TOWARD THE GOAL:
LIVE LIKE YOU ARE DYING
Philippians 1.19-30
S: Devotion to Jesus
Th: Toward the Goal
Pr: WE PASSIONATELY LIVE FOR JESUS.
?: How? How do we do it?
KW: Ways
TS: We will find three ways that show us how to live for Jesus.
CV: “We will passionately pursue full devotion to Jesus Christ.”
Type: Propositional
I. SUPPORT (19-20)
II. FOCUS (22-26)
III. STYLE (27-30)
PA: How is the change to be observed?
• Faithfully intercede.
• Courageously honor God with your life.
• Enthusiastically realize it is all about Jesus.
• Caringly bring progress and joy to followers of Jesus.
• Consistently live the message.
Version: ESV
RMBC 08 June 08 AM
INTRODUCTION:
ILL Perspective (H)
President Ronald Reagan was once challenged by a college student who said it was impossible for Reagan’s generation to understand his.
“You grew up in a different world,” the student said. “Today we have television, jet planes, space travel, nuclear energy, computers. . .”
Taking advantage of a pause in the student’s litany, Reagan said, “You’re right. We didn’t have those things when we were young. We invented them.”
Nancy Reagan, My Turn: The Memoirs of Nancy Reagan (Random House)
Well, that response of President Reagan’s hopefully gave the person a different perspective on the situation.
I think we all know that it is hard to see outside of or beyond our own grid of experience.
But it is a good question to ask…
1. How is your perspective?
ILL Perspective (S)
There is a twentieth century example of a person who possessed an eternal perspective. This person was known as Jim Elliott. He was famous for saying...
“He is no fool to give up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”
This flows from the heart of a man who had an eternal perspective. It is from someone more concerned about the things of heaven than entangled with the things of earth.
In his diary he wrote...
“God I pray to you, light these idol sticks of my life, that I may burn for you. Consume my life God, for it is yours.”
And then he wrote, “I seek not a long life but a full life, like that of Jesus Christ.” His prayer was answered. His life was not that long. He died in 1956 taking the Gospel to the Auca Indians in Ecuador.
His prayer was answered in that his life was full. The very fact that he died taking the Gospel to the Auca was a stepping-stone for that tribe to come to know Christ. His life was full because he has inspired many to live with an eternal perspective. His life was like Christ. Not a long life, but a full life. He lived with an eternal perspective.
I know that I have room to improve when it comes to having an eternal perspective, but I am really working toward it.
Wouldn’t it be something though, if all the time we would go through life with an eternal perspective?
Something happens which by most would be considered a negative situation, and yet it is used for the glory of God.
A car breaks down and a mechanic comes to know Christ.
A health problem arises and the medical staff hears the good news about Jesus.
An insult or criticism comes and love and grace are demonstrated as opposed to hate and retaliation.
A tempting immoral situation occurs and the person turns away from it because a higher standard has been placed on the heart and it would be displeasing to the Lord.
People can live this way because they have eternal perspective.
They can live this way because they have real purpose.
2. When you have eternal perspective, you move deliberately “toward the goal.”
“Toward the Goal” is the title of this theme of messages based on Paul’s letter to the Philippians.
He is in Rome, under house arrest.
For 24/7, he is bound to a solder of Roman’s elite guards.
But his imprisonment has not hindered the spread of the gospel in any way.
On the contrary, it has opened doors that otherwise would have remained closed to him.
The Emperor’s own troops are hearing the gospel.
The Christians in Rome are getting more involved in spreading the word.
And even though motives are suspect with some preachers, the Gospel is getting preached.
Why is this happening?
I think one of our core values that we unveiled at the annual meeting reflects what we find in this passage we are studying today.
That is…
3. “We will passionately pursue full devotion to Jesus Christ” (21).
Paul says it this way:
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Literally, the Greek text says it even more simply:
“to live Christ to die gain”
Paul says this because Christ was absolutely and irrevocably first in his life.
There was no doubt where he stood.
He stood with Jesus.
His priority was Jesus.
And in our passage today we will find how he does it.
He shows us how to live for Jesus.
OUR STUDY:
The first way is to have good…
I. SUPPORT (19-20)
Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
4. Paul confidently knew that he was not alone.
Paul knew he needed prayer.
He knew that he could not accomplish what he was doing in Rome on his own.
He needed help from the church in Philippi.
And it was happening.
They were praying.
And God was answering.
God was answering by providing help through the Holy Spirit.
Paul allowed God to be continually filling him with His Spirit.
He was allowing God to control by constantly being filled with the Spirit.
This way, Paul was able to walk in the Spirit’s fullness.
He was able to walk in His power.
The key to understanding the Christian life is to live in the realization that this is a supernatural life.
