Philippians 1:18b-26 –
18b Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 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. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.
Introduction
Do you ever get annoyed when people ask those “Would you rather_____” questions? They go something like this. Would you rather always have to sing instead of speak, or dance everywhere you go? Would you rather have no taste buds, or no sense of smell? Would you rather live an extraordinary but short life, or a long but ordinary life? One recent and particularly odious example at work provoked a surprising amount of passionate argument among my coworkers – Would you rather get beat up in front of your girl or run away from a fight in front of your girl?
In this passage, Paul takes his turn at a Would you rather question: Would you rather live or die?
Wait a minute, Paul. That’s too easy! I don’t think you understand the unwritten law of Would you rather questions – They need to be tough to answer. They produce pain either because both options are desirable or because both are awful. Answering should be hard. A good question should be like, Would you rather have to walk a thousand miles, or reach your hand in an adder’s den to grab the car keys? On the surface, Paul’s question seems a lot more like, Would you rather have coffee, or not have coffee? But, as we’ll see, Paul is able to turn seemingly obvious reasoning on its head.
Philippians Background: Paul the Exemplar and the Upside down Philippians
Before we get there, let me refresh your memory of this letter’s background. Since December 2023, this is my fourth sermon from Philippians. I last preached to you from Paul’s letter about 9 months ago. I also surveyed Philippians in Berea about 6 months ago. That said, I’ve previously provided a lot of background of the church and the circumstances that occasioned Paul’s letter.
So this morning, I’ll give it just 200 words. Luke dedicated the whole of Acts chapter 16 to narrating the establishment of the Philippian church. He notes that Philippi was “a leading city of Macedonia”, a province to which Paul arrived in AD 50 after seeing a vision of a Macedonian man beckoning for help. Paul went, and thus, the Philippian church was born when he preached the gospel to some women gathered by the river to pray. Written some 10 years later, this letter reflects a warm ministry partnership.
Philippi was a Roman “colony”. This means her citizens enjoyed special legal privileges like those in Rome. Acts 16 shows how deeply this identity ran, since opposition to Paul centered on threats to Roman customs. They were accused of advocating customs “not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice” (Acts 16:21). This civic pride highlights the clash of allegiances the Philippians felt and orients us to Paul’s exhortation in Philippians 1:27 to “behave as citizens worthy of the gospel of Christ”, which occasioned the letter.
Why does that matter this morning? An awareness of this background helps us because it’s the occasion for Paul’s frequent presentation in the letter of his faith, his reasoning, his affections, and his motives. He talks them through these to give them an example of gospel-worthy thinking, feeling, and behavior to imitate in their trials. We saw his example in the opening 11 verses, where he reflected on the past – framing not only their gospel partnership, but also, counterintuitively, his imprisonment and legal defense as grace. We saw his example again in verses 12 through (the beginning of) verse 18, where he considered the present – namely, the contribution of his imprisonment to the advance of Christ’s interests. And in our passage this morning, Paul will conclude his missionary report by reasoning aloud, so to speak, about his future.
Next time, we’ll consider Paul’s exhortation to the Philippians to imitate his example. But for this morning, we’ll focus on Paul’s exemplary role modeling. Here he applies his chief hope for Christ to be honored in his body to the hypothetical question of whether it is better to live or to die. The big idea of this passage is that Christ should be the great desire of every Christian. Thus, the main takeaway is to let the desire to see Christ exalted rule our hearts and direct our response to every trial.
Deliverance? (vs. 18-20)
Verse 18
In the first half of his ministry report, Paul shared his present joy that, even if it is at his own expense, Christ is getting glory. Verse 18 begins, “What then, only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice”. He is speaking there of his current circumstances. In the latter half of the verse, however, Paul turns to consider the future. “Yes, and I will rejoice” (v. 18b). He is rejoicing now over what he expects to come, namely, deliverance.
Verse 19
“For I know that through your prayers and with the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance”. Deliverance, or salvation, in simplest terms, means that God will come through on Paul’s behalf. Reading v. 19 in isolation, one might naturally assume he means getting out of prison and escaping a death sentence. However, that conclusion becomes much harder to maintain when we continue on to verse 20. Before we do I’d like to consider the phrase, ‘[This] will turn out for my deliverance’.
The Septuagint is the Greek OT translation that was Paul’s “Bible”. It was read routinely during the time of Jesus and apostles like Paul and of course it was the only translation most Greek-speakers could read. Here, Paul’s Greek is apparently identical to that of Job 13:16 in the Septuagint. It looks like Paul is quoting from Job. It serves to cue his readers in on his perspective. He views his circumstances through the prototypical lens of Job’s story.
