To Live Is Chris

Philippians 1:19 - 2:11

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Our sermon text today is going to be Philippians chapter 1, verse 19 through Philippians 2, verse 11. We're continuing in the sermon series called To Live is Christ. And as Mikhail reminded me often leading up to this, I am going to be teaching one of his favorite passages in scripture. And there may have been a little bit of jealousy on his part. So I'll start off by reading our sermon text, and then we'll get into it. Starting in Philippians chapter 1, verse 19. For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage, now as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose, I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress enjoying the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had, and now hear that I still have. So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count himself, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form. He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death, even to death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that the name of Jesus every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Now, I know that that is a lengthy passage to read through, but I want I wanted that to be fresh in our mind as we go through that piece by piece. So if you were asked to summarize your life in a single sentence, to give the driving engine behind why you wake up every morning and go through your tasks and stay faithful to your commitments, what would your answer be? I think if most of us are honest, the first thing that comes to mind is probably one of the many things that consumes our time and energy on a daily basis. If we were honest, we might say something like, I'm a family man, I live to provide for my wife and children. I'm a homemaker, a mother, I live to serve and care for my family. I'm a nurse. I wake up every day ready to give my best care for my patients. I'm a pastor, consumed with the task of guiding my flock towards God. I think that whatever our current attention is fixated upon would probably be what comes out if we were to answer honestly. I also think it's unlikely that those are the things we would respond with. But when plans fall apart, when our calendars are too busy, when our anxiety level rises due to finances or relational stress, our reactions tell the truth. The things that we protect and defend are not always what we aspire to place at the core of our lives, but they are always the things we think of late at night when we're falling asleep, the things that come first to mind when we wake, and the things that linger with us throughout the day. Last week, as we opened Paul's letter to the Philippians, we saw how the gospel radically reshapes the way we interpret reality. Paul was sitting in a Roman prison, facing chains or in chains, under guard, facing public opposition, and an uncertain future by any human metric, his life was on hold. His ministry was interrupted. But instead of asking, why is this happening to me, or how can I get out of this uncomfortable nightmare? Paul looked through a completely different lens and he asked, Is Christ being made known? He talked about how a gospel-centered life interprets every circumstance through the advance of Christ's kingdom rather than personal comfort or personal desire. Because Paul's greatest pleasure, treasure was Jesus, even a prison cell couldn't stop his purpose. It only expanded his platform to ears that might not have had an opportunity to hear him. This week in Philippians 1.19 through 211, Paul takes that exact same logic and drives it deeper into our hearts. He takes us beyond the gospel, reframing our perception of circumstances when things get hard, to using the gospel to reframe our entire reason for existing. Paul is about to make an odd or did, but Paul makes an audacious counter-cultural statement that cuts straight through the noise of our self-absorbed world. In verse 21, he says, For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If we look at the first three verses of our text today, in verse 19, Paul says that he knows that his prayers or our prayers, the Church of Philippi, with the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, will bring his deliverance. Initially, we might look at that and go, well, he's talking about being released from prison. But is he talking about being released from prison or is he speaking of deliverance from his earthly struggles to where he can rejoice in Christ's presence? In verse 20, he says that Christ will be honored in his body, whether in life or in death. The crucial thing for Paul is not whether he lives or dies. So that's why his deliverance is simply speaking to one or the other. The crucial thing for Paul is that if he lives, his actions would honor and proclaim Christ. And if he dies, his death, while freeing him from this earth and taking him to Christ's presence, would also proclaim and honor Christ. He sums that mentality up in verse 21 when he says, For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. There is no desire there for his comfort or advancement. His entire focus is on seeking the advancement of Christ's kingdom. To live is tantamount to serving Christ. In fact, Paul is saying here that to die should be seen as gain, because that would mean that Paul would be freed from his trouble-filled life on earth. And it would also mean that he died because his witness, his example, and his ministry so blatantly and unashamedly pointed the lost, the sinners, and the downtrodden redeemed to Christ that the powers of this world would not allow it to continue. To live was to continue spreading the kingdom. To die was to give testimony to peace and the eternal security one found in that