Shepherding Sermons (Philippians 4:4-9) - Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

And so what we're going to do now is turn to

Philippians chapter 4 and I'll read 4 through

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

9 for us. And so would you please give attention,

listen to the reading of God's Word. Philippians

4, 4 through 9. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again

I will say rejoice. Let your reasonableness be

known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not

be anxious about anything, but in everything

by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving,

let your requests be made known to God and the

peace of God which surpasses all understanding

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ

Jesus. Finally brothers, whatever is true, Whatever

is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure,

whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable,

if there is any excellence, if there is anything

worthy of praise, think about these things. What

you have learned and received and heard from

me and seen in me, practice these things and

the God of peace will be with you. Let's go to

God in prayer. Father we thank you for the gift

of prayer and Yet we sometimes don't take advantage

of it enough That we have your ear You are the

God who created the heavens and the earth and

we get to talk with you in prayer father Help

us to understand how to pray Especially when

we feel weighed down by anxiety And so be with

us and offer us the counsel of your word and

your spirit now, we ask in Christ's name, amen.

Some of this, at least some of this is familiar

to you, right? We've probably all said it or

thought it or had it said to us, right? Verse

seven, the peace of God. surpasses all understanding.

Have you heard that before? Yes, most of us have.

We may have even said this recently. I think

I said this actually yesterday to somebody, right?

My fear though is that we don't really understand

the greatness of the peace of God and the greatness

of the gift of prayer. Sometimes when we talk

about anxiety and the solution to it being prayer.

We think of prayer like a formula, like an equation,

maybe like a recipe, okay? So I've got a cup

of prayer and if I just add a dash of supplication

and mix it with some Thanksgiving, then voila,

anxiety is gone. The problem with that... is

when we think that we've done it all right, but

we still have anxiety. And we say, Lord, what

gives? I prayed with the right amount of supplication

and the right amount of thanksgiving, and yet

I'm still anxious. Why is that? Ed Welch, who's

a very good biblical counselor, says that when

we reduce prayer to a formula, we forget Christ.

And so what we're looking at tonight in this

passage, it's about prayer, but it's not a formula

to be followed. We must remember to whom we are

talking to. This is not a recipe. This is God

that we're talking to and in his son, we have

peace. And so what this is really getting at

here is that prayer as a prescription for our

anxiety is not to be done only when there's a

crisis. Prayer is not just the Hail Mary that

you throw up. The Christian life is to be all

of prayer. And so if you want freedom from anxiety,

you must have the peace of God in Christ. But

anxiety is a big problem that gets swept under

the rug. We don't want to talk about it or we

think that it's not a big problem indeed There

may be some who would listen to this and say

I'm tuning that guy out I'm just an anxious person

and that's just the way it is Please don't think

like that Do not doubt the power of God to give

you peace and to replace your anxiety with joy

What I want us to see tonight is that the prescription

for anxiety is the nearness of God when we seek

him in prayer. Let me say it again. The prescription

for anxiety is the nearness of God when we seek

him in prayer. And what Paul offers to us is

seven, at least seven exhortations, things that

we need to hear that will help us with our anxiety.

Now, Few things produce more anxiety than a preacher

who gives you seven points in the sermon, but

I'll keep those brief for you. But you might

be asking, well, what gives Paul the right to

tell me about the remedy for anxiety? What are

Paul's credentials, if you could say it that

way, when it comes to prayer and anxiety? Well,

first of all, please note that what we're reading

God's word and so what Paul tells you God tells

you through his spirit who inspires these words

of Paul and so what we're reading yes it's from

Paul but ultimately it's from God who gives peace

right secondly remember where Paul is if you

remember much about Philippians remember where

Paul is when he writes this he's in prison it

would be really difficult to listen to Paul about

anxiety if he were sitting on a beach in Crete

sipping a mimosa, right? So no, he is in prison.

And so we should listen to him here. Additionally,

he's not just in prison, but according to chapter

one, verse 13, he's in prison and the entire

Imperial Guard knows about it. And so Paul has

made quite a name for himself. He probably doesn't

know, will I ever write another letter after

this one? He doesn't know, right? He's in trouble.

And what does he do? Paul asks for prayer himself.

It's in chapter two. And so Paul is telling you

something that he relied upon every single day

of his regenerated life. For those reasons, we

can definitely Listen to Paul on this. Now, for

those who may be young, got several children

in here, maybe you're not really sure. What is

anxiety? What's this guy talking about? Well,

a very simple definition for anxiety might be

to be troubled with cares, to be worried. Typically,

anxiety has a negative connotation, not always,

but typically it does. I really like what Alexander

Therminos, who's a biblical counselor, has to

say about anxiety. He says, it's easy to think

of anxiety as a feeling, but it's more than that.

