To live is Christ, to die is gain, Phil. 1:19-21

Whether you like it or not, whether you believe we should be involved in it or not,  our nation is involved in a war.  It’s a war that I hope will end quickly, without a lot of loss of American lives. And in my personal opinion, if we are in it, we should be in it to win it. I don’t think we should stop halfway without finishing the job. But there is another war that I would like to talk about today.  One that is just as dangerous, just as deadly, and one that we need to be committed to be fighting, regardless of whether we even realize we are engaged in it. It’s fought in a different kind of battlefield arena perhaps than the present conflict with Iran, but our sacrifices are just as real and the commitment needed to finish the fight, is just as necessary .

Paul talked about this battleground in Eph 6:10 which says, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.”

Today I’m talking about the elite forces engaged in this spiritual battleground, whose  fortress stands in the battlements of heaven, and the men and women who occupy this fortress have consecrated their lives in service to the King.  They have sacrificed much and are willing to even lay down their lives, if necessary.  And across the archway of this fortress reads their motto, “For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” 

This statement was coined by the Apostle Paul around 55AD.  We find it here in Philippians 1: 21.  I believe this was Paul’s motto.  It was the reason that he was so fearless in all the trials and dangers and hardships that he suffered. Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 11:23 that he had been in “far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death.  Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes.  Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren;  I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.”

Paul wrote to his son in the faith, Timothy, in 2 Tim. 2:3 “Suffer hardship with [me,] as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”  And I’m sure that any modern day Christian that followed Paul around for a day or two would be amazed to see what hardship he had to endure for the cause of Christ. In fact, at the time of this letter to the Philippians, he was chained to a Roman guard 24 hours a day.  He was awaiting trial to be judged by Nero, one of the most feared emperors of the Roman Empire. 

Let’s pick it up starting in verse 19; “for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.  For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

Paul isn’t cowering in some prison, scared to death of meeting the notorious Nero, but he says it’s his “earnest expectation and hope” that he will not be put to shame, but with all boldness, with all confidence, he is looking forward to this encounter.  Philips Modern English version translates this phrase “earnest expectation and hope” as standing on his tiptoes in anticipation.  Paul is ready to go.   He is rising up on his tiptoes ready to charge into the fray to defend the gospel.  How can Paul have such confidence?  How can he be so sure of himself? 

Well, first of all, because Paul has confidence in the prayers of the saints.  Note verse 19; he knows his deliverance will come because of the prayers of the church.  Notice, Paul isn’t praying to some dead saints, he is saying to this church in Philippi that he knows they will be praying for him.  As we talked about a couple of weeks ago, they are participating in Paul’s ministry through prayer.  James says, the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much.  We don’t know how it works, but we know the prayers of the righteous men and women God uses to accomplish His will.  He uses our prayers.

Some Bible translations may substitute the word salvation there instead of the word deliverance.  But Paul isn’t talking about his own spiritual salvation in the sense of being born again.  He is talking about deliverance, salvation from his circumstances.  Perhaps this means Paul was expecting to get out of prison. Some commentators believe that this was Paul’s first imprisonment, which lasted about two years, and then he was released. But he would be imprisoned again, and that time he would not get out of prison, but would end up being put to death by Nero.

But from the context of these verses we can’t be certain that Paul absolutely expects that he will soon be freed.  He says in verse 20, whether by life or by death, Christ will be exalted.  Either way, Paul says, I’m not going to be ashamed.  I’m going to be delivered either way, either by life or by death, and my goal is going to be accomplished, Christ is going to be exalted.  And Paul knew that the prayers of the church at Philippi were helping him in this situation.  He had more confidence because of their prayers for him.

You know, a lot of times we pray for someone who is deathly ill, that they will recover, that God will heal them.  And I must say that in my experience God has not always see fit to heal that person and they passed away.  We end up feeling like God has failed us somehow.  But in reality, God may decide that He will give them ultimate healing, a better body, by taking them from this life. And though we have a hard time understanding that, the fact is Paul says that is infinitely better.  He says in vs 23, “But I am hard-pressed from both [directions,] having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for [that] is very much better.”  So either way, by life or by death, Paul is confident that God will glorify the cause of Christ through him.

Secondly, Paul is confident because verse 19 says of the provision of the Spirit.  In other words, Paul is confident because he is sure the full resources of the Holy Spirit will be brought to bear upon this situation.  In the present conflict of our nation with Iran, we have seen the full military resources of the United States brought to bear.  I was looking at a map the other day of all the navy ships we have in the Gulf as well as in the Mediterranean. It’s just a tremendous force that is arrayed against Iran, not only in naval vessels, but also in air.

Thank God, as soldier of the heavenly kingdom we don’t have to worry about the full availability of God’s resources.  They are always ready at our disposal. Eph 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”   Everything we need is available to us through the Holy Spirit to do the will of God. 

