Right Perspective on Life and Death

Sorry, there's a little eruption there. We don't want the phone going off. Would you join me in prayer? Would you stand with us? And we want to welcome you this morning to Calvary Chapel. And those of you who are joining us online, those little avenues that allow you to join us, we just want to welcome you. Father, we ask for your blessing now on our service this morning

as we come to worship in song, to worship as we study your word, and all the other ways that we worship you as we give, as we serve you daily in what you've called us to do, Lord. May that which we do be done as unto you in our workplace, our retired place, or wherever place we are, Lord, that you would bless, that we would see you in it all, Lord, that you're working in us both to will and do of your good pleasure. And as we've been sanctified, and we're set apart, Lord, may that salvation be lived out, Lord. As we've been saved, we're being saved, and then there'll be a day we'll go to glory.

Amen? Yeah. Yes. So bless our time, we ask in Jesus' name.

And Lord, we do come this morning, Lord, for this opportunity to corporately worship you and study your word together, Lord. The gathering of your people in a location to minister, to worship, to praise you, to minister to one another as you lead and guide, Lord. As we look to you, the author and finisher of our faith, you who, Lord, directs by your Holy Spirit, and we thank you for your providence, Lord. You are in control. We look to you.

Well, you've created this universe. Why couldn't you guide us and lead us? We thank you. Keeper of the star, Jesus. Yes. And Father, that's what we want to do this morning, is praise you, Lord. And Father, we just come just as we are. As we sang earlier, we're coming to you this morning with all that we are, Lord. And you know what that is, but yet you love us anyway.

And we thank you for that, Lord. You're so good to us, Lord. We give you praise.

As long as we're standing up on topside this earth, even if we're laying down, can't do much, we can pray. We can trust you. We can look to you. So we thank you, Lord. You are so good to us, Lord. We thank you. In Jesus' name, continue to bless our time, Lord. Yes, Lord. You breathe the very life into us in the beginning when you created us. You breathe the breath of life

for your body, soul, and spirit. And when we became born again, that spirit was born again, again. And we are alive spiritually when we were dead before. And we thank you, Lord, for what you did on the cross for us. We give you praise and thanks. I think I asked you to stand. If I didn't, I'm asking now. You're worthy of our praise, Lord. As we stand here, pouring our hearts out, Lord,

you're worthy of that. No matter how we feel, Lord. And strengthen each one here today, Lord. You know our bodies. You know the things we face. You know our hearts, whether they're heavy or light or whatever we're feeling, Lord. You're still God. You're the same God. You don't change. You're the same yesterday, today, and forever. And we can trust you, Lord, in every area of our life.

And we give you thanks. And now as Pastor Ryan comes up, we'll ask that you anoint him by the power of your Holy Spirit to bring forth your word. Bless our service in Jesus' name. Amen. Lord bless y'all. Let's have a little fellowship.

Process of finding your seat.

It's a mixed idea. Good morning. Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you've joined us this morning. If you would grab your bulletin, we'll get ready to go over a few announcements.

Over on the left-hand side of the bulletin are the things that go on throughout the week. Just a couple of updates about that. One is that there's two things going on tonight. One of them is in the bulletin and one of them is not. College group, remember, is happening down at the other end of the hallway at 6.30 tonight. But also, intercessory prayer takes place at 6 o'clock tonight.

So come out to whichever one, respectively, is the place that is right for you. Okay, in the middle. Oh, and then Thursday night, right? It's this Thursday, is the home fellowship starting up at Glenn and Sandra's house. 7 to 8.30, right? Ish. Okay, so be there at 7. And you'll stay as long as he lets you stay. Be warm and be filled and be gone.

Sorry. And then one more thing is that the ladies' breakfast is coming up this Saturday, the 10th. At 8 o'clock a.m. at Daisy Mays. So those are the things that are going on. If you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced. And for our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 124. Psalm 124. Looking at the New American Standard for this part,

just so that we all sound the same. If you need a copy, should be one in a row around you. And as you are turning to Psalm 124, if you are able, please stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word. I will read the... The odd verses, if you will follow along with Glenn and the even verses. Psalm 124, a song of a sense of David. Had it not been the Lord who was on our side,

let Israel now say... Had it not been the Lord who was on our side when men rose up against us... Then they would have swallowed us alive when their anger was kindled against us. Then the waters would have engulfed us, the stream... would have swept over our soul. Then the raging waters would have swept over our soul. Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us to be torn by their teeth.

Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the trapper. The snare is broken and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. And Father, we do praise you that our help is found in you. And so, Lord, this morning, may we see that. May we see that more clearly as we look at your word. And Father, may we continue to be drawn close to you.

Father, may your Holy Spirit do the work that needs done in our hearts this morning. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. If you would, open up in your Bibles to the book of Philippians, chapter 1. Philippians, chapter 1.

The title of this morning's message is The Right Perspective, Part 2, but in particular, the right perspective on life and death. Now, recently, I watched a series on Netflix called Band of Brothers. Now, I can't full-throatedly just say, hey, you should go watch this because it has a lot of profanity and a lot of violence because it's about World War II. But it was a fascinating show.

There's one particular part in the show that really stuck out to me and it's kind of resonated through my mind as I've been doing this study. And that's in exchange that took place between two of the soldiers. Band of Brothers follows a particular company in the 151st Airborne after they had dropped into Normandy. And as they worked their way through Germany, through France and Germany, they're in World War II.

There's one particular exchange between a couple of soldiers that's kind of fascinating. There's one young soldier who's incredibly terrified. Matter of fact, he's paralyzed with fear at what's going on. It's a pretty natural response to what they had happening. And there was another man who was a lieutenant, a lieutenant who seemed to fear nothing and was feared by everyone in the 151st Airborne.

