Unshakable Confidence: To Live Is Christ, To Die Is Gain

May 04, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Chains and Gospel Highways

Paul sat chained to a Roman guard, his wrists raw from iron. Imperial soldiers rotated shifts beside him, hearing whispers of a crucified King. Instead of cursing his confinement, Paul seized each shackled hour. He preached Christ to Caesar’s elite guards, wrote letters to fledgling churches, and watched the gospel march down Roman roads. His prison cell became a pulpit. [47:36]

God used Paul’s suffering to infiltrate the empire’s heart. Every clinking chain testified to Christ’s supremacy over Caesar’s might. The guards meant to silence Paul instead became his captive audience. Jesus turned punitive systems into gospel highways.

You face limitations—relational, financial, or physical. Stop viewing them as barriers. What if your “chains” are divine tools to advance Christ’s kingdom? Identify one situation you’ve resented. How could you leverage it for gospel witness today?

“I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.”
(Philippians 1:12-13, ESV)

Prayer: Ask God to reveal one person in your sphere who needs to hear of Christ’s supremacy.
Challenge: Write a note of encouragement to someone facing hardship, pointing them to Philippians 1:12-14.

Day 2: Kings and Unseen Purposes

King Philip conquered Philippi for gold and glory, unaware God would use his roads for eternal purposes. Centuries later, Paul trudged those same highways, proclaiming a greater King. Greek language spread by Alexander’s conquests became the New Testament’s tongue. Pagan infrastructure became God’s delivery system. [36:59]

God weaves human ambition into His redemptive tapestry. Rulers build cities for profit; Christ builds His church through their pride. No empire—past or present—thwarts the advance of His kingdom.

Your workplace, neighborhood, or family may feel dominated by secular agendas. How might God repurpose these spaces for His glory? Where have you assumed “Caesar’s systems” are beyond redemption?

“He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God.”
(Acts 17:26-27, ESV)

Prayer: Confess areas where you’ve doubted God’s sovereignty over cultural structures.
Challenge: Research the history of your city’s founding. Pray for its redemption as you walk/drive through it today.

Day 3: Facing Death with Unshaken Eyes

Ben Sasse sat under hospice lights, tumors wasting his body. Reporters leaned in, expecting despair. Instead, he spoke of a reunion—walking golden streets with his Savior. His 14-year-old son would mourn, but not forever. “God’s plan is better,” he said. The journalist’s jaw dropped. [59:33]

Christians don’t trivialize death’s grief but anchor in resurrection hope. Paul called death “gain” because it meant embracing Christ fully. Suffering refines eternal vision, stripping false comforts.

What earthly loss paralyzes you? Grieve honestly, then lift your eyes. How would living with eternity’s certainty change your priorities this week?

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”
(2 Corinthians 4:16-17, ESV)

Prayer: Thank Jesus for specific loved ones who’ve shown you resurrection hope in suffering.
Challenge: Text a grieving friend: “I’m praying you feel Christ’s nearness today.”

Day 4: Christ in the Blank

Paul’s declaration sliced through Roman despair: “To live is Christ.” Not Caesar, comfort, or conquest. In Philippi, merchants chased wealth, soldiers sought honor, and prisoners craved freedom. Paul craved Christ alone. His jailers marveled at a man who called chains a gift. [01:02:27]

Filling the blank with anything but Christ guarantees instability. Careers crumble. Relationships fracture. Health fails. Yet Christ remains an anchor when storms strip life bare.

What word fills your blank? Write it honestly. How has that idol betrayed you? What practical step could you take to dethrone it?

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God.”
(Galatians 2:20, ESV)

Prayer: Confess one idol you’ve placed in the blank this month.
Challenge: Replace 30 minutes of screen time today with Scripture reading on Christ’s sufficiency.

