Philippians 4:4-9
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Philippians 4:4-9
Pray
If someone walked into your life and gave you 50 Millions dollars, 50 more years added on to your life with 100% good health and energy … How would you respond to them? You would be ecstatic! Would you hug and kiss them? Would you cry?
You basically just gained a 2nd adult lifetime with all the resources you would ever need to bless others. All the time you would need to spend with family & friends.
You couldn’t say thank you enough. You would feel indebted to them because they so radically changed your life. (Pause)
How do you respond to a God who has given you the most beautiful gifts he could possibly give?
1) Has given us a citizenship in heaven forever with Him. Where all of your needs will be supplied in abundance.
2) Is making us ready to meet Jesus our Savior, face to face.
3) He will transform our broken bodies into a perfect sanctified body that will live perfectly forever with no pain, no sickness and no death.
How do you respond to that kind of goodness and greatness?
Last week we looked at Pauls challenge of Being Immovable in our faith and Being United as God’s people.
This week Paul gives us 3 more ways to respond to God’s goodness and greatness.
Build this, So how do you as a Christ follower respond to a great God who has:
-Made you his own despite your flaws and failure?
-Who invites you to be close to Him (the maker of the Universe) to know Him?
-How do you respond to a God who has sacrificed Himself on a torturous cross for you?
-How do you respond to a God who loves you unconditionally and wants you to be with him in worship in heaven forever?
Paul tells us in our first point today...
Vs. 4-5, Rejoice In God’s Goodness (x2)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;
God commands our emotions in telling us to rejoice.
The root word of rejoice is Joy.
Rejoice - To enjoy engage your soul in happy celebration
When we rejoice in God’s goodness we make the choice to stop, think, feel & celebrate.
-Do you every hear a scripture read or a Christians song and say, “Thank you God!” In that moment you are rejoicing.
Illustration - Sometimes I will be at the house and Susan (my wife) will be getting ready and she’ll be playing worship music. I will hear a lyric that is so true and impactful, “On the inside I’ll say, thank you God.”
Have you ever been walking down the road and see a flock of Geese or see a deer bound off and in your heart say, “Thank you God”.
Have you heard someone share something spiritually that they were learning and you got to catch a glimpse of God working in their life (and get lifted) and say “thank you God”.
You rejoice.
Q - When do we rejoice? Verse 4 tells us.
Always and at all times rejoice.
We rejoice in the times of blessings and in the times strain.
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
We don’t just rejoice or “Count it all joy” when life is sweet and good. We also rejoice under trial.
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
We are challenged to rejoice in God , When you get that cancer diagnoses, when you child is acting out and it is a difficult season, when you neighbor is being a jerk and difficult to deal with.
Q - How can we rejoice in God’s goodness when life are tough? Because God tells us this ...
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
These tough life circumstances are not about the issue that is causing the stress.
God is doing something much bigger.
God has allowed these difficulties in your life to spiritually transform you.
The issue isn’t Covid-19 or your cancer diagnosis - The issue is how much God is refining you and growing your closer to Himself through the difficulty when you feel out of control.
The issue isn’t just your child’s behavior and your embarrassment.
The issue is how God is shaping you spiritually to be a godly parent. He is refining you to be like Himself - the parent He is to His children.
The issue is not just how to convince your jerk neighbor to shut up and leave you alone.
The issues is growing you in your patients and love for difficult people around you.
You rejoice in God’s goodness because in the good and the bad He is at work in your life.
You rejoice in God’s goodness because He is working all things together for good.
What is God calling you to rejoice in right now?
Is there a blessing that God calling you to rejoice in?
Is there a challenge God is calling you to rejoice in?
IN THE GOOD and THE DIFFICULT GOD IS GOOD. And so we rejoice in God’s goodness.
Transition - Our second point today is this..
II. Vs. 6-7, Trust in God’s goodness (x2)
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
We saw previously that God commands our emotions. We see now that ...
God commands our faith.
It is easy to be focused on the command of “Do Not” and miss the “Do”
The focus of verse 6 is on the “DO” “In everything pray”
Why pray? (especially when we are anxious) - Why?
When we pray the act of praying takes our faith in ourself and places our faith in God.
Prayer says,
“God I can’t, but you can.”
“I am not in control, but you are in control.”
“God I trust you to do what is right good.”
“I can’t fix this, but you can cause good to come out of it.”
Prayer causes you to trust that no matter the circumstance that God knows what He is doing and that He is good.
Sometimes praying isn’t so much for God. It is for us.
It places us in a position of humility & faith.
Anxiousness thoughts believe that life is out of control.
Trusting thoughts believe that God is in control.
Anxious thoughts believes that I cannot provide.
Surrendered thoughts looks to God to provide.
Anxious thoughts believe that I must make others happy.
Faith filled thoughts say, I live for the approval of God. (Pause)
There are two kinds of prayer that Paul encourages in our passage:
First, In vs 6, Supplication, Ask for help - God’s wants you to ask for help.