There were legendary stories told about this guy. Well, one night, in a foxhole, these two are having a conversation and the young soldier is confessing his fear that he has to this older lieutenant. And this older lieutenant looks at him and he says this. I wrote it down to make sure I'd get it correct. He said, once you accept the fact that you're already dead,

you can function properly as a soldier. Now, that line resonated through my mind as I've been doing this study because it's a fascinating thought. As a matter of fact, believe it or not, while that's very fatalistic in nature, Jesus shared, he shared a similar thought in Matthew chapter 16, verse 25, when he said this, whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. In other words, whoever comes to the understanding that your life is already lost in Christ has finally found it.

You have died to yourself and now you are living for Christ. Well, that idea, is what Paul presents to us in verses 19 through 26 of chapter one. The idea that my life is no longer my own. I now live to please my savior and that allows me to function properly as a soldier of Jesus Christ. We pick up in chapter one, verse 19, and it says this, for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance

through your prayers and the provision of the spirit of Jesus Christ. According to my earnest 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. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in this 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 sake. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and your joy in the faith, so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again.

Now, to bring us all up to speed, we said that chapter one, as Paul is presenting this idea of being a joyful Christian to the believers in Philippi, we said that chapter one had the theme of joy comes from having the right perspective. And the first thing that we looked at last week was having the right perspective on trials. We said that trials were so important for us because trials, first of all, further the spread of the gospel because they clear the path for us to give the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people around us. Trials produce a focus on Christ because all of a sudden the things of this, this earth lose their luster when dealing with the difficulties of life and they cause us to focus wholeheartedly on Jesus.

Trials give boldness to the people around us as they see us living for Christ in the midst of trials. It is an encouragement for them to live. But what segues us into this next section is the last point about trials. Trials produce a singular purpose of Christ being preached. Paul had said there's two types of preachers out there giving out the gospel. Some are doing it for pure motives

because they want to see Jesus Christ being preached. They want to see Jesus glorified and they want to see people come to know Jesus. Some for selfish motives, essentially as we said last week, to build their own kingdom. And Paul said, I don't care what their motives are. The singular purpose, the singular focus that I have is that Jesus Christ is preached.

And that segues us into this because he says, and in that I will rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance. Paul now is going to tell us four things about what it looks like to have the right perspective on life and death. Four points, four lessons on having the right perspective on life and death. Number one, to have the right perspective,

we must live with an expectation of glorifying Christ. Live with an expectation of glorifying Christ. Notice what it says. Verse 19. It will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the spirit of Jesus Christ. Now to start this point, to start this section, he says, I know that this is going to turn out for my deliverance. Now again, to remind us,

Paul's in prison at this point in time. And the word that's used there for deliverance in the Greek is the word soterion, which is where we get our idea of soteriology, which is the study of salvation. That's what that word literally means. It means salvation, but it can mean salvation in any of the three tenses. It can mean salvation in the past tense, meaning I have been saved from my sins.

That's what Jesus gave to us the day that we accepted him as our Lord and Savior. It could mean I will be saved. Speaking of a future glory, I will be saved from the presence of sin when I am taken home to be with Jesus. Or it could have with it the idea of present salvation. I am being saved from the power of sin. Now, I think that it tends to lean towards

both the present and the future tense of, I am presently being saved and I will be saved. But I actually feel like the best translation of this is given to us in the Amplified Bible, where it says, I know that this will turn out for my spiritual well-being. My spiritual well-being. He says the fact that no matter what, the gospel is being preached will turn out for my spiritual well-being because my soul is blessed in knowing that no matter what, the gospel is being given out and Jesus Christ, is being glorified.

He said, I can rest in this for two reasons. I know that my soul will be okay, first of all, because of the prayers of the saints. The prayers of the saints. Have you noticed how many times we've brought this up just in the study of Philippians? It's almost like prayer is a pretty important part of our lives. It's almost like prayer has much more power than we give it credit for.

Because as we have mentioned before, you can be in ministry anywhere in the world at any point in time, simply by joining in that ministry through prayer. Because as you take that time to pray for those that are in ministry, you are strengthening them and giving them what they need to know that they have spiritual well-being. And as you pray for them, you can rest assured of the fact that the Holy Spirit not only interprets but answers that prayer because he says, not only am I confident of the fact that my spiritual well-being is being held up through this because of your prayer, but also because of the fact that my spiritual well-being is being held up through this because of your prayer. But my spiritual well-being is held up in this

because of the supply of the Holy Spirit. Because of the supply of the Holy Spirit. He says, he goes on to say, according to or in accordance with my earnest expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame by anything, but with all boldness, Christ will even now as always be exalted in my body. Whether by life or by death. He says, in all of that spiritual well-being that I have

is in accordance with this. It's my earnest expectation. My earnest expectation of glorifying Christ. That phrase, earnest expectation in the Greek is a really interesting construction of words that carries with it several different ideas that ultimately are used to say this. It's the idea of someone sticking their neck out, earnestly looking for someone to come.

Imagine, if you will, a small child who is waiting for their ride to show up to take them to Disney World. And all that they do is they earnestly expect. They're peering around the corner at every set of headlights. They're peering around the corner at every single car that might be coming by. Is that my ride that's going to take me to this amazing experience?

That's the idea. He says, I have an earnest expectation. And what is his earnest expectation? My earnest expectation is that I will not be ashamed, ashamed of the gospel, ashamed of his witness, ashamed of his life, but instead with boldness, I will continue to present myself and present Christ so that Christ will be exalted, whether it be by my life or whether it be by my death.

