“Peace Like A River” - Part Two
Phil. 4:1-7
OPEN: This morning we are going to continue with our study on peace. It’s obvious to all of us that we live in a world that really knows very little about what peace is and how to experience it. Peace is one of those things that everyone wants, but no one has a real clear answer of what it is or how you can get it and keep it. Our world is filled with anxiety, stress and tension. 10 of the top 50 most prescribed medicines in America are for anxiety, and depression - generating around 10 billion dollars annually for the drug companies. Our culture is filled people who seem unable to cope with the circumstances in their lives. And the sad reality is that in spite all of the effort and energy that’s put into trying to find peace or establish peace or create peace, so many people never really experience it. So this morning we are going to be continue exploring what the Bible has to say about experiencing peace in our lives. Where do you go to find stability in life? Where do you go to learn to cope? Where do you go to learn to deal with anxiety? Where do you go to deal with circumstances that you find debilitating you and pressuring you?
Review: You remember from last week that peace is a part of the armor of God. It’s what enables us to
stand when the enemy attacks us. We said that in the Bible we are taught about two different kinds of peace. There is Peace With God and there is the Peace of God. When we talk about peace we are talking about the Shalom of God – Shalom is wholeness – it is togetherness – it is being all together together. It’s a deep down sense of contentment, lacking fear and anxiety and worry. It’s having a sense that you have all you need to face all that you are dealing with. If you have peace, the Shalom of God – you have what you need to stay stable – you will not be easily knocked over or knocked out – you have firm footing. That’s what the apostle had in mind when he says, “Stand firm then with your feet fitted with the readiness (the preparation) that comes from the Gospel of Peace.” This is part of the armor we are to take up and wear – We defend ourselves from the onslaught that comes from the enemy, we prepare ourselves to stand in the face of battle by realizing in our individual lives the good news of the Gospel of peace.
John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have
trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Note the words “In me” – Where does this peace come from – it comes from Jesus Christ – you can’t find it any other place. In other words – this is not a peace program – this peace is not wrapped up in a program – it is wrapped up in a person. It is directly related to a personal relationship with Him. Now notice in this verse “in the world,” what do you have? Trouble - tribulation. But “In me” you have peace – This peace comes from being “in Christ” – It is rock steady.
You see this is a kind of peace that is not determined or impacted by circumstances. It isn’t something that we are brought into through some change of circumstance. It is steady – it is steadfast – and we aren’t thrown off when something comes our way that we didn’t expect. It isn’t a matter of chance or luck - but it is a matter of choice. Circumstances do not have to be a certain way in order for us to experience the peace of God.
We talked about it last week: The typical way a person tries to establish peace in their life is to try to rearrange the circumstances of their life - to try to change their environment - to put things together- in place- in such a way that the circumstances of their life are put in order - and put into such an order that anxiety and stress can be reduced.
Now here’s what I can say about that – there is not a single verse in the Scripture that says we can arrange our lives in such way that troubles trials and tribulations and heartache won’t be part of our lives. In fact Jesus taught just the opposite. He said “In this world ye shall have tribulation.” Slice of reality. Nobody escapes it – in fact starting with his very first sermon, he said when you make the choice to follow me – expect more of it. In fact this verse became the basis of a very well-known country song about 25 years ago - that great country theologian, June Carter sang – “I beg your pardon – I never promised you a rose garden” - that song comes right out of the Bible.
But people will try to arrange and manipulate their environment. “If only I can get the kids to be quiet then, I will have peace.” “If only I could get my spouse to act a certain way – or - If I could only find a different work environment – a different job. If only I could live somewhere else – maybe a small cottage with a white picket fence way up in the mountains somewhere, then maybe I could be at peace.”
The problem is so often though that even when the kids are quiet – even when the spouse is not around –
even when you get that different job – even when you build a log cabin way up in the mountains – you still find you have anxiety and stress and worry. Why? Because peace isn’t established by rearranging circumstances on the outside. Peace is found by surrendering on the inside. Jesus doesn’t say these things won’t come – but he says we can experience his peace whenever they do come. Jesus doesn’t establish his peace by bringing us into some change of circumstances. He establishes His peace by taking up residence and control on the inside. If Jesus controls you on the inside, nothing is going to touch you from the outside.
The world attempts to establish peace in all the wrong ways.
“I’ll change my vocation”
If only I had a different job, I’m sure I could find peace. So they change jobs, and for a brief moment in time – things look like they’re getting better. But slowly the thrill of that new job begins to get displaced with dissatisfaction and soon enough those old feelings of anxiety and frustration and anger begin to return and pretty soon the new boss is a bozo just the old boss. And they begin to think, “Man how in the world did I ever get so unlucky as to get two employers who were both bozos?”
