Becoming a Joy-FULL Person
6. Finding Peace
Philippians 4:4-9
June 5/6, 2004
Don Jaques
MAIN IDEA:
Everyone can find peace in the midst of anxiety.
INTRO:
There once was a king who announced a painting contest. He was building a new palace, and he wanted the main entrance hall to be decorated with a large work of art. The king envisioned his kingdom as a peaceful land, so whoever’s painting best symbolized peace would win a large cash prize.
Over the next few months, hundreds of paintings arrived at the palace. The king decided on the top two. Before announcing a winner, he hung both paintings in the palace for public viewing.
The first painting was of a majestic lake, so tranquil and still that the lush hills behind it were perfectly mirrored in its reflection. The sky was a brilliant blue with soft, puffy clouds floating above. Wildflowers bursting with color outlined the lake, and a family of deer calmly grazed in a far meadow. All who saw it felt peace and happiness.
The second painting portrayed a tall mountain cliff, rugged and strong. A few small trees grew out of the cracks of the face of the cliff, with gnarled roots clinging for life. A foamy waterfall angrily crashed down the cliff and into the rocky land below. Above, dark ominous clouds loomed, and in the distance lightning flashed. Halfway up the cliff grew a small bush. In its branches, a bird sat in a nest apparently warming her eggs.
After several weeks, the king declared the second painting the winner. Confused and upset, the people asked the king to explain his decision. He said, "Peace is not the absence of conflict. Peace is a state of mind. Those who experience peace have love in their hearts even when turmoil surrounds them."
Sounds nice doesn’t it? But how do we get there?
We’ve been studying Philippians, especially centering on Paul’s words that will teach us how to become a Joy-FULL person. There are all sorts of things in our lives that keep us from experiencing the joy that is ours in Jesus Christ, but one of the biggest ones is ANXIETY. Stress. It’s hard to feel joyful when you’re worried. But in today’s passage in Philippians 4, we’re going to discover that even in the direst of circumstances you can find peace. There are ways to be freed from your anxieties that steal your joy – and we discover them in the words of Paul. Turn with me to Phil. 4:4-9.
Again – remember the context. Paul is under house arrest. He’s chained to a Roman soldier 24/7. He has an uncertain future.
Philippians 4:4-9 (NIV)
4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
How to find peace in the midst of anxiety:
We discover 3 keys in this brief passage. The first is this:
• Pray with thanksgiving. (Phil. 4:4-7)
o Paul gives the Philippian believers a clear command: Do not be anxious about ANYTHING! But in everything, with prayer and petition, with THANKSGIVING, make your requests known to God.
o How? First acknowledge your anxiety.
Lord I’m worried about this. I know I shouldn’t be, but it’s causing me a lot of stress.
o 2nd - Turn the worry into a prayer of thanksgiving.
1Thess. 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (Not FOR all circumstances, but IN all circumstances.)
Got bad news? Thank God for the opportunity to grow in your faith. Thank Him for his Holy Spirit which is able to provide you with everything you need to withstand the troubles you’re facing. Thank Him that He has it all in His hands.
o Remember He is Emmanuel (God with us.)
“Good morning, this is God. I will be handling all of your problems today. I do not require your help. Have a good day.”
o If we’ll do this, we’re promised results. Verse 7 says “And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
ILLUS: We’re all familiar with the idea of bodyguards. Here we’re promised something even better – it’s a heart and mind guard.
If you’ll quit being anxious, and cast your burdens on the Lord, he promises your heart and your mind will be guarded by the peace of God.
o ILLUS: Finding peace in the midst of adoption stress.