His earnest expectation is to exalt Christ. What's the word exalted mean? The word exalted means to be magnified, to be made great, to be declared or to be made known, to be declared or to be made known. So what's he saying? He's saying my greatest expectation in my life is this. The thing that I am earnestly hoping for is this, is that my life will make the name of Jesus Christ great.

My life will make the name of Jesus Christ known everywhere in the world. And that's the earnest expectation that each of us as believers in Jesus Christ should live with. How do we live with the right perspective? Will we live with the perspective that my entire life is wrapped up in bringing glory to the name of Jesus Christ? And listen, it can happen. By my life, and wouldn't that be fun?

Isn't it great to think that your life can bring glory to Jesus in everything that you do and say? Your life can bring glory to Jesus Christ, both in your victories and in your defeats. That's kind of what we talked about with trials. You know, I gave a similar message to some kids at both Arc City and Dexter High Schools this last week about the fact that God uses things to bring glory to his name because our treasures aren't on this earth.

Our treasures are in heaven. And I came across another story. I was reminded of it, of a quarterback named Colt McCoy. Anybody ever heard of Colt McCoy that used to play for the Texas Longhorns? I do not like the Texas Longhorns. I did like Colt McCoy because he was one of the strongest believers in Jesus Christ and had one of the greatest witnesses for Jesus Christ I've ever seen.

You see, at the end of Colt McCoy's senior season, he'd won the Heisman Trophy that year. He got to play in the national championship game against Alabama. Now, if I don't like Texas, you should know how I feel about Alabama, right? And so they're playing Alabama and I was like, man, I think they can do it. That was a great Texas team and he was probably one of the greatest quarterbacks

Texas has ever seen, at least in the top five. And the game starts and everything's looking good and he's playing good. And I'm going, man, they're going to take him down. This is going to be amazing. I'm going to get to see Alabama lose, right? And I think it was towards the end of the first quarter, maybe the beginning of the second quarter, he goes down with an injury.

He can't feel anything in his throwing arm. They worked with him in the locker room. They did everything they could to get him to come back, but he couldn't come back. He could not come back and play the game. And Texas went on to lose a very close game to Alabama. But the point that we get to is this. There was a post-game interview with him. Now, usually when you see a post-game interview

with an athlete who at least claims some aspect of faith, it's because they've won and they get to say, well, I'd like to thank God for giving me this opportunity to play the game and give me everything that I need. Everybody's used to hearing God being glorified in a win. The greatest thing happened at the end of this game. The reporter asked him, what was it like not being able to play in this game?

And it's like he had no words for a minute. He said, I love this game. It's what I've worked for my entire life. And to not be able to play. And then he stopped and then he said, but you know what? I'm standing firm on the rock of Jesus Christ. And my life is not about football. My life is about him. And bringing glory. To his name. It's the best post-game interview I've ever heard in my entire life.

Now, I went back and read an article about him that came out 10 years. I think that was in 2010 when that game took place. And in 2020, an article came out with a group called Sports Spectrum, which interviews Christian athletes all the time. And he said, you know, until that moment, I didn't know that Jesus was really the most important thing to me. He said, until that moment,

I didn't realize that if everything in my life was stripped away, Jesus was still enough. Because my life was meant to bring glory to his name. Isn't that great? Isn't that a great story about an amazing athlete who was able to glorify Jesus through his life? And you and I have those same kinds of stories. We can glorify Jesus through all of the things that we do in our life.

And Paul said, all I want to do, the right perspective on life is that I live to exalt the name of Jesus Christ through my life. But you know how else he knew he could glorify Jesus Christ? Through his death. As a matter of fact, oftentimes death is one of the greatest ways to live. It's one of the greatest ways to bring glory to the name of Jesus Christ. If you don't believe me,

I've got a couple of books you should read. One of them is called Fox's Book of Martyrs. Now there's updated editions. You should read the updated editions. Otherwise they're written in some older English and you're like, I have no idea what they're saying. It's like King James on steroids, right? So read an updated edition of it. But there's another one that was put out by the guys from DC Talk.

It's called Jesus Freaks. And it's about modern day believers in Jesus Christ within the last hundred years that have lost their life for Jesus and brought glory, exalted the name of Jesus Christ through their death. Brothers and sisters, if we want to have the right perspective on life and death, number one, we must have an expectation. We must live with an expectation of glorifying Christ.

Number two, we must understand the purpose of life. We must understand the purpose of life. Notice what it says in verse 21. For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. For me to live is Christ. It's a short line. It's a short section. But in that line, we are given Paul's purpose for living. And in that line, in that line, we are given the true purpose of life.

I want to read it to you in two or three different translations that I thought to be kind of interesting. This is out of the J.B. Phillips translation. It simply says this living means simply. Christ. The New Living Translation says this living means living for Christ. But my favorite was the Amplified and it says this to live is Christ. He is my source of joy and my reason to live.

He is my source of joy and he is my reason to live. You know what? Everybody's trying to figure out right now. What is the purpose of life? What's the point? Why are we here? Why did God put you on this earth? Why are you walking on topside of planet Earth today? And a lot of people will give you a lot of different purposes. A lot of people give you a lot of different meanings.

The humanistic meaning is that you're living to please yourself, right? That's the humanistic ideas that that I am here to bring glory to myself and to live to please me. There are some more noble ideas. Well, you're here to make the world a better place to leave your little mark on the world. You're here to make as much money as you possibly can. You're here to have a career that will have an impact on people.

