Let us turn in God's holy word to Philippians chapter four. Philippians chapter four. And we'll read the entire chapter. Let us hear the word of the Lord. Therefore, my beloved and longed for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved. I implore Euodia and implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice. Let your gentleness be made known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, 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 minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, If there is any virtue, if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. But I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again, though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard of need, for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. I know how to be abased, I know how to abound. Everywhere in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Nevertheless, you have done well that you shared in my distress. Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving, but you only. for even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. Indeed, I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. And my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar's household. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. May God bless the reading of his precious and infallible word and also the exposition of it. dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, as you probably don't need me to tell you this, but we certainly are living in uncertain times. Whether you pay attention to the news and the world events around us, with the tariffs and the economic challenges that it's presenting, the geopolitical unrest in this world, the wars and rumors of even more wars, Certainly, the theme of the news today is we live in uncertain times. It's hard for people to plan. It's hard for people to navigate these uncertain times. I can empathize with that. In my former years as a farmer, it seemed like every year you lost your crop at least once, sometimes many times, and yet the Lord provided. And Zoe is instructing and continues to be instructing in our lives. Our lives are uncertain. We don't know if we'll live the rest of this year. We don't know whether we'll have health concerns and challenges. We simply don't know. We always live in the midst of uncertainty. Maybe even uncertainty regarding the freedoms we enjoy and the prosperity God has blessed us with. But one thing is certain. God's Word instructs us. And I want to turn with you to Philippians tonight. Philippians, the church in Philippi, also had many challenges, persecuted for the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ. Many times ostracized from society, couldn't deal with things as they would like to, and couldn't even probably be part of the economy of Flippi as a Christian. Certainly struggled with many uncertainties in their own lives. And yet, They're sending a thank you note to Paul in prison with a gift, the hand of Epaphroditus. And Paul writes back to them to encourage them, in the midst of all of their uncertainties, to look to the Lord and to rejoice in the Lord himself. I'd like to look at this, especially as we not only see the doctrinal emphasis of the first part of this epistle, but especially the last chapter, chapter 4, which we read, which sets before us practical instruction that flows out of the doctrine set forth by Paul and Philippians. And so a theme will be practical counsel for uncertain times. I have six points and I was told this afternoon to keep it short because there's a lot of things going on. The elders need to pray and then we have voting and everything else, but they will be short, succinct points. So practical counsel for uncertain times. The first point I want to set before us is to rejoice in the Lord. In verse 1 of chapter 4, Paul writes, He took great joy in those who labored with him in the gospel. He took great joy of the saints in Philippi. And he calls them to have that same joy by standing fast in the Lord. And then he goes on in verse four to say, rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say, rejoice. Oh, Philippi is going also through many challenges and uncertain times. And yet Paul is not saying rejoice in your challenges, rejoice in your afflictions, rejoice in your persecutions. No, he's saying rejoice in the Lord. Because in the Lord there is certainty. He's the very ground of certainty. To remain steadfast in him who is absolutely steadfast. And so he wants to direct them to the Lord and the foundation of certainty. The Lord never changes. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever, despite the circumstances around us. And so he says, rejoice in the Lord, the one who is absolutely faithful, the one who is in control of the orbits of the sun, and the galaxies, and the moon, and all the things that create the seasons, and it gives seed time and harvest. Every single year, we've experienced God's faithfulness. His mercies, His faithfulness is new every single morning. The Lord gives us certainty. And we can rejoice in the Lord because he changes not. Our circumstances might change, but the Lord doesn't change. Secondly, he says, he calls us to pursue unity with grace. He says, I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. You know, when you're laboring together and you're working together and you're faced with a lot of uncertainty, it doesn't always bring out the best in people. Even in gospel, labors. And so Paul is calling them to maintain the unity that they have in the gospel in Christ, just as he sets before them in chapter 1 and 2, where he is reminding them that their conduct needs to be worthy of the gospel of Christ. and that if there's any consolation in Christ, if there's any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord and of one mind. Don't let your egos get ahead of you, but labor together in humility according to the gospel, rejoicing in the Lord. Uncertainty is many times