Most of you are familiar with that story. But if not, let me summarize briefly. In the book of Job, Satan is allowed to wreak calamity on Job’s property, his servants, and his children. This destruction comes upon Job, not because egregious sin warranted it, but because of God’s sovereign purposes, which ultimately included greater blessings for Job in a new life yet to come. But Job could not have known any of the secret purposes of God. Therefore, he feels unjustly wronged because he assumes that since bad things happen to bad people, this shouldn’t have happened to him. Meanwhile, his friends labor for 30 chapters to convince him that he’s being punished because he has sinned, if unconsciously, and if he would only repent and admit it, God would relent. Job is compelled to appeal to God, to argue his case with his Maker and vindicate himself.
Let me read to you from Job chapter 13 (vs 3, 14-18) to get the context of Paul’s quote:
3 “But I desire to speak to the Almighty
and to argue my case with God…
14 Why do I put myself in jeopardy
and take my life in my hands?
15 Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him;
I will surely defend my ways to his face.
16 Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance,
for no godless person would dare come before him!
17 Listen carefully to what I say;
let my words ring in your ears.
18 Now that I have prepared my case,
I know I will be vindicated.”
As do all righteous persons in this age, Paul has detractors. We saw this formerly in vs. 15 and 17. These take gleeful, vindictive joy in the apparent embarrassment and shame of his chains, eager to see him humbled and fallen that they might rise in power and esteem. Harboring envy and rivalry, and to further their pride and selfish ambition, they frame Paul’s chains as evidence of God’s judgment. But Paul is eager for both God and himself to be vindicated. Like Job, Paul is banking on a righteous God. As Job says in 13:16, ‘this will turn out for my deliverance, for no godless person would dare come before him’. That is, I have the confidence to come before God because I know I’m innocent, He’s on my side, and He can be trusted. ‘He will surely slay me, I have no hope’, Job says, fully expecting to be slain in the presence of a holy God, yet expecting both ‘deliverance’ and to ‘be vindicated’ from blame for his present circumstances.
What is the hope that Job maintains? That even to death, God’s righteous character can be banked on and thus, ultimately, I will be vindicated. My reputation will be restored; I’ll be justified, shown to be righteous. Paul shares this hope. Like Job, who was confident in God before the accusations of his friends, so Paul is confident in God before the slander of his detractors and the judgment of Rome.
Verse 20
So, I ask again, what does Paul mean by ‘this will turn out for my deliverance’? Verse 20 provides his qualification for that statement: “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.”
I thought we were talking about deliverance, Paul! What do you mean, “whether by life or by death“?! Will he be vindicated by life or vindicated by death? Doesn’t Paul’s deliverance hinge on being released from prison and saved from execution? No, he says, whether by life or by death. Then what is his expectation? When Paul says, “as it is my eager expectation and hope”, he means a deliverance that is in accord with the following expectation: “That I will not be at all ashamed”.
What would it look like to be ashamed? No courage. What is it that undermines courage in such circumstances? In your own circumstances? Isn’t it this – that we are not living for Christ’s honor above all? Isn’t it in what we consider loss and what we consider gain?
But Paul’s identification with Job clearly distinguishes his hope from an expectation of human favor and justice. Instead, it’s that he’ll be found faithful, and that God will do right. With his hope securely rooted in the providence and power of God, he’s freed from the fear of man and the fear of death. He can face uncertainty with courage. Thereby, Christ will be honored, whatever the outcome.
To Live is Christ (21)
Verse 21
In verse 21, Paul now explains why his eager expectation and hope is to honor Christ with his life and death. It’s “Because to me to live is Christ and to die is gain”. In light of the fact that Paul’s chief desire is to see Christ honored at any cost and by any means, what does ‘for me to live is Christ’ mean? And if to live is Christ, why is ‘to die’ gain? One commentator clarifies that the verb tense of ‘to die’ indicates not the process of dying, nor the state of being dead, but the act of dying.
Why does that matter? Paul’s declaration that the act of dying is gain, indicates it’s a means to his chief aim – to glorify Christ, an apt punctuation on a life lived for Christ’s. And if the essence of my life is Christ, then Christ’s interests are my interests.
What does death mean for the Christian? Rest, relief, restoration, and reward. Rest from unremitting obligations to please your wife, not fail your children, to live up to the expectations of your churchmates, your boss, your neighbors. Relief from maintaining a gracious disposition toward all of the above in spite of their sin against you, from the neverending onslaught of our own sinful desire, pride, and fear, and the end of all grief and guilt, melancholy, anxiety, and physical suffering. Undoubtedly, Paul shared a similar perspective, which he illustrates in 2 Timothy 4:7 – “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”. The christian life is a fight. It is a race. We are grieved by sin and we struggle to persevere.
