I invite you to turn your Bibles this morning to Philippians chapter 1. We conclude chapter 1 today of Philippians. I'm going to pick up at the break that's actually on page 1164 to live as Christ. I'll read right there and we'll read to the end of the chapter. Text really beginning at verse 21 today. This is the word of the Lord. Let's give our attention to it. 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 shamed, 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'm 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 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. 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 have, and now hear that I still have. There we'll end the reading of God's Word. Today we are looking at one of the most helpful sections in the scriptures to help us understand the way that the Christian is to look at life. That's one of the great themes that we're working through here in Philippians is how we are to evaluate life and how we are to look at life and think about life and look at it in a particularly redeemed way, with redeemed eyes. We have a way of looking at things that the world does not have, And that's very special, and the Lord wants us to enjoy that in this life. Paul is going after a mindset in this particular section in chapter 1, an attitude, an intellectual way, obviously, as people evaluate things and how that affects their emotions and how they look at life and what kind of people they become as they look at life and the outlook on life and how they're living the Christian life. I said last time, you know, we can get rather grumpy in this life. And there can be a lot of reasons for that. But it doesn't change this great truth of how the Lord wants us to look at things and evaluate things and think through things. Sometimes, I think we, as Christians, think we can just never figure out really what God is doing. And we sort of hang on that. They like the mystery of that, but just sort of give up. That really, we just don't know what he's doing, and we don't know what he's going to do. And so, we just live a little bit confused about never quite knowing what bad thing might come. And, hey, God has a purpose in it, we say. And then we still kind of remain confused about him not really knowing his intentions. That's really a wrong way to look at Scripture. Paul does not have that perspective. Paul does not have that perspective. You may not know specific reasons why things happen the way that they do. But Paul does tell us the big picture and the overarching picture of why God is doing what he's doing. And the big thing that he said last time, the one thing that he said in light of all of his own afflictions, his own hardships was, all these things are serving to the furtherance of the gospel. That's a really big, big statement that he's working with. He looked at life that in whatever way God was working in the lives of his people, it had a grand overarching purpose of furthering the gospel. That's how he looked at things. And he explained that to us last time. He says, why do you think I'm in prison? And you know, I've even, if you say that's just a little bit idealistic, Actually, I have learned to look at that from punk pastors who criticize me all the time and say all kinds of terrible things against me. But you know what? How I've learned to look at all the opposition and people who attack me and people who offend me in the ministry? I'm just thankful that they're preaching Jesus because it's about the furtherance of the gospel. That's what he said. So that's what I want to work with today to consider this marvelous passage with a similar outline that I had last time. If you take notes, we're really going to focus a long time. So I'm going to have a big, long first point, but don't get nervous. The second's shorter, and the third's really short, okay? So perspective of Paul in this, the perspective that God wants us to have is what I'm going to spend a moment on. The pursuit that God calls us to share in, and then the present that he's given you all. Boys and girls, like a present. We're going to look at that. Let's begin with this perspective that God wants us to have. Outside of Jesus himself, we could go through the scriptures and say there are a lot of people who suffered. Old Testament has Job as sort of the great grand example of suffering. The New Testament really does have Paul. Really, there weren't many more, any other apostle that suffered the way that Paul describes his own sufferings in the scripture. And you really see Paul get personal with this in many ways. Philippians 1 is very personal from Paul. Paul is really trying to help them with his own life. The scriptures do do that. And one of the reasons that Paul explains elsewhere is why the apostles had to suffer so much when he said this, for I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. Can you imagine if God had put the apostles as a bunch of Joel Osteins running around? Saying life is good, wearing the t-shirt, flying in jets. Can you imagine that? We wouldn't connect with that. God put them through a lot of suffering in life. God put them through a lot of hardship in life. He gave them a special display that most Christians would never have to face afterward, but at least when they suffered, they could identify with this. The heroes of the faith. The apostles were given a lot of suffering for you so that you would look at them and say we're not alone in this we have a partnership in this and they suffered terribly they suffered in awful ways for the gospel in difficulties and in struggles this is what had happened to them and Paul was encouraging them I don't want you to think in your difficulties that we're doing something different we have this grand gospel fellowship. We have this partnership. You have an apostolic secession of ministry, not popes. A ministry that you share in that's given to you. And what had happened with the church as we've been studying was their difficulties, their struggles, their sufferings in the present evil age threw them all off mission. They were being persecuted, remember? And they were internally unraveling as a church. All their priorities were lost. We've been looking at this. You know, some of you have been through a lot of conflict in life and a lot of suffering. In the valley of the shadow of death, you faced