5 Keys for Experiencing God’s Peace
The following blog is a transcript from Pastor Casey’s sermon on July 2nd, 2023 called “Maintaining Tranquility.”
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Introduction
Well today I have the honor of continuing on our sermon series through the book of Philippians. I have really enjoyed working through this book over the past 12 weeks and next week will be the series' conclusion.
Last week we read three, quick verses that included an exhortation for the community in Philippi to remain committed to restoring unity. Today we are going to continue on in Philippians 4, reading verses 4-9, but first I'd like to pray.
Prayer
Lord, we thank you again for the opportunity to gather today and consider your Word. Thank you preserving it for us and for speaking to us through it. As we consider these verses, help us not just be hearers of the truth, but doers as well. Transform our hearts and our minds and mold us into who you've made us to be.
Opening Story
Last summer, my wife and I received amazing news that we had been praying for and dreaming of for three years - we were going to have a baby. We had hit a rather discouraging stretch in the process of trying to become pregnant, one I know many are familiar with and many who have had that stretch last far longer than we had - but we were really beginning to wonder if this was going to happen. Were we going to need to pursue medical help? Should we shift are dreaming and planning towards adoption?
Then boom - one day when we were casually getting ready for work meetings, Jess decided to take a pregnancy test and out of nowhere - it was happening. It was the strangest feeling I had ever experienced. Truthfully, I think I had put the desire towards the back of my mind so that I wouldn't continue to be discouraged over it.
Joy and relief really hit when you get to do that first ultrasound and see that the baby is healthy. Then goes the fun process of breaking the news to your family, friends, and over social media. Jess and I chose to wait a while to learn the baby's gender, which created months of fun conversations, speculation, and dreaming of what our child would be like.
But then something hit me that I wasn't expecting. Somewhere around halfway through the pregnancy, I began dealing with some significant anxiety. In situations where I had previously been emotionally consistent and reliable, I began to feel fragile and out of control with what I felt. I had several panic attacks in heightened moments of conflict or stress. This was a new experience for me.
Anytime I got to a point where I could communicate through why I was feeling so stressed and overwhelmed, the common source was that I was overcome by the weight and magnitude of this new season of life that was approaching. A new level of responsibility.
I was really nervous to be a dad - probably because of the complex fatherhood dynamics I grew up with. My biological dad was never in my life, my mom and adopted dad had divorced when I was ten years old, and getting comfortable and appreciating having a step dad took me many years.
The relationship I had with the fathers in my life made me nervous to step into this season.
That on top of all the other consuming changes and shifts that were naturally occurring led me to experience a season of anxiety and emotional instability like I had never felt.
Perhaps you have gone through a similar experience. A season of life comes with heightened stress and pressure because of weighty circumstances and that pressure is affecting your relationships, your passions and interests, your sense of purpose or joy. Financial crisis, the loss of a loved one, significant lifestyle changes - whatever it may be - we all have experienced moments in life where we just can't seem to find any peace.
Historically, many in the church have unfortunately critiqued the experiences of anxiety or extreme worrying as weakness or ignorance. But the commands of just toughen up, don't be mentally weak, or get over it - are not only incredibly insensitive, but are very impractical.
If you have ever dealt with significant anxiety or worry throughout seasons of your life, you know that it is not something you'd like to have stick around. Most are not choosing to feel this overwhelming weight over their lives and it is a burden they would love to have removed.
The world around us offers a variety of insufficient means for finding emotional or mental stability as we go throughout life, but we need something that can ground us, remind us of the truth, and usher in real peace throughout the circumstances we face.
Today we are going to look at Philippians 4:4-9 and consider a well-known, but under-utilized method for maintaining tranquility through the ups and downs of life. You can begin to turn to Philippians 4 now if you brought a Bible or you can find the verses on the screen behind me.
Like last week's passage, Paul is continuing on a series of closing exhortations as he wraps up the letter. Here we will find five exhortations that speak to maintaining inner tranquility despite the circumstances we may be facing.
Philippians 4:4-9 (ESV)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness [or gentleness] be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 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.
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.