Day 5: Gathering at the Ignatian Crossroads

Ten churches converged on a Phoenix parking lot, their shirts bearing different logos but one Name. They knelt on asphalt, crying out for revival. The Ignatian Way once carried Roman legions; now it carried united prayers. Strangers became siblings as they sang, “Holy, holy, holy.” [33:54]

Corporate prayer weaponizes believers against hell’s gates. When churches lay aside rivalry to seek Christ’s glory, they mirror Paul’s vision: one body advancing the gospel together.

When did you last pray with believers outside your tradition? What division have you accepted as normal that Christ calls you to bridge?

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 4:6-7, ESV)

Prayer: Ask God to reveal one believer from another church you can encourage this week.
Challenge: Attend a prayer gathering outside your usual circle within the next 14 days.

Sermon Summary

Philippians 1:18-30 presents Paul writing from chains in Rome yet pulsing with joy and resolute purpose. The passage traces how God bends history—Greek language, Roman roads, even domineering kings—into gospel highways that spread Christ’s reign beyond human intention. Paul refuses victimhood, calls suffering fruitful labor, and counts death not as loss but as intimate gain because Christ defines meaning. He anchors confidence in two certainties: God’s sovereign deliverance and the ultimate honoring of Christ, so that whether life or death arrives the believer’s aim remains the same. Historical sketches—King Philip, Alexander, Roman infrastructure—illustrate how human systems meant for temporal glory become instruments for a lasting kingdom when reoriented toward Jesus. Personal testimony and church history show refinement through hardship: eviction, loss, illness, and imprisonment become sites where faith matures, witness multiplies, and priorities clarify. The ethic that emerges asks each person to fill the existential blank—what gives life its ultimate shape—with Christ alone. When Christ occupies that center, suffering gains purpose, death loses its sting, and ordinary moments become avenues for gospel advance. The passage issues a pastoral summons to replace consumer comforts and cultural idols with active devotion, communal prayer, and sacrificial stewardship so that confidence becomes contagious in a shaky world. Practical response includes corporate prayer, mutual care, and concrete commitments to time, talent, and treasure as expressions of a life that proclaims, to live is Christ, to die is gain.

Key Takeaways

1. Unshakable confidence in Christ Paul models a faith that does not ride the roller coaster of circumstance but rests its hope on Christ’s sovereign purposes. Confidence here is not denial of pain but a tested assurance that persecution and prison cannot finally undo the mission of the risen King. The posture of such confidence reorients daily fears into faithful tasks and makes ordinary moments missionary. [43:30]
2. Purpose through pain, promise through death Suffering becomes meaningful when viewed as participation in Christ’s redemptive work rather than mere misfortune. Paul reads prison as fruitful labor and anticipates death as entrance into fuller presence with the Lord; both realities sharpen the soul and reveal God’s refining intent. This perspective converts endurance into discipleship and loss into eternal investment. [46:36]
3. God repurposes worldly systems for gospel Empires, roads, languages, and even self-interested rulers do not thwart God’s design; they become conduits for the advance of Christ when the gospel plants itself in them. Recognizing divine re-use dispels fatalism and fuels strategic faithfulness—using available structures to proclaim an eternal kingdom. Such awareness frees the church to work creatively within its context while trusting God’s unseen orchestration. [39:17]
4. Replace idols with Christ The discipline of faith begins by naming what fills the “to live is ___” blank and then displacing that idol with Christ. Any substitute—security, status, comfort, or approval—will fail under pressure; only Christ-centered allegiance sustains joy through loss. Repentance here is practical and immediate: reorder time, priorities, speech, and giving so life visibly declares that Christ is first. [62:27]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[32:02] - Footsteps of Paul: Philippi trip
[33:29] - National Day of Prayer invitation
[36:15] - Discovering King Philip
[39:17] - Greek language and Roman roads
[41:35] - Paul in chains, joyful confidence
[43:30] - Paul's claims: delivered and honored
[46:36] - Purpose through pain, promise through death
[52:45] - Eviction, refinement, and provision
[62:27] - To live is Christ: the blank
[160:25] - Prayer, response, and invitation

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Philippians 1:18-30 (ESV)
[18b] Yes, and I will rejoice, [19] for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, [20] as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. [21] For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. [22] If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. [23] I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. [24] But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. [25] Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, [26] so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again. [27] Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ...

