Rejoice! Seven Words to Live By
Philippians 4:4-9
Pastor Don Jones
Introduction
The last few weeks we have been looking at God’s Word concerning the abundant life. Stand on the solid rock Jesus Christ, love the Lord, love others, and today rejoice. Philippians 4:4 says,
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Paul can’t be serious. In today’s world he wants us to rejoice? You’ve got to be kidding me. I don’t feel like rejoicing. Like many of you I roll out of bed and my joints and muscles ache to the point of screaming. When I get rid of one thing, some new problem raises its ugly head. Raise your hand this morning if you are dealing with a physical, mental, or emotion problem in your life.
Can you believe it? We are being asked, no, commanded to rejoice. And in case we didn’t get it the first time He says it again, rejoice. How dare him! He couldn’t have possibly known what we were going through today.
The apostle Paul, sure, like he knows anything about our woe. He was taken care of by the State, the Roman Empire, round the clock guards, living in palaces, in chains, that he had to pay for, what could he possibly known about pain and suffering in this world. And that thing he had a problem with, God said His grace was sufficient.
Well, ok, maybe he did know a thing or two about suffering but to command us to rejoice, there must be some mistake. Let’s read it together this time.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
The command found here is to rejoice. This is not the first time he has said these words. In Philippians 3:1 he says,
Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord!
Seven Words
Again, rejoice is a command. The Greek construct of the sentence and the imperative tense of the verb "rejoice" can be interpreted no other way but that we are being commanded to rejoice. Just like love the Lord and others, this too is a command.
Paul is telling us we can rejoice in our lives even though we are beset with physical, mental, and emotional problems. I am thoroughly convinced that God does not lie to us. His Word is true. If He tells us to rejoice then I am sure we can rejoice if we do as He says.
Most of us have heard of the seven last words of the church. "We’ve never done it that way before." Let me point out the seven words for the believer. "I can do all things through Christ". This is how we can rejoice in spite of everything; in Christ. Philippians 4:13 says,
I can do everything through him (Christ) who gives me strength.
The Rock Solid Foundation
Jesus Christ is our ability, our foundation, to accomplishing anything in God’s Word. In and through Christ we have the ability to carry out the commands found within this Book. On our own we would be terrible failures but He gives us the victory. By standing on the "Rock Solid" foundation we can love God, love others, and rejoice as we are commanded.
If we focus our minds and hearts on our woes and allow that to consume us then we will not rejoice. If we focus on the world’s problems to the exclusion of all else we will not rejoice. Focus your mind on Christ and as the hymn says, "the things of this world will grow strangely dim."
I believe we are given seven (7) words that will allow us to continually rejoice in life regardless of circumstance. They are; anxious - nothing, prayerful - everything, thankful - anything, peace.
Do 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.
Anxious - Nothing
Jesus addressed worry in the Sermon on the Mount. He basically said the same thing. Don’t worry. He said in Matthew 6:25,
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
He tells us life is more important than the acquisition of things. We were not put on this earth for the purpose of possessing anything. We were put here to be possessed by Jesus Christ. Most people worry over money, possessions or other people. In Christ, we are to love people as ourselves and trust God for everything else.
This is difficult because it requires us to exercise our faith in Him. Remember, faith involves doubt. Faith by definition means that we trust and believe in the unseen. I was going to give you the example that you breathe air but you can’t se it so you are demonstrating faith. But I know someone would say you can see the air because it is brown. Let me give you another.
The only survivor of a shipwreck washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.
Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions.
But then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened; everything was lost. He was stung with grief and anger. "God, how could you do this to me!" he cried.
Early the next day, however, he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him.
"How did you know I was here?" asked the weary man of his rescuers.
"We saw your smoke signal," they replied. (Christianstories.com)
I constantly hear people say, "The Lord will not give me more than I can handle". Wrong, that is a lie of the devil. The Lord constantly gives us more than we can handle because He wants us to rely on Him.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:33
Prayerful - Everything
We are to go to the Lord in prayer and petition with everything in our lives. He is our provider our sustainer in all areas of life. I went to the pastor’s luncheon this month. I enjoy going because I always learn something new. It happened to be in an area that is definitely inner city. They are struggling and yet they feed and clothe people on a large scale every day.
The pastor at Church on Fillmore was letting us know his picture of God’s provision. His dad was a farmer. He grew crops and raised pigs, sheep, and cattle. He never had a lot of money. All of his was tied up in the farm. When his dad would receive a bill he would go out to the field and grab a chicken, pig, or cow and take it to town. He would offer the animal in payment for services or for the bill. Everyone in the town did business this way.
He asked his dad one day what would happen if they ran out of livestock to barter or trade with. His father answered that he would pray for one of God’s cows. Confused, he asked what that meant. He said, "Son, the Lord owns the cattle on a thousand hills. When we need one I pray and the Lord takes one of the cattle and sells it and gives me the proceeds. He said ever since his dad told him that he’s never worried about his needs. Whenever he was in want the Lord would sell another cow and give the money to him.
He finished by saying, "The Lord hasn’t run out of hills and He certainly hasn’t run out of cattle. So why worry, bring everything to Him and he will take care of your needs. Matthew 7:11 says,
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
When we are in need of a cow we need to lift that need up to the Lord in prayer. Paul says,
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, present your requests to God.
Thankful - Anything
I imagine some of you noticed I left out a part of Philippians 4:6. Your right I left out our response to what our Lord has promised. We are to be thankful for anything. I don’t know if you do this but since I have begun giving thanks for anything and everything I have found I have little time but to be thankful to God.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Our world is focused on the negative. If you turn on the TV or read a news paper or magazine you will get a pretty dim picture of our world. You have probably asked this question. Why don’t the news people focus on the positive? I will tell you. Nobody would watch. We like to see the bad.
I was driving to an appointment last month. I needed to be there early and unfortunately traffic was moving slow. I crept along at a very slow 20 mph. I would not get there on time unless we began to speed up.
Up ahead I could see all of the flashing lights. There was an accident. I thought it must be bad because we are moving so slow. I began to pray for those involved asking God to watch over the officials and those involved in the accident.
When I got close my prayerful attitude became an angry attitude. Every lane was unblocked except for the far right lane....on the other side. Drivers were holding up five lanes of traffic to gander at a fender bender.
I quickly repented and realized the truth. We love to watch the bad things of this world. It fascinates us to the point it affects our emotional mental, and spiritual outlook. We are drawn to the awful. I think that is why Paul reminds us later to fix our minds on the good. He says,
Finally, 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.
When we begin giving thanks to God for all of our needs we will be reminded of God’s goodness and His grace that He so freely gives. William Noel tells this story.
Alex Haley, the author of "Roots," had an unusual picture hanging on his office wall. It was a picture of a turtle on top of a fence post. When asked, "Why is that there?" Alex Haley answered, "Every time I write something significant, every time I read my words & think that they are wonderful, & begin to feel proud of myself, I look at the turtle on top of the fence post & remember that he didn’t get there on his own. He had help."
That is the basis of thankfulness - to remember that we got here with the help of God, & that He is the provider of every blessing we have. When we begin to operate our lives as scripture commands us we will live a life of peace.
Peace
Do 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.
The result of a lack of anxiety, prayer, and thankfulness is peace. Not peace in the usual sense but a peace that is supernatural. It is a peace that comes only from the storehouse of heaven. The seven words to live by are; anxious - nothing, prayerful - everything, thankful - anything, peace. This is why Paul said,
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
When you begin that God has everything in your life under control and will provide you with all you need, life loses all of the worry. The Father loves you so much that He gave His Son for you. Jesus said,
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
