To Live Is Christ

Gracious Father, we thank You for the Holy Scriptures, their precepts, promises, directions and light. In them may we learn of Christ, grasp His truth and have grace to follow in His steps. Amen. The passage that we're looking at this morning is from Philippians. My name is Lydia. Originally from the city of Thyatira. I moved to Philippi for business opportunities. You see, I'm a seller of purple goods. And Philippi, being a Roman colony, does a good trade. I'm not a Roman citizen. I don't have that coveted status. I don't get the tax breaks, the legal protection or the social privilege. I trust God though. There was no synagogue in town because there weren't enough male Jews, but every week a few of us would meet just outside the city for a time of prayer. Then one day we had a visitor join us for prayer. His name was Paul. And he told us the most amazing good news. He told us that there is a king, God's king, who reigns over God's kingdom. And his king's name was Jesus. We sat intently as we heard how this King Jesus came and how he suffered on the cross, died for our sin and then three days later came back to life again. And get this one day, he's going to return. And we heard that if we trust this King Jesus, we not only receive the forgiveness of sin, but we also become citizens of his kingdom with privilege and status beyond what we could imagine. Well God that day convicted me of the truthfulness of these words and I believed that day was so sweet. My sins were washed away and I became a citizen of God's kingdom. We were by the river and so I was baptized straight away, my family too. Soon others put their trust in Jesus and our little gathering began to grow. We rejoiced in what God had done for us through his King Jesus as we shared with others the good news. It's not always easy though. To start with, it wasn't long before Paul and his companions were beaten and thrown in prison. People feared the power of King Jesus and instead of believing him and trusting him, they ran away from him. There was a pretty miraculous prison escape where the jail just fell down and the jailer who witnessed it, he and his family joined our gathering because they put their trust in Jesus. Because Paul when the jail fell down he didn't run away, but he stayed there and he shared the good news with the jailer. So exciting. Anyway, needless to say Paul had to leave town. There is still some hostility. Some of us have suffered ridicule, disrespect, imprisonment. A bunch of people won't purchase my purple goods anymore because I follow King Jesus. I'd say it's worth it though because in Jesus I've gained so much more than I could ever get in this world. We're so thankful to God that Paul came and shared the good news with us. That was about 10 years ago now. We pray for him as we know that he prays for us. We're partners in the gospel now. And like Paul does, we tell anyone we can about the good news of God's King Jesus. We just received a letter from Paul the other day. We read it together in our gathering. It was so timely and addressing areas we needed to hear like about the argument between Yoder and Sintiki. Don't get me started on that. And these so-called preachers who seem to care more about undermining Paul than preaching the gospel. Here reminds us too of what it means to be a citizen of God's kingdom and how good it is. The latest news is that Paul is still in prison, still suffering because he kept telling people about Jesus. This one could be death for him depending on the mood of Caesar. But his faith is strong. Paul is encouraged by our prayers for him. And he is confident that God will answer our prayers and be able to come and visit us again. We're hopeful that he will be able to come and visit and encourage us and spare us on in the faith that we can continue to live as faithful citizens of God's kingdom. We're so thankful for this letter and we will be sure to read it again and again. Yours truly, Lydia, believer in Jesus, citizen of the kingdom of heaven. Well, we gathered as a church today. I was struck as Paul's letter was read out by his attitude towards life and death. Particularly the words I eagerly expect in hope that I will in no way be ashamed. But we'll have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Paul's whole world is shaped by Jesus and his resurrection. And he knows that death is gain because as he puts it, I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. He longs to be with the resurrected King. Me too. This world is tough, business is struggling, the Romans can be harsh. How good is it going to be to be with Jesus? And knowing that I am a citizen of his kingdom, knowing what is to come, and it means that like Paul, I don't have to live my life for myself. I can live it for Jesus. Life is to be used to exalt and honor Christ. And Paul, as he seeks to live for Jesus, he wants Jesus to be exalted and honored. But he also wants our little church here in Philippi to progress in our faith, to increase in our joy in Jesus. I really do hope that God answers our prayer for him to come and visit. As I think about my life and the difference Jesus makes, I used to only care about my business gains. But since trusting King Jesus, my priorities have changed. Now I want to follow Paul's example and in everything I do, I want King Jesus to be honored and exalted. I want everyone to hear the good news. And I love seeing the church grow and others come to follow Jesus. I love that my business gains can be used to help grow the church, to help Paul on his missionary journeys and honor Christ. I'm going to pray regularly now that my life would honor Christ in everything. Lydia. A week has passed and a different part of Paul's letter stuck with us today as we heard it read. It was about how to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of King Jesus. The jailer put it like this. If we proclaim that Jesus is King, we need to live as if Jesus is King. We discussed how that means we have to keep living for Jesus no matter what. Holding onto the gospel no matter what. Making sure we keep Jesus at the center no matter what. And this match Paul's words about how we understand firm in the gospel together, in one spirit striving together as one for the faith of the gospel, and not being frightened of opposition. There is opposition. Paul was driven out of town. There are people who are opposed to us because of King Jesus. And so we need to stick together by the Holy Spirit and stand firm for the gospel. We could just say, Jesus isn't really my King, or stop living as if Jesus was our King, join in the idol worship of the city. It'd be so much simpler just to blend back into the crowd, join in the imperial ceremonies, keep my business safe. But that would not honor Christ. It's tempting sometimes, but I'm so glad for the encouragement today, to keep living for Jesus and to not be ashamed. What's the point in having a King if we give up on him at the first sign of trouble? And so we're encouraged with each other. We doubled down today in prayer, praying that we'd stand firm for the gospel. And that we would be known as people who not only talk about King Jesus, but live for King Jesus. It was stirring. I'm excited now about the future of our church. Everyone