True Living
Notes
Transcript
In the bitter winter of 1944,
during the height of World War II,
the Ardennes region of Belgium,
served as the stage for one of the most crucial battles of the conflict:
The Battle of the Bulge.
For it was here that Allied forces found themselves facing a massive German offensive,
who were intent on breaking through their lines and reversing the tide of the war.
As the German forces surged forward,
using their Blitzkrieg tactic of sudden. overwhelming force,
American troops quickly found themselves surrounded and cut off in the small town of Bastogne.
Their situation was dire.
From the bitter cold of winter,
To low food and ammo storage,
The men of the 101st Airborne Division, along with other Allied units,
Faced a trial unlike any other that would test their resolve.
As the siege of Bastogne began,
The town was subjected to relentless bombardment from German artillery and constant attacks from infantry units.
Leading to a situation that seemed bleak,
as the soldiers faced not only the physical hardships of combat
but also the psychological toll of being isolated and outnumbered.
Yet, amid the chaos and uncertainty,
A spirit of resilience and determination emerged among them.
For despite being surrounded by enemy forces,
and being cut off from reinforcements with harsh winter conditions,
They refused to surrender.
And instead, dug in, and fortified their positions to be prepared as best they could to repel enemy assaults.
Finally,
After days of intense fighting and unbearable hardship,
Relief arrived for the besieged defenders,
When General George S. Patton's Third Army broke through the German lines and reached Bastogne,
bringing much-needed reinforcements, supplies, and hope to the embattled troops.
And with that, the siege was lifted, and the Allied forces emerged victorious,
Which served to completely turn tide of the Battle of the Bulge
Which was pivotal for the Allies Victory over the Germans.
The reason I’m telling you this story, is because when it comes to our Christian faith,
The Bible makes it abundantly clear that we are brothers in arms.
Which means we are AT WAR!
Not with each other
but with a very real enemy that is clear and present danger!
And because of this,
We are going go to through hardship,
We are going to go through terrible spiritual sieges in this war that threaten to sap our commitment and resolve!
And what is it that we must remain committed and resolved to?
The joyous, life-saving mission of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Which leads us to:
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
This is what it means to remain committed and resolved to our gospel mission.
This is what true living looks like as soldiers of Jesus Christ,
Who fight not with physical weapon’s of warfare,
But with spiritual ones.
and one of the biggest spiritual weapons we have is to live a life full of joy.
But to do that,
We must truly live rejoicing in the Lord!
Which doesn’t mean faking a smile!
No, it means putting on the truths that lead to rejoicing!
To truly live we must rejoices in our:
Deliverance (v. 18-20)
Deliverer (v. 21-26)
I want you to imagine with me for a second here that you were one of the Allied soldiers serving in The Siege of Bastogne.
Do you think it might get difficult to be joyous about it, knowing that at any second a bullet or mortar shell could end your life permanently?
I can’t imagine the fear and terror these men went through.
And yet, what if they knew, beyond a shadow of any doubt that they wouldn’t succumb to the enemies assaults?
What if they knew there was NOTHING that would prevent them from being delivered,
How do you think that might affect them?
The way they lived as a soldier?
Do you think it might embolden them a bit?
That they might stop cowering in fear every time they heard a mortal shell flying overhead?
When I was a kid, I remember watching an old war movie,
And in it, there was a soldier who failed to truly live as a soldier,
Instead, he was paralyzed by fear for his life,
Which only served to prevent him from serving as he ought when the battle ensued.
AND not only didn’t actually serve to protect him much better,
But put his fellow soldiers at greater risk, because he wasn’t able to aid them.
Well, after a while, along came his commanding officer, who sat him down and told him something I’ve always considered quite profound.
Because what he told him radically changed his perspective,
allowing him to truly live as a soldier in the face of battle.
And what he said was:
“You’re already dead.”
“Stop living like you aren’t!”
“For until you accept this truth, you won’t be able to serve and function as a solider ought.
