No Time to Be Down when Your Focus Is Up!
Philippians 1:18-26

Have you heard the story of the farmer who started looking at his farm through critical eyes and saw something wrong every place he looked? The farmer finally decided to sell out and move somewhere else.

He asked a realtor to come out and look the farm over so as to prepare an ad for the newspaper. But before running it in the paper, the realtor called the farmer and read the proposed ad over the telephone, saying, "See if this meets with your approval."

The ad spoke of a good location, a well-maintained house, sturdy barns, lush pasturelands, a beautiful pond, fertile soil, and a great view. The farmer listened carefully and then said, "Read that to me again, slowly." So the realtor read it to him again. Finally, the farmer responded, "Don’t put that ad in the paper. I’ve always wanted a place like that. I think I’ll stay right where I am."

If we had a conversation with Paul, we might say, “Paul, you are now a prisoner. You’ve been incarcerated for more than two years because you chose to defend the gospel. You now write to the converts at Philippi, yet you know that there is not much change in the problems of the new church.”

The Judaizers were still a problem. And now that there was evidence of disunity in the church, they were taking advantage of the opportunity. Their objective was still the same. They intended to undermine the cause of Christ. To make matters worse, new problems were starting to arise. Fellow-preachers had attempted to find fault against Paul, and so he responded by saying in verses 15-16, “Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds”. If the enemy cannot discourage you with problems on the job, he will sometimes create problems in the ministry or home. If it is not your boss or co-workers, sometimes it will be a deacon, elder, or even your spouse.

We see Paul’s response in verse 18, “What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretense, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.” But Paul, doesn’t it bother you that some are trying to show you up and take advantage of your misfortune? Paul said, in essence, “I know that I could choose to be bitter. I could choose to throw stones and rightfully be critical of these people, but I refuse to do so. Instead, I choose to rejoice.”

No matter how bad your situation might be, no matter how it may appear that life has dealt you a dirty blow, you have a choice. You may choose to look at the glass that life has set before you and judge it to be half-empty or half-full. Paul said, “My glass never gets below the half-full level, and so despite what looks like a cup of discouragement, I see encouragement. There is no time to be down when your focus is up.  And despite the opposition, I know that because the church is praying for me, my God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory. He shall turn all of this into my deliverance. I’m not ashamed of my circumstances. Instead, I still preach with boldness as always so that even in my bonds, Christ is magnified in my body—whether I live or die!”

Now there are some people who are just indifferent. They don’t really care about anything. They don’t care if they get up out of bed or if they stay in bed all day and get nothing done. They just don’t care. Paul was not indifferent. He was simply saying either way—whether I live or whether I die—the most important thing to me is that Christ is honored. And so Paul said those famous words found in verses 21 and 22, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.” Paul realized something that many Christians fail to see. When you are living a life that honors the Lord, Christ becomes the Reason for your life. If Paul died, it was gain because he would be able to go home to be with the Lord.

When we go home to be with the Lord, we gain AN INCREDIBLE LIFE.
In this present body, we are subject to the joys and disappointments of life. We are subject to life’s growing process, which sadly includes aging. Sometimes we are healthy; sometimes we get sick. Sometimes we feel pleasure; sometimes we feel pain. Sometimes we are happy; sometimes there is sorrow. But when we get to Heaven, it will not be that way. Revelation 21:4 explains, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

When we go to be with the Lord, we gain AN ETERNAL LIFE.
All of us live in a world where family relationships change. Mother is gone or Father is gone. Uncles, aunts, and grandparents–they all grow older and die. But that does not happen in Heaven. There is no aging process. There is no death. We live forever. That’s the part that we miss in John 3:16 which says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” We receive everlasting life.

When we go to be with the Lord, we gain A GLORIOUS HOME.
Some of you are excited about where you live now. My neighbors are a hard-working young couple. They’ve invested a lot of money in their home and call it their “dream home”. I’ve seen many beautiful homes, but just when I think that I’ve seen the best, another one that is better comes along that costs just a little bit more money. However, there is no home that will be greater than the home the Lord has prepared for us. In 1 Corinthians 2:9, we read: “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (KJV)

If Paul lived, it would be okay with him, because he would be able to continue serving the Lord by ministering to the people of God. Paul said, “This thing immobilizes me because I am in a strait.”

The word used for “strait” is synechomai, which means, “to be held together”. When you add the phrase “betwixt two,” it means, “hemmed in and under pressure from both sides”. Have you ever gone somewhere where you were having a great time, but you had to go home? You really enjoyed where you were, but you also looked forward to being back at home because there is no place like home. This is what Paul meant. He was rejoicing in the opportunity to minister to the people of God, but he was also looking forward to going home to be with the Lord. And so Paul said, “I’m under pressure from both extremes.”

This is what I’m trying to tell you today: sometimes we are under pressure. There are times when we grow tired of the troubles of this world. As we grow in Christ and deepen our relationship with Him, we desire to be with Him. We look forward to His Return, but we realize that it will not be until our work down here is done. Although we look forward to being with Him, we rejoice at the opportunity to stay here and serve Him.

You see, when my focus is on high, for me to live is Christ because Christ lives in me. But if I die, then to die is gain because I get to go home to be with Him.

If for me to live is money, then to die is a loss. If for me to live is pleasure, then to die is a loss. If for me to live is self, then to die is a loss. If for me to live is ambition, then to die is a loss. If for me to live is sin, then to die is a loss. If for me to live is this world, then to die is a loss. But if for me to live is Christ, then to die is gain!

Let me close by telling you how you can experience the same comfort that Paul experienced when he thought about going home to be with the Lord. John 3:16 tells us, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” This Son loved us so much that He died on a cross for our sins. After three days, He rose again. When we place our trust in Christ and as we grow in our relationship with Him, like Paul, we can experience the Savior’s comfort and joy.

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