To Live is Christ, Philippians, 1:21-24
Philippians 1:21-24 · Vern Peterman · May 11, 2003
Philippians (2003), No. 16
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/48262255245193

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

We want to proceed here this morning with our study of Philippians. Believe it or not, we're still in the first chapter. And as we continue on, just to kind of keep us in sync with what's happening here, Paul is writing this book of Philippians from prison.

His situation appears to be one of probably house arrest. He is being continuously chained to a Praetorian guard. And in the process of that, it's interesting, the whole first chapter, he just kind of moves on with this theme of the fact that he's in prison and going through this legal process, writing, as it were, sort of a missionary letter to his supporters. And as he's doing so, what is amazing is it's very apparent that he's writing from prison, but he puts no ink at all to complaining about the circumstances.

Instead, he is telling them the gospel is just fine. Instead, he's telling them the Lord is using this abundantly. Instead, he's telling them, as we'll see here this morning, that I don't know the outcome from where I'm at now, but the Lord's going to use that too.

And here's my perspective on it. And so, as we look at the passage this morning, I think it's valuable for us to take a look at that and just kind of I'm going to read a passage from the book of Philippians. Keep that in mind in terms of what he's spelling out to them. He starts here in Philippians 1, 21 through 24, and I'll just read it through this morning. For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain, but if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me, and I do not know which to choose, having the desire to depart and to be with Christ, for that is very much better. Yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake."

All right, let's take a look at that. One of the things I want to kind of bring to remembrance, and we pointed it out last time, and that is that the pagan people of Philippi were real meticulous. And so what Paul writes, this is in sharp contrast, They were very meticulous about how you died and the circumstances and what you did with the body. That was something that they were famous in the whole area for focusing upon. They had special societies of the Thracian horsemen because they believed it was real, real important to get everything just right when that body died to have all the little signals and signs around and make sure you didn't offend anybody. your loved ones to get their spirits handled in just the right way, see? And so for them it was something real particular. Paul was revealing a perspective that was totally foreign to the thinking of the Philippian people before they became believers.

So here's a time that the perspective of the Philippians as pagans This is great risk. You better handle things right. If this person died, you'd better put the right kind of little symbols around the grave and do certain rituals and pay for certain procedures or things won't come out right. So, here's Philippi, and here's the main commercial part of the city, and this little roadway here, that's now paved, but that was the Roman road going through town.

And this area above here that has, you see some walls and things like that, they found numerous places. This was their graveyard up on the hill. They had two things. They had a graveyard and they had gold mines up on the hill. And the graveyard areas, they just buried bodies all over and they put on the stones, any stone nearby, they would put on certain carvings. And this is an example off in the inset there. They would put on carvings in there to make sure that when the Thracian horsemen came by to pick up the soul, that it was handled and respected carefully, because that was real important to the Philippians. Now, so here comes Paul, and he's coming on with this thing like, boy, one way or the other, you know, the Lord can use either one. To them, that was shocking. Completely mind-boggling perspective, okay?

Notice that I've taken the same path as we looked at before and I've colored it. What I've looked at is these that are here in green, and several of them there. Those that are there in green, basically this is life on planet Earth. This is if I stay here. That's the perspective that I have. And then those that are in blue, those are if I go to be with the Lord. face-to-face, that's the perspective that I have.

So he's laying out both of those and kind of bouncing them off one another and saying, boy, I could have this perspective or that, and I just don't know which one to choose. So that's what he's laying out for them in these few verses. So we'll box it up this way, and you have something similar on your handout, and something I wasn't able to get to last week, but you have here again. This shows you the page number on your handout so you know where to look. It's just that the boxes are on top of one another instead of side by side. But initially he lays out, to live is Christ. To live is Christ. So you see that heading on your handout there. He says actually to live on in the flesh and then subsequently, a little after that, to remain on in the flesh.

This is the first kind of definition of living here. He says that means fruitful labor for me. If I stay here, there'll be fruitful labor. There are plenty of effective ways that I can be used to the Lord here on planet Earth if the Lord has me stay here. And that's great. He says, I just love that. It's more necessary for your sake. He says, if I stay here and there's fruitful labor, it's something that's going to be helpful. You're going to receive benefit from it. So he lays that out. That's on the one side of staying here.

