Phil 4:2-9 PRACTICE WHAT YOU KNOW
Having urged the believers to PRESS ON and STAND FIRM in the Lord, the example he has set for them, Paul gives some practical exhortations to the church as he ends the letter.
• As in other epistles, Paul gives counsel to the needs specific to the church.
In today’s text, we see 3 clear paragraphs of practical exhortations:
• 4:2-3 - the first one has to do with maintaining the unity in the church.
• 4:4-7 - the second is an encouragement to stay joyful always. And to entrust their anxieties to God in prayer.
• 4:8-9 - and lastly, to think more about the truths of God that they have come to know and not be distracted by what they see and hear around them.
Paul ends with 4:9 “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me – practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
• This is very much PAUL, right? He does not talk about what he does not do. He lives the talk.
• He has been challenging the Ephesians and now the Philippians to walk the talk because he does. The truth of God changes the way we live.
I’ve entitled today sharing: PRACTICE WHAT YOU KNOW.
• The end goal of God’s truth is to change our lives and make us holy like Christ.
1. MAINTAIN UNITY
4:2-3 2I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche (sync tege) to agree in the Lord. 3Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have laboured side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.
Paul highlighted a disagreement that he knew about and urged the two women who were at odds to “agree in the Lord”. That is, for the sake of Christ, live in harmony.
• Euodia and Syntyche (sync tege) were not new believers but former team players with Paul, Clement and the rest of the co-workers.
• They were mature Christians but with a disagreement. The fact that Paul raised it openly and naming them indicates that the conflict might get worse if not resolved quickly.
As former co-workers of Paul, they would have an influence and following in the church.
• Paul urged them directly, personally, and by name, to “cool it down” and reconcile.
And then he turned to his “true companion” and urged him to help them reconcile.
• No name was given so we do not know who this companion is. It could be Timothy, Luke, Epaphroditus, or a female co-worker.
• He would likely be someone known to the church and the two sisters to play mediator.
Paul asked him to be the peacemaker and help bring the two together.
• By inference, reading this letter, the church is to stand behind him and support him in this.
• As Christians, we are called to make peace and, if we are not the party that quarrels, to be peacemakers.
• Matt 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
Noticed that Paul was quiet about the nature of the conflict or his take on the issue. No comment on what were quarrelling about or who was right or wrong.
• We see Paul’s wisdom here. His words carry lots of weight and any comment from him would potentially create more strife and aggravate the situation.
• He was careful not to take sides unwittingly and cause a deeper problem.
MAKE PEACE. That’s all Paul wants to see. Keep the unity in the Body of Christ.
• Let me repeat what Paul wrote in Eph 4:1-3
1I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
• These are the traits we need to maintain unity - humility, gentleness, patience and love.
Knowing Paul, this disagreement cannot be a doctrinal issue because if that is, he would have confronted it and corrected them.
• So this quarrel was likely an issue of personal preferences or choices.
And then Paul added this line, saying their “names are in the Book of Life.” (4:3)
• “We are all redeemed by Christ and our names are written in the same book. We are brothers and sisters in Christ.”
• Set that perspective right and learn to live in peace. We are one family.
Unity is not a given. It is difficult but possible, in Christ. We have to make an effort to keep it.
• It is our goal and it is always a work in progress until we see Christ. We work at it and guard it. This is the will of God.
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4:4-7 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness [gentleness] be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
2. STAY JOYFUL
Rejoice in the Lord always. And let 4:5 “your reasonableness”ESV be known to everyone.
• The word is translated as gentleness, graciousness, consideration for others, forbearance, tolerance… Let this graciousness be seen and known to everyone.
• The talk about the conflict probably led to this. Don’t fight and get at each other but serve together with joy. Don’t be sour saints but happy servants.
• It is being like Christ, who is gentle and meek. It is the spirit of not wanting to contend, but to bless others.
TO REJOICE IS A CHOICE. Take Paul, for example.
• His situation could have led him to despair and yet he wrote Philippians with joy.
• He was recounting his “problems” and yet seeing the positive that comes out of them.
• Imprisoned but yet able to reach Caesar’s household and the guards with the Gospel.
• People in freedom preaching his message and with wrong motives, but yet “Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.” (1:18)
• Whether I live or die, both are good! “To live is Christ, to die is gain.” (1:21) Either way, he wins.
Paul does not believe he is a victim of his circumstances, even though he has gone through many more trials and tribulations than we do.
• He sees his life experiences as having been orchestrated by God to fulfil His purposes.
• Paul chose to live in joy and so can we.
SEEK HIS PRESENCE. He says, PRAY AND ENTRUST your concerns to God.