Romans 8:26 tells us “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;  and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.  And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”  That is our confidence, as we are engaged in this present conflict.  God will provide all your needs according to His riches in glory so that you have every resource available to do His will. 

But that reveals the error of many in modern Christianity today.  They don’t understand the purpose of the gifts and power of God.  Spiritual gifts are not given to thrill us, but to use for the glory of God.  And God will supply us the power to do what he wants us to do.  He will not send us on a mission without giving us the means to do the mission.  If he calls you to witness, he will give you the power and the words to witness.  Just be obedient to His call.  If he calls you to give, he will give you the power and the gifts to be able to give, just be obedient to His call.  Whatever he calls you to do, be obedient and God will supply your needs.  But the gifts  aren’t for our edification.   They are to be used to edify the church.  

My dad used to be a drill sergeant in the Army and he taught me as a kid never to point my gun at a person unless I was going to shoot them.  My gun wasn’t to be used for fireworks.  It was a weapon.  And our gifts of the Spirit are to be used as weapons in this warfare we are in.  This idea of using spiritual gifts like a bunch of drunken cowboys riding into town and hooping and hollering and shooting up the place is not Biblical.  Gifts are the provision of the Holy Spirit to equip us to do the will of God.

And thirdly, the confidence that Paul had was because of the promises of God.  Listen, your faith must be founded in the promises of God if it is to be an unwavering faith, a certain conviction.  Faith that will stand in the fire.  Faith that will stand through the trials of life.  That’s why we unapologetically preach the word of God here at the Beach Fellowship.  Because we need to be rooted and grounded in the promises of God,  the sound doctrine found in God’s word.

Paul was probably paraphrasing from scripture when he spoke of this deliverance.  Job 13:16 says, "This also will be my salvation, For a godless man may not come before His presence.”  Paul’s statement is basically a paraphrase from Job 13.  And to put that in even more context, just one verse prior to that in 13:15, Job says, “though He slays me, yet will I hope in Him.”  That’s the confidence that Paul is expressing here, whether I live or die, doesn’t matter.  One way or another God will deliver me. One way or another God will be glorified. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord and that is very much the better.

Or maybe Paul was thinking of Deut. 31:6 "Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you."  Paul had confidence in the promises of God.  Because nothing can separate us from the love of God.  In Rom 8:38 Paul said,  “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,  nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Fourthly, Paul had confidence in the plan of God.  What is the plan of God for our lives? I saw a church sign the other day, a very liberal church I might ad, which said in effect, “God has a plan for your life.” I agree, God has a plan, but I doubt very much that they are in it. Many modern Christians today think that the plan of God is just to make our lives better.  To make us healthy, wealthy and wise.  But in the light of this passage where Paul is talking about possibly losing his life for the sake of the gospel that sounds pretty superficial, doesn’t it?  No, the plan of God is that we live lives that exalt God.  God made man to bring glory and honor to Christ.  Nothing short of that will do.  That is why a man that spends his whole life trying to bring honor and glory for himself and ends up empty and unfulfilled. 

The Westminster Catechism says that “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”  Augustine during his younger years had lived a wild life of pleasure which produced only misery until one day his soul searching led him to the Bible.  He then confessed, “O God, thou has made us for thyself and our souls are restless until they find their rest in Thee.”

Paul knows that God’s plan will not be thwarted.  Vs. 20; “Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.”  Paul wasn’t afraid of dying.  You know about 30 years ago, I went through about 3 and a half years of being so afraid. I really thought I was dying. I joke that I discovered panic attacks about a couple of decades before they became popular.  But God used this terrible time in my life to break me and then remake me.  So I give thanks to God for that.  But still, it was very painful.  I lost my career, my home and my money and cars, pretty much everything, due to a debilitating time of panic attacks.  And one of the verses that was most helpful in getting me through those times is found right here in Philippians chapter 4 verse 6.  “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known before God, and the peace of God will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” 

But while that was helpful, I didn’t really realize that verse was inescapably tied to chapter 1: 20 and 21.  Until I had really committed my life to Christ even to the point of death, then I would never really be able to live without fear.  It’s still a struggle for me in my flesh.  But I have learned that the key is what Paul is saying here in verse 21, and I aspire to commit my life the way he committed his.  That I too might say with all confidence, “for me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” 

Prior to that time of anxiety, I used to be successful in my career.  I used to make a decent income from my business.  But you can’t put those words in that sentence and have it make any sense.  “For me to live is success, and to die is….it must be loss.”  If living is success, then dying is loss, it can’t be gain.   How about this one.  For me to live is money, and to die is….loss.  I can’t take it with me.  How about love?  For me to live is love and to die is…loss. If for me to live is prestige or fame, then to die is loss.  How about power?  For me to live is power, then to die is loss.  There is only one right answer to that statement.  For me to live is Christ, then to die is gain.  He is the only thing worth living for that results in a gain when I die. My death will only result in further exaltation of Jesus Christ.  I will be changed from corruption to incorruption.  I will be like Him for I will see Him face to face.