Some people even say, well, you're here to have kids so that you can leave to your kids a better earth than with handed to you. I would tell you that all of those are good ideas. At least there's a handful of good ideas there. They're not why you're here. First of all, you're not going to make this world a better place. I mean, I hate to be fatalistic, but you're not.

I mean, scripture teaches us that it's not going to get better. It's going to get worse. Things will wax worth. Matter of fact, it specifically says in the last days. It's things will literally wax worse and worse. They're going to get worse. We're not going to save the we're not going to save the environment. We're not going to save the whales. You know, we're not going to save any of those things.

You're not here to make the world a better place. You're here to glorify Christ. You're here to live for Jesus as your source of joy and as your purpose for living because we want to bring people to Jesus because one day he's going to judge this entire world. One day he's going to get rid of this world. One day he's going to get rid of this world. And create a new heavens and a new earth.

And we want to take as many people with us as we possibly can to bring as many people to Christ as we possibly can and to be as close to Christ as we possibly can be. That's why Paul says for me to live is Christ to understand this a little bit better. I want you to write down a couple of scriptures. The first one is Colossians chapter three, verse four. I don't necessarily want you to turn there, but maybe right at the margin of your Bible.

Colossians chapter three, verse four, because in Colossians chapter three, verse four, Paul says this. When Christ, who is our life, appears, we shall be with him. Isn't that amazing? Christ, who is our life. I want you to write down a second one. This is Galatians chapter two, verse 20. It says this, Galatians 2.20. I have been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but it's Christ who lives in me.

That is our purpose for living. Our purpose for living is Christ. If we take it all the way back to the beginning, and I've shared this lots of times, but we're here. We may as well do it again. We take it all the way back to the beginning. When God created Adam and Eve, he put them in a garden. Why did God create Adam and Eve? I've always struggled with why God ever started creating people.

I remember in my early 20s, I was like, why do we keep reproducing? Why do we keep having kids? Genuinely, I'm sorry. This is very selfish of me. I know. I promise it's going to get better. I'll change my mind at some point in time. I did. But I'm like, why do we just keep bringing new little people into the world? What is the point of this? Until I held my niece for the very first time right after she was born.

When I held my niece for the very first time right after she was born, I was like, now I get it. This is pretty amazing. You don't have kids because you need them. You have kids because you want someone to share things. You have kids because you want someone to share everything with. And I got to tell you, as a dad of two little girls now, I feel the exact same way.

You have kids because you want someone to share everything with. You want to be able to shower them with all the love and the goodness and the grace that you've been shown in your own life. And you know what? That's why God created man. You ever sat back and went, what was God thinking when he created us? Right? Like, there's some really smart people in the world.

Like, I know why God created them. But every now and then, they're like, I don't know. They're like, why did God create me? Right? Like, what was he thinking on that one? He's like, oh, I got nothing else to do. I need a project. So, here he is. Why did God create us? He created us because he wanted to share himself with us. God wanted fellowship. All the rest of creation, there to glorify him.

Us as well. We're the one creatures that he created for fellowship. What is the purpose of life? The purpose of life is you knowing. Your creator. You getting to know your creator. Glorifying him. Allowing him to be your source of joy. And allowing him to be the reason that you live. Too many people are living their lives with the exact wrong purpose in life.

And they're finding themselves constantly frustrated. They're finding themselves constantly saying, there must be more than this. I don't care if it's the person that's filled their life with all the pleasure and money and things of the world. I don't care if it's the person. That's filled their life with all of the good projects in the world. I don't care if it's the person who has given their life to philanthropy their entire life.

And all they're doing is living to serve others. If Jesus is not the central point. You're always going to find yourself empty. You're always going to ask yourself the question that so many have. Surely there's more than this. Surely there's more than this. And I'm here to tell you there is. Because the life that you have in Christ. Is the most rewarding life you can ever have.

Because when he becomes the central focal point. All the other things of the earth. Well as that old hymn says. They grow strangely dim. In the light of his glory. And grace. I was telling my girls this the other day. We were talking about living to glorify Christ. And laying up your treasures in heaven. And I said you know. It comes right down to it. If you would have told me I would get to do some of the things that I get to do in my life.

And talk to the people that I get to talk to. And do this. And do the exciting things that I get to do. I would have told you you were crazy. But because I chose to serve Jesus. Man. My life is more full than I could have ever imagined. My life is more meaningful than I could have ever imagined. Because not only do I have the one purpose for life living in my heart.

But I get to serve him every single day. And that's why Paul said. For me to live is Christ. Knowing and serving Christ is our purpose. And that knowledge resets our entire perspective on life. Because now all of a sudden all the things of the earth. Like I said. They just kind of grow dim. As you focus on Jesus. And all of a sudden you find that everything has a lot more meaning.

I like telling this to kids. I didn't like school growing up. I still don't always like school. Matter of fact. There's a lot of things. My kids bring homework home. And I'm like man I remember why I hated school. But. But the one thing I do realize. I do realize. Is this. Do you realize that every subject in school teaches you something about God? It really does.

Because everything teaches us about God. Math as much as I hate it. Teaches us the order of God. Because God is an orderly God. Science teaches us of the creativity of God. And again the order and the structure of God. Literature. I bet you hated literature growing up. I did. But still it teaches us that God is a creative God. That God is creative in his thinking.

And he has made us to be creative beings. And he wants us to be creative. History teaches us that God has a story. And that God has woven his message of redemption throughout all of the story of history. Do you know why they've changed it to the word social studies? Because history sure sounds a lot like his story. You ever thought about that? It's because history teaches us the story of God as it's woven.

