← ArchiveSunday, June 24, 2018DateJune 24, 2018Speaker—Text—Passages in this sermonPhilippians 12:16Philippians 1:212:45Colossians 29:45Luke 911:052 Corinthians 412:14Matthew 722:02Acts 1629:011 Corinthians 1334:40TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00*music* *music* *music* *music* *music*0:20*music*0:46*music* *music* I thank my God every time I remember you to live as Christ and to die as Gain. He made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord.1:13I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. Well, I want to again welcome you, if you don't know who I am. My name is Josh Burnham, lead pastor here at Bethel. Youth, let me just say for Ashton and Andrew, thank you guys for serving weekly.1:39You might think it's a small act of service, but it's not. You're a vital part of God pouring forth the Spirit on this church, and I thank you for our youth. We are excited what God is doing in you. If you serve with our youth, if you have been investing in them, I know Brad's not here today. If he's watching, we thank the Lord for you daily, for those who invest in our youth. And so for you guys, we want to say welcome also.2:07They love my jokes. They will never tell you that, but they think my jokes are awesome. If you have your Bibles with you, and I hope you do, please join me, Philippians chapter 1. We, I call Philippians our coffee mug Bible book, because a lot of the verses you have on a t-shirt that you might own or a coffee mug that you might drink from would have verses from Philippians on them.2:32And this is a verse that you will see regularly is in Philippians chapter 1. So Philippians 1:21, join me as we read the Word of God. This is our third week in a series simply entitled Jesus is Lord. Jesus is Lord. Philippians 1:21, the Apostle Paul simply says,2:59For me to live is Christ, to die is gain. Now, if I live in the flesh, this means fruitful work for me. I don't know which one I should choose. I am torn between the two. I long to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.3:27Since I am persuaded of this that I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith. So that because of my coming to you again, your boasting in Jesus Christ may abound. Just one thing. As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ.3:51Then whether I come to see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, in one accord, contending together for the faith of the gospel, not being frightened in any way by your opponents. This is a sign of destruction for them, but of your salvation, this is from God.4:16For it has been granted to you on Christ's behalf, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, since you are engaged in the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I have. I pray, Father, we thank you for your word.4:44Word that is living. Words that are active. Words that, as we were reading, your eternal truth was stirring my heart. And Father, we confess that we are sinful, broken people by nature, and we cannot understand your truth without the guidance of your spirit. And so we ask that you pour forth your Holy Spirit, that you open our minds, you focus us, you open our hearts to understand your revelation, and you open our hands to serve you.5:13Amen. That we could declare today to live as Christ and to die as Christ. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. And amen. It's amazing, as I was reading this again for the hundredth time, possibly this week, that many of us have verse 21 on our coffee mugs.5:40To live as Christ, to die as gain. Anyone have that in your home somewhere? I'm not setting you up. Anyone? Okay. Some of you do. Anyone have this verse? Verse 29. It has also been granted to you on Christ's behalf, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him.6:03Anyone have that on the coffee mug? No. But this is the same passage. So, the triumph that we have in Christ, in life, in our comforts, in our joy, in our security, is the same comfort that we have in our struggles and in our sufferings. Again, a reminder that we cannot pull any verse out of context.6:30That it's good for our souls and the whole counsel of God is good for our souls. So, just simply the big idea. That was free. That was not in my notes, if you see them online later. The big idea today is the Christian paradox. The Christian paradox. You and I read, because most of us have grown up in church, or seen a church, or known about a church, or heard about a church somewhere, that for us to say, to live as Christ, to die as gain, is no big deal.6:52This is a profoundly provocative and odd statement. I mean, do you ever just stop and think how weird you are to the world if you follow Christ? We had someone stand up today and declare that I am no longer living.7:18I have died to my sin, and I have died to myself, and I am walking in newness of Christ. That's odd. The world doesn't understand that. And we want to unpack this paradox for you today. Paul triumphantly declares in verse 1, to me, verse 21, to live as Christ, to die is gain. Right out of the gate, the Apostle Paul attacks the number one fear