Connect

Guest (Female): This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Thanks for joining us today. Here at Connect with Skip, we love helping you understand God's word and apply it to your life through clear, practical Bible teaching and real encouragement. If you'd like help to keep growing in your walk with Jesus, sign up for Pastor Skip's free weekly devotional. You'll receive biblical insight, teaching highlights, and exclusive resources designed to help you stay strong in your faith, all delivered right to your inbox.

Signing up is quick and easy, and you'll be glad you did. Go to connectwithskip.com and join the list today. That's connectwithskip.com. Now, let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig.

Skip Heitzig: Before we go on and finish, God willing, the rest of the chapter, think of your own life for a moment. Think of things that take your joy away. Think of Paul in prison. Bad things happened to him: false trials, false accusations, shipwrecks, preachers who didn't like him, jealous, all that stuff. Think of all that, and here he goes, "I'm rejoicing. Nothing's stealing my joy."

What does it take to steal your joy? For some of you, not much. The guy that pulled out in front of you on Osuna on your way here as you were pulling into the parking lot took your joy away. You're pulling in, it's a Bible study tonight, idiot! All that joy out the window just like that. I relate. I can relate. But let me say this and then we'll move on. Maturity is measured by what it takes to steal your joy. Christian maturity is measured by what it takes to steal your joy.

Christ is preached. I rejoice and I will rejoice. For I know, verse 19, this will turn out for my salvation or deliverance. This will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. I trust that I'm going to be delivered from this. God has his hand on me. No matter what, if I'm in jail or I'm out, I'm going to be bold. I've always been bold in my faith. I'm not going to back down. And so as always, so now also, and I love this, that Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.

The word magnified means to make large or to enlarge or to make great. But think about this. How great is Christ? Is he pretty great? He's pretty awesome, right? He's the preeminent one. How can you possibly make Christ, who is that great, any greater through your body? That Christ may be magnified, he says, whether by life or by death in my body.

Well, think about that. When you look up on a clear evening and you see the stars up in the Milky Way, you know because you went to school, you know that those little specks of light are actually large bodies. Those stars are enormous. Some of them are much bigger than the sun. In fact, some of them are 1,200 times larger than our sun. Why do they look so small then? Because they are far away.

So how do you enlarge them? What instrument do you look through? A telescope. A telescope takes things that are farther away and magnifies them, enlarges them, and you go, "Whoa, that looks or you look at the moon and say, man, I could touch it." Think of your body, your life, like the telescope that lets people see Christ clearly. Because for most people, Jesus Christ is this enigmatic figure of history, 2,000 years old, so distant. God is so far away until you show up and you make him great by your lifestyle, by your words, by your personality, your temperament, your joy. You have the ability to be for people the telescope that enlarges the character and glory of God.

So just think of that as you read that again, that Christ will be magnified in my body whether by life or by death. So that's why you want to present your body every day. Here's my body, Lord, I present it as a living sacrifice. May Christ be magnified, be enlarged. Let people see him clearly through my life.

And then verse 21. This is one of the most famous verses for believers in the New Testament. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. You know, if I were in charge of Paul's grave, Paul the Apostle's tombstone, this is what I would choose to put on his tomb. Paul the Apostle: for him to live was Christ, to die was gain. That is the summum bonum of his life. This sums up his heart, his existence. To live is Christ, to die is even better. It's gain.

But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor. Yet what I shall choose, I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless, to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. Now, Paul is in prison. He doesn't know when the trial is going to be, doesn't know what the verdict is going to be. Will he be allowed to go free? Will he be killed? If he goes free, I'll live for Christ. The verdict is you're going to die, better yet! It's gain. For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.

He said, "I am hard-pressed between the two." We would say I'm kind of in a between a rock and a hard place. I know it's up to God, but if I had to choose, do I want to remain alive or go to heaven? Well, that's a tough choice. I mean, I want to be fruitful for Christ here, but far better to be with him in heaven. So I'm sort of in an emotional canyon. I don't know exactly if I were to choose, which I would choose. Nevertheless, to remain in the flesh, to stay here on earth, is more needful for you.

Now, I want you to just zero in before we go ahead and finish out this chapter. He said, "having a desire to depart." The word in Greek for depart here is analuo, which means to break camp or to let loose or to cut loose. It speaks of a ship undoing the ropes to get out of the harbor to set sail. So I want to depart. I got to at some point leave, die, leave this earthly body.

