Sunday Night Devotions

I. Rejoice Always!

Philippians 4:4–8 KJV 1900

4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. 5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 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 good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

II. God Cares for you and can carry your cares.

1 Peter 5:7 KJV 1900

7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

III. The World Cannot Grant or Give you Peace.

John 16:33 KJV 1900

33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

IV. When our minds are stayed on God we can have perfect peace.

Isaiah 26:3 KJV 1900

3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on thee: Because he trusteth in thee.

V. God is our strength and salvation.

Isaiah 12:2 KJV 1900

2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: For the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; He also is become my salvation.

Text: Phil. 4:6-9

6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your

requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,

shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 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 good report; if there be any virtue, and if

there be any praise, think on these things. 9 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.

We come to the end (last chapter) of the Philippian epistle. There is much to learn from God’s

word and from the apostle Paul, who is believed to have written it from prison. He teaches:

1. How to express love to each other. (Phil. 4:1)

• My brethren

• Dearly beloved (X2)

• My longed for

• My joy

• My crown

a. The way we talk to a person and about them expresses love.

b. This is an apostle speaking to other Christians and no one feels Jesus Christ is being

slighted or His glory stolen. This kind of loving language is acceptable with God.

2. Christians who have strife between them should forgive and resolve it, not just separate from

each other or go on with hard feelings. Paul tells two women in this situation, Euodias and

Syntyche, to be of the “same mind in the Lord.” (Phil. 4:2)

3. Female servants of Christ should be honored as well as the men. They labored with Paul,

with Clement, and with others. Paul’s admonition was to “help them.” (Phil. 4:3)

4. Rejoice in the Lord all the time (alway and times two – Phil. 4:4). God is good all the time

and all the time God is good. I don’t have to understand to rejoice. I don’t have to be at

ease to rejoice. I don’t even have to agree to rejoice. I only have to trust God and choose to

rejoice.

5. Live a Spirit-controlled life (Phil. 4:5) because Jesus could come back at any moment.

“Moderation” means a quiet, peaceful, Spirit-controlled life. Not addicted, not out of order,

not out of control, not a bad testimony, not unfaithful, not high-tempered—moderated. All

men should be able to see that we live inside of biblical truth every day. We don’t fight,

scream, argue, throw fits, need the police called on us, behave badly at school. We don’t

have habits of excess. Everything in our lives is brought under the power of the Holy Spirit.

Now, we come to our text and main lesson:

I. Handle inner pressures biblically. (4:6)

A. Don’t worry about anything! “Be careful for nothing...”

1. Here, “careful” means “full of cares” or “loaded down with care” not “attentive or

wary” as we often use it—“Be careful when you cross the street.”

2. Worry is the wrong thing to do with inner pressure. It fixes nothing. It helps nothing.

It damages your health—blood pressure, ulcers, poor appetite, can’t sleep. It causes

depression. It displeases God.

3. Worry is the fleshes response to an out-of-control imagination.

B. Take your inner pressures to God and leave them with Him! “In everything by prayer

and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God”

• 1Pet. 5:7 - Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

1. In your mind, crawl into your Heavenly Father’s big lap with your heavy weight

(burden, trouble, care) and give it to Him—leave it there when you leave the prayer.

2. God lists three parts to our conversation with Him:

a. Prayer – the root meaning is “asking”. I am asking God for something. I am

requesting that God help me, have mercy on me, give me strength, take care of

my situation, etc. I am asking—that’s the essence of prayer. “I pray thee,” means,

“I ask you.”

b. Supplication – that is praying with sweat. Supplication has a wrestling

component. I’m not wrestling against God but I am wrestling in prayer. I may also

fast as a part of supplication. My earnestness, intensity, and emotional

involvement lift this kind of praying beyond merely asking. Picture the difference

in a child asking for a dollar to buy a soda and a child crying out for help when

being chased by a dog. They are both requests but they are not exactly the same

intensity.

c. Thanksgiving – part of effective praying is not just expressing what I need God to

do right now but also thanking Him for what He has already done for me. “Help

me” is received a lot better by God when accompanied by “Thank you.”

II. God will sooth your mind and emotions into peace (Phil. 4:7)

• And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and

minds through Christ Jesus.

A. Incomprehensible – God will do something you can’t understand or explain...He will

bring peace where nothing but fear, anxiety, and pressure have been before.

B. Emotional – We worry in our soulish man, the second part of our being, eventhough it

also affects our bodies. Our soul is our mind, emotion, and will, often referred to as our

“heart.” When we get upset, we do that in our heart or emotions (soulish man). When

we feel anxiety or worry or stress, we do that in our mind and heart (soulish man). God

promises to give peace and set a guard (keep or keeper or guard) on our heart to prevent

our peace from being stolen. He requires that we do one thing to make that stick. (see

next)

III. To keep your peace, keep your mind on Christ not your problem. (Phil. 4:8)

• Is. 26:3 - Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed [leaning on,

sustained by, braced up by] on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

• Phil. 4:8 - 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 good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise,

think on these things.

A. There is no way to keep peace without mind control—you allowing the Holy Spirit to

control your mind. Your worry will return and your peace will leave if you don’t obey

this condition.

B. There is plenty of good to dwell on mentally: true, honest, just (fair), pure, lovely, good

report, virtue and praise.

C. If you lapse back into “stinkin’ thinkin’” you will lose your peace and have to repeat the

whole process to get it back again.

>>>>> WHY do we have peace? Vs. 9 – because the God of peace will be WITH US! I

don’t have to go through any trouble or trial alone.