the very cause for us to be self-centered, sometimes even turning on others. I can empathize with that a little bit because I'm both American and Canadian. And my family in the US, you can imagine sometimes how awkward it is to pick up the phone and have these discussions about how Trump is putting on these tariffs, and it's really affecting us in Canada. And you get no empathy from my American family at all. And you just think, at least you would consider how it affects us here. And so you can understand the challenge sometimes of how that could break down relationships and how this uncertainty and these tensions can ruin relationships. But Paul is telling the Philippians, don't let it do that. Pursue unity with grace. He says, let your gentleness be known to all men. To all men. Whether you agree with them or not. Let your gentleness be known to all men. Because the Lord is at hand. And He's coming quickly. He knows all things. He sees all things. And He is bringing all things together, working them together for according to his purpose and for his glory and for our good. And so, pursue unity with grace. Thirdly, Paul tells us to fight anxiety with prayer. Be anxious for nothing, verse 6, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Uncertainty is certain to produce anxiety, and anxiety is normal. We ought to be concerned. I ought to have a little bit of anxiety before I preach God's Word and take the weighty task of doing anything, even in pastoral ministry. There ought to be some kind of anxiety or concern or preparedness that comes from it. But the kind of anxiety that's spoken of here is an anxiety that's produced by not trusting in the Lord in the midst of it. But rather, letting these anxious cares overwhelm you and drown you, rather than casting them on the Lord. The Lord says, Peter says in 1 Peter 5, cast all of your cares upon Him, because He cares for you. Cast those anxieties upon Him. Roll your burdens upon Him. Certainly. There's nothing wrong, necessarily, with being anxious. What do you do with those anxieties and those cares and their concerns? Well, he says, with everything by prayer and supplication. That's why after this message, we will cast our cares and concerns upon the Lord, knowing He cares for us. And we will do so with thanksgiving. recognizing the Lord has blessed us far more than what we deserve. And so we cast all of these cares upon him, counting our blessings. You see, we don't act like ungrateful children who are seeking more from their parents without even giving thanks for what they've received. We're not called to be ungrateful children of our Heavenly Father. And as we cast our anxieties upon the Lord in prayer and supplication, and we thank Him for the many blessings that He has showered upon us, as we're making these requests known to God, and we can leave them there and roll our burden upon the Lord, He grants us a peace that passes all understanding. Because we can trust in Him and leave it in His care, even as we work, we pray, and we leave it, the results, with the Lord. And that's what guards our hearts and our minds through Christ Jesus. This is really a military term of guarding, protecting our heart, protecting our mind, as we take our cares and our anxieties before the Lord. And so we're called to fight anxiety and uncertainty with prayer. That's why we're gathered together this evening. And as we are guarding our hearts and guarding our minds, Paul says there's one other thing you need to do. And that's what we see fourthly. You need to meditate on praiseworthy things. meditate on praiseworthy things. He says, finally, brethren, whatever things are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, good report, if there's any virtue of anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. You see, when we fill our minds and our hearts with who God is and the things that are noble and pure and praiseworthy, if there's virtue in them, and we're meditating upon those things, then that's who we will be. Proverbs says in Proverbs 23 verse 7, as he thinks in his heart, so is he. You see, what we take into our minds and how we let them soak into our very being, into our hearts, that is who we will be. Out of the heart will proceed all kinds of things, whether they're good or evil. So we need to be meditating and feeding ourselves with praiseworthy things. Things that are true, consistent with the Word of God, that are corresponding with the teaching of God's Word. Things that focus on the Gospel truths. Rather than believing the lies of Satan, the lies of this world, and the lies others would want to implant into your minds, no, you say, I won't hear the gossip, I won't hear the rumors, I will only think on things that I know are true and noble. things that have dignity. I will meditate on those things that have moral excellence, that are according to the Word of God. I will meditate on those things that are just, those things that conform to God's standards. And I will think about those things that are pure, without sin. I won't let all of the sin and the attractions of this world that are promoted on all sorts of media, I won't let them fill my mind and my heart. I will guard from it so that I can meditate on the things that are pure and lovely, things that have virtue, things that are winsome and attractive. like generosity and kindness and compassion and willingness to forgive. Those things that are lovely according to the gospel. Those things that are of good report. I will think about the things that are positive about people rather than all of the negative. Look down the bench or the bench ahead of you or the bench behind you. What are the first thoughts that come into your mind about your brother or your sister? Are they the praiseworthy things, good report? When you think of Justin Trudeau or Mark Carney, what are the first things that come into your mind? Do you think of things that are of good report and praiseworthy? We do need to discipline our minds, not only