But he doesn't stop there. "And be with Christ." You see, death is sweet not because of the departure. death is sweet because of the arrival. It's not I'm just going to depart. When you depart this body, you are instantly with Christ. You arrive somewhere else. I don't know if any of you were taught growing up in a false doctrine called soul sleep that teaches when a person dies, their soul just goes into this vacant state for thousands of years, hundreds of years, until the resurrection. And so that's soul sleep. Your soul just sort of goes to sleep. No, as soon as you die, you are with the Lord.

That was the sweetness to Paul. He wouldn't want to die if it meant his soul was going to sleep. The only reason he would want to depart is to be with Christ, which he states is indeed the case. I want to analuo, depart, but so that I might be with Christ. Jesus said, "In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I'm going to prepare a place for you. And if I go, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also."

That's what makes death sweet for the believer: to depart and to be with Christ. Now, it says, "which is far better." Let me tell you what it literally says in the Greek: "which is much more better." I want I can depart and be with Christ, which is much more better. Now, I know that's bad English. It happens to be good Greek and it's great theology. Much more better. What's going to happen when I die? Much more better. I've had people say, "How will I look when I die?" Better. It's all better. The whole thing is much more better. Nevertheless, to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.

And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith, and that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again. Though Paul says, "Look, I don't know if I'm going to live or die, and if I were to choose, it's sort of a hard choice. But I could be with Christ, which is better. Yet I have a feeling I'm just going to hang around for a while and be with you for your progress and your joy of faith."

Guest (Female): You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Every day, friends like you help bring clear verse-by-verse Bible teaching to people searching for truth in a world that often feels confused, divided, and uncertain. And this month, we want to thank you with a powerful resource designed for times like these. When you give, you'll receive City in Shambles, Pastor Skip's complete 18-message study through Nehemiah on CD, plus digital download. In these messages, you'll discover how God works in seasons of spiritual and cultural collapse, how prayer and obedience become the starting point for renewal, and how ordinary believers can respond with faith instead of fear. We'll send this resource as our thanks when you give $50 or more to support Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com/offer. Now, let's return to today's teaching.

Skip Heitzig: You see, when you do depart and you are with Christ, I know a lot of Christians go, "Man, this world is so hard. It would just be so much better to be in heaven." I get that. I get that. But though all of your hassles and your problems end the moment you die and go to be with Christ, all of your opportunities also end. See, you have an opportunity, I have an opportunity on this earth to make an impact, to make a difference, to change a life, to share the gospel. You're not going to pass any tracts out in heaven. You're not going to be doing door-to-door evangelism in heaven. Everybody's saved there. So all of your opportunities die when you die.

So that was important to Paul. "For me to live is Christ, to die is gain. It's far better to be with him. However, to remain is more needful for you. And if it's going to mean your joy of faith and your progress, then good, that's what I want to do." There's a tribe of Native American Indians that have a great saying. They said, "When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a way that when you die, they will cry and you will rejoice."

So Paul is rejoicing, rejoicing, rejoicing. Being here is good, being in heaven is better, but I have opportunities here. I'm going to live my life in such a way that others will be impacted. Then verse 27, he admonishes them, "Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel."

You see the word conduct? It's an interesting word, and I don't want to go through too many Greek words here, but here's one that I think you should know about. The word conduct is politeuō. Politeuō. Let your politeuō, your conduct, be worthy of the gospel. The word politeuō is the Greek word that we get the word politics from, or policy from, or police from. It comes from the Greek city was called a polis.

And so the idea of your conduct is that your conduct should represent the kingdom you're from, the politics of the kingdom you're from. You should be a good representative of where you're from. Right? Your citizenship is in heaven. Your home is in heaven. Let your conduct, let your politics, your city representation be worthy of the gospel.

I was in India many years ago, the first time I went to India. I was with a group of Americans. I'm not going to tell you where they were from that I was with, but they were from a different state than here. They were at a dinner table one night. They were very, very loud, like Americans can be, and laughing like Americans can do, and they're having fun. But in that culture, it was seen as rude and obnoxious. And I was observing this and I was listening to the indigenous people saying, "I guess that's what Americans are like." And I'm thinking, "No, that's what those Americans are like, but not all Americans are like. Some are a little more culturally sensitive." They're not, I get that.

But let your conduct be representative of the kingdom that you and I represent. So let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you, love this, stand fast. That's soldier speak. That's soldier talk. A soldier when he wants to have stability will widen his stance. So if he's attacked, he has a good he can have good footing. What makes his stance even better is that if you have other people standing in the same way you are standing, if you have a group of people standing with you that way.

