To Live Is Christ

Uh my name is Russ.

If I haven't met you, it is awesome to have you with us this morning as uh as I fight through uh this this obstacle.

Um you know you just can't get new things and nobody I mean this uh uh all right listen we're gonna we're gonna dive into scripture this morning in the part two of our series called Philippians.

My name's Russ.

If I haven't met you before, I'm one of the pastors here.

Um and and I'm known as as little Russ, and that is Big Russ, and um this obvious now why we we've come up with that.

Um but let's listen, I want you to I want you to play an imaginary game with me, and I want you to um I want you to think about what your best life would look like?

What your best life would look like.

What is it?

Like what when you wake up in the morning, what's the first thing you think about?

And when you go to to bed at night, right before you doze off, what is it that you're thinking about?

I mean, what is it?

What is your best life?

Is your best life, is it, is it with your toes in the sand and and just just enjoying sunsets at the beach?

Is that your is that your best life?

Or maybe for for others, it's it's enjoying a cup of coffee, um, looking out over uh um a beautiful scenery in the in the mountains.

Uh what is your best life?

What is it?

What is it that you dream about?

Is it is it is your best life just sitting around counting all the money that you've made?

Is your best life um uh traveling and and looking for the next place to go that you can visit, that you can take pictures of and post on Instagram so people can go, oh, I wish I was there with them.

And what is what is it?

What is your best life?

Maybe maybe your your your best life would be to spend every day on the golf course, or maybe your best life would spend every day on a boat out bass fishing, or maybe your best life is would be to spend every morning in a in a in a tree stand waiting for Bambi to come by.

And and and and so you can you can take your shot.

What what is your best life?

What is it that you think about when you wake up?

What is it when that you think about when you go to bed?

Maybe you've got a hobby, maybe you've got something um that you love so much, maybe it's it's your kids and making sure that that they have the kind of experiences that we think that all of our kids should have.

And and and and so what is it?

What is it?

Is it is it a hobby?

Is it something you love?

And uh that that maybe maybe it's some kind of um thing that you you love to do in your free time.

What is it?

For example, for me, I I'm this is my confession.

For years, for the early part of the years of my ministry, my best life was about how I could do ministry.

And when I say that, I'm not bragging about that, I'm confessing a sin.

Because ministry, pastoring, church planning, growing a church, it can be something that can consume me.

Not in a good way.

Because I should not be consumed by any of these things.

We should not be consumed about any of these things.

There's really only one thing that we should be consumed with, and that's Jesus Christ.

That is who we should be consumed with.

And so our best life should start with the idea that it is Jesus.

It's not, it's not a hobby that seems harmless.

It's it's sometimes it's a job that becomes our identity.

How can I be more successful?

It's love for money.

How can I make more?

It's approval of others.

What will make me look better than everybody else?

For some of us, it's comfort.

I want to make sure that my life is as comfortable as possible.

What is gonna make me happy?

What's gonna make me happy?

And regardless of what it is, it's easy for us to allow things to consume every part of us where all of our thoughts and our energy and all of our resources are focused on one thing.

When we begin to view life through that one lens and we filter everything through that one very thing.

And it's the first thing that we think about when we wake up, and it's the last thing that we think about when we lay our head down at night.

And this morning, our big idea isn't so much a point as it is a question, and it's a question that has a blank in it.

It's this idea, and I'm gonna give you a statement, and it's got a blank in it, and I'm gonna leave it blank, and then we're gonna come back at the end, and hopefully, through the power of the Holy Spirit, God will move us closer to what I believe the apostle Paul is trying to teach us in this passage in Philippians.

And this is the statement.

For me to live is and you fill in the blank.

For me to live is you fill in the blank.

For me to live is to be at the beach, for me to live is retirement, for me to live is to be comfortable, for me to live, you can fill it in.

What is it that consumes you?

What is your identity?

What do you prioritize with your resource?

What's the first thing that you think about when you when you wake up and the and the last thing you think about when you lay your head down at night?

What's the filter that you run things through and the lens through which you view life?

The apostle Paul addressed this for Paul, he and I and I hope for each of us, he was absolutely confident and absolutely sure about his answer.

And let me tell you that we're gonna look at this passage in Philippians, but let me give you the central verse and the central idea and the main focus that Paul is driving at as he shares about his personal experiences and what he wants you to know about him, and I believe what he wants you to understand personally along with him.

For me, Paul says in verse Philippians, in chapter one, verse 21 of Philippians, he says, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.

