september 24 2023
September 24th 2023
Old Testament: Isaiah 55:6-9
Psalm: Psalm 27:1-9
Epistle: Philippians 1:12-14, (15-18), 19-30
Gospel: Matthew 20:1-16
Sermon Text: Philippians 1:12-30
Sermon Title: “To Live is Christ, to Die is Gain”
Grace to you and peace, from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Both the Old Testament and the Gospel readings deal with our response to the Word/Gospel of the Lord. In the Old Testament reading, Isaiah exhorts his hearers saying, “Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord (repent) that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. (Therefore, never take the gifts of our Lord for granted.)
For My thoughts are not your thoughts; neither are My ways your ways, declares the Lord”. (Isaiah 55:6-8) “How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable are His ways”. (Romans 11:33b) Therefore, we are not to try to figure the secret things of God, why He does things a certain way; but rather to accept what He says in His Word as true.
In the Gospel, Jesus also tells us not to question or “grumble” about God’s Word and ways. The Lord says, “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to Me? Why do you begrudge My generosity”? (Matthew 20:15) We should never complain about how God distributes His gifts in this world; after all they are His to do with as He pleases.
Therefore, we should never begrudge someone what God has given them, either materially or spiritually, and we should all rejoice when a sinner is brought to repentance, even at the last minute as we heard in the parable this morning; even if we think they are especially underserving, for we are all undeserving of God’s gifts. Keep these thoughts in mind as we hear the sermon today, which is from the Epistle reading.
Today begins a series of readings over the next few weeks from the book of Philippians, taking a section from each of the four chapters of Paul’s letter. In the opening thanksgiving and prayer (before the actual text for today), Paul indicates that this letter was written from prison saying, “I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the Gospel”. (Philippians 1:7b)
The Apostle Paul speaks first of the advance of the Gospel, despite the fact that he is in prison. “I want you to know … that what has happened to me has really served to advance the Gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest, that my imprisonment is for Christ”. (Philippians 1:12-13)
Now, there is no record in Holy Scripture of Paul questioning God for allowing him to be imprisoned; but some of his hearers may have been wondering how could Paul being in prison possibly have served to advance the Gospel? After all, the whole point of the authorities throwing him in prison was to silence him; but it was because of his imprisonment, that Paul came in contact with countless people who otherwise would not have heard the Word; people like the political leaders in Rome, the soldiers and others who guarded him; his fellow prisoners, slaves, and many others. As you know from the Confessions, “the Holy Spirit works faith, when and where He wills, through the hearing of the Gospel”.
Therefore, his “imprisonment was for Christ” in two ways. First, the authorities literally put him in prison because of his preaching of Christ; that was his crime; but second, it also was so that he could bear witness to Christ in prison, to those I already mentioned. “For God our Savior desires all to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth”. (1st Timothy 2:4b) So it served to “advance the Gospel” (Philippians 1:12b) when Paul was imprisoned. His imprisonment did not hinder the Gospel in any way, as some had feared. Our Lord can and does bring the truth of the Gospel to light despite all the opposition of the world, the devil, and our own sinful flesh.
Paul’s bold preaching in spite of his imprisonment accomplished something else unexpected for the Gospel. A second purpose of Paul’s opponents was to intimidate other Christians into silence, but here is what happened instead; “And most of the brothers, having become more confident in the Lord (because of my imprisonment) are more bold to speak the Word without fear”. (Philippians 1:14)
Contrary to Satan and the world’s attempt to silence the Word, through persecution and suffering for the Lord, this often drives the Christian deeper into prayer and into God’s Word and the Christian doctrines of our Confessions; which makes them bolder to speak the truth, even in the midst of opposition. May this be the churches response in our day, as persecution for our faith ramps up in our own nation.
Of course, there are those who because of fear, give in to the threats of punishment and are silent about their faith and are unwilling to speak of the truths from God’s Word that might lead to suffering. If we find ourselves unwilling to speak of Jesus in order to avoid trouble, then we need to repent.
There are others who as Paul puts it, “preach Christ from envy and rivalry … thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment”. (Philippians 1:15a, 17) Now, Paul is not here talking about false teachers, but rather those who preach and teach the Word rightly; with wrong motives; therefore, this verse is not an excuse for us being careless about doctrine or to be silent about doctrinal errors in other churches; for pastors are called not just to preach the truth, but to refute false teachings.
Many others, like Paul, “preach Christ from good will … out of love … knowing that we are put here for the defense of the Gospel”. (Philippians 1:15b-16) But if the others had intended to afflict Paul, with their mixed motives, they would be sadly disappointed, for he wrote, “Only that in every way, whether in pretense (for wrong/selfish motives) or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. And yes, I will rejoice”. (Philippians 1:18)
Paul continues, “For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not at all be ashamed, but that with full courage, now as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death”. (Philippians 1:19-20) If he lives, Paul will continue to honor Christ by proclaiming His Gospel; and if he dies; that too will honor Christ, who has redeemed him from the power of sin and the fear of death.