In closing, let me break this sentence down to six words that I think encapsulate what it means to be a Christian and live the Christian life.  I don’t know where you are spiritually today.  But if you don’t know Christ personally as your Savior, then I want you to listen to these words. 

The first two; “To me”;  It means it’s personal.  My salvation must be personal. It can’t be inherited, it’s not captured by association, by joining a church.  But I must accept Christ as my substitute for my sins, as my Savior and as my Lord.  “To me” means a personal commitment with Christ.  In exchange for my forgiveness I give Him my life.

The second is “To live”: means it’s practical.  You aren’t really alive until the Holy Spirit gives you spiritual life.  The Bible actually refers to your sinful condition as being dead in your sins.  To be made alive in Christ  provides satisfaction, it provides hope, it provides security, it provides comfort, it provides help.  It provides a continuity of life that stretches into eternity, never ending, never stopping.  Life without Christ is impractical.  It is fruitless.   Life with Christ is infinitely practical.  We are made alive in Christ.

The third, “Is Christ”: means it is possible.  With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.  God makes it possible for us to live our life through Him, by His power.  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  Christ provides freedom from sin.  Freedom from the penalty of sin, and freedom from sins enslavement.  So now by faith in Christ I have been given the gift of righteousness.  And being made holy and righteous, God is able to give me the Holy Spirit to live in me, that I might do the righteousness that God wants me to do. 

Jesus said, “What shall it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”  Christ is the only real gain.  I gain everything that matters.  And so I am willing to lay down my life in exchange for that gain.  I pray that whether you are a Christian who has never really come to a full commitment to Christ, or you are an unbeliever, who has never given your life to Christ, wherever you are this morning, I pray you lay down your life as a living sacrifice to God.  I pray you can say, starting today, by God’s help, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”  I’m going to live my life for Christ.  That Christ may live in you and through you.   Let’s pray.

Progress of the gospel, Philippians 1:12

The title of my message today is the progress of the gospel. We started off in Philippians looking at our partnership in the gospel, then the next week it was our participation in the gospel, and now today we’re looking at the progress of the gospel.  Some people have said that joy is the theme of Philippians.  But I would suggest that the gospel is the theme of the book.  In fact, the theme of every book in the Bible is the gospel. 

So before we go too far into this passage, let’s define the word gospel.  It’s a very important word that encompasses so much and yet is understood so little. A good definition is found in Romans 1:16 which says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation.”  So the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. The gospel is the doctrine of salvation, presented in every book of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.  And doctrine simply means the truths that the gospel is built upon.  The irrefutable promises, principles and truth of God.

 Our message then comes from the first verse of our text, verse 12, in which Paul says that his circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel.  Now on the surface this would seem to be an incongruous statement.  After all, Paul was in prison.  He spent two years incarcerated in his own private, rented quarters in Rome but he was in prison nonetheless.  He was chained to a Roman guard 24 hours a day.  The guards worked 6 hour shifts and someone was constantly chained to him.  He could receive visitors, but he was unable to come and go himself.

And I suppose that Paul had this certain luxury of his own quarters because he had not been convicted of a crime yet, in fact, he really had not even been charged with a crime.  He had merely been charged as having caused a disturbance among the Jews.  It seems everywhere he went, the Jews began a riot on his account.  And so they locked him up for his own protection at first, and then one thing led to another and he stayed locked up until he appealed to Caesar. Paul had a very valuable citizenship as a natural born Roman citizen.   So he had a certain privileges because of that, yet he was held waiting for trial.  He was awaiting trial by Caesar, who happened to be the infamous Nero, who would eventually be known for having Christians tarred and placed on poles around his garden terrace and set on fire to light up his dinner parties.  And so this imprisonment was the circumstances that Paul found himself in, and was actually giving thanks for. 

Now Paul had intended to come to Rome for years, but I’m sure he would have never thought that the way God would accomplish that would be in prison, yet he says that his imprisonment had turned out for the progress of the gospel.  He says in verse 13, “so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else,  and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.”  

Now the first thing we can notice here is that God used difficult circumstances to further the progress of the gospel.  Yet how often do we allow difficult circumstances to hinder us in the furtherance of the gospel.  Our difficulties at work, or our difficulties due to some unforeseen circumstance ends up hindering our purpose of fulfilling our ministry to participate in the gospel, rather than furthering it.  And perhaps that  may be because it was never our priority to begin with.  The ministry of the gospel is far too often at the bottom of our priority list.  Yet for Paul, his purpose was never shaken.  His mission was the furthering of the gospel no matter what the circumstances.  There was no higher priority. 

