Daily Archives: November 19, 2025

Philippians 1:21 For to me to live is CHRIST, and to die is GAIN.

I’d like to take our scripture today, and take out two words: “CHRIST” and the word “GAIN”. The text would read this way:

Philippians 1:21 For to me to live is __________, and to die is _____________.

What you put in that first blank will determine what goes in the second blank.

Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 7:1, “A good name is BETTER than PRECIOUS OINTMENT; and the day of DEATH than the day of ONE’S BIRTH”.

To have a good name – a good reputation – is better according to God than the most expensive perfumes. I am told that the most expensive perfume in the world – Clive Christian No. 1 Imperial Majesty – is around $12,721.89 per ounce. But a good reputation is better than that. How many people name their children Judas or Adolf? The Bible goes on to say that the day you die is better than the day you were born. Why would it say that?

Beloved, that’s not true for everyone. Going back to our fill in the blanks Scripture, most people – even professing Christians – put the wrong word in that first blank. Most people fill in the blanks like:

Philippians 1:21 For to me to live is _for myself_, and to die is _____________.

If you are living for yourself, when you die then it is certainly not gain, but loss. When you die, then it is the ultimate loss of self. When you die, if you have lived your life for YOU, then you will go to a horrid place called HELL where you can be you forever. God is not in hell. Our Lord Jesus did not live… Continue reading →