Would you please be seated? Our scripture this morning is from Philippians chapter four. Philippians chapter four. We'll begin with verse two and then read through verse 20. The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Philippian church while he was in prison for preaching the gospel. Yet even though he's in prison, if you can imagine that, this book more than any other speaks of joy and rejoicing. Just imagine him sitting in prison and speaking, writing of joy and rejoicing in the Lord. Reading then from Philippians 4 verse 2. The Apostle Paul writes to imperfect people, to a church filled with imperfect people. Philippians 4, I plead with you Odea and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. the church was divided in some sense, or at least these two co-workers were squabbling. Yes, and I ask you, loyal Yoke fellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life. Excuse me. Rejoice in the Lord always. I'll say it again, rejoice. Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to the Lord. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. And whatever you've learned or received or heard from me or seen in me, put it into practice, and the God of peace will be with you. I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you've been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I'm not saying this because I'm in need, for I've learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I've learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through Him who gives me strength. Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of our acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out for Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you only. For even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. Not that I'm looking for a gift, but I'm looking for what may be credited to your account. I have received full payment and even more. I'm amply supplied. Now that I've received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, they are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. Would you join me in prayer, please? Father, Son, Holy Spirit, we thank you for the privilege of gathering around your Word. There's a sense in which we know all this. There's also a sense in which in the busyness of life, we don't always remember it. And so now as we review this, by your Spirit work within us so that in the days ahead that we may remember this, that you are God and that you are good, that in you we may find joy and peace because you are near. We thank you and pray this in Jesus' name by the power of your Holy Spirit, amen. Question, when bad things happen, has God forgotten about you? Does God have it in for you? Some people think that. Sometimes we think, what did I do, Lord? I'm trying to serve you. What's going on? One of the questions that I had struggled with for many years was, where is God in all of the mess and the pain and the sorrow and the grief? And there are times when I still think of that. But there's a side of me that says, no, God is never absent from his people. We only are aware that it feels as if he is absent. But how do you process it when A dear friend of ours had her grandson was killed when a tractor rolled over on him. He was, I think, 13 or 14 years old. You say, Lord, where were you? And when friends die young or when friends live beyond the awareness of their years, where's God in all of this? A friend of mine died a couple of years ago and before he passed away he had surgery. He had struggled with diabetes and circulation wasn't good. They needed to take his foot, and he was resisting that. He went into surgery, and his prayer, he did not have a long walk with the Lord. We had talked often. But as he went into surgery, he recounted to me, saying, Lord, I want to trust you, but I'm afraid. Help me to trust you. There are times when we are like that. Things happen and we go, Oh Lord! Some of you may be aware that in 1996 my youngest brother, Rod, at age 38, was one of five whose work boat capsized off of Hilton Head, South Carolina. Four bodies were found in the ocean, offshore, a mile or two or three. Herod's body was never found. How do you handle that? And we as a family knew that he loved the Lord and we loved the Lord, but yet it's like, oh Lord, how's this go? In his providence, in the Lord's providence, friends had brought to our attention a song by Cynthia Clark, sung by Cynthia Clawson, entitled Trust His Heart. And the final verse is this. God is too wise to be mistaken, God is too good to be unkind. So when you don't understand, when you don't see his plan, When you can't trace his hand, trust his heart. The bottom line of our worship service this morning is that the Bible teaches that God is near to his people, and in spite of human sin, he is at work for good, even when we can't see how that can be. When we know and trust him, we can find joy and peace, even in the toughest of times. God is near to His people, even when things seem to be going all wrong. You say, yeah, but, well, we'll talk about the Apostle Paul in a moment, but think in terms of our Lord, who did no wrong, no sin. And yet we read in Matthew 27 on the cross, he experienced this aloneness and there was a certain sense in which God had forsaken him for the fact that we would then be redeemed by his penalty paid, the sin paid for all who believe. And he experienced that aloneness. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And yet it was all a part of that divine plan of which Jesus was a part. And so when we sometimes feel abandoned and questioning, it doesn't mean that the Lord has indeed abandoned us because Christ had taken that abandonment for us. Just think in terms of the Apostle Paul, and we'll get to Philippians 4 in a moment, but we read in 2 Corinthians 11 that the Apostle Paul, this missionary who had traveled around the whole Middle East area, writes, five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. And what's the point of that? The Jews had discovered, or whoever had discovered, that if you whipped somebody severely with a cat-of-nine-tails, or what they're called, in other words, it was a whip with metal embedded in the end of the tip, that if you went too many times, you'd whip them to death. And so they drew the limit at 40, because if you go much beyond 40, you can kill the guy. Well, you don't want to kill the guy, you just want to punish him and make him not do it again. But that happened five times to the Apostle Paul, among other things. Five times I received from the Jews the 40 lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. And he goes on and on. I've labored and toiled and gone often without sleep. I've known hunger and thirst. I've been cold and naked. Why? Because he was simply seeking to honor the Lord and to fulfill the call that the Lord had given him. He was beaten until, stoned until they thought he was dead, dragged outside the city. If you can imagine throwing rocks at him until, you know, you're bleeding and then laying rocks upon him, just got to hold him down so he can't breathe. They thought he was dead. They hauled him out of the city thinking he was dead. Friends gathered around him and he lived. And this Apostle Paul writes now in Philippians 4, rejoice in the Lord always. Rejoice in the Lord always. But we need reminders of that, that the Lord is near. One of the reminders that my wife, head put up, and I credit her with that, is that every morning when I go down the step with our bedrooms upstairs, right there, right in front of my eyes, always rejoice in the Lord. We need these reminders. Why? Rejoice in the Lord. In obedience to a command? Huh? What? Rejoice in the Lord always. I'll say it again, rejoice. Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Don't be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to the Lord. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Rejoice in obedience to a command? How can that be? You don't just crank it up. And yet there can be a sense in which we can honestly say, Lord, this is the pits. It's tough. I can hardly breathe, I feel so bad, so sad. I remember when my brother passed away afterwards, just looking up at the stars and crying. Not praying to the stars, but just out there going, oh Lord. And yet knowing that the Lord is a part of that whole situation and has not abandoned us. So the Apostle Paul reminds us, rejoice. Find your joy in the Lord knowing that he is God and we are not. That yes, life is short. Yes, life is painful sometimes. But there is wonderful joy in the Lord who has given us life and who holds us and never, never will let his people go. And then in verse five, let your gentleness be evident to all. I don't know how you've ever been, how you are, if you've ever been poked. If somebody pokes you in the tummy, in the chest, in the face, with words, with fists, with whatever, what's your, what's our first response? You can't do that to me. And we just want to push back and hit back. The Apostle Paul uses a word that's used only this one place in the New Testament. It's a word that is hard to really translate. Some call it gentleness, some call it let your moderate, some versions translate as let your moderation be known to all. One author put it this way, let your big, not pig, but you let your big heartedness, your graciousness, your gracious gentleness, be known to all, even when you've been hurt, even when you've been punched in the face or the gut, and it's not been fair, it's not been deserved, it's just been, ah! And how do you respond? By God's grace and spirit, let your gentleness, your big-heartedness be known to all. How can that be? Why? How can that even be possible? The Lord is near. I have a friend who, the circumstances are a little bit unclear, but he's in prison. Did he deserve it? Oh, maybe in a manner of speaking he lost his temper, but And so when I talk to him I say, the Lord is at work here in ways we can't even begin to understand. Instead of praying against all of these people who are part of this, may God's justice and wrath be upon these low dog scum who are doing me wrong. I pray for him, and I encourage him to say, rejoice in the Lord. The Lord is near. The Lord is a part of this, even in a situation when you may have been done wrong, or you may have done wrong, depending on how you look at it. And certainly the same with the Apostle Paul. What did he do wrong? What did he do wrong? By God's grace, he and Silas were preaching the gospel that Jesus Christ is Lord and there's forgiveness of sins, and they cast out a demon from a slave girl. Well, the slave girl was a fortune teller making money for her slave masters. And they go, you took our money away, our income away. You can't do that. How just was that to get them beaten and thrown into jail? And in the prison at midnight, they're praying and singing praises to God, even amongst all of this injustice. Do not be anxious about anything. The Lord is near. But in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And they were in jail, in stocks, not sure whether they'd be beaten more or executed. And at midnight they were praying and singing praises to God. So it's not just about a head trip. Rejoice, find joy, think positive. No. It's do this, rejoice in the Lord. Be gentle. Don't just put on an act. Why? The Lord is near. And how does that live out? It lives out in constant prayer to the Lord, knowing that he's near and he's with us and we're in conversation with him and we speak and we listen. Say, Lord, what's up here? I don't fully understand, help me to understand. Or if I don't fully understand, to follow you and to know that you are great and you are good and you're at work here even though I can't begin even to see it. And the result of that is what? The peace of God, a peace from God that goes beyond all understanding. This peace will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. And then what? Put all of this into practice and think on, remember whatever's true, whatever is noble, Whatever's right and pure and lovely and admirable. If anything is excellent, think on these things. Don't go, rah, rah, rah, this isn't good. Rather look and say, yup, it's painful. But aren't the flowers beautiful this morning, Lord? And wasn't the sunset last night absolutely glorious? And the fact that I can even see, needing glasses to see, but able to see and to smell and to taste and to worship together. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, put it into practice. Rejoice, be gentle, remember the Lord is near, be grateful, and pray, and the peace of God will be in you and with you and around you. And put all of this into practice, and then what? Then we do not curse, but we bless. And then what? People see us and say, wow, how can that be in a time of injustice or pain or struggle? And you can go throughout scripture and find God's people who have been in the pit. You know the story of Joseph, of the 12 brothers, and Joseph the coat of many colors. Imprisoned while thrown into a pit by his brothers, who then sold him into slavery. And he served his boss Potiphar well. And Potiphar's wife then wanted to go to bed with him. He said, no, I can't dishonor the Lord. That wouldn't be right. And she set him up, and he ran away and grabbed his cloak, his coat. And he ended up what? In prison for doing the right thing. for doing the right thing. And yet it said the Lord was with him and the Lord had put him in just the right place so that through dreams and the revelation of dreams, he came into a position of power. And then finally in this whole time of famine, the Lord brought his brothers to Egypt and Joseph was in the right place. not only to save the nation of Egypt, but Israel. The Lord was with him and showed kindness to him. And then when his brothers came, Joseph said to them, do not be afraid. I'm not gonna exact vengeance upon you. Do not be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended harm to me. But God intended it for good to accomplish that which is now being done, the saving of many lives." And we go, oh Lord, how can this be? And there may be, and there are many more we could point to. You think in terms of Job. Scripture says there lived in the land of Uz a man whose name was Job. The man was blameless and upright. He feared the Lord. He sought to honor the Lord above all. He shunned evil. And then the Lord and Satan had this conversation. And Satan says, well, Job. honors you because you take care of him. And if you don't take care of him and you give him a hard time, let me at him, he'll curse you. And God says no. Very well, everything that he has is in his hands, but do not take his life. And you may know the story that he lost his possessions, he lost his family. His wife was there, but she was not very helpful. And finally, Job came to understand. Lord, I understand. I know that no plan of yours can be thwarted. My ears have heard of you, now my eyes have seen you and I despise myself and I repent in dust and in ashes. There are times when life is tough, when life is hard. And the bottom line is what? Rejoice in the Lord, for the Lord is near. Let your gentleness be known to all. Remember what the Lord has done and is doing so that your eyes and your heart may resonate with that which is good. And pray instead of worrying, knowing that the Lord has us, and our children, and our business, and our farm, and our nation in His hands. And yes, we are called not to sit, and yet to know that the Lord is God, and He is good, and He will hold us. There's a friend who has struggled with many issues through the years. And I said to this friend, life, this is my homemade example, but it still speaks to me, and I hope it does for you. This life is sometimes like the first half of a football game when you're getting creamed. I mean, you're down 47 to 3, maybe. And you are just beat. And you go into halftime, and you go, man, I'm just ready to give up. Maybe there's a 10-run rule in football or whatever. It's just, we're done. And the coach says, no, hang in there. We got him right where we want him. Yeah, right, coach. And you come back in the second half. And you hold him scoreless. And you win 50 to 47. You go, Lord, how'd that happen? Well, we are in this life in the first half, and sometimes we're getting all beat up, creamed. And yet the Lord says, rejoice in the Lord, knowing that he is good and he is near. Let your gentleness be known to all. And pray instead of worrying. And as you pray, give thanks, recognizing all the good that the Lord has done and is doing in our lives, even through the tough stuff. And then when you think, how can that be? Remember of the, maybe you're aware, out of the 27 books in the New Testament, do you know how many were written by the Apostle Paul? We believe 13. 12 or 13, the book of Hebrews is in dispute. Whether Paul did or somebody else. But the point is, if the Lord hadn't set Paul, this type A, go for it, busy, missionary, down in prison, How much of scripture would we not have had? And the Lord was at work, even in ways that Paul at that time had no clue, but the Lord was good. Through Christ's work on our behalf, we sinners can know that God holds us and never lets us go, able to rejoice because the Lord is near. And sometimes the prayer really comes, Lord, I want to trust you. But it's a scary time. Help me to trust you and to honor you. For the Bible teaches that God is near to his people always. And in spite of human sin, he is at work, even when we can't see how that can be. When we know and trust him. we can find joy and peace even in the toughest of times because God is Lord and he is good and his promises are true. Let's pray together. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, we thank you for the eyes to see the wonder of life. And yes, the reality of struggle is often before us. We sometimes just want to turn off the news or not read the newspaper or even turn on the news on the internet because it's just a messed up world. And yet, Lord, help us to know that our world belongs to you and the victory is yours. Enable that, Lord, to energize us. and to be gentle, and not to have a fake joy, but a real joy that lasts, because you are God and you are near to your people. In Jesus' name, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we pray, amen.