“For all war depends on this.”
Pretty profound, right?
But here’s why I bring that up.
As Christians, we can become so focused on our life here and now.
our hobbies
our careers,
our family,
and our relationships,
That we become INCAPACITATED when it comes to engaging in the spiritual war that is at hand!
But as Christians, our old life is DEAD!
For the old is gone and the new has been ushered in!
And until we come to recognize that our old life is gone,
We won’t be able to serve as a solider ought in the midst of war!
We’ll be too preoccupied trying to preserve the things from our old life!
Which prevents us from being an effective solider!
Now don’t get me wrong:
I’m not saying we should give up our jobs, careers, and family,
What I’m actually saying is we need to give up making our hobbies, our careers, and our families OUR LIFE!
Because they aren’t!
For Christ is our life!
And He has promised to bring us deliverance into ETERNAL LIFE!
Which means that no stray bullet will ever truly kill you!
No well-placed mortar will ever do you in!
Because our we have guaranteed new life that is hidden with Christ on high!
Which means our deliverance is GUARANTEED no matter what the enemy throws at us!
Think about this with me:
If the allied soldiers knew that if they were shot dead
they would be resurrected to new life days later,
Do you think that might have emboldened them?
Do you think it might have made them less worried about losing their life and seeing their family, friends, and loved ones again?
Of course it would have!
And yet Christians,
This is EXACTLY what Paul is promising us soldiers of Jesus Christ!
Philippians 1:18–20 (ESV)
18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
Now in these verses,
there’s some debate over what Paul means in verse 19, when he says “this will turn out for my deliverance.
remember Paul is writing this letter from a Roman Prison,
So the question is,
is Paul saying: “I know I’ll be delivered from this Roman Prison,
Or, is Paul saying: “I know that I will, no matter what happens, be ultimate delivered in the end?”
I personally think Paul’s talking about the latter of the two.
Because otherwise verse 19 and 20 don’t make much sense.
So I’m honestly not sure why there’s much debate here,
Because to me, Paul’s point is clear.
And his point is,
As the theologian Johnny Cash once put it:
“There ain’t no grave can hold my body down!”
This is why Paul can speak of having FULL COURAGE now as always,
Because he knows that whether he lives or dies,
Christ will be honored in His body,
And HE WILL BE ULTIMATELY DELIVERED!
So no matter what the enemy does - kill him or let him go
Paul wins, because Christ wins!
Because Paul’s absolute deliverance is guaranteed!
And yet, as Christians we often forget this,
Becoming concerned that if we serve Christ it might lead to suffering and loss.
Sure, likely not our physical bodies - at least not yet here in America.
But we can’t give up our time - we only have so much of it!
We can’t give up our resources - we are on a fixed income with a lot of hobbies to pay for!
We can’t give up our comfort - serving messy people and washing their stinky feat sounds terrible...
But don’t you see church,
Whatever we sacrifice for this war effort isn’t really a sacrifice at all in the end!
And it’s not because we’ve got a deliverance that’s guaranteed,
And it’s one that no grave can hold down!
This is what Paul rejoiced it!
And he did so with eager expectation!
Which in the Greek, is a word that means: “To crane your neck” as you try to catch a glimpse of what lies ahead!
And what lies ahead for God’s people is a deliverance by our great Deliverer Jesus Christ!
To truly live we must rejoices in our:
Deliverance (v. 18-20)
Deliverer (v. 21-26)
In verse 21, we find one of the most well-known verses in this entire book:
Where Paul says:
21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
What the Apostle Paul is saying here is that:
everything he has been,
everything he currently is,
and everything he will be and looks forward to is found in Jesus Christ!
Christ was the reason Paul got out of bed in the morning!
Not his job of tent-making
Not his hobbies,
Not his relationship with others,
For it was ONE relationship alone that drove Paul,
Which was with Jesus Christ.
And why?
