Before we come to the word, let us pray again. Our God and our Heavenly Father, as we enter your presence, we are keenly aware of our own shortcomings, of how unfit we are in our nature to come before you, to enter your presence, and to speak and hear your word. But we do thank you that your word tells us to come before you with boldness, and so we now do, Lord God. We cry out to you, our Father in heaven, for mercy, that you will not deal with us according to our sins and our iniquities, but rather, Lord, you will anoint each one of us here now with your Spirit. Pour out your Spirit in this place, that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart might be acceptable to you, O God. and might be the cause of the edification of your children here. We can do nothing if you are not with us. So we cry out to you, Lord God, meet with us here, meet with us now. In our Savior's name we pray. Amen. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Three Jews in Babylon, they've been hauled before Nebuchadnezzar, perhaps the most powerful man on the face of the earth. and they know the decree that has gone out. If you do not bow when you hear the music, if you do not bow before the golden image and worship the God that Nebuchadnezzar has set up, then you will be bound and thrown into a fiery furnace. Their love for God was so great that when they heard the music, when they heard the sound of the horn and the flute and harp and the lyre and the psaltery, they did not bow. And they stand before Nebuchadnezzar, and he is furious, and filled with rage, and asks them, why have you done such a thing? Why have you not bowed down to my gods? And their reply? Oh, Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. What a thing to say to the most powerful man on the face of the earth. We have no need to answer you in this matter. Their confidence in God was absolute. Their trust in God was absolute. And they lived their lives for the glory of God, in obedience to God and his law, rather than in obedience to Nebuchadnezzar and his law. They lived their lives before him righteously. And notice also they did not fear death. Not only do they say, we have no need to answer you in this matter, they go on to say, if that is the case, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us from your hand, O King. They have confidence in their God, even in the face of death. But they also acknowledge that God may deliver them, or may let them be destroyed, rather, in the fiery furnace. And they carry on saying, but if not, let it be known to you, O King, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the golden image which you have set up. It seems to me that these three men are a perfect example of what Paul writes in the 21st verse of Philippians chapter 1, where Paul writes these words, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Now what we have before us here is a most remarkable profession of Paul's faith. And of course it's not just a profession of Paul's faith, it should be a profession of all of us who stand in a saving relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a remarkable thing to say. It's remarkable because it runs, it stands in stark contrast to the spirit not only of Paul's age, but perhaps even more so of our age. If we said to somebody in the world today, you know, I live for Christ and when I die is gain, they'll be amazed. I actually said that once to a colleague of mine, that I don't fear death. Okay, the death bit itself is unpleasant, but after death I will have all spiritual blessings given to me in Christ. And that person looked at me as if I had two heads. The world cannot comprehend this saying, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. And as Western society in particular becomes more affluent and receives the blessings of God's common grace, even though it doesn't acknowledge them, is it not the case that their lives and our lives become all the more self-centered rather than Christ-centered? And as we become more self-centered and more affluent, is it not the case that society has less and less to say on the subject of death? You see, death is still a great taboo. The world and society has no answer for death. Life is for the here and now. It is to be lived as full as it possibly can, and then death, well, we're just not going to talk about it. It's too uncomfortable. But no, Paul says, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. The question you must ask yourselves this morning is do you share the Apostle Paul's confession? Can you say, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain? I hope to be able to help in some part for you to answer that question. We're going to simply look at the text under two headings. What does it mean when Paul says, to me to live is Christ? And then secondly, we will look at it, look at what he says, to die is gain. Very simple, to live is Christ and to die is gain. So firstly, Paul says, for to me to live is Christ. It is, as I've said, a personal profession or confession of Paul's faith. But surely anyone who belongs to Christ must surely say this also. But for Paul, it has a particular significance. We look at his circumstances, and we know that Paul is writing this epistle from prison. At least he's under house arrest, and he certainly says that he is in chains. And yet Paul does not use this excuse, use this time in prison as an excuse to feel sorry for himself or to write to the Philippians and say, you know, this is me. I'm in chains for the sake of the gospel. It's about me. No. Paul's chains are preeminently and exclusively about Christ, and Christ being magnified. He