“Ill change my location”
What I need to do to find peace is to move to a different area and find new people to surround me. So they’ll move – go to a different area of the country - the world. And you know what they find – no peace. People are just as weird and strange and hard to get along with as they were in the old location.
“I’ll change my association” I need new friends who will love me and support me and befriend me.
So they leave their old friends behind and they look for a group of new friends. People do this all the time in churches. Leave one bunch of sinners in one church and re-associate themselves with a new group of sinners in another church. Some people say I just need another marriage partner. If I can just myself away from this person and get myself another one – a good one next time - I’ll finally find peace. Only to find out that they’ve jumped from the frying pan into the fire.
“I’ll change my concentration” I’ll just change my thinking patterns – I’ll will myself to be peaceful.
I’ll find peace down-deep within myself and I’ll cause it to rise up from within and I’ll be peaceful. Let me tell you - The reason you are not experiencing peace is because the well is dry. You can dip your bucket into an empty well all you want – you will never bring a full bucket of water after dropping it into an empty well. You can concentrate on it all you – you won’t manufacture peace yourself. If your method at trying to find peace is “I will fix my circumstances” and I will rearrange my life – and I will overcome my anxiety – you are working on a formula that will not be successful.
He says, “I have overcome the world.” Do you believe that? When he says “I have overcome the world” he is saying, “I am greater than anything the world will bring your way.” Greater than the stress, greater than the problems, greater than the bad news, greater than the disappointments, greater than any problem you and I will ever face. He is greater – not only that – he has overcome it. Past tense victory – it is done – it is complete – and it is yours because you are his. Jesus wants you not only to experience it but to live in it.
So why do so many people miss it? Well, it’s because so many of us have areas in our lives which we’ve failed to surrender to his reign. In the Christian life, victory always comes by way of surrender.
You have to surrender to win.
It starts, as we talked about last week, when we put an end to the war between ourselves and God. But don’t think that’s the end of it. Because we are have our own private little battlefields in our lives – personal areas where we are reluctant to give complete surrender. They are areas that have a strong hold on us. In fact that’s exactly what the Bible calls then – strongholds. It’s not that Jesus doesn’t have the power to overcome these areas – it is our own unwillingness to turn them over to Him. We want to hold on them.
So what Paul does in this passage is address some of these areas. He wants the Philippians to live with
the peace of God in their everyday lives. Notice he is talking to people he calls brothers. Paul believes these people to be saved and heaven bound, but they are people who are in process. They still have areas that have a strong hold over their lives. Those areas are robbing them of the peace of Christ. Notice what he’s talking about – he showing them how to stand firm. NASB words it this way: Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. Paul’s concern here for the church in Philippi is the same concern that he had for the church in Ephesus – he’s concerned about the ability to stand – more than that – to stand firm. He’s concerned about their stability. We shouldn’t be like those who are tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind that comes our way. We’re not tumbleweeds. We’re called to be spiritual redwoods. We’re not to be like the man in James who is unstable in all his ways, wavering like a cork on the sea. We have an anchor – and our anchor holds. Be firm, be strong, be stable in the Lord. If you look down at verse 7 – the passage culminates with the result that the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your minds in Christ Jesus. You see that’s where he heading. He wants to take them to the place where that’s not just an interesting theological idea – but a living reality in their life.
Now to accomplish this; what he is going to do is help them and us to understand how to get there. How does the peace of God become a reality in our lives? Without it you can’t stand firm. Without it – there is no stability. So what Paul does it show us the strongholds that still exist – the enemies of this peace – he shows how we lay our peace down, because we allow issues in our lives that rob us of the peace that Jesus gives to us. Paul’s concern here is to get to the root of what is keeping God’s people from experiencing God’s peace.
The issue isn’t that we loose the peace of Christ – it’s that we lay it down because we haven’t fully surrendered some of the attitudes and behaviors of the old sinful nature. These old sinful attitudes and behaviors that are enemies to the peace of Christ.
He points out what the enemy of peace and underlines what you have to do in order to experience the Peace of God.
