We've been considering over this past several weeks from Philippians chapter 4, issues that would hinder our collective ability to stand fast in Jesus Christ. We had considered firstly in the verse number 2-3, how that disunity among the saints is a hindrance to standing fast in Christ. Then we considered secondly in the verse number four, how that a lack of joy among the saints would also be a hindrance. Then last week in the verse number five, we considered together how that a lack of moderation or graciousness among us would also cause congregational instability. We're carrying on today with that same theme. And in the verse number six to seven, we are being exhorted here not to be anxious. but to know and possess the peace of God that can keep our hearts and our minds. And what Paul, I believe, is getting at here is this. That there was an underlying issue of worry and anxiety amongst the Philippian believers. And there was a sense of worry in that congregation that threatened their spiritual stability. Now, every generation has its sins that are tolerated, and that can even be somewhat become socially acceptable. If you study history, in every generation you will find blind spots. And you could look at that generation of people, even great people, and you could say, well, how did they not see their error? How did they not see that this was wrong? And so on. But we are no different. Our generation has its sins that are tolerated and that even can become socially acceptable. Let me give to you just an example of what I'm trying to get at here this morning. If I was to stand up here this morning and say to you that I suffer from being a chronic liar, I am just a compulsive liar. It's a condition that I have. It's the way that I am. It's perhaps even been passed down generationally in my family and so on, and that is the way that I am. You would kind of just look at me, squint your eyes a bit and say, I don't know if you suffer from that. I think you're the actual perpetrator of that. You need to stop lying, you need to repent of that sin. Or if I was to stand up here and say, well, because of my mind and my biology and so on, I suffer greatly from lust, I'm continually unfaithful, and that's just the way that I am. Again, you would rightfully say, well, no, hold on here, you're not suffering from that, you're not a victim in that, you're the problem. But if I was to stand up here this morning and say to you that I suffer greatly from anxiety, I reckon that the response to that would be ultimately different. That instead of looking at me as one who is guilty, you would look at me as one who is a victim. Instead of looking at me as one who is actively sinning, you would look at me as one who is passively suffering. And the reason for that is that I believe that anxiety is one of those acceptable sins. It's one of the oversights of our generation that we have allowed ourselves to become so anxious about the matters of the world, and whenever we admit to that or whenever we would speak about that, there's little blushing when we would admit it. Now let me say as a caveat here this morning, that whenever somebody is overcome with anxiety, that is a very difficult state to be in. And often because of the way that it affects the mind and the heart, it can be difficult for that individual to see a way through. And so I'm not saying that to deal with somebody that's filled with anxiety this morning, that you simply come along and say to them, stop sinning. or that you come along to them and say, we'll pull yourself together, you're not a victim here, you're the perpetrator, get your act together. No, such people do need our help, support and sympathy. However, let me go back to my original point. Far too often today, we view this as something outside of our control or something that is happening to us, not something that we are actively participating in and actively doing. The heart of the issue really is this, that so much of how we are raised today, so much of how our culture would speak to us today, revolves around how we feel. And it is very little to know or to be with what we know. And that really is the issue. When somebody is crippled with anxiety and worry and fear and so on, it is often upon that crucial issue that they are more focused upon what and how they feel, rather than what they know in that circumstance. What do we know then about this worry that we'll come to see that Paul would speak about? Well, first of all, biblically, living in a state of anxiety and worry is sin. As much sympathy that we would give to the person that is distraught and so on, we have to deal with it for what it is. Because unless we actually diagnose the problem for what it is, then we will not be able to give the right treatment. It is sin to live in a state of anxiety. Secondly, we know that we can be victorious over sin. That all sin is able to be overcome through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the victory that He gave to us through the cross of Calvary. You see, What someone is ultimately saying, whenever they would say that I have anxiety, is that they are saying I have a trouble trusting God. I have a trouble believing God. But the wonderful news today is this, that God's peace is able to so influence and penetrate the heart and the mind of a Christian, that God is able to deliver them from that sin. He's able to deliver them from that state of worry. He's able to deliver them from that state of anxiety. And I believe, again, with as much sympathy as we can have in this situation, and there's always nuances and it's hard to convey them all in one single message, but we live in a culture today when somebody is overcome with worry and anxiety, where do they run? They run to their doctor. And the doctor would medicate them so they can no longer think. And then what does it do? The problem spirals on. Because again, the issue is not about how we feel. The issue is about what we know. And if your mind is being crippled in its ability to think and reason and think through what you know about Scripture and Christ, then the situation just snowballs and escalates. Again, there's nuances with that. We'll not go into all of them, but that is the general issue that is happening today. And so we must recognize what the problem is, the seriousness of the problem, and we must recognize that instead of running to our doctors, and even running to our friends, and even running to our family, what does the Scripture exhort us to do? The Scripture exhorts us to run to God. and run to Christ and look to Him and see that in Christ is all the sufficiency to deliver us from this anxious state. Paul is addressing this sin in the congregation at Philippi. And again, as we'll come to see, we're not exactly sure what the issue specifically was that would have been causing this worry, but it seemed to be As we're drawing this out, that in the congregation there was just a general sense of worry. And that happens in a congregation that worship together and fellowship together. They become one really in their personality and even in their demeanor. Something happens and a sense of grief can overcome a congregation. Something happens and that congregation can enter into a time of joy. And congregations can even develop, at the one singular time, an attitude that they would display. And so it seems to me that this congregation had been overcome by an anxious attitude. And Paul, realizing the danger of it, realizing that such a sin and such an attitude would actually hinder their ability to be steadfast in Christ, is seeking to correct the wrong attitude that they have. So as we consider this this morning, I want you to consider with me the subject, the peace of the saints. The peace of the saints. And there's four things we're going to draw from these two verses of Scripture. First of all, The problem that is identified. Secondly, the practice that is commended. Thirdly, the promise that is confirmed. And then finally, the provision of peace that is given. And so let's consider first of all here, as we break in here at the verse number 6, at the problem that is identified. Paul writes here and he says, be careful for nothing. And as we would consider that, we realize the language that it is written in. This is Paul writing these, saying, don't be worrying. That's what the term careful means. Don't be worrying over anything in this world. Don't be anxious about anything in this world. Now, let me say there's a difference between worry and concern. You can have a concern about somebody. But what Paul is talking about here is a worry, a care, a burden that is crippling the individual. That's what the term actually means. The term here, to be careful, it means to be pulled in pieces. And that's often what anxiety does to the heart and mind. It completely pulls the individual apart. The circumstance that they're focused upon, the feelings that they have, they're just being completely ripped to pieces in every single direction. So, as Paul is writing to them here, he's saying, do not be anxious. Do not worry. Now, if Paul was to stop there, you might say to yourself, well, big help. It's not a lot of help there, Paul. I know I shouldn't be worrying, but how? How do I not worry? As we'll come to see, Paul does not... You know, just step into some sort of mantra about everything will work out, everything will be okay. No, Paul points them to God. And ultimately this morning, that's the heart of the issue. That we need to get to God. We need to look to the Lord Jesus Christ. And we need to see and remember what Christ has done for us in order to be lifted from such a worry. But what could have been causing the care and the worry that was upon the church here? It may not have been just one thing. As Paul was saying, be careful for nothing. He's saying, don't be worried about anything. Don't be overburdened with anxiety for anything in this world. It may have been the disunity. That had been caused between Urius and Syntyche in the verse number 2, that was causing great worry among the congregation. Will we hold together? Will we stay together? Will there be a church split? It may have been the false teachers that are mentioned in chapter number 3, and people are seeing what's happening before them, and they're going, how do we correct this? How do we fix this? It may have been Paul's imprisonment. They were worried about Paul being there in prison and what would become of him. The one who was the leader that they loved, would he be killed for the faith and so on. But let me say this, the cause here really isn't that important. We know that it was something or some things that were causing this, but regardless of what the issue was, regardless of what was causing it, anxiety is always wrong. Because ultimately, anxiety is a display of a lack of faith in God. A lack of faith in God. The Lord Jesus Christ would teach, This, even before Paul would teach it. I turn you back to that famous portion in Matthew 6. The verse number 25, where Jesus Christ is speaking and he says, Therefore I say unto you, take no thought. Don't be worried. Don't be ruminating in your mind these constant worries and anxieties about this current life. Don't be worried about what you shall eat, what you shall drink. nor yet for your body, what you shall put on is not the life more than meat and the body than the raiment." And then what does he do again? He doesn't just leave them at that. He points them again to God. And he points them to the sovereignty of God, who feeds the fowls of the air, who clothes the flowers of the field. And he says, listen, the birds don't sow and the flowers of the field, they don't spin their own clothes. And yet they're clothed and they're fed. A sovereign God cares for them. And so whenever anxiety and worry would rise up in our heart, it is ultimately because our minds have been removed from a God who is ultimately sovereign over every situation, and a God that is able to overrule every situation in this world. It's never the situation, oh yes, there's certain situations that we can look at, We could say, well, if that ever happened to me, it would certainly cause something of fear in me. And yet, the peace that God will give us It's surpassing even human reason. We think that this ought to cripple somebody and destroy somebody. And we think, as it's happened to them, how will they ever cope? And yet in that moment, the peace that they have, it surpasses even our own expectation of their character and demeanor. And so here again, it's not dependent upon the situation. It's dependent upon the fact that God is able to overrule these things by the peace that He can give. And so that was the problem that was really highlighted there and the problem that was identified. But secondly this morning, I want you then to see the practice that was commanded. Again, He doesn't leave them here. He doesn't just say to them, don't worry. Be happy, which is terrible advice, even if it's in a song. It's terrible advice. It doesn't help anything or anyone. But the practice here that is commended is then, but by everything, or in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. Notice here the immediate contrast. Don't be worried about anything, but in everything, pray. Don't be worried about anything, but in everything, pray. And that's a purposeful contrast that is made. And the idea behind that is that we will not be filled with worry about everything if we are taking everything to God in prayer. And if there is something that we are worried about that is crippling us by the anxiety that it's giving us, it's because we haven't ultimately and rightfully committed that to God in prayer. Notice what is being emphasized to us here is communion with God in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. And those three words, they are in many ways the components of what prayer ought to be. We have the first term, which is prayer. It's a broad term. It's speaking about all prayer, public prayer, private prayer. Long prayer, short prayer, it's a broad term. Then we have the term supplication, which we could understand as we are petitioning God, asking God for something, and that is a petition that is arising out of a felt need within our heart. So now we're laying before God our needs, our petitions before Him, and then we are crowning that all with thanksgiving. We're not forgetting to be thankful in the midst of it. And here we have it, and we know this, I believe, by Christian experience, that we often carry with us the worry and the fear of life because we do not do this. or we do not do it sufficiently. We don't pray as we ought to pray. We don't lay the petition before the Lord and learn how to leave it there with Him. We don't actually come and cultivate thanksgiving in our heart. And there's wonderful, powerful things to even do with that, because as we're being thankful, it's rationalizing the mind. That not everything is as bad as what we think about. There's always something that God has given to us whereby we can be thankful. And again, it's calming and rationalizing even the irrational thoughts that we might be having of just everything being doom and gloom. But then it goes on to say, let your requests be made known unto God. We're laying before God the things that are giving us the anxiety, the worry, the fear. The church was going to come here at Philippi. Lord, you know these two women that are falling out, creating havoc and disunity in the church. Lord, we just leave that with you. Help that. Lord, you know these false teachers that are coming in and they're so subtle, but they're removing people from Christ. They're stealing their joy. They're taking them back to the old things of the world and so on. Lord, deal with those men, help with that situation." And here was a congregation now pouring their concerns onto the Lord and leaving it with the Lord. But what struck me about this was, let your requests be made known unto God. If you were here, I think it was two Wednesday nights ago, as we were studying the Lord's Prayer together, what did we read in Matthew 6 in verse 8? "'Be not ye therefore like unto them," that was the heathen that just pray vainly and repetitively, "'for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask of him.'" And so Paul is writing, let your requests be made known unto God. Christ is saying in the Lord's Prayer, God already knows what you're going to ask even before you ask Him. And so the question that might rightfully meet us here is, what's the purpose of this? What's the purpose of this? If we are praying, why do we even pray if the Lord already knows the need upon our heart? Well, first of all, It comes back to the old issue of sovereignty and responsibility. That God, in His sovereignty, uses and employs means. And He ordains the means that are to be used. And so again, it's hard to comprehend how God can so foreordain even the prayers that would be offered to work in according out or to work out even His will. But we have a responsibility laid upon us to pray. to cast our care upon the Lord, and to leave that burden and anxiety even with Him. That is our responsibility. And unless you're seeking the Lord in prayer, unless you are doing so and leaving that with the Lord, then you're not rightfully doing and fulfilling your responsibility. But also, secondly, it's for our benefit. There's a great, wonderful benefit when we are actually speaking these things to the Lord in prayer. That we are actually setting forth a prayer. That we are taking stock of what the situation is, and as we are praying, how often is the case that the Lord, as we ask about something, Then we're kind of like, well, Lord, whatever Your will is. And the Lord, as we're having communion with Him, works in our heart during the prayer to help us submit even to His will. And so there's a wonderful benefit in this, whereby we ought to pray and to even seek the Lord's face. We need communion with God. if we are able to overcome the worries and the anxieties of life. It's communion with God that you need. It's the Word and prayer. And I say this, if you're coming to church on a Sunday morning, and that's it, you don't pick up your Bible for the rest of the week, or you barely pray, don't be surprised if you're filled with worry. Don't be surprised if you're filled with anxiety, because you're not having communion with God. You're not actually partaking of the means that God has provided for you to overcome that. And I think as you're trying to reconcile this this morning in your mind, you need to be honest this morning. Are you really praying? Are you actually praying? Are you really invested when you come to the house of God and come to worship and so on? Or are you content to live in that state of anxiety? Because there are people that are. There are people and that becomes their identity. They're known for that. And they like, in some strange way, the sympathy that comes from that. And being able to go from person to person to person. And that must be avoided. Again, there must be. Yes, if people are overcome and worried, come and speak to your friends and so on. Come and speak to me and we'll point you to the Word of God. But there's an acknowledgement here that you're living in sin. You're living in sin. To live in a state of constant anxiety is to live in sin, and it must be dealt with as a sin. Thirdly, the promise that is made here. In verse number 7, The result of this communion with God is the wonderful promise that God's peace, which passeth all understanding, will come and keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Now, what is promise to the saint here? And let me qualify that. What is promise to the saint that is in communion with God? This is not a promise that is made just to the saints. This is a promise that is made to the saints that are fulfilling their responsibility and are in communion with God. What is the promise? There is, first of all, the promise of protecting peace. The promise of a protecting peace. It says there, it shall keep. This peace that God will give, it keeps your heart and mind. The term keep there is a term that is also used to describe someone who is a sentinel. a guard, a soldier who would stand perhaps as a guard of a city or of a gate. And he protects and he guards the people who are in there or the items that are in there. His duty is to guard it, to ward off anything that would come to remove that which is precious or to destroy it. And so here we have this imagery that as you and I are having communion with God, And we are cultivating that communion with Him. And we are letting our requests be made known unto God. And we are learning what it is to cast all of our care upon God. And to leave it there, to cast our burden upon the Lord. We are learning more about what it is that God will sustain us. And He does so by placing a peace. upon our heart that acts like a soldier that guards us against the reoccurring worry and anxieties that there might be. The Lord is able to do that. This peace is able to come like a protector and lift you above the anxiety. lift you above the worry, lift you above the fear, and bring you into a state that even though the very thing that is causing you anxiety is still there, you're living above it in Christ. It's not destroying your steadfast walk with Him, but you're leaning and relying upon Him, the Lord Jesus Christ. What is this peace? As I thought I began with this, it's one thing to say that a peace comes, but what actually is it? Well, we know that the term here is actually the opposite of what is used for the term careful. So instead of being pulled apart, the idea of peace is that you're kept together. You're not a person that's being pulled apart in pieces in your mind and your heart. No, you're kept together. But what is that peace? Yes, it is a tranquility. Yes, it is a calm confidence. Yes, it is a steadfastness, being fixed in Christ, growing in grace, moving on in your Christian life. But it is not just that you're somehow zapped with some sort of euphoria, and that somehow you no longer will struggle with certain feelings and so on. This is a piece whereby you know who God is and you know what God has done. This is a peace whereby when you think of that problem, oh, the disunity that's happening in the Philippian church, this could threaten our congregation, this could destroy our congregation, and you feel that worry and anxiety and that sickness rising up within their hearts, you would immediately think, no, not going to dwell on that, not going to think in that, not going to be concerned about that, because I know that my God will overrule. And you leave it with the Lord. A family situation arises. Struggles in the home. Struggles with friends. Struggles with finances. And you feel the anxiety rising up within your heart. What do you immediately do? You say, I know who my God is. I know what my God has promised. I know that my God has given to me this peace. And as you're fixing your mind upon who your God is, the peace that He has protects you. from being ruined and destroyed by that anxiety. And be in no doubt, maybe I should have emphasized this earlier, but a congregation that is overcome with anxiety and worry, a congregation that is filled with people that are always fretting and worrying about the world, is not a congregation that can go forward. It's not. An individual who is constantly filled with worries and fears in their Christian life will never grow spiritually. They won't. And yes, as we'll come to see even this afternoon as we study our confession, God in His providence uses suffering to draw us closer to Christ. But unless that suffering is actually drawing you to Christ, then all you're doing is suffering. That's not growth. That's not progressing in grace. That's just languishing in misery. The purpose of it is to draw us to Christ. And unless you're rooted and grounded in Jesus Christ, and in the peace and the knowledge that He can give, then you'll grow stagnant in your Christian life. But secondly, we're also promised here an unexplainable peace, it passeth all understanding." It's not reasonable, it's not rational, the peace that God can give you might be overcome, crippled with worry, crippled with fear. And then the Lord ministers to your heart, and He speaks to your heart, and suddenly that's the issue done for. And you were living one way the day before, overcome, ruminating in your mind, this constant dread and thought, and then the Lord speaks, and you're reminded of who your God is, and you're reminded of what your God can do, and from that moment you're changed. There's no rationale in that, how that can happen, and yet the Lord can do that. It's a peace that passes even the expectations that we would have of that. Oh, how the Lord is so good. Has there not been a point in your life or times in your life, in your Christian experience, when you've had such anxiety and the Lord has spoken? The Lord has spoken. And that word that comes, you're reminded of what He's done. And it's just like the Lord just, in a moment, it's lifted. In a moment, you're delivered. In a moment, you're set free. Because your mind is no longer focused on your feeling. Your mind is brought back to what you know about your God. My friend, I stressed you again this morning. that if you're living a life filled with anxiety and worry and fretting and so on, you're living a life that God is able to deliver you from. There's a greater Christian life for you to live than that, than living that way. And it is possible, completely possible, for those who have communion with their God. But lastly, I want you to consider with me the provision of peace, the provision of this peace. We know how we can receive it, through communion and prayer, trusting in God, knowing Him. That peace comes upon our heart. peace of knowing who God is, what He can do, surpasses even our own expectation. It guards our hearts and our minds. And I don't think Paul was making a distinction there between the heart and the mind. I think he's just stressing here the innermost part of you, the part of you that cannot be seen, the mind, the heart. It keeps that. It lifts you above even the feelings of anxiety that you would have. It lifts you above that and beyond that. And how is this provided? It is through Christ Jesus. It is through Christ. Everything that God does for us, our Father, has been purchased by us in the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is something for every saint that is in communion with God. This is a peace that is promised for you. Perhaps you feel, well, God has forsaken me. God has left me. This is not a peace that I can know. This is an experience that other Christians can have. But if you're in union with Jesus Christ today, this is a blessing that Christ has secured even for you. Everything that we have, every blessing, every gift from above has been given to us because of the crosswork of Jesus Christ. And the Lord Jesus Christ provides this to us because He is the one who mediates these blessings through our union with Him. You see, if you would know the peace of God today, there's really in many ways two things. You need union with Christ. You need to be united savingly to Christ. You need to be a branch that is truly connected to the vine. But union is not just enough here for this. You need not just union, you need communion as well. And so you are united to Jesus Christ by saving faith. He is your Lord and He is your Savior. He is the vine, you are the branch, and so on. You're in Him and He dwells in you by His Spirit. And as you have communion with Him, He mediates, He gives to you all of these spiritual blessings that He has purchased for you. Don't live. Do not live in a lesser Christian experience than what God in Christ has purchased for you. Live above the world. Live above the worries and the fears that there can be. Live above the spiritual anxieties that are even coming into our hearts and so on. And do that by looking to what Christ has provided to you and what the Father is able to furnish you with in Christ. Have communion with Him. And I pray today that if you're overcome with anxiety and worry, what ought to do today? Go home. Go into your closet. Get alone with God. Pour out your heart before Him and stay there and wrestle there until the knowledge of who God is and what Christ has done consumes you and overwhelms you. And in doing so, you will be lifted from that state. Why? Because the peace has been promised and secured through the finished work of your Savior. I pray that you would look today, look to your Savior, and trust in the peace that He is able to provide for you. Let me conclude with one final thought. That there is a certain type of anxiety And there is a certain type of worry that is right to have. You might think, well, you've just undermined everything you've just said previously to that. No. If you have not unioned today with Christ, if you're not saved, if you do not know Him, then you ought to worry. You ought to be filled with a fearful dread and anxiety over the judgment and the wrath of God that will come upon you. Sinner, unbeliever here today. Yes, what I've been preaching here is for the sinned. for the saint that has union and communion with Jesus Christ. But you can know nothing of this peace unless you first of all come to the cross of Jesus Christ and pour out all of your sins before Him, confess them and repent of them. And know what it is to know Christ and to be saved and to be born again. Otherwise, rightfully, there ought to be worry, there ought to be anxiety over the judgment that is to come. We think, as Paul reasoned with Felix over righteousness and temperance and judgment to come, what does it say? Felix trembled. And rightfully so. And so it is, my friend, as you think about this, and you think about the judgment that is to come, and you think about the lack of peace with God that you have, you ought to tremble, you ought to fear. Because the wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience. You can know peace today, though. You can know that justifying peace, that peace from the law, that peace from the thought of future punishment in hell. Because Jesus Christ came into this world and what did he do? Colossians 1 verse 20, he made peace through the blood of his cross. He went to the cross and he died and he shed that atoning blood. That blood that was poured out as his life was poured out upon that cross. And he did so to reconcile God and man together. He did so to die for sinners that a holy God could be satisfied for sin. And that man's sin could be atoned and dealt with. And he is able to bring God and sinful man together and make peace. Let me ask you, do you have peace with God today? Do you know what it is to be delivered from the fear of hell and of his law and of his judgment? This is the peace you need. This is the peace. And I pray that you would come today to Christ and find in him the one that is the peacemaker between you and God.