WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:03.200 We study through books of the Bible here at the village chapel. 00:00:03.359 --> 00:00:10.320 And during this Advent season, we're focusing on the once and future comings of Jesus Christ. 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:14.000 Advent means arrival or appearance. 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:18.960 And so we look back in time to the fact that Christ has already come once. 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:22.559 He laid down his life as a servant when he came the first time. 00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:31.280 And then we also look forward with great joy to that great day when he will come back and return and set the world to rights. 00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:48.560 Our four themes for the Advent season have been the unbounded love of God in Christ, the unquenchable joy of God in Christ, the inextinguishable hope of God in Christ, and the unshakable peace of God in Christ. 00:00:48.719 --> 00:01:03.280 If you are interested in any of those, the love, the joy, the hope, or the peace that is on offer to you in the person and work of Jesus Christ, I invite you to either, if you haven't seen the other Bible studies, go back and check those out. 00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:05.200 Today we're going to focus on peace. 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:10.799 And I don't know about you, but I'm going to myself sit up straight, pay attention. 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:13.680 I need a little bit more of that in my life. 00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:23.599 It was about 2,000 years ago when one angel shows up in the heavenly realm, up in the skies, and a bunch of shepherds were out on the side of the hillside. 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:25.920 They're watching over their sheep by night, we're told. 00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:35.599 And Luke 2, 10 through 14 says this: The angel said to the shepherds, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:41.680 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:43.280 And this will be a sign for you. 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:47.920 You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. 00:01:48.319 --> 00:01:55.599 And suddenly there was with that angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying, and you can just hear all these voices, right? 00:01:55.920 --> 00:02:05.519 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:08.960 This had to come as good news. 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:15.919 Because for so many people in the world back then, life was anything but peaceful. 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:19.680 Political unrest, they were an occupied territory. 00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:28.800 The Roman Empire was, you know, in power there in Israel, which back then was just a pass-through nation. 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:36.879 And so the Roman, oppressive Roman Empire was their government sort of context, if you will. 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:40.080 They had economic hardship. 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:45.680 They had religious, racial, and international tensions. 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:59.360 They had all kinds of uh shakeable items in their lives, things that just seemed to be shaken, and uncertainty of all kinds. 00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:03.759 And there was little peace to be found back then. 00:03:04.479 --> 00:03:06.400 What had gone wrong with the world? 00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:10.800 What were the possible ways that it might be remedied? 00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:18.479 This was a group of people that were longing, pining away, hoping that God might come to their rescue at some point. 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:21.759 When I think about it, we might ask the same kinds of questions. 00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:23.840 What's gone wrong with our world? 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:29.840 Why is there so much chaos, discontent, and despair? 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:56.159 And why is there so little peace on a personal level for individuals, but also just in our culture here in the West, especially in America, with the political tensions, especially with all of the uh world international uh tension that we have, uh not only in the cyber world, but just also in the economic world and the sociological world as well? 00:03:56.319 --> 00:04:06.319 How can so many people feel so chronically dissatisfied, habitually frustrated, and filled with so much unrest? 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:28.160 How can those who've acquired and achieved so much, who have amassed so much apparent control, still end up feeling that life is lacking, meaningless, hopeless, unsettled, and be so unfulfilled? 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:33.040 Instead of being peaceful, why are so many of us falling to pieces? 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:36.160 Good question to ask. 00:04:36.639 --> 00:05:00.079 And as Christians, as we sing our Christmas carols and read the Christmas story each year, does the Bible, does the Christian gospel that springs from the Bible offer any realistic solutions to these difficult and disconcerting incongruities in the world? 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:10.240 We all want peace, we've pursued peace in a lot of different directions and areas, we've acquired much and achieved much, yet we don't have peace. 00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:12.399 What's the answer? 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:20.319 Well, I believe the Bible and the Christian gospel have a lot to offer us when it comes to those kinds of questions. 00:05:20.399 --> 00:05:27.279 And I seek to persuade you that this is precisely why Jesus Christ came into the world. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:31.759 He, the Prince of Peace, as the prophet Isaiah called him. 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:40.399 We need outside help, and if it's any kind of religion at all, the Christian faith is a rescue religion. 