As redemption is woven like a scarlet thread. All throughout the story of humanity. All of those things teach us about God. Because when Jesus becomes your focal point. You start going. Man everything really does declare the glory of God. That's why all the time that I spent as a groundskeeper. Was almost as good as all the time that I spent in Bible college.

Because God revealed himself in all those different ways to me. Because when he becomes the reason that you live. It resets everything about the way that you view life. And so number one. If we want to have the right perspective. We must live with an expectation of glorifying Christ. Number two. We must live with the understanding of the true purpose of life.

Number three. We must live with the understanding of the reality of death. The reality of death.

Most of you probably know this. But the number one fear. The thing that everybody fears the most. Is death. A lot of people think it's death in taxes. Turns out it's death in public. Speaking. Those are the top two. I think taxes is probably somewhere around number five. Depending on who you are. I think for Willie Nelson there for a while. It might have been number two.

But that's a whole other story all in and of itself. But death is the thing that people fear the most. Matter of fact there's entire articles written about it. Sometime you should just Google. Fear of death. And it's amazing how many articles that there are. As a matter of fact I was reading one last night. That gave several reasons why people are scared to die.

I'm not going to give you those reasons. Right now you should look it up. It's kind of interesting article. But it's kind of fascinating. Because death is the thing that everybody fears. It's the thing that we're fighting the most. I always said that's what 2020 was about. Was that we didn't want to face death. And we tried to make ourselves immortal. Through vaccines and booster shots.

And hiding for everybody. And all this other kind of stuff. Because everybody was scared to die. The reason why we're all scared to die. Is because we don't always really understand the reality of death. Now I'm going to deal with this a little bit. For just a few minutes. Because I don't want to paint some idea. That oh you should never be scared to die. Listen there's a really healthy fear in that.

The fear of death has kept me from doing some really stupid things at times in my life. I'm like hey I could do that. Or I could die. Right? I mean it's either way. And so it's kept me from doing some really dumb things. But the problem is. Much like that story I told in the beginning. Sometimes that fear can paralyze us. And it keeps us from living our lives.

Because we're scared to die. And it keeps us from standing for our faith. Because we're scared to die. And because of that. We don't always understand the reality of death. I want you to notice what Paul says. Verse 21. He says for me. To live is Christ. To die is gain. If I live on in the flesh. This will mean fruitful labor for me. And I don't know which to choose.

I'm hard pressed. From both directions. Having the desire to depart. And be with Christ. For that is very much. Better. It's remain on in the flesh. Is more necessary for your sake. Paul says some interesting things. About death there. The first of which being. To die. Is gain. Now we need to understand. When he says to die is gain. He's not talking about the process of dying.

He's talking about the result of dying. The process of dying. Nobody wants to go through that. But the result of dying. Is actually gain for us. Why is Paul looking at it as gain? Well he looks at it as gain. For several different reasons. First of all. Because death means. You are no longer. Held down by the physical illnesses. Of this world. You're no longer held down.

By all the physical illnesses. Of this world. And the older that we get. The more we start having those. Add up in our lives. The more we get up slower. We move slower. Right? I love all the things that. All the memes that pop up on. On social media. That says like. Hey if you've ever used a rotary telephone. You should. You should take some medicine. For your back pain.

Right? It's things like that. As we get older. Things just hurt more than they used to. I get to go see a doctor. Because I might have arthritis. In my shoulder. Isn't that right? Isn't that great? Yay for 40s. I mean it's awesome. And so as we get older. There's physical illnesses. That we deal with. But it's not just the aches and pains. It's the actual illnesses.

It's the actual debilitating diseases. That for some people. They can't get out of bed any longer. Because of it. And Paul's going. To die is gain. Remember he had some kind of a thorn in the flesh. That he asked the Lord three times. To remove. And God said. My strength is made perfect. In your weakness. So when he looks at it. He goes. Dying's really not that big of a deal.

The second reason. Why dying is gain. Is we no longer have to. Be buffeted by spiritual weakness. I no longer would have to battle. With all of the things of my flesh. Every day I would not wake up. And go okay. Today we fight. I don't know. I wouldn't have to do that any longer. Because I would be in the presence of God. And in the presence of God. Is that fullness of joy.

But also in the presence of God. I've been made complete. I've been made whole. I don't battle the spiritual weaknesses anymore. The third reason. Why I think he says it's gain. Is because he would no longer be battling persecution. Remember Paul bore. In his body the scars. Of what it was to stand for Jesus Christ. In a world that did not like. That he stood for Jesus Christ.

And he bore in his body those scars. But the fourth reason. I think this is the overarching reason. That we'll get to. Is that to die means that he's home. With Jesus. It's kind of. It's kind of fascinating. Matter of fact. He says. It would be better to depart. And be with Christ. There's a. There's a song. A couple of songs. I'll see if I can remember the lyrics.

One is by. A group called Waterdeep. It says. Dying's underrated. It's a ticket to the feast. The one we're all invited to. From the greatest. To the least. But my favorite one. Came from Rich Mullins. Fascinating. And I didn't look to see. If he wrote these songs right before. If you don't know who Rich Mullins was. He was a great artist in the 90s. Christian artist.

And he wasn't like one of these cheesy. Christian. Christian artists that you hear today. Or even that you heard in the 90s. Where you listen to it. And you were like. I mean. How'd you write that song? Right? I mean. He wrote songs. Right? I mean. From the depth of his being. He was like a. He was like a prophet. Of his time. And he wrote this song. Anyway.

I'd be curious to know. How many of these. He wrote right before he died. In that car accident. But. But this one song that he wrote. Said. When I leave. I want to go out like Elijah. With a whirlwind of fuel. My chariot of fire. And when I look back on the stars. It'll be like a candlelight in Central Park. And this is my favorite part. And it won't break my heart.