Problem: Prescription:
Argumentative Spirit Love
Abiding Discouragement Joy
Self-Centeredness Graciousness
Skepticism & Doubt Faith
Anxiety Constant Communication
The first stronghold is given to us in verses 2-3 I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
What’s the enemy of peace here? It’s an argumentative spirit. What we have here is two church members – who it seems must be prominent in the church and they are having some kind of personal conflict. We don’t know exactly who they are except that Paul says they were co-workers with him and he hears about their conflict while he is in prison. They worked at his side as he contended for the Gospel. Notice he says I plead with Euodia and Syntyche – the word is parakaleo - we get the word paraclete from it which is the Holy Spirit - One who comes alongside to plead or beg or encourage or help.– Now the fact Paul uses the word parakaleo seems to suggest something. He doesn’t ask them to get along – he begs them to get along. It seems to me that whatever this argument involved there was a longstanding disagreement. It seems to suggest to me that these two ladies were just plain disagreeable towards each other.
The reason they were not experiencing the peace of Christ, is that they were choosing not to pursue peace.
What are they pursuing? – their disagreement. They weren’t peace makers – they were grudge holders. The issue wasn’t peace – the issue was “who is right and who is wrong.” Simply put they have an argumentative spirit. That argumentative spirit has a strong hold on the way they think. They have this long-standing disagreement where neither one of them wants to concede that their point of view is wrong or misinformed or inaccurate. Maybe one of them had said something or done something that hurt the other – whatever had happened between them –couldn’t be changed. The problem was there was no spirit of forgiveness – no willingness to let the other person off the hook. They were on a mission to prove that the other person was wrong.
Paul says we’ve all been working together, we’ve all been struggling and we’ve all been striving and we’ve all been tried to be used by God to build the church – They’ve been working together to share the Gospel of peace but they don’t have real peace between themselves. and now all of a sudden these two women have just gotten into discord that threatens the peace and stability of the whole thing. It’s not that the peace of God isn’t available to them – They are holding on so tight to their disagreement that they simply refuse to pick it up. In order for there to be peace in that church and between those women, they had to put away their pride, forgive one another, and get back to the job that God had called them to do in the first place. Before they could be used of God to bring forgiveness into the lives of others, they themselves had to forgive.
What the prescription? How can they begin to experience the peace of God? Instead of arguing – be agreeable. What’s missing is a spirit of love. A spirit of agape – of unconditional acceptance. What’s missing is a real deep heartfelt spirit of forgiveness and not the pretense of it. What’s the prescription to lead them into the Peace of God? That will help them stand firm? Love towards each other. If they want to experience God’s peace they will have to eliminate discord. Living in peace has to have a greater value than being right in an argument. This “I-am-right-and-you-are wrong” attitude is grounded in what? – Pride. Pure and simple.
Let’s look at the next one: Paul says, Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
You might say, “You don’t understand my situation. There’s no way that I can rejoice with what is happening to me.” The Bible isn’t saying you are to rejoice in your situations – you are to rejoice in the Lord. If you want to experience the peace of God, you have to be willing to lay down your discouragement – move beyond it and rejoice in the Lord. If you are going to experience the peace of God in your life, the next stronghold you are going to have to dismantle is a chronic abiding spirit of discouragement. Now I’m not talking about those occasion bad hair days that we all have once in while. We all experience momentary episodes of discouragement, when we are overwhelmed. We might be facing opposition or disapproval and we momentarily feel disheartened. That’s normal. It’s normal from time to time to feel a little dejected. Feeling discouraged from time to time is not a sin. I think even Jesus got discouraged from time to time. He would give a very clear teaching, perform a miracle to demonstrate it, show how it was truth and the disciples still wouldn’t understand. “Are you still so slow to understand the things I’ve told you?” But the difference is he never stayed in that place of discouragement. People who choose chronic discouragement are easy targets for the enemy. It doesn’t take much to cause them to go into a tail spin. They can’t stand firm because they are so focused on a negative mindset. Let me say to you chronic discouragement is an enemy of God’s peace.
How do you get rid of chronic discouragement? Notice what it says, “rejoice in the Lord,” You can’t always rejoice in your circumstances but you can always rejoice in the Lord, in your privileged union with Him, that’s the idea. That’s a joy no circumstance can touch. Jesus said, “in me you will have peace” In Jesus you will find joy. You can experience joy anytime you contemplate the eternal unchanging enriching all empowering relationship with God made available to you through Christ Jesus. As long as I reflect on the Lord and what He's done for me and is doing for me and has planned to do for me, I find my joy there.
By the way, this is a command.
It is no less a sin not to rejoice then not to repent, or not to do anything else God commands you to do.
