Episode Transcript
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Good morning, and welcome to StormsCreek Missionary Baptist Church this Sunday morning radio
program. This morning, we'll bejoining Pastor Kenny Hurst because we once again
open the scriptures and study God's word. Philippians, Chapter one, verse twenty
one. It says, for meto live is Christ and to die is
(00:42):
Game. Now I'm just going tobe taking the first part of that verse,
for me to live is Christ.We're going to base the message on
that. I want to title themessage this morning by a question, and
the question is this, what areyou living for? And what you think
about that? Look at this passageof scripture? What are you living for?
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There was a change that came intoPaul's life, a drastic change.
That is, on the road toDamascus looking for followers of Christ so that
he could put them in prison.Well, something changed, something changed Paul's
life. This one who he waspersecuting, this one who he hated,
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this one who he opposed, suddenlyappeared to him. And Paul's life was
drastically changed. Now he belonged toChrist. You could say that Paul was
married to Christ, because that's exactlywhat happened. Now before this time,
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before he was going to Damascus.You could say his life could be looked
at this way. For me tolive is to rid the world of Christ
and all who follow him. Afterhis conversion, he would say what he
says here in Philippians, for meto live is Christ. Well, that
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change that took place in Paul's lifealso took place in my life a year
before I was married. The greatestchange that I've ever experienced happened to me
in June of nineteen seventy nine.I too met the Lord Jesus Christ.
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I too was saved, And Ican stand here and tell you that my
life drastically changed, and you knowwhat, it changed for the better.
I wasn't before that persecuting those whofollowed Christ. I wasn't openly trying to
rid the world of Christians. Knowbut I was opposed to him. I
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was in rebellion against him. Hewas not a part of my life,
and I didn't see any need forhim to be a part of my life
life until well, until I wassaved, until I was born again,
and then there was that drastic change. And I look over this auditorium today,
I'm looking a lot of people whohave a similar story, not exactly
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like mine. But you have astory of one day, you too,
meeting this one and your life drasticallychanging and changing for the better. Now
is what do we call this change? Anyway? What we call it repentance?
Repentance. Repentance is a heartfelt sorrowfor sin. It's a renouncing of
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sin. It's a commitment to forsakeall sin and to completely be devoted to
Christ and to follow him. That'swhat we mean when we say repentance.
Now, up to this point inPaul's letter to the church at Philippi,
Paul has well, he has dealtwith his desire to see the Gospel go
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forth, to see Christ being proclaimedand preached, and he also has a
desire that Christ be exalted and thathe be magnified. So that's what we've
looked at in the verses prior tothis. And then when you get to
verse twenty, you see him say, according to my earnest expectation and my
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hope that in nothing I shall beashamed, but that with all boldness as
always so now also Christ shall bemagnified in my body, whether it be
by life or by death. Hebegins to reflect upon his future. He's
been looking at the past. Nowhe's talking about his future. What's going
to happen to Paul, What's instore for him. He's about to go
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to trial, which means one oftwo things. It means either he will
be set free or it means he'sgoing to be put to death. That
is the alternatives. Well, Paulsays, regardless whether I live or die,
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he says, Christ is going tobe magnified. Christ is going to
be exalted, and in this Ido rejoice. And then he begins to
reflect upon these two alternatives. Ibelieve that Galatians, chapter two and verse
twenty says it best, says,for I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless
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I lived, yet not I,but Christ liveth in me, and the
life which I now live in theflesh, I live by the faith of
the Son of God, who lovedme and gave himself for me. That
sums up Paul's life, and Ihope that it would sum up our lives
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as well. You see, beforea person can do what he says here
in verse twenty one, before somebodycan live for Christ, death, a
death has to occur. Not theirphysical death. We're talking about a death
to self a death to their waybecause now it's not about them anymore.
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Just like when I was married,there was somebody else that I had to
consider. Well, Paul now realizesthat he had to die to self because
now well he had a new focusin life. Jesus Christ now was his
focus. That's why then he cansay what he says in verse twenty one.
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For me to live is Christ?Now? These six words and they
are six words for me to liveis Christ? Yeah, six words they
bring about well, they make usfocus on the greatest question that a person
can ask. And I hope againthat you are asking yourself this question,
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and it just happens to be thetitle for the message for this morning.
What are you living for? Whatis life to you? You know a
lot of people never even stop tothink about that. The it is busy,
they're busy and they just go rightthrough life and they never stop to
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think, you know, what's itall about? What's it mean? Why?
