Philippians 1:19-26 The Christian’s Death Benefits

by Larry Ferrell | December 22, 2017
There is a great deal of disappointment in this life, and everyone has experienced it. Yet there is no disappointment with God. The verse in the Epistle to the Philippians to which we now come is a great expression of this truth. Paul had carried the gospel of Jesus Christ through much of the Roman empire and now he was imprisoned in Rome itself. From a human point of view, everything seemed to be going against him. But despite this, Paul remained confident that God’s purpose for his life would not be shaken (vv. 19-20).

Many Christians divide their lives into two compartments. One they label “sacred,” and the other they label “secular.” The sacred part of life consists of what they do on Sundays and when they are praying, witnessing, or reading their Bible during the other days of the week. The secular part of life involves nearly everything else. There is almost no connection between the two. Jesus Christ knew no division of His life, for everything He did pleased His heavenly Father. Jesus said, “I always do what pleases Him” (John 8:29). So it was with Paul. Paul knew that the child of God is called to live all of life under the eye of his heavenly Father and to do all things to His glory.

The second half of Philippians 1:21 moves from the subject of life in Christ to death in Him and teaches that there are great benefits in death for Christians (v. 23). How vividly those words express the triumphant outlook of Christians as they look toward eternity. Unfortunately, it is necessary to say that although death holds benefits for Christians, it certainly does not hold benefits for unbelievers. A Christian may experience much hell on earth – although in God’s grace it is always mingled with a taste of heaven. But beyond that is the bliss of heaven and unbroken fellowship with God. On the other hand, all that the unbeliever will know of heaven is the heaven he makes for himself on earth. After that his future is condemnation and suffering. Subconsciously the non-Christian knows this. Thus death looms large as a dreadful enemy.

Death for the Christian is never pictured in the Bible as a gain over the worst in this life. Instead it is portrayed as an improvement on the best. Certainly it is in this sense that Paul intends his words to the Philippians. We might imagine that Paul was suffering in prison and was anxious for a speedy release, even by the portal of death. But this is just the opposite of what Paul experienced. Paul’s life was full; he had been enriched by fellowship with Christ (v. 21). He was confident that Christ would be magnified in the way he led his life. He speaks of his earnest expectation and hope that “as always Christ will be exalted in my body (v. 20). He was filled with delight that his work at Philippi had prospered; he even saw evidence of the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ at Rome. These facts fulfilled his deepest desires. Consequently, the statements that surround his circumstances at Rome are optimistic. What are the benefits of death to those who trust in Jesus? There are at least these: freedom from evil of this world, conformity to the image of Christ, and fellowship with Jesus Christ forever.

The first great benefit of death for Christians is that death brings a permanent freedom from evil. The unsaved person may not desire this, preferring to wallow in his sin, but the Christian who has tasted the delight of God’s righteousness longs for purity that he will never have on earth. He longs to be free of sin, pain, care, and anxiety. And he knows that death brings freedom.

The second great benefit of death to believers is that they will be like Jesus. It’s not enough to say that death brings freedom from evil. It is true, but it is a negative thing. The Bible teaches that death brings a final perfection of the sanctification of the believer that has begun on earth. We shall be like Him. That means we shall be like Him in righteousness, for Paul speaks of the “crown of righteousness (2 Tim. 4:8). We don’t know that righteousness now; we have only tasted is slightly. But the day is coming when we shall be what we should be. We also shall be like Him in knowledge. Now we see things imperfectly. We know in part, and our knowledge (even of spiritual things) is always mixed with error. In that day we shall know as God knows us, and all that has puzzled us in this life will become clear. We will also be like Christ in love. What a joy to be like Him in this. There is so much of self in everything we do, but Christ’s love was selfless and self-sacrificing. It was a love that reached to us when we were sinners and saved us for this life and for eternity. How wonderful that God’s love stooped low enough to reach us and that it will yet carry us beyond the highest star into His presence.

