Well, I want to you to take your Bible and
turn with me to the book of Philippians, Philippians chapter 1. And I'm so thankful that my good friend Stephen
Nichols assigned me this section of Scripture. I love this portion of Scripture. So we're going to be in verses 21 to 26, depending
upon how quickly I can go through this, how quickly you can listen. So, the title of this message is "To Die Is
Gain." Philippians 1, I'm going to begin reading
in verse 21. We'll see how far we get through this. This is God's inspired, inerrant, and infallible
word. Let God be found true. Let every man be found a liar. Beginning at verse 21: "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is
gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this
will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions,
having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain
on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain
and continue with you all (see, Paul was a Southerner -- "continue with y'all") for your
progress and joy in the faith, so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ
Jesus through my coming to you again." The year is 62 AD, and the place is Rome,
the seat of imperial power of the empire. Rome is the city is Caesar's palace, and the
Roman Senate, and the marching armies of Rome that hold sway over the known world. It is the very nerve center of the empire. And the Apostle Paul has always wanted to
go to Rome to preach the gospel, because to preach the gospel in Rome is to set in motion
a ripple effect that will spread to the entire empire. So Paul has always had Rome in his crosshairs,
to preach the gospel there. But Paul had no idea he would go to Rome this
way. He is there held captive as a prisoner of
the empire. He is imprisoned under house arrest, and he
is held there for two long years. The Apostle Paul is an industrious, dynamic
figure, and for Paul to sit still in one house and in one room for two long years is in and
of itself a death sentence for the Apostle Paul. He is chained to Roman soldiers day in, day
out, throughout the night, throughout the day, throughout this entire time. He's like a caged animal. And Paul is awaiting his trial before Caesar,
which will mean life or death for him, as Caesar possesses the authority and the power
of death over his life, and Paul knows that. And the average believer, the average person
might easily be discouraged and downcast and even defeated, but not Paul. Coming out of this Roman imprisonment is this
book of Philippians, which is a note of triumph. It is a note of victory. You would think he's sitting in heaven itself,
as he is writing this. And Paul's faith is contagious. And as he writes this letter, he gives us
the secret regarding how can anyone live under such circumstances that are confining and
restricting and yet for his heart and his spirit to be soaring to the heights of heaven,
as he will repeatedly say throughout this epistle, "Rejoice in the Lord always, again
I say rejoice." We will discover the answer in these verses. And what was true of Paul must be true for
you and me as well, because we too find ourselves often between a rock and a hard place, often
in the valley, often in difficult circumstances of life, with family, with finances, with
business, with children. And we too must maintain a note of victory
and triumph as we live our Christian lives. And the greatest testimony that you and I
will have is most often not when we're on the mountaintop, but when we're in the valley
of difficulty, like Paul is here. And for our faith to be so vibrant and to
be so real that it sends forth a triumphant note of our faith in Jesus Christ that rises
above the circumstances. So, I want us to look at this text. I want God to write this text afresh on my
own heart tonight. And I want Him to impress this upon your soul
tonight. As we look at this passage beginning in verse
21, I want to give you four headings for this message, for those of you who are note takers. I always want to identified the elect as…yeah
that's true, that's true. These are vessels of mercy, taking notes tonight,
prepared for wonderful things. So I want you to note first, "Paul's Priority
in Life." Paul's priority in life because Paul begins
this section by making one of the most dramatic statements to ever come from his inspired
pen or from anyone's pen. He begins with these few words, "For to me
to live is Christ." We can have the whole conference on just those
words. Please note Paul says, "To me," it's very
personal. Whether anyone else is living for Christ,
whether no one else is living for Christ, whether everyone is living for Christ, I'm
not looking to my right, I'm looking to my left -- "For me." He's looking up to Christ. He will live for Christ, no matter who is
or who else is not living for Christ. That's where you and I must be tonight. And he says, "For to me to live is Christ." To live for Christ is not a mere superficial
