Intro: David Jeremiah gave a list of how not to have joy and peace. In his book on joy he said I guarantee that if you follow these guidelines you will have unhappiness.
1) Make little things bother you: don’t just let them, make them. 2) Lose your perspective of things, and keep it lost. Don’t put first things first. 3) Get yourself a good worry – one about which you cannot do anything but worry. 4) Be a perfectionist: Condemn yourself and others for not achieving perfection. 5) Be right, always right, perfectly right all the time. Be the only one who is right and be rigid about your rightness. 6) Don’t trust or believe people, or accept them at anything but their worst and weakest. Be suspicious. Charge them with ulterior motives. 7) Always compare yourself unfavorably to others, which is the guarantee of instant misery. 8) Take personally, with a chip on your shoulder, everything that happens to you that you don’t like. 9) Don’t give yourself wholeheartedly or enthusiastically to anyone or anything. 10) Make unhappiness the aim of your life, instead of bracing life’s barbs through a “bitter with the sweet” philosophy.
Follow this prescription without fail and you will find yourself in middle of misery. Most normal people set out toward the destination of unhappiness. Many however, including Christians arrive at this destination.
Paul is giving instruction for us as followers of Christ as to how we can lives as victors of Christ. He gives clear and practical instruction on how to have a life that is free from worry that is wrapped in peace. Jonathan Edwards put it this way: “The ideas and images in men’s minds are the invisible powers that constantly govern them.” Victory in our spiritual life is governed by our thought life!
I. Live victoriously
Stand firm – Standing firm does not mean standing still. Standing firm in Jesus Christ is advancing in your walk with Jesus. Paul is commanding us and challenging us to stand on the victory of Jesus. It is a call for a consistent walk in the Spirit of God even with the daily pressures we face. Daily pressures in life seek to gradually press us away from our commitment and dependence on Jesus. The pressures are duties, occupations, activities, social expectations, as the song says “It is a slow fade.” A child’s top remains upright as long as it is moving. A man on a bike remains stable so long as he continues to make forward movement. The same is true for us as followers of Christ. Again standing firm does not mean standing still. It is standing in the victory that Jesus gives. Moses stood with His hands upraised while the children of Israel fought. It wasn’t their fighting ability but God’s blessing.
A few years ago Jack Eckerd, founder of the Eckerd drugstore chain, committed his life to Christ. Shortly afterward, as he walked through one of his stores, he noticed the magazine racks with their glossy copies of "Playboy" and "Penthouse." Although Eckerd was retired from active management, he called the president of the company and urged him to get rid of those porn magazines. The president protested because substantial profits were gained from their sales. Being the largest stockholder, Eckerd himself stood to lose a lot of money by such a decision. But he remained firm in his objection, and he prevailed. The offensive magazines were removed from all 1700 drugstores. When he was asked what motivated him to take this action, Eckerd replied, "God wouldn’t let me off the hook!"
A) Don’t be divisive (harmony) (Illustration of two brothers)
Paul was constantly encouraging unity and here He challenges Euodia and Synteche to agree in the Lord. Jesus Himself said a house divided against itself cannot stand. We cannot advance with Jesus if we do not advance together.
The story is told of two brothers who grew up on a farm. One went away to college, earned a law degree, and became a partner in a prominent law firm in the state capital. The other brother stayed on the family farm. One day the lawyer came and visited his brother, the farmer. He asked, “Why don’t you go out and make a name for yourself and hold your head up high in the world as I do?” The brother pointed and said, “See that field of wheat over there? Look closely. Only the empty heads stand up. Those that are well filled always bow low.” Said differently, “The branch that bears the most fruit is bent the lowest to the ground.” An old ditty goes, “It needs more skill than I can tell, to play the second fiddle well.” Leonard Bernstein was once asked which instrument was the most difficult to play. He thought for a moment, then replied, “The second fiddle. I can get plenty of first violinists, but to find someone who can play the second fiddle with enthusiasm – that’s a problem. And if we have no second fiddle we have no harmony.”
When we decide the kingdom of God is more important than our disagreements peace and joy result. When we are led of the Lord to play second fiddle and we do it to the glory of God harmony is the result. We have a singleness of task to be witnesses of Jesus Christ. Remember we are called to share His story, display His glory, make His disciples.
B) Don’t be discouraged (rejoice, again) (Happy, Happy, Happy)
Be glad. Victory comes from being glad when the devil wants you mad. Victory comes from serving others with a smile. When the old enemy pride rears its ugly head pulverize it with praise and rejoicing that Jesus defeated pride on the cross. Paralyze pride with humble service. Discouragement comes from a wrong perspective or unmet expectations.
Listen to Habbakuk 3: 17-18 “Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the live may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls – yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”
C) Don’t be defensive (let your graciousness (big heartedness) be known to everyone)
Epieikes defines the individual who knows when it is actually wrong to apply the strict letter of the law, knows how to forgive when justice would otherwise give the right to condemn, knows how to make allowances, knows when not to stand upon his or her rights, knows how to temper justice with mercy and remembers that there are more important things in world than rules and regulations. This cannot be done by the natural man. It is done by people walking in the Spirit.
