In this sermon, our Jews for Jesus missionary Dan Sered examines Paul’s profound statement in Philippians 1:21 that “to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” After explaining the meaning of this verse, Dan Sered shares his personal testimony and urges believers to embrace Paul’s same attitude.
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everybody oh my gosh we got to do better than that can we try that again Shalom everybody Shalom much better thank you shalom it’s great to be with you especially um it’s a privilege to um to come and to worship together to uh open the word of God thank you so much for your prayer thank you so much for your partnership and for your support and Pastor Bobby thank you so much for your faithfulness for your um dedication um always such an example of um you know word of God believer brother Pastor so thank you so much Calvary it’s really a privilege and a joy to be here and to be your missionary to Jewish people with Jews for Jesus you know Jews for Jesus and we let me put this on here we relentlessly pursue God’s plan for the Salvation of the Jewish people you know it’s not us who really save anybody it’s only the Lord who does it all that we do really is come alongside what God is doing pursuing God’s plan for the Salvation of the Jewish people what is God’s plan for the Salvation of the Jewish people well in case you have any doubts it’s exactly the same Plan of Salvation that God has for all people it’s only through faith in the Messiah of Israel the Messiah Yeshua Jesus who came died for our sins and Rose on the third day you know there is a lot that God is doing among Jewish people and all across the world and if you miss Sunday school I think and we have that recording for you maybe and you can watch and it was uh really great to uh to bring a report of of of a lot of what God is is doing and among Jewish people across the world and but I want to highlight for you um a Ministry that we have in Israel that is so near and dear to my heart and I know also to God’s heart as well you know most Jewish people in this country are more affluent and but in Israel um it’s not so the case in Israel like in so many other countries there’s an entire population um of those who normally um are un seen by the average people you know who I’m talking about the homeless addicts those who are trafficked there is a large population of those in Israel today you know prostitution in Israel is legal it’s accepted and we have a Ministry that we have began and I want to show you all about that my name is Mayan shashani I am a missionary with JS for Jesus in we serve the population struggling with drug addiction alcoholism prostitution and [Music] homelessness and we’re Team of four and what we do is we serve food just because that’s a basic and physical need that there is um in the area of South T Aviv with most of these people it takes time to build trust because they’ve been so hurt so we give out food so we build relationship with these people ever since I was a young girl I always remember seeing those that Society considers as unseen and I remember always seeing that and volunteering in those places wanting those people to know that they are seen in the eyes of God these women need the gospel because there’s no other hope for them what they they’ve been through the trauma the pain the hurt their soul is still so so hurt and needs healing and we can make that place and find that place for them to be at ease from what they have been through by God’s grace we are in the process of opening a safe home just for women together we can share with these broken women God is with us and he is a God who sees them and loves them and when we share this good news with them it’s amazing to see how surprised they are that Jesus came to know them thank you because we are able to do what we do and lives change now we have four ladies who live in um in our women shelter in Tel Aviv and um some of them have already come to Faith they’re being discipled and growing others are still in the process and none of that would have been possible without your prayers without your partnership and support so we thank you so much we know that your heart is like ours to make disciples of all Nations and that’s certainly what we’re seeing through the women shelter and through the women Ministry the um the ministry to the homeless addicts traffick in Tel Aviv so thank you so much for partnering with us thank you so much for your um your support and when you entered the um the service um this morning you should have received one of these cards did everybody get one of these can you take it out for me if you didn’t get one and you raise your hand um and aser will give you one okay take those out right now and when you take it out if you would have fall the um the top portion here okay and then you can tear it okay so you have two portions of this cards in your hand the picture our family picture would you take um our family home with you would you please keep this in your Bibles and remember to pray for us as your missionaries to Jewish people remember to pray for the Salvation of the Jewish people so that’s for you to keep this card and the other portion is not for you to keep if you fill out your um contact information email address we’ love to send you our prayer updates in our newsletter so that you would know more about our ministry and what’s happening with