He says, let's say that together.

Can you repeat that verse with me?

One, two, three.

For me to live is Christ and to die is gained.

For Paul, life is Christ.

Life is Christ.

His life in the present and in the future is defined by the life of Jesus.

He was consumed by the love of Christ.

His identity was the identity he had been given in Christ.

He prioritized this relationship with the Father and the mission that he had been given over everything and everybody and everything in his life.

It was probably the first thing he thought about when he woke up in the morning.

It was the last thing he thought about when he laid his head down at night, even while he was sleeping in a jail cell, which he spent much of his life in different jail cells.

See, Christ was the filter that he ran everything through, and the kingdom of heaven was the lens in which he viewed life here on earth.

And listen, it's not just isolated to the Philippians.

Paul repeatedly says this.

In Romans 14, 7 and 8, he says, For none of us lives for himself, and no one dies for himself.

If we live, we live for the Lord.

And if we die, we die for the Lord.

Therefore, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

Probably maybe a life verse.

Certainly one of my favorite verses is Galatians 2.20 that says, I have been crucified with Christ.

And it is no longer I who live, but Christ that lives in me, in the life that I now live in the flesh or in my body.

I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

He says in Colossians 3, 1 through 3, he says, so if you've been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things, for you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

So Paul could confidently say this.

He could say this with absolute certainty and confidence.

To live is Christ.

To live is Christ.

And in Philippians 1, he's trying to get this point across that our lives here on earth are meant to be lived in and for Jesus.

And so last week, Russ Greer, big Russ, he introduced this series and opened up with that very first passage.

And here's kind of the synopsis.

He drew a contrast between what it means to be just simply an attender and someone who is actually a participant.

He talked about people that kind of live life in the stands while while they view what's going on in the field.

And he shared this word with us and came back to it over and over.

And it's the word partnership.

And he shared this word that is related to that word partnership.

It's called koinonia.

And we interpret that mostly in the English language, just interpret it as fellowship.

And see, if you live in the South, you know how to fellowship.

We know how to have fellowship.

We bring food together and we have a potluck.

But here's the emphasis that Russ gave last week.

Is that listen, the kind of fellowship, the kind of partnership, the koinonia that Paul is driving at that's trying to teach us, it's not potluck.

It's more about having skin in the game.

It's about really investing.

And so part of the reason Paul wrote this letter is because the Philippians were concerned about his imprisonment.

They understandably so.

If this gospel that Paul was preaching was true, why would God allow him to be imprisoned?

Perhaps they were concerned about God's blessing and power, how God's blessing and power had left Paul.

By the way, what's your imprisonment?

See, I think we all are living imprisoned.

We may not have have bars, we might not be behind bars.

You may not be in a jail cell.

You may not have a certain color uh jumpsuit on and a number on that.

But we're we're all in prison to something, and that something is what keeps us from experiencing the fullness of Christ.

And to be able to say with Paul, to live is Christ.

So what's your prison?

What's your prison?

But this is this is this is not the case in Philippians 1, 12 through 26, which is we're gonna be.

If you want to open up your Bibles or or uh whether it's paper, leather, or electronic, Philippians 1 verses 12 through 26, Paul assures them that the kingdom of God is still advancing.

Philippians 1:12–26

As we read through these verses today, I want us to remember that Paul, what Paul says in verse 21, he says, the simple truth, to live is Christ, because it's through this truth that Paul is able to have a whole different perspective on his imprisonment and his purpose in life as a whole.

So let's dive in as we continue in the book of Philippians.

Philippians 1, verses 12 through 14.

Philippians 1:12–14

He says, Now, I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually advanced the gospel so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to everyone else that my imprisonment is because I am in Christ.

Most of the brothers have gained confidence in the Lord from my imprisonment and dare even more speak the word fearlessly.

And I'm gonna give you some thoughts that are kind of note-taking thoughts or or or rungs on a ladder or something to hang your thoughts on.

And here's the first one if to live as Christ, whatever happens to us can be used to advance the gospel.

Listen, if to live as Christ, whatever happens to us, whatever happens to us, good, bad, and everything in the middle, it can serve the purposes of advancing the gospel.

That word advance, imagine Lewis and Clark being sent to explore from the east to the west coast.

And imagine them advancing, cutting through rough terrain, uh, canoeing or or going through uh waterways and rivers and finding their way to the west.

That's the picture of what it means to advance the gospel.

