To Live Is Christ.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] Good morning. Welcome to Village Church. If this is your first time here, my name’s Steve. [0:03] I’m one of the pastors here at Village Church. And as always, I am thankful and grateful to see each [0:09] and every one of you. If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them to Philippians chapter 1. [0:13] That’s where we will be for the majority of the morning. We’re going to have a few other [0:17] texts as well, but for the most part, we’re going to be in verses 19 through 26 of Philippians 1. [0:24] And really, what we’ve seen as we’ve gone through this first chapter of Philippians is really

[0:29] the tension between living a life of faith and the joy that that affords you. And the apostle Paul [0:36] is engaging us to understand that it is only in a life of faith that we can ever hope to have [0:44] joy. Because joy is really found in what you believe is coming in your life. And it’s through [0:51] faith in Jesus that we believe that there is coming a day where God will institute his kingdom [0:58] for eternity. And so if you trust in that, then anything that comes your way in this life [1:05] cannot shake your joy because of what you believe God’s going to deliver in the future.

[1:11] But if you do not have faith, if you have a faithless life, then all that you can hope to have [1:17] is happiness in the moment. Because the only thing that lies ahead of you is uncertainty. [1:24] Is not really knowing what’s going to happen ultimately in the end. But because of faith in [1:32] Jesus, because of what he’s done, we can actually be redeemed from the cynicism that would not have [1:38] a rootedness in a future hope. But the glory of Christ is that we have that future hope even in [1:47] midst of a tumultuous life. And for the past two weeks, we’ve seen the problems that the

[1:55] Apostle Paul was enduring. We’ve seen, you know, that he was imprisoned. We’ve seen that there [1:59] were people seeking to afflict him. Yet his response was, I will rejoice. Why? Because the [2:07] gospel is true. And so everything that the Apostle Paul has built his life on is what he’s actually [2:15] expressing in the book of Philippians in this letter to the church at Philippi. And he starts [2:20] by talking about their relationship. He starts by talking about the partnership in the gospel [2:26] that he shares with them and that their relationship is rooted in the gospel. And because of that root,

[2:33] they can have a relationship filled with joy. And then because of that, even though he’s been [2:39] imprisoned because of the gospel, he can actually look at his imprisonment and find purpose. [2:45] He can actually say, what has actually happened to me has served to advance the gospel. And so [2:50] even in my imprisonment, I can rejoice because I can see that God has a purpose for everything [2:55] because of where my life is going. And then even those that saw his imprisonment, he said, [3:02] I’m going to rejoice because they’re emboldened. Yeah, there are a couple of people that see this

[3:06] as creating a leadership vacuum. And they’re just trying to take my place. They’re just trying to [3:12] take my reputation away from me so they can have some type of power that they think that I have. [3:17] But he says, as long as they advance the truth of the gospel, even when people seek to afflict me, [3:24] rejoice. That’s where we find the apostle Paul in verse 19 is this place in life [3:35] where you don’t really know what’s coming. This place in life where it’s really not in your hands [3:44] what tomorrow holds. Yeah, my son is a wise philosopher. He’s eight. And there was a day

[3:52] a couple of weeks ago, we were watching a film and it happened to be a Disney movie. And there [3:57] was a couple of parts that were actually surprisingly scary for me as an adult. And so I was terrified. [4:04] And I wanted to make sure he was okay because, you know, he was the one I was worried about. It [4:08] wasn’t me. And I said, hey, man, are you okay? You want to keep watching this? And he looks at me and [4:14] just this great wisdom of a sage. He says, it’s a Disney movie, dad.

[4:22] All Disney movies have a happy ending. And I said, I thought about it. I was like, [4:27] that’s actually kind of true. And so I took my head out from under the covers and finished [4:32] the movie with my brave son. And, but there are moments where we kind of watch those movies [4:39] that always have a happy ending. We can be certain that everybody’s going to be physically okay [4:45] in the end. Everybody’s going to have physical joy. They’re going to be physically happy, you know, [4:50] in that moment. But what we face with the apostle Paul here is what do you do when there’s no

[4:58] guarantee for that happy ending? Where you really don’t know if everything’s going to turn out okay. [5:06] And actually the evidence is that things aren’t going to be okay because you probably will face [5:13] that in your life. And if you don’t have the joy of Christ in those moments, then you will not have [5:20] the courage to endure with bravery the path that God has chosen for you.