14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
God invites you to bring your requests to Him. He wants to hear your prayer. You have a loving God and Father that desires to hear your requests.
2nd kind of prayer is Thanksgiving
vs 7, Thanksgiving - A prayer of thanksgiving takes your mind off of yourself and what you don’t have and focuses it on what God has done for you.
Attitude of gratitude - gratitude prayer list - what are you thankful for
Thoughts of anxiousness focus on what we don’t have.
Thoughts of Thanksgiving focus on what God has richly supplied in His goodness.
Q - Why does God want to you bring your requests to Him and pray with thanksgiving?
Vs 7, In his goodness, He wants to bless you with peace.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Illustration:
-When I attended Bible college the president of the college and the seminary was Roberston McQuilken.
-He is one of the most godly men I ever knew.
-He loved Jesus - loved God’s Word.
-Man of deep prayer and trust in the Lord.
-20 years previous to me arriving the school had a very strict handbook with rules for students.
-In one board meeting he questioned the handbook and told the board members that he wanted to rewrite some of it.
-Several of the ultra conservative board members didn’t like it. Long story short -
They asked him to leave and go to his office, while they discussed if they should fire him.
-He goes to his office.
-After long deliberation the board decided not to fire him. They sent someone to go get him from his office - so the board could let him know their decision.
-The guy who went to retrieve Robertson McQuilken (the Bible College and Seminary President) knocked, no answer, opened the door - didn’t see him at his desk or standing anywhere.
-There was a couch in his office. He was taking a nap.
The president went to his office, prayed, surrendered to God being fired to the Lord, laid down and went to sleep.
Q., Let me ask you this … do you think you could sleep if you knew you might be about to get fired from a very visible position? No
Vs. 7. describes this man perfectly.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
-Robertson McQuilken knew that whatever the outcome, God was good and that He was in control. He trusted in God’s goodness.
In God’s goodness, He desires to give you peace in Him.
Review - So far our has challenged in today’s passage has been to:
Rejoice in God’s goodness
Trust in God’s goodness
and now finally...
III. Think on God’s goodness (x2)
8 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. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
We’ve seen already that God commands our emotions and God commands our faith.
Here God commands our thoughts.
God desires to rule your life as Lord and bless all parts of your life. He doesn’t want to only be the Master of your outward actions. He desires to be the Master of your thoughts.
He desires your thoughts to be holy.
Why? We by nature are worshipers. Our radar is always looking for something to worship. When we are not worshiping God we are worshiping other things. We are overly focused on other things.
We worship: Ourself as master, relationships, music, art, job, kids, grand children, sex, money, control, our hobbies… God made us to be worshipers.
What you worship you are enslaved to (x2) Slow
You can tell what you are enslaved to by what consumes your thoughts.
Every human being of all time is a slave to something or someone.
We truly are not free. We only think we are.
15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
We are slaves to what or who we worship.
God desires your mind to be transformed.
God wants to free your mind to think on holy and good things.
Brain is the the body as the mind is to the soul. (X2)
What you think about is what feeds your soul.
I’d like to give you an Illustration -
Several years back there was a 6 year old child who was out of control.
He was a problem child.
He was so disobedient he would got suspended from first grade multiple times.
He was disobedient, disruptive and could not be controlled.
He also had terrible seizures.
Seizures were so violent that the doctors had to operate on his brain.
Part of the little boy’s brain had to be disconnected from another part.
Surgery was successful.
He went from being the worst child ever, to a fully functioning angel of kid.
He was transformed, because his mind was transformed.
Sometime ago a most unusual operation was performed upon a six-year-old “problem child” in the Wesley Memorial Hospital in Chicago. The operation is called hemispherectomy. lt took nearly five hours to perform it. It is claimed that “a mean brat” was transformed by the operation into “a lovable, sweet angel.”
The child could not be tolerated by either her parents or teachers. Her seizures could not be controlled by any kind of medicine. She was described as being “disobedient, disruptive, destructive, and so antagonistically unruly that teachers sent her home.” She was such a behavior problem that her parents were contemplating putting her in an institution. Now, it is claimed, “all is changed. She is cooperative and gracious.”
—Walter B. Knight
When God transforms our mind, removes our anxious and selfish thoughts and replaces them with holy thoughts of rejoiceing He transforms our whole person.
The brain is to the body what the mind is to the soul.
God desires you to Think on His goodness.
Q - What thought of your mind has God asked you to surrender to the Lord?
Q - Are there thoughts of Doubt? Worry? Grief? Revenge? Lust? Control?
Q - In God’s goodness he desires to free you from these thoughts.
Q - Will you surrender these thoughts to Him?
-Today if you took just one challenge away, would it be to:
Rejoice in God’s Goodness? Trust in God’s Goodness or Think on God’s Goodness? (Pause)
UNBELIEVER?
God wants to radically transform your life.
To give you a new identity. To become one who follows Him?
Right now, you are at a point of decision.
Will you except the free gift of forgiveness through Jesus and the cross & give your life to Him?
Or will you keep your life for yourself?
Will you right now say “yes” to Jesus
Pray