October 11, 2024 12:00 am
In Philippians 1:23, Paul reveals a tension between his desire to depart and be with Christ and his willingness to remain for the sake of others. As we unpack his reasoning, we’ll discover powerful lessons about living faithfully where God has placed us, even when we feel pressed from all sides. Whether we’re ready for heaven or called to stay, this message encourages us to trust God's timing and purpose, knowing that to live is Christ and to die is gain.
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Who's really in charge of your life?
Who casts the deciding vote in your decisions? Paul has given his master the right to cast the deciding vote, the right to choose. Now don't misunderstand, your master and Lord has the right to choose whether you give it to him or not, but the point is when you do, when you willingly offer yourself to his deciding vote, his final say, that's when you're truly able to live and you're ready to die.
Thanks for joining us today here on Wisdom for the Heart. Putting Jesus on the throne of your life is an important part of what it means to live for God. It means that you take yourself off that throne and submit to whatever it is that God has in store for your life. For the Christian, death is both a departure and an arrival.
Your soul departs your body and you instantly arrive in the presence of Christ. And that truth is our theme today. Stephen Davey opens God's Word to Philippians with a lesson he's calling stay. So stay with us as we spend the next half hour in God's Word. Let me take you back to our study of Paul's letter to the Philippians and touch down again and then we'll get to a text I skipped over. It begins in verse 21 where he delivers his life motto, a very familiar text, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Now what Paul does in this paragraph is give us his thought process instead of simply delivering his opinion. He sort of takes us through a pros and cons exercise. The pros and cons of living or dying. Maybe you've done that. You've had a major decision to make and you've gone through the pros and cons. My wife and I have in times past. We've even at times gotten a piece of paper out drawing a line down the middle.
Pros and cons. Maybe you've been there. Maybe you are there right now in your mind. You're in church. I'm preaching. You don't hear a word I'm saying. You've got this list going.
Pros and cons. In our last study we looked at Paul's list of reasons for wanting to be alive and there were three of them. He wants to multiply spiritual fruit. Look at verse 22. But if I am to live on in the flesh this will mean fruitful labor for me. He wants to produce spiritually lasting fruit. Secondly we looked at how he wants to motivate spiritual growth in others. Verse 24, yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. And convinced of this I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and your joy in the faith. Paul says here's why I want to be alive. I want to multiply spiritual fruit. I want to motivate the church to grow. Thirdly, he says I want to magnify Jesus Christ. Verse 26, so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again. In other words I want to ultimately bring you along with me to glorify, to magnify Jesus Christ. By the way this is the way to live isn't it? Paul's life was all about multiplying, celebrating, and magnifying Jesus Christ. Now tucked inside this expanded list of reasons for living Paul makes a rather brief statement that I skipped over in our last study on why it would be better to die. Why that would be better than living.
He's obviously not afraid is he? Before we look at his reasoning I want you to notice how he begins by telling us he's really struggling with this list of pros and cons. Let's pick it up at verse 23. This is the verse we sort of jumped over in our last study. But I am hard pressed from both directions. Your translation may read I am torn.
I'm torn between two. Hard pressed. If you'll stop for a moment the verb he uses is used in the New Testament for being squeezed on both sides. It was used by Luke in his gospel in chapter 8 and verse 45 to refer to the crowd that was squeezing the Lord. Pressing in on him and he said who touched me? And the apostle said everybody's squeezing you.
How can you ask who's touching me? Same word used. Paul uses the word to describe how the love of Christ squeezes him, presses him. It's translated constrains him to honor Christ. Second Corinthians chapter 5 verse 14. It would be used in the ancient world outside the scriptures for a traveler who's traveling through a narrow pass. It's so narrow that he's hemmed in.
He really can't even turn around. That verb gives us the expression of someone we use to this day of being caught between a rock and a hard place. Paul is saying I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one hand is my desire to live. On the other is my desire to die. Look at verse 23 again. I'm hard pressed from both directions having the desire to depart.
By the way if I could pause for a moment again this word desire here is an extremely emotional strong word. It would be easy to misunderstand him unless we carefully unpack his reasoning about dying. Now Paul has given us three reasons for life. He's not going to give us three truths about death.
Let me give them to you. The first truth is this. Death is a spiritual departure. Again verse 23. But I am hard pressed from both directions having the desire, notice, to depart, to leave. Paul is saying and we with him who know the Lord we're ready to get out of the harness. We are ready to slip out of the shackles. We're ready to strike camp.
We'd like a different post. We're ready to have our problems resolved and unending solutions. We are ready to cast off the lines and set sail for heaven. That's why Paul can say this is so much better for those of us who believe our spirit goes to be with Christ. Our body returns to dust and waits as it were to be resurrected and glorified reunited with our spirit and that glorified new immortal body that is permanent. We await the rapture and those who've already gone before will experience that.
