Psalm 23, we read that in connection with the portion from Philippians chapter 1 that I ask you to turn to as well. We'll read again Philippians 1.18, the second part of verse 18 through verse 26. And this morning we consider the second half of Paul's powerful declaration in verse 21 of chapter 1. For to me to live is Christ. We considered that last Sunday. And now to die is gain. So Psalm 23 and Philippians chapter 1, 18 through 26. Of course, death, we know, beloved, is not a very popular topic. In fact, it's not a popular topic at all, I would guess. People would rather avoid talking about death. Yet, if you think about it, as I trust we will do together this morning, death is one of the greatest topics that Christians can ever consider and even speak about. That's not because of the process of death. That's not because of how anyone might go through death. But because of what death means and because of where it leads. So we turn together first of all to Psalm 23 as we hear now the Word of God. The Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me. Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely, goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Philippians 1, again the second half of verse 18, beginning there, as Paul again had talked about rejoicing because of his chains. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted 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 go on living in the body this will mean fruitful labor for me yet what shall I choose? I do not know. I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. But it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith so that through my being with you again, your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me. Beloved in Christ the Lord, are you prepared to die? Are you prepared to die? I have a feeling that not one of you expected to come here this morning and be asked that question. But as I ask you and myself that question, I'm not simply asking, do you have your earthly affairs in order? I'm not simply asking you, have you accomplished all of your heart's desire in this life? And well, there's nothing left for you to do. So why not? But by asking you this question, I'm asking, are you ready to meet your Maker? Are you ready to meet the Lord? Either in His love or in His anger? Well, your answer will be yes if, for you, living is defined by Christ, as we considered last week. If you can say with Paul, for to me, to live is Christ. If for you, living is Christ, by faith in Him, having fellowship with Him, and following after Him. Then you can say with Paul, beyond a shadow of a doubt as well, for to me, to die is gain. And the gain that Paul is talking about here is not simply the gain that one might receive from being released from a life of suffering. As we said last week, Paul's suffering never entered the picture. Paul's suffering, believe it or not, didn't get him down. It didn't make him depressed. Paul never thought twice about his suffering except to make sure that even in his suffering, his suffering would bring praise and glory to Jesus Christ. That, too, was a cause for Paul to rejoice. But he considered life in Christ as well as death one day, he considered them both to be extreme blessings because he knew that for him, death would also be in Christ. And in Christ, he had a confident assurance in death. For Paul, there was nothing negative about death. Only positive. Only gain. Only death benefits that he would receive. The death benefits of complete freedom. The death benefits of perfect conformity. And the death benefits of eternal fellowship. First of all, the death benefit. The gain of complete freedom from evil. And to help us understand it, it's good to be reminded of the certainty of death. Death is certain. There's no reason to be embarrassed of it. There's no reason not to talk about it. Death is certain. Death is the consequences. It is the wages of sin. It is for all. As Paul has said in Romans 3, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And then he goes on to say in Romans 5, in Adam all die. All of mankind, including you and me, We are all in bondage to the effects of sin in this life, including sickness and sorrow and trouble and pain that comes upon us in various forms and shapes and sizes throughout this life. Each one of us will face death, will face physical death, the end of this life as we know it. As the writer of Hebrews says in chapter 9, verse 27, just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment to meet his Maker. And of course, we know that some are excluded, those who will still be alive when Jesus Christ comes again a second time. And for them too, for those who were in Christ at that time, there is gain. There are benefits. Death is certain. But what about the nature of death? Well, Paul is not referring to, here when he says to die is gain, he is not referring to the kind of death someone might meet. He's not talking about whether or not you're going to face it in old age or whether you're going to face it in the younger years of life. He's not talking about whether you're going to meet it through some terrible accident or a disease or a heart attack. Though we do know that for the believer, the valley of the shadow of death has been transformed. Completely transformed. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For you are with me. Paul's not talking about the kind of death you or I might face, but he's talking here about the state of death, the state that death brings, that which is expected. And he expects gain. That a gain will be achieved and received through death to this life. What he means by death, he says a little bit later, he's simply talking about departing. He uses that word in verse 23, to depart and to be with Christ. and that word departing here has two main translations that are possible but both of them very beautifully have the idea to leave something permanently behind and one of the translations has to do with lifting the anchor boys and girls think of a ship and an anchor and as that anchor is lifted the result is that that ship sets out on a voyage it leaves one place and it crosses the harbor out into the ocean it heads for another place but it leaves the one place behind. Death, in that sense, is to pass from this land, this life, as it were, to the next and to leave this one permanently behind. The other idea behind the word depart has to do with breaking down a camp, taking down a tent. For example, the Roman army, after the work of the day, after maybe marching or after being in combat for the day, would take the time at the end of the day to build an elaborate camp. They didn't just all were tired. One pitched his tent over under the tree. Another one pitched it by a brook. The other one did it by a bush. No, they built an elaborate camp with some sort of a wall, a fortress of sorts around it for safety and for security, for shelter and for security. And the very next morning, they would tear down what they had just built the night before and take off again and therefore leaving permanently behind the remnants of that camp. Now this most likely is Paul's focus here because we know that both Paul and Peter speak of this life, this body, as being temporary, as being some sort of a house or a tent that will be put off. It will be discarded. It will be torn down. And this world we know is temporary. Boys and girls, you know it's temporary. You may not fully understand that yet, but if you've had a loved one die, then you are reminded of just how temporary this life is. We live in tents, as it were, not in permanent dwellings. Even our houses are not permanent dwellings. They get torn down after so many years. But this life is temporary, and as we travel through as part of the army of God, of Jesus Christ, every night, as it were, we stop for the night and we pitch our tent. We pound those tent stakes in. Only then in the morning, we pull up those tent stakes once again and we travel on for another day of this life. Traveling as the army of God. But upon death, when any one of us faces death, that death is the very last time we pull up those tent stakes to move to a permanent residence and to leave this life behind to enjoy gain. And that gain is seen by the believer already in this life in the believer's attitude toward death. For the unbeliever, the unbeliever has a very bad attitude about death because for the unbeliever, there's no gain. There's only terror. And the unbeliever can only think of the process of death. The process of life leaving the body, no matter how that may occur. To the unbeliever, death is morbid. Maybe it is to some of us here. But it is to the unbeliever. It's morbid. They don't want to talk about death. They want to simply forget about the fact that death is a fact. They want to postpone it as long as possible. And indeed, we are not to rush headlong into death. That's not the point at all. God has blessed us with this life and we are to enjoy it for as many days as He has ordained for us. But the unbeliever wants to forget about the fact it's not good to talk about it, So let's just not worry about it, okay? Let's agree on that, okay? Yet there's some inconsistency among unbelievers because it's considered wise to have a life insurance policy. Which, of course, is only good when someone dies. But for the unbeliever, death is an enemy. And we say, well, that's true. The Bible says death is the last enemy. But for the unbeliever, death is an enemy that continues to attack each and every day, each and every moment. it attacks, it steals. It's an enemy who steals life. It's an enemy that steals opportunities. It's an enemy that steals from us the experiences of this life that we have a right to. And when I die, then that death steals away from me those opportunities. Death is that enemy that steals one upon death from their families. And it steals from one of all the good things that we are meant to enjoy in this life. Some face death with horror. Others face it simply with a spirit of resignation. Well, I can't help it anyway. Others face it with bold defiance. I'll be brave. I'll enter into it. Not be scared. But ultimately, for the unbeliever, make no mistake about it, Death gives terror, fear. And we learn why in Hebrews 2, verse 15, Christ freed those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. But that means that in sin, man is subject to a lifetime of bondage to the fear of death. But for the believer, there's a much different attitude toward death, and that is that death is gain. Death is freedom. The gain of freedom because death has been transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, by the work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Going back to Hebrews 2, this time verse 14, we learn that the freedom of fear of death is secured by Jesus Christ who by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death that is the devil. You see, beloved, Death is gain for the believer. And it's because that gain is not my work. It's not a gain because of my work or your work. It's only gain because it's all the work of Jesus Christ who conquered the power of Satan by paying the full price for my sin. By enduring the full wrath of God that was reserved against me. He conquered the last enemy death and the grave by His resurrection. What a wonderful thing for the disciples, the apostles, when Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. Very visible before their eyes that He had conquered that last enemy death. He had conquered the grave. And therefore we can sing powerfully the beautiful words of that wonderful gospel hymn, and because He lives, I can face tomorrow. I can face today. because he lives, all fear is gone. Oh, the believer in Christ, the believer still faces that last enemy. But that last enemy no longer swallows us up in despair and fear. Because the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and His saving work has transformed death so that it now points to the believer's triumph in Christ. That's