On the other side, he says, to die is gain. And there, having the desire to depart. He says, I have a desire to leave things here and to go there. And what's the focal point there? To be with Christ. It isn't, boy, this is nasty here, I want to get out of it. You notice that?

He doesn't even bring up the fact that, man, here I am chained to a Praetorian guard constantly. He doesn't bring up the fact that I can't go anywhere. I'm stuck. And as we see in the last chapter of Acts, he's probably in this rented house, just chained to a Praetorian guard and they just keep trading, you know, round and round and round from one guard to the next. There were thousands of Praetorian guards, some numbers upwards of 10,000. And so he'd have different ones all the time, changing shifts with him, constantly chained to him, all the time. And if that Praetorian Guard didn't particularly care if you slept, they didn't let you. But he didn't complain about that. We don't see that.

What he says, if I depart, it isn't what I'm leaving, it's who I'm going to. Isn't that something? Next, he gives his evaluation of it. That is very much better. Notice he doesn't say it's a slight improvement. It isn't just, ah, shades of difference. Very much better. We'll take a look at that more in a bit. Now, this is not the end of the game of pick-up sticks. That's not what those are. There's a reason for those little lines, and it's this.

To live as Christ, and notice what he's saying here, is that what happens here on planet Earth is spiritually significant. It isn't a matter of, okay, now I'm a believer and I'm just kind of biding my time until I go home to be with the Lord. Eventually I'll go, and then things will get substantial, but meanwhile, I'm just kind of waiting around. No. He's saying, to live here now is Christ.

Next thing he says, to live and remain on in the flesh. He actually uses both of those terms there. He is able to continue his earthly ministry if he stays here. He's going to keep on doing what he has been doing. So there's no question mark or mystery about that. He says, I've been having ministry with you, I'm going to continue having that ministry if I live on, if I stay here.

Fruitful labor. Paul will be effective in the Lord's ministry. This is not simply a matter of, well, I'm here, and I guess the Lord has some reason for me to be here, but I have the foggiest idea. No. He's saying there will be effective ministry, because that's what God has in mind. Okay.

And he says, finally, more necessary for your sake, Paul's earthly ministry is indeed a spiritual benefit to the Philippians, as well as to all the others that he has ministry with. By the way, if you look at the chapter 28 of Acts, which is kind of the likely backdrop for the book of Philippians, you see that Paul does have ongoing ministry with a number of different groups of people, even unbelieving Jews. He has ongoing ministry with a number of different groups of people, even while he is under house arrest, even while he is in this constant, one after another, Praetorian Guard bonding situation. Now, this is not a different game of pick-up sticks. It's also a similar idea. We've got some things here we're looking at. He says next, to die is gain. And what does he say there?

What comes next, he's making a comparison, is incomparably better than planet Earth. Now, I don't know about you, but I love to go up on some high mountain and climb and just see the phenomenal views and just There are thousands of beautiful scenes that the Lord has made here on planet Earth, aren't there? And we love to travel and see those different places, and we have a great deal of it available right here locally to us. There are places around the globe that it's great to see, but what he's saying is that the very best that this world can offer to die is gain.

It's incomparably and immeasurably better. having the desire to depart. And again, the focus is motivated by the personal presence of Christ. It is not a matter of, boy, I sure want to get out of this place. It's the perspective, interestingly, that a lot of people have. And I think there's some validity to it, but the truth is that it isn't what I'm getting away from, it is what we're going to.

And that's the focus that Paul has, isn't it? Paul is not zeroing in on list. Here's my list of complaints. I've got a whole bunch of things I don't like, and here they are." He doesn't take that perspective. Instead, he focuses on, my departure is centered upon, focused upon, the very person of Jesus Christ, and that's the attraction. Not what I want to get away from primarily, but who I'm going to be with. That's what he zeroes in on. And so, he makes the assessment there to be with Christ, seeing the Lord of Glory face to face.

