Well, please turn in the Word of God with me to the New Testament letter to the Philippians. Philippians chapter 1, continuing our study here. We have discussed the cherished relationship that the Apostle Paul enjoyed with these people, these Christians who lived in Philippi. And so he's continually thanking God for them and praying for them that they might be filled with love and spiritual discernment and with all the fruits of righteousness. But the Philippians wanted to know, how are you doing, Paul? How are you? What's going on? And so last week we discussed how Paul next discusses his own situation and he's rejoicing in all of it. Despite his chains, despite the criticism, Paul is rejoicing. He doesn't mind if he gets smaller so long as Christ is made big through his life. And we might wonder of anyone who is rejoicing in unpleasant circumstances like chains, things we can't change about our life, things we can't rid ourselves of that are painful, that are difficult, that are annoying, and people criticizing us. We might wonder if we see somebody responding to that with rejoicing. And we might wonder, is that not an irrational reaction? But in this passage we're going to see today, Paul will give us the basis for his rejoicing. He wants you to know on what basis it is that he can look criticism and chains in the face with excitement. Now, let's stand for the reading of God's word. We'll read our text here in Philippians chapter 1, verses 19 through 26. Actually, I will read the last phrase from verse 18. Paul says, Yes, I will and I will rejoice. For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. According to my earnest expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness Christ will even now as always be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 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. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith. So that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again. That's the reading of God's word. You may be seated. Let's seek our Lord's help in this time. Holy Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you that we know it is through your word that you intend for us to be sanctified. set apart from this world and made more like your Holy Son. And so we ask that your word would have that effect in us. And we know that this will not happen if we are only hearers of your word. And so we pray for grace to not only hear your word and that we go deep into our minds and that we would have comprehension, understand it, Lord. But we ask also for grace and sensitivity to receive what you tell us. and to respond and to make changes in our life accordingly. Father, we pray if there be somebody here who's never given their life to Jesus Christ, that you would even use a text like this to draw them to your son. This we ask in Jesus name. Amen. Who doesn't like to win? You know, this past week I was playing Monopoly with my children. This was the first time that they had ever played the game. And round and round we went, rolling the dice, going around the board. And before you knew it, it was all over. And someone was very happy. And there were some that were not so happy. Someone was very sad. And so I was doing my best to try to weep with those that weep and rejoice with those that rejoice. But to be honest with you, I wasn't feeling so great myself. I mean, I ended up losing too. And I will just be honest with you that there was more than once during the game when I was thinking, what a crummy game this is. You know, I mean, here I am, and I keep, I said, I bet I'm going to roll another one. I just rolled a one and was dishing out money to a certain daughter of mine. I said, I know I'm going to roll another one and have to pay out more money. And sure enough, I did. I said, look at this. How ridiculous, how backward that I have to keep paying this daughter of mine all this money. I felt like the game was rigged against me. And I'm just saying, I don't like to lose. I still don't like to lose. I certainly care less about winning Monopoly now than I did when I was a kid. Actually, I remember my brother and I used to steal money from the Monopoly bank. We did it to irritate my sister, and it was very effective and also helped with the game somewhat, but that's off subject. While I certainly care less about winning Monopoly, I have to say I do care a whole lot more today than I did then about winning the game of life. Winning when it comes to life. And I hope you do as well. Paul is very concerned to win in life. And now this brings us to a paradox. Because you'll remember last week we were saying Paul is willing to lose. He's willing to lose if it meant the gospel would win. So what do we mean? Well there's something we're going to see here, this paradox, because now we have Paul telling us that whatever his circumstances, even if it seems he is losing and he's being made small, yet he is living a life that wins. Paul is living a life that wins. And the timeless truth of our text, I believe, is that Living for Christ is a life that wins. Paul would want you to know, as a believer, from what he says here to the Philippians, that you too, if you are living for Christ, you are living a life that wins. And let me just be clear here what I mean by wins. By win, I don't mean that, you know, you're going to have a better business, that everything in your life is going to work out the way you would prefer, that you will