This is not a normal routine life.
We do not live of our own flesh.
We do not live according to our own power.
We help each other in this when we…
5. Faithfully intercede.
We need to faithfully intercede for each other.
We do it faithfully because this is one of the ways we love each other.
We do it faithfully because we understand that God answers prayer.
We do it faithfully because it is God’s vehicle to make the miraculous happen.
So let me encourage you to…
6. Courageously honor God with your life.
This is Paul’s goal, whether by death or by life, to give honor to God.
He did not want to give in to the pressure and stress of the circumstances and not finish the race well.
Is that happening to you?
Are you giving in?
Is the Christian life just happening to you?
Or is it a deliberate life?
Is it a life that has focus?
You see, the second way we live for Jesus is to have…
II. FOCUS (22-26)
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 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.
ILL Life (S)
In Shakespeare’s famous play Hamlet, we find the words, “to be or not to be, that is the question.” We discover a man who wants to end his life. He no longer wants to go on living, but facing death would be even more tragic.
Paul, though, sees it differently.
His answer is much more profound than Hamlet’s dilemma.
Paul would not say “to be or not to be, that is the question.”
No, he would say “to be or…to be, that is the answer!”
From Paul’s point of view, from that eternal perspective, he can’t lose!
You see…
7. For Paul, it is all about Jesus.
Living for Jesus meant fruit.
It meant great blessing.
But dying…dying was even better.
It meant being with Jesus…forever.
He is hard-pressed to figure out what is better.
He is hemmed in on both sides.
It is impossible to choose.
Paul challenges us on what we live for.
For the businessman, life can be about accumulating wealth.
For the academic, life can be about accumulating knowledge.
For the politician, life can be about seeking power.
For the actor, life can be about fame and having their name known.
For Paul, life was Christ.
Everything he was, everything he did was Christ.
That was his whole consuming passion.
His whole life was wrapped around Christ.
ILL Death (S)
Professional golfer Paul Azinger was diagnosed with cancer at age 33. He had just won a PGA championship and had ten tournament victories to his credit. He wrote, "A genuine feeling of fear came over me. I could die from cancer. Then another reality hit me even harder. I’m going to die eventually anyway, whether from cancer or something else. It’s just a question of when.” Before, Azinger lived for golf. No more. Now all he wanted to do was live!
One day in the early stages of the panic following his diagnosis, Azinger remember some words he had once heard in a Bible study. “We’re not in the land of the living going to the land of the dying,” the teacher had said, “We’re in the land of the dying trying to get to the land of the living." That reality led him to a living hope through faith in Jesus Christ.
Golfer Paul Azinger recovered from chemotherapy and returned to the PGA tour. But the bout with cancer changed his perspective. He would later write, “I’ve learned that happiness is only temporary. The only way to true contentment is in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I’m not saying that nothing ever bothers me and I don’t have problems, but I feel like I’ve found the answer to the six-foot hole.”
You see, it is not solving the six-foot putt that matters.
Until we find the answers to the six-foot hole, we don’t know the facts of life.
But here is the fact that Paul wants us to get…
For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
We need to capture Paul’s excitement.
We need to capture Paul Azinger’s excitement.
We need to…
8. Realize that living for Jesus is exciting!
Do you have that excitement?
Has the joy of living for Jesus captured you?
Even though Paul understood that his days were numbered, he still had plenty of reason to stay.
He wanted to make each day count, because he had a joyous purpose.
We have the same joyous mission.
We have the same exciting challenge.
For the church is always one generation short of potential extinction.
So, we follow the example of Paul and…
9. Caringly bring prokope (progress) and xaras (joy) to followers of Jesus.
Those were our Greek words that we learned during last week’s message.
This is why we continue the work that is before us.
“For to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
Remember from last week how prokope is a military term.
It was used to describe the work of the engineers who paved the way for the rest of the army.
Paul is investing in the church in Philippi to see that they are still advancing.
He wants them continuing in their advance.
This is our work too.
Christianity is not meant to be a stagnant faith.
It is our responsibility to see that we are moving forward.
This is not a sit and wait and let them come type of belief.
Oh no.
We have joy set before us.
We have a race to run.
We have a prize to claim.
This is why we are to live like we are dying.
For when we do that, we keep to the important stuff.
We keep our focus on Jesus.
The final way we live for Jesus is by living a worthy life…
III. STYLE (27-30)
Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.
We are to live a worthy lifestyle.
We are live a style that is consistent with the message.
This means that we stand for God and stand against Satan.
This means that we stand for truth and stand against falsehood.
This means that we stand for righteousness and stand against sin.
But you know, we need to have the sense to stand together.
We don’t always get that!