Remember when we went through the book of Revelation? You see those heavenly scenes starting in chapter 4. And it's neat, you have 150 verses roughly of those heavenly scenes. And there is that presence with the Lord Jesus Christ that is the focal point there.

And Paul is saying that very same truth here in brief and very concentrated form. He's saying it's being with the Lord, that's what I'm looking for. That's the attraction. It's not what's repelling me from here, it's what's attracting me to there. And finally, very much better. That's Paul's assessment. He's laying this out and he's saying, we have such a great difference between here and being with the Lord that it's incomparable. It's just a huge leap ahead. Okay. Let's take a look at what Paul isn't saying because I think it's important to get the distinction in what he's laying out for the people there.

First of all, he's not saying that he can't decide whether to commit suicide or to purposely seek a lethal judgment against himself. He's not trying to figure that one out, okay? And I think it's important to get that down because he's not just laying out this quandary, gee, should I take my life or somehow make sure it happens, okay? That's not what he's looking for.

He is disclosing an eternal and spiritual perspective that he has. He's revealing his mind and thoughts and hearts. Now, I think that's the thing to take a look at. Really, if you look at close fellowship between believers, it isn't just that we sit down and have coffee together and talk about the latest place we went to for vacation. Our close fellowship is based on revealing a heart's motivation, isn't it? It's centered upon the perspective that the Lord has. That's what fellowship between believers is to consist of.

And that's really what Paul's doing. He's doing it as well as he can through a letter to convey his heart and his perspective. He's sharing his heart. He's sharing his heart. And we talk about here, this is a day we observe, Mother's Day. But ultimately, isn't that what a mother is doing? She is sharing her spiritual heart about the Lord. And in a sense, that's what Paul is doing here.

He's saying, this is my perspective, this is the dilemma of heart that I have. I'm not trying to figure out should I commit suicide or not. I'm just revealing to you this tension I have between these two great attractions. That's what this is about. Isn't it interesting, as we look at this, Paul does not directly, in this thing, mention the trials posed by his constantly being chained to a guard. That's just not even a part of the discussion. He doesn't even bring it up. That is not even a part of the tension that he's going through here.

He is in a dilemma, if you will, between the advantage of ministry here on planet Earth, in this life, the very great advantage of being present with the Lord. That's the dilemma that he's in. That's the thing that he's being pressed between. Now, let's take a look at some of the key words. This is still on side one there.

The first thing we looked at is this word, gain. Great kerdos, profit. It's a word that in other contexts, both in the New Testament and outside, is used for actually monetary gain. I did this, transacted this business transaction, made some money. Paul uses that word here. He says, hey, this puts me ahead. This is measurably ahead. This is definitely ahead. Nothing foggy here or uncertain about it. This is measurably ahead. I can look at the difference before and afterwards, and this got me somewhere.

So that's one word that shows up there. Paul is saying that there isn't any comparison with being personally and bodily with Christ. Any way you measure it, he says, being with Christ is far better. Now, the next key word that shows up here is flesh. The Greek word is sarx.

This is the physical human body on earth in this context, and you've probably noticed other places he uses it in different contexts, but in this word, The way he uses it here is, this is continuing on in this human body, this human flesh that I have here. That's the way he's using that word in the context. And it's interesting in 1 Corinthians 5, 1 through 6, and we'll take a look at it shortly, he refers twice to this human body as a tent. For a tent maker, that's a likely thing to say, right? And we'll take a look at that in a minute here.

The next word that he uses And it comes across in the English as hard-pressed or in the King James as in a straight. It's suneko. And the idea is to be constrained or complexed or limited, perplexed or limited. So this word is used in the context frequently in scripture and otherwise for someone who's got a confining mindset or circumstance. Sometimes it is even used to mean compelled. It means there's a dilemma.

And why do I have this little picture here? This is called the Cilician Gates. It's a very tight little river channel that is right outside of Tarsus, where Paul was raised and also where he walked through on some of his early missionary journeys. And in this little tight channel, right in through here, and it's a little dark because this is the whole thing is such a tight channel, there's a little narrow roadway And when you go through those gates, you're constrained.

