Turn with me tonight to Philippians chapter 1. We read together the first 26 verses, verse 21, the familiar verse. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain, being the text tonight. And also, if you would turn in the back of this altar hymnal to page 23, Lord's Day 16, as we consider there, too, some of the elements in the suffering and humiliation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 1, beginning at verse 1. Hear now the Word of God. Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons, grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you since I have you in my heart. For whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. Now, I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. the latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preached Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice. 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. And again, Lord's Day 16, page 23 in the back of the Psalter hymnal. Questions and answers 40 through 44 as we give testimony to what we believe with regard to these questions. Question 40 asks, Why did Christ have to go all the way to death? Because God's justice and truth demand it. Only the death of God's Son could pay for our sin. Why was He buried? His burial testifies that He really died. Since Christ has died for us, why do we still have to die? Our death does not pay the debt of our sins. Rather, it puts an end to our sinning and is our entrance into eternal life. What further advantage do we receive from Christ's sacrifice and death on the cross? Through Christ's death, our old selves are crucified, put to death, and buried with Him, so that the evil desires of the flesh may no longer rule us, but that instead we may dedicate ourselves as an offering of gratitude to Him. Why does the creed add, He descended into hell? To assure me in times of personal crisis and temptation, that Christ, my Lord, by suffering unspeakable anguish, pain, and terror of soul, especially on the cross, but also earlier, has delivered me from the anguish and torment of hell. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, about three and a half years ago, an elderly member of this congregation, before she died and went to be with the Lord, she said to me as I visited her, she said, I gain if I die, and I gain if I live. I gain if I die, and I gain if I live. You see, beloved, that is the unwavering confidence of a child of God. And it's all because of the truth that we confess that Jesus Christ was crucified, He died, He was buried, and He descended into hell. And the believer can add confidently that He did that for me. And that's significant because that's an admission that I deserve all of those things that Christ suffered, but He took it for me. Jesus Christ was crucified, died, was buried. He descended into hell for me. Of course, you know that that's part of the Apostles' Creed, part of, as I said earlier, that which we confess regarding the suffering and humiliation of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the Apostles' Creed puts those details in somewhat of a logical order, in order of severity, we might say. Of course, the most severe being Christ suffering the torment of hell. But we know that Jesus Christ, in reality, he suffered that torment of hell before he died. He suffered the torment of hell on the cross during those three hours of deep darkness as he cried out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? But all of these elements of his humiliation and suffering, it's all a part of his taking our place. There used to be a song on the Christian radio station in Michigan that I enjoyed which included these words, His death for my life. What a wondrous exchange. When someone does something so wonderful for you, of course we've said before, boys and girls, that we are taught to say thank you, right? But when someone does something so wonderful for you, something that words simply cannot express, maybe literally saving your life, then you want everybody to know about it. We want the One that did the saving, that did something so wonderful to be recognized and honored. And we know that that's true if someone in our country somewhere saves, say, a child from drowning or saves someone from a burning house, the very next day they're on the national news. They receive national attention. They're considered a hero. We recognize our fallen and wounded soldiers with purple hearts and for acts of bravery. In our society, we even honor are those with records like a home run record. But the thing is, beloved, with all of these things, even with heroes for a day, it's only a matter of time and we forget about them. We forget about them, for example, until that home run record is threatened by being broken. But Paul in Philippians 1, verse 20, the verse before our text, He expresses his desire that Christ be magnified. In this translation, the word magnified is not used. This translation says that Christ be exalted, which is a part of magnification. That Christ be magnified. And Paul's desire is that Christ be magnified and that it be never-ending. That it not be forgotten. That it be ongoing all the time. Christ is worthy to be magnified because Christ's death gives confidence of the believer's great gain. And Paul expresses that confidence in the words of the text, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. He says it a bit differently in Romans 14, verse 8, where we read, if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. And of course, that's the very same comfort that we confess in question and answer one as we did of the Heidelberg Catechism. What is your only comfort in life and in death? Listen again, that I am not my own, but that I belong, body and soul, in life and in death to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. And that beautiful answer goes on to explain why that is the case. He has fully paid for all of my sins with His precious blood and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven. In fact, all things must work together for my salvation. But it doesn't end there. There's a little bit more. And that last part then of that answer helps us to understand Philippians 1, verse 21. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. That answer closes. Because I belong to Him, Christ, by His Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for Him. You see, beloved, belonging to Jesus Christ is the only thing that gives us confidence in life and in death. Confidence for today and assurance for the future. And that confidence is ours only because of the work of the Holy Spirit, that Spirit that we celebrate in a specific way today on Pentecost Sunday. The One who was poured out so that you and me might not only belong to Jesus Christ, but that through Him we know that we belong to Jesus Christ. Paul knew that only Christ's death gives confidence of the believer's great gain in life or death. And when I say Christ's death, of course, we know that that includes the whole of salvation. There is a connection between Christ's death and His resurrection that simply can't be separated. It includes the whole of His salvation. But in a particular way, when we talk about Christ's death tonight, we're talking about the fact that God is satisfied with me because my debt has been paid. Because my punishment has been taken. Jesus Christ gave up his life. And I gain life. Only because, as Jesus says in one place, he laid down his life only to take it up again. And because of that, the believer's great gain includes an undoubted character today. An undoubted character. Now, as we think about the historical context here, we ought to become more amazed at Paul's confidence. You see, boys and girls, Paul was in prison. He was a prisoner, possibly in Rome at this time. In verse 14, he says, Because of my chains. Now, we know that Paul enjoyed, as a prisoner we might say, he enjoyed not solitary confinement. He was under house arrest, which meant he could have visitors, he could write, he could teach. But yet he speaks of chains, and therefore it most likely was not overly pleasant. But as we think about those chains, his being a prisoner along with the other suffering he endured for the faith, as he talks about it in another place, he was stoned on a couple of occasions, he was left for dead, He was shipwrecked, he was beaten, he was whipped. And all of that we know for the faith. And when we consider all of that, then we are to be amazed as at the same time he is filled with joy and contentment as he makes clear in Philippians 4, verses 4-7. And therefore, in joy and with contentment, Paul says, for to me to live is Christ. That's Paul's undoubted character today, his day, at the very time in his life. Now, he's not talking about simply being alive, for to me, to be alive is Christ, but he's talking about every aspect of life. The ongoing activity of life itself, the course of life, with his thoughts and words and actions, his very breath of life, this life and living this life for paul is christ jesus christ is paul's reason for being he is the motivating force behind paul's life and living paul's main purpose for living is to glorify christ not himself like some other preachers were trying to do even at paul's expense verse 17 he says the former preached christ out of selfish ambition not sincerely supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. For to me, to live is Christ. Beloved, that is the blessing of new life. Again, question and answer 43. What further advantage do we receive from Christ's sacrifice and death on the cross? Through Christ's death, our old selves are crucified, put to death, and buried with Him, so that the evil desires of the flesh may no longer rule us, but that instead we may dedicate ourselves as an offering of gratitude to Him. God's people are transformed. Boys and girls, especially the boys, you know what these transformers are, these cars that transform into something that's not a car? A warrior, maybe? Transformed into something different. We have been transformed completely. We are new creatures in Christ Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit with a new focus, a new will, new desires, new thoughts. By the grace of God, you see, Paul was Christ-centered, not self-centered. In other places, Paul gives what we might say a bigger picture of this undoubted character, of what's included in this undoubted character. For example, many of them in Philippians. In Philippians 4, verse 13, he says, I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. He confesses there where true strength comes from. In Philippians 2, verses 5-11, we have that beautiful portion of Scripture which outlines the humiliation, the stages, we might say, and the humiliation and exaltation of Christ. And Paul speaks there of having the attitude, having the mind of Christ Jesus, which is an attitude and a mind of humility and of serving. In Philippians 3, verse 9, Paul speaks of knowing Christ and owning the righteousness of Christ by faith. In Philippians 3, verse 1, and in chapter 4, verse 4, we read about the fact that this undoubted character includes rejoicing in Christ. In another place, Paul speaks of having love for Christ's glory. Now think about that one for a moment. As I chewed on that one for a little bit, I