that most of us have in this room.7:47If you read, if you Google, and of course, everything that you see on the internet is true, so I'm just going to take it as truth. That was a joke, by the way. Don't go home and just believe anything you see on the internet. But out of most of your knowledgeable pollsters out there, when they poll the common fears of those in our world, always in number one or number two is death.8:08Always. Most people fear death. Even people right now that will not admit to fearing death fear death. Even Christians who know that death should be gained fear death. And Paul attacks this struggle.8:34Here's the truth. I'm just going to let you have it. The truth is we're all dead. So you don't have to worry about dying. You're dead. So you don't have to fear death. You are dead. I know that's not good news. That's worse news. But Ephesians, Colossians also clearly says when you were dead in your trespasses. So let's unpack this. Romans says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.9:02So raise your hand if you're not in the all category. Very good. So that means if we have all sinned and you are dead in your trespasses, then what does that make us who are sinners? We are dead. So I've often wondered, it's a struggle that we have with death. Is it not death as much as it's a recognition that we are dead? So we want to pawn it off on, I don't know what's going to happen when I die.9:31What we don't understand is the spiritual truth is that we are dead. Because we are fighting against the spirit. And Paul says to live as Christ, to die is gain. But Colossians 2, but he made you alive with Jesus and forgave your trespasses. Why? To live as Christ, to die is gain. And this beautifully profound hope of the gospel is this.9:58Although we are dead in our sins through the death of one sinless man, we can have life. Again, do you understand how odd this gospel truly is? That's why, for the Jews, it is a stumbling block. And to the Gentiles, us, it's just plain out foolishness. So you're saying, the Bible says, that we are dead in our sins, but one man who didn't sin died.10:24And if we believe in the one man who died sinless, we will not die, but we have life. And yet we find, as we find life in Christ, we now wage war against the flesh. So not only have we, we are dead, but we have life in a man who did die.10:52Then Jesus clearly says to us, if you want to follow me, take up your cross daily. Take up your cross daily in Luke 9. What is that a picture of? Some of you are thinking, well, I have a cross around my neck. I'm good. What is the picture of the cross? The picture of the cross is a picture of death.11:19It's a reminder that for those who follow Christ, we have died to our sin. We have died to ourself. We have life in Christ, but the fleshly part of us continues to creep up. So death is not only a one time event, it's a daily occurrence. That you need to look in the mirror if you follow Christ and you say, Josh, I am, you wouldn't say this. You're not, if your name's Josh, of course, right? But you look in the mirror and you say, blank, Josh, I am dying to you today.11:47Because I have died to you and I am living for Jesus Christ. That is a daily necessity. If you say, well, I'm not doing that. How dare Jesus say, take up my cross daily. He also says, if you don't, you cannot follow. This is the Christian paradox. And as we remember this constant theme of death in our life, 2 Corinthians 4 gives you hope.12:14It says, although the outward man is perishing, is wasting away. As you're remembering this death day by day by day, which is a horribly depressing statement. Although the outward man is wasting away, the Holy Spirit, the inward man is being renewed. And so there is hope. Do you see the paradox? Do you see how odd the Christian life truly is? It doesn't make sense by the world's standards.12:43Let's be honest. It doesn't make sense by your standards. Let's be even more honest. If you have kids in the house, you hear this often, right? That's not fair. This is not fair. The gospel is not fair. That God would send his only son to die for people who have rejected him. And he sent his son to die for people who would reject the death of his son. That whoever believes in him might not perish but have everlasting life.13:11Thank the Lord that he is not fair. He is just. He is righteous and he is good. Heaven forbid God ever be fair to what I deserve. This is the Christian paradox. And so Paul simply lays out for us that Jesus is Lord. We've hinged our entire sermon series for next month or so on this statement.13:38Jesus is Lord. Why? Because Jesus is either Lord of all in your life or he is not Lord at all. Jesus is either Lord of all or he is not Lord at all. Now this is a struggle that Westerners, which are we, have. Because we are rugged and we are individualistic. How dare you say that you have authority over me?14:04That's what Jesus says. How dare you speak truth into my life that I don't like? That's the right you have as part of the family of God. And the most loving thing that we can do for each other is live in the community of