Observation Questions

What two certainties does Paul anchor his confidence in while imprisoned (v. 19-20)?
How does Paul describe death in verse 21, and what contrast does he make with life?
According to the sermon, what historical systems (e.g., languages, roads) did God repurpose for the gospel’s spread? [39:17]
What practical examples of suffering being turned into "fruitful labor" were shared from the church’s history? [52:45]

Interpretation Questions

Why does Paul call his imprisonment "fruitful labor" (v. 22) instead of a setback? How does this redefine our view of hardship?
The sermon claims, "God uses the good and the bad...to further His name" [40:39]. How does Paul’s imprisonment demonstrate this principle?
What does it mean for Christ to be "honored" in both life and death (v. 20)? How does this challenge cultural views of success?
How does the story of King Philip and Roman roads illustrate God’s sovereignty over human systems? [36:15]

Application Questions

"To live is ___." What honestly fills your blank right now (security, approval, comfort, etc.)? What practical step could you take this week to replace that with Christ? [01:02:27]
Paul saw his chains as a platform for gospel access. What current limitation or frustration in your life could become an opportunity to serve others or share Christ?
The sermon shared a story of an eviction leading to unexpected provision [52:45]. Where have you seen God repurpose a painful season for good? How does this shape your trust in Him today?
How would your priorities shift if you viewed your time, relationships, and resources as "gospel highways" for eternal impact?
The phrase "to die is gain" only makes sense if Christ is central. What fears or attachments make it hardest for you to embrace this truth? How can your group pray for you?
Identify one cultural "idol" (e.g., productivity, political power, comfort) that competes with Christ for your allegiance. What habit or boundary could help you dethrone it? [01:02:27]
Paul’s joy confused his guards. What specific attitude or action could you adopt to visibly reflect unshakable confidence in Christ to those around you?

Sermon Clips

51s

#DayOfTheCross

“``But what's the worst day in history? The day we killed God on a cross. What's the best day in history? The day God gave his life for sinners like you and like me, for all of sin, past, present, future, sins of omission and commission, sins you talk about that are respectable like gossip and you say it's prayer requests, sins like lust pride that overtakes your soul. On that worst day in all of history where we killed God, he took upon all that sin where it should have been put on you for eternity in hell and he took it upon himself.”

44s

#LiveIsChrist

“What are you putting in that blank? If it's status, if it's success, if it's your religious works, none of that will sustain you. It will all fail and yet Jesus Christ, you put Christ first in your time, in your talent, in your treasure, in your priorities, in your schedule, in your routine, in your politics, in the name of Jesus, in your finances, in your sickness, in your health, in your relationships, you put to live is Christ, then you can have to die his game. And you can have the world in checkmate and you can face any circumstance and even death, and you can be confident and full of joy knowing there's a purpose through pain. There's a promise through even death in Jesus Christ.”

43s

#DeathIsGain

“death has lost its sting through the cross of Christ. He rose again. Paul writes that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. To die is gain. If I live, it's fruitful labor for the glory of Christ. If I die, I get to see face to face the glory of Christ. Paul had the world in checkmate. Do you play chess? Neither do I. But I know enough to know checkmate is when you are in position you cannot lose. You have won. That's Paul. You wanna wanna put me in prison? That's great. Get to share the gospel, to write these letters, get to put it all out. Epaphroditus is my boy, he's gonna take it to Philippians.”

