To Live Is Christ, To Die Is Gain | Randy Garcete

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Transcript

Welcome And Scripture Reading

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Well, good morning to each and every one of you. It's been a blessing to be here this morning so far. Uh I invite you all to open your Bibles to the book of Philippians. Philippians chapter one. I'm going to be looking at verses 18 through 26 this morning. Isaac, you can go ahead and pull up that picture. Thanks.

The Anti Aging Obsession

SPEAKER_00 0:33

So the photo behind me is uh a photo of a man uh named Brian Johnson and one of his uh assistants. Uh I'm gonna read from a small uh excerpt from Time magazine that wrote up an article about this man. Uh and this this man's name is Brian Johnson, he's 46 years old, and he's a centimillionaire tech entrepreneur who has spent most of the last three years in pursuit of a singular goal. Don't die. During that time, he spent more than four million dollars developing a life extension system called Blueprint, in which he outsources every decision involving his body to a team of doctors who use data to develop a strict health regimen to reduce what Johnson calls his biological age. That system includes downing 111 pills every day, wearing a baseball cap that shoots red light into his scalp, and collecting his own stool samples. Johnson Johnson thinks that any act that accelerates aging, like eating a cookie or getting less than eight hours of sleep, is an quote act of violence. So multiple of you, uh multiple of you committed acts of violence this morning back at the cookie table. Johnson's quest is not just about staying arrested or maintaining muscle tone. It's about turning his whole body over to an anti-aging algorithm. He believes death is optional. He plans to never do it. All right, you can pull the pull the picture down there, Isaac. We live in a death-denying culture. We live in a death-denying culture. Uh in the night in the year 1900, the average life expectancy was only 31 years old. Uh I'm 31 years old, which means, you know, if I happen to see this this age, I know I'm sort of reaching the end of my lifespan. Um, 30 to 40 percent of European children died before turning five. Today, the average life expectancy is over half or over double that. It's it's the age of 72. We're no longer uh we're living longer than we we've ever lived before, but we're also more insulated from death than we've ever been before. We don't like to think about death. Uh, we ignore the possibility of our own death. We push it off as long as we can by paying for expense, expensive supplements, um, spending countless dollars on wellness programs and sort of anti-aging routines. And signs of aging, as we get older, are viewed as a problem uh to cure as opposed to uh just a natural part of life, a

A Death Denying Culture

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natural part of aging. Today I want to look at a biblical framework for how to view our death, how to view death, and how to view the life that we're currently living. We're gonna look at what Paul lays out in in Philippians, his letter to the church in Philippi as a framework for viewing life and death. So just a little bit of context. What we're gonna do this morning, I'm gonna lay out a little bit of a context for this portion of the letter. Uh, then we're gonna I'm gonna read the verses and make comments relating to the text and then uh conclude with with three observations from the from the text. I invite you all to uh bow your heads and and pray with me this morning. Father, we come before you in Jesus' name. We recognize that you are the author of life and you understand and know uh how uh long we will live. You know every day that we are alive, you know our purpose here on earth, and uh you call us to live lives of of meaning and purpose while we while we are here. I pray that you could open up uh this this text, this word that comes from you. Open it up with the power of the Holy Spirit to move in and through us to affect the change that you want to see in our lives today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. All right.