And notice a couple of things Paul said happened as a result of that commitment to not let his circumstances deter his mission.  One, the whole praetorian guard had come to know about Paul and the gospel of Christ.  Paul is sitting there in this house day after day, for two years, chained to a different guard every 6 hours.  But rather than Paul thinking of himself as a captive of unfortunate circumstances, he sees the guards as a captive audience and the result is in two years many of them had become saved, to the point that the gospel was known throughout the praetorian guard and throughout Caesar’s palace.  What an amazing thing. 

It would help you perhaps to know that the Praetorian guard were the elite, “Navy  Seals” of the Roman army. The Praetorian Guard, or the palace guard of Rome had been originally instituted by Caesar Augustus. You may remember, he was Caesar at the time of the birth of Christ. They were a body of about 16 thousand hand-picked troops. They were the elite soldiers in the Roman army. Augustus had kept them stationed throughout the city of Rome because they were the force of his presence there, responsible for keeping the peace and for putting down any opposition. They had a specially built and fortified camp so they had high profile presence in Rome. They were a threat to any insurrection, any rebellion. At the end of their enlistment which ran up to 16 years, they were granted all the highest privileges of citizenship and also a large sum of money. They eventually became so powerful that they ultimately became the bodyguard of the emperor himself and after that, they became so influential that they literally became the king makers of Rome and every emperor was the choice of the Praetorian Guard.  They could impose their will by force on the population or on the leadership. And so they chose all the emperors...they were extremely powerful men. 

And in the providence of God Paul is being guarded by these men, and they are being saved, to the point that Christ is becoming well known throughout even the palace.  And such a testimony provokes the question:  what or who are you chained to?  Are you chained to a desk all day?  Are you chained to an assembly line?  Are you chained to an office?  For Paul, there was no where to hide from his testimony.  These men saw him at all hours of the day, every day of the week.  And yet his testimony was consistent with his message. These elite soldiers would lay down their life for the Emperor, and yet I think that Paul’s dedication to Christ in spite of his circumstances was the impetus for their salvation.  I hope and pray that your testimony is consistent with the gospel.  The greatest criticism we Christians face is that we are hypocrites.  This doesn’t come from within the church, but from without.  The world sees a discrepancy between our walk and our talk.  But it wasn’t that way with Paul, and as a result the gospel progressed, it went forward in spite of his circumstances.

Now another thing that happened for the progress of the gospel is that the brethren, that is those that were saved in the church of Rome, were witnesses to the providence of God in Paul’s imprisonment, and it emboldened them in their witness.  Have you considered how your testimony impacts other Christian’s walk? One of the greatest shortfalls of most Christian testimonies is that they fail to show by example a courageous, committed, sacrificial walk. And I think it’s because we have this mentality that our Christian walk is just between us and God and it doesn’t have to cost us anything.  But folks, people are watching your walk.  They notice when you are at church and when you are not.  They notice how seriously you take your commitment to the gospel.   

So I would ask you, does your perseverance give encouragement to other believers or does your testimony cause them to be less committed?  Are you telling others by your words that Christ is everything, but telling them by your walk that you really don’t have to take it so seriously?  Sometimes I think some people would better serve the church if they didn’t tell anyone that they were a Christian.  But Paul’s testimony gave them more courage to speak the word of God without fear.  His testimony encouraged them to greater sacrifice.

(14-16)Now a lot of people go off the track on this next verse which builds on verse 14.  They want to point out that verse 15 says that some are preaching Christ “out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment.”  And then they point to verse 16 and say, “Aha!  See there!  We shouldn’t speak ill of any preachers or churches or even false religions, because Paul says we should just be happy that Jesus is being preached.”  And so they want to stifle any criticism of any false teachers or cold dead, apostate churches.  “Let’s try to find the good in every thing.  Let’s just all get along.  That’s what Paul would want.”

But folks, read the text.  First of all, Paul says in vs. 14 that they were preaching the word of God.  In other words, they were teaching the gospel.  Paul isn’t condoning false teaching here.  He is not saying here that we should show some sort of leniency towards those that are teaching a false doctrine of works, or of some other way to become acceptable to God.  Far from it.  To believe that would make a liar out of every other book that Paul wrote.  Consider Galatians Gal. 1:6 where  Paul writes, “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; (in other words, there isn’t but one true gospel) only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.  But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!” 

Does that sound like inclusiveness to you?  Does that sound like we all just need to get along?   Does that sound like we’re all just worshipping the same God?  Not hardly. There are a lot of so called churches out there claiming to preach Jesus Christ, but if they don’t preach salvation, then they aren’t preaching the gospel.  Paul never intends a permissive sort of easy believe-ism, or some sort of watered down gospel that says that if you just praise Jesus you’re good to go.  The gospel of Jesus Christ as far as Paul was concerned was nothing less than the message that Jesus came to save lost sinners, and only by faith in His atonement on the cross, God reckons righteousness to our account, so that being made holy, we might receive a new life by the Spirit, and that being filled with the Spirit of Christ we might live the life of service to God that He requires, but we were unable to do in the flesh.  That is the gospel in a nutshell.  Nothing short of that is the gospel.  And anyone that doesn’t preach that gospel Paul said is to be accursed, shunned, rejected and called out from.

