Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

From a very young age, humans are taught to count the cost before they do something.

As a child, before you grab a candy bar at the gas station, you count your loose change and make sure that you have enough to pay for the candy bar.

As we get older our purchases begin getting bigger and more expensive and the $1 candy bar turns into $100 dollar sneakers or clothes and we have to count the cost.

Is this thing worth 5/6 hours of my time working at my job?

Is this activity with my friends worth what it will cost me to attend and go?

We count the cost daily in our lives in material ways… But we also have to count the cost in immaterial ways too.

Is it worth it to stand up for what is right whenever everyone else is doing what is wrong?

Is it worth it to read my Bible at 6am instead of sleeping in?

Is it worth it to train my child up in the fear and admonition of the Lord?

Is it worth it to fully trust in God’s good and perfect plan for my life?

Are these things worth the cost associated with them?

Following Jesus will cost you.

It might cost you a friendship, but it will definitely cost you your former way of living because Christ gives you a new heart with new desires.

Standing on the Word of God will cost you your reputation in the eyes of a culture that views the Bible as a collection of old stories that are outdated.

Getting up early to read your Bible will cost you hours of sleep.

Raising your child in the instruction of the Lord will cost you weekend trips that other families make as you attend church.

It will cost you to not go to certain events that promote an anti-Christian worldview.

It will cost you to die to yourself and live for Christ.

The question that we have to ask ourselves this morning is simply this: Is following Jesus worth the cost?

Thus far in the book of Philippians Paul has been talking about the hope that he has because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

He has shared with us the joy that he has because of what Jesus has done.

Even in prison, Paul looks at the good instead of the bad.

For Paul, the cost of following Jesus (prison and persecution) is worth it.

Today as we get to verses 18-26 we find that Paul takes his argument a step further as he shares that not only is living for Jesus worth it.

Dying for Jesus is even better than living for Jesus.

As we look at this text of Scripture on Father’s Day of all days, we find one of the greatest declarations in the New Testament: to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Dad’s naturally give advice to their kids.

Dad’s give good advice and I pray that you had a father who invested in you with good, Biblical advice… But dad’s here’s the best advice that you can give your children - live for Jesus.

Live for an audience of one.

Live a life that glorifies Jesus.

Live a life that is laser focused on eternity.

Live a life that demonstrates the love of Jesus and encourages others.

Don’t boast in yourself - boast in your God.

That is the what every child, big and small, young and old, boy and girl needs to hear.

We don’t need to hear more about how awesome we are - we have grandparents for that - we need to hear how awesome Jesus is and how we need to live for Him.

Following Jesus every step of the way is the only type of life that will lead to hope and unending joy.

Following Jesus is always worth the cost!

Let’s read this morning

Live a Life that Glorifies Jesus (18-20)

Jesus calls us to follow Him.

He calls us to repent of our sins/deny ourselves.

He calls us to walk as a new creation and to trust in Him to provide for us.

Paul is in a situation where he’s in prison and these preachers are preaching the right Gospel with the wrong motives… Yet, he doesn’t play the “why” game with God - he rejoices that Christ is proclaimed and he rejoices that Christ will be glorified in the way that he lives his life.

Think about the way that you live your life and the choices that you make for a moment.

There has been a lot of research done on getting a family into a church and getting a family serving in the church.

If you catch a child and if the child goes on to accept Christ as Lord and Savior there’s a small chance that you’ll catch the rest of the family.

If you catch the mom and she goes on to accept Christ as Lord and Savior, you have a 17% chance of catching the rest of the family… But if you catch the dad and he accepts Christ as Lord and Savior, you have a 93% chance of catching the rest of the family.

On this day where we pause and celebrate our father’s, dad’s here is your charge!

We all are called to live a life that glorifies Christ.

Church, pray for the men of Dent County to come to know Christ and to live a life that brings glory to Jesus just as Paul is doing in this passage in prison.

Pray that we as individuals and as a corporate body would live a life that honors Christ - even if it means that bad things happen to us.

See, even if proclaiming the Gospel and glorifying Jesus got Paul killed, he was content with it.

His goal in life was not the latest and greatest gadget or the highest paying job or the fanciest looking truck… Paul’s goal in life wasn’t to get famous or to get his name plastered on a billboard with his lifetime batting average.

Paul’s goal in life was to glorify Jesus as 1 Corinthians 10:31 shares with us

The only way to live a life where death truly is gain is to live a life that brings glory and honor to Jesus Christ.

The only way to live in this life is to live for someone else.

As you live in this life, as a Christian, you do so not focused on the here and now exclusively… You do so, second, focused on eternity.

Live a Life that is Focused on Eternity (21-23)

This world has lots to offer - how many of you have been to the Rocky Mountains?

They say that we live in the Ozark mountains… We live in foothill country, not mountain country.

If you go to Colorado or Wyoming or Utah you undoubtedly have seen some massive mountains that stretch into the sky above the clouds!

They’re beautiful and breathtaking.

If you’re not a mountain person perhaps you’re an ocean person - how many of you have ever been to the ocean?

We have nothing like the ocean in Missouri - the ocean waves take your breath away as you pause and think about how vast the ocean is.

The ocean is a place where lots of people sit down in the sand and relax to the sound of the waves crashing against the beach.

Our world has has so many things that are stunning.

If you look into the night sky or if you look at the photos that Tim Hines takes, you walk away stunned at the awesomeness of our universe as there are stars and galaxies that leave us speechless.

This life is a gift.

This world has beauty in it.

Our universe is remarkable!

Yet, this present life pales in comparison the eternity awaiting those of us who are in Christ Jesus.

In this world there is tragedy and suffering and loss… But the Bible promises that there will be a day where cancer, sickness, betrayal, disease, and heartbreak will be no more because there will be no more sin.

As the hymn says, “What a day that will be!”

So what do we do until that day becomes our reality?

How should we live our life on earth today knowing that eternity could become our reality tomorrow?

There are a couple of different options that people have came up with over the years.

Some professing Christians believe that because of what Jesus has done, they are free to coast in this life and do whatever they want to do.

They are free to live in sin and fulfill their fleshly desires because Jesus has paid the punishment of their sins and their eternity is secure in Him.

Therefore, they are free to continue living the way that they always have.

This flies in the face of what the Bible tells us about what it means to be a born-again follower of Christ!

Look at what Paul says in Galatians 2:20

What does this mean?

That our old self dies the moment that Christ comes to live inside us through His Spirit.

We’ll always have a temptation to fall into sin, but we fight against that temptation because we know that we are a new creation.

Though we live on this earth, we know that we are ultimately citizens of heaven.

Though we might experience suffering and loss, we know that those things have an expiration date and one day will cease to exist.

We know that we are not free to coast in this life because there is work to be done.

Other people might try and fill their life with earthly things to try and satisfy what they are looking for.

Christians might try play the “later” game with the Lord.

You know this game, right?

Parents, you tell your child to go clean their room or to come and eat and what do they say? 5 more minutes!

Having been a 5 more minutes kid at one point in my life, why do we do this as humans?

Why do we ask for 5 more minutes?

Because we’re doing something that we want to do - often times.

We think that what we’re doing can’t wait until later.

We have to get this thing done.

Lots of people ask God for 5 more minutes.

God, I’ll do what you want me to do after I do this.

I’ll worship you after I’m done chasing my dream.