We're gonna do whatever it takes.

We're gonna do whatever it takes to get the gospel and advance it for the glory of God.

We're gonna advance the gospel.

And listen, we live in a what we we what we've known to become as the Bible belt, where you would say, man, there's a lot of churches.

As a matter of fact, when when it was time when I felt like God called me to plant a church, I had this question asked to me all the time.

Russ, I drive through this community and I see churches everywhere.

Why in the world would you start another church?

And I'd say this, I'd say, you know what, the landscape is dotted with steeples here in the south.

But under every steeple is not a healthy church.

And so here in the Bible Belt, here what's happened in the Bible Belt is you've got a lot of people who have somehow had a connection to either a church or a person or some type of relative.

I mean, everybody has an uncle who is a deacon and a grandfather who was a pastor.

I mean, we everybody, and so you have have this false sense of security.

And so you think, why here, why here do we, why would we advance the gospel here in the South?

Because everybody in the Bible Belt thinks they're a Christian, and there needs to be a church, there needs to be a voice that stands up and says, No, you're really not saved.

Can I share the gospel with you so you really can know Christ?

So listen.

Whatever happens to us, it can be used to advance the gospel.

And it would be easy for Paul and the people of Philippi to believe that Paul's imprisonment was a setback, that God's plan had been thrown off, or even worse, that God was wasting Paul's time in prison.

But Paul wanted to make sure they understood that God never wastes our time.

His plan is never thrown off.

He never has to scramble to come up with a plan B.

Hayden Robinson, who was a professor of preaching and a pastor and a teacher and a writer, he says, listen, he says, when Christ is your life, nothing can be wasted.

When Christ is your life, nothing can be wasted.

His imprisonment was not a setback, it was a catalyst for the advancement of the gospel.

And so he ends up in prison, and so he's in touch, and he's in Rome.

He's in prison in Rome, and it says it's the imperial guard that is in charge of watching over him and guarding him.

And what they don't know is when they are with him, guarding him, shift after shift, one prisoner's guard, one guard will come in and would spend several hours with Paul.

Well, you know what that guy got to hear for several hours?

He got to hear Paul's testimony.

He got to hear about how Jesus had changed his life.

And he got to hear that, hey, for me to live is Christ.

And by the end of that shift, man, that Imperial guard, his, his, he's beginning to, his eyes are beginning to open.

He's beginning to understand there's something different here.

And you got to understand that the common phrase in the Roman culture at that point was to say, Caesar is Lord.

Caesar is Lord.

And so they walk into the prison cell with Paul, thinking Caesar is Lord.

They exit their shift with maybe there's something true about the fact that Jesus is Lord.

And so what the enemy thinks he's doing in shutting down Paul's ministry by throwing him into a prison cell is simply serving to advance the gospel.

Imagine how soldier after soldier after soldier comes in and gets to hear the gospel news.

And lives are changed.

Nothing is wasted.

See, some of us face our own imprisonments, job losses, illnesses, disappointments.

Paul emphasizes that the gospel is advanced through every one of our hardships.

And through Paul's imprisonment, the whole Roman Imperial Guard is introduced to the person of Jesus because they quickly learned that Paul wasn't imprisoned for a crime.

He was imprisoned because he was in Christ.

Through Paul's imprisonment, fellow Christians gained confidence in how in the Lord to the point that even they began to speak the word of God fearlessly.

They saw that Paul had joy in the midst of such a trial.

They saw that God took care of Paul in every circumstance.

He had people bringing him, he had the church bringing him provisions taking care of him.

He had a friend of Aphrodite that came to visit him.

They saw that God could still use Paul even when he was imprisoned.

I came across this thought, and I'm not going to be, I may not quote it exactly, but Charles Spurgeon referred to this idea that the world thought it had silenced the preacher.

Instead, it had given him a captive congregation in the empire's finest soldiers.

Consider the glory of verse 21: to live is Christ and to die is gained.

Here is a man with whom you cannot win.

Threaten him with life, and he says, Then I shall have more Christ to serve.

Give me life.

Threaten him with death, and he says, Hey, then I shall have more Christ to enjoy.

The devil does with such a man?

You cannot frighten a man who treats both the grave and the sunrise as doorways into the presence of the Lord.

The tyrant's sword has lost its edge against a heart like this.

So if life is Christ, then our circumstances don't dictate our future.

Our joy, our provision, and our purpose is secure in Christ.

While some people responded to Paul's imprisonment with zeal for God, other people responded with selfish ambition.

