
Title: The Life That Wins
Text: Philippians 1:20-26
Date: February 25, 2024
Introduction: The Apostle Paul should be considered the most successful person who ever lived, outside of Jesus Christ. He had a purpose so clear, so definite, and so profound that it permeated everything he said and did and gave him hope in the darkest moments of life. Our text was Paul’s secret of success or his purpose in life because it reveals the driving sense of value that kept him on course even in a Roman jail. In one sentence, it is “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).
Before continuing, let’s take a little quiz. How would you complete the following sentence? For me to live is
— If your name is LeBron James or Keven Durant, the word probably is “basketball.”
— If your name is Aaron Judge or Mike Trout, you might say “baseball.”
— If your name is Bill Gates, the word might by “Microsoft.”
— If you are a parent the word could be “children.”
— A politician might say “winning the election.”
— A lawyer could say “winning the big case.”
— If you are in high school, you might say “going to homecoming.”
The possibilities are endless. It could be fun, school, sex, entertainment, money, college, career, or winning the big game.
Don’t miss the point. No one leaves that sentence blank. Everyone finishes it with something. If you don’t fill in the blank with Christ, what do you put there? In this world, there are winners and losers. A winner is a person with a positive, noble philosophy of life. A loser is a person with an unworthy purpose or no purpose at all. Which are you, a winner or a loser?
Philippians 1:20-26 contains a winner’s philosophy of life. It is remarkable because it was written by a man in a Roman jail chained to a soldier 24 hours a day. He was on trial for his life with no certainty that he would ever be set free. As we go through this passage together, we need to be challenged to compare our philosophy of life with Paul’s. A life that wins challenges us to understand:
I. A
II. A
III. A
IV. A
Larry Gipson
First Baptist Church-Oneonta