us so um please fill out this card there’s a box in the back as you leave church this morning and that that that has a label there for the guest speaker so if you just drop this card we would love to send you our free prayer updates our free newsletter so you may know how to pray for us and now besides putting us in your Bible if you want you can also put us on your refrigerator I’ve got some magnets on the on the table on the resource table in the back so as you as you leave and as you fell L you can please um take one of these and another way of how you can partner with our ministry of course is um through personally supporting us as well and you have the QR code on the screen you can do that it’s also on the on the magnet and if you indicate the amount of your gift on this card if you give um cash or checks and make payable to CHS for Jesus you can just will be glad to um properly uh thank you and receit you for your gift thank you so much for your prayers your support your partnership with our ministry choose for Jesus it’s such a privilege to serve the Lord it’s such a honor to make disciples to preach the gospel to people you know we have hope we have hope for the future there is so much that’s happening in our world today but no matter what is happening in the present we have hope because of Jesus and that hope that we have knowing that it is the only solution really propels us motivates encourages us to share the gospel Jesus brings our hope for the future and that is the essence of missions you know the greatest Jew for Jesus missionary that ever lived was the Apostle Paul now obviously I’m uh saying this you know tongue and cheek I’m kind of joking around JS for Jesus as a Ministry we just celebrated our 50th anniversary just actually a week ago um of course uh Paul wasn’t you know um has been dead for a while now has been with the Lord for a while now and but after all the Apostle Paul is a Jew and he was for Jesus and he’s certainly the most famous missionary we all know his impact for Christ now you know the Apostle Paul had to pay a great price for believing in Jesus for following Jesus and for serving Jesus but Paul was willing to pay that price because he knew that Jesus and the gospel is the only hope that Humanity has for the future and he summarized it I think perfectly in this one verse that’s on our screen in a way that both explains his reason for for devoting his life to the Lord’s service and at the same time challenging us to do the same so um you can open your bibles if you want to Philippians chapter 1 and we read the context the passage but let me expound a little bit on this you know when Paul wrote the letter to the church in Philippi probably around 62 ad he was actually in prison he was chained to a Roman guard now it’s strange that therefore the overall theme of the letter is actually one of joy and encouragement to the church even though Paul was in the midst of paying the cost for following the Lord Paul was suffering for his faith yet here in this letter the book of Philippians we find a conscience summary in one verse a concise summary in one verse the real meaning of life as well is death to a Christian and the very important personal choice that makes it all possible here we find why Paul is living the way that he’s living serving Jesus and giving Jesus all he got in this verse Paul not only explain why it is worth any cause to follow Christ but also the future hope that is found in Jesus verse 21 chapter 1 for to me to live is Christ to die is gain to live is Christ that was Paul’s commitment that God would be glorified and the gospel of Christ spread through everything that happened in his life and he summarizes that commitment here in a very succinct Way by saying for to me to live is Christ that’s a good summary he says the bottom line for me is that no the bottom line for me is that to live here on this Earth means that I get to further the cause of Jesus Christ through whatever ability I have and through whatever happens in my life to live as Christ Paul says how much can I praise him how many people can I share him with how many can I teach about him how can I further his kingdom and glory with my life Paul says my whole life is measured not by what other people may call success but by what I am able to do for Christ while I’m I’m here to me to live is Christ you know um I’m sure many of you um you know are aware that the um NFL season has just begun right you guys aware of it maybe maybe some of you like football anyway um just uh recently through my travels um actually it was at the end of last season but um I was traveling and I um I was um I I ran into this story of a young man who was a huge not just a huge football plan but he was just this huge fan of the Green Bay Packers okay now in this course of his conversation with the interviewer you know this young man wearing one of those big cheese hats do you know what I’m talking about here well anyway this is what he said and it was so surprising to me I actually took it down he said this he says I live for the Green Bay Packers he said if it promotes the Green Bay Packers in the world I’ll do it if it doesn’t promote the Green Bay Packers I won’t do it for me the question in everything is always does this promote the cause of the Green Bay Packers I’m not lying to you this is a true quote now when I read that I thought wow man this young man he is committed he’s