If you would, pull out your Bibles and turn with me to Philippians chapter 1. Philippians chapter 1 beginning in verse 22. 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. That is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 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." Let's pray. Father, we are so grateful once again to be in your Word together. We are grateful for what you have taught us thus far in this wonderful epistle to the Philippians, and we pray that you would continue to teach us. We pray that you would imprint in our hearts and on our minds what it means to rejoice in the Lord as we consider Paul's example of rejoicing, even in the midst of what it is that he is going through as he writes this letter. We pray that you would imprint this on our hearts by the power of your Spirit And I pray that you would help me to remain faithful to your word and to say what you would have said to your people here at Shiloh this morning. In all this we ask, in the precious name of Christ, amen. So we have been moving through this first chapter of Philippians together for some weeks now, and we have seen some tremendous truths in the early portions of this letter, in the early portions of this chapter about what it means to rejoice in the Lord. Not just the command to rejoice in the Lord, as He will give them later on in this epistle, but what does it actually look like to rejoice in the Lord? We've looked at reasons, and now we're looking at detriments for joy. There's a commercial that came on the other day for this new cartoon that's coming out. I don't know if you might have seen the commercials for it, but the cartoon is Inside Out. It's from Disney, and all the little emotions of this little girl are pictured by these little things inside her head, you know. The commercial that sort of talks about the emotion of joy, the voiceover said this, when things are going your way, that's when joy takes over. Now, don't mistake, I don't expect necessarily to get good theology from an animated film, but that is indicative of the secular mindset. What happens when joy takes over is that things are going your way. A requirement for having joy is things going well for you. A requirement for having joy is, everything's going as you would want them to go. You have desires, you have wants, you have needs, you have longings, you have yearnings, and when you get those things, that's when you're happy, that's when you're joyful. That is what our secular culture is teaching us, by and large. Whatever makes you happy, pursue it. Whatever happens to you that you determine is good, should bring you joy. But you understand that's not true for the Christian. The Christian biblical worldview teaches us that this fundamental aspect of joy is a part of who we are even in the midst of trial, even in the midst of tribulation, even in the midst of heartache, and pain, and sorrow, and suffering. A fundamental emotion and attitude and mindset for the Christian is joy. That's why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6.10, we are sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. The Bible does not... sugarcoat over the reality of pain and suffering in this world. And it does not sugarcoat over the reality that even the people of God are not immune to the pain and suffering of this world. But what we are taught is that even in the midst of the pain, even in the midst of the sorrow, even in the midst of the heartache and the suffering and the disease and the decaying of our bodies, even in the midst of all of that, there is this foundational, fundamental attitude of joy. And we are seeing that here in Philippians on full display. We began at the beginning of this chapter by considering the various reasons that Paul has for being joyful. As he thinks about the Philippians, he's joyful in their partnership in the Gospel. Verse 5, from the first day until now, Later on he says in verse 7, you are all partakers with me of grace. They are partners with him in his ministry, both in the support of his ministry and their prayers for him in the midst of his ministry. And Paul rejoices in that partnership. He's joyful for that, he's joyful for their common salvation. You began a good work and you will bring it to completion. He is joyful as He thinks about their salvation. He's joyful about their common affection, their love for one another. He says He yearns for them with the affection of Christ. In verse 8 and verse 7 He says, It's right for Me to feel this way about you because I hold you in My heart. He's joyful about their sanctification, that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment. He's joyful that he sees the work of God in them to love more and more, and he prays that the love of God would continue to grow in them more and more. And as he thinks about these Christians who are sanctified and who are being sanctified, he is filled with joy as their Father in the faith. He's thankful finally for their glorification as He thinks about that final day when they will all meet together at the marriage supper of the Lamb. They will take off perishable bodies and put on imperishable bodies. They will be given their glorified bodies to rest with Christ forever. So He's joyful about their partnership, their salvation, their