simply win everything you desire on your wish list, that you will even win the game of Monopoly every time you play. No, you will certainly not. But by win, we are talking about four things here, four reasons that the Christian life is a life that wins. Paul here shows us in verses 19 through 26, four reasons living for Christ is a life that wins. Reason number one. This life, living for Christ, has a unique confidence. unique confidence. Paul concludes verse 18 with yes and I will rejoice despite my circumstances for here's the reason I know that this will turn out for my deliverance Notice the words in just in these verses 19 and 20. We have the word no and earnest expectation and hope and the phrase with all boldness. This all points to a unique confidence given Paul's circumstances in life. And Christian, you, if you're living for Christ, can take advantage of this uniquely Christian confidence. Those living for Christ can say at any time in their life, I know my God will deliver. I know God will deliver me. Paul says, I know that this will turn out for my deliverance. He was confident his president chains would turn out for his deliverance. Now commentators will debate whether Paul is referring to his present to a present deliverance from his present circumstances in prison or whether he is referring to ultimate future eternal deliverance that would come with him seeing Christ in death. And if we ask Paul, what do you mean? What kind of deliverance are you describing here? I think he would say yes. Yes to both. Because the Apostle is apparently not so concerned with whatever form his deliverance is going to take in this situation. He's concerned with the fact that it's going to happen. He's excited about the fact that he knows in one way or another I will be delivered. I cited Paul in Romans 8 28 last week. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good. to those who love him and to those who are called according to his purpose. Now notice that Paul knows things will turn out through prayer, he says. Through your prayers and the provision of the spirit of Jesus Christ. If you're living for Christ like Paul, that is, you can know God will deliver you through your prayers, through the prayers of his people. We've seen that God remains sovereign in our chains. In whatever negative situations we encounter, that was sort of the focus of last week's study. We know that God is sovereign in Paul's chains. But here's a mystery to consider. That God, the sovereign God, seeks to accomplish his sovereign will through prayer. My friend, through your prayers, Paul is confident that what God is doing in his life in the Praetorian Guard, with the gospel advancing into Caesar's own household, Paul is confident that God is doing this through the prayers of these Philippian Christians. Amazing! You want to know one reason why we don't pray? One reason why we don't pray more. One reason why prayer meetings in the church tend to be the least attended functions in the body. Prayer meetings tend to be viewed as an appendage to the church. That's for super spiritual Christians. That's where people go if absolutely everything else in your life is done and you've got free time to kick back and maybe you'll think about going. Why is that? Well, I believe this is all because we have a hard time believing that our prayers make a difference. We have a hard time believing somehow that when we hit our knees, when we come together to pray, that it actually makes a difference. Oh, maybe it's no difficulty believing prayer makes some difference. Maybe it's no difficulty or less difficulty believing that prayer makes some difference when we're desperate, when we've tried everything else, when we've got nothing else to do. But what about believing that it is the Almighty's plan to break chains? to melt hearts, to free slaves, to heal the sick, to liberate people from the grip of Satan through prayer. Do we believe that? Paul is a man who is firmly convinced in the sovereignty of God, but he is equally convinced that God's sovereign will is being accomplished through the prayers of his people. Amazing. And so that's why Paul prayed and did not cease to pray and did not cease to exhort us to pray always, pray without ceasing. No wonder Jesus said men ought always to pray and not to faint. You probably heard the story of that small community years ago that was suffering a drought. And in this agricultural economy they lived in, this was really bad. And things got so bad that the minister finally called the community together to pray. They were going to pray that God would send the rain. That's how desperate they got. Well, as the story goes, among all the crowd, there was only one small child who thought to actually bring an umbrella. And what a beautiful thing. What a beautiful symbol of faith. If we're going to pray for rain, we might as well expect that God will answer. That he will send it. But I fear that too often, in our sophisticated understanding of the way life works, that we do not have this childlike faith. And we need the faith of a child. That is to believe that God will do what he says. To take him at his word. That if we seek him with all our heart, we will find him. That if we pray according to His will, He will answer. And while we cannot expect to receive everything according to our will, We can always expect God to accomplish His will through our prayers. Prayer makes a difference. And notice the Holy