Philippi Context And Paul In Prison

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So I invite your prayers as well. I've been struggling with a head cold all weekend and I just feel uh feeling a little under the weather. All right. So if you recall, we had uh we looked at it had an introductory sermon on this letter to uh the Philippians, in which we looked at the culture that that the Philippian church is based in. And we we saw how that the the the city of Philippi is essentially a mini Rome. Uh their their values, the things that they the things that they uphold as as valuable are are basically uh Roman values. And this is a colony made up of uh of veterans that fought in the Roman Civil Wars. So they are very they're very patriotic. They love uh they love the empire, they're all about uh the might and the power of Rome. And it's in this context that this little church is striving to live out the gospel uh amongst pretty intense persecution. Paul himself is writing from prison, he's in house under house arrest, um, most likely in Rome. Some people think Ephesus, uh, but he's awaiting his trial for the great crime of spreading the gospel in the Roman world. And it's from this this prison cell or this house that he's in in arrest that he's writing this letter. He's he's updating this church on his own uh well-being and and how he's doing, as well as encouraging them to live faithfully in uh the in the time and place that they are that they they've been in. So last time we we saw that uh Paul says that what has happened to him, his imprisonment, has actually served to advance the gospel. It's actually, it hasn't slowed it down, it's actually accelerated it uh because he's now able to share the gospel and make a defense amongst his own his own the prisoners that are guarding him. And this is spreading through all the court of Caesar, he says. So we're gonna pick up in verse uh verse the the last part of verse 18.

Choosing Rejoicing Over Complaining

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Uh most of your headings probably say to live is Christ. All right, yes and I will rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice. I don't I'm gonna pause right there because this is really significant. I want you guys to pay attention to this. Uh, if you stop at any gas station today on your way home from church, and you ask the gas station attendant, hey, how's your day going? 90% of the time, they will respond with a complaint. Ugh, almost done with my shift, or oh, I just got started with my shift. Um, we live in a culture of complaining. We complain about the weather. If it's, you know, January through through through March, we complain about the cold and the dreariness. In the spring, we complain about the rain. As soon as it hits like June, we complain about the heat and the lack of rain. We complain about food that's too salty or not salty enough. Uh, we complain about our work circumstances. We complain a lot. And you don't think about it until you start thinking about it, and then you can't stop thinking about it. Uh just pay attention to that. We we complain a lot. And the fact that Paul isn't complaining, but rather can say, Yes, and I will rejoice, given the circumstances he's in, most likely chained up to a Roman guard. Rejoicing in his circumstances is amazing to me. Because he has a mission and he's been called by God to go throughout the Roman Empire, spreading the gospel, planting churches, uh, equipping leaders to carry on the work that he's he's been called to. But how can he do that if he's chained to a Roman guard? He doesn't have a YouTube channel, he doesn't have a uh he doesn't have a Twitter or or X account where he can get his message out. He's he's uh restricted to handwriting, you know, scrolls. He says this, I will rejoice. Now, why does he rejoice? Verse 19, he says, For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance. This will turn out for my deliverance. As it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not at all be ashamed, but that with full courage, now as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

Prayer And The Spirit’s Help

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I'm just gonna pause there and we're just gonna unpack that, those two or three verses. There's a lot there. The first thing I want you all to, uh the first thing I want you all to pay attention to is this connection that Paul brings between the believers' prayers and the work of the Holy Spirit. Earlier in this chapter, Paul calls uh the Philippian church his partner, his partners in the gospel. And he thanks them, he expresses gratitude for the partnership that they have in the work of the gospel. And we see this work, this, this partnership at work here when he says, through your prayers and the help of the Spirit, uh, that the Holy Spirit is going to move. And my my first observation here is that the faithful prayers of a church influence the work of the Holy Spirit. The faithful prayers of a church influence the work of the Holy Spirit. Prayer is such a powerful tool that can affect change in the midst of crisis and can affect change in the midst of dilemma. And this faith that when when when we as a church pray, uh it's not us just lifting up empty words. We can actually influence how the Holy Spirit works and moves. And we just saw that illustrated this morning with a with a story that Andy shared. I was, uh I think it was Thursday, um, I got a uh a WhatsApp message uh uh from the Impact International Group. If you're part of that group, you get uh periodic updates from Tim Kipfer, Tim and Jeannie Kipfer. And he he just had this short, short little explanation saying what's going on. You know uh this, you know, they're experiencing spiritual attack and uh to pray. And like instantly I saw a bunch of like little prayer emojis in response to this text message. And I believe everyone who received that message stopped what they were doing and audibly or silently prayed for the Holy Spirit to move on behalf of these girls, and he did, and that's the power of prayer working uh on behalf of the church in and through the power of the Holy Spirit. So there's this unique connection there that Paul brings out. Now, he says, This will turn