We'll miss the grave but if the rapture doesn't occur perhaps this year for some of us he will call us home and others he will call to stay. So here's the truth about death. It is a spiritual departure.
That's not all. Secondly death is a literal arrival. Go back to verse 23. I am hard pressed from both directions having the desire to depart and be not cease to be but be with Christ.
This is a wonderful phrase isn't it? In fact it destroys a number of unbiblical false teachings man-made teachings that chain people to fear. For Paul to say here when he dies he's going to be with Christ.
You notice that? With Christ would mean then that if Paul went to purgatory then Jesus would have to be there too. Paul says here he's going to be with Christ when he departs in debt and Jesus is not suffering in the flames of some made up belief in purgatory. In fact notice the last part of verse 23 Paul says for that is very much better. Do you think that Paul is writing I can't wait to die so that I can go to purgatory for that is so much better?
There's not a shred of biblical evidence by the way in the persisting doctrines of purgatory and these man-made beliefs that bind people in fear. Other doctrines as well that for the most part have you earning your salvation you've literally got to work your way into heaven and because you've committed sin you've got to go to purgatory and burn it off before you get there. But Jesus paid it all. Once for all that decree the writer of scripture tells us has been nailed to the cross. In fact the sin you commit tomorrow has already been paid for by Christ.
Your status is forever cleansed. You confess your sins daily for fellowship not in order to start over again some new relationship. Paul says dying is better if it were the flames of purgatory there would be no joy in dying. I mean why would Paul be excited death would only open the door to greater suffering. The Bible teaches clearly that when believers die our spirit is immediately departed and with Christ pictured wonderfully for us in the Lord Jesus who hung on that center cross and what a cross next to him is that thief who who had a life that amounted to nothing as far as a record of holiness would reveal.
And yet he places faith in the Savior in the placard where he says you know what I do believe you are the king and will you remember me when you come into your kingdom and Jesus says what did he say yes next year you will be with me in paradise after you've burned off your sin and your whole life has been nothing but sin. No he said what's that first word today today you will be with me no long limbo soul sleep purgatory today you will be with me in paradise. Paul would say it more clearly than any other perhaps second Corinthians chapter 5 verse 8 to be absent from the body is to be what? Present with the Lord to depart is to arrive to be absent is to be present in other words upon dying your spirit leaves your body and is immediately present with the Lord. The distance between earth and heaven is not measured by miles or years it's measured in terms of a moment absent present. That's why Paul could write here in Philippians chapter 1 the death was so much better because death was not only a spiritual departure it is a literal arrival. I've been by the bedside of many believers over the years some while I was in their room breathed their last breath.
For those who are left by the bedside of a believing loved one who died through tears they might say he's gone he's gone he's left us there he goes from heaven's vantage point they're saying here he comes here he comes we're weeping and rightly so she's just left us heaven is singing she's just arrived there he goes we would say heaven says there he comes death is not only a literal departure it is a literal arrival and given the fact that that Paul has already been provided a tour of heaven by the way when he was trained in private by the Holy Spirit for three years he doesn't speak much of it but just enough to let us know he did give it a tour of heaven he's already seen it we can only imagine as he writes this how much more he would be longing he has already seen what's on the other side of the wall that we believe by faith the glory of the father's house and the communion with Christ and that's why he can write if I depart that is so much better so much better death isn't just a departure it's an arrival Sam Gordon from the country of Wales delightful commentator will be preaching for me this summer in our summer series I've enjoyed his little commentary on Philippians he included in his commentary on this verse an inscription from a headstone in a churchyard cemetery in Montgomery Alabama I love this wanted to repeat it to you the name of the deceased was Jonathan Pease spelled P E A S E the inscription was a poem and it read under the clover and under the trees here lies the body of Jonathan Pease Pease isn't here only the pod Pease shelled out and went home to God might be a little poem that's some pretty serious theology Fred good theology let me make a third observation about death from this verse death is not only a spiritual departure and a literal arrival death is thirdly an eternal connection but I am hard-pressed I'm between a rock and a hard place I'm torn in both directions having the longing to depart and be let's emphasize this part with Christ which is much better I long I crave I can't wait to depart and be with Christ three reasons he's given us to remain alive and stay the course and three reasons to welcome death and finish his course which leads me to point out something about Paul's relationship with the Lord he's given us three reasons for living and three truths and reasons for dying three what we could call life benefits and three death benefits which is the death package benefit package you really need to have but it's three against three if you've been keeping count and you've got your paper out it's a tie in Paul's mind and heart and he admitted that he's between a rock and a hard place but he also said I really would rather follow these three reasons and part so we have a tie there's a tie and he's torn about there is a tiebreaker began back in verse one of this letter where Paul told us that he was a slave to his master Christ Jesus in other words I'm going to do what my master says he's the tiebreaker he casts the deciding vote he balances the ledger of whether or not I stay the course or finish my course and go home let me summarize with two principles what we observe here in his attitude and spirit first Paul was able to