[5:28] And so look what Paul says beginning in verse 19. And in these texts, if you’ve been a Christian [5:34] for a while and you’re familiar with the Bible, there’s going to be a verse right in the middle [5:40] of this, to live as Christ, to die as gain. It’s one of these famous verses, one of these popular [5:47] verses with Christians. But I want to prepare you. I want to look at that a little different [5:51] today because I think most of the time when we look at that, we have no idea what he’s talking [5:56] about. And so we interpret it wrong. So I want to frame it around what Paul’s actually talking

[6:01] about. And I don’t want to talk about what that verse means to you because that doesn’t really [6:05] matter. What matters is what it means to the apostle Paul. So I want to talk about that. [6:10] And so here we go. At the end of verse 18, he doubles down on his joy and he says, [6:15] yes, and I will rejoice. That’s not going to change.

[6:22] This is for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, [6:27] this will turn out for my deliverance as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not at all [6:34] be ashamed, but that with full courage now, as always, Christ will be honored in my body, [6:42] whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to live in the [6:53] flesh, that means fruitful labor for me, yet which I shall choose. I cannot tell. I’m hard pressed [6:59] between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ for that is far better. But to remain in

[7:05] flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue [7:12] with you all for your progress and joy in the faith so that in me you may have ample cause to [7:18] glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming to you again. So I want to state the first point and then [7:26] I want to unpack it because at first glance, I don’t think I even in many years of looking [7:32] at verses 19 and 20 really took this out of the text, but it’s in there. I want to explain how, [7:38] number one, you need to expect to need courage in your life. Expect to need courage. Now,

[7:48] a lot of what I’m going to say today, I want to have full disclosure, was greatly impacted. [7:53] I read a different type of reading list than I normally do last year. I spent a lot of time [7:58] just reading dead theologians. And last year I said, man, maybe I should read some people [8:04] that are still alive. And so I read a couple of books that were different, were out of the [8:08] ordinary for me, and it impacted me greatly. And one of those books was The Last Arrow by a pastor [8:14] in California named Erwin McManus. And I was surprisingly shaped through a lot of the things

[8:22] I faced in last year by that book that comes from scripture and his pastoral perspective on [8:29] what it actually means to live by faith. And this point particularly was shaped a lot by that book. [8:38] There is a way that people can face the same obstacles in two different ways. One person [8:46] will face obstacles that life takes you and will be totally overwhelmed, totally outdone, [8:53] totally overcome, faith destroyed, and that person will quit. That person will see that [9:01] discouragement as a reason to walk away. But then there’s a different type of person that

[9:06] will face the same situation and the same type of moment, and they will overcome greatly. And [9:13] their faith is built by the obstacle. Their bravery grows in light of those obstacles, [9:22] and they overcome, and they move. And what is the difference between those two types of people [9:28] and those two types of people? One expected to need courage, and the other one just thought [9:34] courage would show up. What the apostle Paul says here, starting in verse 19, he says, [9:42] you’re praying for me, that the Spirit of Jesus Christ and that this will turn out for my

[9:47] deliverance. And a way that we’re tempted to read that is we’re like, Paul knows he’s going to get [9:51] out of prison. He’s got people praying for him. Paul has faith. He will experience the victory, [9:57] and Paul will walk out of that prison. That’s not what Paul’s talking about at all. And I know that [10:01] because just a few lines later, Paul actually says, Christ will be honored in my body, [10:06] whether by my life or by my death. Paul doesn’t know how he’s going to get out of this. [10:11] Paul doesn’t know physically what tomorrow holds. The obstacle is in front of him, and he says,

[10:17] this might actually be it. My number might be up, but it’s what he says in between those two [10:25] statements, you’ve been praying for me, Christ will deliver me by life or death. It’s what happens [10:33] in between those two statements that makes all the difference for Paul. And here’s what he says. [10:38] He says, it is my eager expectation. So Paul says, I expect something to happen in light of what I’m [10:46] going through. So my eager expectation and hope that I will not at all be ashamed. And that’s the [10:52] first one. He says, I’m not going to be ashamed if I live, and I’m not going to be ashamed if I

[10:59] lose my life. How is that possible? Isn’t it embarrassing to be in prison? It wouldn’t be [11:04] embarrassing to be executed, not for the Christian. So because Paul says, even if I die, [11:12] Christ will deliver on the promises that he has made to me. More on that in just a moment. [11:19] But then secondly, he says this, and this is what our point pertains to, but that with full courage, [11:27] now, as always, Christ will be honored in my body. There it is.