kingdom. It's the heartbeat of our text today. A gospel-centered life surrenders personal rights, status, and comfort, so that nothing stands greater in our life, in the life of a Christian, than the growth of the kingdom of heaven. We hold this focus first and foremost so that our example in life and our testimony in death leaves no doubt as to the power, love, grace, and mercy of our Savior. So, continuing in that mind, let's look at verses 22 through 26. Paul states here that he's hard-pressed as to which outcome he should desire. To remain alive would allow him to help the Philippians further on their own spiritual journey. To die would allow him to be with Christ. He does honestly state that his desire is to go and be with his savior, but he recognizes that to remain would benefit others and strengthen their faith. If we ask, what is the heart behind Paul's motives and actions here? His own personal desire is a good thing. He wants to go and be with his savior. He wants to leave behind the troubles, pains, anxieties, and sufferings. And it's a good thing for him to desire the comfort of Christ's presence. But Paul doesn't make it about himself. He's open and honest. He doesn't pretend to be a saint that naturally desires self-sacrifice over self-fulfillment. He acknowledges his desires and then sets an example in verse 24 and 25 when he says that because he knows to remain in the flesh is more necessary, he knows that he will remain. We ought to ponder and meditate on those two verses. It's a rich calling, a powerful example, even a worldview-shattering exhortation on how we stack priorities and service against comfort and self-desire. As Pastor McHale has done so often since taking on the service and leadership of his position here, I'd like to call our attention to our own hearts and intentions in this place. Not to say that we're doing anything wrong, but to continue to frame what we should be focused on. Why are we here? What do we prioritize inside these walls? What gives us joy? Do we chase comfort and familiarity over humble service that not just willingly but eagerly steps into the calling or role that God calls us to? See, I genuinely desire to be friends with each and every one of you that sits here today. I want to know about your life, your passions, your family, your goals in life, all the things that we can sit and talk about around a campfire. I'm making an open, honest statement that my heart instinctively first desires to pursue friendship. That is naturally what I first think of when I meet someone new. And I don't believe that's bad. I don't believe that it's in opposition to anything that the gospel or Paul is teaching here. But Paul didn't say that he was going to stay so he could play board games or soccer or weave baskets or sew quilts or any other number of activities that we as humans are prone to build bonds through. Before you think that I was separating those by gender, I have done all of those things multiple times. Paul clearly states his purpose and staying for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming to you again. The focus of any healthy church is not aimed at creating a social club. We should become friends. We should desire to know one another, to invite others in and to rejoice the spreading of the gospel and the unity of the body. I host a monthly guys' night. I've heard rumblings that there will be women's events going on. I play soccer on Sundays, we host holiday events where we play volleyball. But I don't come to church for any of those activities. And I don't or I should not view fellow believers as friends first. Think Mikkel has said multiple times that if the first point of our bond is that we share a hobby or we share an interest or we like the same sports team, it's a flaky foundation. It doesn't build out to an actual common goal, a common purpose. I come to church to hear and spread the gospel. And I view fellow believers as fellow missionaries and servants of the kingdom of God. Meaning that to me, before we are friends, before we are buddies, we are fellow believers redeemed by the grace of God and given a mission that draws us towards a common purpose. I'm not trying to say that we should live a very Puritan lifestyle and cast off all worldly joys and comforts, and that our relationships and our time together should focus solely on scripture and contemplation of the gospel. My point is that we what we are laying is the foundation of our life, and what we are laying as the foundation of this church matters. Churches come under attack. Believers are faced with struggles. And if the people that you choose to walk through life are there with you because it's fun or it's convenient, or you're really fun at a party, when all of those things are no longer true, you're probably not going to find people alongside you, and you're probably not going to be alongside those people. It's far more comfortable to find a group of people that you really like, to set a familiar routine, to create a safe space, than to open the doors and welcome in the world. It's difficult to reckon with your own brokenness and failing as someone who still needs Christ just as desperately as those you're ministering to. But in this mindset of wanting to maintain the status quo or being more focused on our experience at church or closing our social group because what we have now makes us happy, we're not living a mindset of serving for Christ. We're not living a mindset of to live is Christ. And we're not living in unity in faith and service. At my youthful age of 31, I've seen the buddy churches. I've seen the frozen chosen churches. They don't last. And the reason they don't last is because they don't fulfill their calling to spread the kingdom of heaven. We'll come back to this topic