40s

#ConfidentLikePaul

“Any of you ever said, I'm having the worst day? Have you already said that? Listen, Paul's got you beat. Right? He's got every circumstance is not going his way. He's experienced all of this right now. He's in prison and yet he's fearless, confident and joyful. I want to ask how? You should be asking how? Now I know the Sunday school answer is Jesus and it you know, we'll get there yeah. But look at the text, where do we get this from? How is he so confident? He tells us, verse 21, look at the verse, He says, well for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

42s

#ChristOrNothing

“And we have this weird thing that we've termed in our day called comfortable Christianity and consumer Christianity. And if we're honest we have, hey to live as Christ depending on the day and the circumstance. To live is Christ one hour a week on a Sunday morning. To live is Christ if he does these things for me. And what Paul is presenting to you is to live is Christ period. I heard John Piper, a theologian pastor say this one time, If you were to go to heaven and get the streets of gold and the mansions and the crowns and all these things and like it would be so amazing, but Christ wasn't there. Would you still want to go?”

43s

#AnxiousGeneration

“How can you have a joyful confidence through any and every circumstance? Listen we live in a day where everything is shaky. The stock market is shaky. The gas prices in the name of Jesus are shaky. Everything is shaky. Your mental health we talked about a few weeks ago is shaky. We live in the anxious generation every single year. You know what two of the top prescribed medicines are? Antidepressants and antacids. Every in 2026 you think we would have progressed by now, you think we'd have this peace from AI and chat GPT, but we don't.”

34s

#ResurrectionHope

“Did you know Jesus died and rose again for you? For your sins to be healed? For your for you to be forgiven and adopted into his family? For even on a deathbed like mine, you can have hope in Jesus Christ that goes beyond death into all of eternity? This is a nurse on her shift? And so that's to the point where when my dad passed away you had nurses come into the room who had seen my dad one day, one time, and they were bawling. They didn't even know him. But they're like, Hey there's something different.”

47s

#UpsideDownFaith

“You're up if your circumstances are up, you're down when your circumstances are down. If the world is shaky, you are shaky. If your job is shaky, you are shaky. If your relationship is shaky, you are shaky. What Paul offers, what God offers is something different. He offers an unshakable confidence in a shaky world. Do you have that? Do you have that? See this befuddled people, it's why in Acts chapter 17 they've gone from Philippi to Thessalonica and people come and they're trying to kill Paul and all his friends and they say this one specific phrase in Acts 17, they say, hey these are the guys who are flipping the world upside down”

28s

#ChurchInHardTimes

“We started the church in some crazy circumstances. A lot of people didn't know me, we didn't have family or friends in Phoenix. We had this mega church shut down, there's a lot of distrust, skepticism. We didn't have much money and people hadn't known me for very long. Just great recipe to start a healthy church. Amen? And now we get evicted with six weeks left to to move, and I don't know where we're gonna go. And about half the people wanna leave. If you ask me what was the worst day, I'd tell you it's that day.”

34s

#ProvidenceInPain

“But if you ask me what's the best day, I'd also tell you it's that day. Because through that pain, through that circumstance, God provided not a school that we set up and tear it down in, but he provided a church building that was empty. Look at God, won't he do it? And we began to get stable, we moved and we did lose some people. We also gained some people and we refined our vision. We began to impact our city to a greater extent. Fast forward a few years, we're growing healthy and we got to come on this campus and see a church merger happen and see a church reunited”

30s

#GraceInSuffering

“I saw this with my dad who died six months ago. I'd be in the hospital the last month of his life and he'd be suffering, I mean it was so traumatic, suffering every single day and the nurses would come in and he'd perk up and he'd get a smile on his face and he'd be like, hey, can I have some ice? You know, it was always so funny how my dad got into the gospel. Hey, can I have some ice? Can I have some ice chips? Also, you know what's cool is the sweet grace of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.”

38s

#TranscendentConfidence

“Yet even through those dark times, March, God was orchestrating his kingdom for his glory, for our good that one day two thousand years later you and I get to step into as well. And so that's what we see as we look at the book of Philippians. As we go to Philippians one nineteen through 30 specifically what we see is Paul has, if you take notes write this down, Paul has a confidence that transcends every circumstance. If you look at the text with me, I read it on video, I'm not gonna read it all again, but just look at verse 19 with me. Paul says, I know not I think.”

