• Philippians 4:1
o So, brothers and sisters, I love you and miss you. you are my joy and my crown. Therefore, dear friends, keep your relationship with the Lord firm!
• Peace
o We all want peace
o When the ladies are interviewed for the Miss America Pageant
o It’s become a running joke that one of the answers given is that all the ladies wish for
? World peace
o Well, I think we all wish for world peace
o I think especially with all that’s going on in our world right now
o And the potential of what could be going on in our world right now
o We all should be praying for world peace
o But not just peace as we think of peace
o I think it should be the peace of God
o And yet there are many believers who don’t even know what the peace of God is
o We sing about it
? I’ve got the peace that passes understanding down in my heart
? Down in my heart
? Down in my heart
? I’ve got the peace that passes understanding down in my
? Down in my heart to stay
o Of course there’s a very familiar one if you’ve been around the church very long
? There will be peace in the valley for me, some day
? There will be peace in the valley for me, oh Lord I pray
? There’ll be no sadness, no sorrow
? No trouble, trouble I see
? There will be peace in the valley for me
o But do we really understand what peace is
o Do we really understand what God’s peace is all about
o We might even say
? You know I just have a peace about it
o Until we get into whatever “it” is
o Then we come back to God and say
? What happened to that peace I had
o As I was getting ready for this message today
• A lady was sharing about her Christmas shopping experience at the mall
o Maybe you can relate
o People had been
? Pushing,
? Elbowing and cutting in front of her all day
o During a 10 minute extra 10% off special
o One woman grabbed a lace table cloth from her hands
o Looked her in the eye and said,
? MINE!!
o She yanked it back and won
o By 4 p.m. her mood was belligerent.
o She met some friends at a mall restaurant and flagged down a server
o She barked
? I need hot tea now!
o The waitress snapped back
? I’m not your server. Wait your turn
o This woman responded
? Lady, I’ve been waiting my turn all day
? Bring me some tea!
o But the waitress ignored her
o A few moments later, a friendly young man came to their tables and said,
? I’m Rob, your waiter.
o After he took their order, this woman watched Rob as he helped the rude waitress with her tray
o He greeted the other customers and staff with a smile on his face
o In the midst of all the hurried customers and chaos of the season
o He had a polite and unhurried atmosphere of calm
o When he refilled her tea, this woman noticed a silver ring on his hand made of connected letters spelling out
? Jesus
o This woman then writes and records
? From that moment, my attitude changed.
? This young man’s example had reminded me of the peace that Christ came to bring
o For the rest of the day she enjoyed shopping
o She opened doors for others
o Let others in front of her in the checkout line
o All in an atmosphere of peace
• Did she have true peace?
• How did she get it
• This is where we’re headed over the next few weeks
• The Secret of Peace—the Peace of God Himself
• Let’s pray
• Through our journey through Philippians we’ve learned about growing up as believers
• The Marks of being Mature believers
• The Marks of being a Mature Church
• The Examples that are laid before us
• All of these studies are filled with being joyful
• Not the joy that the world gives
• But having the Joy of the Lord
• Now, the point of these first 9 verses is not just the Joy of the Lord
• But the Peace of God and the presence of the God of peace
• There are six steps that we’re going to talk about over the next several weeks
o We have to take these step if we’re going to maintain the peace of God
o You remember that we’ve said that the Word of God gives us instruction for all situations in life
o Here’s the instruction manual for achieving and maintaining God’s peace
o And having the presence of the God of peace
o If we fail to take these steps
o We grieve both the Lord, and we grieve each other
o Other believers,
o Those who have made a special contribution to your growth
o Those who look upon you as their joy and crown
? As v. 1 says
o Unfortunately, when a believer loses their peace with God
o Several things happen
? They become self-conscious and sheepishly shy
• Feel guilty
• Discouraged
• And defeated
? They become cantankerous, critical, murmuring, grumbling, and divisive
? They begin to slip back into sin
o The peace they once had with God and each other becomes disturbed
o And restlessness grips their soul