faith under the authority of Jesus our Lord. And for this, Paul, this is not a motto.14:32This is not a coffee mug. This is not a tattoo. It's not a bracelet. It's not a chain. This, for to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain is the way that he lives. It's his creed. When Paul says for me to live is Christ, he means it. When he says to die is gain, he means it. I think of the army rangers and their creed. This is the army ranger creed.15:00And this is the power of a creed, something to live by. I'm not an army ranger, so forgive me. Recognizing that I have volunteered as a ranger, volunteered, mind you, fully knowing the hazards of my chosen profession, I will always endeavor to uphold the prestige, honor, and high spirit decor of the rangers. Never shall I fail my comrades.15:29I will always keep myself mentally alert, physically strong, and morally straight, and I will shoulder more than my share of the task, whatever it may be. One hundred percent, and then some. This sounds like a great church covenant. Gallantly will I show the world that I am a specially selected and well-trained soldier. My courtesy to superior officers, neatness of dress, and care of equipment shall set the example for others to follow.15:59Surrender is not a ranger word. I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy. And under no circumstances will I ever embarrass my country. Readily will I display the intestinal fortitude required to fight on to the ranger objective and complete the mission, though I be the lone survivor.16:21Rangers lead the way. Why do I read that creed? Because the Purple Heart is given to soldiers who have died in battle or been seriously injured. And we cannot even count the number of rangers who have gone back into battle and surrendered their life because they thought that they had left a comrade behind.16:48For the rangers, this is not a, this is not a motto. This is not a fancy slogan. This is their creed that they live by. And I believe Paul is challenging and echoing the same. Paul is standing to us and saying, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.17:14This is the power of Jesus Christ. And the problem with cultural Christianity, if I can be very honest with you, as someone who grew up in the church, grew up in the South, grew up in a culturally Christian environment, but we think because we know the slogan to live is Christ, we do it. And when the battle comes and Jesus asks us to run into the fire, we don't.17:44Because we don't believe it. We drink our coffee from it. We'll wear the bracelet or the shirt, but it's not our creed. It's a slogan. It's an advertising gimmick. And the enemy wants us to believe that we believe. And shame on us for falling short and failing short. Shame on us for not standing up and saying, look, it's this simple. To live is Christ.18:13To die is gain. To die is Christ. To live is Christ. If I have Christ, I need nothing else. As we sang earlier, Jesus is better. So how then do we live? If this is the Christian paradox, if we are dead men and women walking, how do we live? Youth, I'm glad you asked. Look at verse 21. Because the gospel is to be lived out.18:42It's transforming our lives. It's not intellectual assents. Verse 21. To live is Christ. To die is gain. Verse 22. If I live on in the flesh, this means fruitful labor. Fruitful work. Now we're going to unpack this word carefully. So we must live and work fruitfully. So very clearly the first paradox is to live as Christ means that when I live, I live as Christ.19:11I know that's not earth shattering, right? When Paul says to live as Christ, he means to live is Christ. That Christ is living through me because I have died to myself. So what does that look like? It means that we work. Following Christ is not the lazy man's game. If you want to be lazy, follow the devil. I mean, Satan loves lazy people.19:38He does. Because he wants us to be entitled. He wants us to be the victim. He doesn't want us to strive for righteousness. He wants us to sit back and rest on our laurels thinking because we're connected to some church at some part of the world that we are righteous. And thank God that he did not spare his son for our sake. The cross was work. The cross was work. Brutal victimization that we might have life.20:05Following Jesus is work. This word is ergon, which means, or ergoo. It's the same word that we get our word ergonomics. Labor or work. And the commentator said this. He calls it spiritual sweats. When was the last time that you sweated for the kingdom? Now, for those ladies who come to Zumba on Tuesdays and Thursdays, that doesn't count.20:33I know you're sweating inside the church for men who play basketball on Thursday evenings. I know you sweat. That is not what Paul is talking about. Are we exercising our spiritual muscles? And you say, well, that's difficult. Yes. Yes. But it's worth it. And I've told people many times, I don't want the devil to outwork me. Because I know that the Spirit of God lives in me.21:02That when I am weak and I am weary, the Spirit of God is living in me. In me, are we living a fruitfully, productive, working