This is a really cool passage . You know, throughout the New Testament there are a lot of passages that talk about peace, or the heart and the mind, but there are few that are this practical. In fact, the exhortations in this passage are often used to help unpack some of Paul's bigger ideas noted in letters like Romans or 1 Corinthians.
There are five exhortations from Paul here - so we will unpack each of these and consider the implications for our lives and wrestle with a couple really challenging texts here. If you ever take a preaching class in seminary they always tell you not to have more than three points, but if Paul thinks you can handle five, I think we can make it work.
Rejoice in the Lord
Paul's first key for maintaining tranquility is to rejoice in the Lord.
Similar to last week's call to restoring unity - the reason and source of which this can be done is in the Lord. This goes beyond some kind of sunny optimism that is encouraging one to suppress certain feelings or thoughts, or give in to some misguided or ignorant joy that is totally detached from how someone might feel otherwise.
This isn't like parent who is just simply encouraging a better attitude in their kid so that they will stop being so dramatic or unhinged in an environment - for Paul, this command of rejoicing in the Lord is an appeal to faith.
This is the eleventh time in this short letter that Paul has talked about joy - so he must have thought that this was an important attitude for the Philippians to either find or continue on in. And there is a lot of reasons why Paul might have thought this was important was to lean to into:
Paul was in prison for preaching the gospel, and the community very well could have been terrified about the fact that their spiritual father was facing judgement and even death...
Epaphroditus, one of their local leaders, was facing significant illness...
The community was being antagonized and ridiculed by unbelievers...
You had friction between members in the community...
You've got religious legalists trying to persuade the community into unnecessary practices...
The community is going through a lot - and Paul's first command for finding and protecting peace is to find joy in the Lord. In the midst of conflict and tension, to turn their eyes to the one who is in control and who has promised to deliver them.
Many Christians today live and operate out of extreme anxiety because of the ongoing cultural shifts we face. In recent history, there was a time where Christian virtues had a significant influence on our cultural norms - even if Christ wasn't necessarily attached to them. And as political and social agendas and ideas take our societal norms further left and further right, many live in a constant state of being unsettled and at times fearful of where the world is heading.
It affects some of the overarching themes and movements of our day that can feel further away or unattached and it affects the very real, daily lives each of us live in our schools, workplaces, and in our relationships.
And what I fear is that so many have put their hope not in God and and in His ultimate plan of making all things new and good in the end, but in the idea of cultural influence or idealogical dominance - so that when we begin to lose that, which we are and have - we're left in this place of hopelessness and fear of how this is all going to work together.
Our eyes get so fixated on the circumstances in front of us that we forget who is ultimately in control and has promised to work out all things for good.
We face this not just broadly as the church, but also through our individual circumstances. The conflicts and troubles you face have an agenda, and that agenda is to steal your awe from the one who is control and make you anxious and fearful about how things are going to work out.
Choosing to rejoice in the Lord and reflect on His good and gracious promises will ground us when everything feels like it is falling apart. We can trust God and rejoice in His plans because He will right every wrong and He will redeem our circumstances and eternity awaits us where we will not experience the effects of sin, death, and Satan any longer.
Be Reasonable with All People
Paul's second key for maintaining tranquility is to be reasonable [or gentle] with all people.
Now at face value, this sounds like a great idea - almost a, "No duh," kind of moment. Want to have peace in your life? Don't have conflicts with others. But like, Paul... have you met some people?
Commentators and theologians make special emphasis of the fact here in verse five it says:
Let your reasonableness [or gentleness] be known to everyone.
Not just the people you like, or the people it is easy to be reasonable or gentle with - but everyone.
It is easy to be reasonable with people who are likeminded to you, right? Someone who shares religious, political, or social views. Someone who has similar interests or hobbies. But trying to be reasonable or gentle with people different than you is not the most natural thing.
If we were honest, I think most of us would think this verse feels kinda backwards if this is supposed to be a source of peace in our life. It is often, at least temporarily, more peaceful to be reasonable with those I am likeminded with. Conversations seem to have less conflict, we get along really well, and I don't feel like I am going to step on their toes.
Trying to be this way towards everyone seems like a recipe for chaos, not peace.
Thankfully we have an example in the life of Christ where we see the fruit of life that is constantly seeking to be reasonable and gentle with those around Him. Look at the people Jesus not just associated with, but was able to draw to himself:
Jewish leaders, like pharisees and sadducees...
