Searching for Meaning - Philippians 1:18c-30
I recently read an article online with the following headline: “Do You Want to Know the Secret to Living a Fulfilling Life?”
The implication is that the author is going to reveal the secret in the article. Bold, right?
In it, the author writes, “Over the years, I’ve found that by learning new skills and knowledge, I was able to find answers and solutions to my problems, which allowed me to achieve a greater sense of fulfillment.”
So, to this person, learning or education is the secret to living a fulfilling life. Because the more you learn the more likely you are to have the solutions to your problems.
But really, there are so many people out there that claim to have the secret to getting the most out of life. And there’s a reason these sorts of articles are popular!
Another example of this is many millennials believe that traveling is the secret to living a fulfilled life. We want to live an exciting life and the more places you see, the more pictures you take, the more you're getting out of life.
For others, it's a close-knit family. So, the closer your family is, that determines whether you're living a happy life.
Or maybe it’s devoting time to your hobbies. The less time you spend at work and the more time you spend doing the things you love is the secret to a content life. There are a litany of things that we are led to believe will make us happy. It will make our lives more exciting.
We’re all afraid of living an unfulfilled life. A purposeless life. And so we search for meaning. We search for purpose.
Because we want to squeeze every last drop out of life. We want to leave our mark and be remembered.
The Apostle Paul answers this question for us so clearly. So succinctly. Paul tells us that living for Christ is how you get the most out of life.
None of that other stuff matters. Look at verse 18 with me.
Purpose in Life (vv. 18c-21a)
Paul says, “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.”
In the previous passage, he said that as long as Christ was preached, even with the wrong motives, he’d rejoice in the fact that the gospel was proclaimed.
And so he picks up by saying at the end of verse 18, “Yes and I will rejoice! For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance.”
He’s rejoicing in the proclamation of the gospel but also in his deliverance.
He says, through the prayers of the Philippians and the Spirit of Jesus Christ it will turn out for his deliverance.
What is Paul’s deliverance? He’s referring to being delivered from prison. But there’s a spiritual dimension to his deliverance as well. He’ll be delivered from prison whether he lives or dies. And he’s confident the Philippians’ prayers are the driving force behind his deliverance.
Look at Paul’s confidence. “For I know…” He doesn’t say, “I think your prayers…” or “I’m pretty sure your prayers…”
His confidence jumps off the page. He trusted that the prayers of the Philippians would do something. He knew that God heard their prayers and he expected the Lord to move.
Paul knew that their prayers would produce fruit. God would answer them. Something would happen. It’s challenging to think about.
If you’re anything like me, you're guilty of offering up flippant prayers to God. We pray casually. We must pray expectantly.
Do you expect God to produce fruit from your prayer life? What about the prayers of the people here at Good Shepherd? Do you think God hears and answers our prayers?
Maybe our prayers are fruitless because we don’t expect God to do anything.
Why don’t we pray more expectantly?
We’re the first to say that God is sovereign and controls and sustains all things, but do our prayers actually reflect that belief? We don’t actually think that God will do anything. That he will change our circumstances.
We need to pray with an eager expectation.
Paul certainly did. Notice what he says in verse 20. “as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.”
He’s confident that the prayers of the Philippians will be answered and the Spirit of Christ will preserve him. Remember Paul is suffering in jail. He knows he needs the Spirit’s help to resist the shame of dishonoring Christ, and the courage he needs to honor Christ despite whether he lives or dies.
Paul wasn’t worried about either of those outcomes, because ultimately he wanted to see the name of Christ magnified.
And it’s as he’s pondering his own life and the possibility of death that he famously says, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
No matter what happens to him, he wants to see the name of Christ glorified. He is willing to pour his life out for Christ.
And he answers a question that we often fail to ask ourselves: Am I really living?
We spend our entire lives running here and there. Thinking about our careers, our families, our endless to-do list, and we never stop to ask ourselves, “Am I truly living?” We never even bother to really think about that.
You see, living for Christ is what brings your life meaning. Is Christ what you’re living for?
If not Christ, then what?
For Paul, money, influence, and power aren’t important when compared to the beauty of Jesus Christ.
And notice this about verse 21. Paul says “to live.” He makes the verb “live” infinitive. Whenever you add the word “to” to a verb it puts it in the infinitive tense that carries the notion of the past, present, and future.
Paul wants his entire existence to be for Christ! We can’t change the past, but we can resolve to presently live for Christ. To commit our future to Christ.
Living for Christ gives your life purpose.
Christ is what it means to live and Christ is what it means to die.
Purpose in Death (vv. 21b-26)
Because death is imminent. I have some bad news for you this morning: we’re all going to die.
Sometimes you just get a real clear sense of your mortality.
That happened to me last week. I felt my mortality in a vivid way. It just hit me in the face that I’m going to die. I know that sounds really morbid.
It just sort of happened upon me. I didn’t have a like a near death experience or anything. I just felt it.
Death is intimidating. It scares us. But what does Paul say? He says death is gain! The single thing that scares all of us more than anything, but for the Christian, Paul calls it gain!
Isn’t it interesting that we often use the phrase when someone passes away that “he lost his life” or “she lost her life.”
But we shouldn’t use that language for the Christian! Why? Because when the Christian dies she doesn’t lose her life, she gains eternity with Christ!
