Untitled Sermon

ng I have the great privilege of opening the Word of God with you. As I have been going through my daily reading plan, Phil. 4:4-9 has constantly been on my mind. I love that Paul says, “The Lord is at hand.” These five words have brought refreshment to me and continues to encourage me to continue to fight the good fight of faith. The verses that surround these words I believe stem from “the Lord is at hand” and that is what we will unpack this morning. In this text we will see the Presence of the Lord, and because of His presence we Pray to the Lord, because we pray Peace from God is produced, because of this peace it leads us to Ponder more of God’s virtues in Christ and then to Practice trusting Him. Let’s go to the Lord in prayer. PRAY.

READ THE TEXT…

The book of Philippians is Paul’s thank you letter to the church in Philippi. He deeply loves them. Their relationship is not surface level either. 1:3-5 says… READ. Paul’s relationship with the church is rooted in the gospel which is why he is thankful for them. Paul’s overarching concern is with the gospel, a word that appears more in Philippians than in any other letter one commentator says. By God’s grace, Redeemer Odessa’s main concern is the gospel. That God would be glorified. Yet, because we live in a sinful world struggles arise and take our eyes off the gospel. These struggles include joylessness, lack of graciousness, anxiety and impure thoughts. 4:4-9 will again point us to the gospel as they did to the Philippian church and refocus us on the gospel.

· V. 4-5- shows us the presence of God. READ

o Joy has been a recurring theme of this letter. We see this in places such as 1:4,18; 2:17-18;3:1;4:10.

§ Here in 4:4, Paul says to rejoice in the Lord and do so “always.”

§ My question is, it really possible to rejoice always? This world is broken and although we do everything we can to fix it and keep ourselves heathy, we soon find out we are not strong. There are many things that can rob us of joy. V.6 gives one example of anxiety but there is also loss of a loved one, loss of work, illness, relational difficulties and numerous other problems that can steal our joy.

§ Paul, who is writing this knows this better than most that this world is broken. He endured suffering and he is writing this from prison and will ultimately be executed! Paul knows suffering and yet he commands the Philippian church who is also facing trails and us to rejoice “always.”

§ How? The text gives us the answer- “rejoice in the “Lord” “v.5 “the Lord is at hand!” Our rejoicing is not grounded in our circumstances or our success or failures but in the finished work of the cross. If you have received forgiveness of your sins through Christ then your name is written in the book of life as Paul says in v.3. We can “always” rejoice because we have eternal life. Eph. 1:7 says, “We have received redemption through His (JC) blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses (sins), according to the riches of His grace.

o What Paul is commanding us church is to rejoice always. Carson notes this is a command, not good advice. Paul knows first-hand that there certainly will be occasions when we’re grieved and filled with sorrow, but even in those times the Christian can say with Paul in 2 corth. 6:10, “as grieving yet always rejoicing.”

§ During the hard times, the Christian can drink deeply from the well of salvation that produces joy in the midst of struggle. Even in times when you have to sing with tears pouring down your face, we can sing with joy bc of our Savior!

§ My prayer is that our lives would heed this command for constant rejoicing. That our community would see a deep seeded joy that points others to JC.

· With this command to rejoice always, Paul says to let our reasonableness, kindness or gentleness be known to everyone. (BC) the Lord is at hand.

o Again, asking the question of how? How do we be gentle to all? How are we to show grace, kindness and gentleness to someone who is angry with us or done us wrong? Paul just alluded to it in v. 4 that again, Bc our joy is rooted in the gospel, therefore our lives should reflect gentleness and graciousness. Tanner touched on this in Phil 2:2-8-READ. Paul asks the Philippian church to be of one mind, pursing to follow JC example.

§ V.4 says “known to all.” First, we are to show kindness and gentleness to our brothers and sisters in JC. The church is made up all different types of people but because of the gospel, we have been united together in Christ. My prayer is that RCO would be a church were we treat each other in this way. Secondly, we are to show gentleness and kindness to people outside the church. Loving people is hard and especially when they are your “enemy.” We as redeemed people need to remember that at one time we were far off from God. Rom. 5:10 says, “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son.” We were self-asserting people who grumbled and disputed. Now however, this truth should cause us to love others, show kindness to others because of the amazing grace we have been shown by JC. We should shine with gentleness! -JIM ELLIOT STORY

· Does your life show evidence of this graciousness? Do you desire to show this to people in your community group? Do you show this to your co-workers, family and neighbors? Tanner has touched on that RCO mission is to be salt and light in this community. If your joy is in the Lord then you will be gentle and kind. Let us heed this command bc of the great love with which we have been loved in JC!

o At the end of v. 5 he adds, “the Lord is at hand!” I love how all throughout scripture when there are commands, there are sweet truths attached! Just as we have seen we can rejoice always bc of the gospel, Paul here says we can show gentleness to all, we can rejoice always and as we will see next we don’t have to be anxious about anything bc “the Lord is at hand!” The meaning of “the Lord is at hand” on the one hand is that JC is coming back again soon. Paul has just remined the philippians in 3:20-21 that we “await” the future appearance of the the Lord JC from heaven. On the other hand, for “the Lord to be at hand” means that He is near right now through the indwelling of the HS, as the Psalmists affirm: “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

§ This truth should cause us to rejoice and live out these truths in the present. We should be encouraged to call on Him for help in the areas rejoicing, being gentle and overcoming anxiety.