fully live because he was ready at any moment to die you've heard that before but I think it's worth repeating you are not ready to truly live until you are truly ready to die secondly Paul was willing to stay because his master had the final say in his heart and mind it's a tie but yet his emotions would pull him in one direction and that is to depart I wonder maybe in your own life as I mentioned earlier you're struggling through a decision it could be a career decision some crucial change some life endeavor and you're wrestling you've got your paper out and you're writing down the pros and the cons let me ask you where does Christ fit into that exercise you've got to make a decision where does seeking his face come into play Paul has given his master the right to cast the deciding vote the right to choose now don't misunderstand your master and Lord has the right to choose whether you give it to him or not but the point is when you do emotionally consciously when you do surrender to him and acknowledge his his right that even though your ledger might be covered on one side and just his hand can change everything when you willingly offer yourself to his deciding vote his final say that's when you're truly able to live and you're ready to die whether you stay or go for someone like Paul his mind and heart was always on go can you sense after our study how difficult it was for him to be to be able to say I'm willing I'm willing to stay over the holidays I read through much of a little book entitled lessons from a sheepdog is written by Philip Keller who wrote a wonderful book on the 23rd Psalm is a rancher with the Lord now a shepherd in his book he talks about a border collie that he he rescued the former owner was unable to do anything with her and was going to put her down and he found out about it and said look I need a colleague on my ranch and let me see what I can do it's a fascinating story I don't have time for all the details but eventually he won her trust. And in this book it's basically a discussion about his border collie and some of the things he learned in working with her he said that she was exceptionally bright and and eventually learned all the commands that once he had her trust she learned quickly commands to come the command to the left the command to the right the command to sit to stay to lie down everything you're trying to teach your kids and they're not picking up on it very well are they? He named her Lass and he writes one of the truly touching aspects was her utter devotion to me she became my virtual shadow wherever I went she went my presence seemed to be her sense of pleasure for probably that very reason the most difficult command for her to obey was my command to stay. He writes sometimes it meant that I assigned her to stay to keep watch over some unruly rams while I was doing another job it was very trying for her to have me disappear from view. That command to stay meant that she had to remain steady wherever she was placed and on a sheep ranch part of the success of sheep involves moving them from pasture to pasture sorting them out so when I told her to stay it might mean that I needed her to guard and open gate or to hold a small band of ewes in a corner while I checked out their lambs but if I disappeared from her view she would become uneasy she was sure she had been forgotten she would begin to move about and finally take off in search of me the sheep would scatter the work would be undone asking her to stay was almost asking too much and he applies by writing God used her to teach me a most important principle to be steadfast and faithful wherever he placed me these are often tough and testing times we become uneasy we may even feel we've been forgotten by God it occurred to me that almost any of us can be heroic even daring in the midst of movement excitement but it takes a much more steadfast faith in our father to stay true in the daily duties of our little lives where God asks us to be steady to perform our part without fanfare someone he will trust to do their duty even if it means to stay I wonder if God's command to you on the threshold of a new year even though you are longing for something else is to stay it might be to stay the course keep at your task stay in in a difficult marriage stay with that old car stay in that tough curriculum stay in that mundane tiresome job stay in that old house or apartment stay I couldn't help but think of our great model our Lord who was overwhelmed in his humanity as he anticipated the cruelty of the cross and the suffering and the abandonment and the rejection and the sorrow he was overwhelmed in his deity by the coming separation from his father and God the spirit as he anticipated one who knew no sin becoming sin for us bearing in his body all our sins on the tree we see him overwhelmed in his humanity in his deity in the garden and he's effectively asking his father is there another way can I drink a different cup he knows the answer his father effectively says stay aren't you glad he did Paul certainly with lesser sorrows struggles yet with great pain he's been beaten many times his body scarred stoned nearly to death shipwrecked writing now from house arrest and we've already learned together he's been abandoned by the church and you hear him with great emotion say Lord it would be a far better thing for me to go home what do you say and the father says stay and Paul in his writing is responding with I will I'll stay for now the motto of his life remains and it should be for all of us who serve this Lord and Master it is a win-win living or dying the best is yet to come because we understand a little better what it means and why we can say for me to live is Christ and to die is gain I hope that along with Paul you can echo those words as the heartfelt cry of your soul I'm glad you joined us today here on wisdom for the heart your Bible teacher is Stephen Davey Stephen is the president of wisdom international and we produce this daily program you can learn more about him and the Ministry of wisdom international at our website wisdom online dot org during today's broadcast Stephen was teaching from his series entitled moving forward which comes from Philippians 1 Stephen's written a book that's simply entitled Philippians it's part of his wisdom commentary series it's a great resource for personal or group study and you can get information on getting a copy by calling 866-48-bible or 866-482-4253 join us next time for more wisdom for the heart you
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