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March 14th, 2010
A Life That Is Worthy: Philippians
“To Live Is Christ!”
Philippians 1:21-26
Page 1 of 17
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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
sake. 25 And convinced of this, I know
that I shall remain and continue with
you all for your progress and joy in
the faith, 26 so that your proud
confidence in me may abound in Christ
Jesus through my coming to you again.
 Paul wrote “For to me, to live is
Christ!”
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March 14th, 2010
A Life That Is Worthy: Philippians
“To Live Is Christ!”
Philippians 1:21-26
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 That sounds good, but what does it
mean?
 To live is Christ!
 To die is gain!
 That sounds kinda drastic, doesn’t it?
 Someone told me once that
“everybody wants to go to heaven,
but nobody wants to die in order to
get there!”
 Paul was just the opposite
 A life that is worthy of the Lord
looks forward instead of sideways
 Jesus set the bar Himself
 MATTHEW 10:37 "He who loves father or
mother more than Me is not worthy
of Me; and he who loves son or
daughter more than Me is not worthy
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March 14th, 2010
A Life That Is Worthy: Philippians
“To Live Is Christ!”
Philippians 1:21-26
Page 3 of 17
38 "And he who does
of Me.
not
take his cross and follow after Me is
not worthy of Me. 39 "He who has
found his life shall lose it, and he
who has lost his life for My sake
shall find it.
 This hearkens back to “Love the
Lord your God with ALL YOUR
HEART…”
 Putting Him first above ourselves
 Yielding to His leading rather than
doing what we want to do
Putting Him above ourselves,
above our families, above
everything in life
 LUKE 9:23 And He was saying to them
all, "If anyone wishes to come after
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March 14th, 2010
A Life That Is Worthy: Philippians
“To Live Is Christ!”
Philippians 1:21-26
Page 4 of 17
Me, let him deny himself, and take
up his cross daily, and follow Me.
 Deny himself
 That’s completely the opposite of
our natural tendency
 It’s our human nature to think of
ourselves
“Look out for #1 ‘cuz nobody
else will”
 Jesus said “Follow my example”
 Take up his cross
 This was a troubling statement to
those who heard it
 The cross was an all-too-common
sight in their day
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March 14th, 2010
A Life That Is Worthy: Philippians
“To Live Is Christ!”
Philippians 1:21-26
Page 5 of 17
 Condemned prisoners were stripped
naked and nailed up in public
places
 The shame and the agony were
intense
 The worst we can relate to might
be the electric chair or a
hangman’s noose
 Jesus said that to live for Him
may indeed cost us our very lives
The ultimate test of whether we
live for Him or for ourselves
 Follow Me
 “Jesus has set the example”
 “Dauntless was He young and
brave” the hymn writer says
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March 14th, 2010
A Life That Is Worthy: Philippians
“To Live Is Christ!”
Philippians 1:21-26
Page 6 of 17
 MATTHEW 11:28 "Come to Me, all who
are weary and heavy-laden, and I
will give you rest. 29 "Take My yoke
upon you, and LEARN FROM ME for
I am gentle and humble in heart
 “Learn from Me”
 “I am gentle and humble in heart”
 “Humble” or “humility” is not to
think less of yourself but rather it’s
just not to think of yourself much
at all
 That’s what Jesus referred to
 And that’s what Paul was revealing
about himself in our text this morning
 “For to me, to live is Christ and
to die is gain”
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March 14th, 2010
A Life That Is Worthy: Philippians
“To Live Is Christ!”
Philippians 1:21-26
Page 7 of 17
II: “I Am Hard Pressed”
 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.
 His living meant fruitful labor
 He didn’t want to live just to live
 He had put the Lord first in his
life and living meant serving
Sometimes for Paul it meant
making tents for a living while
sharing the Gospel as he did so
This doesn’t just mean everybody
is called to be a pastor or a
missionary
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March 14th, 2010
A Life That Is Worthy: Philippians
“To Live Is Christ!”
Philippians 1:21-26
Page 8 of 17
A life that is worthy means fulltime Christian service no matter
what is done to make a living
 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
sake.
 Someone whom I care about
immensely says all the time,
“Decisions are not my friend”
 It’s kinda like going to BaskinRobbins
 When we drive to Hays to visit Ida
Mae we usually stop at the Colby
truck stop for coffee
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March 14th, 2010
A Life That Is Worthy: Philippians
“To Live Is Christ!”
Philippians 1:21-26
Page 9 of 17
There’s a Baskin-Robbins ice
cream store there
31 flavors, hard to decide
Ooohh! There’s chocolate fudge
ice cream
Oooohh! But there’s strawberry
cheesecake!
