18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.
To Live Is Christ
Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.
27 Only let your manner of life be worthy1 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, 28 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. 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, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.
18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.
To Live Is Christ
Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.
27 Only let your manner of life be worthy1 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, 28 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. 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, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.
Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
Joel Brooks:
So Philippians 1, we'll begin reading in verse 18, The second half of 18. Yes, and I will rejoice. 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 me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. For if I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me, Yet which shall I choose, I cannot tell.
Joel Brooks:
I'm hard pressed between the 2. My desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is far greater. 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 and joy and 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 1 spirit with 1 mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents.
Joel Brooks:
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 you I still have.
Caleb Chancey:
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks
Joel Brooks:
be to God. Pray with me. Our father, we pray that through your spirit, you would bless the very reading of your word. Lord Jesus, we would hear you speak. I pray that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore, but lord, may your words remain and may they change us.
Joel Brooks:
We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen. So a couple of weeks ago, I was, meeting with, my good friend Alton Hardy. If you remember him, Alton is the pastor at Urban Hope Community Church in Fairfield. He came and he spoke at our church about the racism he experienced as a Black man growing up in Selma, Alabama.
Joel Brooks:
He is one of my closest friends and just a constant source of encouragement to me. And so I asked them the question we all have been asking one another over the last 10 months, how are you doing? I mean, in light of the pandemic, in light of the capital riots, and in light of, the shootings that have been taking place in Fairfield, asked him how he was doing, and he just looked at me. He goes, bro, he goes, bro, I just need to see Jesus on His throne. I just need to see Jesus on His throne.
Joel Brooks:
That's the only thing that will sustain me. That's the only hope that I've gotten. It's the only hope that this world's got. Christians need to stop their bickering with Revelation 45 over and over again is going to do that every day for the next month. And for those of you who don't know what that chapter, those chapters in the Bible are about, this is where the apostle John, he has a vision of Jesus on His throne.
Joel Brooks:
And this is a vision of not something happening, I believe in the distant future, but he's seeing a present reality. John is getting a glimpse behind the curtain as to what's really going on in the world, and it's Jesus, in all of His beauty, in all of His glory, surrounded by all of these creatures adoring and praising him. And it's currently happening. It's a sight that would make all of us drop to our knees. And Alton says, this is what he's praying for, that that would just be so fixed in his heart and mind because he doesn't know of any other answer for all the ills happening both within the church walls and outside of the church walls.
Joel Brooks:
I'm not sure what you think the answer is to everything that's happening around us, I think that's a pretty good answer. We just need to see Jesus on His throne. I say all of this because you need to understand that we do not have the words we just read in Philippians apart from that encounter that Paul had with Jesus, and seeing Jesus as the one who has all authority in heaven and earth. So we're gonna begin to unpack this, but we'll begin in verse 41 where we get to see this, this vision that that this shapes everything that Paul writes about. He met the living Jesus on that road to Damascus.
Joel Brooks:
I would say not just the living Jesus, but the resurrected and ascended Jesus. There's only 2 apostles who got to see the ascended Jesus. You got the apostle John and he writes about it in Revelation, and then you have Paul. He didn't just see the risen Jesus, but Jesus having received all power and authority, and when he saw that Jesus on Damascus, everything changes. And we get the verses that come before us.
Joel Brooks:
Verse 21, perhaps the most iconic words that Paul ever penned, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Actually, in the original language, there is no is there. Paul literally says, to live Christ. To die gain. The is is implied here, which was perfectly acceptable in Greek.
Joel Brooks:
However, this statement is still grammatically a little off. It doesn't quite make sense to us because no one talks this way. No one says to live Christ. So can we just all go back to to grammar class for just a second. Imagine you're back with miss Henderson in your 7th grade English class.
Joel Brooks:
I know you all want to go back to junior high and relive those days. Best years of your life. So you're sitting in class, you know, drawing X wing fighters and death stars, and and you're paying little attention to miss miss Henderson with with her tight, tight bun, just riding furiously on the chalkboard, and she is writing about this sentence, imagine, and saying how it's all wrong. You can't say to live is Christ. You can say something like this, for me to live is to run or for me to live is exciting.
Joel Brooks:
That makes sense. You can add for me to live is For me to live is Christ? Doesn't really make grammatical sense. Miss Henderson would not have liked Paul's wording here. Paul, of course, knows this.