life? May it never be said of us that the demons outworked this church. Because we know how it ends. Their puny little gates, a place they call hell, will not prevail against the power of our Savior.21:25That is work. And may God use us for his glory. Not only do we work, exercise, that we should work what? We should work fruitfully, productively. This word is a very clear word. It just means fruitfully. And Paul is echoing language that he has heard his Savior say. Can you think of a time where Jesus talks about fruit?21:56He's talking about false teachers. In Matthew 7, he says you will know them by their fruit. Their fruit. Now let me say this. If you are hoping that your pastor, which I believe he's an awesome guy. If you ever wondered, there's your answer. There is no pastor, or church, or deacon, or Sunday school leader, or life group leader, that can work for your spiritual advancement.22:21Paul is saying he is working out his salvation, his fruitful work. I wish I could work for your righteousness. I can't. Jesus did that. So if you're hoping that I will sweat and work on your behalf, and that you will grow, and you'll be fruitful, that's not how the kingdom of God works.22:45He powers us to work for his good, and for our good in turn. So when we work for Christ, we see the Holy Spirit produces in us fruit. And Jesus says in Matthew 7, you will know them by their fruit. Good trees produce good fruit. Bad trees produce bad fruit.23:15Here's our struggle. None of us are good. We're all bad. So we can't produce good fruit. But when Christ radically saves you, he makes you righteous. And fruit is the evidence of the Holy Spirit working out in us. And this is the American struggle. This is the struggle that you have, if we're honest, because I have these conversations. Many of you struggle because you're looking back on your life, and you say, well, God, I don't see any fruit.23:42God, give me the grapefruit orchard in Florida. I want my life to be Tropicana, right? I want people to make orange juice from generations to come. And you want this grand fruit, and you're looking for all the signs. Paul just simply says, look, work fruitfully.24:10Work. Where do you think the oranges came from? Someone planted a seed a long time ago. Someone watered that seed. And you know when they watered the seed? Out in the hot summer sun. And the next day when it was still hot, you know what they did? They watered the seed. And you know the next day when they were still sweating from the prior day because it's humid in Florida. You know what they did?24:39They worked. And over time, the Spirit produces in us fruit. Look, it's not your choice what fruit you produce. We can't walk up to the king and say, God, I wanted oranges, but you gave me a tomato. God, I was looking for this. God, I was looking for the Billy Graham crusade through my work.25:06And I don't see any. I mean, if we're honest, many of you struggle with that, don't you? You see these crusades on TV and you say, well, God, I don't measure up. Are you willing to daily to work and say, God, I'm going to work fruitfully. I'm going to sweat for the kingdom and I'm going to trust the fruit to you. Lord, I'm going to plant. Someone else is going to water, but you get the increase. You know what? If I get to heaven and all I have is one raisin in my life, I'm going to say, God, here's the raisin.25:33That's all I got. And my prayer in our life is this. God's going to say, but Josh, you don't understand. That raisin was a grape. And you don't understand the years it took to become that grape. And I know that years and seasons of difficulty have dried that grape out. And it's not what you thought and it's not what you hoped and it's not what you wanted.26:01But Josh, you don't understand. When everything was happening in your life, I was producing exactly the fruit in its season that I wanted. Are you willing to daily work for the kingdom? And are you willing to trust the Holy Spirit? If we're honest, many of us want to sit in our air conditioned palaces, put on our sunglasses and say, God, when the grapefruits come, you tell me and I'll pick them.26:28But I don't want to plant. I don't want to plow. I don't want to water. And Lord, make sure when I pick the grapefruit, it's about 70 degrees, low humidity, overcast, guys. What would Paul say to that? How would he look at the Western church? He would say, guys, to live is Christ.26:57Daily work for the kingdom and trust the results to God. This is the power of the Holy Spirit. And so you might be asking, well, so what? How else does this paradox of the gospel work out in our life? Look at verse 27, just one thing. Citizens of heaven, live your life. Easy instructions. You ready for it? Live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ.27:25That's all. Are you kidding me? Right? I mean, anyone look at this. This is impossible. With man, it is. With God, nothing is impossible. Look what he says. And whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you. That you are standing firm in one spirit, in one accord, contending together for the gospel of faith. What is