has gone to Rome. He has been put on trial. He has already suffered significantly for the gospel of Christ. And as Paul languishes in prison, I suspect he has much time to think about life and about death. And life and death dominate this part of his epistle. We look in verse 19. He writes, For I know that this, that's all his experience, his prison, and this desire to see Christ preached, I know that all this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. according to my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness as always. So now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. This theme of life or death and the magnification of the Lord Jesus Christ is what Paul is all about. He carries on in verse 21, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain, life and death. In verse 22, he deals more with life. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit for my labor. So he is saying, if I live, if God spares me, wonderful. I'll have more fruit for my labor that Christ will be preached all the more. But he says this, yet what I choose, if he had a choice, he says, I cannot tell. Verse 23 is about his death. For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. How many of us here today are hard-pressed between life and death? If we're honest, most of us are probably clinging on to life as best as we can. Paul says, no, I'm hard-pressed. I've got two great forces working on me to stay and get more fruit for Christ or to die and be with Christ. It's far better. In verse 24 he returns to the issue of life. Nevertheless, to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. And Paul says later he's convinced that he will be released and will return and meet them. So Paul is thinking about how his life can serve the gospel and the interests of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he's also considering how his death can serve the interests of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says, for to me to live is Christ. Well, what is there in Paul's life, in Paul's theology, in Paul's experience, which drives him to this point to say, for to me to live is Christ? Well, Paul lived his life in the reality of his union with the Lord Jesus Christ. I'll say it again. Paul lived his life in the reality of union with Christ. Now, some of you might be saying, what on earth is union with Christ? Well, there's much debate in the church today about what union with Christ actually means. I have no intention of getting into that at all. Suffice to say, there are two elements to union with Christ. Paul tells us, Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 3 he tells us that there is an eternal aspect to union with Christ an eternal aspect before time began Paul writes blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places where in Christ And he continues, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. You see, the doctrine of election teaches us that we today who are in Christ were chosen in Christ. before the foundation of the world. In God's mind, we were always in Christ. There was never a time we were not in Christ. We were not united to Christ. But there's also a temporal, an in-time aspect to union with Christ. And we see that in verse 11 through 13 of Ephesians chapter 1. Paul writes, in him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will. That's the eternal part again. that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of his glory. Now verse 13, in him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. You see, Paul is saying that this union, even though it's already been preplanned, even though you've been elected by God before the foundation of the world, It actually happens to us when God calls us and regenerates us and we hear and we trust in that gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It comes with faith. You see, the Christian is inseparably united, connected to the Lord Jesus Christ. What is union? Union with Christ is an act of God's grace, whereby the Spirit calls, regenerates, and works faith and repentance in us, and we are then granted every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. It is in Christ Jesus. He is the fountainhead of all Christian blessings. Everything that you have from God is in Christ and through Christ. And as I said, it's a bond which cannot be broken. Paul writes of this in Romans chapter 8 towards the end of that most amazing chapter. This union with Christ, he says, I am persuaded. that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Jesus Christ our Lord. Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Jesus Christ. when we are found in Jesus Christ. Nothing in this world, not even death itself, can separate us from the love of God because we're in Christ Jesus. And union with Christ, the doctrine or the teaching of union with Christ, undergirds all of Paul's theology and undergirds Paul's view of his life and of his death. Why was union with Christ so important to the Apostle Paul? Well, there was a time, humanly speaking, there was a time when he didn't enjoy the blessings of union with Christ. There was a time when Paul did not know Christ. Indeed, there was a time when Paul hated Christ and persecuted him, and Paul was a self-righteous Pharisee trying to earn his salvation by works of the law, and he did a pretty good job at it according to his standards, but he was ignorant of Christ, and he hated Christ, and he hated Christians, And he was a persecutor of the Church of Christ. He did not know that union with Christ. But what a day it was for the Apostle Paul. Went on the road to Damascus. He met