Roman soldiers...
The poor and the sick...
The rich...
The working class...
The widows...
The children...
Prostitutes...
Prisoners...
Though Jesus never sacrificed or stepped back from affirming the truth, He let love lead Him into relationships that transcended social, religious, and political lines and he drew the likes of everyone towards him.
Jesus' kindness was not just reserved for a certain kind of person, but was open to all, and often was the turning point for those who would put their faith in Him and receive salvation.
Romans 2:1-4 says:
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
We often withhold kindness from those who we judge and prefer less, but if we consider the example of Jesus, it is kindness and humility and love that can so often bridge the gap between those we differ from.
While it is certainly challenging at times to consider the work that comes in trying to be reasonable or gentle with all around me, the fruit that comes from a lifestyle of it can indeed produce peace.
The result of God's kindness to us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus was peace with the Father, and our kindness towards all will result in us getting to be conduits and recipients of that peace as well.
Praying Through Difficult Situations
Paul's third key for maintaining tranquility is to pray through difficult situations.
Verse 6 is a very famous verse, if you have been in church I am sure you've heard it:
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.
Quick raise of hands here, can anyone here say they have never been anxious about anything?
Again, two verses in a row here, this is a very great sentiment, but a very difficult reality.
Don't be anxious about anything? Not the job interview coming up, the big exam you are facing, the financial struggles and wondering if you are going to cover everything next month, the extended family member you've got to deal with in an upcoming gathering?
At first reading, this feels like my guy Paul hasn't gone through much. If you have lived life, you have felt anxiety or concern about something.
Here's where this gets even trickier for us: Back in Philippians 2:20, Paul commends Timothy for concern, the verse says:
For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare...
The phrase here that says genuinely concerned is the exact same word here in Philippians 4:6 that translates to anxious.
So anxiety or concern is commended one moment, and then said to not to be something that should not be present in a believer's life in another. Which is it?
The resolution of this problem probably lies in viewing anxiety as concern that may become fretful and inappropriate if taken too far. It isn't wrong to feel worried, concerned, or anxious about a situation. Even Jesus, as he prepared to face dying the on cross in Luke 22:44 says he was in so much anguish at what he faced that he experienced a medical phenomenon of sweating blood.
But for all the anxiety I am sure Jesus felt in that moment, He did not let it control Him to the point that He abandoned what He knew He was called to in that moment. This led Jesus to pray out to the Father,
“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
The issue Paul takes with anxiety is not that you feel worried or concerned, but that you don't do the right thing about.
People do crazy and otherwise uncharacteristic things when they are anxious. Someone who has always been generous, might be tempted to store up and withhold generosity when they experience financial loss. Someone who once used their vulnerability to help reassure and comfort people in difficult situations might become isolated and reserved if they become anxious that they can't trust someone.
We are prone to let anxiety control us, and Paul reminds us, and Jesus is our example that the solution to not being controlled by your worry and concern is to pray and seek the Lord. In prayer, anxiety is resolved through trust in God.
Prayer takes up the anxiety-provoking question of, "How? How will I cope?" and answers by pointing away to God, and to His promises and resources.
Thanksgiving addresses itself to the worrying question of, "Why? Why has this happened to me?" and answers by pointing to our Heavenly Father who never acts without purpose and whose purposes never fail.
Paul reminds us that as we turn to the Lord in prayer when we face experiences that cause doubt, concern, or worry, that God's peace can surpass our understanding and guard our hearts and minds.
When he says that peace can transcend our understanding, it isn't to say that it is senseless, but that it is beyond our ability to understand or explain. It is something to be experienced - not necessarily described.
You hear this a lot with salvation testimonies - that the moment someone turned to Jesus for salvation was almost beyond what they could explain in the moment. They just felt a deep sense of peace and love and they knew it was the right thing to decide. God can continue to give us this peace throughout the concerning moments in our lives.
This verse also tells that when we receive this peace, it guards us. This illustration would have been relevant to the people of Philippi - a garrison town that would have many Roman soldiers on watch at all times. Likewise, God's peace can garrison and protect your heart and your mind through times of great trouble.
