"For me to live is Christ, to die is gain" Phil 1:21 WBC 15/01/06 am Covenant Service
CONTEXT
Certain things really make you stop and take stock… reflect… get things in perspective
- one of those is the death of someone close to you
- this week, Peggy. Found myself on my bike
o it’s like everything is in slow-mo… time stands still… and you glimpse through the rush and busyness to a window in heaven where you see what matters and what doesn’t
In one sense- how apt that this should be the text this morning. For all those we have loved and lost who were believers- we know that where they are is ’better by far’
So that’s my context of coming to this.
Paul’s context has been making him think about heaven, too
- although note, he doesn’t use the word. Neither does much of the Bible (about our final destination)
- it’s ’being with Christ". Fully. He knows he is now- but he’s thinking fulfilment, consummation!
Why? He’s in prison. Probably Rome in ~ AD 61 and he’s contemplating his trial which will result in either release, imprisonment or death
- and he’s not sure which. Thinks he’ll be released. Certain that he’ll stand up to it, whatever- and asks them to do the same, WHATEVER (v27)
Actually- we reckon he’s in a bit of a state about it all. I know that may not be obvious from your NIV- but it is from the Greek
- it’s all over the place in this bit. The meaning is always clear but the syntax isn’t. He really can’t decide which is best
o to live ’in the flesh’ or ’to die’
o (it’s talking about death and martyrdom, not the process of dying. I doubt he likes that! That’s why he’s perturbed…besides weighing up the two alternatives)
- and when he gets to write about the two alternatives it comes out all disjointed (V22) "But if to live in the flesh this (is) to me fruit of work and what shall I choose- I do not make known"
o hence older, RV, AV versions "I can’t speak of it!" "I wot not!"
He doesn’t know which to choose…. and just as well as we don’t get to choose anyway- God chooses for us. but he knows which is best
BETTER BY FAR (V23)
"much rather better", literally
Ò to go an be with Jesus!
Oh, wow. How we often lose this- because (for us!) this life can be so good.
- (to our detriment, actually! We place far too much on this and act as though this is all there is)
’Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home’ CS Lewis in ’The problem of pain’
- the old time spirituals knew this. Looked and hoped for heaven
Much like Joni Eareckson Tada: ’We ask less of this life because we know full well that more is coming in the next. The art of living with suffering is just the art of readjusting our expectations in the here and now.’
But what awaits us is even better. Those of us who believe and trust in Jesus. Life!
- When John Owen, the great Puritan, lay on his deathbed his secretary wrote (in his name) to a friend, "I am still in the land of the living."
"Stop," said Owen. "Change that and say, I am yet in the land of the dying, but I hope soon to be in the land of the living."
SOURCE: Death, John M. Drescher, In Pulpit Digest Summer 1985.
Contributed by: Greg Osborn on www.sermoncentral.com
Bill Bright, just months before he died in July 2003, wrote this:
"Even though I’ve always believed in heaven and hell, after I became a believer, I gave little thought to it. But in recent months I’ve been writing on heaven and hell.
My logic is this: The God whom we worship created at least 100 billion galaxies-some astronomers would say 200 billion. Do we give God credit? They say it was the Big Bang. But it was this great Creator God who made all this majesty and glory.
You can imagine, then, what he’s done to create a heaven? "Eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, neither knows the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love him"-beauty and magnificence beyond anything our little finite minds can imagine."
Contributed by: Pat Cook on www.sermoncentral.com
Better by far. Inconceivable. Hence much of it is shrouded in mystery and language that only gives us glimpses and pictures
Better Body
We gain a better, immortal, resurrected body
- like ours in many ways, for this is the ’seed’ (1 COr 15), but imperishable, trouble-less, raised in glory. So- we are recognisable, but we have a new ’physical’ being eventually.
o Just think about that- as so many of our problems are physical. No more suffering
o We won’t be less physical- just different kind of being
o The rest I don’t know- but am content and looking forward to finding out!
Better home
The only ultimate disaster that can befall us, I have come to realize, is to feel ourselves at home here on earth. -Malcolm Muggeridge
This is not home. It’s a tent. We are sojourners. Paul longs for his REAL home
- his mansion! That’s how Jn 14:2 describes it "in my Father’s house are many mansions!"
