Serve with Joy because… To live is Christ, to die is gain! - Philippians 1:18b-26

Serve with Joy because… To live is Christ, to die is gain!

Philippians 1:18b-26

Introduction: Last week I referred to the famous story of the five missionaries who were killed when they sought to reach out to the Auca Indians of Ecuador in 1956. I came across this reference to that story again this week, in a sermon by Ray Pritchard…

In January 1956, the five men decided the time had come to make contact in person. After much prayer they established a base camp on a sandy beach of the Curaray River. On January 8, 1956—at about 3:30 PM, they were speared to death by the Indians who mistakenly thought they had come to hurt them. The news shocked the world. Many people wondered how young men with so much promise could waste their lives that way. When the journals of Jim Elliot were published several years later, they were found to contain this sentence: “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”

Why risk their lives to reach a remote and violent people? Because they knew those people needed Jesus, and those young missionaries knew the truth Paul will talk about in this passage. The philosophy of life that guided the apostle also guided those men: To live is Christ, and to die is gain. Paul was in a pretty serious situation.  After a total of about 4 years imprisonment his case was about to be decided and his life hung in the balance. As he looks to the future, he has joy in the Lord – as he writes this letter, it is clear that Jesus is his life… I like the way Pritchard describes Paul’s attitude here, he asks and answers the question that you might be thinking…

How could Paul say such things? It’s because for Paul death didn’t put him in a cemetery; it ushered him into a sanctuary. He knew that he would enter the presence of Christ at the moment of his death. That would truly be “gain” for him.

 Jesus was his life, so to live is Christ, to die is gain! Adoniram Judson, missionary to Burma wrote: “If I had not felt certain that every trial was ordered by infinite love and mercy, I could not have survived my accumulated sufferings.” Knowing God, trusting Him, entrusting yourself to Him, gives perspective!

The Scripture: Philippians 1:18-26 (ESV), 

…Yes, and I will rejoice,  ¹⁹ for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance,  ²⁰ 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 [“magnified”] in my body, whether by life or by death.  ²¹ For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

 ²² If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.  ²³ I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.  ²⁴ But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 

²⁵ Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith,  ²⁶ so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

We can rejoice in the Lord because He is our life and His plan for our lives is perfect. As long as we serve Him, He will be glorified because our life will help others to experience real joy as they grow in their faith.

The Maine* Idea: Knowing our eternity is secure in Him, we can have joy that goes beyond circumstances. We rejoice because…

I. We have Confidence in God’s Plan: Christ will be honored, no matter what! (1:18b-20). 

      “…Yes, and I will rejoice…”  We are starting in the last part of v.18 (remember the verse numbers aren’t part of the original text!). Here Paul continues the theme of “rejoicing,” but switches to the future tense. He has joy now as a prisoner, and he will rejoice however his story unfolds. He has confidence in God’s plan. Even though the outcome of his trial before Caesar is uncertain, he is full of joy in the certainty about one thing: Jesus will be magnified. But how will that happen? Notice first v.19,

”…for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance…”

       The prayers of God’s people and the presence and power of his Spirit guarantee our victory in Jesus (1:19). “Deliverance” is the word elsewhere translated, “salvation” = Paul is talking about his vindication, one way or another, in his present crisis. (Job 13:16). Paul was confident that he would be “delivered,” either released from prison, or set free by his death. God’s people were praying, and God himself was present, working. Could death be an answered prayer? Yes! Job said, "As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.  ²⁶ "Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God…” (Job 19:25-26). Paul too was confident that God would accomplish His purpose, and that the name of Jesus would be magnified, no matter what.

“…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…”

     Paul has one main passion in life. It seems clear from this text that in everything he does he is passionate about Jesus Christ being magnified. Now he has a very strange way of stressing this. Look at verse 20: “It is my eager expectation and hope that I might not be at all ashamed…” Paul is expressing his desire and confidence that as he goes before Caesar he would be emboldened to stand firm and speak the truth of Christ before his accusers and the authorities. Recall the prayer of the disciples in Acts 4, after being arrested and threatened, they come together and pray. They don’t pray for protection. They don’t ask for safety. They pray for courage to preach the gospel in the face of opposition!  “…And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word…” (Acts 4:29). For Paul, the opposite of shame was not that he might be honored or even that he might live, but rather that Christ might be honored. “It is my eager expectation and hope that I might in nothing be put to shame but with all boldness Christ might be magnified in my body.”   Paul loved Jesus more than life. Later in this letter he’ll say, “Whatever gain I had I counted as loss. I count everything as loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord!” (Phil 3:8).  Remember the response of John the Baptist when it was being reported that more people were going to Jesus: “He must increase, I must decrease.”