Oooohh! Or butter pecan!
Oooohh! Or Rocky Road!
 On and on and on
 What do you choose?
 Paul felt that way
 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
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March 14th, 2010
A Life That Is Worthy: Philippians
“To Live Is Christ!”
Philippians 1:21-26
Page 10 of 17
the flesh is more necessary for your
sake.
 Torn between the two
 He really wanted to go be with the
Lord
 But he knew that the Lord still had
work for Him here
 Either way, his life belonged to Christ
III: Convinced Of This
 25 And convinced of this, I know that
I shall remain and continue with you
all for your progress and joy in the
faith, 26 so that your proud
confidence in me may abound in
Christ Jesus through my coming to
you again.
 Paul trusted his walk with Christ
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March 14th, 2010
A Life That Is Worthy: Philippians
“To Live Is Christ!”
Philippians 1:21-26
Page 11 of 17
 When the Holy Spirit gave direction
he trusted it
 It wasn’t about him
 It was about Christ
 If he had his druthers he would
gladly face the executioner
 But the Lord wanted him to
continue on in his fruitful labor
 And convinced of this, I know that I
shall remain and continue with you
all for YOUR progress and joy in the
faith
 If he was to live on, it was for
THEIR sake, not his
 He didn’t cling to this life just so
that he wouldn’t die
 He understood Jesus’ parable
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March 14th, 2010
A Life That Is Worthy: Philippians
“To Live Is Christ!”
Philippians 1:21-26
Page 12 of 17
LUKE 19:11
And while they were
listening to these things, He went
on to tell a parable, because He
was near Jerusalem, and they
supposed that the kingdom of God
was going to appear immediately.
12 He said therefore, "A certain
nobleman went to a distant country
to receive a kingdom for himself,
and then return. 13 "And he called
ten of his slaves, and gave them
ten minas, and said to them, `DO
BUSINESS with this until I come
back.'
 King James translates this “Occupy
until I come”
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March 14th, 2010
A Life That Is Worthy: Philippians
“To Live Is Christ!”
Philippians 1:21-26
Page 13 of 17
 But the verb means “to use, to
do business with”
 Jesus was speaking of believers and
the gifts that we’re given
 We’re to use our spiritual gifts
faithfully and relentlessly until we’re
called home
 Paul understood this and our passage
reflects that understanding
 These aren’t just words written on a
page
 They are inspired by God to:
Teach us
To reprove us
To correct us
To train us into a right
relationship
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March 14th, 2010
A Life That Is Worthy: Philippians
“To Live Is Christ!”
Philippians 1:21-26
Page 14 of 17
 In early January as you know I was
a day away from dying of kidney
failure
 There was a very real possibility
that the Lord was calling me home
 Nancy and I talked about it and
we knew it was OK if He did
In fact, I was reading this
passage
And I thought how great it was
that I might soon be with Jesus
That is so much better
 But the Lord indicated to me that
He intended for me to live on in
the flesh
That He still had work for me to
do
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March 14th, 2010
A Life That Is Worthy: Philippians
“To Live Is Christ!”
Philippians 1:21-26
Page 15 of 17
 And I was convinced of this and so
I gladly jump back into the saddle
 I understand that to live is Christ!
Nothing in my life is about me
 I’m not trying to hold myself up as
some super saint
The Lord certainly knows I’m far
from that
 What I so dearly want to point out
is that these words we’ve read this
morning aren’t just words
 And they’re not some impossible
and unattainable goal
 They are what Paul called in the
passage we read last week the “fruit
of righteousness”
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March 14th, 2010
A Life That Is Worthy: Philippians
“To Live Is Christ!”
Philippians 1:21-26
Page 16 of 17
 They are what enabled Paul to write
from death row when his race had
finally been run
 2 TIMOTHY 4:6 For I am already being
poured out as a drink offering, and
the time of my departure has come.
7 I have fought the good fight, I
have finished the course, I have kept
the faith; 8 in the future there is laid
up for me the crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the
righteous Judge, will award to me on
that day; and not only to me, but
also to all who have loved His
appearing.
 All who have loved His appearing
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March 14th, 2010
A Life That Is Worthy: Philippians
“To Live Is Christ!”
Philippians 1:21-26
Page 17 of 17
That can be us if we put Him
above ourselves
 If we truly say, “For to me to live
is Christ!”
 And our ambition is to draw close to
Him
 HYMN #407- Close To Thee
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