affection, their sanctification, He thinks about these things and He is filled with joy for them and for their common bond that they share together. Now that sort of wrapped up in verse 11 and then in verse 12, we've been considering, starting in verse 12, we've been considering the various detriments potential detriments to Paul's joy that he has been hit with. Things that, when considered together, could have taken his joy. And could have not only taken his own joy, but he knows that as the Philippian church thought about him and his chains, thought about him and his suffering and his persecution, it could take their joy as well. And so He begins in verse 12, I want you to know, brothers, know this, don't lose your joy. My resolve is to rejoice and I want you to continue to rejoice as well. We've seen first that he will be joyful and rejoice in the Lord in spite of his circumstances. He's under Roman locking key, and yet he will continue to rejoice. And he will continue to rejoice even with the people that are out there preaching the true message of the Gospel, but he says they're doing it out of envy and rivalry. He's not going to let people bring him down. He's not going to let the stuff happening to him and his circumstances bring him down, and he's not going to let others bring him down either. He will remain joyful. And finally, last week we looked at His persecution. His persecution will not cause Him to lose joy either. The capstone of that, for to me, verse 21, to live is Christ, to die is gain. Whether I live, I'll live for Christ, and whether I die, I will die and consider it gain, for I gain Christ. in that death. With everything stacked against Him, with at this point of His ministry having lost so many friends to the world, or lost so many friends to envy and rivalry, forsaken by those who were close to Him in His ministry, and forsaking all of the things in this world for the cause of Christ, He stands resolute to continue to rejoice in the Lord. And there is one more detriment to His joy. to consider. Four detriments that He gives us, the fourth one we'll look at this morning. You know, we see in the great stories of great missionaries who have gone out in obedience to the Great Commission, we see this detriment to joy, potential detriment to joy. The stories of Lottie Moon, we take up the Lottie Moon offering every single year. The stories of William Carey, who's considered the father of modern mission, and countless others that don't even make the history book. Countless other missionaries who forsake all for the sake of Christ, or a testimony to people who forsake any and all desires for one passion, and that passion is the furthering of the Kingdom of God through the preaching of the Gospel. I wanted to read this to you thinking about William Carey. We read about him in the missions class that I just took last semester in seminary, and we read his work. It's called, this is a mouthful, but this is what it's called, An Inquiry into the Obligation of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathen. That is the name of his work. This was a response to, in his day, it was widely held that there was no reason to do missions work. There was no reason to go and proclaim the gospel to those who were lost because God is sovereign and God is in control and therefore He will save whoever He will save. And he wrote this in a rebuttal to that. Normally it's just referred to as the inquiry because that is a mouthful. This is how he concluded it. We are exhorted to lay up treasure in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal. It also declared that whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. These Scriptures teach us that the enjoyments of the life to come bear a near relation to that which now is a relation similar to that of the harvest and the seed. It is true, all the reward is of mere grace, but it is nevertheless encouraging what a treasure, what a harvest must await such characters as Paul, and Eliot, and Brainerd, and others. who have given themselves wholly to the work of the Lord. What a heaven will it be to see the many myriads of poor heathens, of Britons among the rest, who by their labors have been brought to the knowledge of God. Surely a crown of rejoicing like this is worth aspiring to. Surely it is worthwhile to lay ourselves out with all our might in promoting the cause and kingdom of Christ. You see what He's saying? When we consider the promises of what it means to not lay up for ourselves treasures on earth, but to lay up treasures in heaven, when we consider the promise of the reward, we should be willing to forsake any and all things in this world to maximize our enjoyment of the reward in heaven. That is, by the way, our last detriment to joy that we will see in this series. Paul is resolute to be joyful in spite of his greatest desires. He is resolute to be joyful in spite of his greatest desires. Now how do we see this? First, let's consider his battle. What's at war within Paul? Paul's battle. It starts in verse 22. If I'm to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose, I cannot tell. I'm hard-pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better." That's his battle. And you don't need super academic New Testament scholarship to see what is going on in the heart of