How to rejoice in the Lord | Philippians 4:4-7 | Dr Eric Ortlund

We're going to be looking at the famous passage

from Philippians 4 this afternoon. I mean, we

all pretty much have this passage memorized,

right? And it's not terribly difficult to make

sense out of, but it's been increasingly meaningful

for me as the years have gone by. So I'd like

to consider it with you. Just verses 4 through

7 of Philippians 4. Rejoice in the Lord always.

Again, I say, rejoice. Let your gentleness be

evident to everyone. The Lord is near. Don't

worry, but in everything, by prayer and supplication

with thanksgiving, make your requests known to

God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all

understanding, will guard your hearts and your

minds in Christ Jesus. This is God's word. Friends,

that last verse, verse seven, the peace of God,

which surpasses all understanding. I'm sure I'm

not the only one in this room. When I read that

for the first time as a Christian, it just stuck

in my mind. The way it's phrased is so beautiful.

And the thing it's talking about is so amazing.

And yet I'm sure I'm not the only person when

I read that. I've never read that and thought,

yep, I'm doing good on that one. I'm all topped

up on peace that passes understanding. I don't

need any more of that. You all are so godly and

sanctified. You're all way out ahead of me, you

know? It can be easy to look at verse 7, and

that can feel like an abstract ideal that might

apply to the really spiritual Christians, but

for normal Christians, not so much. The peace

of God that passes understanding does not characterize

very much of my experience. But what I think

is, and my thesis today with you, if you look

at the structure of the passage, verses 4 through

7, Paul gives three commands. and then a promise

about peace. Verses 8 and 9, he gives two commands,

and then the God of peace will be with you. My

idea, my crazy hypothesis I want to test out

with you, is that the more we follow the commands

that Paul gives in context, the more we're going

to find this peace being ours. In other words,

the passage unlocks itself for us. It tells us

how to get at this deeply precious thing. We're

not going to look at verses 8 and 9. Paul says,

think. certain things, and do the stuff you were

told to do, and the God of peace will be with

you. I think it's continuing the thought. You're

all perfectly smart. You can figure that out

on your own. I just want to look at verses four

through seven. He says rejoice, and then in verses

five and six, I translated it as be evident.

I should have just said rejoice, and then let

it be known, and let another thing be known,

and the peace of God. that passes understanding

so that i think as we rejoice and let these two

things be known more and more what feel a peace

that feels impossible will actually be ours so

that's what we're going to consider but before

we do we all know verse 7 i'm not going to tell

you anything you don't already know this verse

is amazing real quickly in verse 7 does everyone

see see paul says the peace of god That's a genitive

of possession and of source. That's God's peace

and a gift from him. This is not you trying to

convince yourself that everything's going to

be okay. This is not an abstract Zen ideal. This

is not even God bringing you up to your own fullest

potential for a calm state of mind on your own.

This is a gift from the throne outside of yourself.

It's something heavenly and divine, the kind

of blessed peace that God himself experiences.

He gives to those who have been united from his

son. And it's a gift from God from outside. Notice

he goes on to say that transcends comprehension

or that transcends knowing. Luke, what does the

NIV have there in verse seven? No, it's fine.

It's fine. Say again. Understanding. Yeah. Notice

verse seven would make sense without that little

phrase, which transcends understanding. Why is

that phrase there? If you're like me and you

have it, I don't know if it's obvious or not.

I have a tendency to worry about stuff. I'm just

irrationally selective about what I worry about.

And it's funny because my wife and I are both

worriers, but we both worry about totally different

things. Early in our marriage, she'd be like,

our finance is going to be okay. And I'd be like,

I can always get a job. Don't worry about it.

I'd be like, is the teaching going to be okay?

And she's like, well, it goes well most of the

time, Eric. Quit worrying about it, right? So

my experience of anxiety, tell me if this fits

with you. My experience, when I get anxious,

I'm thinking about the future and trying to plan

what I'm going to do to avoid bad stuff. Does

that resonate with it? It's that bad thing might

happen, and so I can do this and this. Oh, but

it might have these consequences down there,

and then maybe I can do that. I'm fretting and

worrying and wondering about what will happen

in the future, and I have no idea what's going

to happen in the future and what I can do. Now,

Paul says the peace that passes understanding.

In other words, this gift from the throne is

not something that you have to independently

verify is really worth trusting. You don't have

to let yourself wonder, can I really give myself

to this if I don't know if the future is going

to be okay? You have a piece that grips you that

you don't fully understand yourself. And instead

of that irritating worrying in your mind as I

go on and on, what about this, what about this,

what about... I just quit having to understand

everything, quit having to anticipate everything,

quit having to control everything. And I give

myself to a piece that doesn't make sense to

me, and it doesn't have to. He says the peace

that passes understanding will guard your hearts

and your minds. That is to say, your total person.

