The Joy of Peace Text: Philippians 4:1-9 Series: Philippians, #10 Pastor Lyle L. Wahl July 11, 2004 Peace Theme: Vital Christian Living Releases God s Peace. Introduction. Everyone of us have heard of peace. Some of us have heard much more about the joy of peace than we have experienced. We have had peace movements and marches, innumerable peace treaties, peace songs, books, poems, and peace meditation CDs, countless theories and approaches to peace. Have you ever heard of Martial Arts for Peace? It exists! What about, Peace Fleece? It too exists! It was founded in 1985 by a couple who bought wool from parts of the then Soviet Union to encourage trade, trust and, they hoped, help prevent nuclear war. Peace. The experience of peace can be a far different matter. Dictionaries tell us peace is freedom from war and disorder. Also, freedom from noise or anxiety which is listed first in one dictionary. In the Bible, the roots go back to the Old Testament word Shalom. Rather than just the absence of certain things, it speaks in a positive way and was used broadly referring to wellbeing in relation to God, in health, relationships, even financially. Another way to put it is being as one ought to be. All of us want the experience, the joy of peace. All believers have peace with God. But experiencing, really sensing and knowing the joy of peace can also be a far different matter. he As we near the conclusion of this letter to the Philippians, Paul tells us how the children of God, can know the joy of peace. The core truth of the first 9 verses in chapter 4 is that vital Christian living releases God s peace.
Six Essentials of Vital Christian Living. Since this vital Christian living is indispensable here, let s learn something of what it is. Paul gives us six essentials in these verse. The first is to stand firm in the Lord. Verse 1, Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. He gives a command, stand firm, keep standing firm. This is an ongoing, life long discipline. The idea behind firm is to be steadfast, to hold your position or ground. It can picture soldiers on the front line who need to hold their position, even under heavy attack. Back in chapter 1 we find Paul saying that we are to be standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel (27). What does Paul have in mind here? The opening word, therefore coupled with the phrase just before the command, in this way stand firm, tell us that he is building on he has what he has just be writing about earlier in the chapter.! Keep pressing on to the goal of seeing Jesus face to face.! Live up to what you have learned.! Follow good, godly examples.! Beware of the deceivers.! Remember your citizenship is in heaven and glorious destiny with Christ. Now, keep standing firm in these things. Don t be wavering, doubting, tossed back and forth by every new problem, idea or opportunity. Secondly, it points us to what follows. After this first command, there are eight more commands through verse 9. Keep standing firm in this way, by faithfully following the next five vital characteristics. The second essential is to live in harmony. Go on to verse 2. I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life (2-3). 2
Notice the connection: we must live in harmony if we are to stand firm, experience stability both together and individually. We don t know any more about the disagreement and conflict between these two women than is stated here. We do know they were believers who struggled or worked with Paul in the work of the gospel. The problem here is not simply that the two did not see something the same way, but that there was conflict between them over it. As with most conflicts in a church, this was a personal conflict. If it were a doctrinal issue, Paul would have corrected one or both of them. Paul took personal conflicts seriously. It destroys the unity and harmony that Christ has given. It certainly is a poor testimony. It can devastate individuals and a church. No personal conflicts whether they by on which way, priority or preference are to be left to ferment, fester and spread their poison throughout the body. They are to be resolved. Paul appeals to one individual, and the whole church to step in and help resolve the issue, to help harmony thrive in their church. This principle and pattern is from God, and remains as an imperative for us: live in harmony! Do you have any outstanding conflicts? If so, how many? Do you remember Ephesians 4:3? be[ing] diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Stretch and strain, do all you can to preserve the unity God has created, in peace. A third essential is to always rejoice in the Lord. Look at verse 4. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Here we come back to the theme of the letter. Paul gives the command twice here for emphasis stressing both the importance and difficulty of this aspect of vital Christian living. Keep on rejoicing, rejoice always, in the Lord. As I have said previously in this series, this does not mean that we should paste plastic smiles on our faces when life is tough. It does mean to be rejoice in Jesus at all times. The focus is on your relationship with God all that God has given you in Jesus, your free access to the eternal Creator at all times, God s great love and grace. Being able to always rejoice in the Lord is built on an accurate knowledge of God. As we learn more about God from His Word and live that truth, like Paul, we can rejoice in the Lord at all times. Check your focus, your perspective, your choice of how you look at events and people in Jesus, we can choose to be totally realistic and totally joyful at all times. 3