Spirit works in conjunction with the prayers of the saints. Paul says, for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Our prayers have no power, your prayers have no power, apart from the Spirit of Christ Jesus. But the Spirit helps us to pray. This is the good news. Romans 8.26 says, The Spirit helps our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. The Spirit helps us pray. And when the Spirit is moving us to pray then, The sovereign will of God is being accomplished through our prayers. Christian, do you know, do you have confidence that God will deliver you this morning? From whatever struggle you're in, from whatever anxiety you're facing, do you have confidence that God will deliver you? Do you have confidence that God means to deliver you through prayer, through the prayers of his people? If you're living for Christ, notice this, it even gets better. The confidence, this unique confidence belonging to those living for Christ gets even better. Like Paul, if you're living for Christ, you can face uncertain days with excitement, with courage, with joy. Paul next supplies how he knows life's gonna turn out, how he knows he's gonna be delivered. Verse 20, and he says this, this knowledge he has is according to my earnest expectation and hope. that I will not be put to shame in anything. The translation of these words, earnest expectation, that is one compound word in the Greek that literally describes the head anxiously outstretched, as if to look forward to something. This might be the sort of thing you would see at the very final moments of a football game. And everything, the score is tied up, or here come the underdogs, the ball is thrown up into the air, it's a Hail Mary pass down into the end zone, and everyone in the stadium is craning their head forward to see what's going to happen. Well, Paul is craning his head forward, as it were, looking forward to what's going to happen. Why? Because he says, I will not be put to shame. I'm excited how this is going to end. I'm excited. And he's likely referring here not to simply knowing how his trial is going to end in Rome, but more ultimately the coming of Christ and how Christ is going to receive him and he will not be ashamed at Jesus coming. How might we infer that? Well, remember how that back in verse six of this chapter Paul's mentioned. that God will perfect. He knows God will perfect. God will perfect his people that he's begun a good work and he will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. Then verse 10, he mentions how he prays that his readers would be found sincere and blameless until the day of Christ. This whole chapter, Paul's looking forward, and he's going to mention it more in this book, but he's looking forward ultimately to the day of Christ, the time when Christ will return. And he says, I'm eagerly looking forward and with hope to how this all ends. Not only because he knows he will not be put to shame in anything, but he says he's filled with all boldness Knowing that Christ will, he says, even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. Maybe you're here and you're anxious about what the future holds. You're not in the same situation Paul is because you're here, okay? You're not bound in chains, but there's something in your life that has got you chained down and your family, your job, whatever. But you see, live or die, if you're faithfully living for Christ, so that you know, I'm looking forward to seeing Jesus. Because I know when I see him, I will not be put to shame in anything. If you are knowing that, live or die, my friend, that's all the confidence you need to look at your present situation and say, man, I am excited. Bless God, I am excited. I don't know that the bills are going to get paid. I don't know what those physical exams are going to show, what the results will be. I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I am excited because Jesus is being magnified in my life, and therefore I am ready to see him. That is all the confidence a man or woman needs in life. Living for Christ. This is the sort of excitement and courage that will give you strength to smile in the future, however uncertain, whether rich or poor, whether in sickness or health, single, married, life, death, whatever it is. Living for Christ is a life that wins because this life has a unique confidence. But Paul supplies a second reason that his is a life that wins. Living for Christ is a life that wins. Verse 21, he says, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Man, this is a great life verse. In the Greek, it's literally to live Christ, to die gain. There's just a powerful rhetorical effect here. We see Paul's confidence is tied to his commitment. We might even use the word consecration. Because this life, this life that wins, living for Christ, has a singular consecration. Now, that might be a word we don't use a lot, but biblically speaking, this is a very significant term. To consecrate something was to devote it wholly to the service of God, to set it apart from ordinary use and devote it wholly to the Lord. Can I say that's a good description of what Paul is after here? He's saying, I have dedicated myself, I have consecrated myself to the service of Jesus Christ. My life is no more about me. It's about him. Because Paul is so consecrated to Christ, he can boil his life then down to this single mission statement, a singular confession, for to me, to live is Christ. The