Why am I here? What islife? Anyway? Well? I
want us to think about that thismorning. Don't tune me out. Don't
start thinking about well, where arewe going to go eat today? Or
what are we gonna do later today? No, don't worry about just think
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about right now and think about yourlife at the present time. And so
when we think about what are youliving for? I want to take that
question and apply it to three differentgroups. First of all to unbelievers,
secondly to Paul and those who arebelievers, and then third to us who
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are here today. How do weanswer that question? So, first of
all, what is life to theunbeliever? Ask the unbeliever for me to
live is and you fell in theblank, Well, let me just give
you some suggestions here, some responsesthat they might give to many. It's
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nothing more than just existing. That'sit. They're just existing, no purpose,
no meaning, no reason for living. They just exist, kind of
like somebody who's in a coma.They are alive, but they're not living.
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They can't talk, they're not walking, they can't commune. They're just
lying there. But they're a livethat we would not say they're living.
See. I think that sums upa lot of people today, and that
is I'm just existing from day today. You know, those people who
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believe in evolution. The sad thingabout it is is they have no purpose
and no meaning in their life.Why because they're just here by accident.
They're going to live here a fewyears and then they're going to die and
that's it. It's all over with. That's not the way it is.
But for them, that's all thereis. Life is just an accident.
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They just exist for a few yearsand then that's it. Well, another
way that people respond, the unbelieverresponds, is for me to live is
to eat and drink and to bemerry. You know, the meaning of
life for them is just to pursuitof pleasure, to go from one pleasure
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to another, to get all thematerial possessions they can, to have the
nicest home they can have, todrive the best car they can drive,
to have the nicest clothes, tobe able to have computers and all the
latest technology, to be able totravel and go on vacations and go wherever
they want to go. That's lifeto them, just to pursuit of pleasure,
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one pleasure after another. You knowwhy do people play the lottery?
Well, I think the main reasonis is so that they can basically have
all the money they need. Theycan quit their job and sit back and
just enjoy one pleasure after another.Whatever they want to do, they'll do
because they have the moolah to doit. Some of you know hired Hughes.
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Some of you young people probably haveno clue who hired Hughes is or
who he was. HAIRD. Hugheswas a man who seemed to have it
all. He had money, hehad power, he had influence. He
owned a lot of businesses. Hehad a big part in Hollywood. He
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owned a lot in Hollywood as well. He was one powerful man and for
a lot of people, he hadit all. He had everything that you
could want. If you know anythingabout his life, you know that he
died a lonely man, a recluse. He died basically nothing more than skin
and bones. He had marked allover his body from drugs. He was
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an unhappy, miserable man. Yousay, well, how can that be.
The man had more money than hecould ever spend. He was just
living for pleasure and that didn't satisfyhim. A third answer that we could
give is for the unbeliever to liveis just to endure. Life kind of
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goes along with what I said withjust existing. A lot of people when
they wake up in the morning,they don't wake up in the morning and
say, oh, it's a beautifulday. Isn't life just wonderful? No,
that's not what they say. It'ssay, another day to live.
I hope I can make it throughthe day and get to the end of
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this day. Now, you knowwhat the sad reality is that describes too
many people in this world just enduringanother day. I hope that more good
things happen to me than bad.The unbeliever also would say, for me
to live is my job and myfamily. Which there's nothing wrong with a
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job or family, but to somepeople that's all life is. It's just
my job and my family, andif either on one of these things are
lost, then their world just fallsapart. We see this happen a lot
of time, don't we. Youknow, somebody who's tied to their family
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the eve, lose somebody in thefamily all of a sudden, it's like
that's it. I'm over. Theirlife can't go on because their life is
tied to their family or to theirjob. You know, for me,
as a pastor, and I've beenthinking about this a lot, it seems
like over the last several months,not really sure why, but you know,
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for me as a pastor, Ishouldn't say for me to live is
to preach. Now, I enjoypreaching. I enjoy pastoring this church.
I really do. I don't knowhow much longer I'm going to be able
to do these things, but rightnow I'm able to do that. But
for me to say my life,for me to live is to preach,
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I certainly hope that's not what mylife is all about, because I was
thinking about this, What am Igoing to do when the time comes when
I'm not able to preach? IfI live long enough or I'm not pastoring
church, then am I not goingto have anything to live for? You?
See? What I should say forme to live is what Paul says
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here. It's Christ. Whether Istand and preach or not, my life
revolves around my relationship with Christ.Now, in addition to these things that
I mentioned, you could say,to live is your intellectual pursuit. A
lot of people live just to gainall the knowledge they can, or sports
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and entertainment, which I guess Icould have put with pleasure or how we
know a lot of people their wholelife revolves around sports, one sport after
another. That's all they think about, that's all they talk about, that's
all they're involved in they're not inchurch because they're involved in sports. It's
just like one thing after It's likemy life for me to live is sports
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or food or a lot of otherthings you could put into that category.
See, these are all the thingsthat the unbeliever looks to as being a
part of why they live. Now, I could also add and should add
that the unbeliever is not the onlyone who does these things, because a
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lot of these things I just mentionedsave people pursue just like the unsaved do.
So that's how the unbeliever would answerthe question what are you living for?
Then? Next, what is theapostle Paul living for? Well,
Before we get to the answer,which we see here in the text,
we're looking at this morning, Saulthe persecutor. Before he was saved.
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Paul wouldn't say that he was livingfor Christ because he wasn't. What was
he living for? Well, hewas living for his religious life. He
was living in order to keep thelaw. So that's what life was for
Paul. When we get to chapterthree, we're going to see Paul describe
himself before he was saved, andhe was well, he was a religious
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zealot, he was a Pharisee.He was someone who tried to keep the
law. He was a dedicated religiousman. You say, well, isn't
that a good thing. No,not in his case, because he was
looking for satisfaction in the wrong things. He was trying to earn God's favor
by what he did. In fact, he was a typical Jewish man of
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his day in time who was simplytrying to earn his way to heaven,
trying to do good work so thatGod would one day accept him. You
see, Paul, before he wassaved, he thought, because Israel possessed
the law that made them better thanthe gentiles, that made them right with
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God. They relied upon the factthat they not only had the law,
but they had some kind of aknowledge of the law, so that to
count for something. You know.They also believe that, well, as
long as you kept the majority ofthe law, everything was going to turn
out okay, kind of like thebalancing of the scales. As long as
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my good outweighs the bad, thenin the end everything's going to be okay.
Well, that's not how it works, people, The good doesn't outweigh
the bad. That's not how wegain God's approval. In fact, in
James Chapter two and verse ten,James says, whoever keeps the whole law,
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the whole law, and yet offendsin one point is guilty of all.
You know what that's saying. Thatmeans you could be you could be
able to keep the law ninety ninepercent of the time, and if you
failed just one percent, you're considereda law breaker. And by the way,
nobody's going to keep the law ninetynine percent of the time, okay,
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but if you could, if youjust and just one part, then
you're called a lawbreaker. There's onlyone person who's ever perfectly kept the law,
and that's the Lord Jesus Christ.He also thought the law was just
an outward act. As long ashe outwardly kept the law, that's all
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that really mattered. Your desires,your motives, the way you thought had
no part in it. All thatmattered is is what you did outwardly.
Was that the way the Bible isthat what the Bible teaches us. Of
course, not Jesus in the Sermonon the Mount dispells that way of thinking
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because he says, hey, youcan be guilty of murder without actually taking
somebody's life. He says, youcan be guilty of adultery without actually committing
the act. So the law ismore than what you do outwardly. It
starts from the heart. It startson the inside. You see, Paul,
before he was saved, never lookedat the law as a schoolmaster that
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was going to bring him to Christ. He never looked at the law in
that standpoint. He looked at thelaw with something that he was going to
try to keep that would make himright with the Lord. Listen to what
he says in Romans chapter three andverse twenty. Therefore by the deeds of
the law, there shall no fleshbe justified in his sight. For by
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the law is the knowledge of sin. So Paul the Pharisee, the zealous
Pharisee, was living his life inorder to keep the law so he could
gain God's favor. But he couldn'tdo it because like none of us can
keep God's law, none of uscan earn God's favor. So then what
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does Paul mean when he says,for me to live is Christ? See
that's what he said, for meto live is Christ. Well, one
way you look at that is itmeans that Christ is the author of his
life. Christ is the one who'sgiven him life. Now, this would
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be true both physically and spiritually.Physically, he had a fleshly nature that
he was born with a physical lifethat he was given. Now he knows
that this life, well, thisnature was fallen, depraved. It was
in rebellion against God. It wasan enmity with God. It was separated
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from God, and it's what leadshim to sin. That was his physical
nature that we're all born with,that we all inherit from Adam. But
I don't think that's what Paul sayinghere. For me to live is Christ,
meaning that Christ is the author ofspiritual life. He's the one who
is made Paul a new man.That's why Paul says that if any man's
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in Christ, he's a what anew Paul was a new creation. He
was a new man because he hadbeen given life, he had been given
new birth. He was able tosee Christ for who he is. He
was given that divine nature that allowedhim to be able to put his faith
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in trust in Christ. So heacknowledges for me to live as Christ is
that everything I am now is dueto Christ. It's not due to what
I've done. It's not me keepingthe law, it's not my good works.
No, my life now is inChrist, and everything that I'm able
to do is because of Christ.But it also means that Christ is the
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model for his life, and thatmeans that he wanted to be just like
Christ. He wanted to emulate Christ. He was the pattern for his life.
You know, most of us probablyhave had someone whom we he wanted
to be like, and we wantedto pattern our life after. And I
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think, especially a lot of timeis true when you're younger. When I
was growing up, the person Iwanted to be like when I was an
aspiring basketball player was I wanted tobe like Pete Marrivitch. Now, some
of you maybe don't know who PeteMarriviage is, and if you don't,
that's a shame. Pete Marrivitch isthe leading all time scorer in college basketball.
