Be Anxious For... Philippians, 4:4-7

As we move into the last part of Philippians here, and we've moved in the last few weeks here into this last chapter, we brought up last week that Paul typically, in the end of his letters, would kind of change pace, where previously he might follow through on a series of logical sequence of propositions and conclusions laid out.

A couple hundred years ago, by the way, the Book of Romans was used as standard core text for all law schools. Why? It is the example of logic and sequence. At the end even of Romans, however, he breaks into this text, similar to what he has here, different ideas that are sometimes presented in brief phrases. sometimes short ideas that are laid out, greetings, instructions, things of that sort. And so we're continuing on in that kind of writing as he goes through in Philippians 4, 4-7. Now, I put this up here. You might look at that and say, why is Vern doing that?

Alright, now I'm not trying to mess with your mind. Now, do those look like they're spinning? Do they have that appearance like they're spinning? They're not. Now it's really going to mess up your mind trying to figure out which one's moving and which one isn't. They're not moving. They only appear to be moving.

Why would I bring that up? The reason is this, that there are sometimes things that appear right to a human being, that appears to be that's the way it is. In fact, the reason that we have scripture is God has revealed to us the truth. The truth is, those aren't moving, even though the human perception is they are. They're slightly shifting and spinning. That's the reason we need desperately God's Word. If we don't have God's Word, we will not see things as they are. That is why we have God's Revelation.

And that's exactly what Paul's doing here. What he is doing is presenting individual ideas. Unlike what Paul typically does, where things kind of flow in a sequence of logic and theme, this kind of writing that he does often at the end of his letters proceeds from one idea to the next without necessarily the same connection of thought. But he wants them to get certain concepts that are important for them to take away and think about.

This first one here, Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. And then, Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Separate ideas related, yeah, in some sense, but not in the logical sequence that Paul typically writes in. And finally, the last one, they'd be anxious for nothing, and we'll look at that in more detail here. Now, first part, rejoice, you must be kidding. Okay? All kinds of things happen in our lives, right? Lots of things happen. And we might be thinking, oh my heavens, you must be kidding. Rejoice?

Anyway, I'm not kidding, and I don't think Paul is either, but we want to take a look at it because it's a good question, especially in view of this sort of thing, that guy in the middle especially. Anyway, one thing that's, I think, important for us to recognize, Paul has had his trials.

He is not sitting up in some ivory tower having been protected, living a kind of jewelry box sort of life. Instead, Paul has had his trials. We won't go over them in detail. 2 Corinthians 11, 23-29 is one place where he lists them. This is actually the short version here this morning.

He had, of course, imprisonments. One of them we read about was in Acts 16, where his imprisonment was in Philippi. So the Philippians very well knew that. In danger of death? Well, most certainly, numerous times. Good summary of Paul's life, right? Five times 39 lashes. Now that's got to hurt, okay? Three times beaten with rods. That's just to beat you a different way. Just to avoid monotony, you know.

Okay. Then stoned and left for dead. They left thinking, well, he's dead, we've done our job. Well, he actually wasn't dead, but nonetheless, here's one situation. Three times shipwrecked. One of those is described in more detail in the end of the Book of Acts. A day and a night spent in the deep. Can you imagine a sinner just floating around, trying to maybe hang on to some floating piece, And so he had that. In dangers, he lists them here. Rivers, robbers, countrymen, Gentiles, in the city, in the wilderness, on the sea, among false brethren. Through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure, sleepless nights without television. Can you imagine that?

Anyway. Okay. Paul is, as he is writing, in the process of having trials. Right? As he is writing. Think of what's happening. He spent two years at Caesarea Philippi and is now being chained all the time, 24-7, to a Praetorian guard. The writers of the times who had been through that described it as these guys were beasts. So he was chained continuously. They took shifts. So they had fresh energy.

And if they were resenting their being chained to Paul, they had no problem letting him know. The other thing is now he's in Rome, and as we saw earlier as we were studying Philippians, he doesn't know whether he'll be freed or killed or when any of those things will happen. But until one of those things happens, he can't leave Rome. So Paul is not writing as somebody who does not understand personally. He's not writing as someone who has not personally experienced trial of all kinds. Variety. You like variety? He's got it. Okay.

Think of it this way, too. Here's Paul writing to the Philippians. Now, he comes into Philippi, and what happens? Right in the middle of this forum that you see here, that's probably the place where he was whipped, because they didn't like to do it off on the side. They wanted to make it a public example, so they'd clear out an area and say, okay, take your licks, and here it is. By the way, Get your licks in or take your licks. The person who did the whipping was the Roman Lictor.