Deliverance Hope And No Shame

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out for my deliverance. What what does what does he mean by his deliverance? So he's in prison. Um, what what is this deliverance? So interestingly, the the word in Greek here, deliver it for deliverance, is soterion, which is the same word that is translated typically uh salvation. And the way that we often read that word is is spiritual salvation, salvation from from eternal God's God's wrath and eternal separation from him. Uh but here he's using that very same word, but um he's ex he's expressing this desire to be delivered from from, I guess we'll we'll find out what that deliverance will look like. Paul's deliverance will come in one of two ways. So he's a he's waiting for trial, and the outcome of his of this trial, he believes, will be uh either's, it appears, either's execution for the crime that he's committed, or somehow uh a release from from prison. I'm gonna look at how he views this. He says, as it is, my eager expectation and hope. My eager expectation and hope. And again, there I'm just gonna pause. So eager expectation here in the Greek is a word called, I I practiced this back there for a while. Apocada dokia. I've still butchered it, but um, this can be translated as a longing or uh a it is literally, literally, it means neck stretched out. Um neck that's stretched out, almost like um, almost like spectators observing uh a race and waiting for the outcome of that race, like an eager expectation. Uh my wife and I watched part of the World Cup uh game that happened between US and Paraguay on uh Friday night. And this this thing happened where every time the ball would come close to to the opposing team's goal, all the fans of of whatever team they were cheering for would would like either stand up or like lean out and then like stretching out their neck with an eager expectation that their team would would would uh would would strike a goal. So this is an active hope that Paul has. And now look at what what is the object of this eager expectation and of this hope. I want to highlight what it is not. He doesn't say, it is my eager expectation and my hope that I will be released from prison. If I was Paul, that's what I would be writing, but I'm not Paul. I'd be saying, it is my eager expectation and my hope that I will be released from this place and I will go out and be free. But what does he say? It's my eager expectation and hope that I will not at all be ashamed, but that with full courage, now as always, and this is what his expectation is that Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. He says he he hopes that I will not at all be ashamed. I want to highlight that a little bit and focus on on that that phrase there. What does what does shame have to do with any of this? What is he afraid of? What is the the what is he afraid of being ashamed about? Uh there's throughout the Old Testament, there's this interesting uh I guess theme, especially in Psalms and in the book of Isaiah, that has to do with this desire of not um not being ashamed, not being put to shame. And David especially will quote this a lot and will pray this a lot. In Psalm 25, for example, he says, To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O God, I trust in you. Let me not be ashamed, let not my enemies triumph over me. Indeed, let the one let no one who waits on you be ashamed. Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause, keep my soul and deliver me. Let me not be ashamed, for I have put my trust in you. Paul here is echoing that desire and that prayer that David had. And essentially he's he's almost bargaining with God and saying, God, I've I've placed my life, my trust in you, and I am looking to you to come through on my behalf, and I'm looking for you to vindicate me in the presence of my enemies. And not being ashamed has to do with fully placing your trust in God and expecting him to move on your behalf instead of abandoning you, uh, instead of letting you down, instead of uh uh, I guess, hanging you out to dry, and being exposed as a fool in the eyes of your enemies. Paul is echoing this this cry here when he says, Let me I hope that I will not at all be ashamed. Paul's vindication here isn't based on whether he will be released or executed. It isn't based on the outcome of this upcoming trial. Rather, it's based on whether or not Christ will be honored in his life or in his death. He's saying, whatever the outcome of my upcoming trial, whether I'm executed or whether I live, I want Christ to be honored in my life. And I can know that Christ will be honored in my body, whether I'm executed or released, regardless of what happens in the end, I can know that Jesus will win. If he is honored, Jesus wins. So why does Paul uh have this amazing confidence that Jesus will win? Or that Christ will be honored. And it's because of how he views life and how he views death. And he has this framework that I I hope can be an encouragement to you to you all. And it's a framework that that we we we uh believe as Christians, but I really want to focus in on what this what this means for for you and I and the the power that this can give us if we truly embrace uh this reality, this truth. So he's stuck between two options, and it appears he's in this this position where he's trying to make up his mind about whether to choose life or death. Let's pick up in verse 21.