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In three years time, he averagedalmost forty four points a game without
a three point line, which isjust it's hard to believe. But I
wanted to be like pistol Pete andhe had those floppy socks and I put
my socks down in warm like that. And I remember watching him playing and
going out and trying to do allthe different things that he would do because
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I patterned my life after him.Well, Paul looks to Christ as his
pattern, his model. He wantsto be like Christ. I hope that.
Now that's my desire, and Ihope that's your desire. If you're
saved, is I want to belike Christ? I want to pattern in
my life after him. In fact, part of the reason why God saves
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us is to make us into theimage of Christ. And I hope that's
our desire. So that's what Paulmeans when he says for me to live
is Christ. This means I wantto be like Christ. I want to
pattern my life after him. Now, in order to do that, you
have to know him. Right.If I'm going to pattern in my life
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after Pete Merrivich, that means Ihave to watch him and I have to
study and try to do things hedoes. Well for me to be like
Christ, I have to study hislife. We have to read the word,
we have to see who he is. We have to see how he
treated people, how he loved people, how he was compassionate and carrying.
All the things that we know aboutChrist when we see him we say I
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want to be like that. Iwant to pattern in my life after him.
Also, he would say that Christwas the aim of his life.
He wanted others to know Christ.He wanted to tell others about this one
who had drastically changed his life.He didn't have a problem telling other people
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about Christ. And you know what, everybody in this sanctuary, if you're
saved, you shouldn't have any problemtelling other people about Christ either. The
aim of your life is not onlydo I know Him, but I want
you to know Him as well.And as I look out today, children,
I want you to know him.I want you to know Christ as
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your Lord and as your savor.I want that change through cure in your
life that has occurred in mind inmany of the ones who are here today.
And then lastly, Christ is theend of his life. See,
Paul's life did not revolve around allthe pleasures that he could get from this
world. No, all the moneyhe could make, or the homes that
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he could own, or material possessionsspore it's in entertainment. None of that
Paul would ever even consider. Paulsaid, No, my life is Christ.
You can take all the things ofthis world and you can take them
and cast them aside. You canput me in prison, and still I'll
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tell you that to me, tolive is Christ? Now, how can
I tell you that that is whatPaul would do, because that's what he
did. He's writing this letter froma prison cell the church at Philippie.
He's not able to enjoy all thethings the world has to offer. He
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is in prison, and yet hewrites for me to live is Christ.
I read earlier from Psalm forty two. Let me read it to you some
forty two, verse one again,because I think this one verse sums up
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Paul's life, and I hope thatit sums up ours as well as the
heart panteth after the water brooks,so panteth my soul after thee O God?
Does that describe you today? Isthat your desire? Is that what
you want more than anything else?I want you Christ, I want to
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live like you. I want totell others about you. I want you
to be the end of my life. And then finally we'll close by answering
the final question, and that iswhat do you and I say life is?
I'm gonna ask you what do yousay that life is? Can we
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honestly utter the words that Paul uttershere. For me to live is Christ?
So what is life to you?What are you pursuing? What are
you aiming at? What's the purposeof you living? Are you living for
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the present world? Are you livingfor the world to come? Are you
dead to this world and it desires? And are you alive to Christ?
See everything Paul has said in verseone through verse twenty of Philippians can all
be summed up in what he saysin verse twenty one. For me to
live is Christ. So that's thequestion. How are you going to answer
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that question today? For me tolive? Is you feel in the blank?
I certainly hope that it is Christ, that you know Christ, and
that you are going to faithfully serveChrist and all your life, regardless of
what you have or you don't have. Your life is summed up in the
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relationship that you have with Jesus Christ. Without Christ, life's not worth living.
There's no meaning, no purpose tolife if you don't know Christ as
your Lord and as your Savior.We'd like to thank you for listening to
our program this morning. We praythat God has used this message to draw
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you closer to Him. Storm's CreekMissionary Baptist Church would like to take this
opportunity to invite you to any ofits services. We have a Sunday School
which starts at nine thirty am,Sunday Morning Worship ten fifteen, and our
Sunday Evening service starts at six pm. We also have a Wednesday Night Bible
Study which starts at seven thirty pm. Storm's Creek Missionary Baptist Church is also
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on the Internet under Sermon Audio.You can go to www dot sermon Audio,
look for Storm Street Missionary Baptist Churchand listen to any of our sermons
in full length audio at the side. Again, we'd like to thank you
for listening this morning, and mayGod bless you throughout the week.
Good morning, and welcome to StormsCreek Missionary Baptist Church this Sunday morning radio
program. This morning, we'll bejoining Pastor Kenny Hurst because we once again
open the scriptures and study God's word. Philippians, Chapter one, verse twenty
one. It says, for meto live is Christ and to die is
(00:42):
Game. Now I'm just going tobe taking the first part of that verse,
for me to live is Christ.We're going to base the message on
that. I want to title themessage this morning by a question, and
the question is this, what areyou living for? And what you think
about that? Look at this passageof scripture? What are you living for?