o Their restlessness stirs them into being a troublemaker or into sin or else it plummets them into despair and defeat
o They have failed
o Therefore, they feel unworthy and unable to walk victoriously with God
o This is the importance of studying this passage
o The secret of peace
o The peace of God Himself
• In case you haven’t picked up on the hint
o This passage is speaking to all believers, not to unbelievers
o Unbelievers do not have peace with God
o They reject
o Question
o Deny
o Curse
o And oppose God
o God feels no peace between Himself and an unbeliever
o No matter how mild the unbeliever’s questioning and rejection is
o It is still questioning and rejection and not peace
o If that’s you this morning
o Here’s what you need to know this morning
o Right now, you can have peace with the Lord
o Jesus is standing at the door of your heart right now knocking
o All you have to do is open the door of your heart and ask Him to come in
? Revelation 3:20
? 1 John 1:9
o When you do
o You’ll no longer be on opposite sides of the table with God
o You’ll have peace with God
o Peace will rule between you and the Lord
o In fact, God causes a flood of peace to surge through your heart and life
o The question is this
? Once we have the peace of God flooding our lives,
? How do we maintain that peace?
? How do we keep the peace of God ruling and reigning within our souls?
? How do we stay aware that God’s very own presence is within us
? Stay aware that the God of peace lives within our very being?
• Well, I’m glad you asked
• And you came on the right Sunday this month
• Because here’s the first step
• Stand firm
o This verse, v. 1, is a transitional verse between what has been said
o And what is about to be said
o Paul has just said
? There are enemies of the cross of Christ
? Believer’s citizenship is in heaven
? The Lord is going to return and take us out of this world into heaven
? Transforming our bodies
o Therefore, stand fast in the Lord
o If we read this whole section
o Let’s do that, so that we have the context
? So, brothers and sisters, I love you and miss you. you are my joy and my crown. Therefore, dear friends, keep your relationship with the Lord firm!
? I encourage both Euodia and Syntyche to have the attitude the Lord wants them to have.
? Yes, I also ask you, Syzugus, my true partner, to help these women. They fought beside me to spread the Good News along with Clement and the rest of my coworkers, whose names are in the Book of Life.
? Always be joyful in the Lord! I’ll say it again: Be joyful!
? Let everyone know how considerate you are. The Lord is near.
? Never worry about anything. But in every situation let God know what you need in prayers and requests while giving thanks.
? Then God’s peace, which goes beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your thoughts and emotions through Christ Jesus.
? Finally, brothers and sisters, keep your thoughts on whatever is right or deserves praise: things that are true, honorable, fair, pure, acceptable, or commendable.
? Practice what you’ve learned and received from me, what you heard and saw me do. Then the God who gives this peace will be with you.
o Now we have the full context of where we’re going
o Being good Bible scholars, you can see that there’s a lot in these 9 verses
o We have six steps to get through and we’ll get through the first one today
o But what I want us to see is that, we see that this verse fits in with what is coming up in verse nine at the conclusion of this section:
? Practice what you’ve learned and received from me, what you heard and saw me do. Then the God who gives this peace will be with you
? Philippians 4;9
o If we want the God of peace, we must do the things which Paul taught and did
o And one of the major things he taught was to stand fast in the Lord
o Stand firm in the Lord
o If we wish the God of peace
o We must stand firm in the Lord
• The words stand firm (stekete) means simply
o Persist
o Stand fast
o Persevere
o It is the picture of a soldier standing their ground against the onslaught of an enemy
o There they are on the hillside
o The enemy is coming against them
o They’re overwhelmed
o But they will not surrender the ground
o No matter the pressure
o No matter the strength of the attack
o He won’t flinch
o He is not unstable
o He is never defeated
• As believers, we’re to stand firm
o No matter how great the trial
o No matter the pressure of the temptation
o No matter the influence
o No matter how great the offer is
o No matter how alluring the temptation is
o No matter how enticing others make it seem
o We’re to stand our ground
• But how do we stand firm?