a lot of death. Some of you have faced it to way more degrees than others. Some of you have had a rather good go of things. Paul's helping us through this whole perspective here, to think about this. It's easy at these moments to lose heart. It's easy at these moments to lose a grip, to forget purpose, hope, and to forget the goal of your life. Haven't I been emphasizing that? That's why I gave the marriage illustration a few weeks ago with marriage. I believe right now the church in North America is going to face even bigger tests to come, handwritings on the wall, with challenges of living in a godless age. And what will we do? Will we become angry warriors? Will we become fighters in the wrong way? How quickly could something derail the church today? How quickly could we get caught up in the disputes of this age and rip us apart. This is where Paul's helping them. This is what he wants them to think about. In the midst of the struggle, how are you looking at things, and what is your mindset in the church, and your purpose, and mission, and goal, and unity, all together as one? Last time he said, look at me. I'm in prison, and I've got pastors attacking me everywhere. And he says, you know what happened in the midst of this? God started saving the prison guards. Paul had a remarkable prison ministry. Everywhere he went, prison guards were getting saved. Remember Philippians? The Philippian jailer? That happened in Rome, too. It's this really interesting connection. Paul went, and Paul suffered for righteousness, ended up in prison. He took beatings and lashes and jailings and sufferings and everything under the sun. And then he says, you're not going to believe this, but God's raising up a church in the prison here through my ministry. And I'm unhindered to preach. What a perspective. What a perspective. And I'm just happy when Jesus is preached when these guys attack me. And these are important things to think about. Imagine how a church could be ripped up today. I hear the reports. I have to say, I'm so thankful for the Escondido URC and how you have handled this. I'm surprised we don't have, as I've heard all over about the churches divided on politics right now, I'm surprised we don't have first mask Reformed Church and second anti-mask Reformed Church. This is what's happening. Everyone's dividing up. How do we look at life? How do we look at affliction? How do we look at them? Are they appointed or do they just come willy-nilly? Now it's as if Paul says, let me take you then to your ultimate fear. Let's go there. I know what your ultimate fear is. I know what's driving you. That's why you're afraid of all the opposition in the culture. You're afraid of death. That's the issue. You're all afraid of death. And I'm going to help you through that. That's the extreme greatest fear that people have in life. Francis Bacon once said, men fear death as children fear the dark. People are always living to beat death. People are always living to overcome death. That's what's happened right now. We live in a world of people who are scared to death of death. And we're going to overcome it. And we're going to beat it on our terms. we can't even get a flu anymore. That's where we are. I know it's tough. Look at how we've enjoyed everything good under the sun in our times. The best of medicines, the best of advancements, the best way of life that could be given to people under the sun, you've got to enjoy in a world that's full of sin and misery and suffering and hardship. The previous generation did not live like we do. It's tough. We live really well. We live really well. What we begin to think is, life is just about forestalling and trying to prevent death for as long as we can so that we will enjoy this. That's our mindset. That's what America has trained us to believe. That's what the culture has trained us to live for. Now, this is where we are today. The Bible comes along and says that's a really foolish way to invest the Christian life. That's a way of living in a lot of bondage. You're not looking at life at all the way you should be looking at life. See, if this is the investment of life just to overcome your greatest fear, that is the most ineffective perspective for a Christian whose purpose is to, this is Paul's perspective, show forth the life of Jesus in us. Remember what Paul said. We always carry about in our body the death of Jesus. What? So that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. Paul had a good theology of the body. You can't carry about in your body the death of your Savior to showcase it if life is just about beating death. You see? This is where perspective comes in. You're looking at everything wrongly, says Paul. I'm in prison. I fully expect I'm going to die. His head's going to get cut off. And he says in the middle of this, but I know this will turn out for my deliverance. How do you live that way? Really, how do you live that way? That in nothing, hear me, in nothing that happens to me will I be ashamed. Nothing. How do you have that confidence? How do you get there? That with all boldness, so as now as always, Christ, in whatever he's put me through, will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. See, Paul's got to the ultimate fear. He gives a personal reflection on life and death. How did he think about life and how did he think about death? And that's where we see in verse 21, where he makes this powerful statement, for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. And the statement, of course, is vitally connected to everything he said in something like Galatians 2. I have been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life that I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. This is the perspective that he's starting to push and having them think about, it's a helpful perspective for them to know how to look at things. Christianity has a good message that when you believe the gospel, you're purchased. You know, we say this right out of Heidelberg, I'm no longer my own. We sung about that in the song. That you're purchased and that you're owned and that you now have a great purpose and that your entire life becomes and is intended to look like somebody else's and is owned by somebody else who is Jesus. This is what Paul said. That what our purpose is, whether I live or die, Christ will be magnified in my