Philippians 4:4-9
The Foundation For a Peaceful Life
Introduction
A. I don’t like War
B. Nobody likes war
C. I am not sure where this whole Iraq thing is going to end up
D. I don’t want to have to live in fear of a terrorist attack by Saddaam Husain
E. However, I really don’t want to go into war
F. So I am torn
G. I want what everybody wants, I want peace
H. We live in a day and age were peace is not that common
I. However we are going to see today how the bible gives us a foundation for a peaceful life
J. Now, what is the first thing you build when building a building?
K. A foundation
L. Now on this foundation the entire building is going to rest
M. Therefore when you are building the foundation you had better make sure that it is capable of holding the entire building
N. You do not want to take any short cuts. You want to make sure that it is firm and secure, without any week spots or else your building is going to collapse
O. We need to have a foundation in our lives too
P. Something that we know will hold up when we are experiencing tornado’s in our lives
Q. Well the Bible gives us a formula for a very strong foundation
R. The formula is
a. One Part Praise
b. One Part Prayer
c. And One Part Pondering
I. Praise (4-5)
A. Explanation
1. Praise, What does that mean?
2. Praise is an expression of Love towards God
3. Now in VS. 4 Paul tells us when we are suppose to do this praise thing
4. (Read 4) ALWAYS!
5. Vs. 5 has caused some people problems
6. Let your gentleness be evident to all. Does this mean I have be gentle
7. What about guys like Jason Gildon, a very solid Christian man, however if you ever watched him played I would not say that he is gentle
8. Gentleness is problem a bad translation, if you are using a different version I am sure it does not use Gentleness, moderation is a common word used their but again that does not do justice.
9. Now this word, epeeikiah, which means, mild, gentle, moderation, patient, is only used once in the whole Bible and many scholars believed that Paul himself coined it.
10. A proper interpretation then would be, Let everyone see your consideration, your care for, your appreciation your respect, in all you do
11. Now we are not talking about matter of doctrinal issues, we are talking about polite and considerate of others
12. We do this because Christ is coming back, and we want to show them Christ
B. Application
1. How do we apply this to our lives?
2. We are commanded to praise the Lord
3. That is something there should be no question about
4. By praise the Lord there will be some difference in your life
5. People will see the joy, they will see you rejoicing
6. That will instantly draw them closer to you
7. Because of the rejoicing and people seeing a difference in you, you then have to continue to live a Godly example
8. That is why vs. 5 is there.
9. By showing that joy, and being kind and considerate
10. People will want to know what you have and want it for themselves
C. Illustration
1. When I see something that I like I want it. For example, on Monday I went to my sister’s house. Zack, my oldest nephew, got a play station 2 for Christmas. Of course I was playing it, and now I want one!
2. Before I played it, I had no desire to get one, but now that I have I want one
3. That is what we can do for people that do not have Christ; we can create that same desire.
4. That is why we praise him
II. Prayer (6-7)
A. Explanation
1. What prayer you ask? Simple, communication with God
2. This next couple of verses if we could only put into practice, it would be amazing
3. Paul knew the Philippians well
4. He had been ministering to them for a long time
5. Being around them so much he realized that they had a tendency to get a little worried and exited about things
6. Therefore, Paul has a solution
7. This solution may not seem that earth shattering but it was what the Philippians needed
8. He told them to Pray, to give everything over to God and pray
9. To let God handle it.
10. By doing so get this, (Read vs. 7)
11. The peace of God will protect them J
B. Application
1. How can we apply this to our lives?
2. Raise your hand if you have ever been anxious, stressed, worried, scared of something
3. That is what I thought, we have all had those feelings
4. The Bible tells us to turn them over to God
5. To let God know our concern
6. To put it in his big hands
7. God takes and what happens next is just amazing
8. The peace of God, will come over you
9. The peace of God will be with you even in times is seems like it wouldn’t be.
C. Illustration
1. Dave Haggerty has been going through a rough time with work and stuff. As you know his partnership with his brother in law has dissolved. During the whole process Dave had a peace about it that just did not make sense
2. You want to know why?
3. He turned in over to God
4. God gave him the peace that surpassed all understanding
5. What about you? Are there issues in your life that you need to turn over to God?
6. Trust me, by doing so, you will experience peace
III. Pondering (8)
A. Explanation
1. This verse has been looked at many times
2. There is a reason, it is so good
3. Let’s look at it closely, Whatever is true—Greek word Alethes that which is without error
4. Whatever us noble – Greek word Semnos meaning that which is reverend, that which is honorable
5. Whatever is pure – Greek work hagnos meaning pure from carnality, modest from every fault, immaculately clean
6. Whatever is lovely – Greek word proshiles meaning acceptable and pleasing
7. Whatever is admirable – Greek work Euphemos meaning praise, good report
8. Paul is tell the Philippians those are the things that they should be thinking off
9. Paul knows that if there minds are pondering on these things they will not fall away from God
B. Application
1. What can we gain from this?
2. Some wise person came up with the phrase garbage in garbage out
3. That phrase I hate to say it is completely true
4. If we sit there and let garbage in to our heads, sit there and let it consume our thoughts we will just regurgitate that garbage
5. I want to challenge you with something
6. Once a week I want you to come up with a biblical topic and just think about it all week long
7. Let whatever it is just sit in your brain for the whole week
C. Illustration
1. Let me give you an example. It is cold outside, just in case you hadn’t noticed. When it is cold, we often like to build a fire. Now after you have your fire going for a while what happens? The fire begins to go down, it is not as big as it was. So what do you do? You throw another log on the fire
2. That is what we need to do in our spiritual lives, throw another log on the fire
3. Now think about that example, see how it works out in your life
4. By thinking on these things, you will not have garbage coming out of you
5. You will have things of God showing through
6. That is what you want to be pondering on.
Conclusion
A. If you add some praise, add some prayer, add some pondering you will have a firm foundation
B. That is how to stand up even in a tornado
C. If you forget to add one of these ingredients to the foundation, you will collapse
D. Your foundation will sink
E. You will not be able to stand
F. What about your foundation? Is it strong?
G. Did you remember all the ingredients?
H. Do you need to add some Praise?
I. Do you need to add some Prayer?
J. Do you need to add some Pondering?
K. Peace is possible even in this time
L. If you want that peace, all you have to do is apply this scripture to your life?
M. What is it going to be?
