In my rear view mirror, I could see him coming up behind me. He had a big white pickup truck with a lift kit and huge wheels and tires installed. His headlights were level with the top of my head. He was weaving recklessly in and out of traffic, forcing cars to jam on their breaks or swerve out of his way.
Soon he was next to me, then just ahead of me, he started pushing his way into the space between my car and the one in front of me. As he jammed on his breaks to keep from hitting the car in front of him, I noticed these words printed on his back window: "NO FEAR".
Now I'm sure, as he sat in his big truck with all of it's equipment, he felt pretty confident in his safety. Getting into an accident with one of the little compact cars around his truck would have been of little consequence to him. But I wonder how he would react if he jumped down out of his big truck one day and found a rattle snake right at his feet?
Fear is a natural reaction, created into us by God, for our protection. Everyone is afraid of something. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be free from the greatest fear of all, the fear of death? Paul talks about that in our text.
As we read this passage today, remember that Paul is in prison and may possibly be put to death for his proclamation of the gospel.
Philippians 1:21-30 (NASB)
[21] For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
[22] But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose.
[23] But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;
[24] yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.
[25] Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith,
[26] so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again.
[27] Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
[28] in no way alarmed by your opponents--which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God.
[29] For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,
[30] experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.
There are three important realities in this passage that Paul wants his readers to understand. These three realities deal with our ability to participate in the gospel as we take our Christian journey through this life on earth.
Paul ponders the oldest question considered by man: What is the purpose of life, why do I exist? His answer; "For to me, to live is Christ..." Paul had come to a realization in his life that he had come into existence by a Creator, who wanted to have a personal relationship with him; a Creator who had a high purpose for Paul's life.
The purpose of life has to be more than a man's accomplishments, or many will be unfairly left out. Take for example those who have physical or mental handicaps. That there is a God, who created us for His own purposes, is the only reasonable answer.
It would even be appropriate to notice that Paul is in prison as he writes this letter. I am sure that questions would have invaded Paul's mind. Why was he in prison? Was it just part of some cosmic accident, part of the survival of the fittest idea, or was there a purpose for all of this. Paul believed that his imprisonment would be used for God's greater purpose.
In his book, Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis gives us some timely insight on this question about the purpose of a man's life.
"People who take that view think that matter and space just happen to exist, and always have existed, nobody knows why; and that the matter, behaving in certain fixed ways, has just happened, by a sort of fluke, to produce creatures like ourselves who are able to think. By one chance in a thousand something hit our sun and made it produce the planets; and by another thousandth chance the chemicals necessary for life, and the right temperature, occurred on one of these planets, and so some of the matter on this earth came alive; and then, by a very long series of chances, the living creatures developed into things like us. The other view is the religious view. According to it, what is behind the universe is more like a mind than it is like anything else we know. That is to say, it is conscious, and has purposes, and prefers one thing to another. And on this view it made the universe, partly for purposes we do not know, but partly, at any rate, in order to produce creatures like itself -- I mean, like itself to the extent of having minds. Please do not think that one of these views was held a long time ago and that the other has gradually taken its place. Wherever there have been thinking men both views turn up.", [C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity]
The timely debate of our world today is the discussion that life happened by change and has no greater purpose than to serve the god of the survival of the fittest. The other side of the debate says that life happened by a Great Designer, a Creator, and it has a great purpose. The Scriptures declare that each individual life has a great purpose that can only be truly discovered and fulfilled in a relationship with God.
The prophet Jeremiah talked about the great purpose God had for the children of Israel. Even though they had rebelled against God, they still had a chance to redeem their lives to carry out the greater purpose God had for them.
In fact, the words that Jeremiah gave to the children of Israel when they were in exile in Babylon are often quoted today as a reminder that God has a purpose for all of His children. Listen to his words:
Jeremiah 29:10-14 (NASB)
[10] "For thus says the LORD, 'When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place.
[11] 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
[12] 'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
[13] 'You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
[14] 'I will be found by you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile."
The Psalmist also talked about the purpose God has for each of us.
Psalms 139:13-16 (NASB)
[13] For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb.
[14] I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.
[15] My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
[16] Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.
The real purpose of an individual's life is wrapped up in the relationship that an individual has with God. That presents each of us with a simple question. What kind of a relationship do I have with God?
The next reality that Paul talks about in our text for today is dealing with fear, specifically the fear of death. This fear might also be evident in pondering questions about the real purpose of life, and life after death.