TRANS: The first key to finding peace in the midst of anxiety is to pray with thanksgiving. But verse 8 gives us the next key:
• Fix your mind on all that is good. (Phil. 4:8)
o The average person has more than two hundred negative thoughts a day-worries, jealousies, insecurities, cravings for forbidden things, etc. Depressed people have as many as six hundred. You can’t eliminate all the troublesome things that go through your mind, but you can certainly reduce the number of negative thoughts. Dr. Elinore Kinarthy in Homemade, Sept., 1988
o When you’re stressed, the tendency is to start thinking about all the things that might go wrong, or that have already gone wrong. Paul could have done this – but instead he gives us some advice that Peter Pan would have liked.
o ILLUS: There is a famous scene in Peter Pan. Peter is in the children’s bedroom; they have seen him fly; and they wish to fly too. They have tried it from the floor and they have tried it from the beds and the result is failure. "How do you do it?" John asked. And Peter answered: "You just think lovely, wonderful thoughts and they lift you up in the air."
o But instead of thinking about things like candy and new toys like the children in Peter Pan, Paul tells us what we’re to think about.
Whatever is TRUE – rooted in reality, not just based on assumptions
Whatever is NOBLE – above board, going the extra mile
Whatever is RIGHT – in keeping with scriptural commands
Whatever is PURE – not tainted with worldly wisdom
Whatever is LOVELY – beautiful, pleasing
Whatever is ADMIRABLE – something others would look up to
Whatever is EXCELLENT – of a high quality
Whatever is PRAISEWORTHY – that is, worthy of praise
o How can you fix your mind on good things?
ILLUS: RCA filter can turn an R movie into a G movie. I’ve got a better idea. Use the Holy Spirit, Phil 489 filtering system!
Is it TRUE, NOBLE, RIGHT, PURE, LOVING, ADMIRABLE, EXCELLENT, or PRAISEWORTHY?
Then, if it fails the filter…
o Take every thought captive.
o 2Cor. 10:3-5 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Use the power of the Holy Spirit to throw that negative, anxious, impure, unloving thought away. (Remember the whack a mole? Do it again!)
Then call to mind a scripture verse you’ve memorized, such as “The fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, JOY, PEACE…”
TRANS: But if we’re going to really have success finding peace in the midst of anxiety – we’ll have to do more than simply pray and change our thinking, we’ll have some positive role models to follow. That’s why the final key to finding peace in the midst of anxiety is to..
• Imitate Godly people.
9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
• When it comes to dealing with stress and anxiety – there’s lots of wrong ways to do it. Get angry and violent. Drink. Smoke. Eat. Escape into the TV.
• What Paul says is, if want the God of peace to be with you – then imitate the kinds of behaviors you’ve seen me do. Remember what I’ve taught you and showed you – and do those things.
• 1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."
• ILLUS: Picking up the course language of my 6th grade basketball coach.
• ILLUS: Picking up the accents of foreigners.
o If you want to pick up the “Christian” accent – not just in your speech but more importantly in your thinking and your actions – you’ve got to be around people who follow Christ.
• You’ve got to be around them in order to imitate them.
Read biographies.
Get in a small group.
Pray for Christian friends.
CONCL. Do you remember the words that Jesus first spoke to His disciples following His resurrection? The disciples were in the upper room, & they were fearful for their own lives. Their leader was dead, & their future uncertain.
Just then Jesus appeared though locked doors & spoke to them. Do you remember what He said?
Max Lucado puts it this way: "The betrayed sought His betrayers. And what did He say to them? Not, `What a bunch of flops you are.’ Not, `I told you so.’ And there was no `Where were you when I really needed you,’ speech.
"No, his first words were just one simple phrase, `Peace be with you.’ The very thing that they didn’t have was the very thing that He offered - peace. And He still offers it to us today."
If you’ll learn to pray with thanksgiving
Fix your mind on all that is good, AND
Imitate Godly people
You are promised not only the Peace of God, but also the God of Peace will be with you.
PRAY:
Last week we through some things in the trash. This week we need to get some other things in the trash. We need to cast our anxieties and our worries and our stress upon you. We want to know the peace that transcends our understanding. We want to have You, o God of peace, with us.
