(1) As Americans, we are used to watching Clint Eastwood ride into town on a horse, and in one hour clean up the meanest town in the west. We wonder why the United States military can’t do the same in one hour!
(2) Americans see other nations are having wars on their streets, but we have never experienced that here in America. We have grown up thinking that this is something that happens to others, but NOT TO US!
But when 911 came, we saw the enemy attack our homeland. We saw the devastation on our streets.
That is when we took the fight to the terrorists in Afghanistan and then in Iraq, and then we became aware of the price for peace. Week after week, we are learning the price of peace is great.
As we look at the topic of PEACE in our text, we are not talking about NATIONAL PEACE we are talking about INDIVIDUAL PEACE. The Lord Jesus said, in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Notice, the Lord Jesus said, “…My peace I give unto you…”
Illus: Thomas Holdcroft said, “There may be those on earth who dress better or eat better, but those who enjoy the peace of God sleep better.”
If God wants to give us HIS PEACE, then why is it that many Christians do not have it? There is a SCRIPTURAL PATTERN for us to follow, and if we do not follow that pattern we will never experience the PEACE OF GOD.
I. BEFORE WE CAN HAVE PEACE, WE HAVE TO HAVE PEACE WITH OTHERS
In the previous message Paul talked to us about those who were the “Enemies of the Cross.” Verse 1 is a transitional verse between what has been said, and what is about to be said. Paul is going to show us how we can have peace.
Look at Philippians 4:1-2, we read, “Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord.”
Let’s not forget that Paul is in prison and he desires to come to them but cannot because of his confinement.
We can see the love he has for these people in verse 1, as he talks about them. They are not the “Enemies of the cross” that he had been talking about. We read, “Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.”
It is important that we point out that, as Paul begins this passage on the PEACE OF GOD, he is talking to Christians. Sinners do not have the PEACE OF GOD, they are at war with God. Every day they are joining hands with Satan to oppose God. They can not have the PEACE OF GOD!
Paul wanted these Christians to know that he loved them and he expressed that love to them over and over again in different ways. But because he loved them, he was also concerned about what he knew was taking place in the church. Look at verse 2, we read, “I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord.”
Notice, he is referring to two women in the church, Euodias and Syntyche, who were causing some serious problems in the church.
We do not know what their differences were, but there was something that they disagreed on, and since they could not have it their way, they were quarreling and robbing the church of the peace of God. Paul’s prayer was that they “…be of the same mind in the Lord.”
Paul is showing us the problem, but he is also showing us the solution. The church can experience the PEACE OF GOD only when all the members are controlled by the MIND OF CHRIST.
We see a good example of what happens when the church is controlled by the mind of Christ on the day of Pentecost. Look at Acts 2:1 “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with ONE ACCORD IN ONE PLACE.” Notice, they were all in ONE PLACE in ONE ACCORD.
When a church is this way, God can do some wonderful things in it. Look at what He did in Acts 2:2-4, “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
WHY DID THE BIBLE SAY THEY SPOKE WITH “Other Tongues”?
Remember what the Lord said in Matthew 16:18, we read, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
The Lord told Peter that He was going to build His church, and there was ABSOLUTELY nothing going to stop Him. The Book of Acts is the beginning of the New Testament church.
On the day of Pentecost there was a LANGUAGE problem that was preventing the gospel from going forth, but God filled these believers who were in:
• ONE PLACE
• ONE ACCORD
The Bible says, in 1 Cor. 14:22, “Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not….” God supernaturally spoke to these unbelievers in their language, and three thousand were saved that day. This is a tremendous miracle, but it never would have happened had they not been in ONE PLACE in ONE ACCORD.
Notice, the Bible says they spoke with “other tongues.” The word “tongues” is the word “glossa” (Pronounced as “Gloce'-sah”) which means a language.
We see that in Acts 2:5-11, “And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.”
The first church was a church that was controlled by the MIND OF CHRIST. They did not come there for different reasons, they were IN ONE PLACE, IN ONE ACCORD.
But later, as the church began to grow, one of the problems was that some of these Christians felt they were at BURGER KING, and they wanted it “THEIR WAY”.
These two women, Euodias and Syntyche, were causing a problem in the church, and Paul was BESEECHING (begging) them to forget themselves and be controlled by the MIND OF CHRIST. When the church gets caught up in these INDIVIDUAL PROBLEMS, the work of God goes lacking because we forget why we are here.
When you and I forget that we are here to win the lost to Christ, then we start to fight with one another over things that have no eternal significance.
These two women had the church in chaos and they had forgotten why they were there. Paul tries to turn the attention of these two troublemakers by getting them to focus on people who love the Lord.
This is why he says in verse 3, “And I entreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.”
Paul was trying to get them to focus on dedicated Christians, but also he may have been alluding to the fact that Euodias and Syntyche may not have even been saved. WHY DO I SAY THAT?
Notice, as Paul ceases to talk about Euodias and Syntyche, he talks about:
• Those who are “True Yokefellows”
• Those who are “Fellowlabourers”
• Those whose names are in the Book of Life
Often the devil will send people into the church to cause as much chaos and confusion as they can, to take the attention away from Christ.