was. Lots of fuel for my prayers this week. Lydia. Well, there ends the first person story of Lydia. You may have noticed that there is references to her conversion. That's recorded for us in Acts chapter 16. You can read it later. Paul's words are the letter to the Philippians. That we have before us, which we had read out earlier. And there was a bunch of historical context. And I used a little bit of creative license there in Libya's life. This letter to the Philippians was God's word to that church in a particular time, in a particular place. And it was for their encouragement. It was for their building up. It was so that they would live to exalt Jesus. And God's word is eternal. And it transcends time and place. And so this letter to the Philippians is for us. So that we would exalt Christ and live for him. So what about today? Well, here are a couple of reflections from the parts of the letter that Lydia was reflecting on. In Philippians chapter one, verses 18 to 26, we are to live life for King Jesus. Now, did you notice the desire there for face to face ministry? Paul and the Philippians are praying that they could be together again. They were using the technology at the time, writing letters to communicate and that was good. But they wanted to see each other face to face. In our digital age, it is possible to never meet. But actually, it is never going to replace meeting someone in person. In Canunara, top of Northwest Australia, smack bang in the middle of nowhere, I spent a lot of time speaking with people by Zoom or FaceTime. And that was good. It was helpful. It was necessary even. But it was always so much better when I could see them face to face. When I could sit with them, chat with them, pray for them while they were there. The same is true today. We need to not give up meeting together because face to face encouragement to live for Jesus is so valuable. And we live in the eye generation, don't we? We are so focused on ourselves. We're very individualistic. But it's interesting to note that Paul, who's in prison on likely on death row, he's focused on building up the Philippian church. He's focused on the church, on others. He wants to see Jesus honoured and fellow believers grow in their faith. Imagine what it would look like if we all had that same attitude as we walked into church to meet with God's people. We walked in with the intention to give a word of encouragement from the Bible to someone. Or we took 15 seconds to encourage the person who's serving morning tea. Or pulling aside that person that we know has been struggling and just letting them know that you've been praying for them. Well, we can do this as we embrace Paul's motto in verse 21, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Through faith in Jesus we are citizens of God's kingdom. We have such a privileged position. We don't need to worry about ourselves in our own position. And it means we can live for King Jesus. We can live to exalt him, to honour him. The way that we do that is by loving and serving his church, which he died for. So let's pray that we would do this with our lives. To live is Christ. To die is gain. That's the next part of the verses. And to live is Christ. To die is gain. And for Paul death is gain. Because death is just the beginning of being with Jesus. Verse 23, I desire to depart and be with Christ which is better by far. Today God is present with us. Jesus is present with us by his Holy Spirit. But he is not physically present with us. Jesus is at God's right hand in heaven. And Paul is longing for the day when he will get to be with Jesus face to face. Now our culture avoids death. Part of some people's thinking, you know the word AI, everyone's talking about AI these days. Some people in the AI world are hoping that AI is going to be the end of death. That we're going to become so technological advanced that humanity would never die. But the Christian, we actually look forward to what death will bring. Because it will bring us into glory with Jesus. We will be with him. It's not something to avoid. And so we live for Jesus. And when we die we gain because we get to be with Jesus. And then in Philippians chapter 1 verses 27 to 30 we are to live life for the Gospel. In fact we're called as a church to live a life worthy of the Gospel. This is a life where the good news of Jesus' death and resurrection is centre. And we are to strive for this cause. Be united in this cause. And we do it because of King Jesus. Who died on the cross for our sin. Who suffered for us. But who was raised to give us eternal life. The reason we strive for the Gospel is because of Jesus. Because we're citizens of his kingdom. I think of a flock of birds like cockatoos or rainbow lorikeets. A one bird on its own doesn't look very impressive. But when you see a flock of hundreds and thousands of birds. Just all together zipping and weaving going in one direction. That's a sight to behold isn't it. Where we're to strive together for the Gospel. Like the birds. And we can do it because Jesus has given us his Holy Spirit. On October 11 we're having a combined service as a church. Followed by a workshop. To help us work out together what does it look like for us to live a life worthy of the Gospel. What does it look like for us to strive as one for the faith of the Gospel unashamed. Now we don't do it in our own strength. We do it under King Jesus. So please be praying for this day. That it will help us to stand firm as one in Jesus Christ. Living a life worthy of the Gospel. And in all this our goal is to exalt Christ. To honour Christ. To live for him. So that people will see us in our lives and give glory to God. And as we strive for the Gospel. It might mean suffering. We are blessed to live in the time and place that we do. Where we can meet with great freedom. But there's always this warning here in the Scriptures. Jesus suffered for us dying on the cross to bring us to God. Paul suffered as he shared the good news of Jesus. Paul actually puts it in terms in verse 29 of being granted to suffer for Christ. Like it's a gift of grace that Paul has the privilege of being able to suffer for his faith in Jesus. Just like Jesus suffered for us. The Philippian church was told to expect suffering. We should not be surprised if at some point we suffer for the sake of the Gospel. And we can do this because of Jesus. Because we know that we're citizens of his kingdom. And that one day when we are with him we will suffer no more. And so we can stand firm for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Not because everyone will like it. But because it's worth it. So may we echo Paul for me to live as Christ and to die as game. May they be our words and our prayer. Let's pray. Heavenly Father we thank you that Jesus came. And he suffered for us. Paying the penalty of our sins so that we could be right before you. And in relationship with you and be part of your kingdom. Citizens of your nation. Help us Lord to live as citizens of your kingdom. May these words of Paul's be true for us. May we know that to live is Christ and to die is game. And we ask Lord that in all that we do that we would exalt Jesus. That we would bring him the glory and the praise and the honour. And we ask this in Jesus name. Amen.