Philippians 1:21-26; Progress and Joy in the Faith ~ 20231001 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org
10/01 Philippians 1:21-26; Progress and Joy in the Faith; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20231001_philippians-1_21-26.mp3
Paul writes to the church in Philippi, who had partnered with him in the advance of the gospel, that his imprisonment had turned out to advance the gospel; throughout the praetorian guard, and to all the rest, it had become known that his imprisonment was ‘in Christ’. And his being imprisoned had emboldened most of the believers in Rome to be all the more bold to speak the word without fear. Motives were mixed; some out of love, others out of selfish ambition, seeking to cause him trouble.
Philippians 1:18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance [salvation], 20 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. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Christ Magnified
Paul’s eager expectation, his ruling passion, his one overarching desire is to magnify Christ. That Christ be magnified in my body. Paul lived for the glory of Christ, for the fame of the name of Jesus. Christ was his greatest treasure, so much so that he was willing to die for Christ. His eager expectation and hope was that whether by life or by death, Christ would be magnified in his body.
Paul’s life was Christ; “the preaching of Christ the business of my life; the presence of Christ the cheer of my life; the image of Christ the crown of my life; the spirit of Christ the life of my life; the love of Christ the power of my life; the will of Christ the law of my life; and the glory of Christ the end of my life. Christ was the absorbing element of his life. If he travelled, it was on Christ’s errand; if he suffered it was in Christ’s service. When he spoke, his theme was Christ; and when he wrote, Christ filled his letters.’ [Eadie, 1857; p.50-51]. Ever since he met the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus, his life was Christ.
To Live; Christ
To live is Christ. What did this look like for the Apostle? He describes his life in service to Christ in 2 Corinthians 11;
2 Corinthians 11:23 ...with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. 24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?
To live is Christ. Paul’s life looked a lot like his Master, who was:
Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
To live is Christ, and following a crucified Savior meant laying down rights, sacrificing in service to others. Paul continues in 2 Corinthians 12 describing his prayer for deliverance from Satanic harassment,
2 Corinthians 12:9 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. 10 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.
To live, Christ; to die, gain. In the next verses Paul unpacks some of what this means; what means that Christ will be magnified in him whether by life or by death.
Fruitful Labor
If to live in the flesh, this means fruitful labor for me. Labor that is fruitful; hard work that bears fruit. In John 15, Jesus used a vine and its branches to paint a picture of bearing fruit in him.
John 15:1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
To live, Christ. This means abiding in Christ, living connected to Christ, drawing sustinance, nourishment, resources, life from Christ. This means being pruned to bear more fruit. This means Christ living in me, Christ living through me.
To live, Christ; means death to self;
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Hard Pressed Between the Two
To live, Christ; to die, gain. Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. Paul is hard pressed between these two options. Which to choose, if the choice were his to make, he cannot say.
Strong Desire to Break Camp
My desire is to depart and be with Christ. This is a strong word, often used for intense desire, even covetousness, lust or passion, although it is used for both evil and good desires. Paul’s strong desire is to push off from shore, to break camp and be with Christ. To live is Christ; to die is to be with Christ, which is better by far.
For the believer, to push off from this shore is to be with Christ. Paul did not have a morbid desire for death; his desire was what lay beyond. As he said in 1 Corinthians
1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
Paul’s desire was not death as escape from suffering; Paul’s passion was that his faith become sight. He received a glimpse of the glory of Jesus on the Damascus road, and he longed for more. As John said;
1 John 3:2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
Paul uses a word translated ‘depart’ that can be used of setting sail or breaking camp. He expands this metaphor of death in 2 Corinthians 5;
2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
He speaks of the physical body as a tent, a temporary dwelling; John speaks of the eternal Word who was with God and who was God, who became flesh and pitched his tent among us (Jn.1:1,14).
A few observations about what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5; he describes this life as camping in a temporary dwelling. Paul understands that to be at home in this body is to be away from the Lord, and he would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. But Paul’s ultimate hope is not to be a disembodied spirit in the presence of the Lord. His ultimate hope is not to be unclothed but to be super-clothed, that this mortal body would be swallowed up by life, or as he describes resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15 as ‘bearing the image of the man of heaven (49);
1 Corinthians 15:51 ...we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
Paul’s ultimate hope is the resurrection, to be with Christ in transformed, glorified, spiritual bodies. But his intermediate hope is to depart and be with Christ, even if this means being unclothed for a time, awaiting the final resurrection. Paul’s comfort in 1 Thessalonians concerning the coming of the Lord was that
1 Thessalonians 4:16 ...the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 5:9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.
