A. Philippians 4:4-8 (READ)
1. Today we begin a series of lessons corresponding with our Small Group Study entitled: “ANXIOUS
FOR NOTHING” based on the book by Max Lucado, who based his book on this passage.
2. This is a timely SUBJECT, because ANXIETY has greatly increased over the last 30 years ever since
the Internet has become a prominent fixture in most people’s homes.
a. Today with SMARTPHONES in our hands, we are able to read about and see HORRIFIC EVENTS
happening all over the WORLD in REAL TIME.
b. Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat—has created an environment for ANXIETY.
(1). There is the “COMPARE & DESPAIR FACTOR”.
ILLUSTRATION:
The happy-go-lucky PHOTOS of your friends’ VACATION on a BEACH in Hawaii seems to
make your Steak & Shake-filled weekend PAIL in comparison. (Not to mention the friends who
went on an Alaskan Cruise.)
ANXIETY builds as you DESPAIR over why “ALL YOUR FRIENDS” get to have great VACATIONS while you are STUCK here at HOME. Or why all your friends’ RELATIONSHIPS are so much more LOVING and HAPPIER than your relationship with your HUSBAND or WIFE of 25 years.
(2). There is the “I’LL SAY IT ON SOCIAL MEDIA BUT NOT TO YOUR FACE FACTOR”
ILLUSTRATION:
I have been on Facebook for over 12 years. There have been times when I’ve read some of the most CRUEL and INSENSITIVE remarks made TO and ABOUT some of my FRIENDS and
FAMILY… from other FRIENDS and FAMILY.
A 2017 study of over half a million 8th through 12th graders found that the number exhibiting high levels of ANXIETY increased by 33 percent between 2010 and 2016. In the same period, the SUICIDE rate for girls in that age group increased by 65 percent. The contributing factor was what was being SAID about them on SOCIAL MEDIA platforms.
(3). There is the “SOCIAL MEDIA INFIDELITY FACTOR”
ILLUSTRATION:
Social Media might be a good way to CONNECT with old FRIENDS, but it’s also a way to resurrect ROMANTIC feelings for old boyfriends or girlfriends. It’s a good way to connect with new friends at work or school, but it often leads to flirting and even affairs. Recent studies have revealed that one in three DIVORCES now start as ONLINE AFFAIRS. Imagine the ANXIETY that builds between husbands and wives, parents and children as a result of all the DISTRUST, the SECRECY, the JEALOUSY, the SUSPICION, the SNOOPING of each other.
B. Paul- “Do not be anxious about anything”- v. 6.
ILLUSTRATION:
How many of you have ever suffered with ANXIETY or have been ANXIOUS about something?
How many of you were ANXIOUS about admitting that you’ve been ANXIOUS about something?
Some of you were thinking: “Fred just read from the Bible that we ‘shouldn’t be anxious about anything’, so should I RAISE my hand or not.” …It was only after you looked around and saw other hands up that you felt comfortable about raising your hand.
1. When we read these words from Paul, we feel GUILTY because EVERYONE of us have experienced
anxiety or worry at one time or another.
2. Paul wrote this phrase in the present active tense in the Greek, which implies an ongoing state.
a. It’s the life of “perpetual anxiety” that Paul addresses—a CONTINUAL state of ANXIETY.
b. For the next few weeks we will be studying from Paul’s words on what we can do to DEAL WITH
and even ELIMINATE much of our ANXIETY. It begins with “Rejoice in The Lord Always”
MESSAGE:
I. REJOICE IN THE LORD’S SOVEREIGNTY
A. This section of Scripture (Philippians 4:4-8) sounds like Paul wrote it while VACATIONING on a
TROPICAL ISLAND somewhere.
1. It would be pretty easy to write the words “Rejoice in the Lord always” while LYING on a BEACH
SOAKING up the SUN.
a. But that’s not where Paul is. (His Facebook posts wouldn’t have BEACH PHOTOS.)
b. The apostle is in Rome under HOUSE ARREST chained to two Roman guards around the clock.
c. The CHAINS are a constant reminder that he doesn’t have the FREEDOM to come and go as he
pleases.
2. The reason he is IMPRISONED is because the Jewish Sanhedrin Council in Jerusalem have accused him of BLASPHEMY for preaching that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of Living God”,
which was punishable by DEATH. (That’s why they crucified Jesus.)
a. Before they could lay down a DEATH SENTENCE, however, Paul, being a Roman Citizen as well as an Israelite, exercised his right to appeal to Nero, the emperor of Rome, even though
Nero had no FAVORABLE view of Christians, either. (He would execute them for sport.)
b. Paul is now waiting for his ACCUSERS to come to Rome so that he can be TRIED and possibly EXECUTED, if found GUILTY.