o When the temptation to surrender is so appealing
o And the trial is so terrible
o Where can we find the strength to stand firm
• All are good questions
• Because I see believers crumble over and over under pressure
• There have been times when I’ve crumbled under the pressure
• But I want to tell you this morning
• There are two places where we can look to, to help us stand firm
• We can look to the source of strength: the Lord Himself
o Look at the verse:
? Keep your relationship with the Lord firm
o There is only one place we can stand fast
o That is in the Lord
o We must be living and moving and having our being in the Lord
o Here’s what that means
o We must be
? Praying
? Talking
? And sharing with the Lord all day long
? Keeping our thoughts on the Lord
? The glorious salvation
? The hope that we have in the Lord
? Our mission that God has given us
? Serving and ministering for the Lord
? Bearing testimony of Him and meeting the needs of those who hurt and need help
o When we are walking in the Lord throughout the day,
o When our mind and thoughts are on the Lord
o The temptations and trials that come
o We’re conscious and aware of the Lord’s presence
o We’re conscious and aware of the Lord’s strength
o It’s not that we won’t be caught off guard from the trials
o But we won’t be caught unarmed
o Why?
o Because we’ve been thinking
o And sharing
o And talking with the Lord
o Standing and walking with the Lord
o All day long
o We are more able to stand fast against the temptation and trial
o This is exactly what is meant by being
? In the Lord
o We are to be walking prayer and praise all day long
o This is what keeps the peace of God dwelling in our lives
o The peace of God that conquers all trials and temptations
? Never worry about anything. But in every situation let God know what you need in prayers and requests while giving thanks.
? Then God’s peace, which goes beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your thoughts and emotions through Christ Jesus.
? Philippians 4:6,7
o We are to be walking with our minds on the Lord and the things that are
? Pure and honorable
o This is what gives us a sense that the
? God of peace walk with us
? The God of peace who gives us the power to conquer all trials and temptations
o As Paul tells us in Dawn’s favorite verses
? Finally, brothers and sisters, keep your thoughts on whatever is right or deserves praise: things that are true, honorable, fair, pure, acceptable, or commendable.
? Practice what you’ve learned and received from me, what you heard and saw me do. Then the God who gives this peace will be with you
? Philippians 4:8, 9
o We are to actually work at bringing every single through into subjection to Christ
o After all Paul tells the church at Corinth
? The weapons we use in our fight are not made by humans. Rather, they are powerful weapons from God. With them we destroy people’s defenses, that is, their arguments
? And all their intellectual arrogance that oppose the knowledge of God. We take every thought captive so that it is obedient to Christ.