In this difficult situation, Paul speaks with utter confidence that he will be delivered, saying “I know”; but let us be clear about what this means. Deliverance does not necessarily mean release from prison, for Paul is speaking of the salvation already granted to him through Christ; the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life. He knows where he will spend eternity; therefore, whether he is set free from prison or he dies there, does not matter. Either way, he will be saved/delivered from his enemies; and so will we.
“For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I choose, I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two”. (Philippians 1:21-23a) Of course, Paul isn’t the one who gets to choose in this matter. It is the Lord alone who knows the day of our death, as the Psalmist declared, “Your eyes saw my unformed substance, in Your book were written every one of the days that were formed for me; when there were as yet none of them”. (Palm 139:16) And “precious in the sight of the Lord is death of His saints”. (Psalm 116:15)
Paul’s, “desire is to depart and be with Christ; for that is far better (far better than continuing to live in this wicked, sinful world); but to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account”. (Philippians 1:23b-24) Paul is also convinced that the Lord still has work for him to do, even that he will be released from prison. So, “convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all; for your progress and joy in the faith; so that in me, you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming to you again”. (Philippians 1:25-26) Whether he lived or died, Christ would be glorified, and in that Paul could rejoice.
Next Paul begins a series of exhortations to holy living; a call to daily contrition and repentance, as Luther taught in the Small Catechism; which make up a big chunk of his letters to the various churches. “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the Gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you, that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the Gospel.”. (Philippians 1:27)
Paul also speaks here of the importance of being consistent in our confession of the one true faith; and indicates that it takes effort and “striving” to be faithful to the Word and promises of God. We are not to just drift through life aimlessly, as if we have no enemies; not letting the opinions and persecutions of the world cause us to stray from the truth of the Bible.
Scripture warns us of these difficulties that will come in this life, because of the Word of Christ. “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus, will be persecuted”. (2nd Timothy 3:12) “In this world you will have tribulation”. (John 16:33a) “If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you”. (John 15:20) “Through many tribulations, we must enter the Kingdom of God”. (Acts 14:22)
In light of this clear teaching of Holy Scripture, Paul said, “do not be moved (to doubt) because of these afflictions, for you know that we are destined for this”. (1st Thessalonians 3:3) Peter also said, “Beloved, do not be surprised by the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you; as though something strange were happening to you; but rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings”. (1st Peter 4:12-13a)
Paul now returns to what he said at the beginning of our text this morning about his “imprisonment being for Christ”. (Philippians 1:13b) “Be not frightened by anything in your opponents; this is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation; and that from God. Did you hear that? Their persecution of us is a sign of their destruction and our salvation. “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; engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have”. (Philippians 1:28-30)
Those who oppose the saving message of Jesus Christ will attack God’s Word (at every turn) and mock and curse the application of God’s Law and Gospel in the life of every true believer. Paul assures us that these actions will not bring about the desired effect, rather they will lead to destruction as Paul describes latter in this letter; “Their end is destruction, their god is their belly and they glory in their shame, with minds on earthly things”. (Philippians 3:19)
In the meantime, though as I have already said, and as we see all around us even now; we will indeed endure suffering and persecution for the sake of Christ and His Word. This is a privilege granted by our Lord. However, we need to face the fact that if you speak of Christ in our world, standing up for the truth of God’s Word, against the enemies of Christ, you will at minimum suffer mocking and ridicule, they will try to silence us also through fear and intimidation, canceling and/or censoring you; it is highly likely that you/we will lose educational and occupational opportunities, if we do not tow the line; increasingly it appears that prison may be the end result if we do not conform.
We see this in countless ways in our nation as several states have recently passed laws preventing Christian couples from adopting unless they promise to support LGBTQ in the lives of children they adopt. California recently passed a law allowing children to be taken away from their parents for the same reason. The state of Michigan recently passed a “hate crimes” bill that outlaws Christians from speaking the truth of God’s Word on these and other biblical issues. The Attorney General of our country recently testified before Congress and said “traditional Christians” (however he defines it) are extremists”.
In times like these we especially need to be reminded that we are not alone in this battle; for we remember it is only by the grace and mercy of Almighty God (and not in our own strength) that we will be able to endure these things from our enemies. For our Lord has promised us, “the sufferings of this present time, are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed to us”. (Romans 8:18) Jesus also comforts us with these words, “take heart, I have overcome the world”. (John 16:33b)
So, we prepare ourselves for these difficult times ahead, by regularly reading and hearing God’s Word and receiving His gifts in this place; for the forgiveness of sins and the strengthening of our faith. We are comforted by the words of the Psalm this morning, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid”. (Psalm 27:1) “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble; therefore, we will not fear”. (Psalm 46:1-2a)
We take the Scriptures seriously when they warn, “how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation”. (Hebrews 2:3a) Therefore, we are exhorted by the author of Hebrews, “let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another … not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another all the more as we see the Day (of Jesus’ return) drawing near”. (Hebrews 10:23-25)
“Whenever we suffer the world’s hatred/mocking or even real imprisonment or death (martyrdom, for the sake of Christ); He gives us hope … that “to live is Christ, to die is gain”. (Philippians 1:21) (Rev. Rehwaldt sermon) “For I am sure that neither death nor life … nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”. (Romans 8:38-39) Amen.
The peace of God …