Death is always a separation, even for the Christian. For the unbeliever, death is the separation of the soul and the spirit from God. For the Christian, death is the separation of the soul and the spirit from the body. But there is one respect in which death is no separation at all for those who trust Jesus: there is no separation from Him. You and I can look forward to that union, but we must live for others now. It is true that death holds benefits for believers, but this was never intended to make Christians flee from duties of this life, as some has claimed. In a few brief words Paul acknowledges that if in God’s wisdom he remains in this life, then that is more needful for others (vv. 25-26). So it must be with us. We must lift our minds to contemplate the joys of heaven, but if we see them rightly we will turn back once more to those for whom our life in Christ and our witness to Him are needful.

Philippians 1:19-26 Reflection Questions:
Do you divide your life into two compartments or do you do all things to the Father’s glory?
Do you remain confident of God’s purpose for your life when disappointments come?
How are you doing on living a selfless life? Are you fleeing from your Christian duty in this life?

Be the first to comment

Isaiah 3:1-4:1 Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem

by Larry Ferrell | December 16, 2017
Verse I introduces a note of immediacy in contrast to the ‘last days’ perspective which has been dominant in chapter 2. But the two perspectives should not be too sharply distinguished, because, for Isaiah every occasion when the Lord intervenes in judgment is a ‘day of the Lord’ and anticipation (and therefore a warning) of the final one. What is anticipated here is famine caused by siege (v. 1), the removal of the community’s leaders by death or deportation (vv. 2-3), and as a consequence, a complete breakdown of social order (vv. 4-5). It was the Babylonians who would eventually bring this fully to pass more than a hundred years after Isaiah’s death. But Isaiah could already see in his own lifetime the direction in which things were moving. Babylon would finish what Assyria had begun. The final evidence of the collapse of order will be the desperate way the distraught populace will go about trying to reestablish it. The mere possession of a cloak will do as a qualification for leadership if only its owner can be persuaded to take it on. But no-one will be willing (vv. 6-7).

With verse 8 we move from description to explanation. Isaiah begins with the wickedness of the people in general (vv. 8-9), but then traces it back to bad leadership as its root cause (v. 12). Like a skilful cameraman he first pans the turbulent crowd, and then zooms in on those chiefly responsible. The common people are in a sense victims but they have passed the point where their behavior can be excused, for they have become openly defiant and quite brazen in their wickedness (vv. 8-9). The corrupt leaders are tyrants (they oppress the people), but the terms in which they are described suggest that their bad behavior sprang from weakness. They copied the ways of the powerful nations they feared and so ended up being exactly like them. But the general populace is not uniformly evil, and the Lord’s judgment, when it comes, will not be an outburst of unbridled anger. It will be controlled and discriminating, sifting the righteous from the wicked and giving to each what their deeds deserve (vv. 10-11).

In the first twelve verses the Lord has been portrayed as a warrior, now He is portrayed as judge (v. 13). A hush descends as the heavenly court comes to order, for the divine judge has taken His place and the judgment foreshadowed in verses 1-12 is now to be put into effect. Isaiah has singled out the leaders as those chiefly responsible; now they are to be formally indicted by the Lord Himself. Leaders (v. 14) are literally ‘princes’, men closely associated with the court and the royal family. The elders were a wider group representing local communities. The charge brought against them both is oppression of the poor. They used their position to exploit the very ones they should have protected. The divine judge will certainly avenge those who have been so grievously wronged. It’s sobering to reflect that the same high standards of accountability still apply today. Those who lead God’s people are answerable, not just to those they lead, but to the Lord who has entrusted His precious people to them, and it is to Him that they will finally give account for how they behave. We should pray for them daily.

Verse 16-17 consists of an indictment of the women of Zion followed by an announcement of judgment of them. Verses 18-4:1 is an announcement of judgment from beginning to end. The reference to their men in verse 25 suggests that these women of Zion were married. Their husbands must have been rich to deck them out so extravagantly (vv. 18-23).The elders and leaders indicted in verses 14-15 were probably the husbands of these very women. The essential sin of the men was oppression; and that of the women was vanity. But clearly the common factor is ill-gotten wealth. The women have been partners in their husbands’ crimes.

Isaiah 3:1-4:1 Reflection Questions:
What New Testament Scriptures come to mind when studying verses 3:16-4:1?
How did the women and their husbands get their wealth?
Are you a leader of God’s people (a parent, employer, manager, church leader, etc.)? Are you holding yourself to a higher standard? What does that mean to you?

Be the first to comment