To Live Is Christ (Phil. 1:19-26)

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Prospects for the Future, to Live Is Christ (Phil 1:19-26)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on July 16, 2023

Many handle death through humor. A bumper sticker read, “Don’t take life so seriously. You won’t get out of it alive.”[1]

Harry Truman told the story of a man who was hit on the head and fell into a deep coma. He stayed there for a long time. People thought he was dead so they sent him to a funeral home and stuck him in a coffin. At two o’clock in the morning, all alone in this dimly lit room, he sat up and looked around. “Good night!” he said. “What’s going on? If I’m alive, why am I in a casket? And, if I’m dead, why do I have to go to the bathroom?”[2]

We are in a series on Philippians. As we get to Philippians 1:19-26 we see a passage in which Paul is confronting his own death.

My theme today is:

Paul desires to live for the Philippians, but knows if God calls him to heaven, he is better off.

  1. Paul’s dilemma (Phil. 1:19-22)
    1. Whether through life or death Paul wants Christ to be glorified.
    2. 1:19-22: 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.
    3. Paul explains the connection with their prayers and the help of the Holy Spirit.
    4. This is powerful. He is making a link with the outcome of his situation and their prayers.
    5. Paul is confident that this will turn out for his deliverance.
    6. What deliverance is he speaking of?
    7. The Greek word is the basic word for salvation but it can also mean “well-being” or “escape.”
    8. Does he think he will be delivered from prison, or from this life?
    9. There are different thoughts on that. Some think Paul is intentional in being ambiguous. It could apply to both. He might first have in mind deliverance from prison, but he wins if he is delivered from this life.
    10. Look at verse 20. Paul has expectations, and they are eager expectations. Paul also hopes that he will not be ashamed.
    11. What would he be ashamed of?
    12. I think he would be ashamed if he denies Christ, or curses God.
    13. In other words, if he curses God while in prison, or denies Christ, he would be ashamed. He explains that more in the rest of the verses.
    14. He writes, “but with full courage…” Another translation says “by my speaking with all boldness…”
    15. He says, “now, as always…” In other words, he can say that he has always tried to honor Christ. He wants this to continue.
    16. He wants Christ to be honored through him, whether in how he lives or how he dies.
    17. Do we think about magnifying Christ as we live and “as we die”?
    18. I recently read about a young mom dying of cancer. Even in her last 30 minutes, she was suffering and vomiting. John Piper answered the question, “How does that glorify God?” He said it glorifies God because even in her suffering, she did not curse God.[4] Like Job in the Old Testament, she did not curse God (Job 1:22; 2:9-11).
    19. Do we ever think about that? Do we ever pray, “Lord no matter what, don’t let me turn my back on you”? Remember the Lord’s prayer says, “Deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13). Remember Jesus taught us to pray “lead us not into temptation” (Matthew 6:13). God will not tempt us, but He will test us (James 1:3, 13). However, God can prevent us from being tempted. God can give us the strength to endure temptation (1 Cor. 10:13). God can deliver us from evil.
    20. It is very Biblical as a Christian to think and pray about standing strong in suffering and the tests. Often, we prepare for everything but not the spiritual. Christians will suffer persecution, and Christians will suffer other trials connected to a world of sickness.
    21. 2 Tim. 3:12 says the Christian pursuing godliness will suffer persecution.
    22. Here is Paul in prison, chained to a guard, saying that he wants to honor Christ whether he lives or dies.
    23. Warren Wiersbe: “The believer’s body is a ‘lens’ that makes a ‘little Christ’ look very big, and a ‘distant Christ’ come very close.”97[5]
    24. But we can do this because we are never alone.
    25. Verse 20: Piper reminds us that Jesus is always with us. So Jesus says, “Behold, I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). I think “always” is even more important than the phrase “to the end of the age.” It’s one thing to say he’ll be with us to the end of the age; it’s another for him to say, “I’ll be with you every minute of your life.”
    26. John Paton was a missionary to what’s now the New Hebrides. He was driven up into a tree as 1,300 aboriginal natives were trying to kill him. As they were beneath him, he laid hold of the promise of Matthew 28:19–20: “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. . . . I am with you always.”
    27. And here’s what he wrote later, because he survived: Without that abiding consciousness of the presence and power of my dear Lord and Savior, nothing else in all the world could have preserved me from losing my reason and perishing miserably. His words, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world,” became to me so real that it would not have startled me to behold him, as Stephen did, gazing down upon the scene. I felt his supporting power. . . . It is the sober truth, and it comes back to me sweetly after 20 years, that I had my nearest and dearest glimpses of the face and smiles of my blessed Lord Jesus in those dread moments when musket, club, or spear was being leveled at my life. (John G. Paton, 342)[6]
    28. Look at verse 21: For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
    29. Verse 21: “Is” is not in the original language.
    30. Literally: to live Christ…
    31. Then literally
    32. “To die gain” again there is no “is.”
    33. The greatest gain in heaven is to be with Jesus Christ.
    34. Death is our passageway to be with Jesus.
    35. NONE of this is about suicide. I think he is simply thinking about whether he prays for survival or not. When it seems like God is calling us home to heaven, there is nothing wrong with saying, “Lord, take me when you are ready.” This is when we can tell death is near.
    36. We must remember that our life is in God’s hands. God is the owner. When death seems near, we can ask him to take us, but we cannot ask others to take us. Maybe Paul is having this conversation with the Lord?
    37. Swindoll in Laugh Again, page 56:
    38. Those are the words of a man whose image was secure and whose reputation was not in need of being protected, massaged, or defended. His mind was firmly fixed on essentials, so much so that nothing brought him anxiety. “Whether by life or by death,” his focus was concentrated. He concerned himself only with things that mattered. For all he knew, death might be right around the corner. That thought alone provides an excellent filtering system, enabling us to separate what is essential from what is not. As dear old Samuel Johnson once stated, “When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.”[7]
    39. Now, verse 22: If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.
    40. We see Paul is torn. He knows to serve Christ in the flesh is better for the church at Philippi.
    41. He could’ve thought he might die in prison, or maybe he knew he would be released.
    42. One source shares: Paul’s remaining would help them by virtue of his continuance as a teacher, and perhaps also for legal precedent. Nero was not particularly interested in legal questions, and in d. 62 he freed Jewish hostages that the procurator Felix had previously sent him. Paul was likely released at this time.[8]
    43. We will see that he continues this in the next few verses. We see that Paul wants to remain in this life for them, for those he serves at the church in Philippi.
  2. Paul will remain for them (Phil. 1:23-26).
    1. Verse 23 (Phil. 1:23) seems to be the middle theme of this section.
    2. Look at verse 23 (Phil. 1:23): 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
    3. So, he strongly desires to let the Lord take him home to heaven.
    4. He has faced a lot of persecution. He has been shipwrecked, beaten, stoned, and left for dead, and now he is in prison (2 Cor 11:16-33; Acts 14:19-20).
    5. He knows how awesome Heaven is. In 2 Cor. 12, Paul talks about going to heaven and seeing things that he was not permitted to speak about. He knows how awesome it will be to be physically with Jesus.
    6. There is a lesson here. There are several of them. How often do we cling to this life like this is all that matters? No, when God calls us home to heaven, we do not miss out on anything. It will be far, far better than anything we are going through. The Christian idea of a bucket list, things we want to do before we die, diminishes the awesomeness of heaven.
    7. Now, look at Phil. 1:24-26: 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.
    8. He thinks it is better for them if he remains on Earth. If he keeps trying to live.
    9. I want to repeat: NONE of this is about suicide. I think he is simply thinking about whether he prays for survival or not. When it seems like God is calling us home to heaven, there is nothing wrong with saying, “Lord, take me when you are ready.” This is when we can tell death is near.
    10. Paul is living for them. He wants to live for others.
    11. As we look at this passage, we see his argument.
    12. Verse 25: “Convinced of this…” “Convinced of” what? He is convinced of what he said in verse 24. He is convinced it is better for them if he lives.
    13. He has been convinced. He had an inner turmoil about giving up and the Lord calling him home, or staying, but he was convinced it is better for them if he stays. So, he will stay and continue with them. He will continue for their progress and joy in the faith.
    14. He wants to continue living. However, not for him, but them.
    15. There is no retirement for Paul. There is no complacency in Paul. His life is for them. That applies to us as well.
    16. He is continuing for their progress. He is continuing for their growth in the faith. He is continuing for their joy, but it is joy in the faith.
    17. Statements in the later Pastoral Epistles, as well as in the writings of some of the early church fathers, indicate that Nero released Paul from his first Roman imprisonment in A.D. 62. The apostle then resumed his missionary labors and returned to Macedonia—and probably to Philippi. However the Romans arrested him again, imprisoned him in Rome a second time, and then executed him there. He died as a martyr in A.D. 68. If this historical sequence is accurate, Paul probably did contribute to the spiritual progress and joy of the Philippians in their faith as he said here that he expected he would.[11]
    18. Let’s wrap this up with verse 26: so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.
    19. He wants to come to them again, and he wants them to glory in Christ Jesus. Because of his persistent ministry, he wants that to point to Jesus. He wants all that he does to bring more glory to Christ. It is likely that no one would think he could visit them again, but he wants to visit them. Then he wants them to give God glory for making it happen.
    20. He does not want them to look at him and say great things about him but great things about Christ’s work in him.