41s

#ShareBoldly

“Paul's like, hey, I got this guy with me and he's like, I'm not gonna be a victim here and be like, God, you came to me in light in Acts chapter nine on the Damascus Road, but now I'm in a dark cell and what is happening and oh, I'm such a victim and I'm gonna write a blog about it online. You don't see Paul doing that. You see Paul saying, hey brother next to me, you're kind of close to Caesar, how about this, if you were to die today and stand before God on a scale of one to 10, How confident are you you would enter heaven? Like he's he's sharing the gospel with the people around him and you could just imagine this had to be so frustrating for the imperial guards.”

40s

#BehindTheSmile

“Some of you are doing great on the outside. But on the inside, there's every single day debilitating anxiety and depression. You're connected online, you're on your screen all the time, but there is crippling loneliness. Nobody really knows you. Nobody knows the deepest parts of you. You don't feel seen, you don't feel loved, you don't feel cared for, but outside you got the finances, you got the job, everything's going great. And yet do you believe that through any and every circumstance you can have confidence because you know Christ? That he's building muscles right now,”

42s

#GospelAdvances

“He has a purpose through pain and he has a promise through death. That's how he's joyful. That's how he's confident, even obnoxiously so in his circumstances. He has a purpose through pain. Look at verse 22, he's suffering for Paul means fruitful labor. Verse 25, it means progress in the faith. Last week Paul talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ advancing even through his chains. Last week Jeff Gokey did a great job talking about these other preachers who were kind of hating on Paul, who had different motivations. They were still proclaiming Christ and some of them they saw the boldness of Paul that he was imprisoned”

32s

#FaithInLoss

“And you watched, and I've watched a lot of these interviews, and you watch these guys interview Ben Sasse and one guy on sixty Minutes he asked him, hey man I've had some moments where I thought I could lose my family but nothing like this, like you know you're gonna lose your family. And Ben Suss has a wife of thirty one years, two girls like 21 and 24, and he's got a 14 year old son. And the interviewer's just talking to him and he's like, hey you're going to die soon. How do you reconcile losing from losing your family?”

40s

#ConfidenceInGodsPlan

“He's like, you know and I'm super bummed I'm not gonna get to do that. But he said something really interesting, he said, I know we'll be separated for a while, but I know God has a plan and I know it's better than mine. When they pan to the interviewer in this moment, his jaw is dropping. What? What? Like you have a confidence that goes beyond circumstance? You have a confidence that doesn't hinge on the stock market or gas prices? As a senator? As a politician? You have a confidence that goes even beyond death?”

32s

#SorrowAndSureHope

“And he talked about it. He talked about man he's super sad that he's not going to get to walk his girls down the aisle and he wanted to. He talked about specifically, he got a little choked up when he talked about his son who's 14 and still growing and not an adult yet and he wants to take him by the hand and take him by the neck sometimes as a teenage boy and teach him how to be a young man and not get listened to as his dad, he joked. He's like, I want to do all that and he gets a little emotional but he comes back together and he says, but hey, I know this,”

26s

#NoVictimMentality

“He's got them right next to him and he's like, hey man, I would never get this kind of access to these elite people if it weren't for being in prison. And you just kind of picture the scene. Paul's like, he's not playing the victim, he's not crying, oh woe is me, like why am I in prison? Oh god, you're supposed to be for me like on that road that Damascus Road like acts nine, I saw this light and now I'm seeing this dark and what why is this happening to me and I'm gonna get online and write a blog about it.”

36s

#PrayForRevival

“God we pray that your spirit would move mightily in this moment and you would focus our eyes, you would soften our hearts, you would open our hands to everything that you want to do during this time. Transform us from the inside out. Holy Spirit we pray in the mighty name of Jesus. And everybody said, amen. Amen. How many of guys have heard of Alexander the Great? Many of you learned about him in school? A lot of us in the room. You know this great military leader who was really a legend by the age of 30. He conquered the known world and yet while many of us know about Alexander the Great, many of us don't know about his dad King Philip.”

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