For the Christian, death is simply gaining a better life. Death is gain because you're getting something better than what you had! The believer is brought into a fuller communion with Christ. You no longer have to sense the presence of God because you’ll literally be in it.
How depressing is it to believe this life is as good as it gets?
Eternity with Christ means no more stress. No more pain. All of the things that weigh on you and drag you down - gone. Ladies and gentlemen that gaining something, is it not?
It’s as a result of considering “to live is Christ and to die is gain”, Paul wrestles with this question: Is it better to continue living and serving the church or die and be with Christ?
Look at what he says: “If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me.” There’s a lot of work that needs to be done for the kingdom. And then in verse 23, “My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”
But the work is nothing compared to the surpassing riches of being in the presence of Christ.
He says that eternity with Christ is ultimately better, BUT to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.
The Philippian church needed Paul and he understood this as well.
Thinking in these terms strips death of its power. For the Christian, death serves a very clear purpose - and that’s to bring you into the presence of Christ. It’s with that view in mind, you can say with Paul, “to die is gain.”
Purpose in Suffering (vv. 27-30)
When you view your life in the same manner as Paul, when you can look at yourself in the mirror and genuinely say, “to live is Christ and to die is gain,” well, you can face anything. You can overcome anything. And when the church is truly focused on Christ, together we can overcome anything, even persecution and suffering.
Notice how he appeals to the unity of the church in verse 27. Paul says the church should stand firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the gospel. The church should be united around the gospel and when the church is, it can overcome any opposition.
Standing firm together is a clear sign to the opponents of Christ of their destruction and of the Christian’s salvation.
But I really want to zero in on verse 29. Look at what Paul says. He says, “It has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.”
Suffering isn’t an optional part of the Christian life. Paul says it right there. You should not only believe in Christ but be willing to suffer for his sake.
He’s telling us that we will suffer. We’ve all suffered to varying degrees, but we’ve all suffered nonetheless!
We often think that we suffer because we did something wrong. We think, God what did I do wrong? I try to do what pleases you and yet, here I am, being punished.
This is the question Job wrestled with. His friends keep going to him telling him that he needs to repent of his sin. And throughout the book, Job maintains his innocence.
Job’s friends were convinced that he did something wrong. If he didn’t do anything wrong, why would God take everything away from him? But that wasn’t the case. That’s not why Job suffered.
The apostle Paul might even be a better example of this. He’s out there preaching the gospel, doing the will of God, and yet his life is full of opposition, conflict, and suffering. Jesus tells Ananias that Paul will suffer for his name’s sake. He’s imprisoned writing this letter.
He says that in verse 30. He tells them that the conflict that he faces, that put him in jail, is the same conflict that they face. People resisted Paul because of the gospel, people are going to resist the Philippian church because of the gospel.
It’s easy to say that you want to be more like Jesus, but are you willing to suffer like Jesus?
That might be his plan for you in order to make you more like him. It was for Paul.
Look at what Paul says: “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake”
Paul’s language makes it clear that suffering isn’t merely a cross you’re supposed to bear, but is a gift.
And it’s usually a gift no one wants to receive. It’s like getting socks and underwear at Christmas. You don’t want it even though you might need it!
The Scriptures telling us to expect suffering really flies in the face of the way we live our lives. We try to make our lives as convenient as possible. We avoid or minimize suffering at all costs.
And then Paul says that it has been granted to you to suffer for his sake.
If you’ve ever read stories about believers who suffered tremendously only to have their lives restored later, many of them report the same thing. There’s an aspect of their suffering that they miss.
It’s almost always this: They miss the utter dependence they had upon God in the midst of their suffering.
Pastor Andrew Brunson, who was released from Turkey two years ago, reports this. He said in an interview that the conditions of prison, the loneliness and fear he experienced, forced him to seek Christ with desperation. And he said he now misses that about prison in Turkey.
You see Paul may not have known why he suffered, but he knew his suffering served a purpose. He knew it would draw him closer to Christ.
How else could someone in prison write something so confidently about rejoicing? Remember the end of verse 18? “Yes, and I will rejoice!”
Paul you’re in prison! You have nothing to rejoice over!
He knew God was going to do something even through suffering. He knows God is moving and if it requires him to suffer, he’s willing to carry that cross if it means drawing closer to Christ.
Living for Christ is how you fulfill your created purpose. It’s not learning or traveling. It’s not your family. It’s not your hobby. Living for Christ is how you bring meaning to your life.
You see, Christ answers the question, “why am I here?” An atheist will never be able to answer this question. Because science cannot give meaning to your life!
But Christ can. And he will. So I ask again, are you really living? Or are you merely existing?
A person living for Christ that takes Paul’s words seriously will see God’s purpose being fulfilled whether they're standing on the mountain peak of life or in the deepest valley.
You can live with reckless abandon when you’re living for Christ. Why? Because you have absolutely nothing to lose. You might lose your life? Paul says that’s gain. You might suffer? That’s a gift that can bring you closer to Christ.
There’s a great poem written by Charles Studd called “Only One Life, 'Twill Soon Be Past” and in the final stanza he says:
Only one life, 'twill soon be past,
Only what's done for Christ will last.
And when I am dying, how happy I'll be,
If the lamp of my life has been burned out for Thee.”
Let’s pray together.