Anxiety is a way of relating to future events.

He says, and I quote, anxiety looks at the future

and says, I don't want that, whatever it is,

to happen. It's a combination of what we think

might happen, and our desire to do something

about it. But friends, sometimes with anxiety,

we are lackadaisical about it. We will admit

that we are anxious, but we don't admit that

it's wrong. We admit that we are anxious, but

we won't admit that it's wrong. But Paul is emphatic

here. Look in verse six. Do not be anxious about

anything. So this is a command not to be anxious.

But here's the thing. I've already mentioned

two biblical counselors who are very good. I'll

give you one even better. It's Paul. Paul doesn't

simply say, hey, don't do this anymore. Don't

be anxious anymore. No, he gives us the prescription

for anxiety. It's not a formula, but this is

God's word. So we're going to look at these seven

exhortations. The first one is there in verse

four. Rejoice in the Lord always again, I will

say, rejoice. Rejoicing, he says it twice here

for emphasis, but it's not just a general rejoicing,

is it? It's rejoicing in whom? The Lord, right?

And so that is absolutely key. Rejoicing in the

Lord. If you want to have joy in your life, you

must have the source of joy. With Jesus, we're

able to, again and again, rejoice. Joy doesn't

have a season. I was supposed to preach this

in January, so this illustration would have worked

better then. But as some of you know, I really

enjoy looking at signs as I drive signs on businesses

and things. And I really like pointing out the

ACE hardware. They always have something kind

of interesting that I make better. Don't tell

them I said that. But this holiday season that

passed, they had a sign that said, holiday cheer

starts here. All right, I guess you can find

joy in the Ace Hardware. I like going in that

store. But for the Christian, there is no season

for your joy, is there? The season is every single

day, but it's only able to be that if you have

Jesus in your life, right? The joy comes from

him, so we can rejoice always. But you might

say, well, how? And how can Paul possibly have

joy when he's in prison? Is this even possible?

Not only is it possible, but I think if you know

Philippians well, you would agree with me. This

is Paul's cheeriest letter, isn't it? It really

is. It is so warm. If you didn't know, you would

think Paul is living the good life here. But

no, he's not. And yet he still has joy and tells

us to have it too. Because joy, is not dependent

upon your circumstances. Joy is not dependent

upon your circumstances. Those who know Christ,

who've been saved from sin, have an eternal home,

always have a time and a place and a reason to

rejoice, right? Because the Lord doesn't change.

He is the same yesterday and today and forever.

And so because the Lord doesn't change and your

salvation in Christ doesn't change. You can always

have joy, even when the situation is less than

ideal. But you might say, well, all that sounds

good, but I still have anxiety, right? Well,

friends, I had anxiety just preparing for this

sermon because it's difficult, right? We do struggle

with anxiety. And so how do we rise above it?

Only with the Lord. Look at verse eight. Look

at verse 8. What he is doing here is lifting

us above the problems of this life to focus on,

as it says, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,

whatever is just and pure and lovely and commendable.

These are the things that describe your Savior,

right? And so rather than looking at the problems,

we look at the solution. We look at the Prince

of Peace. Right? And so we must focus on Christ

when we are anxious. Second exhortation is in

verse five. Let your reasonableness be known

to everyone. Now you might say, well, what's

the reasonableness? What's he getting at here?

It seems that this word, and indeed your translation

may say this, but this word has a gentleness

component about it. And notice too, It's to be

known to everyone. And so there's this idea here

of the fruit of the Spirit, gentleness, being

within the fruit of the Spirit. But the fruit

of the Spirit has to do not just with our relationship

with God, it certainly does, but also our relationship

with one another. And so your reasonableness,

your gentleness, as you are being sanctified,

is going to have an impact upon other people,

right? So that when you go through the... through

the trials, through the difficulties. As you

are being sanctified, this will not always have

a negative connotation, will it? Actually, you

may be able to have joy in these situations and

other people see it. And they might say, what's

different about him or what's different about

her? They're going through this thing and yet

they seem joyful somehow. This is what Paul is

getting at here, is that we don't have a season

for our joy and that because of the sanctifying

work of the Holy Spirit, we can endure and still

continue to trust completely in Jesus, right?

And so Paul says, let it be known to everyone.

Verse six, and this is where I want to hang out

for a few minutes, do not be anxious about anything.

Anybody in here ever go backpacking? Any backpackers?