? 2 Corinthians 10:4, 5
• Look, if we walk praying and keeping our minds and thoughts on the Lord
o We will stand fast in the Lord
o Common sense tells us this
o There is no way to be
? In the Lord
o Unless we are thinking
o Talking
o And walking in the Lord
o Very simply we are in whatever we are thinking
o Whatever we are talking
o And wherever we are walking
o The first step to peace is to
? Stand fast in the Lord
• Look at how Paul encouraged the church
o Brothers and sisters, I love you
o I miss you
o You are my joy and my crown
• He tells them that he loves them
o They were his brothers and sisters in Christ
o They had all trusted Christ as their Savior and become sons and daughters of the family of God
o They were all brothers and sisters of the Lord
o And Paul is reminding them of this relationship
o Therefore, they should all stand fast in the Lord
• He says that he longs to see them
o He is in prison
o He’s unable to be with them
o But his heart is with his dear family
o The family of God
o Therefore, they need to please his heart by standing fast
o Holding on
• He says they are his joy and crown
o This is probably a reference to the rewards that will be given on that glorious day of redemption
o The word crown (stephanos) refers to the crown or wreath that was given and sat on the head of a victorious athlete after they had won the victor’s crown in their particular event
o Paul says that his joy
o And his crown will be the lives of the Philippians themselves when they all appear before Christ
o If he was to receive the joy and crown of their presence
o They must stand fast in the Lord
o Here’s the thing
o As we’ve said on Wednesday’s
o Each of us have a flock of people that we’ve been called to minister to
o The Lord has given us people to minister to
o I’m sure that all of us have people that we want to see in heaven
o We have witnessed to them
o We have discipled them
o We are working with them
o We’re praying for them
o Some of them are walking the walk
o Some of them we’re still praying for
o But we’re wanting them to stand fast
o So, we get out there to encourage them
o To help them through
o We help guide them through their trials
o If they’re to stand fast
o They must be loved and cared for by you
o They must be loved and cared for by you investing in them
o Pouring into their lives
o Nothing encourages us any more than knowing that we are loved and cared for by others
o The love of others stirs us to live like we should and to stand fast against temptation and trial
o On Wednesday Richard, Bud, Stan, Pastor Watts and I get together at Bob Evans for breakfast
o Of course anyone is welcome to join us
o This past week it was just Bud, Richard and I
o The message of the week was
? What a joy it was to have this time together
? This fellowship
? This accountability
? This time of sharing and catching up
? This time of praying together
? This time of standing with each other
o I’m a part of several different text groups
? Pastors group
? Home church group
? Leadership group
? Ministry team group
o There is great encouragement to me when I have a need for prayer to send out the request and see the response from different ones
? Praying for you
? Or some will even take the time to type in a prayer for the specific need
o Later in the day or a day later I’ll get a text asking how I’m doing
o If there is anything that can be done
o That helps me stand fast
• Scripture tells us, as believers to stand fast in several things
• We’re to stand fast in our faith
o Be alert. Be firm in the Christian faith. Be courageous and strong.
o 1 Corinthians 16:13
• We’re to stand fast in the liberty of Christ.
o Christ has freed us so that we may enjoy the benefits of freedom. Therefore, be firm in this freedom, and don’t become slaves again.
o Galatians 5:1
• We’re to stand fast in one spirit, striving together for the faith of the gospel
o Live as citizens who reflect the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come to see you or whether I stay away, I’ll hear all about you. I’ll hear that you are firmly united in spirit, united in fighting for the faith that the Good News brings.
o Philippians 1:27
• We’re to stand fast in the Lord which is the secret of peace
o So, brothers and sisters, I love you and miss you. you are my joy and my crown. Therefore, dear friends, keep your relationship with the Lord firm.
o Philippians 4:1
• We’re to stand fast and hold to the teachings or doctrines that have been taught
o Then, brothers and sisters, firmly hold on to the traditions we taught you either when we spoke to you or in our letter
o 2 Thessalonians 2:15
• We have our faith
• We have our liberty in Christ
• We are of one spirit working together in sharing the Gospel
• We stand and rest in the Lord
• We rely and hold to the teachings and what we’ve learned
• But let me ask you
o What are the barriers that are keeping you from standing firm?
• You can take care of those barriers right now
• Surrender them to the Lord
• Here’s the thing about standing fast
• When you rest in the Lord
• When you lean into Him
• He will take your barriers and tear them down
• Then you’ll be able to walk totally victorious
• As we’ve said,
o We’ve not achieved perfection
o But we’re forgetting what is behind
o And we’re striving to what is ahead
o But we can’t do that if we don’t stand fast
o If we don’t stand firm
o If we doubt the Lord
o If we are wishy washy in our faith
o We have to pick up the Word
o Stand on His promises
o And be what He has called us to be
• So, come this morning
• Give your barriers to Him
• Take the first step to achieving the Peace of God
• And the God of Peace
• Stand Firm, Stand Fast, and be at peace
• Let’s pray