[11:32] Paul expected that he was going to need courage for whatever he faced in his life. Paul did not [11:42] do what we often do. Paul did not face the day and expect everything to go exactly as he envisioned [11:49] it. Paul did not have an eager expectation that it would be easy. Paul did not have an eager [11:57] expectation that everyone would see things the exact way that he sees them. He expected that [12:01] Paul did not have an eager expectation that everything was going to go on and there would [12:07] be no difficulty that he would face. Paul had an eager expectation that regardless of how this

[12:14] turns out, I’m going to need courage. Why would you need courage? The only way that you need courage [12:22] is if things are going to be difficult. Do you know the only reason anybody ever needs courage [12:27] is if there’s fear involved. I was watching a video a while ago and it was by a psychologist [12:36] talking about the most helpful ways to help people deal with fear. And just pick any phobia, [12:43] you know, whether it’s something that you would say, oh yeah, that’s a normal phobia. I’ve got [12:47] that phobia. Or whether it’s just something that you would be like, I can’t imagine someone being

[12:50] afraid of pumpkins. All right, you know, something like that. Somebody in here is like, don’t talk [12:54] about pumpkins, dude. Terrifying. It’s actually you don’t condition that person to not be afraid. [13:04] It’s that you don’t like send them to the pumpkin patch and say, stand there for an hour. [13:09] He’s like, no, no, no, no, no, that would actually probably ruin them for life. He’s like, you don’t [13:15] teach them to dwell on their fear. You teach them to be brave in the face of fear. [13:23] As you actually teach them, do not focus on the thing that you are afraid of. Do not let that be

[13:30] your God. Do not let that be the greatest force in your life. You focus on the bravery that is [13:38] needed, the courage that is needed. You don’t minimize the fear. You maximize the bravery. [13:44] You maximize the courage. And so slowly you introduce that thing into the room.

[13:55] You say, can you look at it? I’ll take it out of the room. Whenever you say, [14:00] whenever you need to look at it, just for a second. Okay. Then you move it closer. Then [14:04] they have to touch it. Then they have to hold it. He’s like, you’re not teaching them to not be [14:10] afraid. You’re teaching them to be brave. So the problem that many of you have is, is that your [14:17] entire focus is on fear. You say, I’m going to overcome fear, but your focus is always on fear. [14:23] And so your life is spent giving all of the power that you have to the thing that you are afraid of.

[14:29] Your life is spent totally placing all of the power on the thing that you are fearful of. And [14:36] when you focus on the thing that you were afraid of, that is what your faith will be in. And all [14:42] that you can think of is that it’s going to hurt you. It’s going to cost you something. It’s going [14:47] to destroy you. It might even kill you. And so your faith is in the thing that you are afraid of. [14:54] Stop giving your fear, your faith and have courage. Expect to need your focus to be on God. [15:03] Expect for your focus to need to be on his power and his strength and his ability. And when you

[15:10] expect to need courage, you will be ready when things go wrong. You will be ready when the thing [15:17] that you were actually afraid of turns out to be legitimate because things are going wrong. Things [15:23] are costing you something. Things are going the way that you did not envision them to go. But in [15:29] moment you will be prepared because you expected it to go that way. Paul expected to need courage. [15:39] But so often in the Christian life, we expect for things to be easy.

[15:47] We expect for God to just deliver his promises into our laps so that we won’t have to go for [15:54] anything. We won’t have to work. We won’t have to have courage. We won’t have to have strength. [15:58] Because doesn’t faith take away my need for courage? That’s nowhere in the Bible. [16:03] The Bible is actually filled with the need for courage. I mean if you just go to like esvbible.com [16:10] and in the search bar type courage you will see text after text after text of God telling his [16:15] people how much they were going to need courage. And I just want to give you one example from the

[16:18] Old Testament, the book of Joshua. Things have not gone the way Joshua thought they were going to go [16:24] and so Moses is dead. God’s man is dead. And so Joshua is having to pick up the pieces and God [16:33] actually speaks to Joshua and he says in verse 6, he says, be strong and courageous. For you shall [16:40] cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. And then [16:45] he doubles down. God says in verse 7, only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do [16:52] all that the law, all of the law that Moses my servant commanded you do not turn from it to the