There's no part of your being that will be left

unaffected. It's not like part of you will be

at war with yourself and part of you will be

peace. Through and through you're going to be

in this peace. And he says it will guard you.

He could just say the peace of God will be with

you. That would make sense. But guard. That's

interesting. Guard from what? Well, I assume

at the least it means guarding me from making

dumb decisions because I'm listening to my fears

and not God, right? Or snapping at other people

and being unkind to other people because I'm

really stressed out. I am not pointing the finger

at anyone. I'm very guilty of that myself, okay?

At least it will guard me from that. But I wonder

if in a deeper way, it just protects you. It

takes care of you. It guards you. You don't have

to guard it. As you start to experience this,

it's not like a precious vase that you have to

worry might fall onto the floor and shatter.

You don't have to nourish it. It takes care of

you. And it comes for your hearts and minds in

Christ Jesus. That is to say, the Son of God

who dwells with us more intimately than we are.

This beautiful phrase from Augustine. He says,

you are closer to us than we are to ourselves.

You never have to worry about the peace getting

interrupted on the way down from the throne.

because it's in Jesus Christ to whom you're united

by faith. What a great verse, right? Now, how

do we get in on this? Okay, we're going to rejoice

and let two things be known, but real quickly,

in case this still feels like an extra add -on

for the super spiritual, if you don't know this

already, you and I are going to need this piece

this semester. Is anyone starting to feel the

press and the push and the stress of the academic

work across the semester? Is anyone starting

to think like, I'm not sure I can do all of this?

Is anyone being like Hebrew, Hebrew, Hebrew?

I'll give it 15 minutes and I'll pass the final

exam right away. Anyone feeling that way? I very

much sympathize with that. Every semester I had

at Trinity in Chicago, I was like, I don't know

how I'm going to get this all done. I managed

to somehow. We are engaged in a significant labor.

It is absolutely worth it. Consider how many

Christians across the world have the privilege

of coming. Look, I'm not trying to big up my

own ministry here, but how many Christians across

the world have access to theological education

like this? Maybe one in 10 ,000? I don't know.

But this is a significant labor. When I get to

the end of the semester, I am shot. It takes

everything I have to get through it. And friends,

I find studying depresses me. You should not

be surprised, especially the first years, if

you feel a dip spiritually. And Ecclesiastes

says studying is much weariness to the flesh.

There's something about human beings. Studying

is good, and you will need to keep doing it in

your life. But it's not necessarily automatically

life -giving, and especially not in November

when it's cold and rainy, and we've been at this

for 12 weeks, right? We're going to, and you're

stressed out and grouchy like I will be. And

friends, you're going to need this after you

leave Oak Hill. I have not talked to a single

graduate of Oak Hill who has said, after I left

Oak Hill and went into ministry, my life got

easier. Consistently, the testimony is, Oak Hill

was challenging and stressful, and it pushed

me, and then I got more challenged and stressed

out and pushed when I was in ministry. With all

due allowance for self -care and not burning

out, God has not called you to a stressful, easy

life. So this precious, seemingly unattainable

gift of Philippians 4 .7, this is a necessity

for all of us. Sorry, can't even speak English.

Okay, how do we get it? First, rejoice in the

Lord. And we all know this already. Most of the

Philippians are going, yeah, right, Paul. Do

you know the Wednesday morning I've had or the

year I've had or how little sleep I've gotten

this month? And Paul really lovingly and gently

looks us in the eyes and said, I am talking to

you. Again, I say rejoice in the Lord. How many

of us naturally just rejoice in God? I don't

tend to wander into that on my own. And notice

he says rejoice in the Lord always. Christians

never let their circumstances dictate how much

joy they find in their Savior. And friends, biblically,

joy in the Lord does not exclude profound grief

as well. Paul is not saying have a positive mental

attitude. He says rejoice in the Lord. And that

doesn't mean it excludes all grief, okay? Okay,

so how do we do this? Especially if it's not

natural for me, how do we do this? The simplest

way I know is to tell God the stuff you like

about him. Notice it doesn't say think about

God. It's You consciously direct your mind and

your affections to that invisible presence there

in the room with you, and you list for him the

things you like about him. And I find when I

do that, it begins, it's very artificial and

stilted, and I just kind of don't want to be

there. And it takes time for my heart to warm

up before I'm actually rejoicing. It's not natural

for me. But if I'm not rejoicing in the Lord,

I shouldn't be surprised if I'm not experiencing

the peace of God, if I can't rejoice in him,

right? Okay, so that this doesn't remain too

abstract, I'm going to rejoice in God in front

of you all for the next three hours, okay? And

we can get—no, I'm kidding. I'm going to say

two things about God that I really like, okay?