Because Christ brought a deliverance that made the deliverance of General Patton look like lending a classmate a pen when they forgot theirs!
Because Yes, it’s a deliverance from sin, death, and hell,
Christ certainly delivered us from that on the cross,
But it’s SO MUCH MORE than that!
Because it’s NOT just a deliverance FROM those things,
Which would be remarkable enough,
No, it’s also what we are DELIVERED TOO!
Which is why Paul speaks of death as “GAIN”
Because He’s being delivered to the author and giver of life itself!
Who is the very standard and source of all beauty!
Hebrews 1:3 (ESV)
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
And in Revelation, we get little picture of the image of His beauty and glory,
Which reads:
13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
This is why Paul saw death as gain.
For in death, Paul was saying goodbye to the sin-fallen beauty of this world,
And coming directly into the presence of beauty itself!
Have you ever realized that the search for happiness is really the search for beauty?
It is.
Some look for beauty in academics,
Some look for it in the arts,
And some in science,
And yet,
No matter how much we taste of it, it always leave us hungry and thirsting for more!
It’s like drinking salt water!
It’s never enough!
I think this is why Albert Einstein once said:
"The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives." - Albert Einstein
In Christ, we find the answer to the cravings of our Soul!
We find what we were made to enjoy for all of eternity!
And yet,
The most tragic thing I can think of is looking to and living for lesser glories
When the King of Glory stands before us,
Beckoning us to come in!
And yet, so many refuse Him,
Insisting on the infinitely lesser temporary glories of this world.
I can think of nothing more tragic.
And what’s also tragic, is when we see this in the church.
With Christians...
People who have been delivered BY Christ,
But not delivered fully UNTO CHRIST.
Sure, they are thankful for the salvation they have,
But they remain spiritual children
Pursuing lesser truths and lesser beauties,
When the THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE stand before them!
Tragic...
But this was not the case with the apostle Paul,
Not at all.
For Paul had indeed come to taste and see that the Lord is good!
And because of it, He did everything he could to serve him with the time he had.
However long or short that might be!
Either way, to live is Christ and to die is gain!
Which means, Paul’s life was filtered through the lens of Christ and Christ alone!
Which is why he says:
22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.
What a conflict!
Live for Christ OR go and be with Christ!
That was Paul’s problem!
He wanted both!
Yes, He knew going to be with Christ, his deliverer is the deliverance he was longing for,
But in the meantime, he knew there was work to be done!
Their was fruitful labor He wanted to partake in,
So that when He did go and see Christ, He was see Christ smile upon him and say:
“Well done thou good and faithful servant!”
THAT is what Paul was living for!
THAT is what Paul was longing for!
Romans 14:10–11 (ESV)
10 For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”
Paul knew this day was coming,
And he LONGED FOR IT!
Do you?
Does the idea of seeing Christ face-to-face fill you with dread or delight?
Hopefully a healthy mix of both,
With the emphasis on delight!
25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.
Here Paul gives us his impression of what he thinks will happen,
Which is that God is going to deliver him from that Roman prison, for a while at at least,
So he can continue on with fruitful labor for the sake of Christ’s church.
Which culminates in God’s people experiencing JOY in their faith and giving glory in Christ Jesus.
As church history tells us,
It was only a few years later, after Paul wrote this letter,
That Paul found himself in another Roman prison,
But for the last time.
Because there Paul received the GAIN he longed for here,
As He was decapitated for being a follower of Christ.
And yet, Paul’s story isn’t over.
Not even a little bit!
In fact, you could say it’s just getting started!
For one day soon,
1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 (NIV)
13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
What a comfort,
What a hope,
And what an encouragement to press on,
as we serve our Lord and Savior with fruitful labor,
Longing for the Day when the war is over,
When our toil is done,
And and all that is left is our eternal, never-ending life in Christ.
Are you ready for that day?
Are you longing for that day?
Are you living for that day?
I trust you are:
And so we pray: “Come quickly Lord Jesus!”
Prayer