Sunday Sermons

Philippians 4

Mark Dunagan
11/24/02 - Sunday Morning

Philippians

4:4-6

4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always”: “Always be glad in the Lord” (Wey); “Be happy in the Lord always” (Beck). "Keep on rejoicing" (Jackson p. 79). The joy of the Christian is real, deep, strong, and enduring. It is not like the fleeting shallow joy that we all have experienced and which the world so often offers. Paul was in prison, facing an uncertain verdict, separated from dear friends, and helpless to stop false teachers in other places (3:2). In addition, he found himself unsupported and let down by some who professed to be Christians (4:2; 1:15). Yet all of these negative circumstances could not remove from him the joy he found in being a Christian. “It is a simple fact of human experience that a man living in the lap of luxury can be wretched. A man upon whom life has apparently inflicted no blows at all can be gloomily or peevishly discontented” (Barclay pp. 71-72).

4:4 “Again I will say, rejoice!”: “And I will say it a second time (for emphasis)” (Bruce p. 141). It's as if Paul feels that he cannot stress this enough. To count our blessings, to be grateful and always realize how much God has done for us, and despite adverse circumstances, to always remember that a glorious future awaits and how fortunate we are to be Christians, can never be stressed enough. Erdman reminds us, “If a person is not rejoicing, it is because he is not appropriating to his personal needs all the available riches of grace in Christ Jesus. One cause of joylessness is the memory of past failures and faults. We are slow to believe in divine forgiveness, or to expect victory where once we have been overcome. Others are continually inclined to take dark views of life; their humor is seldom cheerful. They are almost proud that they are pessimists. All should endeavor to cultivate the fine art of good cheer” (pp. 137-138). All of this tells us, that if we are unhappy, then it is our own choosing.

4:5 “Let your gentle spirit be known to all men”: “Forbearing spirit be plain to everyone” (TCNT). Here is the language of choice. “The Greek term which contains the idea of ‘yieldingness, gentleness or sweet reasonableness’ the term suggests the disposition of one who is willing to forego his own rights in the interest of the higher good of others. The word does not, however, imply a yielding in truth or principle!” (Jackson pp. 79-80). “Goodwill, fairness, magnanimity” (Muller pp. 140). “The term indicates something of ‘the power of yielding’, the ability to give way to the wishes of others, the poise of soul which enables one to sacrifice his own rights, not by necessity but out of generosity and sympathy. It is the opposite of stubbornness and thoughtlessness. It underlies chivalry and true politeness” (Erdman p. 139). “It is that considerate courtesy and respect for the integrity of others which prompts a person not to be forever standing on his rights” (Hawthorne p. 182). “Known to all men”: People do pick up on what type of attitude controls our thoughts. This character trait we see in Jesus (2:3-5; 2 Corinthians 10:1). The context reveals the key that unlocks such a wonderful attitude. The key is "gratitude" (4:4). Seeing that God has unselfishly done so much for my salvation (2:6-8), I have all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:3), and that I have always far more than I really deserve, I do not have to insist on every "right" that is entitled to me. Ungrateful people demand their rights. Hendriksen notes: “The lesson which Paul teaches is that true blessedness cannot be obtained by the person who rigorously insists on whatever he regards as his just due. Sweet reasonableness is an essential ingredient to true happiness” (p. 193). “The Lord is near”: In view of the fact that the Second coming of Jesus Christ could happen at any time, the Lord is always at hand (1 Thessalonians 5:1-3). “Leave all wrongs for Him to adjust. Forbear all wrath and retaliation (Romans 12:19ff)” (Gr. Ex. N.T. p. 466). Hence there is good reason to rejoice always and good reason to forego your own rights and to live worry-free. The Lord can come at any time to reward the faithful and to punish the evil-doers, to heal all ills and right all wrongs (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). Christians should be known as people who are "reasonable". That is, we are ready to compromise where we should. Being a Christian means that we are only "strict" and "unyielding" in those areas where God is unyielding. Being unyielding on anything and everything is not a mark of spirituality.

