Some people live for fishing, others for racing, or boating, or camping, or football, or even gambling. For what do you live? If someone carefully watched your life for a month, for what would they say you live? The Apostle Paul was a man dedicated to the cause of Christ. He could honestly say, “For to me to live is Christ.”

This evening I want us to examine three facets of Paul’s dedication to God that enabled him to say, “for me to live is Christ.”

Paul’s Devotion, Php 1:21

  1. For Paul, to live was to serve Christ.
    1. Paul summarised his life in one word, “Christ.” He was so dedicated to God that he talked, walked, rested, thought, and slept with Christ as his central theme. His life was to love Christ, live for Christ, tell others about Christ, praise Christ, and glorify Christ.
    2. What does that kind of devotion require?
      1. It requires a totally yielded life. (Romans 12:1-2) “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” God is looking for those who will volunteer to serve him anywhere and in any way.
      2. It requires a desire to know God’s way and do it. The Psalmist prayed, (Psalm 86:11) “Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.“
      3. It requires that we seek to glorify God in all that we do. (1 Corinthians 10:31) “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.“
  2. For Paul, to die was to gain access to Christ.
    1. Death did not trouble Paul because his life was not about himself. It was all about Christ. To die was simply to gain access to Christ’s presence.
    2. When life is all about “me,” then I fear death because it cheats me of my plans and desires. But when my life is all about “Christ,” then death is simply a promotion.
    3. Even God views death as precious. (Psalm 116:15) “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.“

Paul’s Dilemma, Php 1:22-23

  1. To be living in the flesh produces earthly fruit.
    1. The phrase “live in the flesh” does not mean to be an unbeliever. It means living in a human body.
    2. While Paul was living in a human body, he worked for Christ and produced fruit. He enjoyed this work.
      1. His fruit may have included people he had led to Christ.
      2. It also may have included fruits of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23) “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.“
    3. While living in the flesh, we too ought to work faithfully for the Lord with the goal of producing fruit. Remember the poem, “Only one life, twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.”
  2. To depart and be with Christ is far better
    1. Paul’s wording here is interesting.
      1. He said he was “in a strait betwixt two.” The phrase literally says “I am pressed together by the two.” It has the idea of being squeezed between two objects. He was pulled both directions. Part of him wanted to remain living so he could serve Christ. The other part of him wanted to die so he could go and be with Christ. He had a dilemma.
      2. The infinitive “to depart” expresses the idea “to break up camp.” We can imagine Paul thinking of life in the flesh as camping and of death as breaking up camp and moving on to heaven.
      3. When Paul said this would be “far better,” the phrase, though poor English, literally says “much more better.”
    2. Realizing that Paul was not looking forward to escaping hardships is convicting. He was looking forward to one thing, being with Christ. He had often been beaten, whipped, shipwrecked, and mistreated for his preaching, but escaping all that does not seem to be on his mind. He longed to be with Christ.
    3. I still have far too much selfishness in me. When I think of heaven, I often think of the blessings of eternal life, perfection, no temptation, no suffering, or seeing loved ones. To my shame, seeing Christ is not as high on the list as it should be. I must remember that life is not to be about “me” but about “Christ.”

Paul’s Decision, Php 1:24-26

  1. He knew that abiding in the flesh was needful.
    1. Though in a dilemma, Paul believed that it was needful for him to stay alive and help fellow Christians like those at Philippi. He was truly living for Christ and for others. Again I am reminded of the poem that says, “Others, Lord, Yes others, let this my motto be. Let me live for others, that I might live like thee.”
    2. What are you presently doing that God would say is needful? Are we striving to be a help, a blessing, an encouragement, an example to follow, a testimony for Christ?
      1. Helping others will not happen accidentally. We must plan and look for opportunities.
      2. You could take someone under your wing to mentor. You could put tracts in letter boxes. You could invite friends and neighbours to church. You could ring people who miss church and pray with them on the phone. You could come early to church to help set up. You can live a godly life as a good example of the believers. Make yourself needed.
  2. Paul was confident that he would abide.
    1. This confidence that he would abide and continue with them is a mystery to us. Perhaps God divinely revealed it to him, but Php 1:21 doesn’t sound that way. More likely, it was a strong personal belief.
    2. He notes two reasons for this confidence.
      1. It was toward their furtherance and joy of faith. In other words, he could help advance their faith and increase their joy from faith.
      2. It was in order that they could rejoice in hearing him preach again. This would be an answer to prayer and a great encouragement to the church.
      3. Once again, we find no hint of selfishness in Paul’s belief that he would abide and continue.

Conclusion

We sing the chorus “For me to live is Christ to die is gain…”, but do we really mean it? Can you honestly say your life is all about Christ? If not, what areas need work? Have you truly yielded all to Christ? Have you given him your life to use in any way he sees fit? Do you daily study the Bible with a longing to find and do God’s will? Are you striving to live every part of life for God’s glory? We won’t feel the dilemma Paul felt until we can truly say, “for me to live is Christ.” Let’s make that our goal.

Song: Only One Life – 395

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For What Are You Living?

23 February 2025 PM ~ Philippians 1:21-26