00:05:40.800 --> 00:06:01.519 That is, God in the person of Jesus Christ came on a rescue mission into this world to bring us this unbounded love of God, to bring us this unquenchable joy, the inextinguishable hope, and the unshakable peace of God in Christ. 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:05.439 Well, today our text is going to be Philippians chapter 4. 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:10.560 I hope you'll get your Bible or swipe there on your device so that you can look at the text with me. 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:34.160 And we're going to talk about the Apostle Paul as he writes to one of the churches that he founded, probably around somewhere around 52 A.D., he founded this church, the first one really in what we would properly call Europe, as the gospel spread out from Israel, first century Israel, and it spread around the Mediterranean and literally throughout the Roman Empire. 00:06:34.240 --> 00:06:53.600 Um, when in when the Apostle Paul came to Philippi, um there he met a successful businesswoman, Lydia, uh, and together with Lydia and a formerly demon-possessed little teenage girl who we don't know her name, but but uh the book of Acts tells us this story. 00:06:53.839 --> 00:07:00.399 And they also met uh Paul and his companions met uh a Philippian jailer, a Roman jailer. 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:08.160 Uh and so it's from that trio of people that the Apostle Paul sort of planted this church in Philippi. 00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:13.920 And so that's all that goes all the way back to 52, and this letter was probably written somewhere around 62. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:30.480 So about 10 years later, the Apostle Paul writing back to this beloved group of people who have become now a church, started with a very uh quirky core group and church planning group there, but he's writing to them from prison, which is fascinating to me. 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:39.519 And two of his biggest themes in this letter are two things that we talk about at Christmas time a lot: joy and peace. 00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:54.720 Now, if I were writing a letter while in prison, and all of my creature comfort's gone, all of my freedoms taken away from me, I'd probably be writing a pretty difficult letter that would sound pretty dark. 00:07:54.959 --> 00:08:11.120 Yet the Apostle Paul, writing to the church at Philippi, can talk about the joy and peace that we find in Christ, this one whose arrival, whose advent, if you will, we celebrate at this time of year. 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:20.319 And so today I want to focus in on what he says about peace here in chapter four, and we'll read the uh let's let's take the first nine verses, okay? 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:22.959 So let me read those, and then I've got a few comments for you. 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:30.000 Therefore, my beloved brethren, whom I long to see, my joy and crown, and I love that. 00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:30.800 That's a great image. 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:42.080 The Greek word is Stephanos, and it's uh uh some of you will remember the name of Stephen, the one of the first Christian martyrs in the early chapters of the book of Acts. 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:44.240 And uh this is the victor's crown. 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:46.799 This is an amazing term to use. 00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:56.480 And so the Apostle Paul uh writing much more sounding like a pastor than you know, some people cast the Apostle Paul as more Mr. 00:08:56.639 --> 00:08:58.000 Doctrine and Mr. 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:07.440 kind of stern and harsh, you know, with a lot of his uh uh rebuke and that sort of thing, that exhortation that comes from some of his other letters. 00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:10.559 But in this letter, man, you can tell he loves these people so much. 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:14.879 And sometimes you have to speak a stern word when you love people, that's true. 00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:21.200 But here he's just got that pastoral tone, and he's calling them his joy and his crown. 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:25.840 And here's what he says to him stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:31.840 I urge Euodia and I urge Syndechy to live in harmony in the Lord. 00:09:32.240 --> 00:09:38.559 He's gonna say that phrase in the Lord three times, and he's gonna talk about being in Christ an additional fourth time. 00:09:38.720 --> 00:09:47.440 So the idea of our lives being united with Christ four different times mentioned here just in these nine verses. 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:56.799 A big important theme to the Apostle Paul, and I think a secret to the peace that we are all longing for and hoping for in this world as well. 00:09:57.039 --> 00:10:07.039 But in verse 2, he's urging Euodia and Syntheci to the women that were a part of this church, and uh he's urging them to live in harmony. 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:10.720 They must have come to some place where there wasn't peace between them. 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:13.279 There was some reconciliation that was needed. 00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:16.399 And so he urges them to live in harmony in the Lord. 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:31.200 Indeed, true comrade, I ask also to help these, the that you would help these women who have shared my struggle and the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life. 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:33.360 And there's just so much there. 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:36.480 I mean, I I I love the book of Philippians. 00:10:36.559 --> 00:10:44.639 We we took we've talked through it here at the village chapel a couple times, and uh this really is one of my very, very favorite passages from the book. 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:57.039 There's so much live-body detail there, real names, real people, real life, real life struggles, and pointing them in the direction of real life answers that will really work. 00:10:57.279 --> 00:10:58.080 Verse 4. 