B. It’s in this dire situation that Paul writes the words, “Rejoice in the Lord always”- Philippians 4:4.
1. Paul’s prescription to “ANXIETY” begins with the call to “REJOICE.”
COMMENT:
Now, I don’t know about you, but when I’m in the middle of some trying circumstance—sickness, death of a loved one, loss of a job, money problems, family issues—I’m not doing a lot
of REJOICING at that moment.
a. Paul not only commands us to “REJOICE” but the word he uses is continuous action in the
Greek, meaning to “CONSTANTLY REJOICE”.
b. Then he adds the word “always”. “CONSTANTLY REJOICE ALWAYS.”
c. And if we still missed it, he repeats it: “I will say it again: REJOICE!”
2. How can a person, Christian or non-Christian, obey this command? Is it humanly POSSIBLE to
maintain an UNINTERRUPTED spirit of HAPPINESS?
a. First of all, JOY and HAPPINESS are not the same thing.
COMMENT:
Our HAPPINESS is contingent on the “HAPPENINGS” around us. As long as the CIRCUMSTANCES surrounding us are GOOD, we can be HAPPY.
b. Second, Paul does not command us to REJOICE in the CIRCUMSTANCE—GOOD or BAD, but to “Rejoice in The LORD.”
3. The apostle Paul had learned the hard way that DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES are going to
COME, but through it all God is always SOVEREIGN—He is in CONTROL.
a. However, the SOVEREIGNTY of God does not take away the CHOICE and WILL of MAN.
ILLUSTRATION:
On September 11, 2001 after America was ATTACKED by Islamic Terrorists killing over 3,000 people, I and other volunteer hospital CHAPLAINS were called to Hardin Memorial
Hospital at Elizabethtown, KY to counsel and pray with the hospital staff, patients and visitors.
There were about 200 people whom had gathered in the CAFETERIA. As the head chaplain, a Naval Chaplain reservist, was speaking and reading Scripture, I sat down among some of the HOSPITAL STAFF. I then overheard two of the NURSES share their SHOCK and DISMAY over what had happened, and then one nurse said to the other, “I guess we just have to ACCEPT
this as the WILL of God!”
COMMENT:
It was NOT the WILL of God that 3,000-plus INNOCENT people DIE by MUSLIM EXTREMISTS! God’s WILL is: “You shall not MURDER”- Exodus 20:13. (Osama Ben Laden)
b. Paul speaks of those whom have been “entrapped by the devil, and held captive by him to do his
(Devil’s) WILL”- 2 Timothy 2:26. Don’t forget, “Satan is the prince of this world”- John 14:30.
NOT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IS GOD’S WILL.
3. But even in the midst of TRAGEDY and EVIL, the Sovereign Lord is at work on behalf of His saints.
a. Romans 8:28- “And we know that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love Him,
who have been called according to His purpose.”
b. Paul is not teaching that everything that happens to us is GOOD (we know that very well), but He is teaching that the Sovereign Lord is at WORK to cause GOOD to come even from the BAD.
C. In Philippians 1:12-21, we find the apostle “Rejoicing in the Lord” even in the midst of three very
DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES because the Sovereign Lord was at WORK in each of them.
1. He’s in CHAINS for PREACHING Christ- vv. 12-14 (READ and COMMENT)
2. He has ENEMIES on the outside stirring up TROUBLE- vv. 15-18a (READ and COMMENT)
3. He might be put to DEATH- vv. 18b-21 (READ and COMMENT)
II. REJOICE IN THE LORD’S MERCY
A. Did you realize that humanity’s first occasion of ANXIETY was contributed to SIN and GUILT.
1. Genesis 3:8- “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day and they hid themselves from the Lord God among the trees of
the garden.”
a. Adam and Eve never had to HIDE from God before.
COMMENT:
Up to this point we don’t see any kind of FEAR or TREPIDATION of God whatsoever. In
fact, theirs was a PERFECT RELATIONSHIP—one that God WANTS to have with each of us.
b. Everything was going great until Satan, “the prince of this world” came on the scene and tempted
Adam and Eve to DISOBEY God.
2. Notice the sequence: SIN, GUILT, ANXIETY.
a. Adam and Eve didn’t know how to process their failure, so they HID themselves.
b. Neither do we, but we try different things:
-NUMB IT: Turn to drugs, alcohol, sex, food—anything that will take our minds off our
guilt for a little while.
-DENY IT: Pretend that it never happened. Cover it up.
-MINIMIZE IT: We didn’t sin! We just lost our way. We just got caught in the moment.
-PUNISH IT: Cut ourselves. Hurt ourselves. Beat up ourselves. Add more rules.
-REDIRECT IT: Lash out at the kids. Take it out on the spouse. Yell at our co-workers.
-TRANSFER IT: Blame others. Blame work. Blame the church. (That’s what Adam and Eve did when God confronted them—they played the BLAME GAME.)
2. None of these will ease our GUILT or ANXIETY. They only make it WORSE.
a. Guilt SUCKS the LIFE out of our SOULS. Grace and Mercy RESTORES it.
b. It’s only by CONFESSING our SINS and TURNING them over to God will be find PEACE.