Christian life is about one thing, and that's Christ. Now, Paul will later say, don't think that I've arrived, Philippians 3, 12. He's not anywhere claiming to be perfect. This is not about perfection. This is about purpose. You know, tomorrow marks the inauguration of America's next president. And as at any inauguration, you will likely see somewhere around the president, in the vicinity of the president, these Guys conspicuously dressed in black with sunglasses. And we know what they're all, what they're supposed to be about. This is the secret service. And they are, in a sense, standing around the President because they are, in a sense, consecrated to the service of the President of the United States. Their purpose, then, is relatively simple in life. Their life for his. their life for His. Their mission may not be easy, but that is the duty to which they are consecrated. That if need be, they will lay their life down and take a bullet for Mr. President. Well, that's the Christian's calling. To lay down your life for Jesus. Christian, beloved, would you take a bullet for Jesus? You won't die for Him if you won't live for Him. Now, it can be especially disorienting in our age. We want to live for Jesus, but as we try, we are seeing all around us people living for everything else. And this can be confusing and have a great pull on us. Maybe like most Americans, most of our neighbors, you would say, for me to live is simply personal peace and affluence. Like the great 20th century Christian thinker Francis Schaeffer used to say, that modern man has two main values, personal peace and affluence. My life is about keeping safety for myself and my family and friends, and having enough money that I can do what I want, that I can live comfortably to be able to do what I want in life. That's what I live for. That's modern man, generally speaking. In his book, Don't Waste Your Life, John Piper compares two different kinds of passion that manifest themselves in life. One common, the other uncommon. He told their church how he had received word that Ruby Eliasson and Laura Edwards had both been killed in Cameroon, West Africa. Ruby was over 80. single all her life, she poured it out for one great thing, to make Jesus known among the unreached, the poor, and the sick. Laura was a widow, a medical doctor, pushing 80 years old, and serving at Ruby's side in Cameroon. The story is the brakes failed, the car went over the cliff, they were instantly killed. So Piper asked his congregation, was that a tragedy? Two lives driven by one great passion, namely to be spent in unheralded service to the perishing poor for the glory of Jesus Christ. Even two decades after most of their American counterparts had retired to throw away their lives on trifles. No, he says, that is not a tragedy. That is a glory. But he continues, I will tell you what a tragedy is. I will show you how to waste your life. And Piper cites a story from a February 1998 edition of Reader's Digest, which tells about a couple who, and I quote, took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast when he was only 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Florida where they cruise on their 30 foot yacht, play softball and collect shells. Piper says, when I read it, I thought it might be a joke, a spoof on the American dream, but it wasn't. Tragically, it was the dream. Come, come to the end of your life, your one and only precious life, your God-given life, and let the last work, the last great work of your life, before you give an account to your creator, be this, playing softball and collecting shells. Picture them before Christ at the Day of Judgment, the great Day of Judgment. Look Lord, look. Here's my seashell collection. This is a tragedy and the preacher warns, don't buy it, don't waste your life. I echo Pastor John Piper, don't waste your life. What a tragedy. Wasting your life on the stupid American dream. You can call me a legalist if you like, the Lord will sort it out. But life is not about leisure, and it doesn't matter at what age you are. If you are a Christian in the service of Jesus Christ, your life, whether you are 22 or 72, is to be wholly consecrated to the service of the Master. There is no point in the Christian's life at which he or she can say, I have put my time in. Because if God is giving you more time, that means He intends for you to serve more. And if ever we have more time to serve Christ, and we are doing something else more, it means we are giving ourselves to something else, to some idol. What would your life look like right now if it were truly, singularly consecrated to Christ? What would need to go? What needs to change in order for that to be the case? In order for you to say with Paul, for me to live is Christ. If you had only one year, you might think of it this way, if you had one year left to live, how would this year differ from perhaps other years? Would you step up your game for Jesus? Would you need to get more serious serving the Lord? Or would you end up presenting Him with something like a shell collection? Paul says in verse 21, for to me, I can't speak for you, but I'll speak for myself, Paul says, and for me to live is Christ and To die. Oh, that is gain, he says. Here's the inevitable consequence of his consecration to Christ. To die is gain. Paul can say this because he knew that Christian's death means finally seeing Christ. This is the reward. Death isn't good news for most