Christ, Life and Death
Is Christ our Life? Philippians 1:21
There is another Scripture in Colossians that links in with our text for today, " For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Phillipians Colossians 4 from the traditional 1928 BCP lectionary says, " If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above....( and then vs. 4) Easter Day, p. 164. When Christ who is our life , shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory."
My almost favorite author, the RC Monk at the Abbey of Gethesemani in his book, New Seeds of Contemplation, Thomas Merton, reflects on how theology, that is our belief system about doctrine is not enough to bring us to heaven:"
Faith is primarily an intellectual assent. ..It has to be something more than an assent of the mind. It is also a grasp, a contact, a communion of wills ...By faith one not only assents to propositions revealed by God, one not only attains to truth in a way that intelligence and reason alone cannot do, but one assents to God Himself. One receives God....Too often our notion of faith is falsified by our emphasis on the statements about God which faith believes, and by our forgetfulness of the fact that faith is a communion with God's own light and truth....If instead of resting in God by faith, we rest simply in the proposition or formula, it is small wonder that faith does not lead to contemplation. On the contrary , it leads to anxious hair-splitting arguments, to controversy, to perplexity and ultimately to hatred and division...."
1. " To live is Christ" " To me " I like how the Apostle says to me. It is personal, is it not? Our faith is not just objective real facts, but it is a faith lived in a world of unbelievers, liars and deceivers. It requires Christian faith and testimony to be different in such a world that we live in today. The standard is not the standard. The rule is not the rule. People do whatever they can get away with.
But if " Christ is our life" in this world it follows that we will live in a godly way. Even when large Churches, or churches that used to teach truth tell us that they have new truth that is not from the Apostles we must in love stand firm against such assaults of the devil.
The Apostle had very severe trials. He was in jail. Yet he had joy. 1:19-20 " For this I know ( my affliction for me in my bonds) that this shall turn out to my salvation,....in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and therein I rejoice, yea, and will rejoice" " There is a contagion of courage and passion. This helpless prisoner, shut off from the work he loved, confined to his obscure lodging, spread new zeal and fiery devotion throughout the whole church of Rome. Some Christians may have lost heart. Some may have been failing in their witness. Some may have been unfaithful to their Lord. However, when they saw how Paul bore his bonds, they began anew their fearless testimony for Christ." Charles R. Erdman in Philippians.
We too have fiery trials. " Count it all joy when ye fall into various testings; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.." James 1:2
Trials in hurricanes, trials in loss, trials in contentions with people who will not be converted no matter what we say or do, trials in our own lives in the smallest things that cause us grief......We can rejoice as did the Apostle Paul for " to me to live is Christ." Really nothing else we have will last. Only in Christ are we successful and hopeful. Only in Christ are we humble and forgiving to those who have wounded us. "
Christ is our life"
Doctor to patient: "I have bad news and worse news."
Patient: "So let's have it."
Doctor: "The bad news is that you only have 24 hours to live."
Patient: "I can't imagine what could be worse than that!"
Doctor: "I forgot to tell you yesterday." Sermonillustrations.com
"How you can tell when it's going to be a rotten day:
You wake up face down on the pavement.
You call Suicide Prevention and they put you on hold.
You see a "60 Minutes" news team waiting in your office.
Your birthday cake collapses from the weight of the candles.
You turn on the news and they're showing emergency routes out of the city.
Your twin sister forgot your birthday.
Your car horn goes off accidentally and remains stuck as you follow a group of Hell's Angels on the freeway.
Your boss tells you not to bother to take off your coat.
The bird singing outside your window is a buzzard.
You wake up and your braces are locked together.
You call your answering service and they tell you it's none of your business.
Your income tax check bounces.
You put both contact lenses in the same eye.
Your wife says, "Good morning, Bill", and your name is George." sermonillustrations.com
2. If we know Christ is our life, the second step is a step to glory.
" To die is gain." "It is grace at the beginning, and grace at the end. So that when you and I come to lie upon our death beds, the one thing that should comfort and help and strengthen us there is the thing that helped us in the beginning. Not what we have been, not what we have done, but the Grace of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. The Christian life starts with grace, it must continue with grace, it ends with grace. Grace wondrous grace. By the grace of God I am what I am. Yet not I, but the Grace of God which was with me."
- Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Read more: https://www.christianquotes.info/quotes-by-author/martyn-lloyd-jones-quotes/
v. 23 " For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you..."
For the Christian death is a step into heaven and seeing God face to face. " For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." I Corinthians 13:12
Conclusion: TLC DIG
( To live is Christ; To Die is Gain)
" Paul's situation was serious, potentially life -threatening. He faced life and death issues... He was not immune to normal human emotions....He speaks about the need for courage so that he will not be ashamed. He knew only too well that loneliness, intimidation and fear of physical pain might place enormous pressure on him to deny His Master. What is the secret of remaining faithful under such pressures?
Paul knew there was something more important than life. He expresses it in the simplest yet profoundest of statements: For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Sinclair Ferguson , in Philippians.