B. No one had more reason to feel the BURDEN of GUILT than Paul did.
1. Before giving his life to Christ the apostle Paul, then known as Saul of Tarsus, was not a good man.
a. We just studied how Paul was ARRESTED and sent to PRISON for PREACHING Jesus, but at
this time Paul was not the one being ARRESTED but the one doing the ARRESTING.
COMMENT:
Paul had orchestrated the IMPRISONMENT and DEATHS of Christians all over Judea. He was an ancient TERRORIST, taking BELIEVERS into custody and then TORTURING them and
having them EXECUTED.
b. Acts 26:9-11 (READ and COMMENT)
2. “But then as Saul was on the way to Damascus to find and imprison even more Christians, Jesus
appeared to him in a bright light, and three days later he was baptized into Christ”- Acts 9.
a. Even a ruthless, sadistic persecutor of Christians can find MERCY.
b. After describing himself as a “blasphemer, persecutor and violent man”, Paul wrote in
1 Timothy 1:15-16 (READ and COMMENT)
C. One of the things that Satan tries to do to ROB our JOY, is to REMIND us of our PAST!
1. There are things in my PAST that make me CRINGE when I think about it. I HURT so many
people; and especially my FAMILY.
a. I wished to God that I could go back in time and do it over, but I can’t.
b. But because of God’s GRACE and MERCY, I am FORGIVEN!!
COMMENT:
CIRCUMSTANCES come and go, but GUILT can keep us in a perpetual state of ANXIETY. That’s why Paul wanted Timothy and his readers to understand that if GOD could FORGIVE him for all that he had done to Jesus and His church, then He certainly can FORGIVE us of our SINS.
2. Despite his SINFUL PAST Paul is able to say, “REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS.”
COMMENT:
Was he SORRY for what he had done? DEEPLY! Did he LEARN from his SINFUL PAST? YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT! When he TALKED about his PERSECUTION of the CHURCH to make a POINT, did it SADDEN him to THINK about it? NO DOUBT!
But what he REMEMBERED most every day of his life was how God bestowed upon him, “the WORST of SINNERS,” His abundant GRACE and MERCY.
3. Because of God’s Grace and Mercy, Paul was not going to allow his PAST to deplete his JOY.
a. Philippians 3:12-14 (READ and COMMENT)
b. I believe Paul is saying, “I don’t keep my EYES on my PAST, I keep them on JESUS.”
COMMENT:
Don’t allow Satan to create ANXIETY in your life and ROB your JOY over your PAST. If you are in Christ having had your SINS washed away by His BLOOD in BAPTISM, then your PAST—whether it’s LONG PAST or something you did this MORNING—is FORGIVEN.
And if you haven’t yet given your life to Christ, then please come talk to me.
CONCLUSION:
COMMENT:
I want to close by sharing with you a true story, one that most of you have heard many times from this very pulpit. However, it is a POWERFUL story of PEACE and JOY found in the very midst of TRAGEDY.
ILLUSTRATION:
In the year 1873, Horatio Spafford, a lawyer from Chicago, placed his wife and four daughters on the FRENCH LUXURY LINER “Ville du Havre” sailing from New York to France. Spafford expected to JOIN them in about 3 or 4 weeks after finishing up some BUSINESS, but with the exception of his wife he never saw them again.
The trip started out beautifully. But on the evening of November 21, 1873, as the SHIP proceeded peacefully across the Atlantic, it was suddenly struck by another VESSEL and SANK a mere twelve minutes later, with the loss of nearly all on board.
On being told that the SHIP was SINKING, Mrs. Spafford knelt with her four children and PRAYED that they might be SAVED or be made willing to DIE, if such was God’s WILL. A few minutes later, in the CONFUSION, 3 of her daughters were SWEPT away by the WAVES while she stood CLUTCHING the YOUNGEST. Suddenly the YOUNGEST CHILD was SWEPT from her ARMS.
Mrs. Spafford became UNCONSCIOUS and awoke later to find that she had been RESCUED by SAILORS from the VESSEL that struck the LUXURY LINER. But the FOUR CHILDREN were gone, having DROWNED in the OCEAN.
Back in the United States, Horatio Spafford was waiting for NEWS of his FAMILY, and at last, 10 days later, it came. “SAVED ALONE” was his wife’s MESSAGE. That night Mr. Spafford walked the FLOOR of his rooms in ANGUISH, as anyone would have done. But as he SHARED this GREAT LOSS with his Lord, a PEACE came over him that indeed “SURPASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING.”
The next morning, he told a friend, “I am glad to be able to TRUST my Lord when it COSTS me something.”
Sometime later, while sailing across the same waters to France to be with his wife, Spafford REFLECTED on the DISASTER at SEA, and wrote this HYMN:
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea-bellows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