To say goodbye. Isn't that great? And so. So it's kind of interesting. That the longer that you live. As a believer in Jesus Christ. The more that you live. To glorify Christ. In everything that you do. The more that you realize. That your life is. Wrapped up in the purpose. Of knowing and serving Jesus Christ. The more you start going. You know what the central theme of all that is?

Jesus Christ. And you know what that central theme. Seems to lead me to? Well this whole world. Is keeping me from. Knowing him. This whole world. Is keeping me from being with him. And so maybe. Just maybe. Dying. Maybe that's actually gain. Maybe that's actually the best thing that could happen. Because all of a sudden now. My life. It's wrapped up in Christ.

And so if my life is wrapped up with Christ on this earth. I serve him on this earth. If my life is wrapped up with Christ. And I go to heaven to be with him. I go to heaven to be with him. Do you know what that means? You can't hurt a guy like that. All of a sudden. You. You. You can't hurt him. Well Paul. We're going to kill you. Okay. Well you got nothing to hold over him at that point in time.

Stop preaching in the name of Jesus. Or you're going to die. He's like done. Let's do it. Jesus loves you. Put me to death. Right? I mean. You can't hurt a guy like that. And you know what the problem with us is? You know what the problem with most of us living in the western culture is? We are so tied to this earth. We are so tied to the things of this earth.

We are so tied to the reputation of this earth. We are so tied to the money of this earth to the pleasures of this earth that we say for me to live is sometimes Christ and to die would be a bummer, right? Maybe it would be good and we don't want to admit that we don't want to say that because that makes us not very spiritual, but it's who we really are and it's how we really feel and Paul had reached a point in time in his life where he was like, you know what for me to live is Christ because that's who my life is wrapped up in and I'll glorify him through the things that I do. But if I.

If I die, send me home faster and it won't break my heart to say goodbye because all of a sudden I'm home with Jesus now and I'm not fighting the battles of this earth. Go with me one place in scripture. Go to second Corinthians. Second Corinthians chapter five.

This is why Paul felt this way. Oh, what the hay. Let's start in chapter four verse 16. Lock in with me. Read along with me. We're going to cover some scripture here. Second Corinthians 416 says this. Therefore, we do not lose heart though our inner man is decay or excuse me though our outer man is decaying yet our inner man is being renewed day by day for this momentary

light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory so far beyond all comparison while we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen these are temporary the things which are not seen these are eternal for we know. That if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down we have a building from God a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens for indeed in this house we groan longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven in as much as we having put it on will not be found naked for indeed while we are in this tent we groan being burdened because not because we want to be buried but because we want to be buried.

We want to be unclothed but to be clothed so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life and he who prepared us for this very purpose is God who gave us the spirit is a pledge therefore being always of good courage and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord we walk by faith and not by sight we are of good courage I say and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord you know it's kind of fascinating is that when he wrote second Corinthians it was two or three maybe four years before he's in the position that he's in now in other words God was already working this in him because of all of the things that he had been going through

of all of the persecution that he had been through in his life all of the things that he had been brought to he wasn't ready for it yet he wasn't ready to say what he said in Philippians chapter one just yet but God was doing that work God was preparing him for that. So. But by the time he's sitting in prison chained between or chained to a Roman guard awaiting trial before Nero he's able to say for me to live is Christ and to die is gain why because he knew the day that he took his last breath here was the day that he take his first breath there and he'd be at home with Jesus which has been the goal that he had been pushing for his entire life. So number one we live with.

Expectation of glorifying Christ number two we understand the purpose of life number three we understand the reality of death and number four we live with a heart to serve others let's read back through those again and pick up the second part he says and to die is gain if I am to live on in the flesh this will mean fruitful labor for me I don't really know what to choose I'm hard pressed from both directions having the desire to depart and be with Christ for that's much better. Yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake convinced of this I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and your joy in the faith so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ through my coming to you again.

You know what's great about what he says there he goes you know if I live on in the flesh that means means fruitful labor living on in the flesh means I will I will continue to serve not only you all but other people I will continue to serve the Lord not only will it be fruitful labor for me but to remain on the in the flesh is more fruitful for for you he says it would be great to go home it would be great to get out of the battle it would be great to get to get out of all of this mess but that might not be the best thing because the best thing may actually be for me to stick around to serve. You see that's the ultimate of dying to ourselves the ultimate of dying to ourselves says I could

take the easy way out but what I'd rather do is what's the most fruitful thing what will be the way that I can serve others the most what will be the way that I can serve people the most you see sometimes when we're in the thick of the battle down here on top side of planet earth we find ourselves longing Lord just take me home. Lord take me out of this place take us all out of this place right all of us are longing for that day when Jesus comes to take us home to be with him either through death or the rapture right that's the really weird thing about being a Christian is that as a believer in Jesus Christ the closer you get to Jesus Christ the more you don't want to be here the more you want to be

there but when it comes right down to it we have to have that same heart that Jesus had that was willing to lay aside his glory so that he could come down and dwell among us and live in the battle with us because that was the best thing that we could do. That was the best thing for us and brothers and sisters if we're to live with the right perspective on life and death then we have to have the perspective that my life is meant to be spent serving other people and I need to have that heart to serve the people that are around me because you are on this earth for a limited amount of time our time here is really short you know I talk to kids all the time and they don't see it that way you know when you're 17 18