So what is Paul really saying here?  Well, what he is saying is though the gospel is being preached by some even with impure motives, possibly some sense of competition to be seen as better than Paul, yet Paul is rejoicing because his goal is being reached.  His goal was to proclaim the gospel to Rome and that was being done.  In other words, there were some brethren who for whatever reason were jealous of Paul, and yet they were genuine believers, and they began to preach out of that wrong motivation, yet even though they thought they were causing Paul distress, he was celebrating because his goal of the progress of the gospel was still being accomplished. 

The point of distinction here is not false doctrine but impure motives.  What they were preaching was the truth, was in alignment with what Paul was teaching, otherwise Paul would have called them out as false teachers.  In 1 Timothy, for example, Paul says he is delivering over to Satan Hymeneaus and Alexander so that they would learn not to blaspheme.  They were teachers in the church at Ephesus who had twisted the truth and were teaching a blasphemous doctrine.  In another place Paul says of false teachers who were teaching that you had to be circumcised to be accepted with God, he said he wished those guys would mutilate themselves rather than continue to preach false doctrine.  Paul was never for unity at the cost of doctrinal purity.  But that’s not the case here, Paul is not focusing on false doctrine, but impure motives. 

There are lots of people working today in the church out of impure motives, but God can still use that as He sees fit for the further progress of the gospel.  For instance, an evangelist might be motivated by pride, the desire to be famous, yet God can still use his message if it’s the truth of the gospel, or a pastor might be motivated to build a huge church, but still preaching the truth.

Vs18 “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.  For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

Paul rejoiced that his difficult circumstances turned out for the  progress of the gospel.  His life’s goal was for the progress of the gospel.  He was willing for his life to be poured out for the church.  And that prompts the question for us; what is your greatest passion? Is it the gospel? It was for Paul. It was of little consequence to him what happened to his own body, what happened to his ministry career, what happened to his own life. The only thing that really mattered to him was the progress of the gospel. Back in the twentieth chapter of Acts  Paul says, "I don't consider my life of any value." I could care less about my life and my possessions, my clothes, my recognition, reputation, prestige, whatever it is, I just want to finish the course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus "To testify of the gospel," that's all I want to do. In Romans 1 he says, "I am ready to preach the gospel." In 1 Corinthians 9 he says, "Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel." Paul was willing to lay down his life if it meant the greater progress of the gospel.  I ask you today, is the progress of the gospel your greatest concern?  Have you made it a priority in your life?  Are you willing like Paul to commit your life to the service of the gospel?

Unfortunately, our response to that question more often than not is limited to going to church on a somewhat regular basis.  We’ll make sure we check in at a church for an hour or so every other week or so somewhere and that covers our consecration to the gospel.  But that answer reveals a gross misunderstanding of the nature of the church and of our mandate to carry the gospel to the world.  Church isn’t a building, and it’s not attending a service.  It’s not even  hearing a message.  If it was, then why not just all of us  stay home on the couch and download something on the internet and we can watch it at our convenience? 

Well that’s not church according to the Biblical definition. The Bible defines church as the body of Christ.  Now what does that mean? It means that  the church is a body of living organisms, each filled with the spiritual presence of Christ, each connected to one another in a local body, a living community, each dependent upon the rest of the parts of the body for their well being, and the body as a whole dependent upon the healthiness of the individual parts.  And that body that we are all to be a part of, it’s purpose is to reach the world with the gospel of salvation and to be effective, God needs all of the parts of the body to participate in the work.

Eph. 4: 15 says, “we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”  Notice it says grow up.  As Christians there is a time and a place for infancy and for being fed and nurtured and a newness in life.  But we are called to grow up, start eating the meat of the word, which is sound doctrine, and start serving the church in agape love, sacrificial love for the body the same way Christ served the church.

So by that definition then, church is not merely  checking in somewhere to watch a religious service.  But rather, church is reporting for duty, becoming a servant to the local body God has placed you in.  And if you aren’t fulfilling your responsibility to the local church you’re not fulfilling your responsibility to serve God.

We need to understand the equivalency of the terms gospel, church and ministry.  They are all connected.  They are all interdependent.  God never intended for a separation between the clergy and the laity.  God never designed the church to be operated by a few professionals, and populated by a congregation of spectators.  God’s design for the church is presented in 1Peter 2:5 which says “you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 

Christ changed Simon’s name to Peter, which meant rock or stone, and Jesus said upon this rock I will build my church.  And from that statement evolved a twisted doctrine that has resulted in the false notion  that only priests or ministers are the appointed professionals that God uses in the church.  But look at what Peter, the original stone, had to say.  You also, are living stones, you’re a holy priesthood, and you are designed to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God.  