(01:04):
There was a change that came intoPaul's life, a drastic change.
That is, on the road toDamascus looking for followers of Christ so that
he could put them in prison.Well, something changed, something changed Paul's
life. This one who he waspersecuting, this one who he hated,
(01:25):
this one who he opposed, suddenlyappeared to him. And Paul's life was
drastically changed. Now he belonged toChrist. You could say that Paul was
married to Christ, because that's exactlywhat happened. Now before this time,
(01:46):
before he was going to Damascus.You could say his life could be looked
at this way. For me tolive is to rid the world of Christ
and all who follow him. Afterhis conversion, he would say what he
says here in Philippians, for meto live is Christ. Well, that
(02:08):
change that took place in Paul's lifealso took place in my life a year
before I was married. The greatestchange that I've ever experienced happened to me
in June of nineteen seventy nine.I too met the Lord Jesus Christ.
(02:28):
I too was saved, And Ican stand here and tell you that my
life drastically changed, and you knowwhat, it changed for the better.
I wasn't before that persecuting those whofollowed Christ. I wasn't openly trying to
rid the world of Christians. Knowbut I was opposed to him. I
(02:53):
was in rebellion against him. Hewas not a part of my life,
and I didn't see any need forhim to be a part of my life
life until well, until I wassaved, until I was born again,
and then there was that drastic change. And I look over this auditorium today,
I'm looking a lot of people whohave a similar story, not exactly
(03:15):
like mine. But you have astory of one day, you too,
meeting this one and your life drasticallychanging and changing for the better. Now
is what do we call this change? Anyway? What we call it repentance?
Repentance. Repentance is a heartfelt sorrowfor sin. It's a renouncing of
(03:38):
sin. It's a commitment to forsakeall sin and to completely be devoted to
Christ and to follow him. That'swhat we mean when we say repentance.
Now, up to this point inPaul's letter to the church at Philippi,
Paul has well, he has dealtwith his desire to see the Gospel go
(04:02):
forth, to see Christ being proclaimedand preached, and he also has a
desire that Christ be exalted and thathe be magnified. So that's what we've
looked at in the verses prior tothis. And then when you get to
verse twenty, you see him say, according to my earnest expectation and my
(04:26):
hope that in nothing I shall beashamed, but that with all boldness as
always so now also Christ shall bemagnified in my body, whether it be
by life or by death. Hebegins to reflect upon his future. He's
been looking at the past. Nowhe's talking about his future. What's going
to happen to Paul, What's instore for him. He's about to go
(04:49):
to trial, which means one oftwo things. It means either he will
be set free or it means he'sgoing to be put to death. That
is the alternatives. Well, Paulsays, regardless whether I live or die,
(05:13):
he says, Christ is going tobe magnified. Christ is going to
be exalted, and in this Ido rejoice. And then he begins to
reflect upon these two alternatives. Ibelieve that Galatians, chapter two and verse
twenty says it best, says,for I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless
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I lived, yet not I,but Christ liveth in me, and the
life which I now live in theflesh, I live by the faith of
the Son of God, who lovedme and gave himself for me. That
sums up Paul's life, and Ihope that it would sum up our lives
(05:54):
as well. You see, beforea person can do what he says here
in verse twenty one, before somebodycan live for Christ, death, a
death has to occur. Not theirphysical death. We're talking about a death
to self a death to their waybecause now it's not about them anymore.
(06:16):
Just like when I was married,there was somebody else that I had to
consider. Well, Paul now realizesthat he had to die to self because
now well he had a new focusin life. Jesus Christ now was his
focus. That's why then he cansay what he says in verse twenty one.
(06:39):
For me to live is Christ?Now? These six words and they
are six words for me to liveis Christ? Yeah, six words they
bring about well, they make usfocus on the greatest question that a person
can ask. And I hope againthat you are asking yourself this question,
(07:03):
and it just happens to be thetitle for the message for this morning.
What are you living for? Whatis life to you? You know a
lot of people never even stop tothink about that. The it is busy,
they're busy and they just go rightthrough life and they never stop to
(07:23):
think, you know, what's itall about? What's it mean? Why?
Why am I here? What islife? Anyway? Well? I
want us to think about that thismorning. Don't tune me out. Don't
start thinking about well, where arewe going to go eat today? Or
what are we gonna do later today? No, don't worry about just think
(07:46):
about right now and think about yourlife at the present time. And so
when we think about what are youliving for? I want to take that
question and apply it to three differentgroups. First of all to unbelievers,
secondly to Paul and those who arebelievers, and then third to us who
(08:09):
are here today. How do weanswer that question? So, first of
all, what is life to theunbeliever? Ask the unbeliever for me to
live is and you fell in theblank, Well, let me just give
you some suggestions here, some responsesthat they might give to many. It's
(08:33):
nothing more than just existing. That'sit. They're just existing, no purpose,
no meaning, no reason for living. They just exist, kind of
like somebody who's in a coma.They are alive, but they're not living.