00:10:58.240 --> 00:11:04.480 And some of you have this probably on a plaque at your house, either embroidered or carved in wood or something like that. 00:11:04.639 --> 00:11:06.000 And it's a great verse. 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:09.679 It says, Rejoice in the Lord always. 00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:12.320 Again, I will say, rejoice. 00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:18.559 And some of us remember, you know, back in the days of youth group singing that, uh, rejoice in the Lord always. 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:20.559 And again I say, rejoice, go. 00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:21.919 Yeah, you got it. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:22.320 That's right. 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:25.600 And you can do it in a round, you just your family, just keep going. 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:26.320 That's that's great. 00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:29.039 I love to think that you might be out there doing that. 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:31.759 But I love this verse, rejoice in the Lord. 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:33.840 There it is again, the third time. 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:36.000 And he says, again I say, rejoice. 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:37.120 And why does he say it twice? 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:40.720 Well, because we probably need to be told to do that twice. 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:46.879 Our proclivity, our tendency is to drift back into grumbling. 00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:55.360 Uh our tendency is to be like curmudgeons, even at Christmas time, uh, to be like Grinches, if you will. 00:11:55.519 --> 00:12:08.720 And so the Apostle Paul reminding the folks at Philippi, even though you, especially you two ladies, are having this kind of conflict, and throughout his letters, we read of all kinds of different people having different kinds of conflict. 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:21.120 But in this particular case, Euodia, Syntheci, and also Clement, uh, who was helpful, and all of them were helpful to Paul in the preaching of the gospel and the cause of the gospel. 00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:28.159 And they all need verse four to learn to rejoice in the Lord always. 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:30.799 And again, rejoice. 00:12:31.039 --> 00:12:32.159 Rejoice, yeah. 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:36.080 Let your forbearing or reasonable spirit be known to all men. 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:37.440 The Lord is near. 00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:41.519 I love that for word sentence. 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:44.080 The Lord is near. 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:49.519 Let your forbearing, your reasonable spirit be known to all men. 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:53.679 Is that what you think of when you think of Christians in our day and time? 00:12:53.919 --> 00:13:05.200 Their reasonable spirit, their forbearing spirit, their bearing with, you know, what might be a negative context or a negative consequence of some kind. 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:07.519 Uh their reasonable spirit. 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:09.360 It's a rich word there, isn't it? 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:15.759 But the idea that the way to do that is to be reminded of those four words. 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:18.320 The Lord is near. 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:23.840 And I think the Apostle Paul's talking about near in at least two different ways. 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:30.399 One, he's near right now, because he's never leaving or forsaking those who belong to him. 00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:34.080 He's always in and amongst the presence of his people. 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:38.639 And then at the same time, the Lord's return is near. 00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:49.200 And again, at Advent, we look back on his first arrival and appearance, and we look forward to his second arrival or appearance, his second coming, if you will. 00:13:49.360 --> 00:13:50.399 The Lord is near. 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:52.000 That day is near. 00:13:52.159 --> 00:13:52.960 How do I know that? 00:13:53.120 --> 00:14:00.320 Well, as time proceeds and progresses, we're, you know, just that much closer to his return. 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:01.919 When is he going to return? 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:03.279 I actually don't know. 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:05.120 I'm I don't think we know. 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:11.039 It'll probably be two o'clock somewhere on the planet, because somewhere on the planet, it's two o'clock all the time. 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:14.559 And but when exactly is he coming? 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:15.039 I don't know. 00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:21.759 Jesus even said, no man knows the day or the hour, and that only the Father knows that appointed day and hour. 00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:32.720 It's not so important that we know when, it's important that we know that he's promised to arrive, to come, to come a second time and to set the world right. 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:38.000 And that should fill us with hope, with joy, and with peace. 00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:41.279 So the Lord is near the village chapel. 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:55.120 The Lord is near wherever you may be, whatever condition you may find yourself in, whether in plenty or in want, whether in sickness or in health, the Lord is near. 00:14:55.840 --> 00:14:58.159 So beautiful of a promise here. 