“According to my earnest
expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all
boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether
it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But
if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose
I wot not. 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. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and
continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith; That your rejoicing
may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again”
(Philippians 1:20-26).
Introduction
We have learned that the apostle
Paul was in prison and facing the death penalty for crimes he had not committed,
but rather than buckling under the pressure, he reveals that he has the strength
that only God can give. He was able to turn his focus away from his personal
problems and fix his attention on what really mattered, which is, to magnify
Christ in every possible way. He may have to stand before Nero, but Paul knew
that he had to appear before a greater King than the emperor of Rome. “For
we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ” (2 Corinthians
5:10). This “earnest expectation” includes the salvation of the body at the
end of the ages. “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for
the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to
vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of
corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that
the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not
only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we
ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the
redemption of our body” (Romans 8:19-23).
The
prospect
The Philippians were earnestly
praying for Paul’s release and he earnestly desired to serve the Lord no
matter what was going to happen to him. “Earnest expectation” means ‘to
gaze into the future with hope’, for the Greek can be translated as
‘expectation with uplifted head’ – “And when these things begin to
come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth
nigh” (Luke 21:28) and ‘outstretched neck’ – “For the earnest
expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God” (Romans
8:19). Persecution, prison and the prospect of death did not weaken his faith or
stop him glorifying God. While he hoped and prayed for release, he did not as
yet know if it was the Lord’s will for him to die there. “For ye are
bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit,
which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:20). “Ashamed” refers to the fact
that Paul had nothing to be ashamed of in his work for the Lord. “As it is
written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and
whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed” (Romans 9:33). His
“boldness” is the very antithesis of shame and embarrassment.
Both his life and death were wrapped
up in Christ, and either way, since he belonged to the Lord, he knew that he
could not be separated from Him. “For I am persuaded, that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”
(Romans 8:38-39). “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain” is Paul’s
philosophy in a nutshell and is a good motto for all believers to have, because
He can be magnified through our lives no matter what dire circumstances we find
ourselves in. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I,
but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by
the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians
2:20). “To die is gain” does not refer to the death of the body as such but,
as the Greek implies, to the immediate state of existence after it.
The
purpose
We should take time to understand
the apostle’s teaching here. For him, living meant completely committing his
life as a living sacrifice to God. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by
the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1)
rather than yielding to sin, “Neither yield ye your members as instruments
of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are
alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto
God” (Romans 6:13). He had given his whole life, every moment of it, to
the service of Christ and was determined to reach as many souls as possible with
the gospel of salvation. In other words, Paul had a purpose for living, and
because of this he had a glorious view of death. “For whether we live, we
live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live
therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8). Physical death held
no fears for him because he knew that through it he would see his Saviour face
to face. “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1
Corinthians 15:55).
Life is meaningless without Christ.
Our lives are less than worthless if we do not follow Jesus the way we ought to,
especially considering that the Holy Spirit enables believers to live above the
hardships and terrors of the world. “Nay, in all these things we are more
than conquerors through him that loved us” (Romans 8:37). Death? Well that
is just a doorway into the presence of God, therefore “to die is gain” for
the Christian that is living in the centre of His will. Like Paul, we can face
an uncertain future with the courage only Christ can give us. “And he said
unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in
weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the
power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
The
predicament
If he was permitted to live, then
Paul had already decided to keep on preaching the gospel. He was not going to
spend his days worrying about the outcome of his trial, instead he was
determined to glorify the Lord to the highest degree he could. “Wot not” is
not ‘I cannot decide’ as some modern teachers would have us believe. He
already knew that to be with Christ was gain, so he was convinced what the best
choice was. “Depart” refers to being loosed from the confines, pains and
limitations of the flesh. We may see something of his meaning here in 2 Timothy
4:6 where he writes, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my
departure is at hand”. In both cases it means ‘to loose anchor’ or
‘set sail’. Paul is simply stating that he did not know yet know what
God’s will was on the matter, therefore he was leaving the choice up to
Christ. His own desire was to be with the Lord, which was “far better”, for
death would be a blessed release from all his suffering and pain. Notice that
Paul did not believe the cultic doctrines of soul-sleep and purgatory, for how
could the dormancy or the torment of the soul be more preferable to remaining
alive?. The flesh (body) is only a temporary home for the soul and spirit. “Therefore
we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are
absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I
say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the
Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8) … “And they stoned Stephen, calling
upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59). If we
were given a choice to go to Heaven or stay on earth today, what would we
choose? While we live let us be eager to live according God’s will. “For
that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that”
(James 4:15).
Deep down Paul knew that it was best
for the church that he remained alive a bit longer. He knew what was going to
happen as soon as he passed away. “For I know this, that after my departing
shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock” (Acts
20:29). He would, after his release, ministered to people for “two whole
years in his own hired house” and preached “the kingdom of God, and
teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence,
no man forbidding him” (Acts 28:30-31), and would continue to spread the
good news until the day he died.
Conclusion
We have to be impressed by Paul’s sacrificial service and selfless attitude in all of this. He was willing to ignore his very real problems for the sake of Christ and His church. No wonder he was a trailblazer for Christ. Sadly we see very few believers today who come even halfway to the measure of the Christianity Paul lived and preached. Did God really mean for such faithfulness to die out when the apostle did?