Yeah, some of you have gone on backpacking trips.

Have you ever started on your backpacking trip?

And you can imagine this even if you haven't.

You ever been on a backpacking trip and you start

up that first big hill and all of a sudden that

pack feels really heavy? Anybody ever felt like

just taking the contents out of the bag and just

throwing them down the hill off the cliff? We

want to unload all of that stuff because it's

too much for us to carry. Friends, when we carry

anxiety like this, it weighs us down like a very

heavy backpack. And we might feel like we can't

get rid of it. We're on the trail and we're wishing

that we weren't, but God offers the way to unload

it. Already read from first Peter chapter 5 verse

1 Peter 5:7

7 cast all of your cares on him because he cares

for you But how? This is what Paul is getting

at to illustrate this I was thinking That sometimes

we neglect prayer Like we neglect our health

I was thinking about this recently because I

have a dentist appointment coming up. I wonder

if anybody is like me. About two, three weeks

out from the dentist appointment, you really

start getting after it with the toothbrush. You

get the floss out finally after a few months.

Am I the only one who does this? You don't want

to be embarrassed before the dental hygienist.

So your gums are bleeding. You're trying to make

it look great, right? What Paul is saying here

is don't be like that with prayer. Don't wait

until you're in complete crisis mode to finally

turn to God in prayer. The Christian life is

to be one of constant prayer. Because once you

let all of that anxiety just rest upon you and

weigh you down, it becomes harder to unload.

Certainly God can do it. But for the Christian

who is constantly praying, we're able to ward

off the anxiety and trust in God. And letting

all of that anxiety Rest upon you. It's it's

not to be funny. It's worse than plaque buildup,

right? And so we must be constantly in prayer

So don't allow it to linger Don't allow it to

breed more anxiety make prayer the rhythm of

your life But how do we pray against anxiety

just a few points of application under this exhortation

one? to pray against anxiety, you need to know

yourself. You need to know yourself. What is

it that causes your heart to race? What is it

that causes you maybe to sweat? What are the

triggers in your life? Is it finances? Is it

a relationship? Is it job performance? Is it

the weather? Is it tax season? Is it the in -laws

coming over? Is it giving your teenager driving

lessons? Teenagers, is it your parents giving

you the driving lessons? What is it that causes

the anxiety in you? Know these things about yourself.

Maybe even make a list of the things that produce

anxiety in your life so you'll be aware of them.

And then... Don't just make the list, but again,

I've already read it, but verse eight, focus

on whatever is good, which is Christ himself.

So focus on him. Sometimes, though, you might

not know exactly what it is that produces anxiety.

You know you've got anxiety, but you don't know

why. Here's where I think it's helpful to be

in the church, is to have people in your corner.

people in your camp that you can talk to and

you can say, brother, sister in Christ, can I

talk to you? And can I have you pray for me and

pray with me? Right? Think about Paul himself.

Paul is actually showing this to us. He wrote

a letter to the Philippians asking for them to

pray for him. And so if Paul needs the prayers

of the church, don't we also need them? Be involved

within the church. I'm preaching to the choir.

You're here. But have relationships. Have deep

friendships within the church so people can pray

alongside with you. Also, how to pray against

anxiety. Pray remembering the promises of God.

Look at the end of verse five. A promise. The

Lord is at hand, right? This is a statement about

the nearness of the Lord, his omnipresence. Perhaps

you remember Psalm number 145, verse 18, that

says the Lord is near to all who call on him,

to all who call on him in truth, right? And so

pray remembering God's omnipresence, how he is

close to you. But I also think there's something

additional going on with the Lord's nearness

there. I believe that this is a reminder of the

future return of Christ. This is good news for

us, that as Christians, we will not deal with

anxiety forever. I know maybe it feels like that,

but you will not deal with anxiety forever. The

plans Christ has for you do not include anxiety.

Don't be anxious about Christ's return. If you

are in Christ now, He will come for you or you

will go to Him. And in Him, you are safe. And

so you don't have to be anxious about that. Lastly,

under this heading, pray scripture, right? You've

got an entire Bible of prayers and promises,

right, that can help you pray. But maybe you

even say, I can't even get my prayers off the

ground sometimes. I don't know how to pray. Then

remember that the Lord Jesus lives to intercede

for you, and the Holy Spirit does, too, with

those groans too deep for words. And so remember

that Jesus and the Spirit are praying for you.

But you can pray the prayers of Scripture. or

even ones that are not intended necessarily to

be prayers. You can pray this scripture right

here from Philippians chapter four. Lord, you

tell me not to be anxious and I don't want to

be. I don't want to feel like this. Help me to

pray now with thanksgiving and give me peace.