• To Paul, joy is not contingent on our circumstances but rooted in our relationship with God.
• “5bThe Lord is at hand; 6do not be anxious about anything…” He is near. He hears us.
• “6…in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” And the result of this is that we will experience the peace of God.
I like the way Paul paints this – from ANXIETY that bothers our hearts/minds, to the PEACE that now guards our hearts/minds.
• The anxiety of life is being replaced by the peace of God, and this EXCHANGE takes place because of PRAYER.
• The anxiety that drains us of joy and strength is taken over by the peace of God that fills our hearts and minds, and that gives us joy and strength.
This EXCHANGE is so well put. We all experience it when we pray, or after we pray.
• The presence of God in prayer encourages us and grants us peace and assurance.
Paul was not talking about ANSWERS to our prayers – like we ask for healing and we get it, or we ask for help and God gave it to us… Paul did not even go there.
• He simply says when we pray, God is present and He gives us His PEACE.
• And that peace is unexplainable, it “surpasses all our understanding”.
• It did not come from the circumstances or even answers to our prayers. It comes from Him.
That’s what Jesus said – John 14:27
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
That’s God’s promise. Not that we will surely get what we want but His peace.
• I believe we can testify to this. We pray and we are at peace knowing God has heard.
• We might not have gotten the answer to our prayer but we are at peace, knowing that our situation is in God’s hands.
• Isaiah 26:3 “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”
Prayer is not about getting the answers we want but resting in God’s sovereignty.
• We are acknowledging our complete dependence on Him and our submission to His will.
• John Stott put it this way: "The purpose of prayer is emphatically not to bend God's will to ours, but rather to align our will to His."
If we are constantly anxious today, it would only mean that we did not pray.
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4:8-9 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
3. THINK BIBLICALLY
GUARD OUR THOUGHTS. Guard what we feed our minds.
The cumulative thrust of these adjectives can only point to ONE source – the truth of God.
• That which is true, honourable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and worthy of praise, and not false, detestable, biased, impure, bad and shameful.
• Although not said, only the Word of God fits these descriptions. We are to saturate our minds with the truth of God.
• For a healthy Christian life, we need to feed on the Word of God.
And we are facing a challenge because we are bombarded constantly by messages and thoughts that come from elsewhere.
• We do not have to look for them; they come to us, through our phones, TVs, laptops, social media and all kinds of gadgets. We are being fed, whether you want it or not.
What our minds consume, consumes us. It affects us.
• The news last month (Sep 2024) reported an IMH study showing youth who spend over 3 hours on social media daily tend to report symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress.
• The stuff we put into our minds will inevitably be revealed in our emotions and behaviours.
Paul urged his readers to guard their minds and govern what they think.
• What they think about matters. That’s mental health.
• We are to think of the truth of God’s Word because that’s true, honourable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and praiseworthy.
Paul wrote in:
• 2 Cor 10:4-5 “4For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ…”
• Rom 12:2 “2Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
That’s where our battle is. We guard our thought life and bring it into submission to Christ.
• We learn to think biblically about every aspect of life.
We are what we eat. Whatever we feed our minds, will show in our behaviours.
• We get what we put in. Garbage in and garbage out.
Paul says THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS – the truth that God has revealed to us.
• We can never have a Christian mind without the Word, because we cannot be influenced by what we do not know.
• We feed our minds with His Word and let His truths shape our conduct and life.
An old Indian Christian was explaining to a missionary that the battle inside of him was like a black dog fighting a white dog.
“Which dog wins?” asked the missionary.
“The one I feed the most,” replied the Indian.
Choose carefully what you like to think about. Feed your mind on the truth of God’s Word.
See how Paul ends.
4:9 “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me — practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
• Earlier he said we PRAY and the PEACE OF GOD guards our hearts and minds…
• Now when we MEDITATE on God’s truth, the GOD OF PEACE is with us.
It’s like a play of words but we know what he means.
• We will experience His PEACE and His PRESENCE when we practice what we know – when we pray (talk to God) and meditate (hear from Him).
• In essence, it is the same. It is all about a close relationship with Christ.
• Peace is not circumstantial; it is found in the Person of Christ.
Practice what we know.
Let us pray:
Heavenly Father, help us to press on and stand firm in our faith. Let us rejoice in You always, knowing that You are present and all good.
We bring all our concerns to you. In praying, we experience Your peace and assurance.
Help us focus our minds on all that comes from You, that which is all good and lovely. Fill us with Your peace as we seek to live out Your truths in our daily lives.
Thank you, Lord. In Christ’s Name, we pray, AMEN.
