Philippians 4 Chapel

Whom I love and long for

, Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord. Love you and long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work.

Paul begins chapter 4 with a reminder of his affection for the Philippian church, he loves them and longs to see them again. He refers to them as his joy, their faith and love are a source of joy for Paul, and he says that they are a visible representation of the reward for good and hard work, he doesn’t need a “prize” their existence and perseverance is his prize.

Even under the persecution and troubles they are enduring from those outside the church, he encourages them to stand firm and stay true to the Lord, don’t compromise so that things get easier.

With Jesus, things are black and white, we, our society, modern American Christianity have made things grey, unacceptable things have become acceptable in the eyes of a lot of todays “Christians” and this is not even from persecution, it’s more from a desire to be happy and live a pleasing life, to satisfy our desires rather than honor the Lord.

After dealing with a church issue in verse 2-3, Paul moves on in verse 4 with some instructions and encouragement.

, Always be full of joy in the Lord. i say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

There is a lot of meat here. Always be full of joy, how? In the Lord, meaning what? When we think over all that Jesus accomplished for us, death for our life, forgiveness, eternal life with Him, purpose filled life now, we should be overwhelmingly grateful and have reasons to rejoice.

Considerate, ready to forgive others their faults, grace and mercy-filled towards others, not just inside the church, but those outside as well.

The Lord is coming soon, this was the mentality of the people then, they had an eager expectation of Jesus’ imminent return, He was coming back soon, and also, that He wasn’t far away. He is always with us, the end of the Great Commission.

Don’t worry about anything, done!! Not a problem. Come on man, this is tough, we by nature think about things, sometimes they are concerning, but what is the difference? What is the difference between thinking about something and even being concerned and worry? Remember, the Philippian church was dealing with persecution and Christians were being murdered throughout the Roman empire, Paul says “don’t worry”.

Worry is the belief that God is going to get it wrong. We worry because we don’t fully trust God. This is not to say all will always go our way, of course not, but even when things don’t go our way, when things we don’t understand happen, our belief that God is in control and that ultimately He is good, not just for me but for the entire world, then I can rest and trust that, again, even though I don’t like it or understand, God’s got it and it will work out for His greater good.

Worry is the belief that God is going to get it wrong.

Bitterness is believing that God did get it wrong.

So what’s the answer, how do I not worry about anything?

Paul doesn’t wait too long to tell us, pray about everything! What does this include?

Make your requests known to God. Talk to God about it, what concerns you, what you’re not happy with, what you don’t understand, what you think you or others need, basically whatever comes to your mind. But this isn’t just a, “this is what I want God, so deliver it”, deal.

He also says, “and thank Him for all He has done.” Huh, that’s not so easy is it? Why is this hard? We often don’t take time to think about all that God has done, or has given us, sometimes we don’t even give Him the credit, we take the credit when things are going well, and blame Him when things aren’t.

An attitude of gratitude is what Paul is talking about.

Why is the Philippian church being persecuted? Because of their faith in Jesus, bc they are His followers. Yes, that’s it, they know and follow Jesus, they have had their eyes opened to the truth, they know the Savior of the world, they’ve had their sins forgiven, they are no longer separated from God, no longer His enemy, now children of God, and co-heirs with Christ of the eternal kingdom!!

This is reason to celebrate and be thankful. This will change their worry into rejoicing. This will give them what Paul writes next,

Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Then you will experience God’s peace, not worry but peace. This is something we won’t be able to understand and neither will those outside the family of God. How can you not be concerned or anxious or worried. Because God has done so much already, He’s got this and if this kills me, God’s taken care of my biggest problem, my sin and separation, I’m good.

Then Paul writes this, 8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

Fix your thoughts, focus your mind, control it, be intentional about what you think about.

What is true, honorable, right and pure, lovely and admirable, excellent and worthy of praise? What fills those categories? Or rather, who? Jesus, yes fix your minds on Jesus, think about Him, His life, His words, His deeds, His loving kindness, His mercy, His grace, His sacrificial death, His resurrection, His ascension back into heaven, Him at the right hand of God ruling and reigning, think about these and you won’t have time nor the desire to sin or be worried.

This is how you live in Christ Jesus, back to the end of verse 7. Jesus dominates your thoughts, which affects your desires, and thereby naturally affects your actions. Jesus is the only One worthy of dominating our thoughts, becoming our desire and affecting actions, leading to a life lived to His honor and glory.

So don’t worry about anything, pray, thank God and think about Jesus.