Transcript

It’s said that one of the most challenging courses at the University of Denver was a business law class in which the professor gave difficult true and false tests.

During one of the more exasperating exams, the professor noticed a student flipping a coin. The professor approached him. “Son are you guessing on this test?” he asked. “No sir,” replied the student. “I’m just checking my answers.”

There are those who seem to live their whole lives that way. They have no direction, no purpose. They live their lives by flipping a coin, drifting along aimlessly in life.

But this was not true of Paul. Paul had aim, direction, focus and purpose. And that purpose was: “for to me to live is Christ.” Like Paul, we find purpose for our lives when we live for Christ.

Philippians 1:19: “For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.”

Paul wrote the epistle to the Philippians from prison in Rome. Previously in this letter, he had been talking about the circumstances surrounding his imprisonment and how it was known throughout Rome that he was there as a result of his stand for Christ.

As we come to verse 19 and read of Paul referring to his “salvation,” the term “salvation” must be understood by its context. The word “salvation” simply means deliverance.

In regards to the salvation of our souls, when we trust Christ as Savior, that He died for our sins and rose again, we receive God’s salvation, we are delivered from the penalty of our sins, delivered from God’s wrath in the lake of fire and have the hope of heaven.

But Paul is not talking about the salvation of his soul here. The “salvation” Paul has in mind is in regards to his present circumstances of being in prison.

In all that was happening in Paul’s life at the time with the widespread proclaiming of Christ, the abounding knowledge of Paul’s case in Rome, feeling that sentiment overall was favorable, and as he says in this verse, thru the Philippians’ prayers and the Spirit’s supply, Paul felt sure of his “salvation,” or his deliverance from prison.

The outcome of Paul’s trial before Caesar is what is on Paul’s mind, knowing it was either life or death, either execution or deliverance for him.

And so Paul desired for the Philippians to pray to God for his deliverance, his freedom from imprisonment, so that he could continue to preach Christ and serve Him.

We see a union here, a working relationship between God and man, and how prayer works. Paul speaks of the ministry of the Philippians in their prayers for him, and also the ministry and working of the Spirit in answer to the prayers of the saints.

He speaks of the Spirit giving “supply” as a direct result of the saints making supplication for him.

God works through our prayers, and we pray to a God who hears and answers prayers, answering them according to His perfect will (cf. 4:19).

And Paul believed that prayer changes things! He says “I know,” and firmly believed that through their prayers and God’s supply and answer to them that his circumstances could be changed so that he’d be delivered and set free from prison.

Philippians 1:20-21: “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

As Paul thought of his trial before Caesar, he became increasingly resolved to glorify the name of Christ whatever the outcome. Paul was not sure whether he’d face release or martyrdom, but he was sure of one thing: he wanted Christ to be exalted either way.

The words “earnest expectation” means “to strain one’s neck and stretch the head forward.” It carries the idea of anxious anticipation, to wait for with intense desire. It speaks of how Paul is drawn away from all other things and is fixed on this one thing.

Paul is looking forward to his trial with focus and concentration and determination, ignoring other interests, with his attention directed on one thing.

While Paul desired and asked for prayer for his deliverance from prison, at the forefront of his heart and mind was his strong hope and desire that in no way he be ashamed of Christ, but instead that in every way he honor Christ, whether he lived or died.

Paul’s desire was that “in nothing,” in not a single thing, in no way that he “be ashamed” of Christ before others or before Caesar.

He desired an unashamed testimony for Christ, so that others would clearly see Christ’s life in his life, and so Christ would be glorified through him.

Paul did not want to be ashamed of Christ; he wanted to be fearless and bold for Him in his coming testimony at his trial, and as he wanted to always in his life.

An atheist stood in one of England’s mill complexes, harassing the mill workers about the inaccuracies of the Bible and the myths and fables in the Word of God.

An old mill hand interrupted him by saying that until recently he had been a vile sinner. He was a curse to himself, a curse to his family, and a curse to all who knew him.