existence of an association with the name of Christ. To live for Christ means to know Christ, to
adore Christ, to worship Christ, to surrender to Christ, to submit to Christ, to obey Christ,
to follow Christ, to serve Christ your entire life. The Alpha and the Omega, the sum and the substance
is Jesus Christ. That's what this means. And literally in the original language the
verb "is" is not in the original language. It's supplied by our English translators. And as Paul writes this, he writes it very
dramatically and very emphatically. This literally reads, "For to me, to live
-- Christ." He does not even want a verb between Christ
and him. Everything in Paul's life revolves around
Christ. Christ is the center, not the circumference. His whole life is consumed with Christ. Everything in his life is bound up in Christ. Christ is the cornerstone of his life. Christ is the linchpin of his life. Christ is the anchor of his life. Christ is the center of gravity of his life. Christ is the foundation, the pillars, the
pinnacle. Top to bottom, Christ is everything in Paul's
life. That's what he is saying here. Christ is the greatest priority. He is number one. Everything else is a far distant second in
Paul's life. Christ is his greatest passion. He loves Christ more than father or mother
or brother or sister, even his own life. Christ is his greatest possession. To have Christ, you have everything. To not have Christ, you have nothing. Christ is the power of his life, "I can do
all things through Christ who strengthens me." Christ is the greatest pattern. He emulates Christ in everything. He wants to walk like Christ, and talk like
Christ, and teach like Christ, and share the gospel like Christ. Everything in Paul's life is from Christ and
through Christ and to Christ. This is the way you and I must live. Everything else is secondary. This is primary. Even good things are secondary for this, which
is greatest and best. And so, as you look at your life tonight,
may these verses, and specifically this verse be a tug on your heart to come back to your
first love, to come back to the primacy and to the centrality of Christ. It's not even your church, it's not even your
ministry, it's not even your denomination -- it's Christ. And Christ will put you in a church, and He'll
put you in a ministry, and He'll put you in a denomination. But Christ is the head, and we are but the
body. So this is what Paul begins, Paul's priority
in life is Christ. Second, I want you to note "Paul's Profit
in Death," as Paul is staring death square in the eyes. Paul's not sitting at Starbucks someplace,
sipping on a latte. Paul is looking down the gun barrel at death
itself. This is where Paul finds himself, but notice
what he says. This is, this testimony must be my testimony,
it must be your testimony tonight. "For to me to live is Christ," and here it
is, "and to die is gain." To die is gain. This was a real possibility for Paul who will
soon, as far as he knows, appear before Caesar to have his life taken, and it will be a gruesome
martyr's death in which his head will be severed. And it would eventually be, tradition tells
us, on the Ostian Road on the outside of Rome. But he says, "If Caesar requires my life,
to die is gain." The verb "is" again is not in the original. It just literally reads, "To die, gain." And this word "gain," this is no hyperbole. This will be the greatest profit Paul will
ever experience, to die, because to die as a believer in Jesus Christ means you go immediately
into the very presence of Jesus Christ, which is even greater than serving Him at a distance
down here. Paul will go from the grave to graduate to
glory, and death will usher him into the immediate presence of Christ. Death will be the glorious usher that will
take Paul by the hand and bring him into the presence of Christ. Death for Paul will not be a tragedy, it will
be a triumph. And I want you to know, if you do not live
for Christ, for you to die is loss. There is only one way for death to be gain,
and that is to live for Christ in this lifetime and in this world. And what is this gain? What is this greatest gain? Let me tell you what it's not. It's not streets of gold, it's not gates of
pearl, it's not even reunion with loved ones, as wonderful as that is. It's not the absence of sorrow and tears. The greatest gain in heaven for Paul will
be to stand with the Lord Jesus Christ and to be in His very presence, and to love Christ,
and adore Christ, and worship Christ, and serve Christ forever and ever and ever. He is so limited here. It will be unlimited there. Death will give him Christ. As you are facing the reality of death, the
government has come up with a new statistic -- one out of every one person dies. Just tweet that. Selah. And this will become a reality for you, if
Christ should tarry. And we all have loved ones who are entering
into a phase where they are facing death and for us as believers, death holds no sway or
hold over us. Christ has removed the sting from death, and