To Live Is Christ

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For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and to be with Christ, for that is far better, but to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming to you again. Alright, we're just gonna pause right there. Um So he presents this radical equation. He says, the the equation is essentially this that life equals Christ. Life equals Christ. Which at face value, I have a hard time getting like my my mind around that. What does that what does that even mean? On the other hand, he says death equals gain. Or you could you could put it uh death equals an upgrade or a or a profit, a net profit. And Paul is stuck in this this tug of war between uh between

Tug Of War Between Life Death

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these two options or choices, if you will. He knows he's gonna take one of them and he's not sure which. Uh I'm gonna ask for two volunteers right now, two competitive volunteers. Um raise your hand if you are a comp if you're somebody who's pretty competitive. Yes, I knew you would raise your hand. Yes. Troy, if you want to come on up here. Troy and Cordell, why don't you guys come up here? We're gonna illustrate this idea a little bit. This could be a bad idea, but all right. Okay. So we're gonna have a little match of of tug of war here. And I just why don't you get that stretched out? Take the one end. Troy, if you want to go on this side here, you can choke up on it pretty, pretty, um, pretty good if you need to. Alright. All right. So just just don't go all out yet. Just stand right there for now. So if we're gonna have a tug-of-war match uh to illustrate this, and this is the idea that that Paul is saying. He says, I am hard pressed between these two options. In the King James it says, uh, I love the King James, it says, I am I am in a strait between no I'm in a straight betwixt the two. Um so on the one hand, he's saying, my my my one option is life. Life, he says, to for me for to me to live is Christ. What does he mean by that? What is life is Christ? What does that even mean? For for Paul, it was when he had when he was born again and changed by the power of the Holy Spirit and the gospel, his whole life became obsessed with knowing Jesus, with loving him, and with carrying out his mission. Everything Paul did was uh for the honor and the glory of Jesus Christ. And what he's saying is, if I live, my my entire existence is wrapped up in the person of Jesus Christ, my Savior. And he says, if I am to live, if this is my choice or this is my the option that I choose or is that is given to me, this will mean fruitful labor for me. It's it means that he will um essentially he has unfinished work to do, and he gets the opportunity to go back out in the world and keep chipping away at the work that God has called him to. So that's a win. He's like, how how can I lose like this? On the other hand, Troy is death. Uh you equal I mean, okay, so uh this is the second option. He's sort of torn between. He says, For to me, to live is Christ, but to die is gain. Gain there again can mean something like um a positive outcome or a net profit. It's not a loss. And this option looks very appealing to Paul because he's he's he's essentially gives us a picture into what happens when you die. He says, if I die, my desire is to depart and be with Christ. So he's convinced that when he dies, uh, that is this is not the end. His death is not the end. It's going to essentially, he will transition from his little house arrest prison into the glorious presence of Jesus Christ as Savior. And this is how Jesus will win if Paul dies. This is how Jesus wins if Paul dies. So um, you guys can actually just drop that right now. We'll finish this after a fellowship meal outside, then. All right. Okay. All