So he says, "that you may stand fast in one spirit with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel." He's speaking about unity in the church: stand fast in one spirit, striving for the faith of the gospel. Paul always saw the church as a team sport, that there should be unity among us. Now, don't misunderstand that. Unity does not mean unanimity where we all think the same way, or uniformity where we all act the same way. It means that we are together on the essentials of the Christian faith, and we stand with each other for the truth, for the gospel, covering each other, supporting one another, stand fast together for the faith of the gospel.

Verse 28: "And not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God." Of course, Paul always understood the Christian life is not only a team sport, it's a battleground. It's not a playground, it's a battleground. And your adversaries don't be terrified by your adversaries. That is, don't let unbelievers scare you.

You know, fear is a powerful emotion. If you can get a person fearful, you can control them. I think back to 2020 with COVID and the fear that was instilled and controlled, honestly, I could try to unpack that now and I think it would be fruitless to do it tonight. But suffice it to say, fear is intimidating and it is used to control people. Don't be intimidated by unbelievers. Don't be terrified or intimidated by the unbelieving world. When I was in college, I had professors who, I've told you this before, knew I was a believer and tried to intimidate me in order to control my thinking in class. Didn't turn out well for him, but it was not easy for me at the same time.

"For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake." Now, we're about to end our time together, but just did you notice how he wrote that? "It's been granted to you." God has given you a gift. He's not just saved you. He's allowed you to suffer. I know, I'm looking at your faces going, "I don't want that gift. There's a lot of other gifts I'm waiting on the Lord for. He can just pass me on that one."

But Paul sees suffering as a gift. Paul will write in this book, "that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering, being made conformable even to his death." To see suffering as a gift, a privilege, a grace. If you took grains of any kind and you heated them up, they'll become hard and inedible. If you take popcorn and heat it up, it expands. Take it to about 400 degrees Fahrenheit, there's gases inside that will expand, enlarge, and it becomes a treat. There are some lives that you add heat to and they just shrivel up and become hard. Others, it enlarges them.

That's the idea that Paul is describing of suffering. It enlarges the believer. It makes us not bitter but better people. And a delight, we should be a delight to others, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me. Okay, we finished chapter one. Now, back to what you read a moment ago about Paul who said, "For me to live is Christ, to die is gain." If you were to sum up your life by a single sentence like that, what would it read? "For me to live is wealth? For me to live is fame? For me to live is a level of education? For me to live is status?" Because if it is any of those things, then to die is loss. Because if for you to live is wealth, then the moment you die, you lose all your wealth. If you love the adulation of the crowd and so for you to live is fame and status, it's loss when you die because you lose all that.

But if it's Christ, then when you die, you're in his presence. So it's a win-win proposition. But just think, what little epitaph would sum up your life? "For you to live is what and to die is what?" Jesus said to Mary and Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, even though he dies, yet shall he live. And whoever lives and believes in me will never die." And then he looked at them and said, "Do you believe this?" Good question for us: do you believe this? If you believe this, then for you to live is Christ and to die is gain. It's a departure and an arrival. And if you live 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 more years, you have an opportunity. If you die sooner rather than later, it's even better. You're with him, you're rewarded by him. You lose opportunity, yes, but you are in his presence nonetheless. He is the resurrection and the life. So if you don't know Christ, make him your life. Make him the center of your life. Give him your life.

Guest (Female): Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we go, remember, your generosity helps share God's word with people around the world, offering biblical truth and hope in a time when many feel discouraged or overwhelmed. And this month, we'd love to thank you for your gift of $50 or more by sending you City in Shambles, Pastor Skip's complete 18-message study through Nehemiah on CD, plus digital download. These messages will encourage you to respond to brokenness with prayer, repentance, and courageous faith, and remind you that God still rebuilds what's been torn down. Give today at connectwithskip.com/offer or call 800-922-1888. See you next time on Connect with Skip Heitzig.

Guest (Male): Ready to go deeper in your faith and discover your calling? The School of Ministry at Calvary Church in Albuquerque is designed to equip you with practical Bible teaching, hands-on ministry training, and real-world experience. Whether you're called to lead, serve, or grow, this is your next step. Classes are forming now. Visit calvarysom.org to learn more and apply today. That's calvarysom.org. The School of Ministry at Calvary Church. Your calling starts here.