what Paul is saying here. To die is gain because I am triumphant in Christ. To depart and be with Christ is better by far because I am triumphant in Christ. It's better by far because death is freedom. It is complete freedom from all evil. From all the effects of sin. Revelation 21, verse 4 says, He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. And that means, beloved, no more of any of the bad stuff that we face in this life. No more sickness or sorrow or tears or aches or pains or disappointments or skin to knees, boys and girls, or hurt feelings or anxiety or doubt. No more of any of the effects or the results of sin. But even more than the effects of sin being done away with is sin itself. No more sin. Revelation 21 verse 27 says, Nothing impure will ever enter it, the glory of heaven that is, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful. Nothing that is impure. Nothing that is sinful will enter it. You know what that means? That means that there will be no more sin from me. There will be no more sin for me. I can't point to you and say, there will be no more sin for you. You've got to do that yourself. I can say it for me. There's no more sin for me. You can say it for you. Not only will my body of death, this body that is riddled with the effects of sin, not only will this body of death be buried in the ground only next to be raised and glorified like unto Christ's glorified body, but all the remnants of the old man of sin, the remnants of the sin of selfishness and my sinful desires and my sinful lust and my sinful everything will be gone. And I will be entirely and completely free from not only the guilt and the power of sin as I am today in Christ, but I will be entirely free. You will be entirely and completely free from also the pollution of sin. Never, ever, ever again will I sin against or will I offend the holy God who saved me? Complete freedom from evil. That's a beautiful part of that gain that Paul is talking about. And that leads to another death benefit. And that is perfect conformity to the image of Christ. John says in 1 John 3, verse 2, But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Now that's pointing to that final perfection of sanctification. When the Holy Spirit will have completed the good work that He has begun in God's people. And we will be like our Lord Jesus Christ in righteousness. No more sin. But instead, perfect righteousness. As Paul says in 2 Timothy 4, verse 8, now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing. We shall be like Him in righteousness. And we shall also be like Him in knowledge. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, verse 12, Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror. Then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part. Then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. Boys and girls, think of a camera lens or a telescope or maybe a pair of binoculars as you're looking through them and they're unfocused. You haven't focused them yet. The picture is fuzzy. It's distorted. Well, that describes our knowledge today mixed with sin and error. We don't see things perfectly. Yet praise be to God for the glimpses that He does give. For that which He has revealed to us in His Word by the power of His Holy Spirit. He has given to us everything that we need to know for salvation. Praise God for what He does give or life would be impossible. But one day there will be more. One day there will be gain. We will know. We will understand all things perfectly. Sometimes people will say, maybe you've heard it, someone will say, well, the first thing I'm going to do when I get to heaven is I'm going to find Adam and I'm going to ask him, why did you eat that fruit? Or I'm going to find Noah and I'm going to ask him, what was it like when the floodgates opened and the earth was filled with water and the ark was being lifted? What was it like? Or I'm going to ask Moses this. Or I'm going to ask Elijah that. What was the chariot of fire like? Wouldn't that be fascinating? Or I'm going to ask Jesus. I don't believe that's true at all. because then we will know fully, even as we are fully known. We will not need to ask Adam or Moses or Paul or Jesus those kinds of questions. It will be fellowship and worship together with our fellow saints, praising our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We shall be like Him in righteousness. We shall be like Him in knowledge. We shall also be like Him in love. In heaven you and I will dwell in the full presence of God's love and then we will really and truly love Him perfectly above all. As we sang a few moments ago, today in this life, weak is the effort of my heart and cold my warmest thought. But then, there, when I see Thee as Thou art, as You truly are, O God, then I'll praise Thee as I ought. Today we still struggle with sin and with selfishness, even selfishness before God. And we cannot yet fathom this perfect conformity to the image of Christ. We simply cannot fathom it. Yet that is what Christ has earned for us. And that is what Christ has promised to us as we will enjoy, in the last place, eternal fellowship with Him. That's the greatest gain. To depart and to be with Christ. Once in a while in these terms I mention that great exchange. His death for my life. What a wondrous exchange. But that exchange leads to another exciting exchange that you and I will exchange this life with all of its troubles and all of its sorrows and all of its sin to be with Christ. to forever gaze upon His glory and not just to have a glimpse of it, not just to have a fuzzy, distorted view, but to see Him as He is forever. And what is the character of being with Christ? We've already talked about it a little bit from Revelation. We know it won't be there. But there's something else that we can say about the character of being with Christ. It will be without the things that we struggle with here. It will be without hindrance. It will be without intermission. It will be without interference. And it will