Paul saying here?27:54He's pulling from a very clear ancient picture that they have. See, this was written in a time thousands of years ago when there was no Twitter. You weren't allowed to tweet, youth. You weren't allowed to Instagram. Is that even a word? Instagram? Possibly. It is now. You weren't allowed to Snapchat or text. So when a new general would take place, or take authority, or when a new Caesar or a new emperor would take over,28:19the closest to the nexus of power would understand that the general was there. And the struggle would be, those that were further away from the center of power would not get the memo. So those that were further away from the new general would still have allegiance to who? The old general. The new general. And with the new general would come new orders, new procedures, and new ways of life.28:48And Paul's writing to the Philippian church. They would understand this. Some of them possibly would have fought in the military. Think about the Philippian jailer in Acts 16. And so what would happen in the army, those that knew the new king would stand firm in battle. They would stand firm when they would get the new orders. And their firmness, based on the new king, would be a reminder to those who did not yet believe that the king reigned.29:17You see what Paul's doing. He's writing to a church where some were struggling because they knew Christ was in, he was the king. They knew Christ was the king of kings and lord of lords, but they were struggling with how this power played out in their life. And Paul was saying to those who were firm in their faith, stand firm. Why? Not only for your sake, but for whose sake?29:47For their sake. Look what he says. Stand firm. This is the gospel. This is the paradox of the gospel. It's not a me-centered life. It's a Christ-centered life. Then whether I come and see you, I will hear about you in verse 27. That you are standing firm. How? As one. How do you stand as one? The same way that we do when we worship this morning.30:16There are times where we don't give correct prompts or timely prompts. So you don't know whether to stand or sit. And you know how you understand? One person stands or one person sits. And you say, wait. If that person stands, then I can stand. And if Chris stands and Andrew stands, then I can stand. This is the beautiful picture of the church of Christ. That when we are struggling and we have people in our midst today that are struggling.30:45We can't walk in and say, how are you doing? I'm blessed. Why do we play games? We say, you know what? It's been a rough week. But I know Christ is king. I know Jesus is king because I still see you standing. And because you're standing firm in one accord. I can stand firm in one spirit. Contending together for the gospel of faith.31:14Listen to this. The word of God is not about you. It's about Jesus. Which means my life is not about me. It's about Jesus and it's about us. I can no longer say me first. I say Jesus first and then we second. This is the power of the gospel. You say, well, how does it work out practically? Find someone today that's struggling and you stand for them.31:41You stand with them. You stand in their place. And when you do, we honor Christ and the power of the gospel. The paradoxical power of the gospel is present in us when we do that. And when we do that. Are we willing to live out a Christ-centered life? We have our youth here right now. Many of them are going through things that they think that they're the only ones in this world going through things.32:08Let me just tell you this, right? You're dealing with struggles right now in your life that people who are 80 right now dealt with. Different ways of communication. But the struggle is still real. And you know what they need from you guys? They don't need for you to say, how dare you? They need you to say, look, I was there. And I'm standing firm today because when I was there, Christ rescued me from that temptation, from that pressure, from that difficulty.32:33How dare us abandon one another? Look around. I love, one thing I love about this church is we are a multi-generational church. Why? Because God has knit us together for his glory. That we may stand together for the gospel.33:03And may we do so. This is how the gospel plays out. Very simply, paradox number two. We'll end here. Verse 21. To live is Christ. And we've shown how we do that. And may we do that. But to die is gain. Now, again, if we're honest, Paul says something that is very bizarre here. If I said, okay, we're going to have two lines during the invitation.33:33This line, this aisle, anyone who wants to live, you line up here. This aisle, anyone who wants to die today, you line up here. I guarantee you the living aisle will be more full than the dying aisle. Because if we're honest, most of us would stand up today and say, look, I'm game right now. To die is game. Let's get it over with. But Paul is wrestling with this. Why? Because he knows that to die is Christ.34:01Look what he does not say. He doesn't say, man, I'm really longing for heaven. I can't wait to see the pearly gates. I can't