Close:

How is death gain for the Christian?

John Piper shares:

How is it “gain” to die?

1) Our spirits will be made perfect (Hebrews 12:22–23).

2) We will be relieved of the pain of this world (Luke 16:24–25).

3) We will be given profound rest in our souls (Revelation 6:9–11).

4) We will experience a deep at-homeness (2 Corinthians 5:8).

5) We will be with Christ (Philippians 1:21–23).

 Christ is a more wonderful person than anyone on earth. He is wiser, stronger, and kinder than anyone you enjoy spending time with. He is endlessly interesting. He knows exactly what to do and what to say at every moment to make his guests as glad as they can possibly be. He overflows in love and with infinite insight into how to use that love to make his loved ones feel loved. Therefore Paul said,

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. [Devotional excerpted from “It Is Great Gain to Die”][12]

Prayer

[1] Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1501 Other Stories (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2016), 136.

[2] Ibid.

94 Lightfoot, p. 91.

[3] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Php 1:19.

[4] https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/not-dead-yet

97 Wiersbe, 2:69.

[5] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Php 1:20.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Swindoll in Laugh Again page 56

[8] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Php 1:24–26.

[9] Dr Lawson; Renewing Your Mind; 09.19.2022

[10] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Php 1:25.

110 Walvoord, p. 43. Cf. Lightfoot, p. 94.

[11] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Php 1:25.

[12] https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/five-reasons-death-is-gain

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