· V. 6-7 will show us that bc of His presence, we are to pray and therefore receive peace. READ

o Knowing that the Lord is at hand also becomes the basis for Paul’s 3rd exhortation which is to not be anxious about anything but instead pray! Here again, just as Paul has said to rejoice in the Lord always and the reason we can is bc of our relationship with JC so here Paul says do not be anxious about anything bc the Lord is at hand!

§ The “but” here shows us the antidote to anxiety and that is prayer! We are to replace our anxiety with prayer! As we have alluded to, there are definitely things in this world that cause us to be anxious. The Philippian church faced several things that caused them to be anxious such as external threats (1:28) and internal opposition (4:2-3).

§ Paul shows that the only way we can receive true peace that surpassing understanding is to go vertical. We are to pray about whatever is making us anxious with thanksgiving! When we let our request be made known to God, we are to do it with thankfulness that we have the privilege to pray bc of what JC has done for us on the cross. Thankfulness is knowing the gift we have been given in JC and humbling coming to our Good Father in Heaven with our request.

§ Many have suggested that Paul is alluding to Matthew 6:25-34, where JC says 3 times, “don’t worry.” One of those reasons is that JC says in 6:26 God provides for birds; He will surly provide for us! If God provides for the birds then how much more will he provide for us who are more valuable! -Martin Luther who was a preacher in the 1500’s described his fav. Preacher, a bird like this:… Let the birds preach a better sermon to you. God feeds the birds, which are less valuable than you and He will provide for us! Let the fact that God knows what you need encourage you all the more to lift your request to God.

o V.7 shows that when we fight anxiety with prayer, the result will be (READ V.7). Paul doesn’t say that prayer will keep us from having problems; rather, once we pray and give our burdens to God, we can have peace in the midst of the problem. God will guard as it says our hearts when anxious thoughts and fears arise. The peace that we receive will surpasses all understanding meaning that it doesn’t make sense to have peace when we have it! Remember Paul is in prison but is at peace! This is bc Paul is heeding his own command to pray. He is desiring that we also would be able to have this peace that transcends understanding. MY TESTIMONY OF ANXIETY

o The last words in v. 7 are the most important if we want to come to God in prayer and receive peace. These words are “in Christ.” In order have this peace that only comes from God we must know the “Prince of Peace.” It is only through a relationship with Jesus that you can know what Paul is talking about. Ask yourself today, “am I in Christ? Have I entered into a relationship with Jesus through seeking forgiveness of my sins by His grace?” Have you as Rom. 5:1 says, “therefore since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

§ My prayer for RCO is that as we strive to live on mission and in community, when we meet trails and suffering, we 1st would heed this command to not be anxious but in everything pray. That we would do as 1 peter 5:6-7 which says, “humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, bc he cares for you.”

§ When we do this, it will show our community and our families that we are dependent on the Lord and trust Him by lifting our request to our Father in Heaven who loves us. Our city needs this peace and we have the great opportunity to give them the medicine needed.

· Lastly, V.8-9 will show us to Ponder the things of God in His Word and to put into Practice these things READ

o Paul concludes these exhortations by calling his readers to ponder these six “whatever” statements in v. 8. Paul knows that the thoughts that occupy our minds and the images that capture our imagination shape our characters and find expression in our behavior. Last week, Tanner took us through Matthew 5 where Jesus says, “Let your light shine before others that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in Heaven.”

§ Hopefully we have seen in our time this morning the call to shine our light through rejoicing always, being gentle and kind to all and not being anxious but pray which will show the watching world Jesus and they will give glory to God.

§ Now Paul knows that the only way to continue to do this each day is to ponder and reflect on the virtues of Christ. We need to ponder these Christ centered virtues and the way we do this is to renew our minds each day with God’s Word. Heb. 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world (opposite of the virtues listed) but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” The Christian mindset is to be determined and reshaped by knowledge of the gospel which comes through Gods Word primarily.

· If you to examine your thought life what does it show you ponder on? If we ponder on garbage, garbage will come out. If we ponder on truth and purity, truth and purity will come out. As one commentator says, “get into the word until the word gets into you.”

o Paul ends in v. 9 with… READ

§ The Philippian church had a front row seat to see how the gospel took root in his life. Paul therefore says in 3:17… Paul has shown his friends and us how faith in JC works out in practice, in the midst of life’s trails. V. 11-13 show more of this…

§ Hopefully, you have someone in your life that you desire to follow and imitate as they follow JC example. With this, do you strive to live a life of faith where someone can say, “I want to emulate him or her as they emulate JC?

· Paul ends v. 9 with… READ.

o The result of such constant Christian practice is stated in the words, “And the God of peace will be with you.” The expression “the God of peace” here complements and brings to climax the phrase “the peace of God” of v. 7. Not only will the Philippians who obey these instructions receive God’s most wonderful gift; they will also have as their constant Helper and Friend the Giver Himself!

· So church, again, bc the Lord is at hand we can heed these commands to rejoice always, be gentle with everyone, not be anxious but in everything pray and ponder and put into practice what we have seen and learned from Christ in His Word. That as we meditate on these things, we would remember our hope in JC who is our reconciler and gentle savior. That His gift of salvation would cause us to rejoice. That daily we look to Him for our righteousness and for daily renewal, and go and imitate Him and as we do, the peace of God will be with us. My prayer is that we would be as Peter and John in Acts 4:20 say, “we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” If you do not know JC, then you will not have this peace that surpassing understanding. During our response time I ask that you would ponder the truth you heard today and ask, Do I know the Prince of Peace? Am I in JC united to Him by faith? If you do not we would love to talk to you more about what it means to know Him.