years old you're like wow I'm not going to be able to do this I'm not going to be able to do this that's going to be a really long time but I've been amazed at how fast life is flying right I'm just amazed at how fast every day goes how fast every year goes and the older I get the faster they go and you find yourself saying we really are on this earth for a really really short amount of time and only Jesus knows exactly how long and you have a choice with the way that you live your life here on earth you can either live your life to please yourself or you can live your life to serve others but I would like you to live your life to serve others and I would like

to tell you if you're going to have the right perspective on life just like having the right perspective on death and your perspective needs to be what is the most fruitful thing for the people around me what's the most fruitful thing for the people around me because the most fruitful thing for the people around you is for you to serve them Paul you can see the struggle Paul has as a matter of fact take note of what it says in uh in verse 23 he says but I am hard pressed from both directions I love the old King James translation of this where it says I'm in a straight betwixt the two right like anytime I've ever had a hard decision I've had to make I always say I'm in a straight betwixt the two that's

a true story right there you can ask my wife I drive her nuts with it um because she's like Ryan it's not funny anymore it's still funny okay uh is I'm hard pressed on both sides I am pulled in both directions I want so bad to go home and to be done with all of the garbage of this world I want so bad to be out of here and he knew that certain death was he was facing he goes but I want so bad to continue to pour into the people that are around me I want so bad to continue to serve the Lord to to produce more fruit to bring more souls to Jesus he goes I don't know which one I'm gonna choose now here's the funny thing he really had no choice in the matter and yet at the same time we choose to have the right attitude no matter

what it is when God chose to extend his time which he's going to he says I know that it's for you and I can't wait to see what Jesus is going to do in your life now I want to close up with something because like I said Paul presents to us a perspective on life and death here it's hard for us to grasp it it's a little bit of a hard thing for us to wrap our minds around and as always I don't want to present Paul as some super saint that was perfect because Paul got here Paul got here the hard way right I think that's the I think that's the important thing to take note of sometimes we read these things and we see the outcome of someone's life as they've presented it in something like this and you go oh my gosh I can never be that person

I'm not good enough to do that I don't ever have the right attitude right I rarely do I have the right perspective oftentimes my attitude is just really bad God does something I'm like you were right God I'm sorry right now I have to confess it later so how did Paul have this kind of perspective he didn't just land on it one day Paul got the right perspective and he got the right perspective because of the life that he lived as a matter of fact several translations that get deeper into the Greek say in verse five he says for I know it's it means for I know that by experience this will turn out for my deliverance how did Paul get here how did Paul gain the right

perspective we talked about this last week and I'm going to present to you nothing new because we don't need something new we need what's always been true Paul found the right perspective two ways number one he found it through an abiding relationship with Jesus Christ he found it through an abiding relationship with Jesus Christ you remember we looked at second Corinthians and in second Corinthians he was like oh this earthly tent's going to pass away the outer man is decaying the inner man is being renewed day by day and quite frankly to be absent from the bodies to be present with God and oh I can't wait you know what happened after he wrote second Corinthians he got arrested in Jerusalem and when he was arrested he was arrested and he was

in Jerusalem, you know what happened? An angel of the Lord showed up and stood beside him and said, Paul, listen, don't be afraid because as you have testified of me in Jerusalem, so you will testify of me in Rome. Why did an angel of the Lord have to show up after Paul wrote second Corinthians, after he'd already experienced persecution, after most scholars believe he actually died once and was raised from the dead, after he'd been through all of those missionary journeys, why did he still have to have an angel of the Lord show up while he's in a prison cell to say, don't be afraid? Because he was afraid. Because you don't get to a perspective

where you say for me to live as Christ and to die as gain by accident. You get there through the things that you went through in life. And as you go through those things in life, you keep pouring out your heart to the Lord and you say, I'm scared. First message I ever gave ever in my life was on Psalm 23. And on Psalm 23, I was supposed to come to the part where it says, even though I walked through

the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me. And I remember I was going through the hardest time of my life at that point. And I was scared. And I remember sitting out on a dirt road in my pickup truck because I just needed some time with Jesus. And I said, I don't know what to say because I can't say what the Psalmist David says here.

I can't stand up in front of everyone and teach about this because I, I'm scared. And you know what God told me I had to do? Tell them you're scared. I was like, but that's not what preachers are supposed to do. Preachers aren't supposed to say I'm scared. And I felt like he said, but I want you to. And so I did. And from that point on, I've lived with that philosophy of ministry. I'm just going to be as honest as I possibly can.

You know why? Because Paul was as honest as he could possibly be, especially with Jesus, which is why he had to have an angel of the Lord show up and say, don't be afraid. You know, Paul, when he was arrested in Jerusalem was then sent to Rome. And when he was sent to Rome, he was on board of a ship and that ship was in a terrible storm, a terrible storm for days and days and days and days and days. And do you know what happened? An angel of the Lord showed up and

stood beside him and said, Paul, go ahead, shout it out. Don't be afraid, right? No one's going to be lost. You keep going. Why did he have to hear that? Because he was afraid. And all of those things led Paul to the point where as he's sitting chained to a Roman guard, getting ready to testify before Caesar Nero, he could say, for me to live as Christ and to die

is gain. But none of those things could happen if he wasn't living an abiding life with Jesus Christ. And so brothers and sisters, number one, Paul could have the right perspective because he had an abiding relationship with Jesus. But you know what? The second point is that Paul was a Christian. He was a Christian. He was a Christian. He was a Christian. And the second reason why Paul was able to have the right perspective, he had the

encouragement of brothers and sisters around him. You know how I know that? Who wrote Acts? Anybody know? Luke. Luke wrote Acts. And do you know that on that journey on the ship when they were about to be shipwrecked, do you know how that's written in the book of Acts? It's written in the first person, meaning who was with Paul? Luke. Luke was with Paul. Who's with him while he's writing this?