Death As Transition To Christ

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right. Um, you can just leave it there for now, actually. Thank you though. So my uh point number two I want to make is this is that in Christ, death is not the end. It's a transition. In Christ, death is not the end, it's a transition. I said earlier that we have we live in a death-denying culture. We we ignore it, uh, we put it off as as far as we can, we move on as quickly as we can from it. Um, we're afraid of it. And I don't mean I don't want to just like belittle this this fear of death, because death is is scary. Um none of you have died before. Uh we we don't know what it's like. Um the unknown of death is is unsettling. Many of you have lost loved ones that were very close to you, and that's the closest thing to death you've experienced. Um Paul's reflection of his own potential death reveals an attitude not of fear or not of avoidance, but rather of joyful expectation. Of joyful expectation. He doesn't view death as a tragedy or death as a loss, but of death as a positive gain, as a nap profit. Because death is not the end, it's a transition, it's a doorway to what's on the other side. And that doorway opens up for those of us who are in Christ Jesus, who are born again, to an immediate transition from a life of hardship and struggle and pain, suffering to existence in the presence of Jesus. And this is not about streets of gold, it's not about having my mansion up in the sky or playing a harp on a cloud. It's about being in the unobstructed, unfiltered um presence of Jesus. And being completely, I guess, um, seeing that completely play, I guess, an unbridled intimacy in the presence of Jesus Christ. It's about worship that is so complete that we will spend eternity in it. Basking in the presence of Jesus. So for Paul, hey, death is actually an upgrade. Death is actually an upgrade. Now, does this mean that we shouldn't grieve death or the loss of a loved one? No, it does not mean that. Um, death is not God's plan. Death is real and death is tragic. Matt Chandler says, the gospel doesn't give us a pass on grief, but it does give us an anchor in it. We grieve, but we do not grieve as those who have no hope. Another question I thought of is does this mean that uh Christian Christianity is a is a death cult? Or that uh that Christians should seek martyrdom? We see this this pretty starkly in in Islam with suicide bombings and this this idea that if I if I if I martyr myself for for Allah, I will be transitioned to paradise with you know with this uh this picture of of what heaven or paradise looks like to them. So they seek it out. And I remember I remember when um I was I was probably my my upper teens, low twenties. I had this this uh I had moments where I had this almost like a naive courage uh where I would be willing to go into any uh dangerous situation almost recklessly, uh with without really taking thought or uh to to what what this um I have a quote that I'll just uh hopefully illustrates this. Christians are not masochists. We don't we don't seek martyrdom for the sake of martyrdom. I've heard on more than one occasion enthusiastic people saying, I am ready. I am ready to go to Libya, I'm ready to go to Saudi Arabia, I went to go to North Korea, um, goes on to say that this is this is an enthusiasm that is all that can be driven by adrenaline. Um and he this this man he's he's from um from uh with desiring God. Um I forget what his name is, but he's giving a talk on missions. We have a tendency to sensationalize and even sentimentalize martyrdom. Things like that are said by people who've never gone to a morgue to identify what's left of a friend. They've never stood in a lonely, distant cemetery and seen a lonely cross there. So we don't seek martyrdom for the sake of martyrdom itself. It's not it's not a um uh how would I say it's a reality and part of our spiritual reality if we are persecuted. But it's not something that we we glorify for the sake of glory and of itself. Death is real and death is tragic. Yet, if you're in Christ Jesus, this is the truth, and the the promise that you have is that death is not the end. It's a transition to a pure, unbridled, unfiltered presence, shared presence with Jesus. And this is the encouragement that Paul wants to give the Philippian church. Because living a life that is completely sold out for Christ does come with danger. We saw that uh with the Sunday school time this morning. There's risks involved. We aren't promised safety. Jesus said, In this world you will have trouble. Paul, just a few verses later, says he says, For it has been granted to you all that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake. Being a Christian means you we will suffer. But because death isn't the end, it's actually transition to life with Christ. This empowers us to live without fear. It empowers us to live boldly for the kingdom, to go into places that we would not otherwise.