People would use this word to describe, you're not going up the side this way or up the side that way. You're constrained by this little narrow channel, and you're going to go out one way or the other. See, there's two directions. You're going to pick this way or that way, and you're not going anywhere else. That's the idea here. You're constrained. You've got this choice or that one and none other.

The next word that I want to put some focus on is epithumia. Having this desire to depart. That word desire is not just a mild inclination. It's not saying, between the two, go this way. This is an intense, passionate desire. The focus is this. This is a desire that grabs him. This is a desire that is substantial in his attention. Paul very strongly desired, he had this intense desire to depart this life. It wasn't a matter of avoidance, getting away from things, but to be personally and eternally with Christ. That was a desire of attraction, not a desire born of repulsion. See the difference? Now, another key word to take a look at.

This one's a fun one. Analuo, almost sounds Hawaiian, right? Analuo is a combined word, it means to uploose, and it's used together to depart or to leave. Now, we've got this picture of a tent there. The word was used of a tent's peg being pulled up. When you were to break up camp, you would analuo, you'd pull up the tent pegs, and then obviously fold up the tent and go. So that's the word that he uses here. I have greatly desired to break up camp and leave here. That's the word he's using. Now, so it fits. The idea of going to be with Christ is like pulling up the stakes from this life tent.

Before we go a little, you know, faster and farther on this, however, not only is the word used this way, but there's a couple other ways that probably reveal why Paul chose this word, because there's multiple ways it's used. Each one of them fits. The other way, it was used of when the ship was in port or in a harbor, and they had an anchor. To pull up the anchor, they would analuo, pull up anchor. And how did he get to Rome? He took a long ship's journey, where every time they would leave the harbor, they would analuo, pull up the anchor. And so that word also fits there, doesn't it? There's another usage.

In Acts 16, remember here's Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail. That would fit because, here's Philippi again, right? The Philippian jail, they didn't just put them in the cell, they also had bonds on them like you see here, only in this case they would bond them to the wall. And you'd have these chains holding you to the wall. It uses this word to describe when the jail cell opened and the bonds fell from their arms. Analuo, from their arms, okay?

So all three of these applications fit, don't they? All three of them. Pulling up stakes on the tent. Pulling up anchor on the ship. And the bonds breaking loose. After all, what was Paul being? Constantly chained to a Praetorian guard. The bonds would finally be let loose. All three of those definitions fit exactly the situation Paul's in.

Perfect picture. What a great choice of words. Here's another one. The Greek word necessary or needful. And what that reveals here is that Paul's continuing on here still had purpose. He doesn't say that I'm optional here, or it's a nice supplement. It isn't inconsequential. Instead he's saying, no, my being here with you is purposeful. I am still needed here. There is value in my being here. He's laying that out clearly before them.

Now, there's something I think we do some value in taking a close look at, and that's the very first verse. There's something hidden in it that doesn't stand out in the English that I think is valuable for us to take a look at. So I call this the concise Greek, because a lot of times what will happen is in our English translations we add little words here and there to kind of smooth it out, but I think in this case it sort of covers up something that is good for us to take a look at. Here's the concise Greek.

For me, the living Christ and the dying gain is the way he writes that. How about that? Now, just as I mentioned here, the tendency in a lot of our English translations is to try to smooth stuff out, make it read a little more smoothly. In this case, however, I think if we understand what Paul is writing, the English makes perfect sense. Let's take a look at that.

He's using a figure of speech called ellipsis, and that's where you take a word or even a phrase out that is understood by the reader. Sometimes we do that for emphasis. And let me just say it to you like I think Paul is intending to convey. For to me, Paul's thinking and conveying to his Philippian brothers and sisters, for to me the living Christ and the dying game. Get the sense there?

He is, by eliminating that word, is, intending to emphasize it. Living, Christ. Dying, gain. See? That's the sense of what he's wanting to convey to them. There's a pause in there, there's a dramatic emphasis. By eliminating the verb with the intent of just showing how totally life, for Paul is defined by the person of Christ, and how totally dying for him would be just gain. That's his emphasis here. What he's saying is living is Christ, dying is gain. Equals is a good way to put it there.