Paul. He outlines it plainly in these verses. He wants to depart and to be with Christ. But he also knows that it is more necessary to remain on the earth. There's a part of him that's ready to leave this world and be with Jesus. That's actually what that word for depart means. It's a term that's used to to tear down camp and move to a new place. He uses it that way, I think, in 2 Corinthians, I think it's in chapter 5, when he talks about tearing down his tent, which he always stayed in tents on his journeys, and moving on to a new place. That's what he's saying. I want to tear down my tent and I want to move on to my new home, to my true home. I'm ready to go home to heaven. I'm ready to be with Christ. That's one part of Him. The other part is not ready to leave this world. And the reason why is on account of the churches, on account of the Philippians. That's the battle. So He says, if I'm to live in the flesh, it means fruitful labor for me. When we say live in the flesh, of course, we understand that He means to remain physically alive. He means to continue living in this body. You know, the term flesh is used a lot of ways by Paul, and you kind of have to understand what he's talking about in order to understand what he means. Usually, or many times, he uses it to denote living in sin. When he talks about living in the flesh, he means that we're living in sin. For example, Romans 8.3, For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh, or the sinful nature, could not do, by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin He condemned sin in the flesh. There, He's all over the place with the use of flesh. In one part of the sentence, He's talking about it in terms of the sinful nature. In the other part of the sentence, when He says that He condemned sin in the flesh, He's talking about the flesh of Christ. He uses it both ways. Later on in Romans chapter 8, He says, For the mind For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, it doesn't submit to God's law, indeed it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God." So of course we understand that if Paul wants to remain in the flesh in Philippians chapter 1, he must mean something different than what he means in Romans chapter 8. And of course the context tells us what he's talking about. when He says, if I am to live in the flesh. He simply means remaining in the body rather than dying. Remaining in this world rather than going to be with Christ. So He says that if He stays, it will mean fruitful labor. Talking, of course, about the fruit of His earthly ministry and the growing of the churches. It's a spiritual labor, if you will. Kingdom work on behalf of the church. It's a very special, special word that is used for this spiritual labor. It's the same word that's used later on in chapter 2, verse 30, in talking about the ministry of Epaphroditus. For he nearly died for the work of Christ. Same word. Risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me. Spiritual labor for the sake of the church. Spiritual labor for the sake of the gospel. Paul so loves the church, He wants to see them grow, and He wants to see them be healthy, and He wants to see them bearing fruit, and He knows that if He remains, then He will continue to bear fruit for the name of Jesus. He will be able to continue to strengthen the church. But on the flip side, He's ready to go depart and be with Christ. He said before in Romans 8, consider the suffering of this present time not worth comparing with the glory to be revealed to us. He's ready. He's ready to see the glory. He's ready to go on to the other side. Later on in Philippians, he talks about his Christ, and how he counted everything as loss for the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I've suffered the loss of all things, count them as rubbish, in order that I might gain Christ, be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own, which comes through the flesh, but having the righteousness of God, which comes through faith. This is how he considers Jesus. Jesus, simply knowing Him, is of infinitely more value than anything in this world. And it is on the basis of that affection for Christ that he says, I'm ready. I'm ready to go, depart, and be with Christ. For that is far better. He's hard-pressed between two different desires. It means to literally be between a rock and a hard place. He doesn't know which one. He's feeling pressure from both sides. He wants both of these desires. to be with Christ, and the other is to remain with the church. And you have to understand this, they're both desires. He's not setting up his desire to be with Christ and saying, but it's my duty to remain here on earth. He wants both, but they are mutually exclusive. He can't go be with Christ and then continue to remain in the flesh. He can't remain in the flesh for the sake of the church and also go and be with Christ. These are two warring desires within his own heart. He's ready to go, though. He's ready to go home. And perhaps this conflict in his own heart comes with age as opposed to youth. You know, we know he's under Roman imprisonment. He's older, he's been on his many missionary journeys, he's been a Christian now and been ministering the gospel for many, many years, well over a decade just on his missionary