To live is Christ. To die is gain. How does this counter intuitive proclamation by the Apostle Paul impact us when our lives turn upside-down and inside-out? Join me in this video sermon as we study Philippians 1:18-26.
Upside-Down, Inside Out from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.
Here are some resources from this past weekend, which may be of help to you:
- Download Weekend Program without Answers (PDF file - 791KB)
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- Download my personal teaching notes (PDF file - 102 KB)
- Download my personal teaching notes in Kindle format (AZW - 12KB)
- Download my teaching notes with slides alongside (PDF file - 4.7 MB)
- Download our service planning sheet (PDF file - 37 KB)
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PHILIPPIANS Part 4: Upside-Down, Inside-Out - 06.27.10
Play: “Philippians” Video Clip [1:30]
Intro – Tonight as we continue our Philippians sermon series, we come to a most important phrase, “To live is Christ, to die is gain.” This seems counter intuitive to us coming from a culture, which lives for self and to die is to lose everything. For many of us this aspect of the Christian life seems “upside-down” and “inside-out.”
Even the way many understand the Christian faith is that knowing God is somehow to have a “direct line to the Big Man Upstairs.” Yes, it’s true that our heavenly Father loves us and as Jesus carefully explained, if He takes care of the birds and lilies, will he not even more take care of you?
Yet we are mortal. We get sick. Our bodies don’t always work right. We die. And it’s not just our health. Sometimes our finances are tough. We lose our jobs. We can’t finish school. Sometimes it seems like our dreams are out of reach. We as God’s people receive no special treatment, it would seem. “It rains on the just and the unjust alike.” (Matt. 5:45) In fact, sometimes, we SUFFER MORE because of our faith. Jesus warned us that if the world hated him, would they not hate us?
Paul is writing Philippians FROM PRISON because he is a Christian. His life, it seems, is very much upside down and inside out. He’s in prison, yet he rejoices! He’s locked up, can’t plant churches, yet completes his most productive and longest lasting work - his letters.
Tonight we will learn that WHEN YOUR LIFE TURNS UPSIDE DOWN AND INSIDE OUT, when things don’t go your way... when your health fails... when you lose someone close to you.... when you suffer for the very reason that you are a Christ-follower, GOD GIVES YOU THE ABILITY TO RESPOND IN AN UPSIDE DOWN AND INSIDE OUT WAY.
I have 2 goals for our time together tonight: #1- explain “to live is Christ, to die is gain.” #2 - demonstrate passage analysis (joke at diagrams.)
READ Phil 1:18b. I will rejoice. Future tense. Continuation of 1:18a. Confidence of rejoicing regardless of circumstances. One main difference between Christian life and non-Christian life is this concept. Outside the faith (and as an American) I am committed to the pursuit of happiness. Nothing wrong with this, except that it is illusive and very much dependent upon circumstances, often outside of our control. BUT JOY is a reality of Christian life regardless of what happens to us.
READ Phil 1:19. “this” = his imprisonment (v.12-18). Circumstance is difficult. Tradition has it that he is chained to a Roman guard. However, he refers to 2 strong aides, which he seems to equate in benefit to him: “YOUR PRAYERS” and “SPIRIT’S HELP.” We can understand this second power. But have you considered the first as an equal? How often do you go to prayer? How often to you pray for others? How often is your first response to think of asking others to pray for you? This is a real strength. Often, especially when we are in the middle of crisis, we cannot think clearly enough to pray for ourselves. Illustration - Kristy’s sister faced surgery. She went to Lissa. She and Lissa called me. I called three others. Don’t allow prayer to be your last resort. Make it your first response! Paul anchors everything he is about to say to BOTH the power of the Spirit in his life AND “prayers.” So I have anchored our illustration this way. First thing said, but bottom supported.
“Will turn out for my deliverance.” If we read this verse in isolation, we would easily assume Paul means his deliverance from prison. And if we put this together with the rest of the verse and 18b before, we’d see that through the prayers of others, through the power of the Spirit, Paul will rejoice because he will be let out of prison. And indeed he does end there in verse 26: “because of my coming to you again.” However, Paul goes on to tell us some other important facts...
READ Phil. 1:20. NOT ASHAMED, FULL COURAGE. If it were true that Paul’s deliverance was his release from prison, why would he need worry about shame and exhibiting courage? He is talking about facing a much more difficult circumstance - his judgment and execution! And he is asking them to pray for him to be able to face this future in such a way that he will not bring himself shame, that he will demonstrate FULL courage - full, not partial, not sometimes on sometimes off, but that he will show FULL courage - despite his normal, natural fear and desire for self-preservation.
CHRIST WILL BE HONORED. His real deliverance is not his own prison release but that regardless of the circumstances - which may or may not go his preferred way - that Christ will be honored. This is the Christ-follower’s #1 goal in life. We name Jesus LORD of our lives (not just Savior) with the intention that His will would be done, that His kingdom would come. So there are times when our circumstances don’t go our way, our preference is not done -- but no matter what we desire that Christ will be honored.
IN MY BODY. Then Paul writes a curious phrase loaded with meaning. That Christ will be honored IN MY BODY! What does this mean? Why write this? We are physical creatures. We live and exist on the physical plane as well as on the spiritual plane. And all too often it is easy for us to differentiate between the two. There is the physical me and then there is the spiritual me. The spiritual me is loving and loyal and dedicated to the proposition of the Lordship of Christ, but then there is the physical me, prone to sin, prone to failure, often not living up in reality to the desire of the spiritual me. (Can anyone identify?) Paul’s prayer is that Christ would not be only honored inside him, but outside him as well. The inside-out relationship of the Christ-follower is that Christ doesn’t remain isolated inside us to some remote, spiritual, sacred place or time, but that he is Lord of all my life, spiritual AND physical, sacred and secular.
Let’s review. Go over left side of program. Teach - breaking up verses into sections like this helps us remember, to memorize and to meditate. Review. And Paul knows, from prison, this means a choice...
BY LIFE OR BY DEATH. If Paul wants Christ to be honored in his body, it also means to honor Christ in his own mortality - either way, either possibility, by living on or by his own death. Those really are the only two choices, right? Lots of shades of each - how we live, how we die. But ultimately this is the choice each mortal being faces. And Paul is saying he wants to face it without shame and with full courage so Christ will be honored. Shouldn’t this be our prayer also? NOTE THIS IMPORTANT FACT - This was not a last minute prayer on Paul’s part. He realized early that this was something that under normal conditions, he would not face well. He prayed for God’s strengthening. Same for each one of us!
It’s here that Paul gives us this upside-down, inside-out statement...
READ Phil. 1:21. TO LIVE IS CHRIST, TO DIE IS GAIN. This is not just a throw away line for Paul. It is central, core. Thought out. Actually a rhyme. To live Χριστὸς. To die κέρδος. For most people this is the opposite of what we think, right? Sure, if we are Christ-followers, we may say to live is Christ, but to die “gain”? Who would think that to die would be better than to live?
[It’s important to take a break for just a moment and emphasize that Paul is NOT talking about suicide here - to view this passage in this way would be to twist it away from Paul’s words.]
He is saying if I live, I live for Christ. I live with Christ. I live through Christ. Christ lives in and through me. I do Christ’s work. I see and feel and do for others the way Christ would do if he were here. In fact Christ is here... in and through me.
BUT when I die - this will be even better. For while I live for Christ now as best I can, then I will be made perfect, I will receive a glorified body to live for Christ even with greater love and worship and effectiveness than I have now. Is this attitude only for the super saint or for me?
Heidi Boynton Illustration. Heidi Boynton lives in the coastal town of Santa Cruz, CA with her husband and two sons. At first glance, she typifies the California girl: blonde, bubbly, a zest for life, a runner. But then her life took an unexpected turn. Watch.
Play Video: “Heidi” [4:06]
If you were Heidi, how would you have responded? Would your your primary FOCUS be on whether or not you could bring glory to God in the midst of such a seemingly random and unfair disease? Would your response to God be “Why me?” or “Use me!” This is the Upside-Down, Inside-Out (UDIO) life of the Christ-follower. This is the response that comes from someone who really believes, in her core, “To live is Christ, to die is gain.” But it does not come automatically. It is not easy to be so courageous. (Prayer & Spirit). Notice her attitude: “I wouldn’t CHOOSE this, but I do CHOOSE how I’m going to live today. I can’t take away this illness. I can’t take a magic pill and make it go away. I can’t know what I’m going to find out from a doctor. But I can CHOOSE life today!”