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:13.440 Well, he says in verse 6, be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:18.879 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension. 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:24.240 That's one of my favorite phrases there, one of the favorite ways to describe the peace of God. 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:28.320 It passes or surpasses all comprehension. 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:33.519 That's the same thing as saying the peace of God will sometimes simply be unexplained. 00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:35.200 You won't be able to explain it. 00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:37.440 It will blow your mind. 00:15:38.159 --> 00:15:50.960 You will look back often in the rearview mirror and see how God preserved you and gave you peace at a time when it would not have made sense for you to have any peace at all. 00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:51.919 Is that you? 00:15:52.080 --> 00:16:09.279 I mean, i i if we were all together in the same room and I said, show of hands, everybody who can look back on a time when, at least in the rearview mirror, they could see how God preserved them and gave them peace in a very difficult time, in a chaotic time or in a time of great uncertainty. 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:13.440 Raise your hand if that's you, and I know a lot of hands would go up. 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:17.600 The peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, look at what it does. 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:22.639 Will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 00:16:22.799 --> 00:16:24.080 There's the fourth in. 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:28.879 In the Lord, in the Lord, in the Lord, in Christ Jesus. 00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:31.840 Another way of saying in the Lord, okay? 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:40.960 And then verse 8, just this one's so rich, and I just because of the list that's here, and I love the way Paul does lists sometimes. 00:16:41.120 --> 00:17:04.000 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence, if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things. 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:13.279 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace shall be with you. 00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:14.640 Oh, see now. 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:16.720 There's so much here about peace. 00:17:16.799 --> 00:17:29.680 There's a couple things, though, that I want to point out before I summarize just a couple of points and amplify how Advent peace can come to you by faith in Christ. 00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:34.079 But look here with me, if you will, at verse 8 again. 00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:41.920 Whatever's true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, whatever's of good repute, any excellence, anything worthy of praise. 00:17:42.160 --> 00:17:46.160 Let your mind dwell on these things. 00:17:46.880 --> 00:18:04.559 Now, if we were to just run a clock on how much time I give every day to dwelling on social media or dwelling on the television or dwelling on the computer online, and then how much time I dwell on this list of things. 00:18:04.799 --> 00:18:07.920 I don't know about you, but I'm I'm convicted. 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:09.519 That stirs me a little bit. 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:13.440 And I need to be stirred, and you probably do too. 00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:21.279 The Apostle Paul, the Apostle Peter, never afraid to remind us of things that we need to be stirred up about. 00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:27.200 And as we read this New Testament, we need to be stirred as well. 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:32.880 Because we let our minds dwell on a host of things that just, it's like eating junk food, man. 00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:35.279 It's not that great for us. 00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:43.200 I actually posted a picture of some of my very favorite, not healthy food last week. 00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:54.240 I'm a, you know, and listen, nothing against this company, but I'm the company that makes those little, I'm not gonna say the name, but they make those really tiny little hamburgers, you know, slider type hamburgers. 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:58.880 And they got those, and I hate onions, but they got those little diced onions on them. 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:02.400 And you can buy them now at the grocery store. 00:19:02.559 --> 00:19:13.200 And in a minute's time, just cut open the little pack that'll that they come in, the little little plastic wrapper, and in a minute's time you've got hot white caps, I mean hot little mini sliders. 00:19:13.279 --> 00:19:14.480 They're so good. 00:19:14.799 --> 00:19:15.680 I love those. 00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:17.599 Dip them in mustard, right? 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:28.079 But if I were to only eat those all the time and never had any vegetables or salad and never anything with good nutritional value to me, that wouldn't be good for me. 00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:39.200 And so he is like, in like manner, he is reminding us what our mind needs to feed in, what our hearts need to feed upon, especially if we're interested in peace. 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:45.680 The things you've learned and received and heard and seen in me, the Apostle Paul, says, practice these things. 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:50.000 And the God of peace shall be with you. 00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:52.720 Is Paul saying, copy him in everything? 00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:54.799 Always imitate whatever he does. 00:19:55.039 --> 00:19:56.079 No, no, no. 00:19:56.480 --> 00:20:04.400 He's careful elsewhere to always say, what you, as I'm an imitator of Christ, then you imitate that part of me. 00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:06.960 That part of Jesus that you see. 00:20:07.119 --> 00:20:14.799 See, I think with discipleship, um, we need to recognize that we need to be disciples of Jesus. 