And it’s all there in the language he uses about dying. Hidden.
- v23 "I desire to depart and be with Christ"
o = understatement! "I EAGERLY desire"
o depart = military term for "striking camp"
o the same as was used in a nautical context meaning ’cast off, release moorings"
"I eagerly desire to strike camp, get out of this tent and be with Christ, in my home!"
Better Inheritance
You don’t get much of a reward, here. Some. But our final reward and inheritance is in heaven.
- "well done, good and faithful servant"
Somehow how we have served and used our talents here does count in eternity. AND we won’t be fighting about who got the Porsche or roller-skates!
- that’s where our inheritance is.
A millionaire Christian is sleeping in his bedroom when an angel comes to him and wakes him up.
"It’s time for you to go to heaven", says the angel.
"Oh, I’m not ready, what should I bring ?", says the millionaire.
"Nothing, just yourself", replies the angel.
But the millionaire pulls a large suitcase from under his bed and opens it up. It is full of gold bars. "Can I just bring this along ?", he pleads with the angel.
The angels thinks for a while, gets on his hand phone to God and speaks some divine language. Then he turn to the man and says , "OK, but only the suitcase".
So the millionaire is taken up to the pearly gates where St. Peter is waiting to welcome him. Looking at the suitcase St. Peter says, "I’m sorry but we don’t allow any earthly possessions here, you’ll have to leave the suitcase behind."
The angel whispers the situation into St. Peter’s ears and St. Peter seems to understand. "But what could be so important that God would allow you to take it through ?", muses St. Peter, "Let me take a look".
St. Peter opens the suitcase to see all the gold bars inside and immediately falls to the floor rolling around with ecstatic laughter!
The millionaire is amazed at St. Peter’s antics. Why is he laughing ?
After a while St. Peter is able to stop laughing and manages to let out a solitary question, "Why do you want to bring PAVEMENT into heaven ?"
Better Fellowship
" I long to be where the praise is never ending"
- where the fellowship with one another and with God is SO amazing.
You WILL recognise them, and them YOU, you know?!
- it’s called the communion of saints- and creedal orthodox Christians believe in it… and their watching us and willing us on, now
And of course- there is Jesus’ presence
(these titles with thanks to a sermon by WA Criswell)
And there is one other aspect in which it is better to Paul. It’s not just better for HIM. It’s better for Christ’s work, too, as he sees his going and his martyrdom as the sealing of Christ’s ministry on earth
- "till death thy endless mercies seal and make the sacrifice complete"
So- it’s not all about HIM. It’s primarily about Christ’s work. Finishing it. He knows that’s what matters to him and God. It’s the focus of this passage "the important thing is that Christ is preached"
And that’s why
YOU DON’T GET TO GO UNTIL YOUR WORK IS DONE
Suddenly in v25 he says "Convinced of this I know I will remain"
Why is this?
- did he suddenly have a word/revelation?
- Did he hear the judgement from court (while not present?!)
No!
- he’s thought it through and realised… concluded….
o They still need me
o My work hasn’t finished
o The service of the gospel, good news of Jesus, is the major thing… the Kingdom is… to God
" Therefore my time’s not up!
"I WANT to go to be with Jesus"- but God’s got more for me, yet!
- if you think about it, that applies to ALL of us right now!
- Why doesn’t God just take us, now? Take us out of what can be like hell? Straight to heaven
o Because He has a task for you
In fact- Paul kind of gets it both ways. (I don’t mean this flippantly)
- if this was written in AD 61 he does get to stay. We’re not sure if he gets to visit them in Philippi- he most likely gets house arrest
o and in AD 64 he was tortured, beheaded and martyred by Nero
o and death sealed God’s endless mercies and grace, made the sacrifice complete
…..and we’ll be able to discuss it with him in glory
But until then- we have a task
- of loving and living with one another
- of building His kingdom, here. In this church, city
o it’s our task and calling
And we commit to it this morning- with the hope of glory ringing in our hearts.
Sing; O thou who camest from above
Covenant liturgy
No longer mine, Lord, but yours
Jesus, hope of the nations