body. That's the purpose, that's the goal, whether by life or by death. Then he says something remarkable. If I'm to live on in the flesh, if I'm to live on, you'll notice there, um, in verse 22. That means fruitful labor for me, yet which shall I choose? I can't tell. I am hard-pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that's far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Paul is here picturing for us something about how magnificent the Christian life really is. Christ is really everything. It really is all about Jesus. And I am to live knowing that he has died for me, that he has released me from all my sins, that there is no more judgment for me, there is no more condemnation, and that right now he sits on a throne, Lord over all, Lord supreme, reigning over all. And that in me now, his life is being shown. So, if I've got life here, if he gives me life here, if he has a purpose here for me, it is for him. For his glory. For his advancement. And we'll come back. Not just for him. We'll see in a minute. For his kingdom to become the fragrance of him to the world. And whatever he chooses for me and whatever he chooses for my loved one will always be good and right to serve that appointed end. It has the goal, listen to what Paul says, in life and in death of ultimately gaining Jesus in full. So he's looking at his circumstance. Stay with me, and you'll see this come together. He's looking at his circumstance. He knows he's going to die probably. He knows that, really, it doesn't look good for him being freed out of prison, out of Roman chains. It's completely in God's hands. He lives that way. But here's how his resolve is in prison. Here's what he's come to. He speaks somewhat hypothetically, doesn't he? If I had a choice to live or die in my current situation, I want you to know that would be a real struggle for me. Let this set in. Verse 23. I am hard-pressed between the two. I am hard-pressed on both sides. My mind is pressed from each reality. My coming death, listen to this, will be the ultimate gain. of everything I've ever lived for and believed. I get everything in full of what I have come to receive in this life. I have the full realization in death of everything I've already believed and known in the gospel. The full expression of what the treasure is of my life. the ultimate gaining of what we are being trained to enjoy already. It's tough. I'm not saying it's easy. I'm not saying this is bliss. I know it's hard sometimes to get up and come to church. I know it's hard to be a Christian. I'm not saying any of that. But you know what your greatest desire is even if you don't always achieve that. It's the Lord. I've so learned that my coming death will be the ultimate gain of everything that I've already believed and been living for. The full realization of it. But if I had a choice, Christian doesn't have a choice, your death is appointed. But if I did, here's the heart of the book. Here's the heart of the message today. It's not really even a dilemma. It would be far better to go to be with Jesus right now for all of us. You know that? Be a lot better. Let's be done with this, right? Be a lot better than to see any more death and suffering. Be a lot better than to see all this pain. Be a lot better than to see the things I see every day. I'm sick of corruption. We've got a great king on a throne who has an eternal kingdom waiting for us. He's built that for us. Well, that would be far better. That would be far better. In other words, if I did have a choice, of course, the better one's death. because it's the ultimate gaining of everything that I've hoped for in life. And the power of the passage is this, but if God chooses to keep me here, it's not for me. Whatever difficulties he puts me through, whatever persecutions, whatever struggles, whatever afflictions, Here's the benefit. There's going to be fruit from that labor. Which is an amazing privilege, number one, to glorify him. But if I get to stay, and I would do that for this reason, to remain in the flesh is more needful for the person sitting next to you. Understand that? That's what he's saying. to remain in the flesh would be the opportunity to help my hurting brother and sister in the things that God puts me through that I might be a blessing to them. That's the mind of a servant. That's what the book's about. Because God's given us to be servants on the sacrifice and service, service of someone else's faith. If we could take away the fear of death that we all have and realize none of this is in our control and that our days and hours are totally appointed and that all your jogging and all your exercise is not going to add one hour to your life. That makes some of you really happy. You should take care of yourself. That all your good works are sovereignly appointed by God, that the day and hour of your death is sovereignly appointed by God. It's not denying responsibility. You know that. Why do I always have to say that? If you could live understanding that, that this is appointed, that your life is appointed, that your death is appointed, and that the good works that God gave you to do are appointed That's what Ephesians 2 says. Prepared beforehand, before you existed, so that you would walk in them. And that you're not adding an inch, a minute to your life by any of the worries you're doing. Imagine how much of our energies and direction and purpose of life would be different. Oh, it's a theology of sovereignty here. That's driving this. We would start to truly live. Instead of holding tight to this life. That's what they say. You finally are ready to live when you're ready to die. Be a lot more less about us. And then it would be more about what our purpose is. And what God gave us to live for in this life. now do you see the effect? What is the problem in the church? Well, the problem in the church is they have a bunch of people who have been so discouraged by the hardships, have been beaten down, have faced so much difficulty, they've forgotten the purpose of their existence. And this is God's perspective for us. We have Christ, and the minute you die, you gain him. But if he leaves us here, then it's to serve your hurting neighbor. It's to help them. It's to love them, a lot of needy people right now. And you got a witness to the world right now. You know, it was last night. I didn't want to go