So here's Paul getting his licks right in the middle of Philippi. Many of the people in the church either saw it or heard about it. Here's off on the right what is traditionally held to be the jail. So Paul spent time there. The Philippians were very familiar with that fact. But look at Paul's response.

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice. Now, this rejoice, as we pointed out in the past, is one of this marvelous family of charis words that is woven throughout the fabric of Philippians. And here you have twice in this one verse. Rejoice, and again I'll say rejoice. And so you come back to this question, Rejoice? You must be kidding. Let's take a look at the word. Rejoice is Cairo.

This rejoice is a grace-given joy with God as the source. An important distinction. It does not depend upon circumstances. It does not depend upon circumstances. That's the only reason that Paul can say rejoice, and again I say rejoice. because in his personal circumstances, were they worth rejoicing over directly?

You wouldn't look at it and say, whoopee, I'm chained to a Praetorian guard all the time. Whoopee, I can't leave Rome, and I don't know whether I'm going to die or be released. And I don't know when the decision will be made. Hooray, right? No, what you see here is this is a rejoicing that is not depending on circumstances. and he knows full well that they're going through trials too. But he's not asking them to rejoice over their circumstances either, at least not directly. This joy, this rejoicing, is completely independent of the circumstances. So then we say, what does it depend upon? Here's what the bottom line is. Rejoicing is in three things. It's all Him. It's all Him.

Who He is, what He has done, and who we are in Him. Okay? Who He is, what He has done, and who we are in Him. Who is responsible for the things we're rejoicing over? What do you see? The Lord. Okay? The Lord is the one that's responsible for all the things we see. It's not circumstances around us having to shift the right way. It's not anything we have done or accomplished. what he's done and who we are in him. Okay?

Key point. Now, let me take a quick sidestep. Here's James 1, 2, and the usual translations kind of get the point across, but maybe not as emphatically as the original language comes across. Here's kind of a quick look at it, looking at the underlying language.

You must, of logical necessity, remember that's the imperative, it's a logical necessity, not a moral imperative, You must, of logical necessity, consider it ultimate joy. Now, what do you consider an ultimate joy? Maybe a wedding. Maybe you came into a bunch of money, you bought a house or whatever. Had a kid. Something you might consider an ultimate joy. What does he say to consider an ultimate joy?

Consider it an ultimate joy, my brethren, when you encounter various poikilas. This is where we get our word polka, like in polka dots. Little ones, big ones, in-between size ones. Poikilas trials. Polka dot trials, if you will. Different sizes, a variety. You must consider ultimate joy when you encounter various trials.

Getting back here, the next thought that he comes across with here, let your dental spirit Let your gentle spirit be known to all. This is another case where the English translation is a hard time getting the idea across. Let's take a deeper look at it. First of all, the gentle spirit is really Christ's gentle spirit. Look here, he says, let your gentle spirit, epiekes, is gentle, spirit be known to all men.

Now, let's look here at 2 Corinthians 10.1, and it says, Now I, Paul, urge you, excuse me, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness, epiekeia, okay, of Christ. You see the relationship between those two words? It is Christ's gentleness that is coming across, not just us trying really, really hard to be gentle, okay? It is Christ's gentleness. So Paul could have put it this way.

Let the gentle spirit of Christ who indwells you be known to all men. See that? It's not try really hard to be gentle, because after all, the people around the Philippians, Christians, are not nice. They're rather irritated or worse that these people are Christians. So he's saying, don't try really hard to be nice. Let the gentle Spirit, which is Christ's Spirit, be known.

Let's take a little side trip here into Galatians 2.20 and insert the words there so that we get the blending of ideas between Galatians 2.20 and Philippians 4.5. I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ, whose gentle Spirit is in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, that is, this body, this human body, I live so that the character of his life is being made known to all men.

You see that? It's so that the character of his life is being made known, not, boy, those Christians really try hard to be gentle. It's his life that people need to see, not our best efforts. Huge distinction. By faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself up for me. It's faith in Him, not faith in what I'm going to accomplish if I try my very best.

Let's look at this next one, the Lord is near. Nice quick idea, right? Easy to get a handle on. Now, we have a question though. What does it mean? Simple phrase, what does it mean? Does it mean the Lord is close by? Or does it mean the Lord is coming soon? The word is used both ways in the New Testament, so that's not going to help us. Sorry. Okay, so we've got to figure out what does he mean. One of the things that we do find is that frequently at the end of a number of Paul's letters, and here are some examples here, he makes reference to the Lord's soon return or items related to that. And this is a similar case here.