be without interruption. Imagine that. All of those things. It's true that in this life, we often feel that Jesus is close by. We feel His comforting presence by the power of His Spirit. But at times, we also confess that life seems against us. And because we walk by faith and not by sight, Our faith sometimes weakens for a season. And it's in those seasons that we feel like that communion with Christ has been broken. And the author of that beautiful Footprints poem says it quite well, I think. You know the poem, at least most of you, that the author looks back over his life or her life, whoever it was, and looks at the course of life and sees two sets of footprints and realizes that the Lord Jesus Christ was with the author throughout life, every step of the way. leading, guiding, guarding, protecting. But yet became confused when there were only one set of footprints and realized that those were in the troubles of life, the struggles of life, and challenges the Lord, as it were. Well, where were you? Why did you forsake me? What were you thinking? But you know as the poem goes, in the poem, the Lord says, no, no, that's where I carried you. And we know, don't we, that our Lord Jesus Christ is with us all the time. He said, I will never leave you or forsake you, but because of us. Sometimes we feel like the communion with Christ is broken, but not there. Not there. Not only will it not be broken, we won't even feel like it's broken. Because as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 8, we are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. to be at home with the Lord. That's why there will be no hindrance or intermission or interference or interruption because we will be at home with the Lord. Boys and girls, you understand. I know you do. You understand the comfort of home. We all understand the comfort of home. I heard it this morning from Doris. There's no place like home. I said, I'm going to say that. There's no place like home. Well, imagine that. Our citizenship is not here on this earth. Our temporary one is we're citizens of the United States and of California and of Escondido or San Marcos or surrounding a town. But our eternal citizenship as believers is not here. It's in heaven. And Jesus said in John 14, In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am going. This is why Jesus died. That you and I might live with Him forever. To take us to be to the place where He is. He says in John 17, verse 34, He prayed, Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am going and to see My glory. That's why He died. That's why He lives. And that's why the psalmist could say with confidence in Psalm 116, verse 15, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. Precious. That means costly, valuable in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. Not because there's something precious or costly or valuable about you or I in and of ourselves, but precious, costly, valuable, because Jesus Christ gave His life in order to take us home with Him forever. Beloved, these amazing death benefits are for those for whom living is Christ. It's only for those for whom living is Christ, those who are in Him by God's grace through faith, those for whom He gave His life, Those who place their trust and confidence only in Him. It's only for those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet it's for all those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. For you, for me. If you're here this morning and you have not yet turned to the Lord Jesus Christ, if you have been resisting and rejecting, humble yourself. You're being called sincerely and urgently to humble yourself in the sight of the Lord. To stop trying to do it by yourself. You can't look outside yourself to the only Savior, Jesus Christ. Because only those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and trust Him alone for salvation are prepared to die. If you don't believe in Him, you're not prepared to die. And we don't know when the Lord is going to call us from this life. But it's only for those who are in Christ Jesus. And this confidence in death gave Paul courage then also for this life. See, nothing in life could measure up. Nothing meant more. Nothing was more valuable to him than the guarantee that Paul had of salvation through Jesus Christ. And because of that, he didn't fear the whip. He didn't fear the stones. He didn't fear the ridicule. He didn't fear the chains or the rejection. He didn't fear death. And for those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have nothing to fear in this life, though everything might be against us. We need not fear anything in this life. Paul had courage to live and speak boldly for Jesus Christ because he understood that there's only gain in Him. Apart from Him, there's only loss. Eternal separation from His love and the eternal presence of the wrath of God. Are you ready to die? It's strange. But we are to live ready to die. And you can only truly live and enjoy this life when we have this confident assurance in death. And that assurance is yours if you believe in Jesus because those who stand in Christ by faith have no fear in death, only this confident assurance that for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Let's pray together. Father, Holy God, we praise Your name. Because of the great assurance that You have given to Your people that even in death You have taken away the terror and the fear of death for Your people. Indeed, Lord, it is still filled with some uncertainty, the process of death, as we may be called upon to face it one day. Yet that which death brings is not uncertain. is completely sure in Christ Jesus. Fill us with that hope. Fill us with that confident assurance that indeed we might enjoy that even in this life, that we might live for you in a way that is pleasing to you, with bold confidence, to speak out of the glory of your grace. Father, we praise your most holy name for your gifts to us in Christ Jesus our Lord. In his name alone we pray. Amen.