(08:56):
They can't talk, they're not walking, they can't commune. They're just
lying there. But they're a livethat we would not say they're living.
See. I think that sums upa lot of people today, and that
is I'm just existing from day today. You know, those people who
(09:18):
believe in evolution. The sad thingabout it is is they have no purpose
and no meaning in their life.Why because they're just here by accident.
They're going to live here a fewyears and then they're going to die and
that's it. It's all over with. That's not the way it is.
But for them, that's all thereis. Life is just an accident.
(09:39):
They just exist for a few yearsand then that's it. Well, another
way that people respond, the unbelieverresponds, is for me to live is
to eat and drink and to bemerry. You know, the meaning of
life for them is just to pursuitof pleasure, to go from one pleasure
(10:00):
to another, to get all thematerial possessions they can, to have the
nicest home they can have, todrive the best car they can drive,
to have the nicest clothes, tobe able to have computers and all the
latest technology, to be able totravel and go on vacations and go wherever
they want to go. That's lifeto them, just to pursuit of pleasure,
(10:22):
one pleasure after another. You knowwhy do people play the lottery?
Well, I think the main reasonis is so that they can basically have
all the money they need. Theycan quit their job and sit back and
just enjoy one pleasure after another.Whatever they want to do, they'll do
because they have the moolah to doit. Some of you know hired Hughes.
(10:46):
Some of you young people probably haveno clue who hired Hughes is or
who he was. HAIRD. Hugheswas a man who seemed to have it
all. He had money, hehad power, he had influence. He
owned a lot of businesses. Hehad a big part in Hollywood. He
(11:07):
owned a lot in Hollywood as well. He was one powerful man and for
a lot of people, he hadit all. He had everything that you
could want. If you know anythingabout his life, you know that he
died a lonely man, a recluse. He died basically nothing more than skin
and bones. He had marked allover his body from drugs. He was
(11:33):
an unhappy, miserable man. Yousay, well, how can that be.
The man had more money than hecould ever spend. He was just
living for pleasure and that didn't satisfyhim. A third answer that we could
give is for the unbeliever to liveis just to endure. Life kind of
(11:54):
goes along with what I said withjust existing. A lot of people when
they wake up in the morning,they don't wake up in the morning and
say, oh, it's a beautifulday. Isn't life just wonderful? No,
that's not what they say. It'ssay, another day to live.
I hope I can make it throughthe day and get to the end of
(12:15):
this day. Now, you knowwhat the sad reality is that describes too
many people in this world just enduringanother day. I hope that more good
things happen to me than bad.The unbeliever also would say, for me
to live is my job and myfamily. Which there's nothing wrong with a
(12:39):
job or family, but to somepeople that's all life is. It's just
my job and my family, andif either on one of these things are
lost, then their world just fallsapart. We see this happen a lot
of time, don't we. Youknow, somebody who's tied to their family
(13:01):
the eve, lose somebody in thefamily all of a sudden, it's like
that's it. I'm over. Theirlife can't go on because their life is
tied to their family or to theirjob. You know, for me,
as a pastor, and I've beenthinking about this a lot, it seems
like over the last several months,not really sure why, but you know,
(13:24):
for me as a pastor, Ishouldn't say for me to live is
to preach. Now, I enjoypreaching. I enjoy pastoring this church.
I really do. I don't knowhow much longer I'm going to be able
to do these things, but rightnow I'm able to do that. But
for me to say my life,for me to live is to preach,
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I certainly hope that's not what mylife is all about, because I was
thinking about this, What am Igoing to do when the time comes when
I'm not able to preach? IfI live long enough or I'm not pastoring
church, then am I not goingto have anything to live for? You?
See? What I should say forme to live is what Paul says
(14:07):
here. It's Christ. Whether Istand and preach or not, my life
revolves around my relationship with Christ.Now, in addition to these things that
I mentioned, you could say,to live is your intellectual pursuit. A
lot of people live just to gainall the knowledge they can, or sports
(14:30):
and entertainment, which I guess Icould have put with pleasure or how we
know a lot of people their wholelife revolves around sports, one sport after
another. That's all they think about, that's all they talk about, that's
all they're involved in they're not inchurch because they're involved in sports. It's
just like one thing after It's likemy life for me to live is sports
(14:50):
or food or a lot of otherthings you could put into that category.
See, these are all the thingsthat the unbeliever looks to as being a
part of why they live. Now, I could also add and should add
that the unbeliever is not the onlyone who does these things, because a
(15:13):
lot of these things I just mentionedsave people pursue just like the unsaved do.
So that's how the unbeliever would answerthe question what are you living for?