4:6 “Be anxious for nothing”: “Do not worry about anything” (Mon); “entertain no worry” (Ber), and yet, we often want to "reserve" at least something or one thing to worry about. The term “anxious” means “to draw in different directions, thus to be of a divided mind” (Jackson p. 80). God is not against "caring", but He is against being unduly concerned about something, that is letting such cares choke and paralyze His children (Matthew 13:22). “Anxious harassing care, of attempting to carry the burden of the future oneself, especially about things over which one has no control” (Hawthorne p. 183). Paul practiced what he preached. The man who wrote this spoke from experience (4:11-12). Presently, he probably had far more things he could worry about, than the brethren in Philippi or us. Lest we think that such instruction was "easy" for the Philippians, we need to remind ourselves that "stress" has always existed. Even Christians can find themselves thinking that since our generation and culture moves faster than others, that we have more things to worry about, that is, this passage does not apply to us in the busy rat-race of the Western world. Listen to what Bruce says, “Christian experience in a pagan world was full of uncertainties: persecution of one kind or another was always a possibility, and the impossibility of membership in guilds which were under the patronage of pagan divinities was bound to involve economic disadvantage” (p. 143). “Paul and the Philippians had ample reason (from a human standpoint) for anxiety since the one was in prison and the others were threatened with persecution(1:28). So he is not speaking of imaginary troubles or phantom anxieties” (Hawthorne p. 183). The world has come up with many of its own ways of handling worry: Drugs or physical temporary pleasure, apathy, ceasing to care so the troubles of life will not bother you anymore, not expecting anything, not getting your hopes up about anything so that you will never be disappointed. “God never tells us to suppress every desire” (Hendriksen p. 195).

4:6 “But in everything by prayer and supplication”: Someone has well said, that if a care is too small to be made into a prayer, then it is too small to worry about. “There is nothing too great for God's power; and nothing too small for His Fatherly care” (Barclay p. 77). Sadly, some Christians only view prayer as a last resort, or something that is only used in emergency situations. Others view prayer as being completely inadequate for the big "crisis" situations. In contrast, God says, “prayer is suited for all and every circumstance”. Hawthorne offers the following insights: “How does one gain and keep his equilibrium in a world heaving with anxiety-creating situations? Paul's answer: by prayer. Believing that God is, that He is greater than the greatest problem. From personal experience he had learned that ‘the way to be anxious about nothing was to be prayerful about everything’. He is saying in effect, that prayer is a conversation with, a plea directed to, a request made of, the supreme Person of the universe who can hear, know, understand, care about, and respond to” (p. 183). “With thanksgiving”: Paul often connects gratitude with prayer (Romans 1:21; 14:6; Eph. 5:20; Colossians 3:15). “Thanksgiving must be the universal accompaniment of prayer. The Christian must feel, as it has been put, that all his life he is, as it were suspended between past and present blessings” (Barclay p. 77). This passage is a great test of spirituality and character. Letting God have our worries is part of giving God the complete control of our lives (Galatians 2:20). We fail to remember that insisting upon worrying is a form of selfishness. “Let your requests be made known to God”: (Matthew 6:8; 1 Peter 5:7). “The troubles that exercise us then cease to be hidden and bottled up. They are, so to speak, laid open to God, spread out before Him” (Hawthorne p. 184).

4:7 “And the peace of God”: This is the result of being grateful and casting all our cares upon God. This is the peace that God gives, the peace available in a relationship with God, the peace that comes from trusting God completely. “Which surpasses all comprehension”: Vincent notes, “Either, which passes all power of comprehension or better, which surpasses every (human) reason, in its power to relieve anxiety” (pp. 457-458). “There are two possible views. It may mean that the ‘peace of God’ is beyond our ability to mentally appreciate or, it may denote that real peace, such as comes from God, is beyond man's ability to contrive, produce, or obtain by himself” (Jackson p. 80). “God’s gift of peace will do far more for us than will any clever planning or calculating on our part” (Hendriksen p. 197). “God's peace is able to produce exceedingly better results than human planning or that it is far superior to any person's schemes for security or that it is more effective for removing anxiety than any intellectual effort or power of reasoning” (Hawthorne p. 184). Often people will ridicule prayer, but this section reveals that sincere, humble, grateful, and earnest prayer, casting all our cares upon God in simple trust, can do much more than all the human "cures" combined! Prayer works because it is rooted in reality. God really does exist and He can really reward. In addition, the reality is that we have been abundantly blessed, no matter what our present earthly circumstances may be, and even if the worst case happens, we still are better off (1:21,23). “Shall guard”: All other mechanisms for dealing with worry will fail. Notice the word "shall". Prayer, when done right, will work every time. “This is a military term picturing God's peace as a detachment of soldiers ‘standing guard over’. The metaphor would have been easily understood and appreciated by the Philippian Christians who read it: God's peace, like a garrison of soldiers, will keep guard over our thoughts and feelings so that they will be as safe against the assaults of worry and fear as any fortress” (Hawthorne pp. 184-185).

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017