All of Paul's life is summed up in the person of Jesus Christ. All of it. You couldn't come up with a better summary. Living Christ. The next part, dying would be nothing but gain. There wouldn't be any drawbacks to being personally and eternally with Jesus Christ, face-to-face with Him, forever and ever and ever. That's gain. So by eliminating those verbs, he's wanting to put emphasis on these. Everything is summed up in those two things.

Living life on this planet is not by our seeking to identify with Him. It's not by our trying. We talk at this church about being identified with Christ. There is nothing we can do to go, alright, now I'm a little more identified. It doesn't work that way, does it? Fruit isn't something you check for. There's no effort on our part that we can do to improve this picture.

We have been identified, it's God's doing. There's nothing we can do to identify it or to seek it. These truths are clearly set forth in numerous passages of scripture, and we've got some listed here and there's some others that I haven't included, but just so you have those available. As we live life here on this planet, our having been identified with Christ is something that the Lord has done completely.

Our question, our issue is not one of trying to exert some effort to further that or improve upon it. We cannot. Our place is, do you believe it? Do you believe Him? That's our place. Do we believe Him? The next there, living a life while on this planet is not to be by our very best efforts, His very life in place of ours. So when Paul says, living Christ, he is summing up these truths. It's a replacement issue.

Galatians 2.20 is where he spells it out clearly to the church at Galatia. I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, that's the same word flesh that he used before, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me." The intent is, since we have been seated with Christ, we live there.

He does the living here. See that? We live there. He does the living here. That's what he's laying out for them. To live is Christ. Why? Because Christ is the one who will live this life in and through me. Another aspect in which he's trying to spell out to the Philippians, to live, that's Christ.

Living life all on this planet is not based on our life, but as he spells out to the Church of Colossae, Christ who is our life. He spells it out there in chapter 3, verse 4, Actually, the Greek there is not talking about probabilities, it's making a logical statement, so you could put this as since or because. You have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.

For you have died, same message we had in Galatians 2.20, no longer I who live. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

See, every believer in this room has already been through a death. See that? Every believer in this room has already been through a death. Your own. You have died with Christ. That's the key. If we've died, it is Christ, the resurrected Christ, He is the One who does the living, not us.

So, it isn't a matter of us sort of saying, alright, when's something spiritual going to happen here? We're not just kind of sitting around drumming our fingers thinking, boy, it sure would be nice if something spiritual happened. Give me something to wow about. That's not His point. We're not waiting around saying, well, I'm saved, but I'm just waiting for the Lord to take me home. Not the point. The point being, that what is happening right here, God's very intent, is we live there, He lives here.

Okay? We're done living here, folks. Okay? If we are to live here on planet Earth, it's not by our best efforts, it's not even giving your best to the Master like the old hymn says. Okay? It's not that. It's His life here. We live there. We're done here. Okay? We're already gone. in one sense, okay? It is Christ who lives here. And we're not like this little boy drumming our fingers waiting for something spiritual to happen, okay? It's happening now. There is no finger drumming to do here. Apologies to the little kid. Okay. The end result of dying, Paul says, is gain. That's really what he's spelling out. The end result of dying. Now notice, one of the things, Paul is certainly not saying, boy, I can't wait to go through that dying process. You know, just that last little phase of life, that's just unbeatable.

That's not his point, okay? He's not focusing on that. He's really looking past that, isn't he? Dying here, physically, that's not his focus. He's looking past that. He says, getting past that here from then on out. It's Christ face to face. Being with Him, that's the point. Departing life, again, is not the departure that he's focusing on. It's being with Christ that is the focus. Paul's assessment?

It's very much better. Very much better. No slight improvement, no percentages here. Very much better. 2 Corinthians 5.8 Just spells it out.

He writes to the church at Corinth, and he says, We are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Now notice, the at home, when you're at home, that's something you don't just do for a quick visit. This isn't just camping out, is it? There's no longer a tent arrangement. It's at home. It's continuously present.