to focus on the negatives, but also to think about and meditate on the positives. I'm not saying we ought not to be concerned about negatives, but let these things fill your mind. This is what they've learned from Paul. These things that you've learned from me and heard from me, follow me in as far as I follow the Lord Jesus Christ, in other words, Paul is saying. Follow my example. And therefore, he wants to set an example before them, even as he thanks them at the end of his letter. Verses 10 and following, he's really thanking the Philippians for the gift that they've given to him from the hand of Epaphroditus. And even as he's writing a thank you note to the Philippians, he still instructs them. He's received this gift now and he says thank you, but he wants to instruct them by saying, I want you to know, my dear congregation in Philippi, that I speak in Not that I speak in regard of need, for I have learned, he says, in whatever state I am, to be content. I know how to be abased. I know how to abound. Everywhere, in all things, I've learned to both be full and to be hungry, abound and suffer need. In uncertain times, I can be content. In times of abounding, when it seems like I have everything and I don't even need the Lord, I have to really then learn to be content. But he had to learn this, because these things didn't come naturally. This is something that he's been instructed in all of his life long, but especially all his ministry. He's learned these things. He's learned how to be content when he has much. That's almost harder sometimes than learning to be content when you have little. But he learned it. And the truth of the matter is, especially in uncertain times, people aren't always very content. And their discontentment shows. Discontentment robs us of so much peace and so much joy in life. Matter of fact, discontentment makes rich men poor. and contentment makes poor men rich. My grandson had his tooth, first tooth came out a few weeks ago and his parents gave him a loonie and he had I think three or four other loonies in his piggy bank and he had like a whopping four or five dollars. And he was just beaming. He was so happy. And he was going to go and use this $5 or less to buy something that he's been looking forward to having. And he was just over the moon. How many of us would be over the moon if we had $5 in our piggy bank? You see, he felt like the richest person in the world. and had really not more than what it's going to take you to go to Timmy's on the way home. See, we who have much are often more discontent than those who have little. I'm sure Rick could share stories of other countries. I've been there too, and various other countries that have so little. And yet, they put us to shame. in their contentment. This needs to be learned. Maybe I should remind you of the five points. Rejoice in the Lord. Pursue unity with grace. Fight anxiety with prayer. Meditate on praiseworthy things. These things will lead you to contentment. But most of all, the secret to contentment and the secret to a peaceful life in the midst of uncertainties is my last point, and that is to live out of Christ day by day, to live out of Christ for our strength. Verse 13, well-known verse, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And Paul could say this because he had this vital union with Christ of faith. And his hope was not in the things here below, but his hope was in Christ and the eternal future that he had set before him. That's why he could say, whether I live, I live for Christ. If I die, it's gain. Because Christ was his all. He was his strength. And so he could do all things. He could endure all things. He could suffer all things. And he could abound in all things, because it was Christ who strengthened him. He was connected to Christ by faith. And from Christ, he continued to strengthen him. And he wants to set that before the Philippians, too. In your challenges, look to Christ. Look to the one who humbled himself, become obedient even unto the death of the cross, the one who was very God, and continued to be very God, but veiled His glory, took upon Himself our flesh, and died the cursed death of the cross." Look to Him. One who God now has exalted, the right hand of God. And now you can, through Him, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, because it's He who's working in you, both to will and to do, of His good pleasure. Oh, dear Philippians, look to the Lord Jesus Christ. As you find in chapter 3, you're going to look at all the things of your own life and all the problems that you have, and your righteousness is never going to match God's righteousness. Oh, dear Philippians, I want you to turn to Christ, the one who suffered, and now you can count all things but loss for Him and to live out of Him. and the power of his resurrection, that you might press on to that goal of being a child of God, a citizen of the eternal kingdom of heaven. That's where our citizenship is. It's in the one who has ascended and seated at the right hand of God, and now is strengthening his church, his people, even in the midst of uncertain times. That's why He calls us, doesn't He? Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then all these things will be added to you. So when we're seeking first God and His kingdom, and as we lay our petitions before Him in prayer, then we can be assured that all the things necessary for body and soul will be added to us. And even in the midst of uncertainties, even in the midst of affliction, even on the deathbed, we can say with Paul, it was good to be afflicted. As he prayed three times for that thorn to be taken out of his flesh, he says, my grace is sufficient for you. Because Paul says here in Philippians 4, that His God will supply all your needs, not according to your needs, but according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. What a testimony. We can face uncertain times, challenging times, by rejoicing in the Lord and living out of Christ. Amen.