journeys, plus the decade plus before that when he was in the desert and training under the headship of Christ. He suffered much on his missionary journeys. You know about those sufferings. He has gone. He has planted churches. He has done all these things in the name of Christ and in the name of the Gospel. And as you get older, as you start to see the end of your life closer, you start to feel more and more fulfilled, if you will. You start to feel the end coming, and you start to have this growing tension as you get older of wanting more and more to depart and be with Christ, perhaps more than youthfulness. You know, when you're a youth, there's still so much ahead of you that you want to do. And as you get older, those things start to dwindle. We talked about the eternal perspective of Paul and the heavenly mindset of Paul. He's constantly looking to heaven. He's constantly looking on things above. He told the Colossians that. Set your mind on what? Things that are above where Christ is. Set your mind on things above, not on things on earth, for you've died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Here, Paul is doing just that. He's setting his mind on things that are above. He's setting his mind on the things of the Spirit, and he's setting his mind on the things of Christ, not the things of this world. It says being with Christ is far better than anything in this world. By the way, you can't discount Paul's desire here simply because he's in chains. because of what he says later about counting everything as lost for the sake of Christ. You know, that might be a temptation. Well, you know, Paul's in prison, so, I mean, it's pretty easy to say, well, yeah, I'd rather depart and be with Christ than be stuck here in jail. I'd rather depart and be with Christ than be sick. I'd rather depart and be with Christ than be dealing with what I'm dealing with, whatever the circumstances might be. You can't discount Paul's desire based on just that. He's not just forsaking the bad in life and saying that being with Jesus is better than this bad. He's also saying that everything good in life is less in comparison to the glory of Christ. He's willing to forsake it all, not just the bad. You know, if you say that, then you could also make the argument that if Paul were to get out of prison, then he would quit thinking this way. If he were to get out of prison, then he'd quit thinking, okay, I'm not ready to depart and be with Christ anymore, I'm out of this ordeal. But he's ready to depart and be with Christ. I wonder what professed Christians would say if you polled them and asked them about heaven. I wonder what American, prosperous, middle class, normal, safe, everyday, do what everyone else does, Christians, professed Christians, would say if you ask them about going to heaven. If you were to say to someone, you know, if you had this knowledge and you were to say to someone, I know that Jesus is coming back tomorrow, what sort of reaction do you think you would get? This is my burden, this is my fear, my suspicion, my heartbreak, is that by and large, if you told someone that Jesus was coming back tomorrow, they would immediately start thinking about all the things that they would miss in the days and years to come. If Jesus comes back tomorrow, I'm supposed to get married in a few months, and I'll miss out on marriage. Jesus is coming back tomorrow, But we had this big hunting trip planned in six months from now. Jesus is coming back tomorrow. We're supposed to be on the road to our vacation that we've looked forward to for the last six months. And we're going to miss out on the whole deal. My fear and suspicion is that by and large, if we knew Jesus was coming tomorrow, many of us would not consider it far better for Him to come and take us home. like Paul does. And I have a nice house, I have a nice car, I have a nice job, I have a nice life, I have a good family, I have lots of things that I'd like to see later in life. And our prosperity of fear has created this sense of setting our minds on the things of this world rather than on the things of heaven, and on the glory of Christ. If Jesus were to come back tomorrow, then all that I've worked for up to this point would be wasted. And maybe in some sense it would be. It would be. Paul considered departing and being with Christ far better. But even so, Paul is resolved that God has a different plan. He's got these two desires, one to depart and be with Christ, the other to remain in the flesh in order to have fruitful labor. And he's resolved. That's Paul's battle. Here's Paul's resolve. What's his resolve? It's in verse 24. To remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. He knows it's more necessary for their sake to remain in the flesh, on your account, or for your sakes. He's got what he really wants to do. be with Jesus, and he's got what he really wants to do for the sake of them. It's more necessary that I stay for your sake than that I leave for my own sake. That's what he's saying. The selflessness of Paul is coming through in this moment. Paul is pouring out his deepest heart's desire, his greatest heart's desire, if you will. It's far better to go and be with Christ. and then he's thrown away his own deepest desire for the cause of Christ. So he says, convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all. It's the same kind of convinced that he was back up in verse 6. I am sure of this. I am convinced of this. I am confident of this. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion in the day of Christ. Just as sure as he is, that God will bring about the completion of His work of salvation, so also is He sure that He will remain in the flesh and continue with them. Therefore, He knows that the Lord is not going to call Him home. Not yet anyway, of course. Let me tell you this connection here. His greatest desire is to be with Christ. And having that kind of mindset, by the way, is a mark of true Christian maturity. To want to be with Jesus over anything, setting our minds on things above, on things of the Spirit, not on things below, not on things of the flesh, that is a mark or a sign of true Christian maturity. But there's a danger even in that mindset, isn't there? You remember the Thessalonians? We have the two letters that he writes to the Thessalonians. In the second letter, he warns them about idleness. 2 Thessalonians 3.6, we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. Then down in verse 10 he says, even when we were with you, we would give you this command, if anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. Now in the first letter, he talks about how they had gotten preoccupied with the coming day of the Lord. What commentators tend to think is that when you take the first and second letter as connected, what was happening in the Thessalonian church was that they had become so preoccupied with the return of Christ, and they had become so preoccupied with looking up and stargazing and waiting for Him to come through the clouds, that they were becoming idle. They weren't living. They weren't working. They weren't earning their keep. They had just kind of become this place of sitting around singing kumbaya, if you will, while they waited on Jesus to return. And He says, don't be idle. While you're in the flesh, you still must bear fruit and remain, or bear fruitful labor. They were forgetting to live their lives even as they did wait earnestly for Jesus. And that is a second mark of Christian maturity. The first mark of Christian maturity is to desire to be with Christ. But another mark of Christian maturity that were shown in these verses is that as long as we are in this world, as long as we are in the flesh, we continue to live for Him. On the one hand, we are ready to go and be with Jesus. On the other hand, as long as we are not and He leaves us in this world, we will continue to live our lives for Him and for His glory. Which is exactly what Paul meant when he says what? To live is Christ, to die is gain. I want to go, I want to die, because that is gain to me. And yet if I'm going to live, I'm going to continue to live for Him." Both of those are signs of Christian maturity. We must maintain the tension between the two. And on the one hand, we wait earnestly and patiently. And on the other hand, as long as we are here, we will continue to live for Christ. So we've got His battle. He wants to be with Jesus, but He also wants to remain for their progress and joy in the faith. We've got His resolve. He knows that He will remain, and if He remains in the flesh, He will continue to live for Christ. And that leads us finally to His ultimate joy, Paul's ultimate joy. This is the crux of the matter, and it's why we are still considering this a detriment to joy. Why would this be a detriment to joy? Why would we call this a detriment to joy? Because there is something that Paul wants, and he's not getting it. He wants to be with Christ. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is better. And he's not getting it. He's not getting it. He wants to be with Jesus. He doesn't want something that's bad. To want to be with Christ is not a bad thing. It's a good thing. It's a glorious thing. It's a wonderful thing. It's an eternal thing. He wants something that we are commanded elsewhere in Scripture to wait patiently for. And yet He's not going to get it, at least not yet. He knows that it's going to come one day. We're all going to die and meet Christ. But He's okay. that apparently it's not going to be today for him. And that's because of what his joy is grounded in. In contrast to our joy is grounded in when things are going right for us and things are going the way we think that they ought to go, Paul's joy is grounded in something that isn't a subjective experience, but it's grounded in an objective reality. It's grounded in Christ. himself, I will rejoice, to me to live is Christ, to die is gain. That's what sustains him as he considers remaining in the flesh. Verse 25, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith. It says first for your progress in the faith. It's for your advancement, for your furtherance in the faith, for your continuing growth in the faith. It's the same word he used back up in verse 12. What's happened to me has served to advance or further the gospel. It served to progress the gospel. I want to see you advance in the faith. He had told Timothy, who he had left in Ephesus in 1 Timothy 4, 15, Practice these things, the things of righteousness. Immerse yourself in them so that all may see what? Your progress in the faith. Practice righteousness, they may see your progress. That's the first thing Paul wants to see. He wants to see them continuing to grow into more and more Christ-likeness. But then He connects that growth to joy for your progress and joy in the faith, delight in the faith, gladness in the faith. The fruit of the Spirit is what? Love and joy and peace and kindness, goodness and faithfulness. Colossians 1.11, May you be strengthened with all power according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father. 