was reminded of the fact that I love glory for myself. I can't help it. Can you? We like to be recognized. We like to be noticed. We like glory and praise for ourselves. But that's not what Paul says, love glory for yourself. He says, have love for Christ's glory. In Galatians 2, verse 20, Paul speaks of resting one's faith on Christ and loving Him in return for His love. That familiar verse says, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. We might say that Paul's theme song, which wasn't written when he was alive, but the gems know it well, Paul's theme song might have been, And Jesus is all the world to me, my life, my joy, my all. He is my strength from day to day. Without Him, I would fall. We can summarize to live as Christ by saying that that means that the glory of Christ is to be the goal of our life. The grace of Christ is to be the principle of our life, the strength by which we live. And the Word of Christ is to be the rule of our life. And you see, beloved, all of this was true for Paul. Not because he was in prison, possibly facing death, and had nothing else to live for. Well, you know, my other chances for living and doing what I want to do are gone, so I might as well now focus on Christ because I might be put to death any day. No. Whether he lived another hundred years or whether he died, all of this was true for Paul. And we know that this is easy to confess, isn't it? It's easy for us to make the confession with our lips. For to me, to live is Christ. But what is the outcome of this great gain of an undoubted character to be? When Paul says that, when he says, for to me, to live is Christ, what is the result to be? Actually, he points to it already in the previous verse, verse 20, which says, 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. You see, Paul didn't desire to be noticed. It wasn't his goal to be seen by men or to receive a purple heart for his Christian courage. Paul did want courage. He wanted boldness so that in life or in death, Christ would be magnified. Christ would be exalted. He didn't want to be ashamed or put to shame. And I think we can understand that in three different ways. First of all, Paul didn't want to be ashamed because of Christ in the sense of being embarrassed because of Christ. He would not apologize for what he believed and preached. He would not be ashamed to live openly for Jesus Christ and to be seen by the world living openly for Christ. When I was a boy in Sunday school, as some of you remember too, we used to sing, this little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine. Hide it under a bushel, no, uh-uh. I'm going to let it shine. Paul also didn't want to be put to shame himself. For example, by taking the easy way out, getting out of prison, by denying his Lord. And he trusted that the Holy Spirit would not allow him to fall into that temptation and to become weak and to deny his Lord just to have those chains taken off. But in one more way, Paul didn't want to put Christ to shame in any way, whether it be with His words or through His actions. Paul's desire was that Christ be exalted, that Christ be magnified. Boys and girls, you know what a magnifying lens does, I trust. It enlarges the sight of something. If you look at a page, and you look at the words on a page with a magnifying lens, it's as if those words jump off the page, right? They become larger to see. When Paul desires Christ to be magnified, his desire is that Christ be seen as large as He already is, in all of His greatness, in all of His glory. You see, mankind, including believers at times, We tend to limit Christ. We tend to reduce Him in size. The world, we know, attacks His divinity. It attacks His work on our behalf. Recently as well, we know, saying that Jesus Christ was married. That He fathered a child. But Paul's desire is that Christ be magnified. To be seen as large, as it were, as He already is. in all of His greatness, in all of His glory, and that this be in Paul's life or in Paul's death, that He be the instrument, be used by the Holy Spirit as the instrument to magnify Christ. Not only did Paul desire courage and boldness to openly live for and speak out about Christ, with the result that Christ be magnified in and by and through Him, he fully expected that the Holy Spirit would see to this. That's the idea here in verse 20. 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. I eagerly expect. The idea there is of one stretching out their neck to see something that they expect. Pastor Donovan touched on that this morning beautifully explained that Pentecost, when it came, it was expected It came at the time that was planned. If you happen to watch a marathon race and you haven't seen the runners for some time as it's getting close to the end, you might stretch your neck out to see. You expect to see a glimpse of that first place runner coming. You expect them. Paul expected, not because of himself, but because of the work of the Holy Spirit, he expected that the Holy Spirit would exalt the Son of God. Paul had no doubts about Christ's work for him. He had no doubts about the Holy Spirit's work in him. He had no doubts about the fruit the Holy Spirit was able to bring forth. And brothers and sisters, when we truly understand what Jesus Christ has done, When we truly understand, as we confess, crucified, died, buried, descended into hell, when we truly understand what He has taken on Himself for us, then like Paul, the great desire of every true Christian is that Christ be magnified and glorified in and by them. And this, without hesitation, without dragging our feet, without compromise. And this involves being a living sacrifice