face to face with his savior, Christ Jesus. And Christ said to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And in those moments and those days afterwards, Paul was regenerated by the Holy Spirit. His heart of stone and hatred was turned to a heart of flesh and love towards the Lord God. Saul, the self-sufficient one, was regenerated by something outside of him, the Holy Spirit. He became Paul, the apostle. Saul, the warmonger, later became the one who wrote these words. Therefore, having been justified by faith, We have peace with God. Saul, the one who tried to save himself by his works, wrote in Ephesians, for by faith, by grace, you have been saved. through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. We sometimes forget that the Paul who wrote these words, we forget that because we think of scripture as being inspired, that sometimes we think that God put the words in the back of his head and they just came out of a pen. No, these words came through Paul's own experience. As he wrote them, he could be saying, by grace, Paul, I have been saved through faith, and it's not of myself. Paul experienced a change in his life. A change which he could never, ever go back on. Paul had been saved. Saved from his self-righteous sin. And the Apostle Paul never got over the fact that he had been saved. It never became a common thing to him. His salvation, he knew, was at the cost of the Lord Jesus Christ. His blood, his sweat, his tears, and his death were what saved Paul. And Paul writes in Romans about the wonderful blessings that stem from being united with the Lord Jesus Christ. All those blessings that make up our union with Christ. He tells us about justification by faith alone. That man is justified by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, not of works, lest any man should boast. And he tells, as a result of that, we have peace with God, God who was our enemy. Now we have peace. And he tells about the glorious doctrine of sanctification, about that God has made us holy, and that we have died to the power of sin, and that we don't have to sin anymore. And even when we do, we do have forgiveness with God. And he tells about the much undervalued doctrine of adoption. Some of you know what it's like to be adopted. Others are planning adoptions. Adoption is when children who are not your own are received into your household and they become your children. They're not biologically your own, but they are received and they are treated as your own. And you nurture them, you care for them, you clothe them and feed them. And you raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And that's what God does to us. We who by nature were children of wrath are now children of the Most High God. That's true of you here today if you're in Christ. And Paul continues with the glorious doctrine of our glorification. He writes in Romans 8, he writes in the past tense as if our glorification has already been secured and is real for us. Well certainly it has been secured and we do live in the hope of glorification. And he tells us that with the earth we are groaning and we wait that final glorification. What's Paul's response to all this? To this union that he has with Christ, his justification, his sanctification, his Christian liberty, his adoption, his glorification? He just falls to his knees and cries out, oh the depth the riches the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God how unsearchable are his judgment and his ways past finding out for who has known the mind of the Lord or who has become his counselor or who has first given to him and it shall be repaid him for of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever amen Worship is Paul's chief response to this understanding that he is inseparably united to the Lord Jesus Christ. Is it not our response also? Is it not our response, the first thing we do when we hear of our union with Christ, knowing that we were previously sinners, alienated from him, and now we know we're his children, awaiting an inheritance and a glory? Is that not our first response of worship? to the praise and honor and glory of God. And that's what Paul is saying here. To me, to live is Christ. Because he purchased me. And the words of the hymn speak clearly of this matter. I found a friend. I found a friend. Oh, such a friend. He bled and died to save me. and not alone the gift of life, but his own self he gave me. Not that I have mine own I'll call my heart, my strength, my life, my all are his and his forever. Union with Christ means that Christ gave us his righteousness and took our sins in his body. and that whatever is true of Christ is true of us. Do you understand that as you sit here today, if you are in Christ, you sit before God no less righteous than Jesus himself. Even as Jesus sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty making intercession for us, you Christian today are no less righteous than he is. because he's given you his righteousness. What glorious truth. What wonderful news this is for us. But practically speaking, what does union with Christ mean with Paul? What does this to live is Christ mean? Well, Matthew Henry supplies us with three helpful principles, I think. Firstly, he says the glory of Christ is the goal of Paul's life. The glory of Christ is the goal of Paul's life. And we see that worked out in this chapter. We see that Paul is in prison. And he says in verse 12, I want you to know, brethren, that the things that have happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel. Paul's not sitting there feeling sorry for himself. say, oh, poor me, have sympathy for