In 1 Corinthians 16.22, Galatians 6.9, and 1 Thessalonians 5.23, those are all passages where He has similarly made reference, and it's clear from the context there, that he's talking about the Lord's return. I'd suggest to you that that's what he's referring to here. He is saying, remember, the Lord is at hand. The Lord is coming imminently. Then finally we come to this one, and boy, this one here packs a real punch. In verse 6, be anxious for nothing is how he starts that off. And so we need to take a close look at that one. So, the be anxious for.

All right, now what we've got to find out is what does that cover? What's included in be anxious for nothing, okay? Does it allow me to be anxious for the big stuff? I mean, I've got to be anxious for something, right? Maybe, you know, I'll kind of develop a priority list, the really important stuff. Or how about just the things that affect me? I'll just worry about those things. If it impacts me, then I can worry about it and it's okay. Or how about if I...

No, that's too selfish. I'll worry about everybody else. How about that? That sounds Christian, right? That's a Christian thing to do. I'll worry about everybody else. No, no, no, that's not right. Let's get down to stuff that really counts. Just major health and safety issues, right? Okay. It's a sort of spiritual OSHA. And so, I'll be anxious for those things. Sorry about that.

No, what it says is, be anxious for nothing. That's what it means. And if you look at the Greek, you know what it means? Nothing. Be anxious for not even one thing. There is nothing to put on your list. Now, you have in the bottom of your handout a very special item. First page, right at the bottom, right-hand side, I want you to keep that place available.

That's to write all the things that you're allowed to be concerned about as a Christian. This is a deluxe Christian worry box. Write everything in there that you're concerned about as a Christian and that you want to worry about. It's a great place to keep those worries and concerns.

Keep that. That'll be real important to you. Make copies of that if you like. Let's look at the other extreme here. Okay? The one extreme is, boy, I could be real wound up and uptight about things. Boy, just the old stomach acid cranking away and the worried, just sick. Now, then, if he's saying then, be apathetic. Don't give a hoot about anything. Okay?

And what I would suggest to you is not, because look at what Paul says elsewhere, in 2 Corinthians 11, 28 and 29, Apart from such things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern, ah, different word, for all the churches. Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern? Similar message here.

He said earlier to the Philippians, what did he tell them in Philippians 2.20? For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. Referring to Timothy.

So is concern a problem? No. We're not to be apathetic as believers, but there's the distinction between concern and worry. Concern says something matters. Worry says, I'm going to do something about it, or I even can do something about it, or it's my responsibility to do something about it. See the distinction there? Concern says it matters. Worry goes beyond making that distinction. But if I don't worry, who will? Whose job is it? That's really the question. And what am I going to do instead? That's a big question.

So we'll just leave it on this slide for a half hour. Maybe not. So let's look at how does Paul lay this out. As he does in many places, as a matter of fact, the end of chapter 4 through almost to the end of Ephesians, Paul has a pattern of not this, but this. Not this, but this. This is a similar structure here. He says, be anxious for nothing, we've already taken a look at that part, but in everything by prayer and supplication. So what does he say? Don't do this, don't be anxious, but this.

And this word, but, that he frequently uses, and it's a contrast to our... we have one word basically means but, and we use it for things that are a minor contrast, or just a change in subject, to a major contrast. This word here particularly is used for major contrasts. It means sharp contrast. Not this at all, but in the extreme contrary, this. Don't worry about even one thing, but in sharp contrast, this other thing. And notice, as you look at this, the extreme words that Paul uses. Yes, Paul's an extremist. If you can imagine that.

Anxious for nothing! And then he turns around, of all the gall, and says, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. You see that? He is saying absolutely no anxiety, but in sharp contrast, everything is turned over to the Lord. It's a very clear statement, the way he lays it out. Absolute statement. Anxious? Nothing. But in sharp contrast, everything is the Lord's.

If you look at it this way, just to diagram it, here's this prayer and supplication, and then he adds this other additional thought that's along with it, thanksgiving. Think about this. He adds this thought of with thanksgiving to prayer and supplication. Now why? Think about that. Why? Thanksgiving recognizes what we do have. Thanksgiving recognizes what we do have. It is easy in our human minds and perspectives to simply look at what we don't have. Thanksgiving recognizes what we do have.

And that's a critical distinction because what that does is it lets us know that this is not all simply a matter of, I need, I need, I need, I need, I need, he needs, he needs, he needs, he needs, she needs, she needs, she needs, she needs. It's a matter of recognizing what the Lord has already done. So this, with thanksgiving, might look like a small addition. It is a huge difference in perspective. Because instead of coming to the Lord simply with, Lord, we've got to have this, the Lord's character already expressed, His graciousness and His love towards us already expressed to us, and acknowledging that as we ask for things, as we make requests. So as we look at... He says, let your requests be made known to God.