Fruitful Labor Against Nihilism

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Alright, my third observation is in Christ, I am called to a fruitful life of purpose. In Christ, I am called to a fruitful life of purpose. Paul said, for me for me to live is Christ, if I live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. There's been over the past, I don't know, couple of decades, I don't have statistics on this, but it's a j uh, there's been studies done around it. I don't have any any studies to actually show you this, but it's a general uh almost sense in our society, the rise in in nihilism, this this crisis of meaning in our society. So for decades we've been we've been told, our society's has been told that morality and truth, uh, that meaning and purpose are all sort of culturally constructed. That if you're if you're a Muslim, that's that's fine for you. That's that's that's your that's where you get your meaning and purpose from, that's good. If you're a if you're um if you're an atheist, that that works for you. Whatever, whatever floats your boat. Um Truth and meaning are are culturally constructed. But in the past couple of years, there's been this almost this rise in in a response to that that says, okay, if if truth, if morality, if there's no truth, it's all sort of culturally constructed, then it's inherently meaningless. There, then I guess there just there just is no truth, there is no meaning, and life itself is pointless. And there's been this shift in a segment of the population, uh, and we're seeing it more and more with younger, younger, especially young men, who are facing fear the fears of what AI will mean for the world, who are are struggling with addiction, uh, who are completely disconnected from church or community, who are essentially buying into this idea that um there is no meaning. Life is pointless. Life is meaningless. And in the words of of Cormac McCarthy, the author says, the point is that there ain't no point. The point is that there ain't no point. Another one says, uh, John Fowles says, I think we are just insects. We live a bit and then we die, and that's the lot. There's no mercy in things, there's not even a great beyond, there's nothing. And this reality uh leads to uh a uh loss of purpose, chronic cynicism, and and even more dangerously, um you know, mass shootings, or acts of violence, um no vision for for for life, no purpose, um rising suicides. The gospel is a powerful cure for this. The gospel is a powerful cure for this. Paul experienced this this cure. He went from persecuting Christians to saying this. For to me to live is Christ, and if I live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. The gospel gave Paul purpose, it gave it meaning. He had a mission. He had been called by God to go plant churches, to spread the gospel, to talk to other believers and encourage them, saying, You have a purpose, you've been put here on this earth, and you have meaning. Your life is not pointless, your life is not meaningless. God has called you to follow him and to live out the gospel in your life here on earth. And that's gonna look like fruitful labor. Now, what does fruitful labor uh mean? Jesus talked a lot about fruit. He said, if you abide in me, you will bear much fruit. If you're connected to the vine of Jesus, your life will bear fruit. Fruit is a result of lots and lots of work and lots and lots of effort. And Jesus wants you and I to bear much fruit in our lives. So, what does what does this fruitful uh life of purpose look like? I think it's different for for every one of us. Um we are all uh uh we all live in different contexts. Um of you young men up here uh are are uh have more energy and passion and enthusiasm for life than some of the people in the row right behind you. Uh sorry guys. But that doesn't mean your life doesn't have a purpose or a meaning either. It's it's different. God has called you guys and all of us to pour out our lives for the sake of building up the kingdom. And if you are unleashed into the world with the power of the Holy Spirit, you will bear fruit. And that can look like like sacrificial living, uh giving generously for kingdom causes, using the resources God has given you, uh living lives of service on the mission field, pouring out your life in that way, bearing fruit in that way, running missional, gospel-centered businesses, businesses that uh that don't um don't cheat or rip people off, but that um that benefit their employees and contribute to the flourishing of the community that point others to Christ through the way you do business, raising families. I um there's so many of you mothers here who are just like up to your eyeballs in in just taking care of your children. You're bearing fruit in that way, using our homes as little outposts of the kingdom, inviting our neighbors, interacting with our neighbors, um, with our communities, pointing others to Jesus through our homes, um, taking the gospel to the unreached and the lost. Again, this morning Andy just just uh uh shared the story that of the of the young lady who who um accepted the Bible and and maybe you know has been reading it lately. That is bearing fruit for the kingdom. That's what Paul wanted to do. He wanted to get out of his little house arrest, go out into the world, and and keep chipping away at the work that God had called him to. Keep working, keep plugging away. Because life is meaningful, life has purpose in Christ, and that purpose in Christ is to bear much fruit for him. And all of this is is is is fueled by a deep love for Jesus. It has to start there. It has to start with a deep love for Jesus. Jesus said, for me, for me to live is Christ. My life is so wrapped up in my love for Jesus that I'm gonna bear fruit. Because I can't help it. Jesus is my everything, and a freedom from fear of death. So in conclusion, I I wanna I want to sort of tie these two things together a little