me, pray for me, won't you? He's saying, no. My shipwrecks, my scourgings, the stoning I've received, the beatings from the Jews, the trials against me, they've worked out for what? For the furtherance of the gospel. And then as Paul is languishing in prison, it appears that some people are preaching against him. Verse 15, some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill. The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains. What? Supposing to add affliction to Paul's chains while he's in prison for the gospel? What does Paul say to them? He doesn't say, bar them from the pulpit, kick them out from the church, censure them, He says, no, verse 19, verse 18, what then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. And in this, I rejoice. Yes, and will rejoice. You see, Christ is everything for the Apostle Paul. The glory of Christ is the goal of his life. Secondly, the grace of Christ is the principle of his life. Paul writes in Philippians chapter 2 to the same people, he holds up Christ as this great example and says, let this mind be in you. Verse five, chapter two, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, and that means he was God, by the way, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. And then look what it says about Christ. He made himself of no reputation. taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of a cross. Isn't this what Paul is doing now? Obedience even to the point of death? And Paul says, let this mind, the mind of Christ, be in you. Those graces that Christ exhibited while here on this earth, he says, you must have them. You must be humble. You must serve. You must not seek position or influence for the sake of position or influence. You must be humble. You must be foot washers. Let this mind be in you. And thirdly, the word of Christ is the rule of Paul's life. I think Paul lived his life, at least after his conversion, in the light and the memory of what Christ had said, if you love me, keep my commandments. If you love me, keep my commandments. Paul loved Christ. And here he is, with stripes and scars across his back, having gone through a stoning and been left for dead, and now languishing in a prison, which he will get out of, but only to go back to prison later in his life and die. Paul is keeping the commandments of God. If you love me, keep my commandments. But not only that, to live as Christ means that you derive strength from Christ. Paul writes in Philippians 4.13, I can do all things through Christ. You see that Christ is the sphere of this. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Again, in chapter four, we see in verse, chapter three, in verse eight, Paul writes, yet indeed I also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things. He wants to know Christ better, and he can, because he is united to Christ. It means being found in Christ also, verse nine of chapter three. that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ." You see, Paul knows the before and the after. He sees Saul, the sinner, the persecutor of the church, and now he knows himself to be Paul, the persecuted of the church. He has gone from one extreme to another by the grace of God. And brethren, how does this apply to us? What does to live as Christ mean for us? Do you not see the before and after? Maybe there are some here who have grown up in the covenant and don't see that stark before and after, but you know this, that unless you are regenerated in the womb, there is always a before and after. The before is a sinner. and the after as a saint. Paul sees the before and the after, and he lives his life in the knowledge that he is united to Christ. Do we live our lives like that? Is our salvation a common thing to us? Have we grown used to it? Or do we get up every morning and think, I am a sinner saved by grace. I am a son of the Most High God and nothing on this earth, no created thing can separate me from His love. Does this not invigorate our worship? Do these doctrines, this union with Christ, does it not invigorate our worship? I get perplexed when I see people sitting in the pews who can barely open their mouths to praise God. and they claim the name of Christ. I am deeply concerned for such people, and it's true of me at times. I am deeply concerned that we do not see ourselves as in Christ. We do not think about it enough, we do not consider it, and therefore our worship is all the poorer. Why is our worship not accompanied with many tears? when we sing the praises of God Almighty, when we sing the great hymns of the faith. And can it be, it's a cry of astonishment, and can it be that I should gain an interest in my Savior's blood? Died he for me who caused his pain? No condemnation, now I dread Jesus, and all in him is mine. These are glorious truths. they're not just to be left on the pages of Scripture, they're to be in our hearts. And we ought to praise God with all our hearts, all our soul, and with all our strength. This doctrine, these doctrines should also make us the most humble of people in the world, because we know the grace of has played a pivotal part in our life. Somebody outside us has done something to us and for us which we did not deserve, nor indeed could we work for. We have nothing to bring to God. It is of grace that humbles us. Pride goes straight out of the door. At least it should. And holiness. These doctrines teach us that we must be holy. God has saved us, he has sanctified us, and he has told us to be holy as he is holy. We are to sanctify ourselves. So Paul, you see, lives his life in the reality of his union with Christ. And just as he did that, Paul also