Philippians 4:6-9
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What a passage we have before us this morning. The Apostle Paul is finishing off his letter to the Philippians and he’s leaving them with four commands.
Don’t know about you,
Rejoice in the Lord Always
Do not be anxious about anything
The Lord is near..
The NIV Application Commentary: Philippians Bridging Contexts
The Lord is near, God is sovereign and merciful, the world belongs to God, and those who live in the world can only be fully obedient to God by following his revelation of himself in the gospel.
Choose carefully what you put in your mind
4 exhortations in this passage…
Rejoice - what does it mean - how do we do this?
And Practice, Practice, Practice
And I’ve got to say, these commands grab my attention and it makes me ask the question really? Are these things really possible? The two main ones that jump out at me are - Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS and Do not be anxious about ANYTHING. I only just need to look at my life, to look around at the lives of the people that I meet to say. Life doesn’t seem to be that straight forward. Rejoice ALWAYS? Do not be anxious about ANYTHING?
Here are some of the things in my life that bring me JOY –spending time with My family and friends, spending time playing different kinds of sports – in particular table tennis, oztag, cricket, basketball, going for a kayak. Playing music brings me JOY, Eating certain kinds of food bring me joy, but all these things bring me fleeting JOY. I feel the joy because of the circumstances that I am in. What if all these things were taken away from me? just last week I was saddened by the death of a family member and also the death of my friends brother and I didn’t feel too joyful at that time. My joyfulness tends to go up and down, and up and down. And Life is hard – we have many worries and anxieties throughout our day. I worry about getting to a place on time, or I worry about my health, I worry about the health of my husband, I worry about paying the bills, I worry about my work, I worry about my family, I worry sometimes about the things that I’ve said in conversations. I don’t think I’m the only one in this room who might think like this, am I?
When everything is going well? Question – how in the world are we ever to achieve this? Is it possible to rejoice always? Is it a hyperbole statement? Joy – tend to think of it as the same incorrect way as we do think about love. Notion of love that no one can command – you must love – JOY is completely determined by external factors of which we have no control – so how can we rejoice in the Lord always? Real key is in understanding the distinction between thinking, willing and feeling.
So what is happening here in this passage? How is it that Paul can Rejoice ALWAYS and also Not be ANXIOUS about ANYTHING whilst living in the reality of life. You see Paul is not writing this letter on some tropical island having the best time ever with no worries. No, Paul was writing this letter to the Philippians whilst he was in chains, he was in prison for telling the good news of Jesus. Paul’s life as a missionary was filled with times of suffering, he’d been near death quite a few times, he was whipped and beaten, he’d been in danger from many people around him, he’d experience shipwrecked and spending day and night in the ocean, he’d often gone without food. All these things Paul had experienced and yet he was able to REJOICE. How is it that he can experience all that in his life, and yet still say he can REJOICE? Because the Joy that Paul is experiencing isn’t based on his circumstances, it’s not based on something that is temporary.
I will – it’s volitional not emotional – this is why we can rejoice even in the midst of deep pain and trial – I am going to continue to hold on and rejoice in the Lord. It delivers us from an obsession from ourselves and our circumstances. Produces the gentleness of verse 5.
Paul doesn’t say Rejoice in music, in your family and friends, no Paul says REJOICE IN THE LORD. The Lord Jesus is the object of Paul’s joy, Jesus is the source of our JOY. For Paul, It is remembering with a deep thankfulness to Jesus all that he offers us. The greatest thing he offers us is eternal life with him. We have been saved from death and punishment. And this doesn’t change based on circumstances.
Have we grasped how amazing Jesus is? Have we understood the amazing depth of his love for each one of us? Have we understood that Salvation not only gets rid of our sin, but it also brings us into God’s family as adopted children, where we have a Father who is powerful. Where we have a Father who loves and cares for us? It is because of what Jesus has done for us, that allows us to be God’s children.
Gentleness – attitude of kindness where the normal response would have been retaliation.
When we look to JESUS, even in the midst of depression and grief, we can rejoice and have a deep thankfulness to Jesus because he has saved you. When Paul says REJOICE it doesn’t mean you need to be Smily, happy, happy person all the time, that’s not what is being spoken of. To REJOICE ALWAYS, is to remember who Jesus is and what he has done for us.
And How is it that Paul can say Don’t worry, or don’t be anxious about anything? well he doesn’t just stop there.. like some of the advice the world gives to us – like the slogan Don’t worry, be Happy. Paul says Don’t be anxious about anything, but in EVERY situation by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God. Paul is saying, YES you may have worries and concerns in this life, but REMEMBER who our GOD IS. He is someone that you can rely upon, he is someone who is all powerful, and someone who loves and cares for each one of us, and he wants to hear all about our worries. I don’t know about you, but this is a great relief for me, knowing that I don’t have to rely upon my OWN strength. I really don’t have much control over my life . To know that I can rely on God, his strength and His wisdom gives me sense of peace. To know that I can trust in someone who is all mighty and all powerful is a great comfort to me.
Joyfulness and gentlesness go together.
Do we spend time each day talking to God and bringing to him our worries and our concerns. I want to be honest and say that God doesn’t promise us that he’ll answer YES to all our prayers, you may have been praying the same prayer for 40 or more years, and perhaps you’re still waiting for the answer, God doesn’t promise us that when we pray he will give us the sense of peace. But what he does promise is that he will guard our hearts and our minds. If we continue to turn to God in prayer and rely upon him, this shows our trust in Him, and God promises to guard us, that we will be forever his child. So, don’t stop relying upon God, if you have a worry or concern, talk to God about it. He may answer your prayer with a yes, a no or a wait. But know that God loves you and cares for you, and knows what is best for you, even though we may not always see it.
PRAY – Do not worry, do not be anxious
the person that you’re presenting your requests too.. allows you to be less anxious.. ?
Two things I want to finish off with today…
MIND
The first is, If you haven’t yet put your trust in Jesus, I encourage you to think about doing it today. Talk with another person here who does trust in Jesus, talk with Melanie about what it means to trust in Jesus, or come and speak with me today. To know Jesus and trust in him allows us to say with Paul REJOICE in the LORD always, again I say REJOICE, and it also allows us to Rely upon God and to go to him with all our concerns and worries.
The second thing I want to finish off with today is the last verse of our passage
What do you fill your mind with?
Verse 9 …Whatever you have learned or received or head from me, or seen in me – put it into practice.
Whether you are 1 year old or 100 or anywhere in between, we’re never too old to learn and to practice. So I encourage you, if there’s anything within the passage that we read today in which you think.. hmm.. I need to practice this in my life, perhaps you forget to rejoice in the LORD because you’re not remembering what Jesus has done for us, or perhaps you’re not very good at talking to God in prayer, or you have not learnt how to do this. It’s never to late to practice these things.., or perhaps you’re not always gentle in your behaviour to others, or perhaps we’re not always thinking of what is true, noble, pure, lovely and so on. Whatever it might be, I encourage you to choose one thing that you can take away from todays passage and practice it. Practice. Because if we do these things, then Jesus will be there with us, Jesus the God of peace.
Let me pray with the grace.
God of peace will be with you
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all and remain with us always. Amen
The New International Version Chapter 4
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.