They took Paul's imprisonment as an opportunity to grow their own followings.

They took the opportunity while Paul was in prison to build their platforms.

Paul didn't shy away from addressing that either.

He says in verse 15, he said, to be sure, some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.

These preach out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.

The others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, thinking that they will cause me trouble in my imprisonment.

Here's what Paul says.

What does it matter?

What does it matter?

Only that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is proclaimed.

And he says, in this I rejoice.

Now, I'm very thankful that we do not have any competitive spirits in us in the church today.

I mean, we don't have people trying to promote their own name and place above others.

We don't have people trying to build their own platforms.

We don't have preachers that, you know, will say great things in public, but in private say negative things about the pastor down the street.

I mean, we don't, thank goodness, we don't have any of that, do we, today?

But even if we did, here's the truth that we see from this passage.

To live as Christ, if to live as Christ, his name matters more than ours.

If to live as Christ, his name matters more than ours.

Paul didn't care about making a name for himself.

He knew there were people dragging his name through the mud, but his response was, what does it matter?

He didn't care what people had to say about him.

All he cared about was proclaiming the name of Jesus.

I love what A.

W.

Tozier prayed.

This is a prayer from A.

W.

Tozier, man of God.

He wrote a book called The Pursuit of God that I would say, man, I would encourage every believer to read this small book called The Pursuit of God.

But here's his prayer.

He says, Dear Lord, I refuse henceforth to compete with any of thy servants.

They have congregations larger than mine, so be it.

I rejoice in their success.

They have greater gifts very well.

That is not in their power, nor in mine.

I am humbly grateful for their greater gifts and my smaller ones.

I only pray that I may use to thy glory such modest gifts as I possess.

I will not compare myself with any, nor try to build up my self-esteem by noting where I may excel one or another in thy holy work.

I am but an unprofitable servant.

I gladly go to the foot of the cross and own myself the least of thy people.

I purpose to pray for others and to rejoice in their prosperity as if it were my own.

And indeed it is my own, and if it is thine own, for what is thine is mine, and while one plants and another waters it, thou alone that giveth the increase.

For Paul was to live, to live was Christ.

Which also meant that he didn't live to build up his own name.

He lived his life to make sure that the name of Jesus was proclaimed above every game in heaven and on earth.

Now I there's a couple of things I want to share, but I but it's it's gonna it's gonna sound like a humble brag.

And I but but I want I want to share, I want to just share, I want to share because I want you to know that this, what we're talking about, is I I have wanted to apply it.

I listen, I am so far from being where I need to be and and to be at the place where Paul is.

But I will tell you this, that when we started this church, I knew long term we would never put my name on anything permanently on our buildings or property.

Because listen, hey, I hate to tell you this, but I'll be gone from here one day.

And I'm not talking about heaven.

There'll be a point where I am no longer the senior pastor.

And so I've never wanted it to be just about me.

I've never had a parking space close to the church.

As a matter of fact, I've always picked the farthest away, the space farthest away.

And part of that was just for me.

It wasn't, it's not, that's what it's a humble bragging.

I hate really sharing this because it sounds like I'm bragging on myself.

I'm not.

I'm really just sharing with you my heart.

And so right now I'm parking at the library, up the street, and we don't probably, I didn't probably have to, I didn't probably need to park up there this week because it's fall break.

And we probably have spaces close by, but you know what?

That that four-minute walk is a reminder to me that you know what, I am just as ordinary as anybody else, and I need to be reminded of what Paul is saying here to live is Christ.

To live is Christ.

And I always want to celebrate what my brothers are doing in other churches.

I love, I love hearing what God is doing in other churches and how people are coming to Christ and how lives are being changed.

And as long as the name of Jesus is being proclaimed, we can rejoice because it will lead to salvation and the glory of God.

And look at verse 18.

Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, Paul says, because I know that this will lead to my salvation through your prayers and help from the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

He says, My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all courage, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

Why was Paul still rejoicing?

He's in prison, he's been shipwrecked, he's been beaten, left for dead.

One time he was stoned to death outside of a city, left for dead.

He might have been dead, but he gets up and he walks back into the city to advance the gospel in that place where they just had taken and stoned him to death.

Why is he rejoicing?

Because he was confident of who he was in Christ.

He was sure that Christ would be glorified through him.

And so this third thought is this if to live as Christ, his glory is our joy.

If to live is Christ, his glory is our joy.

Now, we we use that word glory a lot.