He has given to us the victory over death through His resurrection. So, this is Paul's profit in death. And it is your profit in death if you are
a believer in Jesus Christ our Lord. And I want you to notice third now, "Paul's
Perplexity in Soul." In verses 22 and 23, Paul is caught between
living for Christ here, dying and going to be with Christ in heaven, and it's like he's
in the middle of a vice grip that is clamping down on him, "Which way do I go?" And so he says in verse 22, "But if I am to
live on in the flesh," which is a real possibility and would actually turn out to be what would
happen in this first of the two Roman imprisonments. "If I am to live on in the flesh, this will
mean fruitful labor for me." Paul understood that if he is allowed, by
the sovereign providence of Almighty God, who has numbered all of our days in His book,
when as yet there is not one of them, if the Lord extends his time, this will mean extended
opportunities to preach the gospel in so many places to countless…to countless people,
and it will be fruitful labor. Souls will be won to Christ. New believers will be built up in Christ. Churches will be planted for Christ. The gospel of Christ will go forward. Christ will be magnified here upon the earth,
if God will extend the number of his days here. But then he says in the middle of verse 22,
"And I do not know which to choose. Do I want to stay here, and preach Christ,
or do I want to go to heaven and be with Christ?" And Paul says, "I do not know which to choose." How strange is this? Paul was one of the most decisive men to ever
walk this earth, and yet he finds himself here paralyzed, not knowing which way to choose. He is like being pulled in both directions. And he says in verse 23, "But I am hard-pressed
in both directions." Would to God this could be the experience
in my heart and in my life, and in your heart and in your life when he says, "I am hard-pressed." In the original language, it speaks of a person
walking down a tight road with two walls on both sides, and the walls are becoming narrower
and narrower until you are closed in, as if you are in a vice grip. And Paul is undergoing one of the most agonizing
trials within his soul. I mean, his life is like a tube of toothpaste,
and he is being squeezed, and everything on the inside of him is coming out as he is looking
death square in the eyes. But for Paul, he wants to go be with Christ,
which is indescribably better. And so he says in verse 23, "I have the desire
to depart and to be with Christ," do you see that? The word "desire," it's a Greek word, epithumia. It means "a strong desire." It means "a deep affection." It means "an intense longing." It's the word that's used in 1 Timothy 3:1
that "if any man aspires to the office of an overseer, it is a noble calling he desires,"
he desires to do. This is what Paul is feeling in his heart. He is anxious to go and be with the Lord. And he says, "Having the desire to depart." And this word "depart" speaks metaphorically
of his death. It's a Greek word that means "to loosen something,"
like a ship that's tied with a rope to a pier, and the current is pulling the boat downstream,
but because it's tied to the pier, to the dock, it's held tight, and then someone comes
along and loosens the rope and unties the knot, and the ship is just taken away downstream
by the powerful current. And Paul says, "I desire for God to just untie
the knot and loosen my hold on this world, because I want to go be with Jesus Christ,"
the desire to depart. And he says, "And be with Christ." Do you see that there in verse 23? That's what heaven is for Paul. It's to be with Christ. Now I have a father and mother in heaven. I can't wait to see them. I've got my mentor, R.C., in heaven. I want to see him. And I want to see Luther and Calvin and Whitefield
and Edwards and the rest, but they're going to have to wait. They…they really are. They're just going to have to wait, because
I want to be with Christ, who suffered and died and bled for me upon Calvary's cross. And who raised Himself from the dead for me
and has ascended to the right hand of the Father and has saved my soul from the wrath
of God. He says he desires to be with Christ. And this will take immediately, the very second
that Paul would die, he knows that he will open his eyes in the very presence of the
Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 8 says, Paul writing,
"We prefer to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord." Paul says, "That's my preference. That's really my priority and my desire." And you remember the thief on the cross, "Remember
me when you come into Your kingdom." And in Luke 23:43 Jesus said, "Today, you
will be with Me in paradise." This is the hope that we have as believers,
not tomorrow, not next week, not next month, not next year, "Today, you will be with Me
in paradise." And we will be like Christ. At the end of chapter 3 and verse 20 and 21,