[16:57] right hand or to the left that you may have good success wherever you go. You see God is telling [17:04] Joshua I’m making a promise for you. But whenever God makes a promise in the Bible this is the [17:12] opposite of the way that we think about it. We’re kind of programmed in our age to think well God [17:17] promised it and I believe it so I’ll sit here and wait for it. That’s the opposite of what God [17:24] tells Joshua. And that’s also the answer to why faith is irrelevant most of the time for you. [17:31] That’s also the reason for the moments that you need courage. You have no courage because you

[17:36] don’t expect it. The biblical theme is typically God promises his people trust they conquer through [17:44] strength and courage and they obey God. That’s the biblical narrative. That’s the theme of [17:51] scripture. You see the nation of Israel didn’t go into the promised land post eviction notices [17:57] and they all go over to their door and they say oh my goodness Sally Israel’s here. Start packing. [18:05] We’ve got to go.

[18:10] They had to fight. There were battles. There were wars that took place. They had to have strength. [18:22] They had to have courage. But their strength and their courage came from their faith. They said [18:28] God says we will inherit the land. No one can stop us but they will try.

[18:37] They had to have strength. They had to have courage. And so when the apostle Paul writes [18:42] in the book of Philippians he says I have an eager expectation to have courage. He’s saying I have [18:48] an eager expectation that this will not be easy. I have an eager expectation that this is going to [18:54] cost me much. I have an eager expectation this may cost me my life and I’m going to have to have [19:00] courage every single step of the way. Friend you need to build a faith in Jesus that expects to [19:09] need courage. You see Paul didn’t know how it was going to turn out but he knew it would be through

[19:16] deliverance. And you say but how can he say he won’t be ashamed if he died. Here’s a spoiler [19:23] alert. He dies. Isn’t death embarrassing in this situation. I mean isn’t being labeled a criminal [19:38] and being imprisoned with people who’ve done very immoral things isn’t that embarrassing. [19:45] Here’s what Paul wrote in Romans chapter 10 verse 11. He says everyone who believes in Jesus [19:51] will not be put to shame. Here’s the key because of what Jesus had promised Paul whether through [19:57] leaving prison in physical freedom or dying in shackles Paul knew that he would be delivered

[20:05] to the promises of God. He had that courage. He had that faith. And when you have that courage [20:13] when you have that faith you become a very dangerous person. How do you threaten a person [20:22] that looks you in the face and says what verse 21 says to live as Christ to die is gain. What [20:31] we can’t threaten this guy. He’s not going to come around to our way of thinking. This is the most [20:38] dangerous person you can deal with because this is a person that has unshakable courage.

[20:46] Do you want to face your life with the courage to endure any situation the courage to endure [20:54] any affliction the courage to endure anything that people can do to you the courage to endure [20:59] any physical ailment that could come in your path. Do you want that courage. Trust Jesus with [21:05] everything and expect to need it because God has told us we will need courage. Expect it. [21:14] But number two don’t just expect to need courage. Make the choice to live that way.

[21:24] Choose to live. Look at what he says. I want to read it again. The apostle Paul writes [21:32] it’s whether by life or by death for to me. See this is Paul drawing his line in the sand. [21:40] This is Paul saying here’s what my life is defined by. Do you want to understand my ethic. [21:46] Do you want to understand why I do what I do why I live the way that I live why I react the way [21:52] here it is for to me to live is Christ and to die is game. If I am to live in the flesh [22:04] that means fruitful labor for me. Yeah which I shall choose. I don’t know. I am hard pressed

[22:11] between the two my desires depart be with Christ for that is far better. See where we make the [22:17] mistake. Oftentimes in this passage is that we think Paul’s focus is on death.

[22:22] It’s not at all. Paul’s focus in this passage is not at all on death. His focus is on life.

[22:30] Paul’s focus is on what defines the life that he lives because if the future is guaranteed [22:38] by the way that Christ promised the future would be guaranteed by then you will live [22:45] in the present by what he guarantees. So when Paul says

[22:54] you threaten my life thank you because that would mean I could go be with Jesus [23:01] and being with Jesus is the greatest thing that I could ever imagine happening to me. I mean could [23:08] you imagine being in the presence of the one who saved me. Could you imagine being in the presence [23:16] of the one who rose from the dead. I mean could you imagine being in the presence of pure [23:23] unfiltered joy. That is far better.