Then he heard the blessed gospel of Jesus and His finished work and opened his heart to Christ and trusted Him as his personal Savior.

After that he was a joy-filled man and a blessing to everyone he knew. He was a new man and found new life.

Then he asked the atheist “If the Bible is false, what happened to my soul, what happened to my heart, what brought me out of the depths of the mire, what set me up before the Lord with my feet on a rock?” And the atheist had no answer.

Like this man, Paul’s focus was on an unashamed, courageous stand for God’s truth, and to be bold for Christ for His glory.

Paul desired that Christ “be magnified.” To magnify does not mean to make Christ greater. He is already great, and nothing we can do will make Him greater. To magnify means to cause Christ to be known, honored, lifted up, and praised by others.

Paul wanted “Christ to be magnified in my BODY.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 teaches the believer that “your BODY is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your BODY, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Paul’s purpose was to glorify God and to magnify Christ in his body.

It’s been rightly put that “[Paul’s] body was not his own; his future was not his own; his reputation was not his own.” The same is true for us!

Our bodies, our future and our reputation all belong to Christ. And like Paul we find true purpose for our lives when we live for the Lord and seek to magnify and glorify Him.

Paul was ready and willing to live for Christ and he was ready and willing to die for Christ. And his earnest expectation and hope was that he wouldn’t be ashamed of Christ.

If released, for Paul it meant he could magnify Christ through his life, and advance the cause of Christ by his zealous service.

If he had to face execution, for Paul it meant he could magnify Christ through his death. Paul knew that Christ would be magnified through the promotion of the gospel resulting from his testimony in death.

Dying at the hands of Rome would bear added witness to the truth and power of the gospel. And as others saw Paul’s faithfulness to Christ even to martyrdom and glorify Him in it, this could advance the cause of Christ so others would come to know Him.

The true story is told about a young couple in Fort Worth going home after church one evening. They were in a horrible car accident and the young wife died instantly, and her husband lived only a little while longer.

The church where they attended greatly mourned their deaths. A few weeks after the accident, a man showed up in church, and at the close of the service the pastor gave an invitation for any to come forward to receive Christ as their Savior.

One man came forward and gave the following testimony to the church.

He said, “I witnessed an accident on the highway a few weeks ago, and I stopped to see if there was anything I could do. I went first to the young lady and it was obvious that she had passed away. But I could hear sounds from the young man. So I turned to see if there was anything I could do to help him.

“As he looked up at me through eyes of terrible pain, he asked me a question, ‘Do you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? I’m going to meet Him soon. If you were in my place, would you be going to meet Jesus?’”

With tears in his eyes the man went on, “Since that night those words have never left me, and that is why I’m here today, to accept Christ as my Savior too.”

Paul desired that with his life, and also in his death, like this young man, that Christ would be magnified and known, so others would come to know and trust Him as their personal Savior.

In verse 21, Paul wrote that whatever the outcome for him at his trial: “for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

If the outcome of his trial was life and deliverance from prison, then he’d live for Christ and serve Him with all his heart. If the outcome of his trial was death and execution, then that was gain for him because then he’d be with Christ.

The words “To me” are emphatic here. These words mean more than “in my judgment.” It means, “To me personally, and if I stood alone, and had no one to consider but myself.”

This is a man facing his possible execution, and so he bottom lines his life, and shares his conviction. And to Paul, in every possible phase of the word “life,” he says to live is Christ.

To Paul, living was Christ. It is life in its truest sense. For the believer’s life, Christ is the journey and Christ is our destination. Living and dying in the Christian life is all about Christ.

Paul’s aim was to live for and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. This was the single purpose of his soul, a purpose to which he devoted himself from the day his heart and life was taken captive by Christ on the Damascus Road.

And no decision from any court would alter Paul’s life’s conviction and focus. Either way it was all about Him. The bottom line of Paul’s life was very simple: to live is Christ.

Christ was Paul’s main reason for living. The Savior was the foundation for his life and at the center of his every activity. Christ lived in Paul, and Paul lived for Christ.