Then? Next, what is theapostle Paul living for? Well,
Before we get to the answer,which we see here in the text,
we're looking at this morning, Saulthe persecutor. Before he was saved.
(15:37):
Paul wouldn't say that he was livingfor Christ because he wasn't. What was
he living for? Well, hewas living for his religious life. He
was living in order to keep thelaw. So that's what life was for
Paul. When we get to chapterthree, we're going to see Paul describe
himself before he was saved, andhe was well, he was a religious
(16:03):
zealot, he was a Pharisee.He was someone who tried to keep the
law. He was a dedicated religiousman. You say, well, isn't
that a good thing. No,not in his case, because he was
looking for satisfaction in the wrong things. He was trying to earn God's favor
by what he did. In fact, he was a typical Jewish man of
(16:29):
his day in time who was simplytrying to earn his way to heaven,
trying to do good work so thatGod would one day accept him. You
see, Paul, before he wassaved, he thought, because Israel possessed
the law that made them better thanthe gentiles, that made them right with
(16:52):
God. They relied upon the factthat they not only had the law,
but they had some kind of aknowledge of the law, so that to
count for something. You know.They also believe that, well, as
long as you kept the majority ofthe law, everything was going to turn
out okay, kind of like thebalancing of the scales. As long as
(17:12):
my good outweighs the bad, thenin the end everything's going to be okay.
Well, that's not how it works, people, The good doesn't outweigh
the bad. That's not how wegain God's approval. In fact, in
James Chapter two and verse ten,James says, whoever keeps the whole law,
(17:32):
the whole law, and yet offendsin one point is guilty of all.
You know what that's saying. Thatmeans you could be you could be
able to keep the law ninety ninepercent of the time, and if you
failed just one percent, you're considereda law breaker. And by the way,
nobody's going to keep the law ninetynine percent of the time, okay,
(17:56):
but if you could, if youjust and just one part, then
you're called a lawbreaker. There's onlyone person who's ever perfectly kept the law,
and that's the Lord Jesus Christ.He also thought the law was just
an outward act. As long ashe outwardly kept the law, that's all
(18:18):
that really mattered. Your desires,your motives, the way you thought had
no part in it. All thatmattered is is what you did outwardly.
Was that the way the Bible isthat what the Bible teaches us. Of
course, not Jesus in the Sermonon the Mount dispells that way of thinking
(18:41):
because he says, hey, youcan be guilty of murder without actually taking
somebody's life. He says, youcan be guilty of adultery without actually committing
the act. So the law ismore than what you do outwardly. It
starts from the heart. It startson the inside. You see, Paul,
before he was saved, never lookedat the law as a schoolmaster that
(19:04):
was going to bring him to Christ. He never looked at the law in
that standpoint. He looked at thelaw with something that he was going to
try to keep that would make himright with the Lord. Listen to what
he says in Romans chapter three andverse twenty. Therefore by the deeds of
the law, there shall no fleshbe justified in his sight. For by
(19:26):
the law is the knowledge of sin. So Paul the Pharisee, the zealous
Pharisee, was living his life inorder to keep the law so he could
gain God's favor. But he couldn'tdo it because like none of us can
keep God's law, none of uscan earn God's favor. So then what
(19:52):
does Paul mean when he says,for me to live is Christ? See
that's what he said, for meto live is Christ. Well, one
way you look at that is itmeans that Christ is the author of his
life. Christ is the one who'sgiven him life. Now, this would
(20:12):
be true both physically and spiritually.Physically, he had a fleshly nature that
he was born with a physical lifethat he was given. Now he knows
that this life, well, thisnature was fallen, depraved. It was
in rebellion against God. It wasan enmity with God. It was separated
(20:36):
from God, and it's what leadshim to sin. That was his physical
nature that we're all born with,that we all inherit from Adam. But
I don't think that's what Paul sayinghere. For me to live is Christ,
meaning that Christ is the author ofspiritual life. He's the one who
is made Paul a new man.That's why Paul says that if any man's
(20:56):
in Christ, he's a what anew Paul was a new creation. He
was a new man because he hadbeen given life, he had been given
new birth. He was able tosee Christ for who he is. He
was given that divine nature that allowedhim to be able to put his faith
(21:18):
in trust in Christ. So heacknowledges for me to live as Christ is
that everything I am now is dueto Christ. It's not due to what
I've done. It's not me keepingthe law, it's not my good works.
No, my life now is inChrist, and everything that I'm able
to do is because of Christ.But it also means that Christ is the
(21:41):
model for his life, and thatmeans that he wanted to be just like
Christ. He wanted to emulate Christ. He was the pattern for his life.
You know, most of us probablyhave had someone whom we he wanted
to be like, and we wantedto pattern our life after. And I
(22:03):
think, especially a lot of timeis true when you're younger. When I
was growing up, the person Iwanted to be like when I was an
aspiring basketball player was I wanted tobe like Pete Marrivitch. Now, some
of you maybe don't know who PeteMarriviage is, and if you don't,
that's a shame. Pete Marrivitch isthe leading all time scorer in college basketball.