His providence and his happiness. Okay, so first

of all, God's providence for me. Across my 49

years, according to my calculator, I've had a

little over 2 ,500 Wednesdays. Guess how many

of them I remember? Not very many. Across the

thousands of seconds I had, for the millions

of atoms that are in my body, there has not been

a single instant of my existence that God's presence

and alert, careful, attentive care and awareness

and protection has not been with me. Not a single

second. Not a single second. In my best moments,

in my worst moments, in my most bored moments.

In the chapters of my life where I didn't really

know what was going on, in every single instant,

God is providentially ordering all things to

serve his purpose for me. His purpose being,

turn Eric into an actual Christian, someone who

can actually be happy in heaven and God's holiness.

Turn Eric into someone who can actually stop

thinking about himself so much and be a blessing

to other people, and turn Eric into someone who

can glorify God. Everything in my life is serving

that purpose. The horrible stuff in my life is

serving that purpose. We all have those times

where life is tough, but you're kind of thinking,

this is okay, I'm doing okay, I'm going to get

through this. And you have those times where

life is tough, and you're genuinely and without

self -pity thinking, I really don't know how

much more I can stand to that. That stuff is

serving God's purpose to make me wildly happy

in his presence forever in the resurrection.

even the boring stuff and the stuff that doesn't

make sense to me, that's also serving God's purpose.

Like a master artist, God never wastes any of

his materials. And if everything in my life is

serving God's purpose to make me a living fountain

of joy in the resurrection before him forever,

then everything in my life serves me. I have

a divine friend. Do I sound like I'm bragging?

I guess I kind of am. I have a divine friend

who is more committed to my eternal happiness

than I am. And everything in my life serves that.

And it's not just that. It's the happiness with

which God does that. I told my kids when they

were little, you think you're having fun on Christmas

morning? I'm having way more fun than you. And

they didn't believe me, and they were totally

wrong. One Christmas, my daughter, my wife sent

up this cute, not an obstacle course, but like

she left notes around the house. to where to

find a present. Like, go look in the kitchen

now. And then eventually she found the dollhouse.

My little daughter's jumping up and off the ground.

It's a dollhouse. It's a dollhouse. And she thought

she was the happiest person in the room. Her

mother and I were way happier in that moment.

My son is five years old. He opens a present.

It's a Captain America costume. His quote, word

for word, wow. Now this is a Captain America

costume. Wow. And five minutes later, he's on,

and he's got the shield, and him and I are like

play fighting on my bed and stuff. And he thought

he was having the most fun that day, and he wasn't.

Friends, if it's going to be an unspeakable joy

for us to be before the Lord Jesus in the new

creation, it's going to be a deeper joy for him

because of his love for us. There is no lack

in God. We don't feel any need in God, and yet

he's able to love us in such a way that you are

a real cause for happiness with God, even though

you give nothing to him. In the resurrection,

the Lord Jesus is going to come up to every single

one of you, and he's going to take your hands

and hug you and look you in the eye, and the

voice that spoke the Sermon on the Mount is going

to look at you and say, I am so happy you are

here. There is no way we were going to get this

party started without you. Now, we all could

say more, and if you were speaking, you could

rejoice in the Lord in a way that I can't quite,

okay? Just those two things, God's providence

and his happiness in that providence. I, and

I'm saying this more for me than for anyone,

I have to make a continual practice of rejoicing

in the Lord. I've got, or I shouldn't be surprised

when I don't experience the peace of God. Okay,

second command, let your gentleness be known

to everyone. So when he said the NIV has reasonableness,

I think perfectly good translation. When he says

gentleness be known, that is, it should be obvious.

It should be evident. And when he says to everyone,

that means no exceptions. It doesn't matter whether

they're Christian or not. It doesn't matter whether

they annoy you or not. It doesn't matter whether

they've wronged you or not. There's no exceptions

here. Let your gentleness be known to everyone.

Now, quick nuance. The same Paul who said this

dragged Peter over the coals in Galatians 2 for

hypocrisy because he's not even with Gentiles.

And I get the sense he said that in front of

everyone. He grabs the head of the church and

says, you're a hypocrite. I imagine that would

have made for an awkward lunch, right? The same

Jesus who says he is gentle and lowly will excoriate

the Pharisees and say, woe to you. Gentleness

does not mean weakness, passivity, people -pleasing,

and spinelessness. Okay. And you know this already,

but in ministry, you're going to need to have

the capacity to have those really blunt conversations

where you say things you wouldn't normally say.

