to live is Christ, to die is gain

Phil. 1:19-21

I’m sure by now you all are aware of the details of the attack on the US Consulate in Bengazi that began to make the news last week.  I was very dismayed, as I’m sure you were, over reports that our people there were left on their own after repeated calls for help.  Two of the men who died in the attack were former Navy Seals who were providing security for our forces there; Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.  Woods actually disobeyed orders and went to try to assist those under fire at the Consulate, and they were later killed by a mortar attack that it would seem that our government had every opportunity to take out beforehand and yet for some unknown reason, did not and left these men and the Ambassador to the terrorists.

I try not to be political in my messages.  But my excuse today is that this is not political, this was criminal.  Those responsible for allowing this tragedy to happen and then lie about it to try to cover it up should be held accountable.  It was a tragedy.  I am especially upset over the fact that these exceptional men who had sworn allegiance to defend our country, to lay down their lives for our country if necessary, such men were considered disposable.

I gave a message last winter in which I used Navy Seals and their training as an allegory for our spiritual walk, and during that time I did quite a bit of research about this special brand of soldier.  And I gained a tremendous amount of respect for their commitment and dedication.  You have to be the best of the best in practically every respect to be a part of that organization.  So to see their lives and that kind of commitment thrown away and dragged through the street is an outrage.

But there is another type of soldier that I would like to talk about today.  One that is just as committed, just as dedicated, and just as willing to sacrifice their lives in service if necessary as those SEALS were.  They operate in a different kind of battlefield arena perhaps, but their sacrifices are just as real and the commitment, if anything, is even more exemplary.

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 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 encountered. 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.”

The Navy SEALS motto was “The only easy day was yesterday.”  And I’m sure that any modern day Christian that followed Paul around for a day or two would find that he endured every bit as much hardship as the typical SEAL did.  In fact, at the time he wrote Philippians, he was chained to a Roman guard 24 hours a day.  He was awaiting trial to see 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 translates this phrase “earnest expectation and hope” as standing on his tiptoes in anticipation.  He 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?

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 saints.  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.  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 God uses to accomplish His will.  He uses our prayers.

Some of your Bibles may substitute the word salvation there instead of deliverance.  Paul isn’t talking about his own spiritual salvation in the sense of being born again.  But he is talking about deliverance, salvation from his circumstances.  Some think that this means Paul was expecting to get out of prison.  But I don’t think that the context of these verses allows that interpretation.  Look at verse 20, whether by life or by death, he says, 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.

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.  Unfortunately, the full resources of the United States government were held back during the Bengazi attack.  We had lasers, missiles, jets, helicopters and all kinds of resources we could have brought to bear in those many hours that those men were in battle.  And yet the US Government did not deploy those resources.

Thank God, as soldier of the heavenly kingdom we don’t have to worry about the availability of God’s resources.  They are always there 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, ladies and gentlemen.  God will provide all your needs according to His riches in glory so that you have every resource available to do His will.

See, that is the mistake 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 us as a toy box, but a tool box.  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.  If he calls you to give, he will give you the power and the gifts to be able to give, just be obedient.  Whatever he calls you to do, be obedient and God will supply your needs.  But they aren’t toys.   They are tools.  My dad was 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.  It 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 unwavering faith, 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 quoting directly 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 direct quotation 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.  To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

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. Rom 8:38“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?  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 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 man spends his whole life trying to bring honor and glory for himself and ends us empty and unfulfilled.

The Westminster Catechism says that “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”  Augustine 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, I went through about 3 and a half years of being so afraid.  I joke that I discovered panic attacks about 18 years ago before they became popular.  And 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 unto Christ to the point of death, that I would never really be able to live without fear.  It’s still a struggle for me in my flesh.  I don’t have a death wish.  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.”

I used to be very successful.  I used to make a fair amount of money.  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.  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 him as my substitute for my sins, 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 consequences, and freedom from it’s 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 heart to Christ, wherever you are this morning, I pray you lay down your life in service 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.