      v.20c “…whether by life or by death…” Paul is a prisoner, his life could be forfeit. Someone might ask, “Where is the value of Christ now?” And so Paul adds in verse 20, “My confidence is that Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.” Death is a threat to the degree that it frustrates our goals. Death is frightening to the degree that it threatens to rob you of what you value most. But Paul valued Christ most! He looked at death and he saw it as an occasion for the fulfillment of his highest value, that Christ might be magnified. Life and death: they seem like such opposites but Paul was ready for either, so that whether by life or by death Christ would be magnified. The greatest longing he had would be fulfilled in both. So it almost didn’t matter to him which one the Lord would give him.

       For us, the decision to follow Christ might not seem like a life or death decision! It clearly is for someone in Saudi Arabia or Pakistan or China! But it should be for us as well! Remember Paul’s words in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

       Another pioneer missionary, James Calvert, went out as a missionary to the indigenous people of the Fiji Islands. The Captain of the ship that carried him warned him, “You will lose your life, and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages.” Calvert’s reply expressed his commitment, “We died before we came here.”  We can rejoice in the Lord because He is our life and His plan for our lives is perfect. Knowing our eternity is secure in Him, we can have joy that goes beyond circumstances. We rejoice because, we have confidence in God’s plan, and because…

II. We are Convinced of Christ’s Preeminence: Jesus really is my Life (1:21-24)!

²¹ For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  ²² If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.  ²³ I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.  ²⁴ But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.. 

      Let’s consider 1:21. Paul gives us a very packed summary statement of how it is that he can be so confident that Christ is going to be magnified whether he lives or whether he dies. He says “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

     “To live is Christ” He is saying, “Jesus is my life!” We don’t know how many years we have to live. How would you complete that statement, “For me to live is _________...”?  How would the people who know you best fill that in in describing your life?  We can put a lot of things in there that are good, or at least neutral. Our family, our work, those are good. Even our hobbies aren’t bad… But we can so easily make people or things into idols. We can start to love the world more than we love Jesus. We love the shadow more than the reality. I remember reading about a letter that C.S. Lewis got from a child that had been enthralled with the Chronicles of Narnia. The child wrote, "I am afraid that I might love Aslan more than I love Jesus!" Lewis wrote back and told the child, "All that you love about Aslan IS Jesus." The things that we love in the world most it seems to me are just glimpses through the veil, a hint of what God has for us in eternity! Don't love the shadow more than the reality, don't love the gifts more than the Giver!

       Do we love Jesus more than life? I want to, but God forgive me, I am not sure that I always do. It depends on the day. Maybe in my best moments. Would to God that we could say with Paul, “To me to live is Christ.”  How he looked to live that out is hinted at in verse 22: “If it is to be life in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me.” If God gave him life, if he was delivered from his chains, he would serve the Lord with gladness! He saw that his life purpose was to serve Him joyfully.

     “For me to die is gain.” C.f. the last chapter of John, where Jesus predicted how Peter would die, John adds, “This he said to show by what death he would glorify God.” (John 21:18-19). Even how we die can bring God glory. It did for Stephen in Acts 7!

       First, Paul says in 1:23, “I am hard-pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.” Better?   I remember when Mary Ann read “Deadline” a few years back, how excited she was by the prospect of eternity. To depart and be with Christ is far better!  We had our grandkids with us for about 4 weeks total this spring, and they had a lot of questions about God and heaven! Should kids be thinking about such things? Some of us have gray hair (some of us have no hair) but no matter your age, the best is yet to come: To live, Christ, to die, gain!

       We will magnify Christ in our dying precisely to the degree that we believe that fellowship with him in heaven is more to be preferred than any person or any thing in this earth. “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy than me” (Matthew 10:37). When we come to the hour when everything will be taken from us but Christ, we will magnify him by saying, “In Christ I have everything and more!”