[23:34] Don’t get it twisted because if I get out of here there is so much fruitful labor for me that is [23:45] to prepare me for what God has promised me. So if I live Christ if I die Christ

[24:02] see here I can imagine that the apostle Paul is thinking of the words of Christ himself. [24:09] See in John chapter 10 Jesus says to his people he says the thief the enemy Satan [24:16] he comes only to steal only to kill only to destroy. I came that they may have life [24:24] and have it abundantly and then one chapter later right before he raises his friend Lazarus from [24:30] the dead he tells his sister he says I am the resurrection in the life whoever believes in me [24:36] though he die yet shall he live. As the apostle Paul makes the statement in that passage he says

[24:47] if I live Jesus if I die I live.

[24:57] Either way I am going to be alive so this is not Paul suicidal. This is not Paul being [25:06] masochistic because here is the thing you need to understand about the background of the passage. [25:11] Paul doesn’t get to choose. He is not talking about a literal choice that he has to make [25:20] whether he will actually walk out of that prison or whether he will be executed. He is not talking [25:24] all of that freedom has been ripped out of his hands and it is in the hands of Rome.

[25:30] He has no freedom. He has no choice. Paul’s fate is in the hands of Rome and he looks to Rome and [25:39] he says either way life and not just life abundant life.

[25:50] When you are facing the hard moments of life are you being killed are you being stolen from are you [25:57] being destroyed or are you living. Because one is the lie of Satan. He steals he kills he destroys [26:07] and so when difficulty comes your way and you are overwhelmed and you are overcome and you are being [26:13] defeated and you are even questioning the role of God in your life. You are being defeated [26:16] you are questioning the validity of your faith. Understand that God gives you life no matter what [26:23] the outcome is only the enemy that will steal from you. And don’t get me wrong there is plenty

[26:31] to be afraid of. There are plenty of reasons to be discouraged. But if you stop if you believe the [26:43] lies of Satan if you believe the lies of sin it will be enough to convince you that it is too [26:51] fearful of a step to move forward even an inch. It will make you fear living by faith it will make [26:57] you fear making commitments it will make you fear forming relationships it will make you fear [27:01] investing in the church it will make you fear striving to reach the potential that God gives [27:07] to his children in this life. But Paul looks in the face of all of that fear and he says to live

[27:14] is Christ. I will live. I expect to live. I don’t expect to be sad. I don’t expect to be defeated. [27:26] I don’t expect the worst. I expect life because even in the face of the worst I have unshakable [27:32] joy and courage in Christ. This is why you can do hard things in life for the right reasons [27:41] and not fear the consequences as if those consequences are your God. This is why you [27:48] can invest in what you believe eternity holds because the greatest fear that most people have

[27:58] death is a pathway to pure joy for the believer [28:03] but also you know that death really is an extension of the life that you were living.

[28:12] The key with death is that the life of faith that we live for is going to form your fear.

[28:23] So whatever you fear the most will form your faith and whatever forms your faith will dictate [28:30] how you view death. For some people death and the fear of death coming actually paralyzes them in [28:39] fear but if you truly live and stop letting fear hold you back this is the only time that you can [28:51] this isn’t Paul the kamikaze. This is Paul’s radical commitment to squeezing every ounce of [29:00] life that he could with real purpose. You see the people that fear death the most are the ones who [29:08] aren’t living and the reason that the people who aren’t really living life to its fullest potential

[29:16] fear death the most is because they know that when they die they will lose it they will lose [29:23] the potential to maybe live and so you sit there waiting for life to come [29:31] waiting for that moment where you really truly feel alive where you feel that something is worth [29:40] living for and you don’t want to die because death means you don’t have that chance but because [29:45] your fear of death you never go for that chance it’s crazy

[29:52] it’s only people who actually take the responsibility and say my life is determined [29:59] by my choices so I choose to live those are the people that overcome fear [30:08] those are the people that have courage those are the people that actually have bravery and [30:14] actually step out and do something with their lives

[30:21] see the lie that many people believe this happens so much is that it’s not your fault

[30:30] the hardest thing that I’ve had to do over the years and discipling people is to help [30:36] people take responsibility for their lives

[30:40] is to help people understand that no one is doing this to you no one’s making you afraid [30:48] no one’s sapping your courage no one’s ruining you this is your choice this is your life [31:00] you own your life you see Philippians 1 21 when he says to live is Christ that is less about [31:10] suffering than it is simply about living Paul is owning his life