TRANSITION: How can you begin this UDIO life? If you’re not a Christ-follower, make that commitment. If you are...
Read Phil 1:22a FRUITFUL LABOR / BE WITH CHRIST. Another UDIO aspect of the Christian life that is so different than our society’s worldview is that the end goal of a life lived well is not retirement, not a life of ease and rest, not a life-long vacation, but a life filled with fruitful labor. If I continue to live, I continue to live so that I may fulfill my special calling, my unique purpose in life - to live fully and to love richly - only as Christ can in an through me. But if I don’t have a choice, if my life here on earth is taken from me, then I’ll be with Christ. Paul then moves into speculation... If I had the choice (he doesn’t) which would I choose?
Read Phil 1:22b-24. BETTER FOR PHILIPPIANS / PAUL. “Hard pressed.” (ESV) “Torn” (NIV/NLT) “Pulled in 2 directions” (GNT) “Hard choice - The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can think of nothing better.” (Message) Paul is talking about the hope we have as a Christ follower. The UDIO attitude we have is WIN/WIN, not WIN/LOSE. If I remain alive WIN. Die? WIN!
Does your life, the way you respond to undesirable circumstances, when setbacks come your way, when things don’t work out the way you want, do you have this WIN/WIN view of life? To live is Christ? To die is gain? This is the very real hope of every Christ follower. It is what makes us so distinctive. It’s not just that Heaven will be better someday. It’s that life RIGHT NOW is so much better! AND THE HOPE WE OWN is that somehow it will be even better when we die. Win/Win!
Read 1:25a CONVINCED WILL REMAIN. Based on everything, Paul concludes that he will indeed be released from prison, that he will return to the Philippians. But here is the important point to remember. He doesn’t know that this will happen. He’s convinced, but he is human. Doesn’t know for sure. Lives in that uncertainty. Like Heidi Boynton, convinced it will be better for her sons and husband that she remains - but it’s still a WIN/WIN if it doesn’t. And here is where we begin to understand the source of Paul’s (and Heidi’s, and our’s) courage in the face of uncertainty... (v.20) HOPE is CERTAINTY about the ultimate future, regardless of the UNCERTAINTY of our immediate future. And in this hope is a very real thing! A “knowing” that it will turn out “better.”
Transition: And because of this there is a very real...
JOY IN THE FAITH. Read Phil. 1:25-26. Ultimately this UPIO attitude of I win if I live, I win if I die provides for us the beginning and the end of joy. Again the difference between joy and happiness is that we experience a great peace and comfort and sense of hope and certainty despite our circumstances, while happiness is based upon temporary right circumstances. Do your remember what Heidi said?
“Sometimes we face darkness and it’s deep and it’s painful and doesn’t make sense. Of course I don’t want this, but this is the journey that God has allowed me to be on. Can I bring glory to God through it?”
Conclusion: And that really brings us full circle. Paul begins with his declaration of joy regardless of his present circumstance. He continues with his declaration of his future rejoicing. And he leads ultimately to the Philippians ultimate joy in the faith. That’s the way the Christian life should be. Not always perfect in terms of circumstances. But always, beginning, middle and end, filled with joy - a joy that fills us from the inside out, that spills out to others around us and brings joy in the faith to everyone we meet.
Could this be the model for your Christian life - so much more than a check-off box in a multiple choice question of religious backgrounds - but a FAITH that is anchored in HOPE that leads to LIFE even through DEATH! As you look at this model for the Christian HOPE, where could you use some help? Are you asking for others to pray for you? Are you praying for you? Do you need to work on your desire - that your EAGER EXPECTATION would not be ashamed, but full of courage. Is your #1 priority to honor Christ or is it some other personal goal? Is your faith only on the inside (a spiritual faith) or is it outside too (In your body?) Can you bring yourself to honestly believe, and then live like you believe, that TO LIVE IS CHRIST, TO DIE IS GAIN?
Let’s pray!
