Christian Peace in the Age of Anxiety

Philippians chapter 4, and we're going to read that short section from verse 4 to verse 7,

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

thinking together about Christian peace for anxious times.

Philippians chapter 4 and at verse 4.

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

Rejoice in the Lord always.

I will say it again. Rejoice.

Let your gentleness be evident to all.

The Lord is near.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition,

with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Now, I came across a comment that stuck with me this week as I was thinking about this passage.

It was a Bible scholar by the name of Gordon Fee,

who was making the point or suggesting that we as the church,

as the people of God, will serve society well,

and we will be most effective in our mission

when we live out this good news of true peace and wholeness

and fullness of life that Paul is talking about here.

And as we point others to Jesus as the true source of that peace.

Now, I don't know what you think about that suggestion,

but I'm sure you recognize with me that peace is a quality that's in high demand.

There are many people around us who have various troubles, concerns, anxieties,

whether we're thinking about our own personal lives

or whether we're thinking globally, we see the need for peace.

But at the same time, it can seem for so many so hard to come by.

And in that context, the Christian testimony to a life marked by a deep peace and a solid joy,

indeed, a church's testimony to life and joy and peace found in Christ Jesus

may well prove to be our most compelling argument to the world

as to why they need to consider Jesus the Savior.

As we listen to Paul this morning, Paul the preacher,

who also at this point in his life is Paul the prisoner,

what we're going to see in that short section towards the end of his letter

is that there are two practices concerned with peace and anxiety that we are to cultivate

and there are two promises to cling to.

Now, as we gather together, I don't know everybody here, there's lots of visitors, obviously,

but I know that many of us, we have anxieties and concerns for ourselves and for our families.

There are lots of people who are moving on and people are not always sure what they're moving on to.

This word, I guess, is one that we all need to hear, one that we all need to hear regularly.

And so my hope is that all of us, whoever we are, however we've come here, wherever we've come from,

that we will feel compelled to trust in this same Jesus,

to know peace in anxious times in the same way as Paul came to experience joy and peace

through knowing Christ Jesus as Lord.

So we're going to think, first of all, about these two practices that we are to cultivate,

the first of which we find in verse 4,

Paul commands us to be joyful.

And that's very striking, perhaps.

It might be confusing to us,

especially if we think of joy in connection with simply our emotions

or joy as a response to the circumstances of our life,

then it can seem almost far-fetched to be told to have joy always.

If you have lost your job,

or if you have family members who are ill,

or you have anxieties of various kinds,

it can be hard to imagine where joy might come from.

But here's where the Bible helps us.

Because the Bible is careful to connect our thoughts with our feelings.

That right thinking leads to right feeling.

That thinking the right thoughts about God and His Son, Jesus Christ,

can produce and will produce joy in us.

When our joy is rooted in knowing Jesus,

when our joy is focused on that relationship that is available in Him,

when it's rooted in facts about Him,

then we can have solid joy,

even if our circumstances are chaotic and all over the place.

Paul is a great example of this in this particular letter.

So we read Philippians chapter 1.

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

What do we learn about Paul in that chapter?

Verses 7, verse 13,

it's clear that he's a prisoner of the Romans.

In verses 15 and 17,

it's clear that there are some people who are in the church

who are trying to make Paul's life more difficult for him in prison,

even as they're preaching about Jesus.

And in verse 20,

we see that he is facing the very real prospect of death.

So here surely is somebody who has just cause for a loss of joy.

But what do we find?

Chapter 1 again,

we see him expressing joy for the partnership in the gospel

that he has with this church in Philippi.

Joy in God's saving work,

that if he begins a good work,

he will carry it on to completion.

That gives Paul joy.

He has joy in verse 18,

in the fact that the gospel is spreading.

He doesn't care whether it's false motives or true.

Jesus is being preached.

People are being saved,

and that gives him joy.

In chapter 2,

we didn't read this,

but he has joy in the faithful witness of the Philippians

as children of God,

as they shine like stars in the darkness,

as they hold out the word of life.