Restoration of broken bodies, broken minds and hearts, broken relationships, the end of natural disasters and all forms of worldly suffering. Reward – pleasures forever more at God’s right hand in a glorified body that never ages nor ails. No one wants to ‘get old’. Yet every Christian should eagerly anticipate these good things. And, until Christ returns, they only come on the other side of death.
Death is to be desired, true, but not primarily as an escape or an end in itself. Rather, Paul considers death as a means to the end that Christ is more fully and intimately known, and that he is most fully glorified. Christ is Paul’s reason for existence. What is your reason for existence? What do you live for? And how do you know? In a word, the choices we make betray the valuation we place between things. And if you don’t believe it’s way better to be with Christ than to be here, you’re not going to live rightly here.
To live – Christ, to die – gain. Paul’s Greek contains no verb “is”. One writer regards this “broken syntax” as evidence of Paul’s “intense feeling” (p. 80), saying, “We do not expect meticulous and lucid prose from a man when he is confronted with issues of life and death” (Martin, pp. 80-81). Although this is a delightfully worded take on Paul’s frame of mind, I think it’s ironically his “broken syntax” that is meant to hit us. Paul deliberately chooses terse language because it carries poetic force to drive his point home. ‘To live – Christ, to die – gain’ paints a picture worth a thousand words. Undoubtedly, many thousands of words have been dedicated to unpacking this profound statement.
But is it really so helpful to unpack? What do you prefer when you go to fix something? Or to learn a new skill? Do you want to look at a parts diagram or read an instruction manual? Wouldn’t you rather watch the YouTube video? When we’re trying to stir affections, sometimes poetic punch is better than precise prose. It can be better to risk being misunderstood than to forfeit any real hope of being understood.
We know what Paul means – He eats, sleeps, and breathes to see Christ honored. He is given to whatever gets him more Christ and he lives for Christ’s sake. Furthermore, he trusts God to orchestrate a devastating victory over his enemies. He trusts him even with his own death. The archetype for that plotline is the Cross. Like we saw in Dave’s sermon last week from Colossians 2:8-15 – all the authorities and powers in the heavenly and earthly places were defeated by the stunning, buzzer-beating triumph of Christ on the Cross. There he stripped them of their power, embarrassing them in what was supposed to be His moment of shame.
In other words, Paul is confident because Christ is guaranteed to get glory. And since he lives to see Christ glorified, he is fully “alive” in a Roman prison! Ironically, more alive in death! What do you need to be fully alive? What barriers do you imagine make joy impossible? How does Paul’s confidence and example help you see them differently?
For Paul, the equation is simple: to live – Christ, to die – gain. These are two sides to the same coin. This is the lub-dub beating of Paul’s heart. To live – Christ, to die – gain. To live – Christ, to die – gain. His inhalation and exhalation as he runs the race set before him. To live – Christ, to die – gain. To live – Christ, to die – gain.
I am torn (22-24)
Verses 22-24
After his striking ‘to live is Christ’ statement, we assume Paul’s mind is made up. Death is gain – end of story. Let’s go! But in verses 22-24 he introduces a dilemma: Though death is gain, life means fruitful labor. Would you rather live or die? Which is better? For the sake of the church, Paul reasons aloud through his processing of two possible outcomes – death or life, departure with Christ or fruitful labor.
“If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.”
A few points of clarification – 1) There’s no reason to assume Paul has a special foreknowledge of what will happen to him, 2) his “choice” doesn’t have power to effect whether he lives or dies, and 3) Paul is disposed to either life or death, whatever gives Christ the most glory and gets him more Jesus. He’s not choosing whether to live or die. Instead, Paul is considering the meaning of his life or death for himself and for the Philippians – its value.
Paul’s example shows him reasoning on a level the Philippian Christians need to see and imitate. How do we know that? Because their behavior betrays what’s going on in their hearts in light of Paul’s imprisonment and their own situation – anxiety, rivalry, disharmony, grumbling, pride, and self-interest, to name a few. These attitudes are cause for shame because they proclaim to the watching world their unbelief and the apparent insufficiency of Christ. Paul’s preoccupation with Christ and his relative indifference to the circumstances show Christ as supremely worthy and stand in stark contrast to the fearful and defeated manner of the church in Philippi.
Responding to trials and bad news like the Philippians did should throw up red flags that something is mis-calibrated in our hearts. How do you respond to trials? And who pays the price when your designs are thwarted – your wife, your kids, fellow churchmembers, co-workers or neighbors?
What comes out of us when we’re squeezed? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control (Galatians 5:22-23)? And if not, why don’t they? There’s really only two reasons: 1) We don’t trust in God’s wisdom, power, or willingness, and/or, 2) We don’t want what we should want. In other words, we don’t trust that God’s plan will be better than the one he just denied us. And in our unbelief, we are practicing idolatry.
