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.