and using oneself as an instrument of righteousness. Our great gain as believers because of Christ's sacrifice includes an undoubted character as we live this life. We belong to Him without a doubt. And therefore, with Paul, for us to live is Christ and our lives are to be governed by Jesus Christ and His Word. To live is Christ. We ought to remember that. For example, when we find ourselves stuck in bumper-to-bumper stop-and-go traffic when I have to be at my destination five minutes ago. We are to remember that to live is Christ when I'm stuck in a long line at the bank and it's not moving. We are to remember that when a telemarketer or a research survey phone call comes into the house. We are to remember that when we're dealing with an irritated customer and of course I'm picking out situations you can tell that test us. That tests our faith. But of course, in all of life, even when we're not being tested, we ought to remember that to live is Christ. And that means to have courage to speak for and about Jesus Christ. And it means to give oneself in service for Him, again, without hesitation, without compromise, without having to think twice about it. Unfortunately, though, we know how difficult this is. because of the sin that still remains in me against my renewed will, I'm still afraid of the world. I'm afraid the world will laugh at me. I'm afraid the world will hurl accusations at me. I'm afraid the world will persecute me. I do shame Christ at times. And at times I must confess I'm even ashamed of Christ. I'm ashamed to be known as a Christian. And I have a need to confess my sins daily. But also then, by the grace of God, I receive the assurance of pardon daily. And my comfort, our comfort as believers, is that for those who strive in the strength of the Holy Spirit to live by faith, we are able to look past this life. Even as we travel through it, we are able to look past this life with the great gain of undoubted assurance for eternity. Now, the word gain here is interesting. It has the idea of return on investment. We understand that very clearly. Return on investment. Paul says, for to me, to live is Christ. And the return on investment, to die, is gain. Not something that we earn ourselves, but that return is given by God. You see, the living that is Christ reaches the gain the believer's death brings. In that familiar John 3, verse 16, that verse ends, whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. And Jesus says in John 11, verses 25 and 26, He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. In a nutshell, that's great gain. And I believe we can understand this gain in two ways. There's gain for Christ. And there's gain for the believer. First of all, gain for Christ. Not that he's lacking anything. Not that we can add anything to him that he doesn't already have. But Paul knew that if he was martyred, if he was put to death because of his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that that would be a testimony to Jesus Christ. And he knew that the Gospel, through his martyring, Through his being put to death, the gospel would be promoted. You see, beloved, any time a true believer faces death, whether being a martyr or simply facing death of old age, any time a true believer faces death with courage and confidence, that speaks volumes. That speaks volumes to those who witness that dying and that death. It speaks volumes about the work of God's grace in that life. not to exalt the believer who dies, but to exalt the work of Christ that has been applied to that life. But there's also gain for the believer. Well, the unbeliever. The unbeliever, first of all, when the unbeliever faces dying and death, there's nothing but hopelessness. There's only great loss as all the worldly comforts and hopes and treasures that that one stored up on this earth, They feel, as it were, slip through their fingers. It's gone. David says of the unbeliever in death in Psalm 146, when their spirit departs, they return to the ground. On that very day, their plans come to nothing. But the believer enjoys gain. The gain of deliverance from something. The gain of deliverance for something. First of all, the believer enjoys deliverance from the grave. Question and answer 41, why was he buried? His burial testifies that he really died. Now, beloved, I believe that is the weakest question and answer in the Heidelberg Catechism. It's true, absolutely, it proves, it testifies that he really died. But by his resurrection, our Lord Jesus Christ conquered the grave. And the believer, you and I, we are delivered from the grave. The grave has no victory for you and me. Yes, the grave is the temporary home of our body for a time. Yet our life, our soul is very much alive in the glory of heaven. The believer is also delivered from not only the grave, but from hell. Question and answer 44. Why does the creed add he descended into hell? To assure me in times of personal crisis and temptation that Christ my Lord, by suffering unspeakable anguish, pain, and terror of soul, especially on the cross, but also earlier, has delivered me from the anguish and torment of hell. Beloved, as some would have us believe, there is no hell on this earth. No matter how bad things get, there is no hell on this earth, and no matter what anguish you and I might be called upon to suffer, whether physically, whether because of persecution, because of our faith, whatever it might be, we are called to remember during those times that Jesus Christ took that which is the most severe. We will never suffer, not even a taste, of hell. Paul was confident of his inheritance in heaven. That's where his citizenship, and yours and