He can face death with joy

because of the testimony that he sees

to their transformed lives in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Chapter 3, verse 1,

it's on our page

as he turns to,

finally,

what's the note that he wants to strike?

Finally,

my brothers,

rejoice in the Lord.

This is a letter marked by Christian joy.

Helpful definition from John Piper.

Christian joy is a good feeling in the soul

produced by the Holy Spirit

as he causes us to see the beauty of Christ

in the words and in the world.

So this Christian joy isn't superficial.

It's experienced in our core of who we are,

in our souls,

and it's prompted by God's Spirit,

not by circumstance.

And it's based on seeing the goodness

and the beauty of Jesus.

Where?

In the word of God,

in the word of the gospel,

in the word of salvation.

There is joy in that message,

and there's also joy from Jesus in God's world,

among God's people,

the joy of fellowship,

the joy of enjoying all of his good gifts,

the joy of a wedding,

like Roland and Evie's wedding yesterday,

good gift from God

and a source of Christian joy.

And so we discover that the more that we see

the beauty of Jesus as individuals

and as a church,

the more that we celebrate

and cultivate a joy and thanksgiving,

the more attractive our lives

and our message will be.

There will be a compelling force to them.

We see clearly that Paul has come to understand

that life in Christ Jesus is a life of joy.

That for Paul, as a believer,

Jesus is everything to him.

Jesus is his Lord,

his creator, his sustainer.

Jesus is the one who has saved him at great cost,

giving his own life to pay for sin,

to redeem him and give him new life.

Jesus is his way of life,

the one who he seeks to follow and imitate.

Jesus isn't just his present,

but also his hope for his future.

So in the battle that goes on

in our hearts and minds against anxiety,

here is a practice to cultivate.

The joy of knowing Jesus.

Now that's not to say

that we should all wear plastic smiles

and pretend like life is going wonderfully

when it's not.

But it is saying to us

that there is something solid and substantial

in knowing Jesus that can sustain us

even when life goes bad.

But we need to adopt this discipline

of reminding ourselves of what we have in Jesus,

of preaching the gospel to ourselves every day,

to remind ourselves what Jesus has done for us

and what Jesus continues to do for his own people.

What's Jesus doing for us now in the glory of heaven?

He is praying for us.

He is keeping us.

He's sending his spirit to be with us.

That is cause for joy.

And remember this is written to a church.

It's saying,

church, there should be this attitude of joy among us all.

So we need to encourage one another

sometimes to fight for joy

when our experience would say

there is much cause for anxiety,

to remind one another

of the hope that we have in the Lord Jesus.

I've been really struck recently

reading a book by a man called J. Todd Billings.

He's a theologian in the States,

same age as me,

father of two young children

who was diagnosed with a terminal cancer.

And he's written a book called

Rejoicing with Lament,

which is an incredibly helpful study

on using the Psalms to process suffering

and how we talk to God

in suffering from that position of,

I know that I'm in a covenant with God

and he's made promises to me.

How do I deal with it

when life seems to be opposite to my expectations?

And here are some of his words,

not written from the ivory tower of an academic,

but written in a cancer ward.

And he says,

For true hope in the face of death,

we have nowhere else to go

besides the word of God,

which finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ,

the Holy One of God.

In praise and in lament,

in life and in death,

we hope in this Holy One of God,

because truly we have nowhere else to go.

What's he saying?

What's Paul saying?

What's the Bible saying?

It's saying that to value Jesus Christ above all else,

to long for nothing more than his smile

and to be in his presence,

is where we can find peace in anxious times.

So that's the first practice

that Paul calls us to cultivate.

The second we find in verse six,

and that's to pray with thanksgiving.

Do not be anxious about anything,

but in everything,

by prayer and petition,

with thanksgiving,

present your requests to God.

Pray and pray with thanksgiving.

Why pray with thankfulness?

Well, it gives us a right perspective.

It gives us that right perspective

that fundamentally God is good.