(22:26):
In three years time, he averagedalmost forty four points a game without
a three point line, which isjust it's hard to believe. But I
wanted to be like pistol Pete andhe had those floppy socks and I put
my socks down in warm like that. And I remember watching him playing and
going out and trying to do allthe different things that he would do because
(22:48):
I patterned my life after him.Well, Paul looks to Christ as his
pattern, his model. He wantsto be like Christ. I hope that.
Now that's my desire, and Ihope that's your desire. If you're
saved, is I want to belike Christ? I want to pattern in
my life after him. In fact, part of the reason why God saves
(23:11):
us is to make us into theimage of Christ. And I hope that's
our desire. So that's what Paulmeans when he says for me to live
is Christ. This means I wantto be like Christ. I want to
pattern my life after him. Now, in order to do that, you
have to know him. Right.If I'm going to pattern in my life
(23:32):
after Pete Merrivich, that means Ihave to watch him and I have to
study and try to do things hedoes. Well for me to be like
Christ, I have to study hislife. We have to read the word,
we have to see who he is. We have to see how he
treated people, how he loved people, how he was compassionate and carrying.
All the things that we know aboutChrist when we see him we say I
(23:53):
want to be like that. Iwant to pattern in my life after him.
Also, he would say that Christwas the aim of his life.
He wanted others to know Christ.He wanted to tell others about this one
who had drastically changed his life.He didn't have a problem telling other people
(24:14):
about Christ. And you know what, everybody in this sanctuary, if you're
saved, you shouldn't have any problemtelling other people about Christ either. The
aim of your life is not onlydo I know Him, but I want
you to know Him as well.And as I look out today, children,
I want you to know him.I want you to know Christ as
(24:34):
your Lord and as your savor.I want that change through cure in your
life that has occurred in mind inmany of the ones who are here today.
And then lastly, Christ is theend of his life. See,
Paul's life did not revolve around allthe pleasures that he could get from this
world. No, all the moneyhe could make, or the homes that
(24:56):
he could own, or material possessionsspore it's in entertainment. None of that
Paul would ever even consider. Paulsaid, No, my life is Christ.
You can take all the things ofthis world and you can take them
and cast them aside. You canput me in prison, and still I'll
(25:19):
tell you that to me, tolive is Christ? Now, how can
I tell you that that is whatPaul would do, because that's what he
did. He's writing this letter froma prison cell the church at Philippie.
He's not able to enjoy all thethings the world has to offer. He
(25:41):
is in prison, and yet hewrites for me to live is Christ.
I read earlier from Psalm forty two. Let me read it to you some
forty two, verse one again,because I think this one verse sums up
(26:03):
Paul's life, and I hope thatit sums up ours as well as the
heart panteth after the water brooks,so panteth my soul after thee O God?
Does that describe you today? Isthat your desire? Is that what
you want more than anything else?I want you Christ, I want to
(26:30):
live like you. I want totell others about you. I want you
to be the end of my life. And then finally we'll close by answering
the final question, and that iswhat do you and I say life is?
I'm gonna ask you what do yousay that life is? Can we
(26:56):
honestly utter the words that Paul uttershere. For me to live is Christ?
So what is life to you?What are you pursuing? What are
you aiming at? What's the purposeof you living? Are you living for
(27:18):
the present world? Are you livingfor the world to come? Are you
dead to this world and it desires? And are you alive to Christ?
See everything Paul has said in verseone through verse twenty of Philippians can all
be summed up in what he saysin verse twenty one. For me to
live is Christ. So that's thequestion. How are you going to answer
(27:45):
that question today? For me tolive? Is you feel in the blank?
I certainly hope that it is Christ, that you know Christ, and
that you are going to faithfully serveChrist and all your life, regardless of
what you have or you don't have. Your life is summed up in the
(28:07):
relationship that you have with Jesus Christ. Without Christ, life's not worth living.
There's no meaning, no purpose tolife if you don't know Christ as
your Lord and as your Savior.We'd like to thank you for listening to
our program this morning. We praythat God has used this message to draw
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you closer to Him. Storm's CreekMissionary Baptist Church would like to take this
opportunity to invite you to any ofits services. We have a Sunday School
which starts at nine thirty am,Sunday Morning Worship ten fifteen, and our
Sunday Evening service starts at six pm. We also have a Wednesday Night Bible
Study which starts at seven thirty pm. Storm's Creek Missionary Baptist Church is also
(28:56):
on the Internet under Sermon Audio.You can go to www dot sermon Audio,
look for Storm Street Missionary Baptist Churchand listen to any of our sermons
in full length audio at the side. Again, we'd like to thank you
for listening this morning, and mayGod bless you throughout the week.
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