mine, is. The believer's gain is being delivered from the grave, from hell, but also from sin. Question and answer 42. Since Christ has died for us, why do we still have to die? Our death does not pay the debt of our sins. Rather, it puts an end to our sinning. Pastor Don, I've been touched on this this morning too. That is incredible to me. I hope it is to you as well. It puts an end to our sinning. Death for the believer is an end of all of his wickedness and misery and the evils of life. And how wonderful that is because every single day I am reminded by my sin of my sins. And I must remember that my sin, every last one, offends God. It's against Him. It's against His perfect holiness and righteousness. Now the truth is we sin against each other too at times and sometimes that's offensive to us. Sometimes it's not. Maybe it's not offensive at times because we ourselves may commit that sin, sometimes we become numb to it. We laugh it off. And even when we are offended by another's sin against us, it's not the same as the offense against God's perfect holiness and righteousness. It is all offense to God. And how much so, especially as it comes from those who confess to be washed in the blood of Jesus. we claim salvation. We claim that Jesus shed His blood for you and me. Yet every day, throughout the day, we continue to demonstrate, to show our need for salvation. And that's why it is so awesome to know that our gain in Christ's death is a transformation in our death that I will no longer be able to sin against God. I will no longer struggle with trying to be like God in the sinful way that Satan tempted Eve to be like God. I will no longer fight against God's will. Instead, my will will be perfectly bent into shape, molded and fashioned after God's will. I will no longer simply say with my lips in a flippant way, He is my desire. instead he will truly be my heart's desire the believer gains by being delivered from the grave and hell and sinning but the believer also gains by being delivered for glory the last part of answer 42 says that our death is our entrance into eternal life the gain that Paul speaks of our sin and human weakness is removed and we are given the perfect comfort of heavenly glory and the perfection of heaven we receive the possession of that chief good eternal life as our faith will become sight there's so much that we can say about that glory beloved but that glory includes fellowship with god our savior upon death the believer is at home with the lord that's our true home And even though death, physical death, separates us from our loved ones, our husbands and wives, our children, our grandchildren, even though it separates us from our brothers and sisters in the church on this earth, death will not, it cannot separate us from Jesus Christ. Paul knew that upon death he would enjoy more perfect communion with Christ. is there a better gain than that? Is there a better return on investment? Living is Christ than that? There is no greater gain, beloved, than the gain the believer enjoys because of Christ's death. It's not the kind of gain that shows up on an investment statement or a balance sheet, nor is it the kind that we enjoy from increased property values. It is eternal gain that will never suffer loss. It will never be taken away. It's the kind of gain that we enjoy by faith that is to move believers to action for Jesus Christ. And may it be our desire that our Lord Jesus Christ be magnified in and through our lives as we give testimony to Him and His saving work with our mouths, to be sure. But also with our hands. and our resources as we give ourselves in service for others. To live for Christ means demonstrating His love and mercy to those in need. But beloved, our service for Him must always point those we serve to Christ. Always. If it does not point to Him, then it's meaningless. Again, we know that we often fail in that, but we take comfort that the Holy Spirit can take what we have done amiss and He can make it good. But as we look forward to that day when we shall be perfected in the glory of heaven, we can sing with confidence today, Weak is the effort of my heart and cold my warmest thoughts. But when I see Thee as Thou art, I'll praise Thee as I ought. Brothers and sisters, may God grant us courage to boldly live for Christ. May we offer our lives, even though imperfectly, may we offer those imperfect lives for Him who gave His perfect life for us so that without a doubt, our assurance is that in life and in death, we belong to Him. And may our confidence be that without a doubt, at any moment we can say, I gain if I live. I gain if I die. Amen. Shall we pray? Dear Heavenly Father, Your truth is so blessed. It is so wonderful. It is beyond our comprehension. Yet, Father, it is the truth that You have revealed to us. his death for our life. What a wondrous exchange. That we might be able to say along with the Apostle Paul, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. And Father, we pray that you would help us by your Holy Spirit, help us day by day, moment by moment, that indeed our living would be Christ. That at every step, every breath, would be in fellowship with him. Knowing that that alone sweetens this life beyond comprehension. Indeed, Lord, you made this life to be enjoyed by us as well, even in the midst of chains as Paul suffered, even in the midst of persecution by the world and attacks. Yet you make it possible for your people to enjoy this life lived for Jesus Christ and prepare us for that great gain which you have reserved for your people all because of the work of our Savior. Father, with joy, we pray these things in His name alone. Amen.