Philippians 4:4-9

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.

This passage makes two mentions of one of the most sought-after commodities on the face of the earth: peace.  We have peace with God through faith in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.  This passage tells those of us who have peace with God how we can experience the peace of God.  It is a peace that cannot be logically explained because it does not depend on circumstances.  It is an abiding peace that because it is always with us in all the different trials we may be called to face.  However, it is a peace that is conditional upon following these three commandments.

 

LET GOD CONTROL YOUR HEART: The peace that passes understanding is conditional upon three all-inclusive imperatives.  First, always rejoice.  Second, be reasonable to all men.  Third, don’t be anxious about anything.  This path to peace is so easy to understand, but not quite so easy to actually live.  The biggest problems are those words: always, all men, and anything.  It is easy enough to rejoice sometimes or be reasonable with some people or even say no to anxiety sometimes.  But always? All men? Anything?  The key to doing this is found in the surrounding words.  The reason we can always rejoice is because we are in the Lord and through the work of the Spirit He is in us.  The reason we can be reasonable or gentle with all men is because the Lord is near to us and provides the strength we need to be obedient.  The reason we can turn away from anxiety is because we have the all-powerful God at our disposal through prayer.  It is not natural to always rejoice, be reasonable to everyone, or to always remember to pray gratefully.  But, we are indwelt by a super-natural Spirit from God who promises to give a peace that passes all understanding to all who will obey. Sometimes it is easier for us to understand the negative commands: stop complaining, stop fighting, and stop worrying.  We may say that we like to complain, fight back, or worry.  We may even consider it our right to do these things.  However, we must always remember that if we choose to do those things we are forfeiting our “right” to the peace of God that passes all understanding.  God wants us to have a glad, gentle, and grateful heart so we will stop complaining, fighting, and worrying and can experience His peace that passes understanding. 

 

LET GOD CONTROL YOUR HEAD:  This special unexplainable peace is also contingent upon the way we think.  We are given a list of eight things about which we are supposed to think: true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and praiseworthy.  Our minds are constantly engaged in some kind of thinking.  It is easy to let our minds wander or be influenced by the many different sources of media that clamor for our attention.  If we want to find peace of mind, we must allow God to control our thinking.  There is only one think that I can think of that could be described by the eight qualifications in this list, and that is the Word of God.  We must study, meditate upon, memorize, and focus on the truths of God’s Word.  The constant impure, dishonest, unjust, and filthy thoughts with which we are bombarded must be combated with God’s Word.  Whenever we find our minds being tempted or troubled it is because we are forgetting to focus on the truths of Scripture.  Read and remember the Word of God and we will experience peace of mind.   

 

LET GOD CONTROL YOUR HANDS: Paul, once again points to himself as a standard worthy of imitation and calls his readers to follow him.  He says what you have heard me teach and watched me practice is what you need to be doing.  It is one think to know what is right and wrong, and it is good to know these things. However, the problem is we often fail to do what we know is right.  Obedience needs to move from our heads to our hands and feet so that we actually do the things we know.  When we fail to follow the instructions we have been given, we will not be at peace but feel guilty.  If we truly what the peace of God to be our constant companion, we must obey the Word of God.

 

APPLICATION: Rejoice in God’s control over every circumstance.  Be respectful in all our relationships no matter how others treat us.  Develop gratitude as a means of reviewing God’s faithfulness instead of being worried about circumstances.  Meditate on the Word of God so it informs all our thinking.  Do the things we know to do from both teaching and example.