But Paul does and that is why…
10. Paul encourages unity.
This is an absolute essential for us.
We are to be of one mind.
We are bound together by a mission and purpose.
We are bound together by a passionate pursuit of a full devotion to Jesus.
And when we get that, the stuff that tends to divide and separate us really gets small and unimportant.
So, as a result we are able to…
11. Consistently live the message.
Paul encourages the church in Philippi to live consistently so they can stand up to the opposition that will certainly come.
We need to the same.
You see what we do, how we do it and the attitude that we do it affects other people.
If we work together, we will find that teamwork wins.
We know we have been assigned to run to win.
We also know that we have been assigned to run together.
Look, it takes courage to live the Christian life.
This is not a solo faith.
We need each other.
When we don’t hold together, the world just sees a faith in retreat and on the decline.
When the unimportant issues become the important issues, we are laughed at for the ridiculous stands we take and for our awkward behavior.
So then, out of embarrassment, we end up concealing our beliefs and playing down our faith.
CHALLENGE:
"For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain."
Warren Wiersbe asks how we might complete that same sentence.
Might we say…
"For to me to live is money and to die is to leave it all behind?"
"For to me to live is fame and to die is to be forgotten?"
"For to me to live is power and to die is to lose it all?"
…or…
"For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain?"
ILL Prayer (S)
In the fall of 2005, 9-year-old, Austin Blessit, had his tonsils removed. Before the surgery, an anesthesiologist came in to start an IV. He was wearing a cool surgical cap covered in colorful frogs. Austin loved that "frog hat." When the doctor started to leave, Austin called out, "Hey, wait."
The doctor turned. "Yeah, buddy, what do you need?"
"Do you go to church?"
"No," the doctor admitted. "I know I probably should, but I don’t."
Austin then asked, "Well, are you saved?"
Chuckling nervously, the doctor said: "Nope. But after talking to you, maybe it’s something I should consider."
Pleased with his response, Austin answered, "Well you should, ’cause Jesus is great!"
"I’m sure he is, little guy," the doctor said, and quickly made his exit.
When Austin’s surgery was finished, the anesthesiologist came into the waiting room to talk to his mother. He told her the surgery went well, then said, "Mrs. Blessit, I don’t usually come down and talk to the parents after a surgery, but I just had to tell you what your son did."
Oh boy, she thought. What did that little rascal do now? The doctor explained that he’d just put the mask on Austin when her son signaled that he needed to say something. When the doctor removed the mask, Austin blurted, "Wait a minute, we have to pray!" The doctor told him to go ahead, and Austin prayed: "Dear Lord, please let all the doctors and nurses have a good day. And Jesus, please let the doctor with the frog hat get saved and start going to church. Amen."
The doctor admitted that this had touched him. "I was so sure he would pray that his surgery went well," he explained. "He didn’t even mention his surgery. He prayed for me! Mrs. Blessit, I had to come down and let you know what a great little guy you have."
A few minutes later, a nurse came to take her to post-op. She had a big smile on her face as they walked to the elevator. "There’s something you should know," she said. "Some of the other nurses and I have been witnessing to and praying for that doctor for a long time. After your son’s surgery, he tracked a few of us down to tell us about Austin’s prayer. He said, ’Well girls, you got me. If that little boy could pray for me when he was about to have surgery, then I think maybe I need his Jesus, too.’"
Tina Blessit, "A Prayer Before Surgery," Today’s Christian (July/August 2006), p. 27
I am thinking…
If a nine-year-old boy can live…
For me to live is Christ and to die is gain
…then why can’t we?
Why can’t…
12. WE PASSIONATELY LIVE FOR JESUS.
I believe that is our assignment today – to passionately live for Jesus.
And Austin Blessit told us all the reason we need for the moment…’cause Jesus is great!
For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.
For Further Study: Job 13.16, 19.25-26; John 10.10, 13.34-35; Romans 8.28; I Corinthians 9.24-27; II Corinthians 3.2, 5.8; Ephesians 3.16, 6.11-13; James 5.16
BENEDICTION:
Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
RESOURCES:
SermonCentral
Beaman, Brad How to Keep an Eternal Perspective
Brownworth, Russell Struggling Joy
Galbraith, James Longing for Heaven, Ready for Less
Other
Barclay, William. The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians. The Daily Study Bible Series. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1959.
MacArthur, John, Jr. Philippians. The Macarthur New Testament Commentary. Chicago: Moody Press, 2001.
Muller, Jac. J. The Epistles of Paul to the Philippians and to Philemon. The New International Commentary on the New Testament, ed. F. F. Bruce. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1976.
Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary: New Testament. Colorado Springs: ChariotVictor Publishing, 1989.