His being was wrapped up in his Lord. For Paul, life is to be as Christ, for Christ, by Christ, and in Christ.

One pastor said: “Many Christians talk about their relationship to Christ in how they gave up this or that to follow Christ. But when you discover what Christ does for a person’s life and eternal salvation, you realize nothing you have given up comes close to the value of what you have gained.”

Christ is true gain. Christ is superior to all things in every respect. He is our greatest Treasure. He is our highest aim. He is our all in all. And like Paul, living for Him and His glory and knowing Him is the privilege of our lives.

As Hebrews 12:1-2 says, “…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

It is unknown who wrote the following: Three men, three men were tried for crimes against humanity. Two men committed crimes. One Man didn’t. Three men were given government trials. Two men had fair trials. One Man didn’t.

Three men were whipped and beaten. Two men had it coming. One Man didn’t. Three men were given crosses to carry. Two men earned their crosses. One Man didn’t.

Three men were mocked and spit at. Two men cursed back. One Man didn’t. Three men were nailed to crosses. Two men deserved it. One Man didn’t.

Three men talked while hanging on their crosses. Two men argued. One Man didn’t. Three men knew death was coming. Two men resisted. One Man didn’t.

One. Two. Three men died on three crosses. Three days later. Two men remained in their graves. One Man didn’t. In living for Christ, we serve a living Savior.

And because Christ lives, living for Him is not futile and everything and anything we do for Him is not in vain. It is not empty. It is not meaningless. It has real meaning.

It has eternal ramifications. Living for our living Savior is where purpose and joy are found, and as we yield our life to Him, He will use us and our service for His glory.

Therefore, we should be abounding in the work of the Lord, because we “know” that our labor “is not in vain in the Lord” as 1 Corinthians 15:58 says.

In Luke 12:15 our Lord stated, “Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”

Many give their lives for the accumulation of wealth or possessions, or they seek influence, pleasure, fame, business and professional success, or social standing.

But all these things are temporal and fleeting, and they’re deceitful, as many believe they’ll find lasting happiness in them, but instead in the end they find only emptiness. Like Solomon said, it is all like trying to grasp the wind.

To live for Christ is to live for what is lasting and eternal. And in living for Him we find meaning, contentment and joy in life. And we know this is true by Paul’s example. He had purpose and joy and found real meaning by living for Christ.

This has been stated about Paul: “He lacked the creature comforts, he was away from many of the people he knew and loved, he was hundreds of miles from home.

“He was in poor health, he had very little money, his future was uncertain, and his life was threatened, but the Apostle Paul REALLY LIVED.”

Paul’s life was truly remarkable and he lived life to the fullest as he lived for his Savior.

In Romans 14:8, Paul wrote, “For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.”

Because of this, Paul could write, “to die is gain.” Death was a “promotion” to something better, to the very presence of Christ to perfect, eternal fellowship with Him in heaven.

Paul taught in 2 Corinthians 5:8 that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. And so the moment of absence here on earth is the moment of presence there in heaven. And to be present there is to be in the presence of the Lord.

It’s been said well that “You’re not truly ready to live until you’re ready to die.” Because of Christ, Paul was ready to live and ready to die. As believers, we too can be ready, because we have sure hope in Christ.

Death is gain because of both the things we lose and the things we gain. We lose sorrow, sufferings, pain, temptation, the presence of sin, our sinful flesh, our enemy Satan.

But we gain heaven, joy, peace, reunion with believers, and most of all Christ, being in His presence for eternity.

We rejoice in this, and rightly so, but don’t forget that for those outside of Christ, who do not know the Savior, they can only say, “For to me to live is self, and to die is absolute, everlasting loss.” May this give a burden to live for Christ and make Him known.

Philippians 1:22-24: “But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.”

Paul keeps going back and forth here between the possibilities of living and continued service for Christ or dying and going to be with Him. He wrote “if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor [or this will mean fruit from my labor].”

Paul is saying that if he went on living here in the flesh on earth there was work to be done for Christ, and Paul desired God to use his work and produce fruit from his labor.

Paul wrote a few verses earlier, “Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.”