[31:19] an old adage goes that in five years you will be the same as you are right now except for the [31:29] need you say aha there it is it’s not my fault aha there it is it’s someone else’s fault they [31:37] did this no you don’t understand that in that realm of relational truth is the reality that [31:44] what changes you in your relationships are two things the choices that you make in those [31:49] relationships and your reaction to the choices that the other people make in those relationships [31:55] you can choose to react differently

[32:00] that doesn’t mean that there aren’t physical consequences that doesn’t mean people can’t [32:06] physically hurt you trust me they can what it means is is that it is your choice whether you [32:13] allow that to define tomorrow whether you allow the consequences of what someone else does to [32:21] find your future that is up to you and yes there are things to work you work work through yes there [32:28] are obstacles to overcome but the choice is yours you do not have to be a victim any longer [32:37] you can own your life and say this is my line in the sand no more i will own my life to live is christ

[32:56] this is your life do not let the thief steal your life you see friend

[33:08] and paul says if i live there will be fruitful labor so what he’s saying is is that to truly

[33:18] invest in eternity and not be satisfied with the trinkets that this world has to offer [33:26] and instead it looks for fruitful labor to commit yourself to and pay the cost for because you know [33:33] that god will deliver do you have that faith or is your faith all about what this world has to offer [33:43] you because of that is what your faith is in then you will never be able to live for anything past [33:49] this world and so the things that happen in this life they can devastate you why because this world [33:56] is your god because the enemy has stolen from you because the enemy has destroyed you because the

[34:03] enemy has killed you but jesus says i’ve come to give you life i’ve come to give you a new ball game [34:08] i’ve come to give you a brand new story and if you will follow jesus you will be made new [34:17] and so the question there is are you really living

[34:21] are you really living or are you letting someone else define your life

[34:28] are you really living or are you letting someone else victimize you [34:32] are you really living or are you letting this world define success are you really living [34:40] or are you letting today’s struggles define tomorrow’s failures that is not the way of christ [34:49] christ would have you have life and have it abundantly and he would have you own your life [34:55] he would have you take responsibility for your life he would have you choose to live

[35:03] so what does that look like

[35:07] it looks like living for others see number three this morning life is to be spent for others

[35:16] so how do we unpack that you see paul wrote about fruitful labor

[35:25] and then he wrote in verse 24 he says to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account [35:32] convinced of this i know that i will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy [35:37] in the face that in me you may have ample cause to glory in christ jesus because of my coming to you [35:44] again note what he says especially in verse 24 he says i will remain in the flesh because it is [35:50] necessary not for paul’s account why is it necessary for your account [35:58] paul says the reason that i will live is for you see most of us are overcome by the opposite of

[36:07] living for others we believe it’s all about us you are overcome with self-absorption you are [36:14] overcome with being the center of your own universe you are overcome with finding yourself

[36:24] so far as i can see and i’m not a doctor nor do i claim to be one on television

[36:30] but everyone in here is alive i don’t think anyone’s passed away [36:36] but that doesn’t mean all of you are living so you can have life and never actually live life [36:46] see because life is to be spent on something but some of you are hoarding your life [36:55] some of you are keeping it close to the vest some of you are keeping back life because you’re afraid [37:03] of losing your life and some of you because of that you’re wasting life and some of you are [37:13] just self-absorbed and so you’re spending life but you’re spending it all on stupid things

[37:18] you’re just throwing life over here you’re throwing life over there because it doesn’t matter [37:23] ultimately what i do in the end doesn’t matter in the cosmos and both of those are lies and both [37:31] those are completely self-absorbed but the apostle paul offers us a different path the [37:36] apostle paul offers us the path of christ see because how could he say all of these things i [37:42] will live i will have courage and you say but that’s all about him but it’s what he does with [37:49] his courage what he does with his life that defines whether it’s self-absorbed or whether

[37:54] it’s love the apostle paul says the fruitful labor that i want to accomplish with my life [38:00] is to be spent on your account and that is the way of christ because christ when he came to earth [38:06] he spent himself on others he spent himself on paul he spent himself on you and then when god [38:18] redeems you when he brings you out of sin when he gives you the abundant life he says here is life [38:27] spend it on someone else love others

[38:36] see the promise of god motivated paul to live for what really mattered [38:43] so many of you are like yep all right i get it i gotta have courage i want to live life i gotta [38:49] love others and i’m waiting for the right moment to do that thing you will never do it