Think About Wholesome Subjects
Paul's fourth key for maintaining tranquility is to think about wholesome subjects. He says,
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.
These, Paul would say, are the fruit and the food of the mind that is guarded by the peace of God. When we put these good things into our mind, they stay in our mind and then come forth from us.
Much of the Christian life comes down to the mind. Romans 12:2 speaks of it being the essential place of being transformed by the renewing of your mind and 2 Corinthians 10:5 speaks of the importance of casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
What we choose to meditate on matters.
What Paul describes here is the practical way to take every thought captive.
Overwhelmed by your lack of money? The quality of your car or your house? Feeling ungrateful about your relationships?
Sit down and begin write a list of blessings in your life. Fixate your mind not on what you lack, but in what you have, and watch your anxiety and concern turn to thanksgiving and praise.
It is often through an exercise like that where I turn from being worried about how I am going to handle this situation or how we are going to make it through a difficult time, and I am reminded of how God has showed up in the past. How He has blessed me in a moments where I thought I was stuck or the door was closed.
Fix your mind on the things worthy of praise in your life - it is practical way to overcome concern or fear.
Practice Apostolic (Godly) Teaching
Finally, Paul tells the Philippians to practice apostolic (or godly) teaching. He says,
What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Now on the surface this may sound a little legalistic. I have to practice and do what Paul has relayed from God in order to receive God's peace? I thought this was about grace and not needing to get everything right?
Dr. Sam Storms has a helpful framework for situations like this in the Bible. He says that there is a difference between our eternal union and experiential communion with God. Our youth kids are learning about this today too, check this out:
Eternal Union refers to the fact that you are saved, redeemed, forgiven, justified, and adopted. If you are in Christ, this is a permanent reality that isn't changed, even when you sin and mess up and fall short. You are eternally united to the Father because of Jesus.
Experiential Communion refers to what you feel, sense, and enjoy each day in following Jesus. This can be affected by your sin and disobedience to God's commands. When you don't live the way God has called you to, you feel it. You sense that you are distant from God. You don't experience feelings of salvation, of grace, and comfort and peace, because you're living in sin and it makes it difficult to feel like you are deserving of the benefits of your eternal union with God.
Many curse God and claim that He has abandoned them or doesn't care about them, or is absent from their life, when it is not that God's eternal love and commitment has ceased, but it is that they are experiencing a disruption in their communion or connection with God because their life is not congruent with what He has called them to.
One might be living in sin, but then has the nerve to blame God for the distance they feel.
Now I praise God that we do not live with a tally sheet of all that we are doing wrong, racking up this case of why we don't deserve God's grace. God's mercies are new everyday and our sin does not separate us from the eternal commitment he has made to us.
But if we blatantly ignore God's commands and live a life contrary to His ways, we are going to lack peace. We are going to feel like something is missing or off. Paul reminds not to just learn, receive, or hear God's commands - but to do them. If we do, we will experience God's peace.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, in each of these five exhortations for maintaining tranquility, the common theme behind all of them is trusting that God is in control.
We can rejoice in the Lord, be reasonable with all people, pray through difficult situations, think about wholesome subjects, and practice apostolic teaching because God is in control. The opposite of each of these keys leads you into a life of concern, doubt, fear, and anxiety.
We can choose joy over fear or sadness because we know that God is in control of all things and has good plans for us.
We can choose to be reasonable with all people because we know God has said it is good to be kind and that it will lead to repentance.
We can pray through difficult circumstances because God cares about our worries and anxieties and wants to give us peace.
We can think about wholesome subjects because God has blessed us and has done things that are worthy of praise and consideration.
We can obey God's commands because we know that His ways lead to flourishing and peace.
The key to walking these things out is believing God is in control and that what He said is true and worthy of being followed. We can do this because God can empower us to do so - He can transform our hearts and our minds and change us from being those controlled by fear or worry and lead us into a life of trusting Him in everything.
Today I ask you: Are you tired of being controlled by your concerns? Are you weary of feeling overwhelmed by your circumstances?
Because God is available to bring you peace today. God is available to heal and bind up your wounds. He is available to empower you to walk in a way that will result in ongoing peace and trust towards Him.