Life provided Paul with continued opportunity and purpose to live for Christ and to be “filled with the fruits of righteousness” which were produced by Christ for God’s glory.

But Paul says here that he was in a dilemma concerning which to choose between life and death. If the choice were left completely up to him, he didn’t know what he’d choose.

He was “in a strait betwixt two.” He was hard-pressed to know which he’d prefer between going to heaven to be with Christ or to continue here on earth and to live for Christ.

A comedian once said, “I sent to the hospital once and told the doctor I broke my leg in two places. He told me to quit going to those places.” Paul was undecided about wanting to be in two different places.

He was torn; he was at a loss, he was between a rock and a hard place as he thought of this. He had a desire to depart, but there was a necessity to abide also. He was pulled in both directions. Living for Christ and dying in Christ were both good choices.

And so this shows us that death is not something that needs to be feared for the believer, for it is what will bring us the “gain” of entering Christ’s presence in heaven. Death is not a wall, but a door, a gateway into the very presence of Christ.

On the one hand Paul had “a desire to depart.” Paul uses the word “depart” to describe death which carries pictures about death by the way that word “depart” is used in other places in Scripture.

In other places, it is used of a boat departing by being loosed and untied from its moorings and setting sail. It is used of departing from a temporary camp, loosing tent pins, taking down a tent, breaking camp, and moving on. And it was used of a prisoner departing and being set free from their bonds.

So the word “depart” teaches us that death is breaking our temporary earthly camp and moving on to our eternal home. Death is being loosed, untied, sailing away from time into eternity, from this earth into glory.

And like a prisoner being loosed from their bonds, death is being set free from the bondage, limitations, and sufferings of this body and being set free into heaven’s glory and joy.

Paul said that he had this desire to depart in order “to be with Christ, which is FAR better.” Paul says that to be with Christ isn’t just better, but better by very far is the idea. To Paul going to heaven to be with Christ is better by far than staying on earth.

There was no question as to what was the superior and preferable choice to Paul. Paul was ready to go, but he was also willing to wait, and he goes on to tell why.

Paul’s own longing for heaven wasn’t his only concern, as he was also concerned about the Philippians. The Philippians were dear to his heart. Paul knew to die was to be with Christ, but to live was to be there for the Philippians.

He knew that there was still work to be done and that there were those who still needed him, like the church at Philippi.

While going to heaven is what would be best for himself; Paul knew if he remained in the flesh he could continue to serve Christ and His Church, and strive in love to meet the needs of the Philippians. He placed others’ needs above his own desires.

Paul lived what he taught a few verses later in Philippians 2:4, “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”

While Paul thought of the prospect of being present with Christ and free from life’s hardships and frustrations in a place of perfect peace and unending joy, he knew he would be absent from those who needed them and not able to be a help to them.

And we find purpose for our lives when we selflessly place our desires to the side to meet the needs of others, and put others before ourselves.

As this little poem says, “Others, Lord, yes, others, Let this my motto BE, Help me to live for others, That I may live like THEE.”

Elizabeth Elliot’s best-selling book, Through Gates of Splendor tells the true story of 5 missionaries: Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, Nate Saint, and Roger Youderian, who in January 1956 were speared to death in the jungles of Ecuador by the Auca Indians.

Following their deaths, the family members of the slain missionaries returned to the Amazon basin and lived among the Auca tribe in a testament to true forgiveness.

Their evangelistic efforts, along with the sacrifice of these five faithful men, helped Christianity and the gospel to flourish among the native people.

Frank Drown, a pilot and missionary friend, led the search-and-rescue team to find the five slain missionaries when they didn’t return.

In a TV documentary, he stated “The slain missionaries had guns with them. But they’d said that they would never kill the Aucas, even if they attacked them, because as one of them put it: ‘They’re not ready for heaven, and we are.’”

These five missionaries lived these verses. They had true purpose. They lived for Christ. They lived for the purpose of helping others, helping others be ready for heaven. And Christ was magnified by their deaths.

What about you? What is your purpose?