For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
21 sermons cite this verse
… One of the most famous sentences in the Bible, Philippians chapter one, verse 21. Paul says it here. Here's my purpose. He's purpose-driven. for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. I'm going to go be with my savior who died for me, who loved me, who created me, who filled me, who had a purpose for my life. For me to live is Christ. For me to die is gain. I'm not afraid of death. It's where I wanna be. I don't wanna live on a broken world for the rest of eternity. Now let me close and wrap this up by asking, how would you fill in the blank, for me to live is? What would you put as the last phrase? For me to live is my hobby? For me to live is my sport? For me to live is to make more money. For me to live is to get a house, to have nice things. …
… But instead, in that dark, dank prison, Paul wrote the most positive book in the Bible, Philippians. Now, in Philippians chapter one, verses 12 to 30, Paul, who is writing from prison, models four principles for being happy no matter what happens in your life. This is a very practical message. I hope you'll take notes on this. I want you to see the four choices that Paul made so you can make these same choices too. Again, you're as happy as you choose to be. All right. So here are the four principles, the four choices. First, I can be happy no matter what happens in my life if I choose to, write this down, remember God can bring good out of anything. That's the first choice. I choose to remember that God can bring good out of anything. Now, Romans 8, 28, that famous verse of scripture in the Bible says this, we know, not we guess, we know that in all that happens, all that happens, that's the good, the bad, and the ugly, we know that in all that happens, God works for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. …
… Short but powerful verse. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I'm going to live, I am living for Jesus. And I'm laying it all on the field, you know. I'm leaving nothing back, holding nothing back. If I'm going to die, that's an upgrade. I get to go be with him. we move on to verse 7 following this interaction with his disciples Jesus then shifts his focus solely back to the blind man and our Lord goes on to do something that is quite extraordinary Jesus spits upon the dirt he forms a clay in his hands he takes the clay and he smears it on the eyes of the blind man and then he tells them, go and wash in the Pool of Siloam. The Pool of Siloam, by the way, has an incredible history and symbolism to it even. It was originally built by King Hezekiah many years before this. It was located close to the temple and was used for purification for the Jews, specifically participating in the Feast of Tabernacles to purify themselves before participating. …
… was not about self-sufficiency. It was about Christ-sufficiency. When he summarizes the life that he lives in just a few words in Philippians 1.21, he says, To me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. He said, If you want to understand my perspective on life, then you need to understand that my life is Christ, and Christ is my life. And when I face my death, Christ is my sufficiency. So we dare not read into this statement late twentieth-century ideas of contentment, but rather we must understand that for the Christian, contentment involves submission to and delight in our heavenly Father's wise disposal. Christian contentment is submission to and delight in what God our Father gives us. Isn't that what Jesus was teaching in Matthew chapter 6 when he says to these folks, don't worry about your life? Why do you worry about your clothes, he says? Do you ever worry about your clothes? Be honest. How many of you worried about your clothes this morning before you came to church? …
… You think it's any accident when the apostle Paul talks about death in Philippians 1.21 and he says, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain? That's the Christian's life right there. All the gain I couldn't find here, I'm gonna inherit with him there. I'm gonna go into eternity with him where there is no more pain. And there I'm gonna find out that everything I did for him here with Christ mattered. Every bill I paid in his name, every test I took in his name, every order I fulfilled, every person I helped, every dollar I invested, and most of all, every person I helped know Jesus a little bit more. It all matters. Martin Luther said, when you understand those things, when you understand Ecclesiastes, only two days in your calendar are gonna matter. That day and this day, today, that day, the day that you know that you'll stand before God and this day, the day that the Lord has made for you to rejoice and be glad in it and be faithful to him in whatever assignment he's given you, which is why we say, Summit, only one life to live will soon be passed. …
… And I don't say this to freak you out or depress you. Because Paul said, hey, to live is Christ and to die is gain, okay? So. I'm living for Christ in each and every day. If this is my last day, okay, great. I'll be in heaven. But until that day, I want to make every day count. Because heaven is a prepared place for prepared people. And the Bible says, prepare to meet your God. Are you prepared? In closing, let me ask you this question. Do you know with certainty that you will go to heaven when you die? If you don't know that, you can know it right now. Let me come back to that verse that Pastor Chuck said. He would base his last sermon on, John 3, 16. For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. That's the good news in a nutshell. God loved you. He sent his son to die for you. …