Joel Brooks:
He's an educated man. He has his PhD, But it's like he's struggling for words. I mean if you were to just say, you know for me, I live for Christ. If you were to say for Christ, well that's that's not quite sufficient. Or if you're to say, you know, Christ is my very life, well, even that's lacking there.
Joel Brooks:
It falls short of what he wants to communicate. So he just says, for me to live Christ. For me to live Christ. Dying, gain. I don't know how else to say it, but my whole life is about Jesus.
Joel Brooks:
If I live, it's for Him. If I die, it's for Him. My life is completely and utterly His. Because if you have seen Jesus like I got to see Jesus, what else can you do? This was a man who lived a lived for a singular purpose.
Joel Brooks:
His next words that he writes are just as explosive here. You know, to live Christ and he says, to die gain. Keep in mind when Paul is writing that dying is gain, he's not writing about some hypothetical, you know, distant event. Death was a real present possibility for him. Paul's in prison, and it's not like the Romans put great value on human life.
Joel Brooks:
At any time, Paul could be executed, and yet he says he looks forward to that. I mean, this this would be like today, us staring down cancer, or or about to go into a a serious operation and asking ourselves, do I really wanna get through this? Do I? And Paul's not saying this because he hates his life. I mean, the guy's filled with joy, he he loves his life, he just knows that being with Jesus is infinitely better.
Joel Brooks:
And so he's conflicted here. I mean, departing this world is so much better, but if he stays, well then, of course, the Philippians benefit and and he could keep on planting churches. There's work to do. So he's trying to decide, which which do I choose as if it was his choice. So why is Paul having this internal debate and writing about it?
Joel Brooks:
It's it's like us getting to read his journal here. Why is he sharing this with the Philippians? It's because he's inviting them to think about the exact same things. He wants you thinking about life and death this way. So is this how you think about living and dying?
Joel Brooks:
Living is Christ, dying is gain. Do you get excited when you think about your departure? And what Paul is getting at here is that if you truly see death as gain, then you actually can begin to to live the life that Jesus has called you to. You see your death as gain, now you gain a whole new freedom. You're free to risk for Jesus, free to be bold for Jesus, free to deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Jesus, because if you do die, it's gain.
Joel Brooks:
We've we've talked about this before, but can you imagine if you were one of Paul's enemies and you were trying to persecute him? I mean, it it would just be infuriating. I mean, picture, like, you know, when the guards in prison, it's like, alright, alright Paul, you're free to go. He's like, great, I get to tell everybody about Jesus. Nope, can't go.
Joel Brooks:
We're keeping you in prison. Fantastic, I get to tell all of you about Jesus. We're gonna take your life. Praise God, I get to be with Jesus. Like you couldn't take away his joy.
Joel Brooks:
You couldn't take away his freedom. If Paul is gonna live, it's gonna be for Jesus. If he was gonna die, it was gonna be for Jesus. That's what Paul means when he says to live Christ. To die, gain.
Joel Brooks:
And this needs to be the heartbeat of every Christian. I believe Paul actually wrote it this way in order for it to be memorable. In order for it to be like, like our mantra, to live Christ. To die, gain. To live, Christ, to die, gain.
Joel Brooks:
Say it with me, church. To live, Christ. To die, gain. So what should be written on our hearts. Now Paul writes all of this in order to lead us up to the very first command of the letter.
Joel Brooks:
So we we've had 26 verses so far, but we have not had a single instruction given to us until now. But he makes this instruction worth the wait. It's a big one. And we read about it in verse 27, it says, only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.
Joel Brooks:
Now we're about 2000 years, you know, removed from this statement and so, the meaning of these words can just sail right over our heads, but there is no way that the Philippians missed the meaning of these words. That phrase, let your manner of life, is actually just one word in Greek. Polytuma. It's where we get the word politics from. Palituma.
Joel Brooks:
That's that one phrase, let your manner of life. And it could be translated as this, behave as a citizen. Some of you might actually have footnotes in your Bibles, mine does. A footnote that says, it can be translated this way, behave as a citizen. So that's what Paul is saying here, he's saying behave as a citizen worthy of the gospel of Christ.