You say, “Well what if I don’t feel joyful? What if I come in and my circumstances are just so heavy upon me that I can’t work up a feeling of joyfulness? Am I supposed to put on a plastic smile and pretend to be joyful?” No absolutely not. You see when a person uses that kind of an argument what they are really advocating is their right to nurse their discouragement. They want the right to hold on to discouragement. Why would anyone do that? Well I don’t know why. Maybe they like the feelings of empathy it brings from those they interact with. “Oh you poor thing – you sure do have it bad.” Maybe they’ve gotten so used to living in discouragement they don’t remember what it’s like to be truly joyful. It’s become a stronghold in their life. I don’t know – I don’t claim to understand the psychology behind it – all I know is the Bible commands it. Which makes it absolutely clear –it’s a choice. If you make the choice to respond obediently – then that opens up the door to the peace of God reigning in your life rather than discouragement. And you can stand firm in spite of the circumstances you are facing. People who know the peace of God are those who in the ebb and flow and rise and fall of circumstances in life always maintain joy - joy is at the heart of peace.
Next Paul says, “Let your gentleness be evident to all.” KJV translates it; Let your moderation be known unto all men. The word gentleness is one of those almost untranslatable Greek terms - epieikes, - it has the sense of sweet reasonableness – it could be translated big-heartedness – it could be translated “Good-will” Some have chosen the word “magnanimity,” let your magnanimity be known to all men. In other words, your over-generosity. Some translators have used the word forbearance - good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence – it is restraint in spite of having been wronged. That really is the essence of what Paul is saying – let your graciousness be evident. This is a gentle spirit in spite of being wronged.
Check out this place mat from Burger King. Part of the reason that so many people have problem
experiencing the peace of God is they have adopted a Burger King mindset in their lives. The culture in which we live has convinced us that what Burger King has told us is true. And when you buy into a Burger King mentality you instantly loose your peace. What does Burger King say? Have it your way. First off - I’m here to tell you, that Burger King lies. I’ve never had it my way at Burger King. You know what my way is? I get the hamburger, and I don’t have to pay...that’s my way. They’re not giving it to me my way. I pay every time. That’s their way, but it’s not my way.
The mindset of our culture is that I have a right to have it my way. And if I don’t get to have it my way, I can rage, argue, demand, pout, manipulate, stomp my feet and cry – because I have a right to have it my way. And so many people never experience peace because the reality is that it is not possible to live in peace when you’re preoccupied with “having it your way” “Having it my way” means “I’m the issue”
The quickest way to eliminate peace from your life is to have an “I’m-the-issue” mentality.
Peace is experienced when I have no demands for myself. Gentleness – graciousness means you live with a new attitude. I have no demands for myself. Then if I get something, fine. If I don’t, fine. If I’m treated a certain way, fine. If I’m treated this way, fine. It doesn’t really matter to me, I’m not concerned about me. That’s what makes Paul say, “I’ve learned the secret of being content in any every situation” Why? Because “Paul is not the issue.” “I’m not the issue so I can have a forbearing - gentle - gracious spirit. I can have a gracious big-hearted magnanimous humble charitable spirit.” That’s peace. That’s a person who can stand no matter what.
Next thing Paul says is a little four word sentence. “The Lord is near”
Experiencing the peace of God in our life means we are going to rest in a confident faith and absolute trust in the Lord. No matter what you are facing – he is there encompassing you – his very personal presence is near. Do you live your life in that confidence? Do you live your life in the confidence that even when you think a thought He’s near enough to read it? When you whisper a prayer, He’s near enough to hear it. When you need His strength and His power, He’s near enough to provide it. In fact, is He not living in you, providing the very spiritual life which is your life? It is the life of God in your soul. If I have a confident trust that the Lord is near, what am I worried about?
Paul includes that little sentence to say to you and me, “Trust Him, believe on Him, put your confidence and your faith in him.” He will come through for you if you have faith. And let me tell you something else:
The Lord is the ultimate equalizer.
The source of peace in your life is recognizing that your security is Christ and Christ is near. If I understand who my God is and that He is near, that's all I need to know. But if I harbor doubts or skepticism allow fear to get in the way what happens? No peace. If I don’t believe that God will provide or that God is faithful or that He always keeps his promises or I don’t trust him to rule in certain areas of my life – to the degree that I doubt His nearness is the degree that I lay down the peace of God in my life.
Next Paul says: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. KJV says “be careful for nothing” To be careful means to be full of care. It means to be consumed by your concern over the things that are going on in your life.
Causes of Anxiety?
- Stress.
