Life or Death

  • David Fairchild
  • May 2, 2004
  • Series: Philippians

“Every Man dies, but not every man truly lives.”

-William Wallace

INTRODUCTION

Paul continues his selfless encouragement to those he loved in the church at Philippi.

Paul is in his fourth year of custody under the Roman King Nero, shackled to Roman guards who rotate in 4 hour shifts to guard him. He writes to his brothers and sisters to tell them that everything that has happened to him is for the advancement of the Gospel and that he will magnify Christ in life and in death (v. 20).

Paul’s view is not temporal and fleshly it is eternal and spiritual.

Verse 21a- For to me, to live is Christ…

Some of us are confused about what it means “to live.”

We should have instinctively known life would be difficult. We were pulled out of a nice warm place, buck naked, in front of strangers, and spanked until we cry. That theme repeats itself for the next several decades.

Some of us have been told a lie that sounds something like this; pray this prayer and your life will be wonderful. Your life will be filled with happiness and joy. Your life will look like a Hallmark card set in a Thomas Kincaid painting. You were lied to.

Someone may have had such zeal to get you to pray a prayer that they broke one of the commandments to get you to pray it!

Some of you may have also been told another lie. That Christ is a spiritual piñata and if you whack him with the right prayer stick, He’ll be forced to give you whatever you want. “Pray this prayer for 30 days and you’re borders will be increased.” The only thing that is proven to grow my borders after 30 days is eating McDonalds. I have seen my borders grow before my very eyes! Yet I don’t see a book titled “The Prayer of Ronald.”

Only in an American culture would we expect a life without suffering, and life without pain, a life without difficulties.

Some of us want to follow Christ not realizing that Christ was a man who was rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, despised, and without esteem (Isaiah 53).

The road to glory for Jesus was through the cross and He says for us to take up our cross and follow Him.

Some of us have had to come to grips with life and realize through many painful struggles that this life is not about us. God willing, at some point in our lives, we come to the conclusion that life is about something, and more specifically someone, other than ourselves.

The reason we love movies like Braveheart, Rob Roy, The Last Samurai, The Patriot, Gladiator, and every well done man flick is because these men were committed to something greater then themselves. These men had a view of life and death that compelled them to live faithfully to someone and something other then themselves and we applaud them.

Last week in the news we hear of a a young man named Pat Tillman that walked away from a 3.6 million dollar contract with the Cardinals so that he could fight for something greater than himself in Afghanistan. He was ambushed by the enemy and shot dead.

His coach in a press conference said this about him “Pat knew his purpose in life. He proudly walked away from a career in football to a greater calling.”

A young man who was worth future millions, gave it up because of something other. We applaud such courage and commitment from someone that didn’t need to prove anything to anyone.

This is what makes us love hero’s; we see this kind of other focus and it is such a rarity that we commend them and give them medals.

Your life, if you follow Jesus, will look like Jesus life. You will experience suffering, you will experience disappointment, betrayal, hatred, backbiting, and you will experience the reality of the cross as you bear it. When we live for and follow Christ we will inevitably experience what Jesus did in His days walking the earth.

How many of you have seen the movie Sixth Sense? There is this odd little boy in the film that is burdened by a gift he was given.

He says in a dialogue with Bruce Willis’ character:

“I see dead people…walking around like regular people. They don’t see each other. They only see what they want to see. They don’t know there dead.” Bruce Willis’ character asks this creepy little boy how often he sees them and the boy says “All the time, there everywhere...”

The twist from this film is that Bruce Willis’ character is a psychologist who is trying to help this little boy, and what he doesn’t figure out until the end of the movie is that he is the one who is dead and he didn’t know it and couldn’t see other dead people. He had no idea he was dead. He couldn’t see other dead people because he could only see what he wanted to.

Many of us were just like Bruce Willis’ character Malcolm. We had no idea we were dead. We thought we were the ones that were helping others see when in fact we were blind. We thought we were alive when in fact we were dead. Then, like this great scene from this movie, as Bruce’s character is tossed into a whirlwind as he realizes he is actually dead, we come to the realization that we were seeing only what we wanted to see, hearing only what we wanted to hear, and all the while we were deceived.

The Apostle Paul was not deceived. He was confronted with the person and reality of Jesus.

The future promise of the long awaited Messiah, spoken of through the centuries. The anointed One who was to come, God in the flesh. The One who would come to take upon Himself the sins of those who would believe in Him. The One that was a King who suffered the punishment each of us deserved. The One that would take all things and make them new. The One who would make us right with our Father. The One who would come to conquer our enemies, defeat our foes, and set the captives free. The only way, the only truth, the only life.

Jesus comes to Paul in dramatic circumstances and Paul is so changed by this experience and by the reality of Christ, that his life is flipped upside down and he is now living in response to another. That other is Christ.

But notice that Paul doesn’t say to live for Christ, he says to live is Christ. Christ is life.

To live is Christ.

Paul then says what is the natural outflow of the heart of a believer in Jesus.

Verse 21b-…and to die is gain.

How can dying be gain?

Some of us are confused about what it means to die.

Whether we live, or whether we die..Christ.

What is my motivation for living? Christ. What is my motivation for dying? Christ.

There are many competing philosophies and psychologies that all want to teach you how to die peacefully. Not in the bible. The one way to live, and the one way to die with the kind of life worth living and death worth dying, is through Christ alone.

Christ navigates us through life and death. We can’t live without Christ, and death isn’t a gain without Christ. Don’t try to do either without Christ.

You and I have been built to face life and death head on. We have been built to see life in all it’s suffering, to see death in all its black grandeur, and face it head on with the confidence of Christ Jesus as our warrior King who causes both have meaning.

Verse 22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell.

What kind of fruit was Paul talking about? The fruit of salvation for the lost, from the work of the Gospel.

Paul doesn’t know whether or not he will live. He says “if” I live on. But he is confident that if he lives he will produce more fruit from his work.

Why? Healthy things grow. Paul’s confidence is rooted in the work of Christ. A healthy relationship with Christ will mean a relationship of growth from your labors. Paul realizes this and trusts in the fruitfulness of the work of God through him.

Verse 23- For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.

Paul knows the blessing of being with Christ. Nothing in this world can compare to such an experience. He longs for that future day of union with his Lord without sin.

Verse 24- Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.

Paul says it’s not about him or his wants, even though those wants are legitimate and better for him. He wants what is better for others. He knows that staying longer will cause him to experience more of what he already has. He knows there may be more beatings, more hate from his enemies, more jail, more of what he has grown accustomed to in his life.

Yet Paul desires what God desires, the Kingdom to be lived and experienced here. Paul has been sent by God as his messenger to carry the gospel of peace to those who have none. To bring a message of hope and faith in the God who is there. To encourage and help God’s children press on in joy and faith.

Verse 25- And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith,

Paul’s confidence is found in God. He knows God is faithful and will keep him for as long as He sees fit. Paul rests in God’s plan.

Verse 26- that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again.

Paul desires that the Philippians rejoice in Christ. Do we?

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