I would ask you today, how is your priesthood going?  Have you consecrated your life, have you consecrated your body, have you consecrated your resources, have you committed your life to be a living sacrifice in service to God?   Are you offering up spiritual sacrifices to God?  Are you serving the church even as Christ served the church and gave His life up for her? Who is on the throne of your life?  Is  Christ on the throne or are you still in control and serving your  passions and your desires and your goals?

Or can you say with Paul, “I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.  For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”  Whatever I counted as success in my life before, I now count as loss for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I pray that your circumstances have brought about progress for the gospel.  That you will not let circumstances keep you from service, but you would see difficulties as opportunities for service.  I pray that those things or those people that you are chained to are being impacted for the gospel and that your testimony is matching your claim to Christianity.  I pray that your enthusiasm and commitment for the progress of the gospel is resulting in an encouragement to other Christians to step up in their commitment to the gospel as they see the sacrifices you have made.

And I pray that at the day of Christ’s appearing, you will be able to say with Paul that you are not ashamed, but Christ was exalted in your body, both in life and in death.  I pray that we might live according to the motto of Paul, the most elite warrior for Christ in the kingdom, “for me to live is Christ, but to die is gain.”

Growing in participation Phil. 1: 3-11

As we continue in our study of Philippians, you may remember that last week we looked at the first 6 verses of chapter one and the subject of our message was partnership in ministry.  And this subject of partnership was presented in verse 3, which says, “in view of your participation in the gospel.”  Today we are going to build on that idea as we look at growing in participation.  Participation in ministry is the means of growth, it’s the means to our maturity in Christ, to become all that God intends us to be in Christ. I think that’s what Jesus was referring to when He said, I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

In fact, in verse 6 Paul says that God’s plan is to complete in us that work that He began through the gospel.   God will  bring us to maturity through our  participation in the gospel.  In other words, as we are participating in the work of the gospel, God will work in us to complete us, to mature us, that we might bear the fruit of righteousness, until the day that Christ returns for His church, which is His bride. 

So in verse 7 Paul says it is only natural for me to feel confident and joyful about you because of your participation in the gospel.  Because, He says, you are all partakers of this grace with me.  Whether Paul was imprisoned, or defending the gospel, or testifying the gospel, whatever he was doing, the church at Philippi was participating in that as well.

Paul commends the church at Philippi because they are exemplary in their commitment to the furtherance of the gospel.  And so there should be an understanding on our part as we apply this passage to our lives, that this passage is based on the presupposition that the church is participating in the gospel.  Participation in the gospel is a prerequisite for the blessing of an abundant life.   And it was happening in Philippi. 

However, I don’t think that today in the church we are seeing participation in the gospel to the degree that it was happening in Philippi.  Today I feel that many modern churches are so far removed from the truth of the gospel that people in them can hardly even come to an understanding and acceptance of  salvation.  And even when they do come to salvation, then that’s as far as most church goers seem to want to go.

But Christianity isn’t supposed to stop with being forgiven, it doesn’t become dormant after receiving salvation.  Rather, salvation is merely the beginning of our Christian life.  That’s why it’s called the new birth.  We are given new life at salvation but that is merely the beginning.  But a lot of Christians want to stop right at forgiven, stop right at grace.  They want to stay in the breast feeding, new birth stage for the rest of their life. It’s nice and warm there, it’s comfortable there, and everything is supplied for you.  But God doesn’t want you to stay spiritually infantile, living in a world of self fulfillment and self gratification.   

God wants us to grow in maturity, to bear fruit.  And that happens when we  start living a life of sacrificial love towards others.  Participating in His work in the kingdom.  You’ve been given new birth?  Great!  Wonderful!  Now let’s start growing in maturity.  You’ve been saved?  Wonderful!  Now let’s get to work for the kingdom.  Once we are saved, God gives  us a job, a stewardship, He gives us responsibilities and He expects us to fulfill them.  And He has given us the Holy Spirit to live in us, to strengthen us and guide us and equip us in the work that He has given us to do.

Paul says I am only right in feeling this way about you, feeling confident about you,  because you are partakers of grace with me.  The church of Philippi’s deeds showed their commitment to the gospel.  They weren’t just giving lip service to God, but they were putting action to their faith.  And Paul is saying your participation in this grace is evidence that God is working in you.

Paul says these Philippians have given him great joy because of their participation in the gospel.  Paul planted this church in Philippi, and nothing gives a pastor more joy than to see his work, that is the people in the church, walking in the truth. The apostle John said something similar in 3 John 1:3  “For I was very glad when brethren came and testified to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth. I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.”  Notice, not just knowing the truth, but walking in the truth.  Not just lip service, but showing by their deeds.