Often the reality of fear in an individual's life comes out of a fear for what will happen if that individual crosses over from this life into eternity without a proper relationship with God.
If life as we know it just happened by chance then we are doomed to be eventually forgotten forever. On the other hand, if life came about by a Designer/Creator, then life has a great purpose that brings us satisfaction as we pursue that purpose for our individual lives. Understanding and moving toward that purpose in life expels fear.
In the verses of our text, Paul makes it very clear that he is not afraid of death. In verse 21, he says, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." It is clear that Paul looked at death as a positive thing; not just because he would be free from physical pain and suffering, but because he would be finally with his Lord.
In verst 23, Paul even says he is hard-pressed with a desire to depart this life and go to be with Christ. Do you ever feel like that? For some Christians there are moments of excitement when they think about crossing over into eternity. Paul was verbalizing this excitement about when he would die, and it was an excitement that entertained no fear.
John talked about this freedom from fear. He saw it in a love relationship with God.
1 John 4:15-21 (NASB)
[15] Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
[16] We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
[17] By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.
[18] There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
[19] We love, because He first loved us.
[20] If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
[21] And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.
No Fear means standing in the confidence of the power of the Holy Spirit, a benefit of following Christ. It does not matter what fears we might face, the power of the Holy Spirit is available to us every moment.
This does not mean that I never have moments where I feel fear. There may be moments when we feel fear, but fear does not control us and does not control our reactions to that feeling of fear. In moments of fear we turn to the power that can overcome any fear we face, even death, we turn to the Holy Spirit.
Last night I was praying about a health issue that I have. An issue that I fear will have great consequences for me in the future. I asked God to heal me. But then I surrendered to His permissive will for my life.
These are the final words of my prayer last night: "This thing I place in Your hands Lord." This does not mean that I will never have fearful thoughts about this issue again. But it does mean that I have a confidence that God is with me in that situation.
No fear means that when I have the opportunity to witness, but I am filled with human fear, by faith, and the command of the Holy Spirit, I step out to shine the light of Christ in the darkness. And right there beside me; within me, is Almighty God.
When the Holy Spirit asks anything of me, I step out in His power to participate in the gospel, by shining His light in the darkness. Because of His power, I step beyond my human fears.
I wonder if the guy in the big pickup understands what it really means to have "NO FEAR"?
The last reality that Paul talks about in the passage is living a worthy life. In verse 28 Paul says, "...conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ...". Part of that worthy life includes standing firm.
Realizing our purpose in life is a very important part of living a worthy life. When we know and accept our real purpose in life, and stand firm in that purpose, we have taken the first step in living a worthy life.
Having dealt with our real purpose in life, we then must deal with fear. Overcoming fear in our life brings us to a place where we step out in faith in spite of the fears we face in life.
Realizing our real purpose in life, and overcoming fear, brings us to worthy living. Worthy living means that we are seeking God above and before everything else in our lives. Worthy living means purposefully seeking God.
The prophet Jeremiah talked about purposefully seeking God.
Jeremiah 29:12-14 (NASB)
[12] 'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
[13] 'You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
[14] 'I will be found by you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.'
There are two important phrases in this passage that talk about the purposeful actions that can be taken to insure a worthy life.
First, there is the phrase, "you will". It is used to indicate the purposeful actions that we will take if we want to live a worthy life.
Second, there is the phrase, 'I will". It is used to indicate the purposeful actions that God will take to help us to live worthy lives.
There is another Old Testament passage that talks about what it means to live a worthy life.
Ezekiel 36:24-27 (NASB)
[24] "For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.
[25] "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.
[26] "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
[27] "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances."
All of these are the purposeful actions of a God who loves us without measure. Look at the key words Ezekiel uses in these verses:
All of these are the purposeful actions of God to bring us into relationship with Him.
The followers of Christ are on a Christian journey. While on that Christian journey, we have a commission to participate in the gospel. The key to participating in the gospel begins with living a worthy life.
I made this comment earlier in my sermon: "The real purpose of an individual's life is wrapped up in the relationship that an individual has with God. That presents each of us with a simple question. What kind of a relationship do I have with God?
How do you answer that question this morning?
Lewis, C.S. Mere Christianity. rev. ed. New York: Touchstone, 1952.
NASB - New American Standard Bible (NASB). Cedar Rapids: Laridian, 2002.
I want to thank my research assistants, Debi Peck and Robyn Harper (HARPER), who do hours of research to provide some of my study resources. I also want to thank Vonda Watson-Bostick and Robyn Harper, who help me with editing.