So let's take a look at this, let's expand on it here. Philippians 1, 21-24 says, For me, Paul, the living of this life is summed up entirely in the person of Jesus Christ, not later. Yeah, he certainly addresses that, doesn't he? But right now it is summed up in the person of Jesus Christ. Christ is my life now. Right this very moment, my relationship with Christ and the position that I have with Him, that's where I live. Living is Christ.

And to have died, and notice I put that in the past tense, because that's really what he's focusing on, not the process of dying. To have died so as to be with Him is gain. It's measurable gain. Remember that word is a profit, and you can always, it's like an accountant, you can always say, hey, did I make money or not? He's saying it's measurable. It is a knowable advance. But if I am to continue to live in the flesh, this carcass here, this will mean fruitful labor for me. I will continue to do what I have been doing, Paul's saying.

And I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions. That's like being in those Cilician gates, that very narrow creek channel there. I'm constrained here. I've got one way to go or the other, and I don't know which direction. Having the desire to depart, not to leave things behind, but to be with Christ personally, for that is very much better. Yet to remain on in the flesh, this human body, is more necessary for your sake.

You're the ones who will benefit from that if the Lord has me here. You're the ones who will receive the benefit if I continue on. so that I can continue ministry among you." That's his mindset. If the Lord has me here, I'll continue ministry, and that's great. If the Lord takes me home, I'll get to be with him, and that's great.

That's Paul's perspective here. So here's Paul's dilemma. He's weighing these two out. Again, it's not so much that he's trying to make some sort of a choice, so much as he's revealing his heart. He's got these tensions pulling in terms of his own motivations. and they're both attractive to them. In a way, think about this. Wouldn't Paul have a lot to complain about from an earthly standpoint, from where he's at?

He could make a long list of things he didn't like. I'm not even sure that the Praetorian guards gave him a choice, which one do you want the wrist on this time, okay? And there were a whole lot of other things he didn't have choices about. He could have complained and filled up the whole letter full of complaints and run out of ink and paper, okay? Lots to complain about about this whole thing. That's not his point at all. Instead, he's looking here, he's laying out this dilemma. He has two positive things to choose from, and they're both of such a character he can't pick between them. Isn't that amazing? Would that be your perspective in prison? That's Paul's, isn't that something?

Living here is all about being with Christ by faith. You notice that? He says, if I die, I'll gain because I'll be with Him. but we are with Christ now by faith, because that's the way Scripture lays it out. We are not in the future with Him exclusively, we are with Him now. We who have believed have an unchanging, an untouchable, unfathomable position in Christ that comes from having believed in the spiritual facts right at the outset. We have that position, and that's what Paul's treasuring right here and now as he writes this letter. We who have believed in Christ also have a condition consistent with our position as we believe in those spiritual facts.

Do you right now believe in those spiritual facts? That's at issue, isn't it? Do you right now believe those? You have the position. It's untouchable and unchangeable. So the only question is, are you believing it now? Are you depending upon that in the same way you're depending upon those pews to hold you up?

Faith is all important here, planet Earth. But in being with Christ, faith is fulfilled. There will be a time, as important as faith is, and we keep talking about that, there will be a time when it will be fulfilled and it will meet its end. When we go to be with Christ, it won't be a matter of having faith, because we'll see Him.

He'll be right there. This is believing in spiritual facts as they're revealed, but not as we see them. There won't be any distraction or limitation from beholding the glorious person of Christ. We have things here now that get dangled in front of us and say, hey, look at this, look at that. There won't be that there.

Even our hope is interesting. Scripture keeps focusing upon our hope in Christ. Even that will meet its fulfillment. How about that? The Lord will bring things to a place where having faith and having hope will be eclipsed entirely by our presence with him. That is marvelous.

Let's pray. Lord, as we look at this passage, Paul relates a perspective that is amazing. Not one word of complaint about what could be a long list of circumstances. Lord he sees the things that you're doing in our lives here on this earth and he sees in the future Lord at some point in time for him perhaps close to this time of writing when he may see you face to face and we just we pray Lord for that perspective that as we live it is Christ if we go home to be with you it is you face to face and we give you thanks for that and we just We pray that you would teach us that through the days and weeks ahead until you come. In Jesus' name, amen.