viewed his death through the lens of union with Christ. And this is our second consideration. I'll try and be a bit quicker. to die is gain. Paul makes the remarkable statement to die is gain. How? Because he is viewing his death through the lens of union with Christ. Now, Paul writes in Romans chapter 6, He writes these words, verse 3, You see, Paul highlights the first area of our union with Christ that has a spiritual impact upon us. He says you were buried with Christ in baptism. Now I don't think that necessarily means the actual, well it's certainly not the actual act of pouring water on somebody's head. Because the people he's writing to in Romans 6 are those same believers he writes to in Romans 5. The ones he says, therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God. So in faith, in our baptism, which is a sign of union with Christ, we are buried with him and we are raised with him. We are buried to what and raised to what, we ask ourselves? Well, we are buried to sin. We die to sin and verse 5 or verse 4 tells us, even so we should walk in newness of life. You see, our union with Christ and the issue of death means that we have died to the power and effect of sin and the guilt of it so that we might walk in newness of life. But there's also a physical and a practical understanding to union with Christ when Paul thinks about death. 1 Thessalonians 4, 13. And this is another one of the central pillars of Paul's theology, the resurrection of the dead. Paul writes in Thessalonians 4.13, I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, those who have died, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. You see, the fact we are united to Christ means that at death, what happened to Christ will also happen to us. Just as Christ died, so too will we die. But just as Christ was raised from the dead by the power of God Almighty, so too, Christian, will you be raised from the dead by the power of God Almighty. Paul continues in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 20. He speaks these words, but now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. Christ is the firstfruits of those who have died. The idea of firstfruits that he is the first of the harvest, the first of the crop. There are more to come after him. Paul continues, for since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ All shall be made alive, but each one in his own order. Christ the firstfruits and afterwards those who are Christ's at his coming. Those who are Christ's will be raised from the dead at his coming. Do you understand that union with Christ for Paul not only affects the way he lives, but it affects the way he dies. Paul says to die is gain. Why? Because I'm united to Christ. I am in Christ. I belong to Christ Jesus. Therefore, as God has raised him from the dead, which is one of the foundational truths of our faith, so too will Christ raise Paul from the dead. And Christian here today, so too will Christ raise you from the dead. Paul continues in 1 Corinthians 15. He tells us a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed. Even those of us who are still alive at the coming of Christ, there needs to be a change in these bodies. He continues in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible. And we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. These words describe those who are in Christ. We are now corruption, we are now mortal, but this mortal must put on immortality, and this corruption, our flesh and bones and our nature, must put on incorruption. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is your sting? Oh, Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. And listen to what Paul says now, this note of worship and doxology, but take careful account of the sphere of this worship. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ. Union with Christ is everything. Christ we have the victory over death and so do those saints who have fallen asleep even in our own congregation those we know who have fallen asleep in Christ have victory in Christ and their bodies will be raised from the dead the corruption of our bodies now cancer as our bodies struggle with cancer as our minds struggle with Alzheimer's We have victory in Christ because we are united to him. Our bodies will be changed, our spirits will be made perfect, and we will dwell forever in the house of the Lord. Revelation 21.3, we'll come face to face with God. It says, God himself, emphatic in the Greek, God himself will dwell with them. That's us. And they themselves, in Fatih again, will dwell with God. We will be his people. And God will stretch out and wipe every tear from your eyes. The tears of sadness, of loss, of sickness, of loneliness, of heartbreak. God will wipe away those tears from your eyes. And there will be no more death. nor sorrow nor crying for the former things have passed away and Jesus Christ will be there the lamb of God who took away the sins of the world will be there with us in his bodily form and it says in chapter 21 verse 6 it says I he or crisis I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts and they tell us in chapter 22 there's going to be no more curse. What a remarkable statement. There will be no more curse. We live our lives on this earth in the shadow of God's curse. There will be no more curse and we will serve God all the days of our lives and our union will be perfect, so perfect that no longer is circumcision necessary, no longer is baptism necessary. Why? Because it says. They shall see his face and their names, his name, will be written on their foreheads. God's name will be indelibly printed