Living In Tension Unthreatenable

SPEAKER_00 39:20

bit. Because I think this is what what Paul is is is demonstrating in his own life. Um could I have Troy and and uh and Cordell come up here and hold the rope, uh the extension cord again, please? And just hold that tight. Thanks, guys. Just hold it tight and keep it keep just some tension in the rope. So if we are in Paul's shoes, um do we which one do we focus more on? Which one do we, which, which option do we gravitate towards? Are you someone who is so um, I guess, wrapped up in the next life, in thinking about heaven, uh, that you're of no earthly good? Your entire existence as a Christian is, I just want to get to heaven. But while here on earth, it's just like I'm just I'm in this waiting room, and when I die, I'll go to heaven. Or are you somebody who is is so afraid of death that your entire existence is about is about this life here on earth, protecting, living in defense, stacking up your resources, uh essentially living the life that uh that Brian Johnson is living. No cookies, no fun, no protecting your life at all costs because of your fear of death. I think what what we're called to as Christians is to live to live in the middle, to live in the middle. Meaning that while we are here on earth, our love for God, our love for Jesus, we we can't help but long for heaven. We can't help but long to be with him. There's this this this uh underlying, maybe almost like the current in the back of our of our of our lives that is like I love Jesus so much and I cannot wait to be with him in glory. Like I can't be wait to be with him. But on the other hand, there's uh there's this this sense that uh I'm not afraid of death. But while I'm here on earth, like I want to contribute to the mission that God has called me to here on earth. I want to take care of my wife, I want to take care of my kids, I want to contribute at work, I want to build up the church, I want to live in mission, and there's this tension that we we should live in. Where on the one hand uh we have our eyes fixed on heaven and on Jesus and on the hope of of being with him someday. But not so much that we forget the mission that he's called us to here. There's a quote that says, Um The goal isn't to choose one or the other, it's to be so satisfied in Jesus that you long for him, yet so committed to his mission that you joyfully sacrifice for the people around you. You're stuck in the middle, and that is exactly where God wants you. So this truth fuels an unthreatenable life. Uh Matt Chandler calls this the unthreatenable life. He says the world is constantly trying to threaten us with the loss of things, of money, of reputation, comfort, health, even life itself. But if you have already concluded that your ultimate gain is found in Jesus, not in this world, you become unthreatenable. You can be so bold because you have nothing left to lose. We spend so much of our lives playing defense, trying to protect our health, our 401k, our status. But when you realize that Christ is your life, you are free to play offense. You are free to take risks for the gospel because the worst thing this world can do to you is actually the best thing that could happen to you. The worst thing that this world could do to you is actually the best thing that could happen to you. And that truth fueled the Apostle Paul. It fueled the early church. And I think I believe it can fuel Grace Point today, and it can fuel each and every one of you. And it frees you to live without a fear of death, to take risks for the kingdom, and and to uh to to bear lives of of much fruit. Alright, you guys can um actually just give me that and go back to your seats. For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Paul would would uh conclude in verse 25. He says, Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and join the faith. So that was his mission. He wanted to stay, to live, so that he could uh come back and encourage the church in Philippi, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Jesus Christ because of my coming to you again. And again, his entire motivation was the glory of Jesus Christ. So powerful.

Personal Reflection And Closing Prayer

SPEAKER_00 44:38

So I invite you all, in closing here, uh to pause. We're gonna pause for two minutes, and I want you to think of this question. What does now that you've been gr you've been granted life and you're a follower of Jesus, you're here on earth, you're you haven't you haven't died yet? I want you to think of this question. What does fruitful labor look like for me? What does fruitful labor look like for me? So we're gonna pause for two minutes and just uh think about that a little bit. Jesus, we come for you right now in your precious name. We thank you for uh these this uh this word that you've given to us and the hope that we can have that even death cannot dissuade us from what you've called us to do. Uh we we don't live in fear because of the promise of uh a reunion with you someday. I pray that you could impress on our hearts and and show us how to actually live out these truths in our own lives today. Uh might you just uh grant an increase to the word that was spoken this morning? In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.