committed obviously I think that he’s committed to the wrong thing right I mean I don’t even think the Green Bay Packer made the Super Bowl I mean it’s like it’s ridiculous right we don’t live for sports or anything else we are to live for Christ but you know I thought to myself also man we can take this young men’s this kind of commitment that this young man had for his team for the Green Bay Packers and we need to apply it to our own lives and Christ as Christ disciples our question with every activity we participate in and every decision we make should be does this activity further the cause of Christ if it furthers Christ I’ll do it if it doesn’t further Christ I will not do it in any decision we make in life our single most important criteria should be does this help the cause of Christ if it does we’ll do it if it doesn’t we won’t do it because for us to live as Christ we make our decisions by whether it benefits him and advances his kingdom it’s not do I want to do it it’s not does this make me money it’s not does it make me feel good it’s not do other people want me to do it or is everyone else doing it no the question for us is does this further the kingdom of Christ in the world that is the way we are to make our decisions in the world as disciples as Christians because like Paul for us to live as Christ the Reason God has Us Alive here on this Earth is to glorify and serve him we need to remember that we’re alive right why because God has a purpose for us now we may not live in as lives as dramatic a fashion as Paul but we are alive none none nonetheless God has seen fi in his Providence to Keep Us Alive so we need to ask ourselves for what purpose has God kept me alive why am I here what is his purpose the short answer to that question is right here in this verse to live is Christ God has not giv us a life or something as shallow as following our hearts or chasing our dreams he has not spar us so that we can waste endless days you know watching TV or playing games or seeking entertainment he gave us this life to glorify him to live as Christ that is what we are to live for not to make a name for ourselves not to spread the fame of our favorite sports team or even our church any other cause but God gave us this life to glorify ify him by spreading the gospel of Christ this is the purpose of life that is what God has you here for your goal is to do that the best way you can with the particular gifts and abilities that God has given you make no mistake your purpose in life is to further the name and Kingdom of Christ to be able to say for me to live is Christ so Paul says his life is all about living living for Jesus so that he can say to me to live is Christ but he also says and to die is gain now to a lot of people that sounds even more odd than to live is Christ someone might think okay well maybe to you um to live could be Christ but to say to die is gain now that’s a different thing isn’t it not too many people really think that way most people think of death as the worst possible thing that can happen to anyone but Paul says no to die is gain now the word gain here in the Greek and in the Greek Bible is the word keros which means prophet in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25 Jesus says that the slaves invested their Master’s money and they made a profit with his money that is the word that is used here it’s a business word it means to make a prophet so Paul is saying here hey death is not something I’m afraid of he says I will actually profit if I die it will be better for me if I die than if I live in fact Paul elaborates on that in the next verses of this passage as we read where he talks about the tension between whether he would rather stay here and continuing serving on Earth Earth or if it would be better for him to die and he says in verse 23 I have the desire to depart from this life and be with Christ for that is very much better now we need to look closely at this expression very much better because it is incredibly strong it Stacks two adjectives and an adverb right on top of each other very much better the first word Polo means many much a multitude the second Malone means more than better rather than something else and the last word Christen means better stronger more excellent so Paul of course under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit just stacks these comparatives one upon the other to just emphasize this to die and be with Christ is the multitude more EXC excellent better than life poon Malon chren much more better to die than to live here on this Earth he says it is a gain it’s a profit for him that is the Christian attitudes towards death honestly I don’t think most people have this attitude it goes against our natural inclination and God has instilled within mankind a powerful desire to live which is a good thing but our faith in God’s word tells us that there is something much more better waiting for the Christian person after death than anything we know here on Earth and that’s something that is so much better is God himself no dispel doesn’t say just say I want to die and go to heaven because that is so much much better he doesn’t say I want to go and see you know the streets of gold and or the Pearly Gates because that is much more better he doesn’t say I want to go and ride you know that perfect perfect White Horse you know through The Meadows or maybe play that perfect round of golf