

about what

we're

talking

about,

and you

may confess

that you

have allowed

somebody or

something to

be the center

of your life,

and you're

repenting of

that.

You're making

Jesus,

making a new

commitment to

Him as the

Lord of

your life.

You want to

love Him

more.

You want to

serve Him

more faithfully.

But Wednesday,

you may have

a breakdown.

You may just

want to be

selfish.

selfish.

You just

may want to

serve something

more than

Jesus.

When you

realize that,

confess it

then.

Repent of

it then.

Come back

to the

Lord then.

That's how

we all live

a Christian

life.

Christian

life is a

lifestyle of

ongoing

repentance and

faith.

It's like

Chuck Swindoll

says, we

take three

steps forward

and two

steps back a

lot of times.

by God's

grace when we

do that, we

still make some

progress.

We never make

just perfectly

consistent progress.

We're all to

some degree.

Three steps

forward, one

step back, five

steps forward,

three steps back,

something like

that.

What would it

take this

morning to

have the

testimony of

Paul to

me to live

as Christ and

to die as

gain?

if you

know there's

some sin to

confess, do

it now, this

moment.

If there are

some things that

need to change

in your life,

some priorities

that need to

change, make

the commitment.

Plan now how

you're going to

bring about those

changes.

What's going to

change?

What are you

going to do

to change?

Do you need

to get more

serious about

just your

relationship with

Jesus?

you need to

really start

consciously thinking

more about

pleasing Him

instead of

yourself or

anyone else.

Ask God,

and I do

this sometimes,

and he do

this all the

time, but

ask God to

give you a

greater desire

to know and

love and

serve Him

and be like

Jesus.

I want us to

close by praying

and asking God

to help us

to develop

and enjoy

a close

relationship with

Him and our

Lord now

and then be

able to look

forward to

the closest

relationship with

Him in heaven.

Let's pray

together.

Dear God,

as we look at

Paul's statement

about his own

life, for me to

live is Christ,

to die is

gain.

We know that

we can't say

that as often

as we should.

Lord, create

within us a

true heartfelt

desire to be

able to say

that.

Help us to

confess the

sin, make the

commitment,

rearrange priorities,

whatever it

takes to make

sure that Jesus

is the focus

of our life,

the center.

And as we

walk with

Jesus in

this world,

we seek to

be the best

that we can

be in our

homes, at

work, at

school, and

everywhere else.

So just show

us to God how

we should respond

so that this

can be our

testimony.

That's just an

attitude of

prayer.

Respond to the

Lord as we all

need to.

see fit to at

this time as

we close out

our service.

Just bow and

pray.