Christ is King | Philippians 1:21-26

 

 

Who do you worship?

 

Paul continues his first chapter addressing the church in Philippi.  He is exhorting them, encouraging them to continue moving forward in forwarding the gospel.  These next collections of verses are some of the most famous words in the entirety of God’s holy word.

 

“For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” 

--Philippians 1:21

 

1. Christ is King. To be a Christian one must give their entire life to Christ. 

 

Paul is recognizing who his Lord in His life.  He is recognizing that a result of being in God’s family means that we no longer live for this world rather we live for our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

 

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?’”

--Matthew 16:24-26

 

 “ ‘No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.’”

--Matthew 6:19-24

 

Jesus is perfect.  He is the light of the world!  He is the son of God!  He is perfect, Holy, set a part yet He chose to come down into our world to save us from our sin.  Paul recognizes this.  Paul understands this.  He knows that he serves only one master because he is willing to die for him.  Death doesn’t scare him, it empowers him, it emboldens him because Christ is His Lord.  Christ is King. 

 

You can’t walk with both Jesus and the world; they are going in two different directions. 

 

-Jesus is in the district of Tyre and Sidon

-Canaanite woman (gentile) approaches Jesus because her daughter is demon-possessed—she needs healing.

-Jesus mentions that He came to this specific spot for the Jews—not yet for the gentiles.

-This woman is persistent and presses in on Jesus.  Jesus tells her…

 

 

“And He answered and said, ‘It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.’  But she said, ‘Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.’ Then Jesus said to her, ‘O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed at once.’”

--Matthew 15:26-28

 

“We often treat Jesus the way Saul treated David.  We want him to slay giants and sing evil spirits away, but we don’t want him to be king.”

--A.W. Tozer

 

Paul never seeks to be popular.  He never seeks to please the world or even those in the Church.  He has an audience of one—how do we know this?  Because He is willing to give His entire life to Christ.  He is in full submission to his Lord and Savior as He is on mission to encourage Jesus’ church to move forward.

 

 

2. Obey your king and become more like Christ!

 

 

“But if I am to live on in the 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.”

--Philippians 1:22-24

 

Paul is highlighting the tension in which his ministry work brings.  He wants to be released from the burden of this life—of his flesh.  Paul loves Jesus, he looks forward to being with Christ, he looks forward to death. Paul was arrested three times in his ministry (Philippi, Cesaerea, Rome) and had gone through trials/ hardships for being a follow of Christ.  Paul was tired.

 

“For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope.”

--2 Corinthians 1:8-10

 

Paul’s missionary work caused him to get sick, caused him to meet persecution, and was unpopular work.  It was a new work in the world; to share this new gospel, this new story of hope, love and truth about a God/man who is here to rescue sinners.  It is a hard work but necessary work.  Eternity is at stake.

 

“…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 joy in the faith…”

--Philippians 1:24-25

 

Paul is highlighting the necessary work of ministry in which Jesus called His disciples to accomplish—no matter the cost.  Even though it is full of toil; it is rewarding.  Sowing into God’s kingdom, ministering to God’s people and seeing God transform lost lives is an amazing work—there is nothing on earth quite like it. 

 

Flesh:  σάρξ sárx, probably from the base of G4563; flesh (as stripped of the skin), i.e. (strictly) the meat of an animal (as food), or (by extension) the body (as opposed to the soul (or spirit),

 

Paul’s main affliction is his suffering in house arrest; his body/ soul is being stripped away.

 

 

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit…”

--Matthew 28:19

 

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

--John 14:15

 

Paul is willing to suffer in his flesh; to be on this side of heaven to minister to this church.  He has a great love for them, a great purpose to show them, to live for Christ in full devotion. Remember, Paul’s main goal with the introduction of this letter is to remind this church how to be like Christ—you can’t be like Christ if you don’t worship Him!  You can’t be like Christ if you don’t know Him! 

 

-Perpetua the Martyr.

-We found out about her life through her diary, including her farm life, her family, she was newly married and farmed with her husband, daughter of a prominent Roman magistrate.  Her Father wanted her to recant her faith in Jesus Christ and gave her a few chances to do so—she wouldn’t denounce her faith in Christ.

-She was imprisoned in Carthage.  Her diary tells of her torture in prison and the treatment of her.  She was arrested with her friend, Felicity.  They were eventually killed in a Roman arena; sentenced to be killed by a mad heifer which,  symbolized fertility—the Romans did this because the women were young mothers.  Felicity was trampled but Perpetua was not. 

-A young gladiator was sentenced to kill Perpetua, the eye-witness account says that he was a young gladiator, nervous, and Perpetua guided his hand to bring the sword to her throat.  She died for her faith in Jesus Christ.

 

“Do not have Jesus Christ on your lips and the world in your heart.”

--Saint Ignatius of Antioch

 

“…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 joy in the faith…”

--Philippians 1:24-25

 

 

3. Go to church. Visit each other.  Find your confidence in God with each other.  God works through ordinary people.

 

 

“…so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again.”

--Philippians 1:26

 

Confidence:  πείθω peíthō  to persuade, i.e. to induce one by words to believe

 

The beautiful thing about church is that we have one commonality—our love for Jesus Christ.  Paul is uncertain in the middle of his imprisonment.  Here he is showing his humanity; wanting to pass away to Christ but knowing that he has a mission here on earth—to encourage and build up Christ’s church.  He looks forward to visiting them; he understands that Christians need the church to continue moving forward in their faith. 

 

“…let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”

--Hebrews 10:23-25