WEDNESDAY 9th
Philippians 1:19-30
NIV & ESV (v21) – ‘For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.’
As we continue in Philippians, we have another word beginning with the letter ‘p’ which I have not yet focused on, although I mentioned it when referring to Acts 16 and it is the word ‘prison’.
Paul is writing this letter while in prison, he had a prison experience while in Philippi, now he is writing the Philippian epistle while in prison. You will recall he took advantage of his being in prison with Silas in Philippi by singing hymns an praying, they had a midnight prayer and worship service that ended up with incredible things happening, now he is in prison again and Paul is recounting what has taken place, you would think that prison would have had an aggravating effect, after all it wouldn’t be the accommodation of anyone by choice, but Paul says it was advantageous in advancing the gospel – again! The whole imperial guard knew why he was in prison – for Christ, and it also resulted in giving his fellow brothers boldness in their speaking or preaching the gospel without fear, and whatever the future held for Paul he was confident that Christ would be honoured. It is out of this that he then says what is our text for today, ‘For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain’. In other words, as far as he was concerned, he was a winner whether he lived or died!
Paul practised exactly what he preached and that was that he had died to self and had been raised in newness of life, he was sold out for the Lord Jesus Christ, as far as Paul was concerned the only thing that mattered was a life lived for the Lord Jesus Christ, so if he came out of prison alive, it would lead to further opportunity to live for Christ, to preach Christ and him crucified. But if he did not come out alive, well he would gain, for he would leave this world and enter into the immediate presence of the one of whom was the reason why he was in prison and whose name he was defending while in the cell. To live was a winning situation – more opportunity to declare Jesus, to die was a winning situation – he would gain Christ, be found in his presence.
We sing a song, ‘Blessed assurance Jesus is mine, O what a foretaste of glory divine’ We do not know what songs Paul and Silas sang in prison, nor Paul while there again on this occasion, but this would have been a good song to sing, having a sure and confidence assurance that whatever happens ‘Jesus is mine’. If I live, I preach him, even more, if I die, I see him.
Death held no fear for Paul, in fact in verse 23 he says, ‘my desire is to depart and to be with Christ, for that is far better.’ (Philippians 1:23) He tells the Corinthians of how fearless death should be for the believer by making the amazing declaration, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’
As we close the end of this first chapter, verses 29-30 we learn something else that is valuable for us as believers, the Christian life is not a bed of roses. PLEASE do not believe those who preach that if you are suffering you must have sinned, those who say you should always be healthy and wealthy for this is certainly not the gospel that Paul preached, yes we do believe in spiritual and material blessing, we do believe in divine healing, yes some suffering may be a result of sin, but we also as well have to be willing to tread the road of difficulty and suffering if this is what God wills. Paul knew difficulty, he knew what it was to suffer, he knew what it was to be hard pressed, perplexed and he knew what it was to be in want or to be in plenty, he also knew the secret came from the sufficiency of Gods grace to bring him through. Philippians 4:13 ‘I can do all things through him who strengthens me.’ And how does he strengthen us? 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, ‘But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.’
Praise the Lord if we are physically well and fit, praise the Lord if we have money in the bank and food in the cupboard, but we also need to learn to praise the Lord when the storms of life come upon us, for he is still there, he is still faithful, and we learn in those time to cling to him tighter than we may ever have done so before.
Paul suffered much for the sake of the gospel, but he knew that the eternal reward far outweighed it all, for, for him to live was Christ, for him to die was gain.