Joel Brooks:
And so he's reminding these very proud citizens of the Roman Empire, that although they might have an earthly Caesar, Jesus is their King. Jesus is the one who's currently ruling with all power and with all authority, and they are citizens of His kingdom. To be a Christian is not to believe that Jesus will someday be on his throne ruling this world, but it's to believe that Jesus is right now the true and right lord of this world. That Jesus is right now reigning. Now of course, most of the world doesn't know this, which is why loyal Christians are so out of step with the rest of the world.
Joel Brooks:
That's why we're, we're misunderstood and why at times we're even persecuted because we believe that there is a different person in charge of this world and that we live by His laws and not by our culture's laws. Our citizenship lies with Him. When Jesus rose from the dead, there was a there was a change in the regime, if you will. And the rest of the world doesn't know it. So we get to proclaim the gospel or the good news of the King that there is a new regime.
Joel Brooks:
There is a new ruler of this world, and his name is Jesus. And when Paul says after this that we need to be standing firm in 1 spirit with 1 mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel. What he is saying is as followers of our Lord Jesus, as Christians, we need to now lock arms with one another. We need to be unified in our allegiance to Jesus as Lord. And when our opponents see our unity, it's going to be a clear sign of their destruction.
Joel Brooks:
A clear sign of their destruction? What? Let me ask you a question. Where is the Roman Empire now? Okay.
Joel Brooks:
Back now to 8th grade history, this time it's not miss Henderson, it's miss Walker. I liked her better, she wore her hair in a ponytail, she really was nice, wore bright colorful clothes. And now miss Walker is teaching you about the Roman Empire during this time, and she's telling you how the Roman Empire was the most dominant force in the world, and it was just entering really into its golden age. Its empire stretched all the way around the Mediterranean. Its emperors were seen as gods.
Joel Brooks:
But where are they now? Remember this is a history class. You're studying what was, not what is. The Roman Empire's ancient history, yet the kingdom of God endures. The kingdoms of this world, they rise, they fall.
Joel Brooks:
Paul says, but the kingdom you're a part of doesn't, so be fearless, Christian. Don't back down Christian. So this is how this plays out for us. We believe that Jesus is currently reigning, and that we live underneath his rule and not the rule of our culture, not the rule of this world, which means that we are going to be out of step with our culture. We are not to lock arms with our culture.
Joel Brooks:
We are to lock arms with the church and truth and be a part of the Kingdom of God, and it means we're going to be misunderstood. We're going to be even reviled at times because we're living under different law, living under a different reign. It means that we're gonna view money, power, sex, our identity, all differently than our culture. For instance, we believe that the meek shall inherit the earth and that we should never use force to get what we want. We believe that we live to serve others and not to be served.
Joel Brooks:
We believe that all life comes from God and the sanctity of life in the womb. We clearly have a different sexual ethic than the rest of the world. We believe that God created sex to be enjoyed only within the covenant relationship of a husband and a wife. These things do not lock arms with our culture, but these are things that we believe as followers of another reign, of another kingdom, followers of Jesus Christ our Lord that the world is clearly opposed to. So Paul says, lock arms, be united.
Joel Brooks:
And He had the audacity to tell that small little band of Christians, Be fearless because your kingdom remains, and everything in power around you will fade. And He was right. We don't lock arms with the rising and falling fads of our culture, but we lock arms with God's truth. And we'll be part of a kingdom that will have no end. Christian, let me ask you this, is there anything that you believe and practice that will inevitably lead to persecution by our culture?
Joel Brooks:
Is there anything you believe and practice that will inevitably lead to persecution from our culture? Because there should be. If there isn't, it's because you've locked arms with the culture instead of locking arms with Jesus' church. It means you have settled for a kingdom that will perish instead of a kingdom that will endure. And church, now is the time for us to be unified, for us to make our whole lives about our sweet savior, Jesus, who loved us and he came for us and he rescued us and now he reigns.
Joel Brooks:
And our prayer needs to be this, that we see Jesus as beautiful and glorious reigning on his throne. And when we see that, well then for me to live is Christ, to die is gain, To live, Christ. To die, gain. Pray with me. Lord Jesus, you are a king.
Joel Brooks:
You are a life, and we joyfully and gladly submit to your lordship. We thank you that you have come to rescue us, to free us, to forgive us, and to give us new life. And I pray our entire lives
Caleb Chancey:
will be lived for your glory.
Joel Brooks:
Write it on our hearts, Jesus, that to live is Jesus, to die is gain. And we pray this in your strong name. Amen.