See, love should not be just a one way street.  It’s not just God loving us, but us loving God by loving what He loves.  John tells us in 2 John that if we say we love God then we should love one another.  2John 1:6  You say you love God?  “This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.”  And the commandment was to love one another as you love yourself.  That’s a tall order by the way.

Many Christians find great solace in thinking that God loves us.  And there should indeed be great comfort in  the assurance of God’s love towards us.  But many times I think we secretly imagine that God loves us because we are in fact so loveable. God loving us merely confirms to us that we are actually pretty lovable people after all.  But actually, the Bible tells us that  God loved us even though we are vile, wretched, unloving, selfish, prideful, hateful people who are actually unlovable.  

Have you ever taken a real inventory of your sins?  If we honestly saw our sin in the way a holy, righteous God saw them, then maybe we would have a more realistic idea of how onerous in God’s eyes our sin really is. God knows everything I have done, and everything I have even thought of.  Things I try to forget.  I know that no one could really love me if they really knew me. But I must remember that God knows me.  It takes a supernatural kind of love to forgive my sin, and yet still love me.

I guess I probably seem like the most unromantic person in the world to some of you.  I sometimes tend to be  critical of sentimental love and want to focus on the harder, more practical aspects of our relationship to God.  And I admit maybe I’m not as romantic as I could be.  But perhaps my excuse is that in so many cases I think man’s concept of modern love does such a disservice to God’s concept of agape love. 

Paul says in verse 8 that he longs for the church with the affection of Christ Jesus. In other words, Paul loved the church with the same kind of love Christ had for the church. We should all be familiar by now with Christ’s love for us;  He loved us so much that He gave up His throne in heaven, gave up all His glory, to suffer shame and reproach and even a horrific death on the cross so that we might be forgiven of our sins and given new life.   We should all be familiar with that love by now, though we should never take it for granted.  And Paul says he has that kind of love for the church, the kind of love that Christ had, as Eph. 5:25 says “He gave himself up for the church.”  That’s Christ’s concept of love. He gave His life for us, because God loved us so much.

But then Paul gives us the other side of love, our side, what our love for Christ should look like.  It’s not enough that Christ loves us, but in a relationship love should be reciprocal.  Look at what our love is supposed to look like.  Vs. 9: “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ;  having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

One of the most beautiful love stories in the Bible illustrates the kind of love we are to have I think very well.  It is set in the time of Abraham and his son Isaac.  And when Abraham became old, he took aside his servant and told him to go to the land of Haran where Abraham was from and find a wife there for his son.  And Abraham gave him strict orders on how this should be done.  So the servant traveled many days to Abraham’s homeland and prayed that God would reveal the woman that would become Isaac’s wife.  And according to the prayer of the servant, when he arrived a beautiful young woman named Rebekah came out to draw water. The servant asked her for a drink, and in answer to his prayer the woman gave him a drink and then offered to water his camels as well. 

So the servant knew that this woman was the one that God had appointed for Isaac.  He went through the social customs of meeting the girl’s relatives, and then he stated his business.  He had come on behalf of his master Abraham to seek a wife for his son Isaac, and according to his prayer, Rebekah had been shown to be the chosen one of the Lord.  And so once he had explained how Abraham had sent him and who Isaac was and so forth they asked Rebekah if she would be willing to go with him to become the wife of Isaac. Gen 24:58  “Then they called Rebekah and said to her, "Will you go with this man?" And she said, "I will go." The next day, the young woman packs up her things, leaves all that she knows,  her home and her family, and goes with the servant to the land of Abraham to become the wife of Isaac. 

And in the evening, Isaac goes into the fields to meditate and he sees the camel caravan coming. Gen 24:64   Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from the camel.  She said to the servant, "Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?" And the servant said, "He is my master." Then she took her veil and covered herself.  The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.

Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her; thus Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.”  What I find so amazing about this story is that Rebekah’s love for Isaac wasn’t based on a feeling.  It wasn’t even based on romance.  It was based on a commitment.  And faith in a promise.  Actually faith in God’s promise to Abraham.

It’s a beautiful love story, but there is more to it than just a love story.  Abraham is a picture of God the Father, and He was seeking a bride for His Son.  And so God sent his servants into the world to find the future bride of Christ.  And by the foreknowledge of the Father, a bride is found in accordance to His will.   And the servant, the prophets, the Apostles, the preachers of the Father’s word, present the gospel to this bride and ask, “Will you come to Christ?  Will you forsake the world, all that you hold dear and come to Christ to live with Him and serve Him for the rest of your days?”  And the church, the bride of Christ’s answer was “Yes, I will go.”  I’ll give up everything for the sake of Christ.  I Peter 1:8 says, “and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”

I hope you are a participant in that love story.  I hope that the truth of the gospel has grabbed hold of your heart, and in faith you have given your life to Christ. I hope you have forsaken the world and the things of this world for faith in another world promised by God for those that love Him.  And though you have never seen Him, you love Him.  And though you do not see Him now, yet you believe in Him, obtaining as the outcome of your faith your salvation of your soul.  And I hope because you love Him, you love what He loves and you keep His commandments. 