people. I don't have to tell you that. The Bible does teach that the whole world lies in the grip of death. Hebrews 2 reveals how the devil wields the power of death through fear of death and subjects sinners to slavery all their lives. Right now you can visit a man living in a distant land, devoutly superstitious, Practicing sacrifices and obedience to the spirits. Worshipping them. Carefully avoiding all their taboos. And why? All for fear of death. He's in the grip of death. Fear of death. Fear of the spirits. The animist and those steeped in false religions are enslaved to the devil's lives for fear of death. In slavery all their lives. Now consider, closer to home, the successful businesswoman here in our own community. She's climbed to the top of the corporate ladder. She's got everything the eye could wish. But despite all this, she lives with a secret dread. And it is the thought, the fear, the anxiety of what will happen to her one second after she's gone. We have a world living in fear of death. Whether we're talking about the preliterate animists or sophisticated secularists, the fear of death is common to the human experience. Now some, for sure, may say, I'm not afraid to die. I'm not a Christian. In fact, I don't even believe in God. I don't fear death. But you see why they are not afraid. They have no fear of God. That's a fool's hope. For them to die, someone to die in such a situation would not be escaping pains, escaping life. They would be entering into eternal judgment with God. Paul fears God, but he says still, verse 21, knowing God is the almighty creator to whom he will give an account, he says, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Death is winning. Death is a profit for me. Of course, knowing all the suffering Paul endured, we might be tempted to think, well, Paul's saying, you know, okay, all right, death means no more chains. Death means no more being beaten up and stoned and all that. That's great, no more criticism, yes. But it's far more than that. Paul isn't looking at death as merely an escape from pains, so much as a ticket to seeing Jesus Christ. That's what he makes explicit in the following context. And for the Christian, death is the vehicle that brings us home. Paul will elsewhere refer to death euphemistically as sleep. Sleep. One short sleep past, we wake eternally. That's the picture. That is gain. Eternal gain. And so Paul says, if I live, I'm pressing on for Christ. If I die, I see Christ. This is a win-win. This is a win-win. And this brings us to his third reason that living for Christ is a life that wins. Living for Christ is a life that wins because this life has a blessed conflict. A blessed conflict. Conflict might hardly sound like a blessed thing in any case. But let me explain. This is a conflict between two joys. couple years ago I had a conflict a unique conflict of my own I was speaking to a hotel associate over the phone who mentioned that they were running a limited offer a special deal where it involved a free cruise and now just so we're clear I hope you understand I am NOT that person that usually listens to the sale pitch thing, but this one was good, and I know what some of you are thinking anyway, I could say anything, but you're thinking a sucker is born every minute, right? Well, I'm telling you, it was a really good deal, and basically it was that if we sat, Ann and I sat through this timeshare spiel, if you've ever been through something like that, they would give us a free three-night stay in any one of their Orlando resorts, along with a four-night cruise that we could book over the next three years. Of course, they do this because they plan on you buying their timeshare, but if you're me, and it wasn't like I just said, I'm not that dumb enough to be deceived, it was literally that, you know, I didn't have enough money to do anything stupid. So I said, let's just go and do it, and yet there was a conflict. We had just booked this particular year our trip to Lake Placid, and we were really excited about it. And we could cancel it still, but we didn't want to. And I remember telling Anna, I said, I feel like I wish I had never even found out about this deal because I'm torn between two options. And I don't know what to choose. We ended up taking the deal because we figured we can go to Lake Placid another time. And Paul is, I know that's a silly illustration from a silly life. My point is, is not that that's really what Paul's dealing with, but Paul is here dealing with a situation of two goods, two blessings, two wonderful things. And he's having a hard time being stretched between both. He says in verse 22, but if I am to live on in the flesh, here's option number one, this will mean fruitful labor for me. and so I do not know which to choose. Verse 23, but I am hard-pressed from both directions, having a desire to depart and be with Christ. There's the other option, for that is very much better. Yet to remain on in the flesh, he says, verse 24, is more necessary for your sake. Can you see Paul oscillating here between these two desires and this blessed conflict? On the one hand, he desires to live on in the flesh. And notice why he says in verse 22 that this will mean fruitful vacation. No, fruitful labor for me. Now by this time in life, Paul's no spring chicken. He's put in his time. He's planted his share of churches. He's poured his life into his share of Christian converts. There were more than enough people