Paul saw life as a fleeting opportunity to work for Jesus Christ. Commentator Ralph Martin says, “There is no purer desire than this, that the whole of our life and Christian service may enhance the glory and esteem of the one who alone is worthy” (Martin, p. 78). We exist to bring Jesus glory. “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever” (Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 1). As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:15 – “he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised”.
We live that he might get glory, and we are most alive when we see him getting glory. Jesus said we are to take up our cross daily. So, whether our death is a daily death to self, or our actual physical death, we seek to bring him glory.
“Because [as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:1-10] we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling… that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life… God has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.”
We never punch the clock. Our heart, our soul, our mind, and our strength belong to our master, Jesus. They’re at his disposal. And this is to our advantage. In Romans 15:3, Paul quotes, Psalm 69:9, saying, “the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me”.
Jesus also said in John 15(:18-21), “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you… all these things they do to you on account of my Name”.
When the Master’s name is embroidered on your work uniform, any trial you endure ultimately falls on Him. The burden isn’t on us and the sin of others isn’t truly against us, but against the Master.
When I’m charge nurse, I can face an unruly patient, or confront an erring coworker without fear because I come not in my name but in the name of my employer. And if my wife sins against me, I shouldn’t go to her for reparations, but to my Master. Or when I have to administer correction to my children, I do so not in my name, but as God’s steward. I’m compelled to do it, because “my aim is to please him”. Likewise, when pastoring, I might put my finger on something in your life. If you freak out or leave, I can’t take it personally. As Christ’s servant, it was against the Master.
This mindset frees us from feeling entitled and pulls the rug out from under our excuses for mistreating others in any trial. We’ll see in chapter 2 that this servant-like fidelity drove even the Lord Jesus. We all share roles like church member, man, woman, husband, wife, father, and mother, employee, and so on. What is your eager expectation and hope in each of these situations so common to our daily lives?
Paul’s Remarkable Choice (25-26)
Verse 25
Having reasoned between the value and desirability of life and death in verses 22-24, Paul’s conclusion in verse 25 is stunning. Not because he’s eager to die. As he said in verse 23, death means “to depart and be with Christ, is far better”. His actual Greek is “much more better”. Death is gaining the unmediated presence of the One who is most satisfying and desirable, better than all the rest put together. And death, for Paul, was gain in vindicating the goodness and greatness of Christ. And (as we’ll see in chapter 3) death meant sharing in Christ’s sufferings that produces a rich fellowship and knowledge of Christ.
In light of these, there’s much gain in death. For the Philippians, Paul turns the fear of death on its head. In essence, he’s saying, “My imprisonment and death, and the suffering that you’re so eager to avoid, I actually want because it gives me more of Christ (3:10) and it is the shortest path to being with Christ. In that sense, suffering and death is better than ongoing life. I’m only staying here for your sake”.
He values a life of suffering and fruitful work over his own chance to be with the all-satisfying Christ so that the Philippians would be encouraged in their faith. He chooses life not because he loves the Philippians more than he loves Christ, but because he loves them more than he loves himself. He loves them for the sake of Christ. Christ’s interests are Paul’s interests. He rejoices in Christ’s glory-getting through his circumstances and he wants the Philippians to grow in the knowledge and magnification of Christ. Convinced that his fruitful labor on their behalf is in Christ’s best interests, he chooses life.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Paul’s ministry report begins in verse 12 and ends in verses 26. On both ends he highlights the progress of the gospel through his life and theirs by means of the prayerful partnership they share. It’s through their prayers that he has experienced the provision of the Spirit, been owned by the worth of Christ, and has the courage to face death.
Let’s grow in being a church that prays. What should be our prayer for brothers and sisters in the hardest places? G. Walter Hansen, in his commentary on Philippians recounts the final prayer request of a Cambodian church leader just before to his death during the genocide that took place there in the mid-1970’s. His letter reads:
“My dear friends,
‘For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain’. Please pray that this will be worked out in my life.
Your brother in Christ,
Tiang Chhric” [tee-AHNG CHREEK]
May that prayer be the lub-dub of our heartbeat and our prayer for our missionaries and our brothers and sisters in Christ. To live – Christ, to die – gain.
Father, whose mercy are we at? For Christ has delivered us (2 Cor 1) and he will deliver us. May our hearts sing “to live is Christ and to die is gain”. And may that truth move us to love others more than we love ourselves, and to seek their welfare first. Grant us repentance from the entitled, idolatrous demand for certain circumstances. And give us faith to let you define what deliverance looks like. Make us glad that Christ would be honored in our body even at greatest cost. For His glory and our joy, Amen.