     “I am hard-pressed between the two…” Our life has purpose, He saved us on purpose for a purpose. We are here on assignment, and as we serve will bring Him glory. And He numbers our days. God will give us life until our work is done, and work until our life is over. C.S. Lewis said: “The great thing is to be found at one’s post as a Child of God, living each day as though it were your last, but planning as though our world might last a hundred years.” (from God in the Dock). Knowing our eternity is secure in Him, we can have joy that goes beyond circumstances. We rejoice because we have confidence in God’s plan, we are convinced of Christ’s preeminence, and…

III. We are Committed to God’s Program: Our life in Jesus has purpose: to bring Him glory, by encouraging others to grow in joy through faith in Him (1:25, 26). “God will give us life until our work is over, and work until our life is done.”

²⁵ Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith,  ²⁶ so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

     Now we can see the steps in Paul’s thinking. First, v.21“For me to live is Christ.” That is, v.22  “For me to live is to be dedicated to fruitful labor.” Then he says, “For me to be dedicated to fruitful labor is for your sake.” (v.24). And now finally he defines the fruit that is to come about in their lives as the advancement and the joy of faith: “The increase of your faith and its overflow with joy.” (v.25).

       “Faith” is the confidence or trust that we put in a person who has given us cause to believe that he is reliable and is able and willing to help us in our need. So, for Paul, “For me to live is Christ” and “For me to live is for your joy of faith” are the same thing. Notice what that definition implies about the person trusted. By the way, our faith is only as good as the object of our faith. If there is a line to get into the lobby of the bank and you hand the person in front of you an envelope of cash, and ask them to make the deposit for you, it might work out. It depends on the person! Jesus is faithful, trustworthy.

       Faith in Christ means joy in Christ. So, to live for their faith and to live for Christ alone are the same thing. The only way we can live for Christ is to live by faith in Him. For me to live is Christ… That is Christ magnifying faith, you might say. But that’s not all. Look at the word joy in verse 25: “I will continue with you for your joy.” Now this little phrase in the ESV is “joy in faith” Literally it is “joy of faith.” For Paul that when we have faith, we will have joy.  He says in Romans 15:13 as he prays for the church, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing.” In other words, believing is the means to joy.

       Joy comes from a confident trust in Christ and his promises. He also said to the Corinthians, describing his ministry in 2 Cor 1:24, “Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy.” He replaces one word for the other because for Paul they are intimately connected. You can’t have the one without the other. Joy comes from a confident, hopeful trust in the promises of God which are “Yes” in Christ Jesus because of his death and resurrection. This is why Paul ends the text in verse 26 with a reference to “glorying in” or “boasting in Christ.”   Paul has only one joy in mind here: joy in Christ, joy that comes from the abundance of Christ’s provision and his promises. If we delight in the Christ from who we receive every good thing, don’t we find joy in giving Him the glory? When you are happy about something, you magnify that thing. So, not only faith but the fruit of faith in joy magnifies Christ tremendously.

 What is God saying to me in this passage? Is Jesus your life? If so, rejoice, because as long as we serve Him, He will be glorified as our life helps others to grow in their faith and so to experience real joy. Knowing our eternity is secure in Him, we can have joy that goes beyond circumstances. We rejoice because we have confidence in God’s plan, we are convinced of Christ’s preeminence, and we are committed to finding our place in God’s program.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage?

         1) Is Jesus your life? Will you aim to love Him with all of your heart, soul, and strength? That means committing yourself to know Him better, spending time in the word and in prayer. To know Him is to love Him!

      2) Will we determine to use our gifts and to help others grow as His disciples? Paul could see the value of his ongoing ministry to the Philippians: and so he said, “I know that I shall remain… for your advancement and your JOY of faith.” We can get so distracted by the world! REJOICE in your salvation, find joy in helping others grow!

        3) Since joy comes from faith, and faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of God will we choose to be students of the Book?  Jesus said, “My words I have spoken to you in order that my joy might be in you and that your joy might be full” (John 15:11). Jesus is building HIS church. Let’s embrace the “one another” commands he has given: Love one another, encourage one another, bear each other’s burdens, provoke one another to love and good works! To God be the Glory.   AMEN.