Satan knows that if he can get an uproar going, the focus of attention will be on the troublemakers rather than on the work of God and the good people of God. The focus of the church has to be on the Lord Jesus, not on people who are using the church to get attention, praise and power.
PAUL SUGGESTS THAT THEIR FOCUS SHOULD BE ON THE LORD! Look at verse 4, we read, “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.”
He is saying to the church, “Do not get sidetracked by ANYONE, just keep REJOICING IN THE LORD. Keep focusing on the Lord and rejoice in Him ALWAYS!” When a church does this, they are going to experience the PEACE OF GOD.
HOW CAN WE ALWAYS FOCUS ON THE LORD?
(1) Since we all have different ideas about different things, the only way we are ever going to have peace in the church is for all of us to be in ONE PLACE in ONE ACCORD and be controlled by the mind of Christ. When you have people controlled by their own desires, you do not have PEACE, YOU HAVE WAR! Before we can have the PEACE OF GOD, we have to learn to live AT PEACE WITH EACH OTHER by having the MIND OF CHRIST CONTROL US!
(2) Look at verse 5, we read, “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.”
The word “moderation”, is the word “epieikes” (pronounced “ep-ee-i-kace”) which means mild, gentle, or patient.
I like the word “gentleness” that we get our word “Gentlemen” from. Paul is saying, “Let your moderation (gentleness) be known unto all men…” Many live their Christian lives as RUDE DUDES!
The question then is, “HOW CAN I LIVE BEFORE ALL MEN IN GENTLENESS?”
Look at the last five words in this verse, “…The Lord is at hand.” These five words make reference to us living close to the Lord. We can only have a life of PEACE and GENTLENESS when we are living close to the Lord.
Some folks live so far from the Lord that we can not help but wonder if they even know the Lord Jesus. But when we live a gentle life before all men, and we live close to the Lord, we then can experience the PEACE OF GOD.
BEFORE WE CAN HAVE PEACE, WE HAVE TO HAVE PEACE WITH OTHERS. Also -
II. BEFORE WE CAN HAVE PEACE, WE HAVE TO BE AT PEACE WITH GOD
Look at verses 6-7, we read, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Once we have made peace with God, we instantly experience the PEACE OF GOD. Peace involves two things:
A. PEACE COMES THROUGH PRAYER
Look at Phil. 4:6-7, we read, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
1. Paul charges them “be anxious (merimnate) about nothing.” The believer is not to worry or fret about a single thing.
2. The word "nothing" (meden) means not even one thing.
Humanly speaking, the Philippians had every reason to worry and be anxious.
• They were suffering severe persecution (Phil. 1:18-19)
• They were facing a disturbance in the church, some disunity and quarreling (Phil. 1:27, 4:2)
• They had some carnal members within their fellowship, some members who were prideful, super-spiritual, and self-centered (Phil. 2:3-4; 3:12)
• They had some false teachers who had joined their fellowship, and the teachers were fierce in attacking the cross of Christ (Phil. 3:2-3,18-19)
• Some of the believers were having to struggle for the necessities of life: food, clothing, and shelter (Phil. 4-.19)
These Christians were facing about every trial and temptation imaginable, and Paul told them, “DON’T WORRY, BE HAPPY!”
This does not mean the believer is not to be concerned about the problems of life. There is a difference between concern and anxiety or worry. But it is evident some do not know the difference.
A lot of folks do not know what the word CONCERN means. But there is a difference between being CONCERNED about something and WORRYING about something. Peace comes through prayer, and the Lord tells us not to fret over anything.
B. PEACE COMES THROUGH SCRIPTURAL THINKING
In verses 8-9, we read, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”
When we talk about peace, we generally think in terms of something that happens when conflict and problems are not present. This is why some believe that before they can have peace, they have got to get rid of their husband, their kids, their boss, their neighbors and their bills. If this is so, then you will never have peace, because as long as you are alive you will always have conflict, and you will always have problems.
Peace comes not by getting rid of our problems, but by focusing our thoughts on what God wants us to think about. Peace doesn’t come with the absence of the storm; it comes in the midst of the storm because Jesus is walking there beside us, and we’ve got our eyes on Him.
Believers are to actually work at bringing every single thought into subjection to Christ.
Look at 2 Cor. 10:5, we read, "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ"
• Many Christians feel they can go to church for a few hours on Sunday, and they can enjoy the peace of God.
• Many Christians feel they can have the mind of Christ a few hours on Sunday, and they can enjoy the peace of God.
But listen, the Christian life is not a one day a week thing, nor is it having the mind of Christ for few hours each Sunday. It is a life of serving Christ seven days a week, and having our minds on the Lord throughout the day as much as possible.
Only when we live this kind of life can we have the PEACE OF GOD!
Conclusion:
Look at verse 9, we read, "Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you."
All churches are plagued with people like Euodias and Syntyche. For the church to have peace, God needs PEACE MAKERS.
When you help to bring peace between two Christians that are fighting, then you are taking on the character of Christ. Christ himself brought peace between us and God, but it cost Him His life in order for it to happen. Are you willing to be a peacemaker? It will cost you, but it is worth it.
I. BEFORE WE CAN HAVE PEACE, WE HAVE TO HAVE PEACE WITH OTHERS
II. BEFORE WE CAN HAVE PEACE, WE HAVE TO BE AT PEACE WITH GOD