in chapter two, but for now, let's look at verses 27 through 30. Paul exhorts the Philippians in the next four verses to continue living in a way that is worthy of the gospel of Christ. His opening line of verse 22, sorry, of verse 27, only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ could be translated as only be citizens worthy of the gospel. If we remember what Mikhail said last week, Philippi prided itself on being a Roman colony. It offered the honor and privileges of Roman citizenship. So Paul is not speaking idly here. He's reminding the church of Philippi that they are not first citizens of Rome, but citizens of heaven. Therefore, they should look to Christ, not Caesar, for their model of behavior. And they should keep their primary allegiance to God and his kingdom. Paul's not calling them to be disruptive, rebellious, or lawless against the Roman structure. He's once again creating a hierarchy. They should elevate their view of Christ and his laws and choose the path that leads to the kingdom of heaven over the path that leads to the Roman Empire. And Paul is not calling them to this lightly or with a false hope of peace and prosperity. Remember, he is sitting in prison for standing up to the social pressure of the Roman Empire. He instead promises that they will suffer for the sake of Christ. He's not saying, hey, I know I'm sitting in prison, but if you guys just do what I do, I'm the example, they'll leave you alone. He's saying, I'm writing to you, suffering for the sake of Christ, to exhort you to continue in my example. Oh, and by the way, when you do that, you will also suffer. FYI. When he says in verse 29, for it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ, you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake. He's saying that both suffering and faith are gifts of God. They are both gifts of God. They are granted to us. The word granted is derived from the word, it's probably not how it sounds in Greek, but sharice, which literally means grace or a favored gift. When Paul says that suffering has been granted to them, he uses the exact same word that is used throughout the New Testament to describe God graciously bestowing salvation. Paul is turning the human reflex towards suffering on its head. Suffering for Christ is not a divine penalty like when we suffer the consequences of sin. Suffering for Christ is a divine gift. God has bestowed two privileges upon believers. The privilege of saving faith and the privilege of suffering for his name. Paul is speaking to people who will be ridiculed, shamed, ostracized in society because of their surrender to Christ. Paul is encouraging them and not only reminding and reminding them not only of Paul's own suffering and his joy, he maintains it, maintains through it, but even of Christ's own suffering for us. And the example that we're to follow as we suffer. In verse 10, he is speaking of being found in Christ and his Paul's righteousness, not coming from the law, but through faith. He says in verse 10 of chapter 3 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. Think of it like this believing in Christ unites us to his salvation. Suffering for Christ unites us to his character, his heart, his humility, and his self emptying path. We did not earn salvation. We didn't bring ourselves to salvation. We didn't discover salvation. We didn't enlighten ourselves to a higher plane and therefore earn salvation. Salvation is given freely to us by the grace of God. It is bestowed upon us by no work of our own, despite the fact that we do not deserve it. And I think that's why suffering is also a gift. Suffering for the sake of Christ is also bestowed upon us. Not so that we can repay the suffering of Christ or the patience and love of God, but so that we may be further united to his will and his heart to understand his desires and plans for his kingdom. Think back to the question that I opened the message with today. If you were asked to summarize your life in a single sentence, to give the driving engine behind why you wake up every morning, what would your answer be? This isn't the only thing that we'll talk about today that answers that question. But it's an important part of the question. Suffering will not be easy because it's suffering for Christ's sake. It's not suffering if it's easy. Suffering as a result of sin cannot on its own deliver joy. Say that again. Suffering caused by sin cannot on its own deliver joy. Because sin is separation from God. So the suffering it causes is a result of that separation from God. But suffering for the sake of Christ reveals God to us. I saw an interesting video where someone asked an apologetic for Christianity a question. But the answer the apologist gave was interesting. Why doesn't an all-knowing, all-powerful creator in God reveal himself in his fullness to creatures drenched in the blood and gore of their sins? Maybe because a broken, sin-consumed, rebellious, and hardened humanity cannot understand the Savior, an all-powerful being, from a single revelation. Perhaps the journey that we see in the Old Testament isn't a journey of God finding his morality and changing himself, but rather a journey of him revealing himself more and more as he draws a broken people to him. Maybe the grace of God is that he knew he called an imperfect, fallen, broken people. And instead of demanding that they become like him in an instant when the truth is revealed to them, he led them through a process of transformation, giving laws and sacrifices to atone for the gaps that he knew would separate him from them or them from him. And instead of punishing them for their imperfections, he nourished their faith, showing his great love and mercy, delivered justice, and continually drew them from the shadows