You can turn even Philippians chapter four, verse

six into a prayer for your anxiety. But certainly

you've got so many other scriptures to choose

from. You've got the Psalms that do communicate.

anxiety and prayer against anxiety and so look

for those scriptures. I mentioned one biblical

counselor already and he sees a simple statement

in chapter 4 verse 6 to help us pray. So his,

and this is not a formula, this is him looking

at prayer in Philippians 4 and saying this may

help you. So one, when you're anxious and you

need help with prayer Firstly, tell God what

you want. It mentions supplication in here. I'm

going to speak to that in a minute. Tell God

what you want. Tell him why it matters. And then

thirdly, give thanks. Don't forget to give thanks

within your prayers. Matter of fact, at the end

of the bulletin on the back side of it, you can

see this is fleshed out a little bit more for

you how to pray when you're anxious. And so refer

to that. Well, I mentioned supplication here.

What is that? Supplication is a specific form

or component of prayer where we offer up to God

our needs or our desires. The problem that we

have is we either only give God our supplication

or sometimes we think God doesn't want to hear

all of that so I won't give it to him. The sweet

spots in the middle. giving God the adoration

and thanksgiving and the confession, but Paul

is very clear here in everything by prayer and

supplication. Let your request be made known

to God. And so yes, God wants to hear from you

and you can be honest with God about your fears

and your anxieties. As a matter of fact, think

about it this way. Your anxiety is a great time.

to further your trust in God. When you experience

anxiety, think of this as a way that you can

grow in your faith and in your prayer life, right?

But make sure that as you pray here, I think

he's emphatic about this too, that you do remember

thanksgiving. And so this is a little further

into verse six, by prayer and supplication with

thanksgiving. When you pray, do you realize to

whom you're talking? Does it ever cross your

mind that you are praying to the God who created

the heavens and the earth by the word of his

power? That you are speaking to the God who sent

his one and only begotten Son to save you from

your sins. Does that cross your mind? We ought

to know to whom we are praying and that should

produce thanksgiving in our hearts. Because since

God can do the things that I have just mentioned,

can he not also help you within your current

predicament, within your situation? Yes, of course

he can. And so let your request be made known

to God with thanksgiving because God always accomplishes

his perfect will. Back to verse eight. for our

second to the last exhortation I listed all of

these things or I read all of these things and

then he says think about these things and so

when you're in a situation that is producing

anxiety Focus not on the problem. Don't ignore

the problem, but don't focus all of your efforts

upon the problem focus your efforts upon Christ

who is the solution, the prescription for our

anxiety. We talked about this recently within

a sermon about Peter and the boat and how he

gets out onto the water. He's doing great until

he notices the predicament. He takes his eyes

off of Jesus, right? And so in your anxiety,

focus on the prescription. Focus on the Prince

of Peace. Focus upon Jesus. I think part of the

problem with our focus is that we focus our concerns,

our worries upon things that may happen but have

not yet happened, right? But Jesus says in Matthew

6 that today's trouble is enough for today. We

ramp up our anxiety when we play over and over

and over in our minds the things that may happen

but have not happened. And we play them over

so often that it becomes real in our minds, that

we really think this is happening, instead of

focusing upon Jesus. But what does Paul say then

after all of this? Look in verse nine. He does

not want us merely to hear these things. What

does he want us to do? What you have learned

and received and heard and seen in me, practice

these things. And so don't just hear these words.

but put them into practice. You are a new creation

in Jesus. And the Holy Spirit empowers you to

live in such a way that you can trust God completely.

And then when you do that, you get the glorious

result of it all. It's in verse nine and in verse

seven. The peace of God, which surpasses all

understanding, will guard your hearts and minds

in Christ Jesus. The God of peace will be with

you. The God of peace will be with you and he

will guard these things for you. This is very

counterculture. This is very much the opposite

of the way that the world thinks. The world says

you need to gather all of the peace that you

can for yourself and you need to guard it. Whatever

the peace looks like in your life, you need to

get the money and you need to get the stuff.

and you need to get the prestige, you need to

have it all, and then you need to protect it.

That's different from what the scripture says,

isn't it? It says the Lord will guard these things.

The Lord is guarding them for you. The Prince

of Peace came for you, and what Jesus provides

for you cannot be taken away. Friends, when you

struggle with anxiety, I want you to remember

the promise of God's presence and how you can

draw near to him in prayer and you can have his

peace that is kept for you in Christ Jesus. Let's

pray.