How is your “Spirit” or your “heart” when you are mistreated or misunderstood? Do you defend or forbear? Real life example, I often have people tell me how great messages and teachings are from other pastor/teachers. What if I took that personally? I had to learn to thank God that the beloved people under my teaching ministry were learning.
How can we give up our rights be glad and play second fiddle? Philippians 4:5 “The Lord is near.” This carries two meanings. First He is nearby. Jesus is always available and able to meet our needs. Second His coming could happen at any moment and He will judge evil. Jesus is with me I can face anything, Jesus is coming He will fix everything.
II. Pray correctly
Anxiety attacks our mind and distracts us from direct communion and communication with God. Worry often proceeds from a wrong view of God’s ability to provide, protect and position us for exactly what we need in life.
Paul says don’t be anxious. Don’t try to take control of what belongs to God. Don’t lose sight of His ability and willingness to act on your behalf. Worry is really an indication that we believe that God can’t take care of us.
The prescription for worry is connection to God in Prayer.
A) Recognize God as the one capable of dealing with the issues of life (adoration)
B) Request God’s activity on your behalf (supplication)
C) Respond to God with thanksgiving for His presence and promise (thanksgiving)
Doing this brings wholeness or peace to your mind because it takes the responsibility of changing your circumstances off you and puts it on God where it belongs. We must remember though that God doesn’t want to change your circumstances He wants to change you!
III. Think correctly
A) Right connection with God leads to right thinking
George Morrison, “Peace is the possession of adequate resources.” If we stay in constant connection with God we are constantly reminded of His ability to meet any need we have.
B) Right digestion of God’s Word leads to right thinking
It is in the Bible we find that Jesus is the prince of Peace. It is in the Bible we learn that Jesus left available to us His peace, His wholeness. It is in Paul’s letters that we find the outworking of the Holy Spirit is a peace. If we absorb and assimilate God’s word our thinking about Christ and our circumstances can be transformed. Where do we learn to cast our cares on Jesus? Through His Holy word and the work of His Holy Spirit. Colossians 3:16 “let the word of Christ dwell richly in you” 1 Peter 2:2 tells us that the spiritual mind grows as we supply it with heavenly food.
This word is our spiritual food. Is it possible if your appetite isn’t for flesh and blood of Christ supplied in God’s word that you are not a partaker of the life of God. Jeremiah 15:16 “Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words became a delight to me and the joy of my heart,
for I am called by Your name, Yahweh God of Hosts.”
C) Right concentration on moral and praise worthy things leads to right thinking
Why is it so important to connect with God, digest His word and concentrate on praise worthy things? What are the most powerful of sins that separate us from God and stagnate our spiritual growth? Pride, lust, covetousness, greed, suspicion, they are sins of the mind. What about divisiveness, discouragement, they are sins of the mind. Satan attacks on the battlefield of the mind. The way to stand is to thing on heavenly things. It is what we think and desire I our minds that control what we do. The hands do what the heart demands.
1) Think on whatever is true. What is truth? Jesus and what He reveals about reality. The devils chief tool is deception, God’s chief tool is truth. Think on what is true. John 17.17 “Sanctify them in your truth, your word is truth.” Anything not built on truth eventually collapses. The whatever works mentality must be trashed. Just because
2) Think on whatever is honorable, this word means grave, reverent, respect. We are not to be silly goof-offs that treat life as a joke. God’s breath was given to us to represent Him!
3) Think on whatever is right is those thoughts that conform to God’s standards of righteousness. This means treating others right. Remember the golden rule.
4) Whatever is pure was used of things that were cleansed so that they can be used in the presence and worship of God. Does your thinking pass the purity test or does it tend to move you toward unclean things.
5) Whatever is Lovely is the character of Christ, kindness, forgiveness, big heartedness. The unlovely things are vengeance, bitterness, criticism and rebuke that don’t seek to rescue.
6) Whatever is of Good repute or good reputation. It carries the idea of seeing good things in others and not fault finding.
7) If there is any excellence 2 Peter 1:5 moral excellence. If there is any behavior that doesn’t line up with God remove it from your thinking so that you remove it from you lifestyle. Moral viture.
8) If anything worthy of praise anything that God can applaud because it comes from Him!
These eight standards of thinking if allowed to control your thought life will shape your attitude and actions. If we are to be Godly then it must begin with the standard we apply to our thought life.
We are never going to be responsible to God for the way others think. We will answer to God for the way we think. Have you ever wondered why you struggle so much? We are constantly bombarded with the exact opposite of God’s standard of thinking. Spiritual stability is a direct by product of what we think. Proper thinking is not an option for saints. The biggest battle we face is what we do in the auditorium but what goes on in our cranium. Stinking thinking is the main roadblock to God’s spirit moving in us and birthing revival!
What is the purpose of praying correctly and thinking correctly? So that you can live correctly!
IV. Live correctly
Practice the things you have learned and received. Truth is meant to saturate the mind and transform the daily lifestyle. If the truth makes it into your mind but never changes what you look at, walk to, or touch the it was never written on your heart.
The purpose of truth is to transform the rebellious heart of man into the obedient heart as a child of God.
Christian maturity is not measured by what you know it is measured by what you do. Here is the reason for coming together as a body. We all need encouragement to take the truth we know about Jesus and apply it in love and good deeds.
Conclusion: God’s wholeness rules us when we allow God to rule our thought life.