But with those kind of pre-definitions, yes, prayer and supplication, but with thanksgiving as a major modifier, to that activity of praying and supplication. Let's take a look at this word prayer. Proseuke. This is a more sacred and general word that's used for prayer. It includes all prayers, every communication with God.

The Greek text here has a definite article, and that's one thing I noticed as I was going through this. There are a number of definite articles in this phrase that don't come across in the English. is the way he says it. It's a definite prayer. Here's the word supplication, dasis, and this word means more specific requests, petitions. It conveys specific needs and wants, is the idea. And this word also has the definite article. So here's the way Paul's writing.

The prayers and the supplications, Then we get to this word Thanksgiving. It is also one of these words in the keres family of words that we keep making reference to. The word there is eucharistia, and it means good gracing. The prefix eu means good, and then keres is there, showing it's part of the keres family of words, good gracing. that's what it's looking at here. Let your requests be made known to God. A tema there, it refers again to definite and specific requests placed before someone who has the proper authority to consider and to respond to them. Key point there.

The one we make the request to, that is the Lord, is the one we make the request to. has the ultimate authority, doesn't he? He has the authority to respond to it, and he also responds to them with wisdom. Authority and wisdom beyond any other. That's one of the things that Paul is making reference to here. You're taking your request before someone who is able to consider them with wisdom and care and love for you. He knows what's best. He knows the big picture. We're taking our request to Him.

As we look at that last verse there, this is potent, because what this lays out here, this is a result. The result from what you've done there in verse 6. It says, "...and the peace of God..." See, one of the things that he points out there is that God is the source of peace.

The kind of peace that he's talking about, you can't get by the right circumstances. Aren't human beings constantly trying to shift and shuffle things to get the right circumstances? And if we're not careful, we will be saying, Lord, I am going to pray for the right circumstances so I'll have peace. That's not what he means. Our tendency as human beings is to say, okay, I'm glad there's prayer to make the right circumstances for me so that I will have peace, and then we'll be fine and I really will have peace from God." That's not what he's saying. He's saying instead that this peace has God as its source, but it's not the circumstances, which surpasses all comprehension. You could use modern vernacular, What this is talking about is it will be a piece that others will not understand. I gave an example sometime and excuse me if you've heard it before but I'll use it again. I can recall a few years ago I was on a business trip and I was going on one of those smaller airline flights from San Francisco down to a conference in Palm Springs. And flying back, the gal who was sitting next to me had been at the conference.

And the plane was just jerking up and down to the point where most of the passengers were screaming. And it was a very violent flight. We came through okay, obviously. But the gal sitting next to me who had been at the conference, she turned over to me and she says, why aren't you screaming? Because it was really shaking people around. and that opened the door.

It will be beyond comprehension to the world. They'll look at it and they'll say, you must be nuts. If you're not screaming, you don't understand the situation. To the worldly mindset, it will be beyond comprehension why you are not anxious about this.

I told the story of my friend Dick Hillis who was in China When the communists came in after World War II, and the lieutenant was holding the pistol to his head and wanting Dick Hillis to give him the names and addresses of all the other Christians that he knew. And Dick would not, and so the lieutenant said, if you don't tell me, I'm going to blow your brains out.

And he says, that's all you can do. That's this kind of peace. It's beyond comprehension. At that point, the lieutenant put his gun back in his holster. He says, I can't do anything to you. It's beyond comprehension. The lieutenant could not believe and could not understand why that threat meant nothing to Dick.

Well, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. This word guard, guess what? We've talked about before, these Philippians were a great many Roman soldiers, either active or retired. or working alongside them, they knew very well what this is. It's basically someone who's a sentry or a scout, looking out, is the word that comes out there. Think about this. This perspective that the Lord asked us to take, this action that the Lord asked us to take, it's guarding our hearts and minds. That's a good thing, isn't it? It's a guard for our hearts and minds.

The worldly perspective would be, well, if you've got a God and He's able to offer some influence, ask Him for better circumstances. This says, no, I'm looking to the Lord Himself whether my circumstances are better or not. Huge difference. Let's look at the expanded and explained portion of it here. This is not the amplified version, otherwise I'd speak more loudly, but this is expanded and explained. It says you must have logical necessity based on your position in the Lord. And notice we make that point. The imperatives in the New Testament are not designed, you know, do this or I'm going to clobber you. Do this or you'll be guilty. It's do this because of your position.