… Oh yeah, far better. Paul also said to live is Christ and to die is gain. So when that day comes, that day comes. And we as Christians go into the presence of God. But there's someone listening to me right now that is really frightened by this topic. You think about it all the time. You think about your mortality. You worry about it. Listen, let's get it resolved right now. I am telling you on the authority of Scripture, if you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you can have peace in the midst of the most difficult circumstances like Peter had when he was in prison. If you put your faith in Jesus Christ you no longer have to fear death because Jesus said I hold the keys of death. I'm glad he holds them because if I had them they would have been lost by now. Because I always am losing keys. Am I the only one? Right. Jesus has the keys. He has control. And he said I am the resurrection and the life. And he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever lives and believes in me, Jesus speaking, shall never die. Oh sure, our bodies will go into the ground unless the Lord comes for us in the rapture before that. And that could happen. But if not, our bodies go into the ground, but they'll be resurrected again. But our soul goes immediately into the presence of God. …
… there was a cassette tape, yes, of Mary Fisher singing in Shauna to the children in the school. this. To me to live is Christ and to die is gain. To hold his hand and walk his narrow way. There's no peace, no joy, no thrill like walking in his will. To me to live is Christ, to die is gain. Father, thank you that you have loved us so much to send Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, that you came. Holy Spirit come quicken as we pray that we might live to the praise of your glory and we ask it in Jesus name
… Are y'all seeing this? He says in chapter 1, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. He says in chapter 2, let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus. Y'all, he is doing this thing. He says in chapter 3, I'm a person of accomplishment. But guess what? All of that don't mount to nothing. Because the main thing I want to know is to know Christ and the power of his resurrection. But then I rush to chapter 4. Because chapter 4 says rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say rejoice. And then he says be anxious for nothing. But by everything with prayer and supplication. With thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known unto God and the peace of God that passeth all understanding will guard your heart and mind through Christ Jesus. And then he says in that same chapter, listen, I need y'all to understand something. And that is I ain't tripping on my situation because I've learned in whatsoever state I am there with to be content. …
… Paul, if you don't shut up, we will kill you. Well, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Fine, we won't kill you. We'll just ruin your reputation. Well, no matter, in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. Therein I rejoice and will rejoice. All right, then we'll just put you in chains. Great, I'll just convert the guards you chained me to. Oh, by the way, those in Caesar's household from the last place you chained me up, they send their greetings in Christ to you. well then we'll just throw you in a dungeon and lock away the key perfect I got some letters I've been meaning to write one to Galatia one to you Romans they're going to be called the Bible one day see Paul says I'm really confident that all things are working together for good for those of us who love God who are called according to his purposes Paul says I wouldn't have that confidence if I were living for my purposes because I'm living for his you can't touch anything that I'm doing. There is an incredible freedom that comes from fearing God alone. This is how I want to be. …
… you empty. He will prosper in the thing for which he sent it. You will say with the Apostle Paul, to live is Christ and to die is gain. So make my day. Let me live or take my life. You cannot stop me. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress, persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written, we are being killed all day long. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. So how does that work? We are being killed all day long. We are more than conquerors. Here's the way Jesus said that, I think. Jesus said in Luke 21 16, some of you they will put to death. but not a hair of your head will perish. The Bible talks that way, doesn't it? That's strange. Some of you they will put to death. That's true of those in this room. and not a hair of your head will perish. Doesn't that mean at least in God's meticulous providence over your life, he is so attentive and so mightily and particularly careful with your life, no matter what happens to you, he's watching so closely as the hairs of your head are numbered that nothing can happen to you apart from his sovereign good purposes for your life because to live is Christ and to die is gain. You can't be defeated if God is meticulously sovereign. …