That is a good, it's a it's a it's a beautiful Bible word.

It's a great church word, and but sometimes I don't know if we really understand what we're talking about when we talk about the glory of God.

That word glory, it comes out of the Greek and it's the word doxa.

And it really means weight, the weightiness of God's character.

It's imagine, imagine weight.

If you were in the gym working out, which I know you you say, well, that's obvious that you spend time in the gym, but but and you're you're sitting on the bench and and and and you just say, hey, put put put put the two plates on, put the two big plates on.

And they put the two big plates on, and you say, no, that's not enough.

Let's put let's put another two plates on.

So listen, each plate makes the weight increase.

And so the more that we know the attributes and the character of God, they become the weights that provide the heaviness of our understanding of the glory of God.

His attributes, who he is and his character.

So when we say we're gonna glorify God, it means that we are we're basically throwing back up through song, through word, through our lives, the attributes and the character of God.

And as we throw back up his attributes and his character, we are glorifying him.

That's why it's important to know Jesus more today than you knew him yesterday.

It's because we are able to glorify him at greater depths and greater heights.

Paul had every reason not to rejoice.

He had every reason not to have hope.

From worldly standards, he had every reason to be full of shame.

He had made it, he had made it before he followed Jesus.

He was in a seat of power and authority as a religious leader.

But now he was rotting in a prison cell.

From a worldly perspective, Paul had lost all of his glory.

But thankfully, his life was now found in Christ.

Paul's hope wasn't found in his glory, it was found in his salvation and assurance that through his life Christ would be glorified.

Paul faces trial, he faces execution, yet he's not anxious, he's rejoicing.

Paul lives his life not to preserve and promote himself, but to glorify Jesus Christ.

Paul's mindset was: if Jesus decides that I can best glorify him through suffering and potentially even to death, then so be it.

I will rejoice in the opportunity.

And it's easy for us to dictate to God how he can and cannot glorify himself in our lives.

Paul wisely left all of that up to God, and we would probably be wise to follow in his footsteps.

What greater joy could we have than knowing that Christ is glorified and honored in our bodies, whether by our life or our death?

This leads Paul to say some of the most audacious words in all of Scripture.

Here's what he says: verses 21 and 20 through 23.

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

Now, if I live on in the flesh, this means fruitful work for me, and I don't know which one I should choose.

I am torn between the two.

I long to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.

And so Paul is basically saying this, and this is this is the fourth kind of kind of major idea.

If to live is Christ, death is gain.

Death is gain.

Don't gloss over what Paul says here.

It's straw language.

But in some capacity, Paul was ready for death.

In some capacity, Paul probably desired death.

He says he longs to depart and to be with Christ.

Now, this is not, this is so different than someone in despair considering ending their life out of despair.

No, Paul is just saying, listen, I want to be with Jesus.

I want to be with Jesus.

Now, this desire didn't come from a place of selfishness or despair.

It came from a desire to be with his Lord and Savior.

Paul knew that death wasn't defeat.

Death wasn't the end of the story.

Instead, death was simply graduation to glory.

Something like this can only be said when we can also say to live is Christ.

If our lives are found in anything other than Christ, then death is not gain.

In fact, death means loss of everything.

Death is defeat.

Death is the end of the story.

That's what the world would say.

But when our lives are in Christ, then death no longer has victory.

It no longer has sting.

That's what Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians.

Oh, death, where is your sting?

Paul understands that death is the doorway into the resurrected life that Jesus offers.

May we long and desire for Christ so deeply that we see death as a gain.

Let me just say this that I've been to a lot of funerals in my life.

I mean, before I became into ministry, but then now that I've been in ministry 31 years plus.

I've been to a lot of funerals, and you know what?

I've been to a lot of funerals where people did not have hope in Christ.

And it was it was despair.

Depression.

The pain.

But then I've been to funerals where there was absolute certainty that that person was in Christ and that they didn't just leave this earth.

They simply went through a doorway into the presence of Jesus.

You know what?

That's a whole different atmosphere.

I've been to funerals where I walk out and I'm like, wow.

I am encouraged.

I I am oh I this is overwhelming in a positive way.

Man, I a beautiful celebration of life it can be when we understand this truth.

Death is defeated.

Death is the doorway into that resurrected life.

May we long to desire for Christ so deeply that we see death as a gain, but may we also long and desire for Christ so deeply that we no longer live for ourselves, but for him and the good of others.