I don't know whose feet I'm stepping on right now that's going to be preaching this, but
I get to do it right now. So Philippians 3 and verse 20 and 21, "For
our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body
of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to
Himself." Let me tell you, right now you and I have
a redeemed soul inside of an unredeemed body. And there is coming a day, a death, and at
the end of the age when there will finally be a redeemed soul inside of a redeemed body. And in that day, we will be made fully like
the Lord Jesus Christ, as much as anyone can be made like Christ and still be a creature. We will have a glorified body just like Jesus
has, and we will have glorified eyes to look upon Him. We will have a glorified tongue to sing His
praises throughout all of the ages to come. We will have glorified hands to cast our crowns
back at His feet. We will have glorified knees as we will fall
before Him and worship. We will have glorified feet with which we
will serve Him and as we will travel about and carry out the assignments that He will
give to us. And more than, we will see Him. We love Him now by faith; we will love Him
all the more by sight. In Revelation 22 verse 4 says, "We will see
His face." Ancient kings would not reveal themselves
to their subjects and to the peasants, who have worked in their kingdom. But we have a king, who will invite us into
His presence and to come before His throne, and to look into His eyes and a look into
His face. It is the greatest blessing that will ever
come to a redeemed soul. And we will see Him just as He is. And so, Paul is caught in the middle. He does not know which way to go. And he, in his heart and soul, he wants and
prefers to be with Christ, which he says at the end of verse 23, "Which is very much better." Not just better and not just much better,
it's a double superlative. It is "very much better." And so, this is the perplexity within Paul. It's the same perplexity that is in you and
me as we see a father who is a believer in the Lord, a mother who is a believer in the
Lord, a grandparent, a child, as they come to the end of their life. We want to hang on to them. We want them to continue to be with us. But from this eternal perspective, how much
better is it for them to go immediately into the presence of the Lord, and our loss is
their gain. So finally, I want you to note beginning in
verse 24, "Paul's Persuasion," Paul's persuasion in spirit. And he begins in verse 24, which is actually
in the middle of the sentence. But he says, "Yet to remain on in the flesh,"
meaning to live here in this earthen body, "is more necessary for your sake." That's a very humble statement. This is a man who has denied himself and taken
up a cross and is following Christ. This is a man who has died to self and who
dies daily. And this is the struggle that we all face
between what I want to do and what is best for others, and the sacrifice I must make
for the good of others. This is what Jesus had to go through in the
garden of Gethsemane when He said, "Not my will, but Your will be done." And we must all know what it is to be willing
to sacrifice our own personal desires for the higher good of others coming to Christ
and being built up in Christ. And I want to put a footnote here of application. As long as you and I are left here upon this
earth, there is work for you and me to do for Him. And if you are here tonight and you are breathing
there is gospel labor for you to do, otherwise the Lord would have already taken you home
to be with Him. We never retire from God's work. You may retire from the office, you may retire
from your classroom, you may retire from whatever vocation you've had, but you will never retire
from your ministry endeavors for the Lord. And as long as the Lord gives you breath and
keeps you here upon the earth, your purpose is to glorify Him by serving Him. And though…I'm 67 years old, and those of
you who are in my age bracket and even higher, this is the time for you to widen your stride,
and pick up your pace, and to sprint all the way to the finish. May none of us here tonight just cruise into
glory. May we go with our chest out, our knees pumping,
and our leaning to the finish line that we will win this race for the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:58, "Therefore, be steadfast,
immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in
vain in the Lord." That's Paul. Now look at verse 25, "Convinced of this." I'm reading out of the New American Standard,
I don't know what your translation is, but "convinced" is a very good translation. It's the Greek word peitho. It means "to be persuaded deeply of something." It's used in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 10, for
example, "Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men." And Paul says he is persuaded, he is convinced,
he is moved of this. "I know that I will remain and continue with
