The letter to the Philippians. You know, that was a letter written from prison, and it was written to Christians who were struggling, Christians who were going through persecution, through poverty and even inside fighting. And Paul wrote, "Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice let your reasonableness, your calmness, be known to everyone, for the Lord is near. So Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, prayer and supplication and thanksgiving, let your request be known to God, and the peace of God that passes all understanding will guard your heart and your minds through Christ, Jesus and finally, whatsoever is true, whatsoever is honorable, Whatsoever is just, whatsoever is pure and lovely and commendable. If there is anything virtuous, anything worthy of praise, think on these things." There is a lot to unpack in those verses. We certainly don't have time to address all that this morning, but I would like to make three points, and one of the things that I would like to accomplish this morning on something that was not particularly planned, is something that we can leave with, something that we can apply readily in our everyday lives.
Now, back in 1988 there was a hit song by Bobby McFerrin. And the song was, it was a catchy tune, Don't Worry, Be Happy. And it was a sensation across the country. It was something-- It was a catchy song, and it had a good meaning to it. You know, but God does not promise happiness the way the world may view happiness, but he does promise peace. And I don't know if you've ever noticed, but in every, and I think I got this right as I was flipping through this morning, everyone of Paul's letters addresses peace to the people he is writing to. It is a hope that Paul wants for all Christians. It may be at varying degrees, but we all feel the stress of life. We all have worries, worries that can multiply into anxiety. We all have our struggles, our difficulties, our challenges. It is a thread that is woven into each one of our lives. Hence, Paul writes to us to tell us, you can handle this, you can deal with these challenges, because it is a common thing. And so in the passage, Philippians four, four through eight, and actually nine, but four through eight, that's what we'll look at here. Immediately, there are three points that Paul makes, and it is a remedy. Now it is quite converse to the remedy that life, or should say, the world would throw at us. The world would say, If you worry, if you have difficulties, if you have stress, the answer is, in selfishness. Think about yourself. It's about greed. It's about addiction to substances. But Paul gives three, I will say simple, and I would even say easy, if, if our mind is right, that will help us to deal with the troubles of life.
The first would be in the very first verse of this passage, four through eight. In verse four, "Rejoice in the Lord." I've addressed this before from the standpoint of what we find in the Lord which we read about in Ephesians chapter one, for it does show us all the blessings that we have in the Lord. Sanctification, justification, Grace, adoption, forgiveness. But, rejoice in the Lord can be viewed in another way. For if you are to have peace in this world, if you are to have the peace of God, you have to be in the Lord. Galatians, 3:27, how do you get into the Lord. You are baptized in to the Lord. So there is no peace of God unless you are in Jesus. That would be the first point to make about having the peace of God. The second would be if you want peace, pray about it. That's what Paul says. Does Paul say pray about some things? Paul says to pray about everything. You know, many times I find myself, certainly not purposeful, but when I when I glance at myself in the mirror, or if I stand back and view myself, when I do not pray as I should, I have devalued what the Lord has made available to me. You know, when you think about prayer and what it gives us, you know, being in the Lord, it gives me access to the most powerful sovereign God, and that's why he says, pray about everything, because he will help with everything. Now, we know it's in his time, and he certainly will choose what he wishes to address. But my sense of His power and His love should draw me to him. You know, it's often that you will hear and I know I'm guilty of it. Somebody has a problem. And I will say, yeah, you need to do this, this and and pray about it. And I don't know if, when that is said that way, if it means literally, this is the this most important thing, or this is what I think of first when I think of a difficulty, the first thing that I should think about is prayer and how it can affect my life. So this sense of prayer when you're dealing with anxiety, Paul would say, prayer, supplication, Thanksgiving. Supplication is a little deeper. It is a request for help, and then notice it says, with thanksgiving, it's almost as if you're thinking of a recipe, and all the ingredients are mixed into gratitude. Gratitude is what is most important. Our request, our prayers with thanksgiving. And think about David. David's thought about prayer and about gratitude, he would say in Psalms, 100 enter his presence, "enter the Father's presence with gratitude."
So if you want peace, you need to be in the Lord. You need to be baptized into Jesus for the remission of your sins, and have a life of obedient faith. And Paul says, If you want the peace of God that passes all understanding, let your request be named, be made known to me. Talk to me. Need me, trust me. And then Paul would say, if you want peace, if you want true peace, you have to discipline your mind. "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, lovely, commendable, is virtuous is worthy of praise." That's what you think about. And that requires discipline. That requires commitment. You know, I don't care what we're talking about. (Bobby, working with my hands here, talking with my hands and hit the light.) Whatever we are going to accomplish. It doesn't just happen. It is something that is purposed. Look in verse nine and verse 11 of chapter four, "What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, Paul, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you." Verse 11, "not that I'm speaking of being in need for I have learned." This idea of peace, this idea of a disciplined mind. It's something that is learned. It is something that we think about. It is something that we purpose. And so perhaps, maybe the more difficult thing is, I think every one of us would agree, these are the things that I need to be filling my mind with, especially, and I say especially, evil has always been lurking. It's always been the opposition. It's always been trying to take over your body and your mind. But just because we are living in the age that we're living in, it does seem like that the good that's here is trying to be pushed out so that all the evil can live there. And so when we think about thinking about these things, and knowing that it doesn't just happen, it is something that is learned. It means that I have got to take the time to make that happen. It's one thing for me to think, you know, as they say about good intentions, they never really accomplished anything. I have to carve out time in my schedule. As busy as it may be, I have to carve time out and be deliberate on what is going to dwell in my mind.
A lesson could be given on the power of the mind, and from what you read, we have so little control of our mind, and we have used so little of our mind. You know, in Psalms one, familiar verse to us, David carved out time. Now I don't know exactly what it means when it says that David meditated night and day. I know that he loved the law. I know that he loved God's word, just as I'm not exactly sure what it means when Paul says in First Thessalonians to pray without ceasing. But I do think it is a sense of being deliberate. I think it is a sense of purpose. I think it is a sense of priority, and in order for us to have the peace of God that passes all understanding I've got to take the time to dwell on those things which are really important. You know, back in chapter four, Philippians and verse five says, "Let your reasonableness." Some versions will say moderation. Some will say the meaning there is calmness. But the reasonableness, to me, ties into this passage here. It's a sense of peace. How noticeable is someone with the peace of God, noticed in this chaotic world that we live in? I think that would make that person different. That person would stand out. You know, in Acts, chapter two, verse 47 it says that the people found favor with the people. Another way of saying that the Christians found favor with the people. Luke, chapter two and verse 52 it would say that Jesus found favor with the people. And I think perhaps that favor is they saw the peace of God in these people. They saw that they were people who thought about the things that were true, that were honorable, that were just, that were pure, lovely and commendable.
Finding peace begins with being in the Lord. And if you've not yet started that journey with the Lord, there's not a better time than right now to begin to understand the sense of what the peace of God is. Anybody here this morning who wishes to respond to the call, we ask that you'd come as we stand and sing.
