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*“A Matter of Life and Death”*
*Philippians 1.19-30*
I find myself constantly having to reprogram my mind.
In other words, the more I study God’s Word, the more I see how much I have been influenced by the culture and my self-seeking.
I believe that this is consistent with the teachings of Paul in the book of Romans where he says that we are not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewal of our minds.
This is so we can continually test and discern the will of God for us – that which is good and acceptable as Christians.
This morning’s text is one which will get to the core of this truth.
Some passages of Scripture require us to dig a bit more and ponder how it helps to change our thinking and our actions.
The one this morning is foundational for all of life.
I think that if we were to take seriously Paul’s words in this section and allow them to penetrate our hearts and minds and wills, they will *dramatically* alter our outlook and our motivation for *everything* that we do.
One of the benefits of being a preacher of God’s Word is that you get to experience the convictions of the text before preaching to others.
This passage is certainly no exception.
This certainly helps to hold me accountable because if I am to preach boldly the message of the Bible, I need to make sure that I am taking the same challenges to heart and to my life.
The life and thinking of Paul is so intense that we cannot ignore or discard his message to the church.
If you haven’t noticed already, his life is characterized by an all-or-nothing understanding of Christianity.
So, for us, there will not likely be a point where we can compare ourselves to his message and example and think “Yep.
I’ve got that one covered.”
As we know, in the letter to the Philippians, Paul now finds himself imprisoned because of his commitment to Jesus Christ.
And unlike many who would find themselves in his shoes, he rejoices because he understands that his unwavering commitment and continued declaration of the gospel is helping its cause.
Paul had a proper perspective on his circumstances.
The Roman guards were hearing the gospel.
Christians everywhere were encouraged to be bold also in their preaching of Jesus Christ.
And, in this, Paul rejoices.
He rejoices even in those who preach with false motives and antagonism toward him because he counts his life as nothing and Jesus as everything.
We now pick up where we left off last week.
We are in Philippians 1.19-30.
Please turn in your Bibles if you haven’t already.
If you don’t have one, please get one from the back because if you’re not looking at it yourselves, you are following my words blindly and you may miss the depth of Paul’s argument here.
I’ll wait for everyone to get there before I read.
*READ.
*
* *You’ll notice that the section actually breaks up verse 18. Paul begins with his continual rejoicing.
Previously, it was because of Christ being proclaimed.
And here it is because of his perspective on life and his future reality.
The first point of the sermon today is *Internal Conflict.
*We’ll see this in verse 18b-26.
It seems that what we have here is Paul sharing with his readers his thoughts regarding his future.
And he begins by this rather curious statement.
He says that he rejoices because he knows that through prayer and the help of the Spirit, this will turn out for his deliverance.
And this begs some questions.
How can Paul be so sure of “deliverance?”
And what kind of deliverance is he talking about?
Is he referring to physical deliverance from his imprisonment?
Is he speaking of his ultimate salvation?
And how is it that prayer and the Spirit will carry this out?
I think that in order to answer some of these questions, we need to do a couple of things.
First, we need to notice that there is a similar statement made regarding “deliverance” or “salvation” in the book of Job.
In fact, in chapter 13 Job is wrestling through the reasons for his adversity.
In addition, his friends have put him on the defensive.
And in verses 13-16, he says “13 “Let me have silence, and I will speak, and let come on me what may.
14 Why should I take my flesh in my teeth and put my life in my hand?
15 Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face.
16 */This will be my salvation/*,” The Greek translation is identical.
Now, the second thing we would need to look at is the immediate context here.
Verse 20 is a continuation of the same sentence.
And here Paul indicates that he expects and hopes that Christ will be honored – either in his life or death.
This is another clue.
It’s as if he is still not certain how his situation will turn out.
It seems as though he is prepared for his death or continued ministry.
I think that his attitude is quite similar to Job.
Paul is confident that whether he lives or dies, he will be vindicated in heaven’s courts and matters little what happens in the Roman courts.
His faithfulness in ministry will be honored by God.
And this will be attributed to the prayers of the saints and the help of the Holy Spirit.
Paul recognizes that his strength and steadfastness comes from elsewhere.
More importantly than his state of affairs and a potential release from prison is maintaining faithful witness for Christ.
Paul says that it is his eager expectation and hope… not that he would be released from prison, but that he would not be ashamed but be courageous and steadfast.
The “eager expectation” is similar language to the creation’s longing in Romans 8.19.
“18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
19 For the creation waits */with eager longing/* for the revealing of the sons of God.”
This speaks of the consummation of the ages.
I think that in the same way, Paul’s eager expectation is for the consummation of God’s purposes for Paul.
So that at the end of his life, God’s purposes for him will have been completed.
Paul understood what it meant to belong to Jesus Christ.
He realized that he was bought with a price and no longer belonged to himself.
His life’s purpose was to honor Christ.
And would lead him to conclude in verse 21, “for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
Literally it is rendered, “for to me to live – Christ, to die – gain.”
I think that this is the theme of Paul’s life.
And I think it should be ours as well.
These past couple of weeks I have been reflecting on Paul’s life.
I’ve been really challenged by him and his ministry.
Think about this with me.
Paul used to persecute Christians.
And then the Lord Jesus got his attention on the Damascus road.
He was discipled and thrust into ministry.
Paul became the most notorious of Christian missionaries in the history of the church.
And he wrote most of the New Testament that we hold so dear today.
Because of his faith, Paul has been beaten, shipwrecked, ostracized, and now finds himself in prison.
And he is joyful in his predicament because he knows that this has furthered the cause of the gospel.
I don’t know if you will be able to identify with this question.
But can you get to a point in your thinking where you would see his approach to life as “freedom?”
Paul no longer considers his life as anything but for the cause of Christ.
He is going to preach Christ and get beaten.
He is going to preach Christ and be threatened and imprisoned.
Paul now comes to the point where he questions whether or not he will continue to live.
It doesn’t matter.
He’s going to preach Christ.
It doesn’t matter because to die is gain.
If you’re anything like me, you can honestly conclude that we’re not there.
Our lives look little like the life of Paul.
Why is that?
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