So let me go back to the scripture, to the text here.

He says, For me to live as Christ and to die is gained.

Now, if I live on in the flesh, this means fruitful work for me.

And if I don't, and I don't know which one I should choose, for I'm torn between the two.

I long to depart and be with Christ, which is far better, but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.

What Paul is telling the church, he says, Since I am persuaded of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that because of my coming to you again, your boasting in Christ Jesus may abound.

While Paul longed to be with Jesus, he knew it was more necessary and better for him if he continued on into the ministry, even through suffering and the laboring that we have in this earthly life.

Dying was better for him, but living was better for the church.

They needed him.

His job with the church was not finished.

Pay attention here.

For Paul, dying for Jesus is not true sacrifice.

Rather, it is staying alive to serve others.

And then lastly, lastly, if to live is Christ, our life is no longer our own.

So once again, we see the mind of Christ in Paul.

Jesus was willing to step down from glory into the world of suffering, and not just step into a world of suffering, but willing to become a suffering servant.

We'll see this next week that Jesus in humility and love for people didn't consider equality with God something to be grasped or something to be held on to.

Instead, he took the form of a servant and humbled himself to obedience and to the point of death on a cross so that we can have life in him.

If Jesus was willing to suffer to lay down his life for others, then so was Paul.

While it would be better to be with Jesus, Paul knew that he still had fruitful work to do.

Now let me ask you a question.

Are you breathing?

Then you have fruitful work to do.

And it's not to chase after toes in the sand.

Now, toes in the sand is not a bad thing.

Sitting in a deer stand is not a bad thing.

Those things are, are none of these things are bad in and of themselves, but when they become the main pursuit over a pursuit of Christ, that is when they are dangerous.

Paul knew he had fruitful work to do.

His life and his comfort was no longer his own control.

It belonged to Christ.

This was Paul's way of participating in the story of Jesus.

To suffer in order to love others more than himself.

His life was no longer his own and he no longer lived for himself.

Paul was persuaded, listen, that he would see the Philippians again and he would be able to keep laboring for their progress and the joy and the faith.

And as it happened, Paul would survive and he would be set free and he would be able to visit the Philippians again before he would be martyred in Rome.

So as we reflect over this passage, can we come back to the very first statement that ends with a blank.

For me to live is what you put in there?

I'm telling you.

That's what we gotta walk out with today.

What you gonna fill the blanking with?

You wanna change the world?

You wanna change your your heart?

You wanna change your marriage?

You wanna change your the dynamics of your family?

Would you like to impact your community?

Would you love to see a nation less divided?

Would you like to see a broken world transformed in such a way that Jesus is glorified?

And it starts with filling in this blank.

For me to live is.

Tim Keller says that Paul offers the only blank that cannot be erased by circumstance.

To live is, let's say it together.

Let's fill in the blank together.

What is Paul filling the blank with?

For me to live is, why is this unbreakable?

Because its logic runs in in both directions.

If you live, you have Christ to serve.

If you die, you have Christ to enjoy.

To die is gain.

The gospel produces people who are both unafraid to die and deeply useful while they live.

So would you pray with me?

This morning, if you came in, you didn't realize it, but you came in feeling imprisoned with disappointment, with hurt, with pain, maybe the pursuit of things that are fleeting.

Whatever it was that you were imprisoned with, my prayer is that we would become bond servants, partners in fellowship with Christ, and that we can say, for me to live is Christ.

It's all about Christ.

It's all about Jesus.

It's nothing but Jesus.

Everything Jesus.

If you came in this morning and you don't know Jesus personally, maybe you're one of those people that has grown up in the Bible belt and you have this false sense of security that, hey, I filled out a card and I walked down an aisle, but I realize, man, I am far from God.

And this is for you.

This invitation is for you to come to put your faith in Christ, to repent and believe the good news of the gospel.

This the story, this gospel story that Jesus came and he lived and he died, and he was bodily resurrected for our benefit, for our salvation.

And he sits at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us every day.

And because of that, we can say to live is Christ.

And to die is gain.

So, Father, would you change your hearts this morning as we close this time?

I want to invite you, if you want to come to the altar or if you want to come and grab one of us on the front row, we would be honored to pray with you.

Don't leave here without having a holy confrontation with the Savior who came to give his life for us.

So Father, would you come right up into our business, into our lives?

God, would you confront us with your spirit in such a way that we can't just walk away without being faced with a decision to be different?

It's in Christ's name I pray.

Amen.