1 Thessalonians 1.6, "...you became invitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the Word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit." The Christians in Hebrews 10 had joyfully accepted the plundering of their property, for they knew they had a better possession and abiding one. Peter talks about it in 1 Peter 1.8, "...though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory." And John had said in 3 John verse 4, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the faith. Joy! He wants more than anything to continue, to see them continue in the faith and to grow in progress in the faith. Which leads to his final statement, so that in me Verse 26, you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming to you. Again, now this is an awkward sentence in the Greek. The word order is different than it's translated here in the ESV. Here's the word order. The ESV is, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ. Here's the word order. That the boast of you may increase in Christ Jesus in me. That's the thrust of what Paul is saying here. What he's saying is, he wanted them to glory, not in Paul himself, but he wanted them to glory in the Christ that is being manifested in the life of Paul. It's the same type of thing when he said that the other brothers who are preaching are becoming more confident, more bold to declare Christ. That's what he wants. He wants them to see the work of Christ in him, and in that, rejoice. So that their rejoicing isn't in him, because he's Paul. Their rejoicing is ultimately in the Lord, who empowers and strengthens Paul for his ministry. And that's what he wants for the Philippians here, for them to be confident in the Lord by Paul's imprisonment. And he wants them to be confident as they consider his manner of life. Understand this, Paul has two desires in this text. One desire is to depart and be with Christ, and the other one is to remain in the flesh for the sake of the church. And either desire is a good thing. So how do you choose? You choose one over the other for the right reasons. Will God be more glorified in His death? Or will God be more glorified in His life, in ministry? These are the questions, and Paul is convinced that at least for now, God will be more glorified if He is allowed to remain in the flesh. That's the ultimate joy of Paul. We've said it over and over again. The glory of God is the ultimate ambition for the life and the ministry of Paul. So when Paul has two conflicting desires, both of them good, both of them right, the dividing line between the two is which one will glorify God more. And He knows that when the point comes that His death will bring more glory to His Father, He will call Him home. And so as long as He's in the flesh, that will bring more glory to God. And so He will live for Christ. Paul has so many reasons that he outlines in the first of this chapter to be joyful in his ministry. And yet also, he has so many reasons to lose his joy in his ministry of the gospel. But, he refuses to, because his joy is not based on anything within himself, except for Christ and Him crucified. Objective reality. Unchanging reality. Immutable reality. All-satisfying reality. You know as well as I do that when we allow our circumstances and our experiences to determine the height or depth of our joy, we're on that roller coaster. up and down, ebb and flow, constantly moving, ever-changing like the waves of the sea and like the winds of the air, moving to and fro. But Christ is an anchor for the soul. When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay. On Christ the solid rock I stand, we sing. My anchor holds within the veil. There's another line in that song. Paul refuses to lose his joy. He will not lose his joy in spite of his circumstances. He will not lose his joy in spite of people that are around him. He will not lose his joy in spite of his own persecution. And as we've seen today, he will not lose his joy in spite of losing his own desires. Father, we do pray that You would continue to make us the kind of people who look at our own lives, but will turn to the truth and the reality that's presented to us in Scripture for how to deal with life, how to deal with pain and sickness and heartache, how to deal when the diagnosis at the doctor doesn't come like we had hoped, for how to deal when so many times life comes at us and all we can think is that we're ready to go and be with You than to remain here another day. We pray that You would help us, the power of Your Spirit, to be joyful in Christ and to resolve with Paul that as long as we are here, we will live for Him. And then when our time comes to die, we will face it as if our dying is gain. For now we obtain Christ. Help us with this, we pray. In His precious and holy name, Amen.