… that I will not at all be ashamed, but that with full courage, now as always, Christ would be magnified, or you could say glorified, in my body, whether by life or by death, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. And I remember looking at that argument and thinking, how does that work? Christ is magnified in my body as I die because for me to die is gain. That doesn't work. Yet. There's a premise missing in the argument. I met a lady last night. I hope she's here because I want to thank her out loud. She said, I like your preaching because it's mathematical. I said, bless you wherever you are. So I got on the phone last night. My wife said, I met this wonderful lady who likes my preaching because it's like math. And my wife said, of course it's like math. It's like premises and conclusions. So here we got an argument and there's a missing premise. All of you excited about that? …
… what's behind that? How can Paul talk like that? Two things are behind it, and you know at least one of them. Philippians 121, he said, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. So that's part of the answer. What's behind that? You're going to rejoice that you get to die for the service of their faith? And he said, I already told you, it's gain. That's not the whole answer, because that would be true whether he died for somebody's faith or not. All he has to do is die. This is about dying in the service of an unreached people group that you'd like to see come to fake. and so the second answer what's behind this is Jesus word to Paul it is more blessed to give them to receive Acts 20, 35. It is blessed or joyful to see another person's joy increase. That's a happy thing. If your joy increased, I would rejoice. It's an even more blessed thing if your joy increases because of my joy expanding through my life into your joy. That's more. If I could spend my life so that my vertical delight in knowing Christ and the totality of all that God is for me in Jesus, if I could spend my life so that that joy through my instrumentality became your joy, that would be another reason to say, I am glad to give my life for this. …
… who said to the Philippians, to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Gain. That's joy language. That's pleasure seeking. Gain. It would be gain, Paul said, if I depart and be with Christ because Christ is far better. He's gain. And so he said, I count everything as loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. That's the hedonism. That's the joy seeking I want to have of the Apostle Paul. And tonight, we get the joy-seeking prophet, Isaiah. He says, all who thirst, come to the waters. All who hunger, come here to eat. Enjoy wine and milk, free of charge. If you're hungry, come feed here. Feed on true bread that truly satisfies. eat what is good delight yourself in rich fair feast enjoy find pleasure here that's Isaiah's hedonistic joy seeking call I want you to see this for yourself in Isaiah 55 elsewhere throughout the Bible I want you to see it in Hebrews and Paul Jesus So I want to word these principles tonight as we move through Isaiah 55, word these in such a way that they are whole Bible principles. …
… why Christ will be magnificent as I live. I'm gonna show you with this four. Because, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. That's his argument so far. And it doesn't work so far. It doesn't hang together. I mean just try to state the premises of the argument to yourself because this is an argument. My expectation and longing and hope is that Christ would be magnified in my body in the way I die because to die is gain. That doesn't make any sense. There's a missing premise. You've got to have another premise to make that work. I mean, you could say, my death is gain because I'm so depressed. I'd just like to be out of here. I mean, seriously, to call death gain is not to magnify Jesus. There are all kinds of reasons why people consider death gain, and it doesn't make anything of Jesus. This is not an argument that's going to work. Yet. He's not done. You got to always keep reading to make things work in the Bible. …
Right now, it's time for the Word of God. Let's go. The book of Philippians chapter 1, verse 20 through 26. No, no, no. Let's go all the way back to verse 18. I was going to speed it up for time, but I want to read from verse 18, so I'm going to read from verse 18. Then the Lord gave me this scripture, and then he gave me a picture, and I want to give both of you today. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice. Yeah, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and God's provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, What has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. Verse 20 says, I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now, as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I don't know. I'm torn between the two. I'm trying to make a decision. I don't know which to choose. I'm torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far, but it's more necessary for you that I remain in …