There is another Scripture in Colossians that links in with our text for today, " For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Phillipians Colossians 4 from the traditional 1928 BCP lectionary says, " If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above....( and then vs. 4) Easter Day, p. 164. When Christ who is our life , shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory."
My almost favorite author, the RC Monk at the Abbey of Gethesemani in his book, New Seeds of Contemplation, Thomas Merton, reflects on how theology, that is our belief system about doctrine is not enough to bring us to heaven:"
Faith is primarily an intellectual assent. ..It has to be something more than an assent of the mind. It is also a grasp, a contact, a communion of wills ...By faith one not only assents to propositions revealed by God, one not only attains to truth in a way that intelligence and reason alone cannot do, but one assents to God Himself. One receives God....Too often our notion of faith is falsified by our emphasis on the statements about God which faith believes, and by our forgetfulness of the fact that faith is a communion with God's own light and truth....If instead of resting in God by faith, we rest simply in the proposition or formula, it is small wonder that faith does not lead to contemplation. On the contrary , it leads to anxious hair-splitting arguments, to controversy, to perplexity and ultimately to hatred and division...."
1. " To live is Christ" " To me " I like how the Apostle says to me. It is personal, is it not? Our faith is not just objective real facts, but it is a faith lived in a world of unbelievers, liars and deceivers. It requires Christian faith and testimony to be different in such a world that we live in today. The standard is not the standard. The rule is not the rule. People do whatever they can get away with.
But if " Christ is our life" in this world it follows that we will live in a godly way. Even when large Churches, or churches that used to teach truth tell us that they have new truth that is not from the Apostles we must in love stand firm against such assaults of the devil.
The Apostle had very severe trials. He was in jail. Yet he had joy. 1:19-20 " For this I know ( my affliction for me in my bonds) that this shall turn out to my salvation,....in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and therein I rejoice, yea, and will rejoice" " There is a contagion of courage and passion. This helpless prisoner, shut off from the work he loved, confined to his obscure lodging, spread new zeal and fiery devotion throughout the whole church of Rome. Some Christians may have lost heart. Some may have been failing in their witness. Some may have been unfaithful to their Lord. However, when they saw how Paul bore his bonds, they began anew their fearless testimony for Christ." Charles R. Erdman in Philippians.
We too have fiery trials. " Count it all joy when ye fall into various testings; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.." James 1:2
Trials in hurricanes, trials in loss, trials in contentions with people who will not be converted no matter what we say or do, trials in our own lives in the smallest things that cause us grief......We can rejoice as did the Apostle Paul for " to me to live is Christ." Really nothing else we have will last. Only in Christ are we successful and hopeful. Only in Christ are we humble and forgiving to those who have wounded us. "
Christ is our life"
Doctor to patient: "I have bad news and worse news."
Patient: "So let's have it."
Doctor: "The bad news is that you only have 24 hours to live."
Patient: "I can't imagine what could be worse than that!"
Doctor: "I forgot to tell you yesterday." Sermonillustrations.com
"How you can tell when it's going to be a rotten day:
You wake up face down on the pavement.
You call Suicide Prevention and they put you on hold.
You see a "60 Minutes" news team waiting in your office.
Your birthday cake collapses from the weight of the candles.
You turn on the news and they're showing emergency routes out of the city.
Your twin sister forgot your birthday.
Your car horn goes off accidentally and remains stuck as you follow a group of Hell's Angels on the freeway.
Your boss tells you not to bother to take off your coat.
The bird singing outside your window is a buzzard.
You wake up and your braces are locked together.
You call your answering service and they tell you it's none of your business.
Your income tax check bounces.
You put both contact lenses in the same eye.
Your wife says, "Good morning, Bill", and your name is George." sermonillustrations.com
2. If we know Christ is our life, the second step is a step to glory.
" To die is gain." "It is grace at the beginning, and grace at the end. So that when you and I come to lie upon our death beds, the one thing that should comfort and help and strengthen us there is the thing that helped us in the beginning. Not what we have been, not what we have done, but the Grace of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. The Christian life starts with grace, it must continue with grace, it ends with grace. Grace wondrous grace. By the grace of God I am what I am. Yet not I, but the Grace of God which was with me."
- Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Read more: https://www.christianquotes.info/quotes-by-author/martyn-lloyd-jones-quotes/
v. 23 " For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you..."
For the Christian death is a step into heaven and seeing God face to face. " For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." I Corinthians 13:12
Conclusion: TLC DIG
( To live is Christ; To Die is Gain)
" Paul's situation was serious, potentially life -threatening. He faced life and death issues... He was not immune to normal human emotions....He speaks about the need for courage so that he will not be ashamed. He knew only too well that loneliness, intimidation and fear of physical pain might place enormous pressure on him to deny His Master. What is the secret of remaining faithful under such pressures?
Paul knew there was something more important than life. He expresses it in the simplest yet profoundest of statements: For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Sinclair Ferguson , in Philippians.
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