[38:59] if you’re waiting for the right moment if you’re waiting for things to click if you’re waiting for [39:03] the stars to align whatever it is that you’re waiting for you will just wait then you will die [39:10] and you will have wasted your life

[39:16] those who love live see the lie that many of us believe is the introspective lie is that the [39:26] introspective life is the one worth living it’s so common for people to spend long periods of time [39:33] trying to find themselves and it’s even been said by many philosophers that the only life worth [39:40] one of deep introspection and so you were told you need to look deep within yourself to find [39:47] purpose that’s baloney that is a lie the reason i believe that is a lie because i’ve never heard [39:53] anybody come back from this great journey to spend weeks and months and years to find themselves

[39:59] come back and say i found myself and he was cruddy i did not like him i want no part of him now [40:08] everybody comes back and they’re like i found myself and it was beautiful i found myself and [40:15] it was nirvana really i mean have you met some people i mean some people are cruddy [40:24] all right i mean everybody ultimately is sinful and that’s cruddy but some people are a special [40:28] kind of cruddy you know like if that dude finds himself if he comes face to face with who he [40:33] really is it’s going to depress him it’s going to be the worst day of his life but no everybody

[40:38] finds themselves finds the hero within everyone that finds themselves finds true beauty within [40:44] you want to know why because you find what you want to find

[40:50] you lie to yourself everybody finds the best version that they could possibly define why [40:59] because you’re defining it but paul found life outside of himself [41:06] the only way to truly find who you are is for you to get out of you and for you to get over [41:13] you and so paul found himself in two ways first he found himself in jesus he found himself in [41:20] jesus you will not find the answers to your happiness inside of yourself you will only [41:26] find it in the person and work of jesus christ because the person and work of jesus christ is

[41:31] the person and work of god and it is the person and work of love and it is the person and work of [41:36] victory and it is the person and work of forgiveness and atonement and every good thing that we can [41:42] have is because jesus laid down his life for you and for me and then he rose from the dead to give [41:48] us life and to give it to us abundantly life is only found in someone else and his name is jesus

[41:56] but then when you find jesus he defines your life for the second thing and that is to spend it on [42:03] others that life is to be spent building others up that is what paul found that is what paul’s [42:09] talking about that is where paul is directing us in verses 24 through 26 life is to be used for [42:15] others why live why would paul live when it would be better to go somewhere else so that he could [42:22] build other people up so that he could obey jesus and make disciples you will find so much life [42:31] once you actually commit to using your time for the purpose of other people but so long as you

[42:39] are just focused on yourself and what you need and what you want and what you deserve you will [42:46] never have life and the apostle paul then even defines how to build others up how to live for [42:56] the account of other people with two very important terms he says in verse 24 he says [43:06] to remain in the flesh is necessary on your account and then he says i’m convinced that i [43:16] joy in the faith that is so different than the way most of us look at life paul is focused on [43:26] actually helping people make progress what do you have to do to make progress you have to grow

[43:34] paul says i want to help people grow i want to help people change i want to help people [43:43] actually have progress and what will they have once they progress joy [43:49] and that makes a very important point for us you cannot have joy until you progress

[43:59] do you want joy then grow do you want joy let someone else help you progress in this life [44:07] see progress is the focus that so many people struggle to want we let life slip away so often [44:14] because we don’t want to progress much less help others progress but this is the emphasis that [44:20] paul is placing on life it’s got to be about progress if it’s going to be about joy and this [44:28] generation that we have right now speaking just as a society it’s so different than previous [44:36] generations see because the reason that people struggled in previous generations

[44:42] is because of cataclysmic events that really for many people almost ripped their innocence away [44:50] from them and defined reality around pain and suffering i mean you know we had world war one [44:56] it changed the whole world literally it defined a generation and then just you know two decades [45:04] later with world war two that defined a generation pain then just a few short decades later with the [45:15] vietnam war it defined a generation you see the reason it defined a generation is because so many [45:21] people didn’t have a choice they had to go all the 18 19 year olds they were told you have to go

[45:28] you do not have a choice and so their lives were defined by these cataclysmic world shaking [45:35] events but what we have now is more difficult to bring people out of for their joy because there’s [45:43] no defining event there is just i don’t want to progress why because i don’t want to progress [45:51] why because i’m defined by not progressing and when you want me to progress you define that i’m [45:58] the type of person that should progress and how do you know what type of person i should be defined [46:03] by i should be defined by my lack of progress and when you try to force my progress on me it