you all for your progress." I want to go to heaven. I want to be with Christ. But I'm willing to stay to help your faith,
and to build you up, and to teach the Word of God to you, and to help you. And please note what follows, "And joy in
the faith." Let's just stop right here. There is no joy unless you progress in your
Christian life. The order here is very important. You must mature. You must grow. You must advance in your faith in the Lord
in order to know the joy of the Lord Jesus Christ. The cause is your progress. The effect is the joy, your joy in the faith. And when he says "faith" here, you need to
understand there's two…faith is used in two different ways in the Scripture. There is subjective faith and there is objective
faith. Subjective faith is the peace of God in our
heart and in our soul, Philippians 4 verse 6 and 7, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God shall rule in your hearts
in Christ Jesus." That's subjective faith. But this is objective faith, which is the
body of Christian truth, sound doctrine, the truth as revealed in Scripture. The faith once and for all delivered to the
saints, Jude 3 and 4. And so what Paul is saying is all our joy
is in the faith, in the truth that tells us about the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me give you a verse, John 15 verse 11,
Jesus said, "These things I have spoken to you," talking about objective truth, "These
things I have spoken unto you that My joy would be in you and that your joy may be full." And so, the joy that we would have and know
is dependent upon growing in the truth of God's Word and advancing in our Christian
faith. And He says in verse 26, and this is our last
verse, "So that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming
to you again." For me to live is Christ, for you to live
is Christ, this is just Christianity 101. This is not some higher-level form of Christianity. This is what happened the moment you walked
through the narrow gate and committed your life to Jesus Christ, and in that moment you
no longer lived for this world, in that moment you no longer lived for yourself, in that
moment you began to live for Christ when you believed in Christ and you submitted and surrendered
your life to Him. And so therefore, my beloved, when you die
and when I die, it will be the greatest gain you will ever know in your life. It was less than a year ago, on December the
14th, that the founder of Ligonier Ministries, Dr. Robert Charles Sproul, who had lived for
Christ, who had loved Christ, he preached Christ to the very end! His preaching was growing stronger and stronger
and stronger, and that last sermon from Hebrews 2 verses 1 through 4, "How shall we escape,
if we neglect so great a salvation." Dr. Sproul was like a runner pressing to the
finish line as he fought that COPD and the air hunger to continue to have the air that
he needed to live. But in that moment when he breathed his last
breath, our mentor and our friend entered into the greatest gain he had ever known in
his life, as he went immediately into the presence of Him whom he loved and trusted
and served. A couple of weeks ago, there was a Ligonier
tour through Ireland, and I preached at the Belfast Conference, and Chris was there and
Stephen was there. You were there weren't you, Stephen? No, you weren't there. I'm so sorry. Stephen was out of God's will for his life. So, confession is good for the soul. But I'll tell who else was there. Vesta Sproul, R.C.'s wife. And she toured Ireland, and R.C.'s family
roots go back to Ireland, and there she made that journey without R.C. She came back home. She told me this right before the service
tonight. People were coming up to her and saying, "Oh
I guess it was rather bittersweet wasn't it, not having R.C. with you?" And she said, and I've heard her say this
with a note of confident, resilient faith, "I am so happy that R.C. has entered into
the presence of the Lord." In essence, "I would rather have him with
Jesus than with me in Ireland." May that be true of your life that you'd rather
be with Jesus than be anywhere on planet earth, than to be with anyone else. But until the Lord calls you home, may you
live for Christ. May you go full throttle for Christ. You only have one life to live for Christ. May you invest it all in the service of the
Master. And when you die, it will be the greatest
day of your life. You'll be with Christ. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, this almost sounds too
good to be true that someone could live like this in the face of death. And yet we know it's true, because it's recorded
in Your inspired Word, that is, as R.C. would say, is unvarnished truth. So Lord, put this more deeply into us, cause
us to have our focus completely upon Jesus Christ, and may we live solus Christus, for
Christ alone. And as we approach the time of our departure
from this world, may we so long and look forward to awakening in His presence. Father, the best is yet to come we know, so
we give thanks tonight in Jesus' name. Amen.