in the sky because that is much more better he says I want to depart and be with Christ be with Christ Christ for that is much more better see it is Jesus himself who is the go it is the Lord who makes Heaven much more better this go back to the very heart this goes back to the very heart of the Gospel that God made us specifically for himself as CS Lewis said God designed a human machine to run on himself himself is the fuel and our Spirits were designed to burn just like a solar powered machine is designed to run off of the Sun so we were made to be empowered by the glory of the face of God but we weren’t that when we sinned against God and a shadow fell across our relationship with God that cut us off from him in his glory Romans 3:23 says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God that is what that verse means that by our sins we separated ourselves from the glory of God that we were made to thrive off of but God still loved us even though we sinned and He sent Jesus to die on the cross to pay for our sins so now we will repent of our sins and come back to him and ask him for his forgiveness we can be forgiven and know the glory of God again we can begin to taste that Glory right now in our personal worship and in our worship with others and then when we die die or when Jesus returns we will bask in the presence of his glory forever with no sin with nothing to hinder us from all the blessings of his glory face to face amen this is what David is talking about in Psalm 17:15 when he says as for me I Shall Behold your face in righteousness I will be satisfied with your likeness when I am awake David says one day I will awake in heaven and I’m going to be satisfied with your likeness he says I will be fully satisfied with the glory of the face of God he says in Psalm 1611 in your presence is fullness of joy in your right hand there are Pleasures forever the glory of the face of God himself is what is waiting for us in heaven and Paul says that glory and pleasure and joy will be much more better than anything we have ever experienced here here on Earth we need to learn to really believe like Paul did that as a Christian to die is gain it is much more better that is our hope that is our hope our Eternal secure hope for the future you know sometimes the smallest words have the biggest impact and that is true here in this verse Paul says here that the statement is not true for everyone look what he said you know Paul could have said for all to live is Christ and to die is gain is that what the verse says no notice he said to me he said to me this was true for him for Paul but it wasn’t and isn’t today true for everyone it is only true for those who have genuinely committed their lives to Christ and decide to live in this way like Paul did for one not everyone can say for to me to live as Christ most people don’t live for Christ so they can’t say that to live as Christ they aren’t spending their lives advancing his kingdom in the world they aren’t telling anybody about him for them to live is not Christ for them to live maybe it’s just themselves their will their pleasure their own way what about you what about me is for us to live Christ certainly should be see this is not true for everyone this is a personal conscience choice you have to make that for you to live is going to be Christ you have to choose to make Jesus your own personal Lord and Savior and commit your life to follow him you have to choose that whatever situation or circumstance you come into you’re going to glorify him and that your circumstances are going going to be your witness stand for Christ This is a personal choice you have to make for me for me and how many people maybe even those of us here this morning how many really see death as gain what Paul says here is not true for everyone it is only true for those who have made the personal decision that for them this will be true it is a personal decision for me he says for me this is a p a personal choice for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain that’s Paul’s invitation to all of us will you make that personal commitment and choice as a Christ disciple that for to me to live as Christ and to die is gain you make that choice you know when I came to Faith In Jesus as a young believer I didn’t really know that that was going to be a choice I’m going to have to make I was born and raised in Israel in a typical Israeli Jewish Home secular home my parents are atheists but even as a young boy I never really bought into my parents atheism I always believed that God was real each year when we would celebrate the holidays I believe that God was really there for example in Passover delivering us out of Exodus as we celebrate when I started going to public school in Israel and from the first grade we studied the Old Testament scriptures and as I read um in the Bible there I I I read about God and I believe that God was really real and true but I didn’t really know what to do with my faith in God my parents being atheists and then when I was 14 in the middle of 9th grade my dad’s job moved us from Israel to New York and actually we moved to Long Island Nassau County I graduated from sassad high school and After High School I started attending Stonybrook University majoring in math I have a Bachelor of Science in mathematics and while going to school and I decided to to earn some some money and so I became a tutor and I tutored