Isn't that wonderful? That's good news. Every time you see an imperative, don't think of it as, oh no, I've got to do something. Think of it as, oh wow, I have a position in Christ that makes this a logical necessity. That's great. It's good news. based on your position in the Lord and with Him as the source, and that's also a wonderful thing, right now continue to express grace-given joy at all times and circumstances. I will say it again. It's worth repeating. You ever heard that? I'll tell you again. I'll say it again. It's worth repeating. You must continue to express grace-given joy. The Greek tense there has the idea of right now continuing. You must right now continue to express that grace-given joy. Keep on. Verse 5 there.

The gentle spirit which is characteristic of Jesus Christ must be expressed by God's doing and be made known by their experience. They are going to know it by what they experience in your life to all men. The Lord's coming for us is imminent. Any moment. It doesn't mean He is coming in the next five minutes. It means at any moment He could come. That's what Paul's communicating there.

Verse 6 and 7 then, you must of logical necessity, based on your position in Christ, be anxious for absolutely nothing. But in sharp contrast to that anxiety, in everything by prayer and specific requests, all with a perspective and character of thanksgiving, your request must be made known to God. Notice that is an imperative, by the way. He puts in another imperative. It must be made known to God. He isn't saying, look, you're anxious and I know that's a little uncomfortable, so I want to give you an alternative. He doesn't put it that way.

He says, you must, and then he finishes it off with another, must. This is absolutely essential. There is no basis in our position to do anything else. None. It's not up to you and me. you absolutely must, based on your position, not be anxious, and you must let your request be made known to God.

Verse 7, and as a result, the peace which comes from God, which surpasses all worldly comprehension, since it is not dependent upon circumstances, will scout out for your hearts and your minds as you are founded upon your eternal position in Christ Jesus. it will serve as a sentry to make sure that you're in the right stance and in proper defense, in proper standing in the position that you have in Jesus Christ. You will stand in your position if you do this.

That's what he's saying. Remember, we are constantly telling, as he told them in general before, stand in your position. What is he doing now? As he's spelling out, this is what it looks like. If you've got anxiety, that's not standing in your position. Letting your request be made known to God, that's standing in your position. Make sense? Think about something else here.

If we look at this verse and what he's just told us, especially in 6 and 7, what is God's character? Is God all-knowing? Does scripture not say God's all-knowing? Yeah. Is there something that God has happening and he goes, oops? Oh no. Can you imagine God pacing the floors of heaven and wringing His hands? What am I going to do? What, Vern, what have you done? You know? The Lord's not like that, is He? He is all-knowing. He is all-powerful. Does He love you absolutely? Does he? Does he love you absolutely? How did he express that? He said, even though these people don't want it, I'm going to pay a price that they don't even realize that they owe.

And I'm going to do everything that it takes for them to have my life instead of their own. To have my history instead of their own. We have a new history too. It's that loving God that we're thinking about here. The one who is all-knowing, the one who is all-powerful, the one who loves us, the one whose very character is grace. Can't earn it.

Does it make any sense, based on who God is and what He has done, does it make any sense for us to be anxious? Let's ask this, what does being anxious mean in terms of what we believe about God? If we are anxious, does that mean that we believe that God is all-knowing and all-powerful and all-loving and all-gracious? Is there any logical basis on which to be anxious? No. Let me submit to you that anxiety is spiritual insanity. Anxiety is spiritually nuts! It's bonkers!

There is no basis, logically, based on who God is and what He has done and who we are in Him, there is no basis for us to be anxious. That is not founded in our position. It is not founded upon who God is. Anxiety is unbelief, pure and simple. Not that I'm trying to sit here and point condemnation, but I'm just wanting us to see it for what it is. Because He has given us the clear alternative which is founded completely in believing God. Do we believe Him or not? That's really the issue here, isn't it? It's not a question of, well, I can be 20% anxious, or I can be anxious about these things. Nothing. And the reason Paul can say that is because of who the Lord is and what the Lord has done and who we are in Him. Let's pray. Lord, what a marvelous passage this is. It is so clear and absolute and distinct.

And Lord, what more as we look at 6 and 7 and see what you've laid out and the results Certainly, we can go back to what Paul started off the passage with. We can rejoice. We can rejoice even in those circumstances, sometimes sudden and shocking, sometimes creeping up on us over time. Nonetheless, Lord, we can know Your peace, not based upon the circumstances, but based upon who You are. and what you've done, and who we are in you. How marvelous and wonderful a thing that is. We praise you for this, Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen.