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Turning your Bibles again to
the book of Philippians, we're looking at the fourth chapter
in our study of selected text in the book of Philippians. We
begin today in verse 6 of Philippians chapter 4, where Paul will write
to the Philippian church, be careful for nothing but In everything,
by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your request
be known unto God. And the peace of God which passeth
all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus." Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever
things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things
are pure. Whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of a good report, if there be any virtue,
and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things
which ye have both learned and received and heard and seen in
me do, and the God of peace shall be with you." My title today
is Peace for Anxious Hearts. Peace for Anxious Hearts. The
peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall guard, garrison
your hearts and mind, and the God of peace shall be with you. Now, in order to have peace for
an anxious heart, an anxious soul, we have to recognize and
be obedient to the imperative mood present tense verb that
Paul gives in verse 6, be careful for nothing. It's continuous
action. Be careful for nothing. Now, the presupposition is, because
it's continuous action, is that the Philippian church in some
ways habitually being anxious. Hence the command, don't be anxious. The word can be rather a neutral
word. It can mean earnest, thought,
eager, care, anxious concern. But here, obviously, when we
are commanded not to have such anxious concern, it's something
that is a lack of faith, something that God would have us stop doing. In its place, Paul is going to
give three things to help us battle care, anxiety that all
of us battle. Pray, ponder, practice. Ponder, think on these things,
practice, do what God says. All three of these are complete.
We can't stop at prayer. There's a time when prayer is
not enough, and this is one of those times. Starting point,
talk about that, you've got to pray, ponder, practice. What are some of the sources
of the anxiety at Philippi? Well, contextually, it must be
relationships. Certainly, there was much anxiety
over the two sisters that could not reconcile their differences,
Euodias and Syntyche. This was known in the church.
I think that's one of the reasons Paul calls them out by name.
They weren't surprised. They weren't shocked. Everybody
in the church knew and were struggling with anxiety, anxious care over
this conflict. Relationally also, they were
anxious about Paul. Paul in the 12th verse of the
first chapter says, I would not have you to be ignorant that
the things which happened to me have fallen out to the furtherance
of the gospel. I want you to know, don't be
anxious. I'm okay in Rome. God's using
it. And then Epaphroditus in chapter
two, he was sick near to death. And when he had heard that the
church at Philippi was experiencing heaviness over him, he wanted
to get back as soon as he could to relieve their stress, their
pressures, their anxieties. Now, maybe you're having anxiety
over relationships, some relationship in your life. Maybe it's not
going well. Maybe there's just full-time
stress over it. God says, stop being anxious.
Another thing that could have been causing stress was the enemies
at Philippi. There were false teachers that
Paul addressed in chapter 3 twice and certainly some of those would
have known about that and felt the stress of these men, these
teachers and what they were doing. And so that could have been a
stress. for them as well. They were experiencing murmuring
and disputing in chapter 2 verse 14, grumbling and disputes. Again,
relationally, there were circumstances that they were experiencing in
life, maybe causes at work or family or church that was producing
grumbling and complaining and debate and strife. Anxiety gives
rise to other sins. There's fear at Philippi, Philippians
1.28, and nothing terrified of your adversaries, which is to
them an evident token of perdition, but you its salvation. For unto
you it is given on behalf of Christ not only to believe on
Him, but to suffer for His sake." They're anxious, they're fearful
over the present suffering and conflicts they're experiencing.
Anxiety typically has an element of fear in it. Afraid, about
the future, about tomorrow, what's going to happen in this relationship,
what's going to happen in this family, what's going to happen in this
situation, what's going to happen in this church? And so these
are some of the things they're battling. And we know from 2
Corinthians 8, this is a poor church. While they're a very
generous church, some of them may not have been on board with
that and thought, what are we going to do as a church? How
are we going to meet our financial needs? How am I going to feed
my family? We're just poor people. Financial stresses are often
a source in our lives of great anxiety, great stress, great
demanding pressures in marriage and in family. Now, it doesn't
mean every single person in the church at Philippi were all experiencing
every potential anxious concern that we just mentioned. But Paul
makes it clear, stop being anxious because they were continually,
habitually being so. But my question is, what's so
wrong about what I just said? Is it wrong to have earnest care
and concern and thought about finances? Certainly not. Is it
wrong to have an earnest concern and care about relationships?
Absolutely not. So if we're going to understand
what God means when he says, stop being anxious, we've got
to understand what it really means to be anxious. And part
of the clue comes from the word, but in more greater detail from
the context of this word when it's used. Now the word comes
from a root word that means care distracting. It's a kind of care
that's distracting you. And it comes from another root
word that means divided, disunified, sort of divisive in your own
life. Sort of the image of being pulled
apart. The English word comes from a Latin word, anxios. Anxio is the root, which means
strangled. Strangled. Now, every time you experience
care, it's not sinful. Let me give you an example. Philippians
chapter 2, same book, same writer. Verse 19, but I trust in the
Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you that I also
may be of good comfort when I know your state. For I have no man
like-minded who will naturally be anxious for your state. Care
is the same Greek word. Now, if you're Timothy and you're
hearing this letter read, you're thinking, Paul, I'm confused.
You say it's a good thing for me to have anxiety over this
church, but then you say, stop being anxious and everything.
That's perplexing. But that's a good kind of care.
Paul said about his own ministry in 2 Corinthians 11, 28, the
care of all the churches, the anxiety of all the churches.
That was good. His care for their faith, his
care for their souls, his earnest, deep concern for their relationship
with God, all good anxiety. See, if you don't know which
one you're dealing with, you may be beating yourself up when you shouldn't
be, and you may be okay with the kind you shouldn't be okay
with. 1 Corinthians 12.25, that there be no schisms in the body,
but that you have the same care, anxious care, one for another.
Deep concern. God has so arranged the gifts
in the body that we would have the same concern, thought, interest,
anxiety, one for another. You see, the word's kind of neutral,
isn't it? But the context tells us that's
good because God arranged it that way. 1 Corinthians 7.33
and 34, The unmarried careth for the
things of the Lord, while the married careth for the world,
how he may please his wife and his wife his husband." Now, that's
not bad. Paul is just saying the single person can have a
devotion to God that is direct without being through a relationship
called married. Now, if you're married, you can't
do that. Your devotion to God is through wife, through husband,
through this relationship, both good yet different. So the care,
the deep concern that you're supposed to have in marriage,
Paul says, that is good, that's not bad. But then in our text
he says, don't have care for anything, don't be anxious for
anything. Kind of confusing. until you
notice the context of Philippians 2, 20, and the context of Philippians
4, and I'm gonna give you two or three other contexts to show
you how that's gonna determine how we use the word, not the
word alone in and of itself. Look back again at Philippians
2, verse 20. For I have no man like-minded
who will naturally care for your state, because for all seek their
own, not the things which are Jesus Christ. The reason Timothy's
care is good is because his care is a servant of the things of
Christ, not his own thing. He is not distracted, he is not
strangled by his care that leads him away from Christ. His care
is servant to Christ and in his care he is seeking Jesus Christ. Be careful for nothing but in
prayer. If your care is strangling and
distracting you from prayer and from God and from seeking Him,
it's bad. If in your care you're taking
that to God, 1 Peter 5, you're casting all your care upon Him
because He cares for you, your care is not wrong. Because, beloved, you are going
to be subjected to demanding pressures of life. The question
is of whether it's wrong care, good care, is does it strangle? Does it choke? Does it drive
you away from God? Are you taking it to the Lord
Jesus Christ? Now let me give you two or three.
I typically don't like to give that many because it kind of
gets us off track, but I need to give you a couple at least
to show you this contextual word in other places. Luke 8, verse
14. Jesus is talking about the thorny
ground soil. And they, which receive the word among
the thorns are the ones which, when they hear, they go forth and are choked
with cares, riches, and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit
to perfection." All right, there's our Greek word, care. Now, tell
me, what is wrong with care? Cares of the world, demanding
pressures, riches, Nothing. And pleasure in the world. Zero
wrong with that. You can enjoy life in the world. Those three words in and of themselves
are not a problem. What's the problem? Choking. Strangling. Cutting off faith. So how does that work? I think
there's an order here that gets to the root of pleasure. Your
anxious cares choke the Word, distracts it. You move away from
the Word. You move away from prayer. You
move away from God. The reason your cares are choking
it is because of riches. You want possessions, you want
wealth, you want riches, and so you work, work, work, or you
do whatever you can to get more riches. The reason you do that
is because of pleasure. You know that to have the pleasure
of comforts and conveniences, you've got to have wealth, and
that wealth causes anxiety, and so everything's rooted in pleasures
that are not under the pleasure of God, but that's the priority,
because it's choking the Word. It's choked it out. What's happening
here? This kind of sinful care, Jesus
says, rooted in a desire for riches because we think the riches
will bring us pleasure and happiness, is driving us away from the Word
of God. It's a lack of faith. Now, think
about it from the perspective of faith. Same three words. The
cares and demanding pressures of work and family are not choking
the Word. By faith, you're going to the
Word. And then you understand riches are deceitful. Matthew
13, Mark 4, same parable. Deceitfulness of riches. You
know that. And so if riches come and they go, your pleasure in
God is still intact because the Word is not choked. Same care,
same stresses of finances, same stresses at work, but you know
that riches are deceitful and you know ultimately your ultimate
treasure is God and therefore you're taking your cares to the
Word, to prayer, to God. What's wrong with that? Nothing. You will have cares. You will
have stresses. You will have demanding pressures.
The church at Philippi, they're not casting them on God. They're
trying to show them. It's making them very anxious
and very nervous. Luke chapter 10, Martha, Martha,
you are careful and cumbered about many things, but one thing
is needful, and Mary has chosen the good part, and it shall not
be taken away from her. Now what is wrong with being
careful and cumbered about making a meal? That can be downright
demanding. You know, you got the one pot
on the stove, something in the oven, you gotta work on the dessert.
I mean, I've tried it, not to that extent, but it gets pretty
stressful and you gotta keep it all hot till you get these
people to come to the table. Nothing wrong with that. What
was wrong with Martha? One thing is needful. Jesus Christ is in her living
room. She's strangled, she's distracted
from the true and living God, but Mary's not. Is Jesus saying
we should stop cooking, stop being concerned about eating
and all that? No. It was strangling her, it
was taking her away from Christ, and she was upset with Mary.
See, whenever your care is choking the Word, moving you away from
God, it becomes wrong kind of care because we're not doing
what God wants us to do with it. When your care, demanding
pressures, earnest thought, eager care, and deep concern over something
is moving you to God, that's exactly what He wants you to
do with it. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6 when He diagnosed the
problem of anxious thought, He used the English word thought,
the writer did, Matthew, but the Greek word is anxiety. Some translations use the word
anxiety. Jesus said, lay not up for yourselves treasures on
earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and thieves break through
and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures
in heaven where neither moth nor rust corrupts it, neither
can thieves break through and steal. Because where your treasure
is, there will your heart be also. About three verses later.
Therefore I say unto you, don't be anxious. Take no thought what
you shall eat, what you shall drink, or what you shall put
on. Now come on. You guys gave some thought about what you're
wearing today. I know you did. Now, some of you, it was very
hard. You had to change, put back on, change, put back on.
Some of you, it was not that easy, but you had to give some
thought about what you're gonna wear, what you're gonna eat today,
and what you're gonna drink with the meal. You have to. What's the problem? Where your treasure is, there
will your heart be also. Worry rises when your greatest
treasure is at risk. If your greatest treasure is
money, worry is always going to arise when your money is at
risk because you're laying up things on earth. And when you
lay up things on earth, rust, moth, thieves, it's always at
risk. What do you have that's not at
risk? It's always at risk. But if you lay up treasures in
heaven, worry does not arise where treasure is secure. In
heaven, In heaven my choices treasures lie, no thief can get
there, rust doesn't enter, and moths can't fly away and eat
on your inheritance. What's Jesus saying? When your
greatest treasure is in heaven, you can now deal with anxious
worries because it's secure. When your focus is earthly treasure,
cares of this earth, riches, pleasures of this earth, you
will always experience anxiety and that anxiety is going to
distract you and choke off the word because your treasure is
where your heart is and it's my clothing, it's my drink, it's
my friends, it's my money, it's my job, it's my possessions.
Those things have value, beloved, and they should have. Jesus uncovers
the root of our anxiety, and Paul is uncovering for the Philippian
church how to deal with those anxious concerns and thoughts
that we have and demanding pressures by taking them to God Himself
in prayer. So, if you're taking them there,
if you're experiencing care and you're taking it there, then
that's not the wrong kind of care. But if your care is distracting
you in any way from God, prayer, word, church, the kingdom, then
it's become a bad kind of care. One more. Listen to Jesus in
Matthew 6 again. How do you not take thought?
What am I going to eat? What am I going to drink? What
am I going to put on? By making the kingdom priority. You still
say, what am I going to wear today? What am I going to drink
today? And what am I going to eat? but it hasn't taken you from
the priority of seeking first the kingdom of God. Whenever
your clothing, your food, your drink or anything relationally
or possession or materially becomes the priority, anxiety always
arises because it's always at risk. It's always at risk, always
at risk. The kingdom of God is never at
risk, never at risk, never at risk. at risk. His kingdom cannot
fail. Take your cares to God because
He loves you. He's not saying don't you dare
have a demanding pressure, bring it to me is what He says. So
let's look at prayer first of all. Now I gave a little extra
information because I think we need to work through the right
kind of care. Maybe you've been praying and pouring out your
heart thinking I'm not dealing with this right but that's what
God wants you to do in all your demanding pressures so Paul says
be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication
with Thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God and the
peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your
hearts and minds through Christ Jesus three questions concerning
prayer this is the first thing we have to do in our care start
praying okay the first thing we ask is why do you get peace
for praying just jumps out on the page to me. Maybe I didn't
pray for that. Why am I getting peace? In fact, when I'm anxious,
that is not what I'm praying for. Number two, what is it that
peace is about that it passes understanding? What does that
mean? And number three, how do we get there? I mean, am I to
believe that as soon as I say amen, I'm saying, okay, Lord,
funnel down the, I want to feel this peace. Three questions. Okay, why do I get peace? Well, first of all, notice it
says, in everything, in everything, by prayer, supplication, with
thanksgiving, let it be known to God. Pour it out to God. Psalm 142, verse 2 says, I poured
out my complaint to the Lord. I showed before him my trouble
to show, to expound, to sprawl out is like when you, when you
pour out a thousand piece jigsaw puzzle and it's kind of mounted,
you start spreading it out. You don't want one piece on top
of the other one to sit out. It's like you're saying, Lord, I'm
laying it out. Here's all my trouble. I've got
it all spread out before you. Psalm 62, trust in the Lord at
all times ye people, pour out your hearts before Him, God is
our refuge, Selah. So God is saying, make it known
to me, pour it out, it's not that I don't know it already,
I want you to pour it out, I want you to lay it out. If I lay out
my puzzle to God and all these pieces are causing demanding
pressures and anxious care, you know, I'm pouring out the pieces
saying, okay, God, here's my prayer. You said make the request
known. I want you to take that piece and get rid of it. That
puzzle piece, get it out. That's my request. Is it not
yours? I'm not praying for peace. I'm saying, Lord, that piece
of puzzle, it's like the thorn in the flesh. I want that out
of here. Now, that's not wrong to pray
that way. There's no limitations on making your request known
except for biblical limitations. If God says we're not to pray
that way, we don't. He says spread it out, make it
known, tell me your trouble, tell me your plight, tell me
your care, tell me everything, and then make your request known.
Now, the implication is when you make your request known,
God, who's a prayer-hearing God, is gonna answer. So I'm saying,
yeah, that piece, that piece, that piece, that person, that
job pressure, that, throw them out. Why do I get peace? I didn't want peace. I wanted
my anxiety gone. But wait a minute. If you get
peace, is your anxiety not gone? Yes, it's gone. He is dealing with the puzzle
piece. He is dealing with the pressure.
All the anxiety you're having over that peace, over that relationship,
over that situation, if God gives you peace, anxiety must flee. They don't dwell together like
that. So, what is God doing when you
make it known? He is guarding the heart and
the mind, see? It's not about what's on the
table. in the form of a puzzle piece called Circumstances. It's
about what's in here. See, I'm asking him, take care
of what's out there. Take care of what's in my life.
Take care of what's on the table. And God says, no, I'm going to
take care of what's in your heart. Do you know why? Let's suppose
God gave you everything you requested in your anxious care. God, I
want a different location. I want out of here. Okay. Where
do you want to go? Hawaii, you got it, you're there. Let's just
say it's like Ezekiel and the spirit, he's gone, you're there.
Lord, I don't want this dead, I've got pressing debt, gone.
What else? You know, genie in a bottle.
Lord, there's this person in my life, now they're an okay
person, could you transfer them? You know, my mean-spirited boss.
And on and on, God says, okay, I've done it all. Now, here's
the problem. You'll have peace, there's no doubt. Your peace
will last as long as it takes you to get to Hawaii. Do you
know why? Your peace is out there on the
table in the puzzle pieces. It's not in here. Nothing changed
in here. Nothing. The only thing that
changed is that you started picking up the puzzle pieces and throwing
them out. But in your heart and your mind, you're just the same
person. And therefore, your peace is
fleeting. And as soon as you get to Hawaii,
there's a new boss, there's more things coming, and the same anxious
care arises and you flee from God again. Oh beloved, God is,
His aim is not to transform your circumstances. His aim is to
transform you. It's you and it's me. But oh,
how I forget that I just want you to transform her and him
and that puzzle piece rather than me. So much of the time
we think God is so inattentive, He's so not caring about me,
and yet what He's doing in your life is proof that He is loving
you. He is caring for you. The demanding pressures are part
of his plan, but I'm getting ahead of myself. The second thing
we see, that's why God's gonna give you peace, because peace
gets rid of the anxiety, because he's dealing with the heart,
not what's going outside. Now, yes, God does change those
circumstances sometimes. If we went around the room right
now, some of you could give testimony of how God removed a great stress
in your life, but some of you are gonna tell us, I've been
praying for this for 10 years, still there, still there. Why? He's transforming you. He's
transforming you. Trust Him. Trust Him. And then secondly, what is this
peace that passes understanding? And the peace of God which passeth
all understanding, it excels understanding, shall guard your
hearts and minds, shall keep. Well, think about it. If you
had a co-worker at work and this person was so filled with anxiety,
He was irritable. He was angry. He was mean-spirited.
And you know there was a stress in his life, personally and family,
that was bringing all this out because anxiety usually gives
rise to other sins. He's so afraid you can't even
hardly have a conversation with him. And you know this anxiety,
this stress is part of the reason all these things are coming out.
Then one day you see him and total change. Counting looks
different. And you say, how are things going
at home? He said, oh, it all changed. Everything's good. Everything's
good. Isn't that understandable? Isn't that explainable? External
circumstances change. Things got right at home. Debt
went away. Location changed. I'm having
peace. Anybody can get that. The world gets it. But if he
says, no, no, everything at home is just as bad as it is. In fact,
it's gotten much worse. I can't explain that. You're
having peace and yet nothing has changed externally in your
life. You're still struggling. You're still having all this
massive debt. Yeah, I trust Jesus. He's transforming me. It passes
understanding. It's inexplicable. Now remember,
this is a divine thing. It's divine. It's not just something
naturally that you make happen. It's the Spirit that brings this
peace. He's going to do it in part through prayer, but through
pondering and through practicing. All three of these are true,
but we're starting with prayer. And so the world can't understand
it because it's divine. And then thirdly, how does it
happen? Well, first of all, the Word
make known is present tense against. This is not a one-time prayer.
Brother, I prayed ten years ago one time and I haven't had any
peace since. No. Praying, battling, praying,
battling. Demanding pressure doesn't leave.
The family issue is still there. What do you do the next day?
Praying. Pouring out my heart. Showing God my trouble. Asking
God, could you change this puzzle piece? If not, We know God's
changing us, whether He changes circumstances or not, right?
That's His aim. His aim in everything is His
glory through your good, which is transformation. It's always
what it is. That really sounds good in a
sermon, right? It sounds good when we give that to people,
that this is what He's doing. But then when it comes to me,
it's like, what are you talking about? It's sometimes harder
for me and my pressures. than it is when I stand here
and simply say it to you from Scripture. But it's true, it's
true. We have to keep making our requests known. But another
key to how this works is, I think, found in the word thanksgiving.
Now note again, be careful for nothing but in everything by
prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests
be made known unto God. So we should be able to take
the word everything and place it right beside each of the four
things we see there. In other words, in everything
pray, in everything supplicate, in everything make your requests
known, in everything give thanks. Doesn't that sound familiar?
In everything with thanksgiving, in everything give thanks. Same
writer, Talks about this in 1 Thessalonians 5.16, 17 and 18. And he follows
the same pattern he does here. Now the pattern here, beginning
with verse four is, rejoice in the Lord always, pray in everything,
give thanks in everything. 1 Thessalonians 5.16, rejoice
evermore, that's a parallel. Rejoice in the Lord always, rejoice
evermore. Same writer, parallel. Here he
says, in everything pray, Verse 17, chapter 5, Thessalonica,
pray without ceasing. That's the same, different wording.
If you pray without ceasing, then in everything you are praying.
Parallel. Third thing here, in everything
give thanks. Third thing there, 1 Thessalonians
5, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you. What's God's will for your life?
You're trying to figure it out? Give thanks in everything. Here, the next thing is the peace
of God. There, 1 Thessalonians 5, the next thing is, quench
not the Spirit. You say, well, Paul departed
on that. No, he didn't. Don't extinguish the Spirit.
How do you turn the fire extinguisher on the Spirit? In gratitude. You're not giving thanks. The
Holy Spirit is the agent of peace in Christ. It's the peace of
Christ. It's the peace of God. The peace of God is the peace
that comes from the Holy Spirit. We quench Him when our anxieties
move us away from gratitude and move us to strangling, choking,
distraction, anger, and all the things that worry and care can
cause in our lives. You see, the Holy Spirit is bringing
about peace through prayer when we're giving God thanks in everything. Now, what does that mean? That
means you must necessarily thank Him for the overbearing parents,
the impossible child, the mean-spirited boss, the friend that betrayed
you, the financial stress. Does it not? In everything, in
all things, give thanks. That does not mean that all the
stresses are right and honoring God and there's no sin there.
It doesn't mean that at all. But if Paul says, in everything
that you're experiencing, give thanks, that demands that you
then enlarge your circle to say, God, I thank you, even for these
demanding pressures, because it means you're showing love
to me. And I think that goes back to
verse four again. Five, let your moderation be
known unto all men, the Lord is at hand. He can be at hand
in place, in time, or interjecting. He's doing something. I think
the third is the contextual meaning here. He's doing something. Give thanks that God is doing
something. The Lord is sovereignly at hand in your circle, in everything. He's there doing His work. Now
we rejoice in that, Philippians 1.6, we've looked at that text.
having this confidence that he that hath begun a good work in
you shall perform it, the good work, until the day of Jesus
Christ." That's glorious. What's that? Work of salvation.
Wonderful. The work of demanding pressures.
That's what it is. Because salvation is your transformation. So God says, I am performing
my good work in your relationships, in your church, in your demanding
pressures, and you're running from me rather than coming to me and
being transformed in heart and in mind. Pressure's still there,
didn't go anywhere, he didn't take the puzzle off the table.
Stress still there, relationship still there, still there, hasn't
gone. He's your heart guarded. See, God is sovereign and he's
sovereignly working in all these circumstances. He's moving the
puzzle pieces. Sometimes he just scatters them,
it seems like. He says, that's on purpose. And
sometimes we get so frustrated with people. You're so ungrateful.
You're so ungrateful. When's the last time you gave
thanks for the pressures in your life? You're so ungrateful. As a parent, I'm pretty good
at pointing that out. But God is pointing it out to
me, isn't He? You just don't appreciate. You're not thankful
in everything that I'm doing, because you're not telling me
so. What's that going to do to your heart? It's going to melt
it. The Holy Spirit comes in, gives you a peace. You melt.
Stress is still there. All the pressure is still there.
Thank you, Lord. Because I know you receive every
son you scourge, and you're showing your love to me. See, the Lord
is at hand, sovereignly. The Lord is at hand. It's your
Redeemer. Who would you want at the helm
of your problems than the Redeemer who's scattering the puzzle pieces?
He's the one that loves you. He's your Savior. It's the Lord
that's at hand. Thank Him. God, I thank You that
You're not doing this by proxy. You've not got one of those angels.
I mean, they're strong, but they're not like You, Lord. I thank You
that You are at the helm of every relational conflict I experience. I don't care where it is, who
it is. I remember that doesn't make it right. But in everything,
give thanks. The Lord is sovereign. The Lord
is at work, and He's doing this work in your life. And we understand
and see it I think the Holy Spirit is going to give us the peace
that you can't explain it, people can't explain it. It's spiritual,
it's divine, it's from God. And the Lord is at hand with
provision. That's what Thanksgiving is all
about. When you thank someone, they provided, they gave you
something for which you gave thanks. So in everything God
is providing, in every single thing in your life, He's always
provisional, provisional. There's never an occasion where
He's not. So what does He want you to do?
Thank you, God. Thank you, God. You see, joy
and peace are often coupled in the Bible, aren't they? Romans
15, now the God of hope fill you with joy and peace in believing.
But there's another word, it's a little joy and peace, peace
in what? Peace in what? Rest. There are songs that have those
two together. Peace and rest. Now there's another word in the
Bible for rest, and you can find it in this same book, kind of
backing up looking at a larger view of what this piece is, and
you'll find it in verse 11. Not that I speak in respect of
want, for I have learned in whatsoever state, whatever circumstance,
whatever condition, wherever I am, whatever the location,
whatever the relationship, therewith to be content. Rest. I have enough. You're thanking
God because He's always provisional. He is always enough. That's what
He's teaching you. Now, this word was used one time
in secular Greek about a town that was so well supplied there
was no need for imports. Now think about that. You're
a member of the city. In ancient cities, the way you conquered
a big fortified city, you besieged it and you just hung out with
your weapons and you just sat there. Eventually they're going
to come out. Samaria was besieged for three
years. They started starving to death. Finally, somebody started
running outside the gate. Now, you're in that city and
you're feeling anxiety big time. What about my children? What
about my sons and daughters? How are we going to make it? The mayor of the city
calls for a meeting. He just wants to see how people
are doing. And you raise your hand and say, sir, sir, I'm so
anxious and concerned. What are we going to do for food?
We don't import food here. that all comes in the city. If
that enemy camps out 50 years, we will be just as well supplied
as the first day. Be at peace, rest. Okay, wait,
water, we gotta have water. We don't import bottled water
here. We've got a well in the middle of the city. That well,
well supplies the sons and daughters and all fear of want removed. Bless inhabitants. of Zion, washed
in the Redeemer's blood. That's a song, I wonder where
he got that. Okay, wait, what about clothes? My children are
growing, you know, I've got to have clothes. We don't import
fabric here. No import, no import. Everything comes well supplied
right here in the city. God is always provisional. He
always gives you exactly what you need. He's transforming the
treasures of your heart so that in its place, you start to treasure
Him more. And His plan means demanding
pressures, situational, relational conflict, fears, Because of those
situations, we have to deal with financial situations and worries,
things of every kind that God is not condemning us for experiencing. We experience them. What he says
is, stop being anxious, take that care to me and cast it on
me. I'm loving you, I'm caring for
you, I'm transforming you, and now ponder. That's the next thing.
Ponder. Now prayer is not enough. Sometimes
we think, I prayed about it, I'm good. No, you haven't done
enough. Next, you need to ponder. So what does he say? Verse 8,
finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things
are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are
pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of a good
report, If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think
on these things, ponder these things." Now if you look at these
words, these are relational words. I think Paul still has on his
mind euodia sense and ticcy and relational anxiety and conflict. See? True. See, when we get peace,
we begin to think in terms of what is true, not fabricating,
piecing information together, making assumptions about people,
and drawing conclusions that we do not know is true. How much of the time are you
anxious over something you found out was not true? Was not true. Oh boy, that's happened to me
several times. I had a scenario developed, I had the conclusion,
it was all gonna be massive problem, massive destruction, massive
explosion, wasn't true. You talk about anxiety. See,
when peace begins to flood your soul in place of anxiety because
you're taking your care to God and seeking Him, what happens
is you're able to think true about people. You don't just
focus on what is critical and lopsided, honest, grave, dignified,
venerable. It's respect. Now you're contemplating
your own behavior in relation to other people. It's not just
them. You have a respect to them. You want to respect them. You
know, we don't have much respect in this society. People don't
dress in a way that respects anybody. They just do what they
want to do. You should dress, you should act, you should speak
with a respect for other people. The word is translated grave
or gravity in Titus and 1 Timothy. Young men be grave, that's not
an old man term, I know it sounds like it, and you can be grave
and glad at the same time. It doesn't mean sour face, gravity,
don't ever laugh, don't ever smile. You may just lift the
corner of your mouth occasionally, but don't really laugh. Now there's
a gravity to life, there's a respect, a venerable, a way we approach
people and our own conduct is to be honest. It's not meaning
just saying true things. It means acting with dignity.
That's relational. Next, just, equitable, fair toward
others, balanced, reasonable. Are your thoughts reasonable
toward Sintiki, you Otis? Are you really being reasonable
here? Are you just overboard on that one thing she did? You're
just way overboard. Are you reasonable? You ever
notice in conflict, all you can think about is that one thing?
God's not saying, don't address the one thing, don't talk, act
like it didn't happen. When the peace comes, we need
to start pondering people in terms of the grace perspective
rather than self-righteous perspective. Then you think of your own behavior
and you think toward them in a gracious way, which means we
already talked about Jodas and Syntyche. They need to, this
must be, Paul says, it's got to be worked out. But maybe all
they could think about was that one problem. That's all they
could think about. Be just, be balanced, be reasonable, be pure. It means emotive in your thoughts
toward others. Are you using this occasion for
the flesh, a cloak, a covering for your own flesh? You talk
about pious things. Oh, here's my opportunity. All I can think about is this
one thing. Be pure. That takes examination.
We have to struggle. It doesn't mean just pure thoughts
about other people, but be pure in terms of how you interact
with people when it comes to relational conflict. I still
think in large part he's talking about the conflict that was happening
at Philippi. Don't use this occasion to blast
people. Have a pure motive. The glory of God must always
be our motive. Lovely, which means friendly
towards, kind and pleasant. Are you a kind and pleasant person? Are you pleasant? See? Peace
comes, you start pondering, am I being pleasant here? I know
I've got all these pressures, but when peace comes, that should
allow me to ponder how I should be lovely toward others or Think
and be kind and pleasant. Now we all have our unpleasant
moments, but that's not of God, that's of our own personalities. So be friendly, be kind and pleasant. That's the only place I think
that word is used in the Bible. Of good rapport, favorable, conducive
to success. In other words, you're looking
and putting the best possible construction on what you know
about the person. And so you're looking for something
commendable. This goes back to looking for
grace, like Paul did, the church at Corinth. You know, all this
problem, all these struggles, all this sin, all this pride.
I thank God for you at the grace that's been given you in Christ.
You're so endowed with gifts. See, again, not flattery. ponder
something of good report, ponder a favorable, conducive thought
toward the outcome of success when it comes to relationships
between one another. Yes, there's the side that must
be dealt with, with these two sisters, but they probably couldn't
think anything pleasant toward one another. They're just probably
all negative, all critical. It's as if their lives were just
one big sin and they've done nothing else in their entire
life. Probably, that's my take on it. Virtue, good quality of
any kind. If there be any virtue, if there
be any good quality of any kind in this person, just anything,
start to ponder that. Because I've been given all my
time to pondering the not good quality. I mean, that's consumed
me. Probably. See? Ponder this. Think this. Any good quality
at all in someone else? We emphasize these things instead
of being exaggerated and unbalanced with the thing that's wrong.
There was something wrong, but balance it. If there's any virtue,
if there be any praise, any ground for commendation, is there any
reason there that you can find, any ground whatsoever, and if
it's a believer and they've received the grace of God, there is. It
may be small. You may have to really ask and
look and think and ponder, but there is. And so I think Paul
is largely dealing with relational terms about our behavior and
our thoughts toward one another, because contextually, he's dealing
with conflict in the church, the anxiety revolving around
these two sisters. And so he says, pray. And they
said, we prayed about it. We pray. We've been praying.
Are you pondering? Well, we missed that one. My
thoughts still toward her are just not good, see? So peace
comes, then you ponder, and then lastly, you practice. See, Paul will not leave us incomplete
in this pathway to peace. Now notice how he says it, verse
9. Those things which you have both learned and received and
heard and seen in me, practice, do, that's what the word means.
and the God of peace shall be with you." Now that's interesting.
First you get the peace of God, now you get the God who's the
God of peace. I wonder why he put it that way. How many people
do you know that have prayed about it and they felt they had
the peace of God? This is the verification of that
peace. And she probably had some peace.
They had the peace of Jeremiah 6, 14. They have healed the hurt
of the daughter of my people, slightly saying, peace, peace,
when it was false. There is no peace. So the false
prophets came around and says, God wants you to have peace.
You're not going to Babylon. This demanding pressure will
be over two years. You'll be back to the prosperous life.
How do you think they felt? Good. I'm at peace. But the problem was, the God
of peace was not with them, because they weren't doing what the law
said. He said, walk in the old paths
and ask, where's the old paths that we can walk in? They said,
we will not walk. False peace. Praying is not enough. You gotta ponder. Pondering is
not enough. Now Paul says, you need to do something. You need
to act, you need to practice. And when you do, it's the God
of peace that's with you. It's verification. You've heard
of people that claim the peace of God. They're not lifting a
finger to conform their life to what God says. You don't have
to be perplexed about that. The Bible talks about it all
the time. And furthermore, God will not let us have peace in
situations. I just prayed about it. I know
He said to do this more, but I'm not going to walk that way.
I'm okay with not doing it. I'm okay with staying where I
am. God says, in this I'm not with you. The God of peace shall
be with you. Is God with you today? Is there
something you've been having a demanding pressure over? Great
stress, strife relationally, and you've been praying, Lord,
take this puzzle away, change it, and He hasn't done it. But
you felt some peace in the fact that you remember that God is
transforming you, He's transforming your life, Now are you pondering
things about that person, that relationship? Not overlooking,
but you're pondering and you're thinking these things, and now
are you going to do what God said to do? So the God of peace
will be with you. Remember Hebrews 13, 20? Now
the God of peace, which brought again from the dead, that great
shepherd of the sheep, the Lord Jesus Christ, make you perfect,
working in you. See, if the God of peace is with
you and you're practicing what He says, what's He doing? He's
working in you. Verification. with Him in your
life. He's transforming you. He's changing
you. He's transforming your heart
and mind. And He wants that to work itself out in you keep walking,
you keep practicing, you keep following in obedience to the
Lord, not because you're trying to get saved, but because the
grace of God has brought salvation to you. Pray, ponder, and now
let's practice, and the God of peace shall be with you.
Peace For Anxious Hearts
Series Philippians
| Sermon ID | 9926171449400 |
| Duration | 51:34 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - AM |
| Bible Text | Philippians 4:6 |
| Language | English |
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