who could have carried his mantle, taken his place. Nevertheless, Paul's not ready to throw in the towel just yet. He's looking to labor, labor, labor that he might be fruitful. And the fruit here is spiritual. Notice, this is not labor involving preoccupying himself with fishing and woodworking and walking the beach, collecting shells and all that stuff. I'm not saying that's wrong, but the labor that Paul is intending to give his life to. He's saying, if I remain on this earth, this is what I'm all about. He says this labor is involving serving people for Christ's sake. Notice what he says involving the Philippians in verse 24. To remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. It's not about me. It's about you. Because you are the people of Christ. And by serving you, I am serving Jesus. Similarly, in Romans 1, 13 and 14, Paul told the Christians at Rome, I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I plan to come to you and have been prevented so far that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. Why, Paul? Why do you desire to go to the Christians and bear fruit there in Rome? And he continues, he says, I am under obligation. I have an obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to the foolish. Paul was a man under obligation to spill his life, to spend and be spent for others because he was a man whose life was singularly devoted, consecrated to Christ. This is an exhortation to us all, that we should keep on doing God's work as long as we're able, in whatever capacity we can, as long as we live on in the flesh, in a body of flesh. This may shock you, but retirement is not a biblical concept. Retirement is not a biblical concept, and if you bought into the idea that retirement means more me time, I'm going to focus on me. I spent my life focusing on my children, my family, other people. Now it's time to focus on me. And if that's the idea that you bought into or that's what you're planning on at any stage in your life, You've been sold a bill of goods. I hate to inform you, you bought a lie. It's the world's lie. Al Mohler explains after World War II, Americans developed this idea that the good life meant having a fulfilling career followed by a lengthy retirement. And the ideal of retirement seems to be a life of leisure and ease, occasionally interrupted by travel and entertainment. That, he says, is a fundamentally dangerous concept. And he explains why. Not only is this unprecedented in human history, but this idea of a long period of unproductive leisure flies in the face of the Bible's exhortation. What exhortation? The exhortation to meaningful work and service for the kingdom. Moeller concludes, for Christians, the life should be redeployment rather than retirement. The issue should be redeployment rather than retirement. John Piper offers this perspective. Finishing life to the glory of Christ means resolutely resisting the typical American dream of retirement. It means being so satisfied with all that God promises to be for us in Christ that we are set free from the cravings that create so much emptiness and uselessness in retirement. Let me say Jesus Christ, the church of Jesus Christ today needs more productivity out of saints who have been saved longer and have more time in their life than less. And this is a gospel kingdom perspective. This was Paul's sentiment. I'm not retiring. I am redeploying to fruitful labor. until the very end. And on the other hand, so, well, on the one hand you have Paul desiring to remain, why? Fruitful labor. To work. to serve, to spend, to be spent for the church of Jesus Christ. On the other hand, Paul desires to depart and be with Christ. He says in verse 22, but I am hard pressed from both directions. Having the desire to depart and be with Christ for that is very much better. And to be hard pressed here is this Greek from this Greek word suneco. That means to be seized, gripped, even tormented. It describes a strong conflict. It's the word Jesus uses when he's talking about the coming siege of Jerusalem and how the city will be beset on every side with her enemies. Only this is a blessed siege. It is a blessed conflict. And Paul is referring to his own death with a euphemism there. You see, to depart. He's talking about death. Only he's using a word that would describe a ship being unmoored from its anchor. I'm ready to set sail and see King Jesus. That's what death is to me, Paul would say. That is his desire. And he uses a word of great longing and craving to depart and be with Christ. That's what he wants. That is very much better, he says. No more pain, no more sickness, no more sin. Only eternal joy in a realm filled with the glory of Christ. Paul has a win-win situation. And so, so does every soul who's living for Christ. Your blessed conflict, if you're living for Christ, is desiring to die. And be with Him. To see Jesus. To present Him. And say, Lord, look. Here is how I spilled up my life for You. I'm excited, Lord, to see You. Here is what I've given my whole life to. I now present it to You. I cast it at Your feet. It was only possible by Your grace. You are worthy, O Lord. And on the other hand, There is a strong desire of anyone living for Christ to remain living, to stay alive, but not to do our personal hobbies and live and preserve our little pretty life and have little fun and lay on a hammock somewhere on a beach, but rather to spend and be spent for others. Unfortunately, there are