The most obvious answer is stress. The pressures of life. Dissappointing situations. Overdue bills. Relationship issues. When life isn’t happening the way that we want it to happen. Money, family, work, school – it doesn’t have to big huge momentous issues – it can just be about everyday normal kind of issues – but sometimes we tend to exaggerate the depth of the issues – we begin to worry - we begin to get fearful about everyday issues with no obvious reason for the worry. Sometimes the worry over the issue becomes unrealistic or out of proportion for the situation – that’s anxiety.
– Inadequacy.
We face situations we don’t know how to deal with – situations that are beyond us – too big – we are overwhelmed – we become anxious – we become fearful we become insecure and unsteady – we start to feel miserable – we get knots in our stomach and we begin to make everybody around us feel miserable as well. We don’t think we can cope. Anxiety affects our whole being. It affects how we feel, how we behave and has very real physical symptoms. Feels a bit like fear but often don't know what we are afraid of.
- Pride.
We are too proud to go to God and say we can’t handle this – or we are too often proud to share with someone else that we have a problem too big for us to deal with by ourselves. “Lord I don’t know what to do” Sometimes the issue is we are just too proud to think that I need help – or too proud to go to someone and say, “I need help” We don’t want to say to God or anyone else, “I don’t feel adequate for this.” Let me clue in on a little secret – we are all inadequate. And let me take it a little bit further – It’s God’s fault that we are inadequate. God did not make us to be able to handle life apart from himself. We weren’t made to be adequate – And if God didn’t make us to be adequate apart from himself, why in the world do we want to strut around like we got it all together without him? It’s pride – that’s that why. We want people to think of us as having everything together all the time – able to deal with everything all on our own. But it’s a fascade – It’s a shallow costume that everyone else sees through.
Ill of superman - While he’s Clark Kent he puts on a pair of glasses and in the cartoon – nobody recognizes that he’s really superman. He takes off the glasses and everyone says, “Wow, Who would have thought that mild manner Clark Kent was really Superman? – man he sure had us fooled!” Well that’s a comic strip fantasy and it would never happen in the real world. The truth is everybody knew. In the real world everyone sees through the make believe costumes we attempt to live behind. But Pride says, don’t let anyone know put the magic glasses on and no one will know you are inadequate to the task. We are all inadequate apart from God. That’s why we need a relationship with Jesus so very badly. God did not equip us to handle life apart from himself. So he says if you want peace – come pray – speak to Me.
Rather than being consumed by our concerns and losing our peace over them, we’re supposed to take those concerns to God. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)
Psalm 68:19 Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. God is the burden bearer – he will carry the burdens – that’ his desire. So all I have to do is decide whether or not I want to carry the burden or he’s is going to carry it. Don’t be a person who says, “I insist that I want to carry the load myself.” Do you know what we call a beast of burden? We call it a donkey. Don’t be that person – don’t be a donkey. In high school I’d tell my sweetheart “I’ll carry your books for you.” I wanted to show her that by carrying that burden for her that I cared for her. The Lord is saying that same thing to you. Will you trust him for that?
If you will this is promise for you: And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
This is a peace “of God” – doesn’t come about from rearranging your life or trying to change your circumstances – it is only available through a relationship with Jesus Christ - “It passes all understanding” Humanly you can’t figure it out. It doesn’t have its source in man. You don’t get this peace because you’ve learned some psychological principle – it’s not related to man’s wisdom. The world attempts to establish peace in all the wrong ways.
“Will guard your hearts and minds” Guard = a military term. Means “to garrison about” – to surround – to totally surround to protect keep and fortify. If you are a Christian – there is no need for anxiety any longer, because the answer to every need you face is living on the inside in the person of Christ. What’s it protecting us from? From all the natural consequences these strongholds bring into our lives. What does an argumentative spirit bring into our lives? – constant discord, divisiveness – the ruin of relationships. What does chronic discouragement bring – depression, a melancholic pessimistic outlook. How about self-centeredness? Pride is constantly wounded – feeling as if the world is not treating you fairly. How about worry and doubt and fear? That can consume you can’t it? And anxiety can absolutely paralyze you and ultimately isolate you.
- the issue is will you trust in Christ?
Absolute Dependance in Christ.
Will you see your circumstances against the backdrop of God’s unlimited power dwelling inside of you – or will you stubbornly insist on handling all on your own. If you don’t have total dependence upon God – there is no way for you to experience his kind of peace. If you want to manufacture your own formula to find peace – or you want to adopt some formula you find in the world – well that’s your prerogative – but don’t think you can get the peace of Christ if your plan is to reject Christ. This peace is reserved for those who trust him – who depend upon him – who cast all their cares upon him.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