To depart and be with Christ is his strong desire, for that is much more better.
More Necessary To Remain
But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. To die is gain; to depart and be with Christ is much more better. But to live is Christ, to live in the flesh is fruitful labor; to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. Paul thanked God for their partnership with him in the gospel, he remembered them with joy, and he is confident that he who began a good work in them will bring it to completion. But he also acknowledged that they had room to grow. He prayed that their love would abound more and more in knowledge and insight. He recognized that as their apostle, the Lord might use him in their lives to spur them on toward maturity in Christ.
The Faith
Philippians 1:25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.
It is necessary that I remain over in the flesh; being persuaded of this, I know I will remain and remain alongside all of you. What does Paul hope to accomplish by remaining? His remaining is toward your progress and joy of the faith.
The faith. The faith is definite, it is concrete, it has shape and boundaries. This is what Jude urges us,
Jude 1:3 ...to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
After Paul believed in Jesus the churches heard that “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy” (Gal.1:23). The faith is the good news message of Jesus Christ crucified for sinners. The faith is something we ought to be obedient to, to continue in, be strengthened in, established in, stand firm in, be trained in, keep, hold, strive for, contend for. We must not turn away from, depart from, deny, wander away from, swerve from, upset, or be disqualified concerning. The faith is a shorthand way to refer to the content of teaching that we as followers of Jesus are to believe.
Progress and Joy
Paul says two things about our relation to the faith in this verse. He is willing to forego his great desire to depart and be with Christ for our progress and joy in the faith.
Faith is something we make progress or advance in. The faith is a fixed body of truth, but our understanding of it, our apprehension and application of that body of truth can deepen and grow. I can tell you the gospel; I can communicate to you in a few sentences the essentials of what I believe, and I hope you can too. But I am still learning how to walk in the truth that I know. I want to make progress, to grow in, to mature in, to move forward in the faith.
But our other essential relation to the faith is joy. Paul is willing to delay being with Christ for our joy in the faith. If we don’t love the faith, treasure the faith, rejoice in the faith, delight in the faith, there is a serious problem. A grumpy Christian ought to be an oxymoron. Someone whose slate has been washed clean, whose sins all forgiven, whose debts cancelled, who is a recipient of the greatest gift, freely given, one who is accepted, welcomed, loved, treasured, one who is invited in to enjoy relationship with the Most High and Holy God, must be characterized by joy. The good news must stir in us a response of joy. If the faith doesn’t bring you joy, you don’t truly understand it, and you’re not making progress in it.
Paul tells the Corinthians
2 Corinthians 1:24 ...we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.
Boasting In Christ In Me
Paul is willing to remain with them for their progress and joy in the faith, in order that your boasting might superabound in Christ Jesus in me, through my coming again to you.
Progress and joy in the faith produces boasting, glorying, pride in Christ Jesus, and in the one who is among them, whose life is Christ. Christ Jesus must be the object of our glorying, our boasting, our joy and rejoicing. To boast in Paul is to boast in the gospel, the good news about Jesus that Paul preached. It is to boast in Christ whom Paul represented. Paul’s desire is that if he remains and returns to be with them again, his coming is an occasion for them to boast in him and ultimately in Christ to whom he belongs and who defines his life.
What defines your life? Is the faith your grounds for joy? Are you making progress in the faith, deepening in your affections for Jesus? Is magnifying Christ your greatest aim, and Christ himself you greatest boast?
***
2023.10.01 Sermon Notes
Philippians 1:21-26; Progress and Joy in the Faith
primary passion: to magnify Christ
Philippians 1:20
To live: Christ
2 Corinthians 11:23-29; 12:9-10; Isaiah 53:3-5
-fruitful labor
John 15:1-5; Galatians 2:20
To die: gain
1 Corinthians 13:12; 1 John 3:2
a strong desire to break camp and be with Christ
2 Corinthians 5:1-10; John 1:1, 14; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18; 5:9-10
More necessary to remain
for your progress and joy
2 Corinthians 1:14, 24
-in The Faith
Jude 1:3; Galatians 1:23; 1 Timothy 4:6; Titus 1:13
***
Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org