Essential number 4 is to be gentle to all at all times. Continuing at verse 5. Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. The exact meaning word for gentle or gentleness used here is not that easy to get a handle on. It includes the ideas of being considerate and gracious, of not demanding all that is due you, or all of your rights, to extend understanding. Gentleness in every day life means not to focus on all the details of the other person s life. Extend some understanding rather than criticism, give a helping hand up rather than beat them down. In some ways it gets back to treating others as we want them to treat us. And No, this does not mean you should be a doormat, nor that you violate or compromise truth and justice. Why be gentle? Because the Lord is near. What s the connection? Jesus may return at any time. A focus on His return, and our destiny with Him will lead us to extend gentleness to others after all, with all that we will have forever with Him, why should we try to get all that is due us now? It also refers to the reality that God is always near to you. He is always available to give you the wisdom, patience and strength to be gentle. It s not that easy to always be gentle. By now we are all aware that the Street Performers Festival is here surrounding and on our site through next Sunday. It is going fairly well, as far as the impact on us is concerned. But, as there always are in things like this, there are some problems: some people are not aware of the ground rules, others don t think the rules apply to them. As I was studying and thinking my way through these verses this week, I had more opportunities that I wanted to evaluate my gentleness in dealing with people and issues. The fifth essential is to replace worry with prayer. Verse 6. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. It s been said that worry is the #1 addiction in the world. It s helpful to clarify a bit at this point. Worry is not the same thing as careful consideration of events, choices, or the possible outcomes of actions. It is the anxiety, pain and turmoil of focussing on things real or imagined, possible or impossible without God s perspective and resources. This verse is sometimes summed up with two phrases: worry about nothing, pray about everything. This is God s direction for us, and also the promise of His provisions for us. For 4
perspective we can turn to Jesus teaching about how to live righteously and not hypocritically in some very practical ways recorded in Matthew 6. One of the key points is serving God not the things of this world. We pick it up at verse 25 in Matthew 6. For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, What will we eat? or What will we drink? or What will we wear for clothing? For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own (25-34). If you worry, when you worry, do you think the worrying, is a problem? One of the reasons many Christians are enslaved by worry is that they do not recognize that worrying is sin. If God commands us not to worry, and He does, then when we worry, we are disobeying God. God s resolution to our problem of worry is to bring everything to Him, with thanksgiving thanksgiving not for the tough, traumatic issues, but for His presence with us, His resources to calm us, He sovereignty to rule in and over the troubling times. The next and last essential for vital Christian living that releases God s peace is to dwell on and practice godly things. Verses 8 and 9 are two more of the familiar verses in this section. 5
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. We are to dwell on, to consider, calculate and evaluate these things. It certainly is much more than a passing thought or being able to recite the qualities without probing and understanding some of what they are. What occupies our minds is important. Yes, what we read, watch, listen to, think about is important. What our minds dwell on will determine what we are really like. Remember the truth of Proverbs 23:7, For as he thinks within himself, so he is. Let s briefly note the 8 things, the eight qualities of things that we are dwell on.! Whatever is true. God is the truth. Jesus has told us, I am the truth, and the way, and the life (John 14:6). All things that are really true are ultimately God s truth. Our source to know what is from God and is really true is the Bible. So it is vitally important to read, think about the Bible, and then to live what we learn. Some people entertain fantasies, others dwell on the latest rumours and gossip, while yet others are consumed by speculation. Let your mind dwell on things that are true.! Whatever is honorable. This term comes from a word which means to revere, or to worship. It means things that are worthy of respect, even noble or dignified. Rather than dwelling on the trite, base or flippant things, dwell on those things that are worthy, worthy in God s sight.! Whatever is right. Things that square with God s righteous standards. It could be translated righteous here. Those things which line up with God s holiness, purity, love and grace.! Whatever is pure. Whatever is innocent, without stain or blemish. To be pure in what we say and do, we must first of all be pure in what we think, what we allow to have place in our minds. 6