… yeah, you know what, for me to live is Christ. And to die, I can't wait to die because it's more Christ. You understand this book, Cover to Cover, is about people who are consumed with knowing him. And that's why it culminates in Revelation 21, 22 at the end where he says, Hey, there's going to come a time when God is actually going to be with his people again. Like there's going to be no separation. It's going to be beyond the garden. Like he's actually going to be here again. So if you're not a person who knows him and longs for him, I can't wait for that. Man, your religion maybe became something else somewhere along the line. and I'm just praying that you would just recognize like there is nothing like fellowship with him there is nothing like the feeling the feelings I got this week every time God answered another prayer where I go I can't believe this but it doesn't surprise me it's been the trajectory of my life knowing him, knowing him, knowing him is everything you guys have you let something else become more to you have you gotten distracted or are you still just amazed at prayer you're still blown away that you get to know God in Isaiah looking at this verse this morning too Isaiah 57 verse 15 it says this for thus says the one who is high and lifted up who inhabits eternity whose name is holy I dwell in the high and holy place …
… and you've got people like Paul who's saying, look, for me, to live is Christ, and to die would be awesome, because that just means I get more Jesus. I'll actually see him. It's this obsession, and somehow in church, we've turned it into something else, and suddenly we're not producing people who are lovers of Jesus. We have people that will fight for different causes, and that's a good thing. But at the end of the day, Jesus says, look, there's only one thing that is necessary. There's only one thing that's necessary. He says, look, the greatest commandment, the greatest is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength. Like, that's the greatest commandment. It's the one thing that's necessary. It's the one thing that David's after, and my concern is that it could be the one thing that's missing here. That you can become these brilliant activists doing all sorts of things, but at the end of the day, it says in Matthew 7, there's going to be people who will say, Lord, didn't I do this? Didn't I do this? …
… got to change getting together in a service is never going to be enough for you like this is about a group of people that are addicted to jesus and for us to live is christ and to die is gain that's what this is about if that's your destination if that's your final destination and then stay on this plane. But it's about a body, like I said. It's not just love for him, but it's like, do you seriously think about this? Do you really want to love me that much? look around this group and go, do I really want to love Isaiah? To where I'm attached to him, where he's a part of the body? I like him, and it's cool hearing him play his little violin thing. But that's not what we're after. Like God says, no, I want you to be, I want you to feel like he's a part of your body. like in a like like that early church um you know when the church first started in acts chapter 2 verse 42 it says they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching into the fellowship to the breaking of bread and prayers awe came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles listen to this and all who believed were together and had all things in common, and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread …
… precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints? Did you know that the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 1, verse 21, for me to die is gain? I mean, physically it's gain. My body's going to be made like the Lord Jesus. Intellectually it's gain, for I'll know as I am known. Emotionally it is gain, because I'll be able to praise Him with my whole heart. Socially it is gain, because I will be with the saints of all of the ages, And with my Lord face to face spiritually it is gain because temptation and sin will be behind me. And I will be one with my Lord like never before. Now what brings me into that relationship, what brings me there is death. So death is not an enemy if it helps me to come into a place like that. For me to die is gain. Now listen, see why David thought of it as a friend. Now notice what he says. …
… And in this I rejoice, yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that this shall turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I shall not be put to shame in everything, but that with all boldness Christ shall even now as always be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. So, he says in this 21st verse, he says, for me to live is Christ to live. For me to die is for my gain. And then if you'll notice in the second chapter and the eighth verse, which is one of the most important passages in the whole Bible on the life of Christ in this second chapter. He says, and I believe Paul would have said it this way. I believe he said, here's what I'm learning. and that is in verse 5 have this mind in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus who although he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied of himself taken the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even the death of the cross now here's what he was saying Paul said, I'm learning how to be a servant. …