wait to see that street of gold. Man, I'm going to sell that at the pawn shop. I'm going to be rich. We don't see anyone in Scripture longing for heaven. No one. No one says, if I could just get to heaven. You know what they say? If I could just see Jesus. That's all I need. Because heaven without Jesus is hell.34:30That's it. Why is heaven heaven? Because Christ is there. And we need to understand, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, for now we see as a reflection in the mirror with veiled sight. But one day, face to face, for now I know in part, but then I will know fully.34:52Paul is longing to see Christ face to face. I ask you simply, do you long for Jesus in your life? So Paul is not longing to die as much as he's saying, look, if I live, Jesus. And if I die, Jesus. So Satan, you can kill me and I get Jesus.35:21Satan, you can let me live and I get Jesus. And think about who he's writing to. He is writing to a jailer, as we saw several weeks ago in Acts 16, that tried to kill him. And he's writing to a man that tried to take his own life because the jailer was supposed to keep Paul secure and could not. A jailer was going to take his own life and Paul stopped him. And he's writing to this man and he's saying, look, if I died, that's okay.35:48Christ. If I live, Christ. But I want you to know this, that my life is Jesus Christ. This is the paradox of the gospel. This is the paradox of saying he is Lord. And do not be surprised when people look at you and say, what are you doing? Why are you not living a me first life? Shannon, how can you, how can you stand up and say you've died?36:19Because you're not dead, you're living. And we don't understand this. And how can you say that we are dead in our sins, but yet one man died. And if we believe in the one man's death, we will have life that he should have had. But he forfeited on our sake and he took our sins. This doesn't make sense. And we say, it's foolishness unless you add Jesus. Randy Alcorn went on a two month mission trip to Egypt.36:44And while in Egypt, the tour guide, the missionary took him to an abandoned graveyard located at the end of a garbage lined alley. And the host pointed out one tombstone in particular, that of a man named William Borden died in 1913. You might have heard of the last name. He was heir to the Borden dairy estate.37:13William had a charm life. He was a millionaire by the time he was 21 years of age. But he renounced his fortune, giving nearly all his wealth to missions. His heart's desire was to take the gospel to Muslims in China. On his way to China, William stopped in Egypt to study Arabic. But four months later, he contracted spinal meningitis and died at the age of 25.37:39Talk about fruit. I mean, this man wanted to carry the gospel to China and he barely made it to Egypt and he died of an illness. And the world will say, well, how sad is that life? And Alcorn went and he rubbed the gravestone that was, of course, garbage infested and dirty. And he began to read what was on the tombstone. And this is what he found.38:08After some nice words about God and the Muslim people in his heart, the inscription on Borden's tombstone ended with, "Apart from faith in Christ, there is no explanation for such a life." Apart from faith in Christ, there is no explanation for such a life. This is the paradox of the gospel.38:35When the world says we don't understand. But something is different. I'm reminded of what Jesus says in Matthew 7. After he says that you will know them by their fruit. We're all producing some type of fruit. Jesus in Matthew 7 says, "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven."39:05Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. Some might say, "Well, Lord, we've cast out demons in your name." And he will say, "Depart from me. I never knew you." This is a verse that keeps me up at night as a pastor. Because what do we tell people? We tell people what the scripture says. Whoever believes in their heart and confesses that he is Lord will be saved. The reality is that we can call Jesus Lord and he not be Lord.39:34And as we enter in our time of response, I ask you, "Is Christ Lord of your life?" Only two people in the world truly know that. One is Jesus. And the second is you. And you're not fooling yourself. And you're not fooling Jesus. And I would rather hurt your feelings now and say,40:03"If your life is not lived for the sake of Christ, he is not Lord." Because I don't want you to hear one day, "Depart from me because I never knew you." I want you to search your heart right now and say, "God is my fruit." Can I say as Paul, "I don't want this to be a slogan. I don't want this to be a catchy coffee mug. I don't want this to be a catchy church phrase. Lord, I want to be able to stand up and sing later. You are Lord. And to live is Christ. And to die is gain."40:32Can you say that? Because if you can, and you do, and you live it out, the great hope is that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will, will, will be saved. Is he Lord? The paradox of the gospel to live is Christ. To die is gain. Bow your head with me.