! Whatever is lovely. Are you surprised to find this listed here? This is the only occurrence of the word in the New Testament. It has the idea of being pleasing, agreeable. It also has the idea of that which calls out a pleasant response from others. Choose to focus on things that are pleasant, agreeable, gracious; that lead others to respond pleasantly.! Whatever is of good repute. The NIV renders this admirable. It also is a word only appearing here in the New Testament. Literally it means good or fair sounding. It refers to things that are regarded highly. If our minds focus on the rumours, gossip, weaknesses, faults, we will not only rob ourselves of growth in godliness, but of peace.! If there is any excellence. He is talking about moral excellence. Don t even entertain that things that are questionable or the shady, let alone those which clearly defiled, vile and sinful.! Lastly, anything worthy of praise. You may have met a person or two that you have learned to be careful with. You can t ask them how they feel, or how things are going unless you have time for a long litany of aches, pains, complaints and woes. Paul is not saying that minor and major problems don t happen to godly people, nor that we should not evaluate them. He is talking about what we dwell on. God is good and gracious dwell on things worthy of praise. Yes, dwell on and practice godly things. Our source for defining all of these? The Bible. In 2 Corinthians 11:5 Paul writes, We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Growing in Christ, victory in our spiritual battles, a vital Christian life all require taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. The joy of peace is released through vital Christian living. The Peace Released By Vital Christian Living. So what about this peace released by vital Christian living? What does it do in and for us? There are two amazing and wonderful things that Paul mentions here. First, God s peace will guard you. Look at verse 7. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. It is God s own, perfect peace. His 7
peace which has a depth and breath that goes beyond what we can ever examine and explain. And this peace, in Christ Jesus, will stand guard over your heart and mind. The term was familiar to the Philippians who saw the Roman soldiers in their city who were there to protect them and the interests of Rome. God s peace will stand guard over your heart and mind to keep you from worry and turmoil. That is amazing and wonderful! The second amazing and wonderful thing about this peace is that the God of peace will be with you. Drop down to verse 9. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. As you do these things, as you keep on doing these things you will not only have the peace of God but even better than that, you will have the God of peace Himself standing with you. It doesn t matter what your present or past is like, how many wonderful or horrible things you have encountered. God offers every one of His children His peace to guard them and He Himself will stand with you in every moment and situation. Conclusion. Vital Christian living releases God s peace. It gets down to basic personal and spiritual discipline. The late D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote in his book Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure, I defy you to read the life of any saint that has ever adorned the life of the Church without seeing at once the greatest characteristic in the life of that saint was discipline and order. It is the universal characteristic of all the outstanding men and women of God they have all disciplined their lives and have insisted upon the need for this; and obviously it is something that is thoroughly scriptural and absolutely essential. Every person in this room this morning who knows Jesus Christ as Savior can be an outstanding man or woman of God. A candid poll would probably reveal that more of us do not see that as true for ourselves than those who do. If that is true for you, isn t it time to free yourself from Satan s lies and embrace God s truth? It doesn t matter what your abilities and gifts are or are not, nor if anyone knows but God, but you can be, God wants you to be outstanding and to live day by day with the joy of peace. 8
As you take a few moments alone with God now, thank Him for His perfect peace for you. Commit yourself to keep growing, to vital Christian living. 2004 Lyle L. Wahl Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. 9