To live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Philippians 1:1-26 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons: ² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³ I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, ⁴ always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, ⁵ in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶ For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work among you will complete it by the day of Christ Jesus. ⁷ For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me. ⁸ For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. ⁹ And this I pray, that your love may overflow still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰ so that you may discover the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and blameless for the day of Christ; ¹¹ having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, for the glory and praise of God.

¹² Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, ¹³ so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the praetorian guard and to everyone else, ¹⁴ and that most of the brothers and sisters, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. ¹⁵ Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from goodwill; ¹⁶ the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; ¹⁷ the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking that they are causing me distress in my imprisonment. ¹⁸ What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice.

But not only that, I also will rejoice, ¹⁹ for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, ²⁰ according to my eager expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

²¹ For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²² But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. ²³ But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; ²⁴ yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sakes. 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 your pride in Christ Jesus may be abundant because of me by my coming to you again.

In Psalm 118:6 the psalmist says: The Lord is for me; I will not fear;
What can man do to me?  In Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me.  Even death, the worst thing anyone can do to us, is not to be feared, because with God, in Christ we have eternal life. Death is merely a shadow with no lasting power over us. Even beyond not fearing death, in today’s text it says: I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sakes. Do we share Paul’s desire to be with the Lord? Do we truly believe that to die is gain? Or is our desire to pursue the things of earth? Jesus taught us to pray saying: Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Even on earth then our desire should be to do heavenly things.  Like Paul, our lives should be fruitful labor. We should recognize that we are called for a purpose, that we should exalt Christ in our lives and our death. We remain in the flesh, not only for our own sakes, but also for the sake of others. We need to recognize and prioritize what we do for their sake.

In Acts 1:8 Jesus says:  “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”   While we are here, that should be the priority of our lives, that we are witnesses for Christ, that we testify of all that He has done for us.  It is not that we are necessarily called to full time ministry, but that we are all called to be ministers in all that we do.  Colossians 3:23-24 says:  Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord and not for people, knowing that it is from the Lord that you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. If we work heartily for the Lord, in all that we do, then when our time here is finished, when we have fulfilled our purpose in all that God called us to, we will receive our inheritance. We will have the reward of life with Him. We will hear the words of our Master say: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, with Paul I say:For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for their sakes. By the power of the Holy Spirit may I be a witness for Christ. May I testify in all that I do, that I might hear You say:  ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’  Amen.