really. I wasn't excited about going. Weddings are tough to preach at. And then all of a sudden, he tells me there's a lot of unbelievers here. And I got to testify for 30 minutes to Jesus about Jesus. I didn't even set that up. It gives you all kinds of opportunities like that. So here's the pursuit. I'm on point two. It's going to be three minutes. And then point three will be one minute. So we're almost done. The pursuit. Only then, if this is true, which it's true, let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ. You see it. So that whether I come and see you or an absent, I may hear of your affairs. Paul actually uses the word for citizenship here. Makes an interesting play. Let your conduct as a citizen, citizen of heaven, be worthy of the gospel. Our home is in heaven. Our life is there. That's where we're headed. let your conduct be worthy of that in this age. You know, a lot of people suffer. Let me just read this for a second from Peter. If you're insulted for the name of Christ, you're blessed because the Spirit of glory and God rests upon you, but let none of you suffer. This is the other side of it. How do a lot of Christians suffer in this present age? Let none of you suffer as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let them not be ashamed, but let them glorify God in that name. A lot of people suffer in this world. Why? Because they're obnoxious meddlers. They're gossips. Social media is a meddler's business right now. Did you know that? It's pulling all kinds of people off path. Meddling in fighting over the affairs of this world and stupidity. It's just stupid what people are fighting about. Fighting because a lot of people become idiots. Yeah, you can fight that way and you can become an obnoxious person and you look nothing like a conduct that's worthy of the gospel that I just described. Because you've looked at all these things that are happening as if you're in control to change them. What have we just said? They're appointed. Obnoxious. If our citizenship is in heaven, then we're right now with the very people who are going there with us. Does our conduct look worthy of a Savior who suffered and died to people who oppressed him all the way to death? What Paul is saying is look at a church in fierce struggle in the world. The best way you can show your conduct to be worthy is to this. Stand fast in one spirit with one mind. Yeah, your community of faith striving together for the faith of the gospel. We're all off mission. Priorities. If we're going to make effect in the world, you have to be really united. You have to be united in your marriage and you have to be united in the church. And he's saying to give yourself to contend with your brothers and sisters for the faith of the gospel. And listen, I know what's driving you right now is fear from your adversaries. Stop it. God's sovereign over them. That's what's driving all this right now. It's fear. He says that here. Stop. Your God's in control. Your God owns you. And I close with this last thought. God has a gift for you. A packaged gift. Two of them. In verse 29. A present. Four, it has been granted. You know what that word is? Freely given. Here's a gracious gift God's giving you. You say that about justification. You're freely justified by grace through faith. Let me give you some other gifts for your life. It has been freely granted to you first that what? You believe. Your faith in Christ, your faith was a sovereign choice by God that he graciously gave you in this life. You didn't earn it. You didn't in your own power accept it. It was graciously, freely given to you as God's loving gift. Your faith can't be taken. And you're headed for glory. And there's one other gift. There's one other gift. Not only is it faith, but you are also graciously given the opportunity to suffer in this age for his name's sake. Let that set in. Sovereignly appointed. Why? So that you might be a blessing on the furtherance of your neighbor's faith and to love them and to help them. If you're able to look at life that way, you're going to appreciate your purpose, you're going to have real reasons to get up, and you're going to understand that the hardships and sufferings are sovereignly appointed for a big end that you've been just told what it is. So if, like Paul, God chooses to keep you here, you've got a sovereign appointment. You've got a sovereign appointment by God given to you for the hurting person next to you. And you may suffer and you may have hardships and you may, like the apostles, be beaten for the name and then you get to rejoice because you were counted worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus. That's what Acts said. And you get to show in your life, whether by life or by death, you belong to Jesus. So I close with this. How about a psalm? O God, from my youth you've taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me. You want to keep me around till I'm old and gray-headed? In all my hardship and affliction, don't forsake me. For what end, O Lord? Until I proclaim your might and to another generation your power to all those to come. What a witness you older folks have to a lot of hurting young people right now. What a witness. May this perspective guide you and give you great purpose that the life Christ has graciously given you to have faith and to suffer for his namesake. that he has counted you worthy for such a cause, deserves our utmost praise. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your help through this text. It seems so far off in time, in real time, in actual living from us. And we confess we need your help. For really at the root of all of this is a lot of selfishness in our lives. We ask, O Lord, that we would become more Christ-like, even if it's a small beginning in this new holiness, that we, Lord, might be able to understand our purpose more in these trying times, and that you would help us, Lord, to have the example and humility of Jesus Christ who went all the way to death for us, and that we might begin to look like him who bought us and purchased us with his precious blood that we might be conformed into his image. Thank you for the truth today in helping us. Give us cheerful hearts for you've lifted up our hearts in great purpose. And may we glorify you in whatever you have for us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.