churches that would, they would brand what I'm telling you as legalism. And I'd hate to say it, but I think that's because of a guilty conscience. And brothers and sisters, I just commend you to look at the scriptures and see what God says. What is the life that wins? Living for Christ is a life that wins because this life has a unique confidence, a singular consecration, a blessed conflict. But Paul supplies a fourth reason living for Christ is a life that wins. And that is finally this life has an unstoppable conviction. Paul continues verse 25, convinced of this. Convinced of what? Well, convinced of the end of verse 24, he said that his labor, his life's labor is needful for the Philippians. I love that. Paul knows there's a reason I need to stay behind. Even in his suffering, he's focused on others and what they need and convinced that others need him for the sake of the kingdom. He's convinced that He will remain. In fact, we could add to this, convinced, Paul knows, of the fact that to live, verse 21, is Christ. To die is gain. To remain in the flesh is needful. But to depart with Christ is far better. Convinced of all this, Paul knows, I know that I will remain. I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith. Now, we do not know exactly how God gave Paul this assurance, but one thing's for sure. So long as Paul remained in the flesh, alive, that is, he was absolutely committed to seeing these brothers and sisters of his in Philippi advance with joy in the faith. And you couldn't stop him. You could not stop this man because of the conviction burning in his heart. Threaten him with death? Well, he's rejoicing to meet Christ. You can't threaten him with death. Threaten him with beating? He's going to carry on as long as he's physically able. Lock him up? He's singing to Christ in jail. He'll witness to anybody else he can with an earshot. Beat him up so bad he can't talk, he can't sing. He'll pray. Paul will pray. Until he's gone, he's using everything he has to burn out for Jesus. Beloved, when God convinces you of what life's about, and I mean what life's about the way he defines it, you'll have an unstoppable conviction. Paul wants to continue with the Philippians 4. He says their progress and joy in the faith so that, verse 26 he says, Paul was like a father, like a war hero to these Christians in Philippi. But the apostle knew Christ, and Christ only, is the source of anything admirable, anything praiseworthy in my life and ministry. And so he wants his readers here, he wants their admiration for him to be rather their confidence in Christ Jesus. That's the point. Now I began talking about monopoly, winning monopoly, but have you ever played the game of life? I mean, the board game. Milton Bradley came out with a, they have a classic board game simulating a person's travels through life. You make choices, you have some things you can decide, but like real life, much of the game is beyond your control. You just spin the wheel and hope for the best. And you might have, years ago when you played, favored, you remember, I don't know what version of the game you had, but you might remember you pick a certain house and some of his kids used to argue me with my siblings over what house we're gonna get and career you pick a certain career and the idea is you're trying to make money and whoever ends up with the most at the end wins. My point is you may have not played ever in your life, the game of life. But let's just say you did, all right? Maybe some of you did. How many of you know what I'm talking about? All right. Oh, OK. Most of you. All right. Let's just say all of us have played this board game called the game of life back in 2005, 20 years ago. You might think it absurd if I asked you this morning, you know, in the year 2005, what house did you own in the game of life? What career did you have? Oh, how much money did you accumulate? And you probably cut me off and you're looking at me and you're thinking, why? Did I break the law or something? It's just a game. That was 20 years ago, pastor. What does it matter? That's my point. It doesn't matter, does it? Who cares? It was a game. That was then. This is now. It doesn't matter how much money you had or what house you had when you played the game of life back in 2005. What matters is what are you doing for Jesus Christ? You see, living for Christ is the life that wins. A hundred years from now when all of us in this room likely will have gone the way of all before us. No one here is going to be saying, oh, I wish I had not spent so much time in church. I wish I had not spent so much time praying. I wish I had not spent so much time worshiping. I wish I had not spent so much time spreading the gospel. I doubt it. No. What will matter? For all eternity, one thing will matter, and that is, what have I done for Christ? C.T. Studd, who left a life of wealth and privilege to serve Christ in foreign missions, wrote a poem in which he said, Only one life, a few brief years, each with its burdens, hopes, and fears, each with its days I must fulfill, living for self, or in His will. Only one life, yes, only one. Now let me say that I will be done. And when at last I hear the call, I know I will say, "'Twas worth it all." Only one life. "'Twill soon be past." Only what's done for Christ will last. When it comes to setting your life on the scale of eternity, there's only one life. that really wins, and that's living for Christ. Let's pray.