and the darkness that cloded them to his redeeming light. That's not an exact quote from what the person said, but that is the theme they followed on. See, suffering for Christ's sake delivers to us the same type of journey that we see in the Bible, in the Old Testament. We can believe in the cross. We can have a confidence and a firm footing upon the truth that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again. We can believe that God has delivered us not only this faith, but freedom from sin as well, and yet continually fall short on understanding why He did it and who our marvelous Savior really is. That is where suffering for Christ's sake changes us. See, there's no circumstance we face, no suffering we endure, no wrong we bear, no pain that wounds us that Christ does not understand. And there is certainly no suffering we can bear or endure that is greater than what Christ suffered for our sake. Before we look at the 11 verses in chapter two, we have to understand Paul's message here. If we did not earn faith and we did not find faith, but it was graciously bestowed upon us, then what claim should anything else have to being first and foremost in our life? If the foundation of our approach to our and to our existence on earth is the indescribable gratitude and faithfulness to the Savior who has given us freedom and eternal security, then why would we say no to suffering for his sake? And if our suffering is faced with joy, knowing that we that through it we give testimony to our faith, to Christ, and to the glory of his kingdom, then how can we not persevere through it? The example that comes to my mind as I was when I was teaching through 1 and 2 Peter, and even now, is Job. And I'll grant you that Job didn't always seem to be filled with joy in the midst of his suffering. I don't imagine him dancing a jig when he found out that his family had perished. That's not what we mean by joy. But Job, through all of it, held a deep conviction that God was still in control, and his faith was rooted in the belief that God is greater than anything else. So if God allowed him to suffer, then Job understood it was not his place to demand something different. In Job chapter 1, verse 20, he says, Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return. The Lord gave and the Lord is taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. In chapter 2, verses 9 through 10. Then his wife said to him, Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die. But he said to her, You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this, Job did not sin with his lips. The word that Job used there can mean evil in the sense that we would take it to mean today, but it can also mean calamity. I don't believe that Job is accusing God of acting good towards him and then acting evil. Job is saying, if my devotion to God is only based upon his faithfulness to deliver me comfort and riches and renown, is it actually faith? If we happily accept his gifts when life is comfortable, do we have the right to spell against him the moment life becomes painful? He's speaking here to the sovereignty of God. If we take what Job says and what Paul says, we should find a sense of comfort when we face suffering. If we face suffering for our wrongdoings, is there not joy that the grace of God has forgiven us and freed us from eternal damnation, saving us from a punishment we deserve? Is there not joy in knowing that God's love is with us despite our rebellion? And when we face suffering not caused by our own hands or our deeds, there is joy to be found knowing that by embracing that suffering, by bearing the injustice and pressing on to further the kingdom of heaven, the Father is further revealed to us, and we are transformed to be more like Him. When friendships fall apart, don't become bitter and lash out at the person that has hurt you. Continue in love, knowing that you yourself have been forgiven and called to love those that hurt you, as Christ forgave and loved you. When finances falter or even crumble beneath you, don't despair because a broken world has failed to meet your needs. But remember the God you were willing to trust and serve in prosperity and even in the midst of stress, and challenge yourself to rejoice and proclaim your Savior even in a time of struggle. If your rights and freedoms are stripped away, are you called to arm yourself and fight for the rights the founding fathers gave you? Or are you called to continue the spread of the gospel, ministering to each and every person you encounter, refusing to allow any authority to turn you from the gift God has bestowed upon you? When your brothers and sisters in Christ wrong you, or the church you attend begins to change, don't ask yourself if you have the best pastor, the best music, the easiest drive, the prettiest chapel, the most convenient congregation to be a part of. Ask yourself if this is where the gospel is taught and spread to the world, and if this is where Christ has called you to be a part of the body. Again, there is no trial we face, no journey we walk that He does not give us strength for and walk beside as sin. And that takes us to chapter two and the final set of verses for our message today. Now there's two sections to these eleven verses. In the first four, Paul encourages the church and Philippi to unity in the faith and service to one another. The church should live out their life in Christ, in service to Christ, by living in unity. He says from the text. So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interest of others. His statement here isn't to say that these things aren't present in the congregation at Philippi, but rather he uses the if to provoke reflection on whether these qualities are evident in their life. Paul is almost requiring them to continue to progress in the absolutely critical area of love for one another, not in the sense that they make it a comfortable place for themselves that serves their own needs, but in the entirely opposite direction. He wants them to be of the same mind, a group with diverse gifts, working in an agreeable, cooperative spirit with the focus on the glory of God. His words in verse 3 and 4 felt sort of a callback to verses 15 through 17 of chapter 1. Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. In verse 18, he goes on to rejoice that either way Christ is proclaimed. But I don't think he's telling the church of Philippi in verses three and four that they should give in to the temptation of preaching the gospel for self-promotion and benefit. And, you know, the church will still be spreading the message. So that's good. Rather, Paul is recognizing an innately human condition that everyone naturally looks out for his or her own interests. That's why I began the message with a question about what is the driving force in your life that moves you through your day and through your life. Paul is saying that we ought to take the same level of concern we hold for ourselves and apply it also to the interest of others. See, such radical love is rare and it's difficult to practice. And so Paul gives that exhortation and then proceeds to show its supreme reality in the life of Christ. Verses 5 through 11. Having this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count a quality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. This passage is apparently referred to as the hymn of Christ. Paul depicts Christ's example of service in a stirring poem that traces his pre-existence, incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of God. Let's pull some key words from what Paul says there. But emptied himself by taking the form of a servant. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. It wasn't about what he deserved. It wasn't about what he had earned through sin because he did not sin. He knew no sin. It wasn't about his desires or his comfort or his safety. It was about sacrifice, service, humility, and love. See, crucifixion was not simply death in the Roman culture. It was the ultimate indignity, a public statement by Rome that the crucified one was beyond contempt. Paul does not make this connection lightly. He knows the pride of the people of Philippi, and he points them to an example of humility in the face of scorn and humiliation at the hands of the Romans. He doesn't stop there, though. This isn't just about humility for the sake of lowering oneself. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every other name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Christ suffered. This is what he suffered for. The glory of God, the kingdom of heaven, to make a way for us so that God might bestow upon us a gift we do not deserve. Paul's message here is not complicated, but it's not easy to grasp or wrestle with either. We must suffer for the sake of Christ. And through that suffering, we will know him more. We must serve, thinking of others before us, because when we remove ourselves, it's the focus of our actions, we can see the needs of the church and the lost, and the kingdom of heaven grows. When the driving force of our life is not following Christ and God's will for us, we see gain and loss very differently from where from how Paul expressed it here. So you see, if to live is money, to die is loss. If to live is comfort, to die is pain. If to live is fame, to die is to be forgotten. But if to live is to serve Christ, to die is to glorify him. Paul makes himself an example first. He shows how he frames his desires and even his identity from a place of utter submission to God's will. He exhorts the church and Philippi to pursue unity, and through their unity and love, even when persecuted, the gospel should be proclaimed. And then Paul delivers a beautiful, awe and tear-inducing hymn that lifts Christ up as a shining example so that the church does not become obsessed with Paul or with themselves, but he delivers them an example that keeps their focus on the Savior Himself. So I'll end with a few questions for us to think about this week. How would you fill in the blank in this question? If you were honest, for me to live is what? And as you go through your week, think about what consumes your time and your energy and your emotions, and maybe write that down. On Tuesday, this is what consumed me. On Thursday, this is what consumed me. Couldn't go to sleep on Friday, this is what consumed me. If we look at the hymn of Christ in Philippians 2, 5 through 8, which step of his humility speaks to you most deeply today? Where might he be calling you to humble yourself? How does Paul's view of life and death, to die is gain, change the way that we approach loss, aging, or trial? And finally, verse 3 of chapter 2 commands us to count others more significant than yourselves. What is one concrete way that you can put this into practice at home, work, in your church, or in your community this week? Let's pray. But even in those moments, do not lift themselves up, but say, as you see my example, understand that my example is of is from Christ. And they point us back to Christ. Thank you for your willingness to empty yourself, to become like us so that our example is not an abstract thing that we must compare ourselves to, but an actual example that we can witness and recognize and apply to us. Thank you for your the work of the cross, for your desire to bestow not just faith on us, but suffering on us as Christ suffered so that we may become more like Him. Help us to walk out of this church this week with courage, vigor to go and serve your kingdom. We pray this in your name. Amen.