At the same time, what Paul says here in this

passage must deeply characterize our lives. If

I'm not being gentle to everyone I meet, I have

no right to expect the peace of God to be mine

because I'm not representing who God is. There's

a bi -form. The word for this in Matthew 11,

when Jesus says, I am gentle and lowly, we're

reflecting Jesus when we do this. It's a meekness.

It's a non -reactiveness, not easily irritated.

It's a non -defensiveness. It's a calm, level

-headed, kind, considerateness of other people.

We've all had those conversations with other

Christians where you just think there's just

no talking to you. I can't convince you. You've

made up your mind. It's not abrasive. It's not

pushy. It doesn't wear people down. It's not

overly argumentative. It's reasonable. It's the

same word in 1 Timothy 3 .3 for the elder being

gentle and not argumentative, right? James 3

.17 has the same word. peaceable, our word, gentle,

open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits,

impartial and sincere, open to reason, full of

mercy. If that doesn't deeply characterize my

life to everyone, whether they deserve it or

not, I shouldn't be surprised if I'm not experiencing

the peace of God, because I'm not reflecting

who Jesus is. Third thing, okay, and Paul says,

let that be known. Third thing he says, let it

be known, is your prayers to God. They're not

the same word in Greek, but they're related forms

and they sound similar. So if you had heard this

at Philippi, you would have put the two together.

Paul says, you make one thing known to human

beings and another to God. You make your gentleness

known to everyone and you make your requests

known to God. I often flip it and I make all

my annoying requests known to people. I don't

say anything to God. He says, do not worry, but

in everything by prayer and supplication, make

your requests known to God. Worry. When you feel

that surge of anxiety, worry is an intense sort

of urgent feeling. It's not calm. As you go through

the day, he says, don't worry, but in everything,

as you go through the day, every time you are

feeling that worry, every time you're thinking,

what if that happens? Or, oh no, here comes that

other person. Or you see that thing inside yourself

and you think, oh my goodness, not this again.

You continually direct the energy toward God

and you start pestering your Heavenly Father

about it. When my kids are little, if they were

tired of their food, I'd have them just shovel

it off onto my plate. Everything on your plate

that you don't want, you just shovel it off onto

God's. And you continually say, Lord, I'm worried

about this. Will you please attend to that? You

do not have to pray long, complicated prayers.

Please can I ask everyone to remember, Jesus

himself says, don't think you're heard because

of your many words. You don't have to explain

the problem to God. It can be short, brief, and

repeated. It can be just, Lord, have mercy. Or

Lord, please help. Or Lord, fix this. Or whatever

it is. Every surge of worry, you keep passing

it on to God. And guess what starts to happen?

The peace of God that surpasses understanding

is yours more and more. Now, what if, and guys,

I need to give credit. I'm going to embarrass

him. Mark Sterling, who's here for this week,

really helped me with this passage and helped

me with some of the connections and this crucial

phrase right in the middle that I'm going to

talk about. So credit where credit is due. Thank

you, Mark. Do you see I skipped something in

the middle? What if you find yourself saying,

I don't want to be gentle to people. I'm too

tired and too frustrated. Or I don't quite trust

myself to be gentle. Or what if you find yourself

saying, I can't stop worrying. It's got a hold

of me. Does everyone see right there in the middle,

the Lord is near? That stands as the reason and

the ground, and it makes it possible for me actually

to be gentle and non -anxious. The Lord is near

means he is present and he sees and he cares.

There's nothing that happens in your life or

in your church that he's distantly aware of,

and it's like 18th on his agenda, and he'll get

to it when he can. And when it says the Lord

is near, that means he is active. If you could

see how busy heaven was each day with the divine

sovereign commanding his divine servants to bring

about his kingdom in the world, it would be quite

something. Friends, if the Lord is near, that

means present, caring, alert, active, then you

can be chilled out with other people. You don't

have to feel like I need to fix this problem

or I need to fix this person. You don't have

to grind people into the dust trying to get them

to be better Christians or something like that.

You can be chilled out with other people, and

you can keep passing stuff off to God and just

say, please take care of this, and you be the

Savior instead of me. And again, friends, that

doesn't mean you're silent or passive. In Galatians

2, Paul said something really blunt to Peter.

But my experience is whenever I speak or act

outside of this deep peace, I usually get it

wrong. And I'm not a blessing to other people.

That's it. Rejoice, gentleness known to other

people, your requests known to God. And the peace

of God, which surpasses all understanding, will

guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

May that be ours this day and this week and this

semester. Amen. Let's take a moment to reflect

on what we've just heard.