students who needed extra help in math one day I was helping this girl with her math homework and as I’m helping her she recognizes my accent in English and she asked me if I’m Russian and I said no I’m not Russian I’m Israeli she got excited she said oh wow I’m also Jewish so had something in common we continued um you know continued talking and then at some point in the conversation she tells me that she believes in Yeshua now being fluent in Hebrew right away I recognize the word Yeshua the word Yeshua is the Hebrew word for salvation but I’ve never heard of that word as a name no one in Israel today is named Yeshua so I ask her Yeshua who is this Yeshua that you believe in and she tells me that it’s Jesus wow wow I was shocked for two reasons first of all I never knew that Jesus’s real Hebrew name was Yeshua was salvation second of all I never met a Jewish person who believed in Jesus she was the first one so I was naturally curious so I wanted to know more so a few days later we met for lunch and it was during that lunch that she opened the Old Testament scriptures to me and she shared with me prophecies about the Messiah and then she showed me in the New Testament how Jesus how Yeshua fulfilled each and every one of those prophecies and it made perfect sense praise God a few days later I prayed with her to receive the Lord now two years later we got married okay this is Dena my wife praise God for that as well yeah absolutely now you know when Dena when when it all made sense after I saw those prophecies I said to Dina hey what are my parents going to think about this you know and she was honest she said hey I’m not so sure what they’re going to think about this you know and so it took me a little bit of time but I did commit my life to the Lord not before telling my parents and you know praise God my parents first response to me telling them that I now believe in Jesus was one of um disbelief um misunderstanding they didn’t really know what to do with it so they said something like okay we’re not worried you’ll grow out of it you know I think they thought it was something like puberty you know they didn’t really understand so they’re like okay well that’s crazy but whatever which was great for me I was able to get discipled and I was growing in my faith it was after my baptism three months into my faith that my parents realized that this was serious and it wasn’t going to pass and that’s when they started trying to do everything they can to stop me from believing in Jesus they sent me to CN anti- missionary Rabbi who was trying to convince me that Jesus is not the Messiah they thought I was crazy so they sent me to say psychologist and a psychiatrist they were convinced that I was a part of a cult so they had a family intervention and they brought a specialist in Cults and in brainwashing to talk to us they did everything they can and nothing worked of course it was very difficult so I am I was disowned and I had to leave the house and I’ll never forget the day that I came to pack up my stuff and to leave the house and my dad was there my dad is not a violent man but he lost it and he beat me up pretty severely you know we had to call the police you know my parents and I didn’t have a relationship for many years when it was time for us to get married they didn’t show up to the wedding you know it’s very difficult Jews for Jesus we go out on the streets we hand our tracks we talk to Jewish people about the Messiah Jesus so many of our staff you know we get hostility it’s not easy we get persecution I’ll never forget the one time and one of the times that I was Hing out tracks you know just outside of an army base outside of Tel Aviv you know in the morning just greeting soldiers or they’re coming to their base I’ll never forget a bunch of Orthodox Jews saw us they weren’t going to serve they were just there going their away and they started picking up stones and throwing them at us one time I was leading a team here in Brooklyn to um to speak to the Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn you know they came at us with knives they cut our track bags I can go on and on and tell you stories and stories you know is it all worth it is it all worth it well let me just tell you that from my point of view absolutely absolutely you know there is a price to pay there is a price to pay there is a cost to follow and to serve Jesus Church Brothers and Sisters more and more here in this country we’re seeing this cost is it worth it is it worth it may we be able to say like the Apostle Paul yes yes 100% yes why because for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain let’s pray Lord Jesus God we we know Lord that to follow you there is a price to pay lord it’s not because we are so great we’re not but it’s because Jesus you pay the price you paid the ultimate price none of us none of us will ever fully know the price that you paid but God we do know that while yet we were your enemies you came and you died for us for each one of us Lord so Lord help us to take that reality help us to um apply to our lives help us Lord God to stand with the Apostle Paul and to say for to us to live as Christ and to die is gain God that’s my prayer for my brothers and sisters here that’s my prayer for myself Lord may we be found worthy of the calling and worthy of the Gospel help us God we love you so much in Jesus name we pray God’s people said amen let’s stand sing