Timothy. And probably Epaphroditus. He had people there that he processed through things with. You don't think Paul looked at Luke sometimes and goes, dude, I don't know if I'm going to make it, man. I think I'm going to die. And I'm kind of scared. You don't think he processed through that? Paul was the boldest guy in the world, right? He's not going to shrink back from telling Luke,

hey, I'm a little scared right now. This is some pretty, serious business that I'm into. And I don't know how this is going to go. And brothers and sisters, when we're going through the things of life, when you're having to deal with the real perspective of life and death, you've got to process through that with somebody. You've got to have somebody that you can talk to, somebody that can be praying with you,

somebody that can stand with you where you can say, hey, I'm scared. I don't know if I have this right perspective and I need somebody supporting me because it's amazing how when you can have those real life conversations with somebody, it changes everything. Because they give you their perspective on it. And if they're worth their soul, they'll point you to Jesus. And they'll tell you and remind you that your life belongs to him

and that your life is wrapped up in him. Don't think that Paul just landed on this right perspective of life accidentally, or like he was some sort of a super saint that wasn't subject to all the same things that we are. He was a man who faced fears, but he did it through an abiding relationship with Jesus. Christ with the fellowship of brothers and sisters around him. And you know what? That's what he's

calling us to do as well. Brothers and sisters, we need the right perspective because as we have the right perspective on life and death, we can live a life filled with joy as we process through these things with our Savior and with the body of Christ. Amen. I'd like to invite the worship team up. This morning is Communion Sunday, and so we will prepare to partake together as the body.

I want to spend just a couple of minutes sharing about communion as they're working their way up here. We're told that on that last great night of the feast, that Passover feast that spoke of the death of Jesus Christ, Jesus took the bread. Now, what we use here is we use some little cut-up crackers made of unleavened bread, but the bread that they would have used is pretty fascinating because there were three things that were very interesting about it. Number one, the bread that they would have used because it was the Passover feast was unleavened.

Leaven in Scripture is always indicative of sin. And so, if you will, this bread was pure. It was sinless. The second thing that's kind of fascinating about this bread is that it had stripes. There were stripes all across the bread. It's kind of interesting because we are told that by his stripes, we are healed. And then the third thing that's interesting about the bread that he took is the bread was pierced. Matter of fact, those piercings are in

those stripes. We are told that he was pierced for our transgressions. And so, as he held up that bread that Isaiah 53 declared was exactly who he was, that he was pure, that he was pierced, and that he was striped for us, he took that bread, and in that symbolic fashion, he broke it. And he said, this is my body, which is broken for you. Take and eat. And every time we do that, we are

not only reminded ourselves of the sin, but we are reminded of the sin, and we are reminded of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us, but we are declaring to the world that the broken body of Jesus is the hope that I have. And then he took that last cup, the last cup of the Passover feast is called the cup of redemption. He took that last cup of redemption, and he held it up, and he said, this is my blood in the new covenant, which is shed for you. And they were commanded to take and drink. And we are reminded that the blood of Jesus Christ is what covers our sins. And again,

take, we declare to the world that the one place of hope that we have is the fact that Jesus's blood is enough to cover our sins. And we are told to take it and eat it. Why? Because we take Jesus in by faith. And when we do, he becomes a part of who we are. Now, nothing about this meal saves you. Nothing about this meal is magical in and of themselves. They're just elements. It's the truth

that they represent to us. Where the power truly lies. And so brothers and sisters, we are commanded to not do this in an unworthy manner. We are to do this in, in a worthy manner. And the way that we do it is twofold. Number one, if you're here this morning and you're not a believer in Jesus Christ, you should really consider whether this meal is for you because it won't mean anything to you. As a matter of fact,

there's a warning against it in scripture. The good thing is if you're not a believer in Jesus Christ this morning, if you're not a part of the family of Jesus Christ, it's as simple as saying, you know what? Sin is my problem. And Jesus is not the main thing in my life. And I want to give my life to him today. And as you confess your sins and accept what he's done for you on the cross,

you too can become a believer in Jesus Christ. And then this meal is for you. The second way that we partake of it in a worthy manner is that we ask God to cleanse us because as we go throughout a day, a week, a month, sin infiltrates our lives because none of us are sinless. And so as we are reminded, of those areas that have separated us from God, not separated us in salvation, but separated us in fellowship, we confess those things to the Lord. And it's a reminder that it is my sin

that put him on that cross. And it is that cross that sets me free from my sin. And so as we sing this last song, and as the ushers hand out the elements, I would ask that you would allow the Lord to search your heart and see if there's anything in there that needs dealt with. And if so, do business with the Lord this morning, confess your sins to him, and ask for that forgiveness, and have that fellowship restored.

Once you've received your elements, if you would please stand. And once everyone's received their elements, we'll partake together.

Would you bow with me? Father, we come to you and thank you. Lord, I thank you for the cross where you purchased, where you purchased us with your blood. Father, I thank you for the great love that you have for us. I thank you for your body that was broken. I thank you for your blood that was shed. And I thank you that because of who we are in you, Lord, we are not only one with you,

but one with each other. Lord, I thank you for the family of Christ. And may we always remember the sacrifice that you made for us. In Jesus' name, amen. You may partake. And if you'd bow with me one more time. Father, as we go out from here, Lord, may we continue to be drawn close to you. Father, may we see our lives as wrapped up in your love. And Lord, may we truly live with that right perspective. Father, we thank you and we praise

you. In Jesus' name, amen. Be blessed.