Over the years that I have been in ministry, I’ve  seen a lot of people come in and out of the church.  They come perhaps because they reached the point where life has left them cold.  They are in some crisis, or they are lonely, or they realize that there has to be something more and are seeking the truth.  And so they come to church like a person coming up to a campfire.  It looks warm and inviting, and they are cold and in need of comfort.  And so this person stands there next to the fire for a while, and they can feel the heat.  They like the way it looks, perhaps.  They are attracted for a while.  

But after a time, they are warm and the crisis passes, and they don’t feel quite so lonely now, and so they begin to drift away.  Once in awhile they feel a need to come back over to the fire and warm up again.  And that seems to be the pattern for their lives.  They come and go.  They sidle up to the fire from time to time and get a little of the glow, get a little of the warmth.  But they fail to recognize that true Christianity, mature Christianity, is not just warming up next to the fire once in a while, but tending to the fire.  Participation in that fire that serves as a light in the darkness, that offers comfort to the hurting, and hope to the lost.  We are called to lay down our lives in service for the brethren.  Even as Christ gave his life for the church, so should we. 

Vs. 9 again,  “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ;  having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”  Note that true love for God results in growing in knowledge and discernment.  It comes from subjecting yourself to the teaching of the truth of God’s word.  It doesn’t result in a sentimental, skin deep, goose pimpled spirituality, but as we apply ourselves to the discipline of the gospel, in obedience to the gospel, then God gives us more and more knowledge through the scripture and the Holy Spirit gives us discernment in knowing truth from error.  So we preach a gospel here not based on sentimentality, or what you feel is right, or what I feel is right, or what our culture feels is right, or what society tells us is right.  But we preach the full gospel, which is able to give you discernment.

And as we are obedient, we gain discernment.   Folks, if there is one big, glaring deficiency in the church today it is discernment.  Most churches doctrine is a mile wide and an inch deep. We accept everything today.  We hold no fundamental beliefs anymore.  Like Eph. 4 says, we’re tossed here and there by every wind of doctrine.  And the enemy knows we have no firm foundation and that we are ripe for the plucking.  

 Hebrews 5: 12 says  “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.  For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.  But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”   Notice a couple of important things about this verse.  They are not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.  Isn’t that the case today in the church? People don’t know what the word says.  They just arbitrarily decide what’s appropriate or righteous based on what seems right to them, or what they may have seen on TV or a movie or read in a book.  But most can’t tell you what the scripture says.

And note another point.  Because of practice they have their senses trained to discern good and evil.  What does that mean?  It means that the mature are obedient to the things that God clearly shows in his word.  They practice what they preach.  To go back to what John said they walk according to His commandments.  They just don’t give lip service, they don’t just talk the talk, they walk the walk.  As they are obedient to the word, as they practice obedience, it trains them to recognize good and evil, truth and error.

V. 10, “so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ;  having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

You know what blameless means there in this scripture?  It comes from the Greek word “a pos kee poss”.  What blameless means is not causing others to stumble.  Not putting a stumbling block in front of others.  Not leading or causing others to sin.  We need to be practicing discernment so that we don’t cause another person to stumble.  Jesus said, there would be stumbling blocks in this world, but woe to that person whom through stumbling blocks should come.  It would be better for that person to be tied with a millstone around their neck and thrown in the middle of the ocean. 

And I’m afraid I’ve witnessed a lot of stumbling blocks in the church over the years.  Stumbling blocks are going to come, maybe they can’t even be helped.  But some of them come from men and women who should know better by now.  They should have been elders or deacons or teachers or preachers by now, but they are so self centered, so self focused, that they throw stumbling blocks here and there without any concern for how many people might fall because of their testimony.  But God will hold us accountable for being a stumbling block.

In closing, Paul says we are to be blameless, practicing what we preach, producing the fruit of a righteous life which results in bringing glory to God.    See, when we put on Jesus Christ, when we are not only clothed in His righteousness, but we are also practicing His commandments, when we are walking according to the Spirit of righteousness, when we are serving the body of Christ in agape love, then that kind of life brings glory to God.  We’re not to be about trying to bring glory to ourselves. But as John the Baptist said, He must increase, and I must decrease.  And as we learn to live as Christ lived, and love what Christ loved, and participate in His gospel and His church, then one day when we are ushered into His glory as the bride of Christ, we will share in His glory.  I pray that your life produces the fruit of righteousness, for that is the testimony to the unsaved world of our salvation, that leads our friends and neighbors to recognize the power of God to save and give new life. 

Eph 3:14-21 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,  from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,  that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; [and] that you, being rooted and grounded in love,  may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,  and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.  Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,  to Him [be] the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.