upon you. Such is the fruition and fulfillment of union with Christ. But perhaps some here today are still in fear of death. And if they're honest with themselves, They cannot say to live is Christ and to die is gain because their life is for themselves and quite frankly if they've ever thought about death, if you've ever thought about death then it's a passing and fleeting thing because death holds nothing but fear for you. It may be that there are some here today who are not in Christ, who do not have that righteousness, and therefore stand before God as guilty. You do not experience the blessings of being in Christ in this life, and you certainly will not experience the blessings of the life to come, and you have no hope at death. Let me tell you quickly, if there are any here in this state who do not know Christ, and we tell you this not to be combative or because we don't like you, but rather we want to see you saved, We tell you this now, hell is described as a place of outer darkness, a place where men continually and eternally weep and gnash their teeth. It's described as a place of torment, of sorrow, a place of everlasting destruction, a place of unquenchable fire and a bottomless pit, a place of no rest, a lake of fire. It's a place where if you go and you do not have Christ, you will be eternally destroyed. Eternally destroyed. But in this church, we sing a hymn which tells you, if you do not have Christ here today, of the hope of salvation. It reads like this, there is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains. You see, you can lose all your guilty stains if you confess your sin to the Lord Jesus Christ and you trust him for salvation. The hymn continues, the dying thief, the one who died next to Christ, the dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain of blood in his day. And there have I, though as vile as he, washed all my sins away. We don't tell you this because we think we're better than you. We tell you because we're just the same as you. We're sinners who have been washed in the blood of our Savior. The Lord God Almighty does not desire your death and destruction. He tells us that in Scripture. Ezekiel 33 verse 11. Ezekiel 33 and verse 11 as I live says Jehovah God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked But that the wicked turn from his way and live turn turn from your evil ways Do not leave this building today if you are in this state of lostness. Do not leave those doors without begging God for mercy and forgiveness. Do not set your head on the pillow tonight without first pleading to God Almighty for His forgiveness, crying out that, Lord, make me righteous as only you can. And you will enjoy the blessings of union with Christ in this life. And you will see your death as a gain. Paul says that there is forgiveness with Christ. It is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And Paul says, of whom I am the chief. Is that not all our experience? Of whom I am the chief. We have great hope We have great joy and great expectation, even in death, the death of loved ones. We have great expectation that we will sit at table with our loved ones again in the presence of the Lamb. And we can look forward to sitting at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and with Moses, and with David, and with the Apostle Paul. And who do you think Paul is looking forward to being with? I suspect he will have a few words to say to Stephen, whose battered and bloody body lay before him, but then later on became a brother in Christ. What wonderful hope we have in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle John says these words, in 1 John chapter 3 as a point of application for us today. 1 John chapter 3 in verse 2. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And everyone who has this hope purifies himself just as he is pure. Holiness, holy living, sanctification is one of the chief lessons we learn from this text. Brothers and sisters, our life belongs to Christ, in Christ, and through Christ, and our death will put us in his presence. And there we will see Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and all the other saints. We must stand firm and hold fast, and be those that through faith inherit the promises. The words of the hymn sum up this nicely. No guilt in life, No fear in death. This is the power of Christ in me. From life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. No power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck me from his hand till he returns to call me home. here in the power of Christ I'll stand for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Let's pray. Oh our God and our Father we praise you and worship you There is none like you who works wonders of grace and mercy. How much debt we owe you that we can never repay. But we thank you, Lord God, that we are acceptable in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, that you do not see our sins, Lord God, but you see those perfect white robes of righteousness that allow us to stand boldly before you. They are from you and of you. And we do thank you, Lord God, that you have set before us this doctrine that we are united to our Savior. May we know more, Lord God, of this doctrine. May we outwork it in our daily lives, in all our struggles and toils, whatever it might be, Lord God, help us to see ourselves as being in Christ. We thank you and praise you with all our hearts. In Christ's name, amen. If you turn in your hymnal to number 516, number 516, it is a hymn about our union with Christ. Jesus, I live to thee, the loveliest and best, my life in thee, thy life in me, and in thy