[46:08] triggers my lack of desire for progress and so i have to sit here for a while

[46:16] it is humorous which is why i wrote it

[46:21] but it’s true and so for many of you who’ve really never faced a world where you had your [46:28] choices taken away from you as to what your future would be defined by the thief is stealing he’s [46:35] killing and he’s destroying and he’s making you define future by the lowest common reality that [46:42] you can find and it is to actually be identified by the things that god wants you to have freedom

[46:49] from we’re the most diagnosed we’re the most studied we’re the most looked at and we’re the [46:55] most introspective people that have ever been introspective because we don’t have we have too [47:02] much time on our hands we can be introspective and so we define ourselves by not wanting to [47:10] progress and our excuse is that i don’t want to progress and the apostle paul comes and he says [47:15] you will never have the life that god designed you for

[47:20] god wants you to live verses 18 through 23 propel the apostle paul to seek the joy of other people [47:31] he wants them to progress in the faith so that the cycle of joy continues into more and more [47:37] and more lives but so long as you sit there and you define life by you you will never be used by [47:44] god for this purpose get over yourself and get into the life of christ when will you stop being [47:53] satisfied by the pervasive selfishness that is dictated by your fears of what might happen [48:01] when will you give your life to jesus and walk by faith to love god and to love others

[48:09] and don’t do what some people will do here this is not some mystical thought that can’t be [48:15] experienced this is real this is practical this is life this is jesus live for him [48:27] now don’t get me wrong though life is so hard there are so many reasons to spend your life in regret

[48:41] they’re abundant there are so many reasons to spend your life hurt [48:48] there are legitimate reasons to be mad there are legitimate reasons to be dejected [48:55] there are so many reasons to be negative there are so many reasons to be bitter there are so [49:02] many reasons to just sit in life and wait to die all the while fearing death you want reasons [49:09] you’ve got reasons they’re all around and there is just one reason to spend your life seeking to [49:17] come there is one reason to risk it all there is one reason to seek to reach the potential

[49:26] that god has designed for you there is one reason to invest in others there is one reason to build [49:33] others up there is one reason to truly live with courage over everything that can come [49:41] and that one reason is jesus christ that’s the reason

[49:48] and so the question that you have to answer for yourself because it’s your life [49:54] which one will you choose

[49:59] as the band comes forward [50:01] so

[50:05] the life of faith is a lot harder than i would prefer it be [50:11] the life of faith is surely going to be difficult the life of faith is surely going to have its [50:18] set of hardships the life of faith is surely going to have its set of discouragements but [50:23] here’s the key the life of faith has guaranteed joy the life of faith has a guaranteed future [50:30] that is objective that is unchanging that is unshakable because it is defined and determined [50:36] by the person and work of jesus christ the creator of all that is came to this world

[50:44] and in the midst of all of the sin in the midst of all of the pain in the midst of all of the [50:49] turmoil he lived the perfect life that you cannot live and he died a perfect death as your substitute [50:57] and he died it to forgive you and he died it to give you strength and then three days later he [51:03] rose again from the dead so that he could give you life and if you will turn from your sin [51:14] you will turn from everything that this world will tell you life is for and you will believe [51:20] in jesus christ and you will trust him with your life and you will follow him he will save you

[51:27] he will make you new he will give you life eternal life

[51:34] and if you’ve never done that if you’re sitting there you’re saying i do not have faith [51:40] friend you can know jesus today put your trust and faith in him and he will save you [51:48] some of you are in here and you’re telling me i believe i’m a christian i’ve trusted in christ [51:53] but i’m afraid i’m letting my fears dictate my future

[52:00] for you you’re struggling to say to live as christ friend turn from your sin and continue to trust [52:11] jesus christ keep going live [52:15] live

[52:18] on all the tables around this room the bread represents the body of christ broken for us [52:25] the cup represents his blood shed for us and when we eat and drink of this meal what we’re [52:31] saying to everyone in the room is is i have faith in jesus christ he is my lord he’s my savior he [52:37] is god and i will follow him if you can say that in all honesty these tables are open for you come [52:43] proclaim your faith in christ but friend if you’re going to proclaim faith in christ you go and you [52:49] choose to live and you go and you invest in others you stop saying you have faith and walking as if

[52:56] you don’t so this morning come and live