No Matter What Part 4

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Illustration: dream about swimming above hole that is about to suck me down deep— really a picture of the anxiety that I can feel sometimes.

Nothing can steal our joy like anxiety and worry

Paul’s Challenge: Paul remarkably challenges the Philippian church to have joy. The remarkable part of that is his situation. He has a joy in the face great suffering, loneliness, uncertainty, and fear of death.

Week One: Hope beyond this life, greater purpose in this life

Week two: Joy is found in genuine humility

Last week: Joy is found in standing in the truths of the gospel

Here in chapter 4, Paul tells us to “not be anxious about anything” and then goes on to give us his secrets for having the peace of God which surpasses all understanding and will guard our hearts and minds.

Main Idea: In this passage, Paul gives us two secrets to beating anxiety and having a “peace that surpasses all understanding.”

Definitions: What “anxiety” is Paul talking about?

merimnao -- doesn't mean to have a concern for something you care about--not ordinary concern, but rather to be "torn to pieces”. Debilitating fear.

Paul is talking about facing the worst kind of fear yet having peace in the face of it.

Paul isn't just talking about dealing with a bad boss or our bills ... Paul was dealing with torture, imprisonment, and even potential death.

An he remarkably claims to have the keys to having a “peace which passes all understanding” … makes me want to listen

Transition: We have have joy when we ...

Face all Circumstances with Prayer and Thankfulness

Philippians 4:4–6 ESV

We are to thank God eve before he would answer our requests.

This is one of the secrets. It's knowing that whatever God does, he will do knowing all that is best.

It's knowing that if I pray and God doesn't give me gold, he we give me the same amount in silver. .

Many lost their faith the night that Jesus died. "Nothing good can come out of this." But it was the greatest thing that God has ever done.

We can do this because we can have unflinching certainty that God loves us and is always working for our best. (Last week)

Transition: We have have joy when we ...

See the Redemptive Value in All Things

When we are tempted to have anxiety, Paul challenges us to focus on things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise.

He says to “think about these things” = “dwell, meditate upon”

But what we very often do in circumstances is get laser focused on what is wrong. Everything becomes bad. “sky is falling”

Illustration: Corrie Ten Boom .. "flees in the barracks".

He's not calling us to a naively positive attitude either. Ill. Holy Grail — “Merely a flesh wound”

Paul calls us to always look for the redeemable in every situation.

But rather we would have a "redemptive" view of every circumstance of this life.

This comes from a firm belief that God can take anything and somehow make it beautiful. The gospel allows us to this.

• But what we very

“Hopeful pessimism” —Tim Keller

Conclusion

Illustration: kids swimming when little ... would take risks because I was there

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