And it's a sign of us being willing

to submit to his good rule.

But why pray at all when we feel anxious?

The words of David Paulus

and a Christian counselor

are perhaps helpful for us.

When he says,

praying is worrying Godward

instead of letting worries

stay in the pit of your consciousness.

Those worries that can keep us awake at night,

those worries that cause that upset

in the pit of our stomachs,

are worries that we can take

to Almighty God,

our Father in heaven.

So prayer is deliberately inviting God in.

In all the details,

in all the circumstances,

choosing to pray

instead of choosing to fret and worry

and stress out

and feel like we have nowhere else to go.

So we're trying to deal with it all

by ourselves.

And we're trying to deal with it all

Alec Mateer,

another biblical scholar,

points out that part of

stilling our anxious hearts

comes from remembering

who we are praying to.

We're in conversation,

and we're not just in conversation

with any old person.

It's not just somebody

who might give us good advice.

It's not even simply a counselor.

We are placing our trust in

the all-wise,

all-powerful,

all-loving God

who has, the Bible says,

appointed the circumstances

in our lives.

All of them.

So we take those circumstances

and we invite God in.

We take those circumstances to Him

and we pray over them

remembering who He is.

If you want an example of this

in the Bible,

King Hezekiah,

Isaiah chapters 36 and 37,

Isaiah 36 · chapter mention

is a great example

of what we should do

in terms of prayer

when we're surrounded by trouble.

So Hezekiah in Jerusalem

hears message of foreign attackers

who are coming against Israel

and coming against the city.

And the enemy king's ambassadors,

they come and they've got a message.

They've got letters promising

in such and such a time,

we're going to come,

your city's going to be

absolutely destroyed.

You've got no hope.

We've done this

to all the other nations.

We will destroy you too.

It's over, Hezekiah.

What does Hezekiah do

when he gets those letters?

Isaiah 37.

He goes straight to the temple

and he spreads the letters out

before God,

asking God to intervene

and reminding himself

of who God is.

His is the example

that we are to follow.

We are to spread our needs

before God,

spread our worries

and troubles before Him

and how we feel about them.

We take our anxieties before God.

We don't need to pretend.

God knows our hearts.

He knows our thoughts.

So we can be honest

and we can invite Him in

and we should invite Him in,

remembering that God

is with and for His people always.

Again, words from J. Todd Billings

who came to value the language

of the Psalms of lament

for processing his new reality

facing terminal cancer.

He understood that the psalmists live

in the genuine,

biblical,

mysterious paradox

of serving a good,

almighty God

who holds the world in His hands

even when the world

seems to be spiraling

out of control.

What should we do

when we find ourselves

in those circumstances?

We should pray

to our almighty God

who is our Father in heaven.

We should cast our cares upon Him

because He cares for us.

Pray the Psalms.

Remember who is for us.

So those are the two practices

that we are to cultivate

to find peace in anxious times.

There are also two promises

God's people are invited

to cling to.

The first is in verse 5

where He says,

Let your gentleness

be evident to all.

The Lord is near.

He's saying to them,

I know you're facing opposition.

Face opposition like Jesus.

Treat your enemies with gentleness

and remember the Lord is near.

He's writing to assure the Philippians,

Your future is secure.

Yes, you're facing opposition now

but your hope,

your future is secure

because your faith

is in Christ Jesus,

the Lord who is near.

The one who said

to His followers,

I am with you always

to the end of the age.

The one who says to His people,

I will not leave you as orphans.

I will come to you.

The one who says,

I will come back

and take you to be with me.

The one who says,

I am coming soon.

The Lord is near.

And because that is true,

we can entrust our lives

to His care.

He's not a distant stranger.

He is the friend

that sticks closer

than any brother.

He is an invitation

not to deal with our anxieties

on our own.

Here is cause for rejoicing

with hope

because the Lord is near.

For praying when we feel anxious

because we've not been abandoned,

but rather,

the Lord is near.

that God in Jesus

has drawn near to us.

