PHILIPPIANS 1:18b-21

April 20, 2020

TO LIVE OR NOT TO LIVE? I’M OKAY: EITHER WAY GOD IS GLORIFIED

Philippians 1:18b-19 Yes, 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.

SUSIE: Paul could continue to rejoice because the Philippians’ prayers and the Holy Spirit within him gave him confidence that he would be delivered. He could be talking about being delivered from the accusations against him and freed from prison, or he could be alluding to being delivered from his earthly body by death. Either way he would be free!

Philippians 1:20 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.

SUSAN: The reason Paul could abandon every earthly thing and hope in Christ is that Jesus was his everything. There was not a relationship that had more intimacy or value in Paul’s life than his relationship with Jesus. He could have the consistent expectation that everything would work out for his best and God’s glory because of his total trust in the Lord. Whether living for Christ and continuing to be persecuted, which he knew was guaranteed, or being executed by the Romans, Paul knew that God would administer grace, strength, and courage in abundance.

Q – Do you live each day with the certainty that God is in control and you can “abandon other interests with outstretched hands in expectation” of what God will accomplish in and through you? Are you confident that whether you live or die, God is able to give you grace for each moment?

Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Philippians 1:21 (AMP) For to me, to live is Christ [He is my source of joy, my reason to live] and to die is gain [for I will be with Him in eternity].

SUSIE: Then Paul made probably his most famous statement, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” which the Voice Bible renders as, “For my life is about the Anointed and Him alone. And my death, when that comes, will mean great gain for me.” Paul speaks on this theme also in the following verses:

2 Corinthians 5:6-8 (VOICE) In light of this, we live with a daring passion and know that our time spent in this body is also time we are not present with the Lord. The path we walk is charted by faith, not by what we see with our eyes. There is no doubt that we live with a daring passion, but in the end we prefer to be gone from this body so that we can be at home with the Lord.

SUSAN: Paul had dedicated his entire life, after his conversion, to preaching the gospel; and he was certain that when his earth-suit fell away, he would be in the presence of his Lord and Savior eternally. 

SUSIE: Therefore, he could continue fearlessly. Fearlessly is not the same thing as recklessly. We should not flirt with death or “tempt fate” which is really testing the Lord. Jesus did NOT fling himself down when Satan taunted that the angels would not let Him be harmed:

Matthew 4:5-7 Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will bear You up, So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

SUSIE: Paul expounds upon the concept of staying alive on earth or leaving his body behind in order to be with the Lord in the next few verses of Philippians chapter 1. Sometimes it is more valuable for us to remain in our earth-suits for the benefit of others rather than to be with the Lord in Paradise. That determination can only be made by our Master.

SUSAN: When we trust in the Lord Jesus and serve Him, we are not our own. We are the Lord’s instrument, His vessel to do with as He determines. We are to await His instructions and abide by His will.

Q – Read verse 21 again. Can you affirm this truth in your own life? Is Jesus your “source of joy and reason to live?” Do you know for certain that when you die and leave your earth-suit behind that you will be in the presence of the Lord forever? (IF NOT, please contact us through the website, so we can pray for you and answer any questions you may have about beginning anew with God.)

POINTS TO PONDER:

  • We can continue to have joy in the middle of the worst conditions because our confidence is in Christ
  • Our courage to live in a fallen world comes from Christ
  • Neither life nor death need to be feared because God uses both for believers’ good and His glory
  • Our lives are precious, and only God can determine when they should end on this earth and continue in His presence