Phil. 1:21 – 26 Life or Death, it is Christ.

A. Introduction

1. What is your life?

a. Do you live it for Christ?

b. Do you fear death?

c. Are you looking forward to seeing Jesus?

2. Paul was one who worked totally for the Lord.

3. 1^st Thessalonians 1:3 “Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;”

4. 1^st Timothy 4:10 “For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.”

B. V. 21 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

1. Notice in your Bible that the verb “is” is in italics which mean these two words are not part of the original script. It should read “For to me to live Christ, and to die gain.”

a. One writer put it this way “If to live is Christ, then to die would be more of Christ.”

b. I am convinced that the most important thing in my life as a Christian is to have the reality of Jesus Christ in my life.

2. People who want to serve the Lord here and do it as a second or third part of their life, are not serving the Lord. Romans 12:11 ^“Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;” The word “fervent” comes from the Greek word “Zeo” and it is a verb and means to be hot (boil, of liquids). Not luke warm or even cold but rather very hot.

C. Paul’s goal in life was not “self” at all, it was not the self glory, not the money, His goal was to pursuit labor for the Lord as much as most Preachers today pursuit money. Let’s look at four Purposes Paul had:

1. Paul’s purpose to know as much of Christ as it was possible to know, and to become as fully acquainted as he could with the Lord’s rank, His character, and His plans.

a. Philippians 3:10 “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;”

b. Ephesians 3:19 “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”

c. John 17:3 “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

2. Paul’s purpose was to imitate Christ and to make him the model of his life. It was a design that his Spirit should reign in his heart, that the same temper should motivate him.

3. Paul’s purpose to make his religion known, as far as possible, among mankind. To this Paul seriously gave his life, and devoted his great talents.

a. No man ever gave more of their life to the Lord than Paul.

b. He gave his life to giving the Gospel to the world.

4. It was Paul’s purpose to enjoy Christ. He drew his comforts from him. His happiness was found in his communion with the Lord Jesus

a. Paul never had occasion to regret this course. It produced no sadness when he looked over his life. He never felt that he had had an unworthy aim of living; he did not wish that his purpose had been different when he came to die.

b. When Paul said, “live unto Christ,” he did not mean as when it was convenient, but rather at any cost. Even at the cost of life, because “If to live is Christ, then to die would be more of Christ.”

D. Paul goes on to say, “to die is gain.”

1. Revelation 14:13 “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.”

a. The word “gain”, here, means profit, advantage; and the meaning is there would be an advantage in dying above that of living.

b. But Paul knew the Lord was not done with him, so he gave his reason to stay here. V. V. 24 – 25 “Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. (25.) And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith.

2. Paul had just said in V. 23 “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:”

E. Let’s look at some things that make death far better than living.

1. Death means we will be then freed from sin. Here it is the source of perpetual humiliation and sorrow; in heaven he will sin no more. Revelation 21:4 “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

2. Death means we will be freed from temptation. Here, no one knows when we may be tempted, nor how powerful the temptation may be; in heaven, there will be no allurement to lead us astray; no enticer of pleasure to place bait before us to sin; and no heart to yield to them.

3. Death means we will be delivered from all our enemies, from the slanderers, the false accusers, and the persecutors. Here the Christian is constantly liable to have our motives called in question, or to be met with detraction and slander; there, there will be none to do us injustice; we will all rejoice in the belief that he is pure.

4. Death means we will be delivered from suffering. Here we are constantly liable to it. Our health fails, our friends die, our minds are sad. There, there shall be no separation of friends, no sickness, and no tears.

5. Death means we will be delivered from death. Here, death is ever nigh-dreadful, alarming, terrible to our nature. There, death will be known no more. No face will ever turn pale, in all heaven there will never be seen a funeral procession, nor will the soil there ever open its bosom to furnish a grave.