He's experienced life

with all of its joys and sorrows.

He's come near to us

in our need.

He's taken our sin

on His shoulders.

He's suffered and died

to end our separation.

He comes near to us,

living in us by His Spirit

so we are never alone.

Rejoicing reminds us

of this great promise.

The Lord is near.

Praying catches hold

of this great promise.

The Lord is near.

You and I,

we will all find times

when the one thing we want

is to have somebody

in our corner.

Somebody who is there

with us and for us,

holding our hand,

walking with us.

Here is this wonderful promise

in the Bible

that for those who have faith

in the Lord Jesus,

we have Jesus with us

in our corner,

promising to be near.

And there's another promise

in verse 7.

The peace of God,

which transcends all understanding,

will guard your hearts

and your minds

in Christ Jesus.

The peace of God

to guard our hearts

and our minds.

Here is truly

a priceless gift.

Here is something

we all want.

Peace.

True peace.

Lasting peace.

So to help the Philippians

to understand

what they have in Jesus,

Paul gives them

a picture.

Philippi was part

of the Roman Empire.

But it wasn't

a typical city.

It was an outpost city.

So it was a part of Rome,

but it was surrounded

by enemies.

And because of that,

Rome needed to work hard

to protect the citizens

of Philippi.

So you had a wall

and you had soldiers

that would guard

the city walls

and the city gates

to protect the citizens.

And Paul uses

this picture.

For us,

we're very fortunate

where we are.

We're in Edinburgh.

Some of you have maybe

been to visit the castle

or will visit later on.

Let me invite you

to think.

Put yourselves

in Edinburgh Castle

for a moment

during a siege.

So imagine you're

looking out over the wall

and you can see enemies

coming on every site.

What do you have

when you're in

Edinburgh Castle?

You've got the solid rock,

the castle rock,

and you've got

those heavy stone walls

that you're behind.

You'll have those

heavy iron gates

that have been drawn up.

You'll have all of those

cannons primed

and aiming down

at the enemies

at all points.

You'll have the soldiers

standing guard

on the wall.

And Paul is saying,

this is what God does

for his people.

When anxious thoughts

come to lay siege

on our hearts

and our minds,

the God of peace

sends his peace

to be our guard.

God himself

is present

to help us,

to guard us,

to give peace

to us

in the battle

for our heart

and for our mind.

And he brings

a peace

that we're told

transcends

all understanding.

It goes beyond

any peace

we could ever

produce for ourselves

or imagine

for ourselves.

That it is possible

facing opposition,

facing death,

to have peace,

Paul is saying,

because of the Lord Jesus

who is near

and with us.

So often,

how Christians

hope with suffering,

how Christians

cope with trouble

and adversity

makes a huge impression

on friends

and family

and colleagues.

This is a peace

that transcends

understanding.

It's a precious gift

from God

and it can help us

stand out

and stand up

for the Lord Jesus.

So,

what is Christian hope

for anxious

and troubled people?

It's that we have

a loving

and a powerful God

who is present

with us

and for us

always,

no matter

what our circumstances

are.

there is hope

in that we are

invited to bring

our anxieties

and cares

to this God

who cares,

who hears

and who is near.

And we have

cause for joy

in the middle

of anxiety

because God

loves us,

because Jesus

has died for us

and is now

raised to life

for our present

and future

hope

and security.

so God

and thee

might very well

be right

that true peace

through knowing

Jesus

is one of the

great gifts

held out to us

in the Bible

and it's one of the

great gifts

that we hold out

to a world

that is seeking

peace

in anxious times.

Do you know

this peace?

Then rejoice.

And if you don't

then let me

invite you

to come

to Jesus

to talk to him

to pray to him

to tell him

about your needs

and your worries

because he already

knows.

To confess your guilt

to confess your rebellion

to trust him

as Lord

and Savior

to come to him

that you too

might know

this peace

that transcends

all understanding.

Let me pray.

Let me pray.