00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:27.839 And we might be trained, we might be taught by others whom God has appointed in His church to be teachers, to be encouragers, to be exhorters. 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:36.480 And there's lots of different kinds of Bible teachers and lots of different kinds of pastor teachers, lots of different gifts in the body of Christ. 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:39.839 And I need to be encouraged, I really do, and so do you, I know. 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:41.759 But I also need to be exhorted. 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:47.680 And I know people that are really good at encouragement, but they're a little shy to exhort. 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:54.799 I know other people that are way too good at exhorting, and you probably know some as well, and not very good at encouraging. 00:20:54.880 --> 00:21:05.759 And may the Lord uh give us that proper balance of uh healthy uh amount of teaching in both directions that that is encouraging for us. 00:21:05.839 --> 00:21:08.480 Well, what do we learn here about Advent? 00:21:09.039 --> 00:21:10.480 Let me throw this up on the screen for you. 00:21:10.640 --> 00:21:11.200 Three things. 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:22.640 There are some prescriptions for peace, there are some proscriptions for peace, and there's promises of peace, all in this yes, passage. 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:28.799 I hope my alliteration isn't distracting you too much from the point of the passage. 00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:40.880 But when we're looking, if we are interested in Advent peace, and I am, and I'm gonna assume I can I I think I can imagine that you might be as well. 00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:51.200 That all of us, especially after this year, will see how much we need outside help if we're ever gonna get to a place of peace. 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:59.599 That sort of settled res resolution that that God has everything under control and we can rest. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:02.319 In his sovereignty. 00:22:02.960 --> 00:22:04.799 And I got news for you. 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:08.079 The turning of the year isn't going to be what does it. 00:22:08.480 --> 00:22:09.759 I hear a lot of people talking about that. 00:22:09.839 --> 00:22:11.519 I just can't wait for 2020 to be over. 00:22:11.680 --> 00:22:16.079 Well, the end of 2020 isn't really the answer. 00:22:16.880 --> 00:22:18.799 We don't just need a new year. 00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:22.400 We need a renewed vision of the gospel. 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:29.759 We need renewed and refreshed faith and hope and confidence in God and not in ourselves. 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.799 And if I've learned anything this year, it's that we need outside help. 00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:45.039 We can try really hard and we can get some things accomplished, but man, do we need outside help when it comes to finding lasting peace, unshakable peace. 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:46.400 Look at the prescriptions first. 00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:47.839 I'll put these up on the screen for you. 00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:48.559 There's so many of them. 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:49.279 They're really great. 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:50.640 Begins in verse 1. 00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:53.039 Stand firm in the Lord. 00:22:53.200 --> 00:23:02.480 Not just stand firm, not just assert yourself, not just be into, you know, sort of getting back up in everybody else's grill. 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:05.039 No, stand firm in the Lord. 00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:19.200 That means stand in unwavering trust that God knows what he's doing, that God is sovereign, and that his purposes will be accomplished. 00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:39.200 And some of those purposes, we have to be honest, as we are New Testament Christians, and we look back through the New Testament, and even this guy who's writing this letter, the Apostle Paul, some of God's purposes are accomplished through Paul suffering, through Jesus going to the cross. 00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:54.960 And the glorious thing is that this God of the Bible, the one that is inviting us now, exhorting us to stand firm in the Lord, is the one who can turn crucifixions into resurrections. 00:23:55.119 --> 00:23:55.759 Yeah. 00:23:56.640 --> 00:24:04.640 He's the one that can take somebody named Saul, the Hebrew name for the Apostle Paul, and turn him into Paul. 00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:14.799 Saul, who was a violent persecutor of Christians at one point, and then enter Jesus into his life. 00:24:14.960 --> 00:24:21.119 And everything changed on that, and that Damascus Road experience that you can read about in the book of Acts. 00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:27.759 And now he goes from being a persecutor of Christians to be an apostle of the gospel. 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:35.039 And now here he is, 2,000 years later, uh encouraging you and me to stand firm in the Lord. 00:24:35.200 --> 00:24:44.480 Not stand, again, not stand firm in your rights and your, you know, your right not to be bothered or inconvenienced by the No, stand firm in the Lord. 00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:46.079 And then I love the second one. 00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:47.680 Live in harmony in the Lord. 00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:52.559 And I love it that we got two names of two people right here, Yodia and Syntheci. 00:24:53.039 --> 00:24:58.160 And the Apostle Paul calls them out by name and urges them. 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:01.440 He's exhorting them, isn't he? 00:25:01.680 --> 00:25:03.119 To live together in harmony. 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:04.319 And how's that going to be found? 00:25:04.480 --> 00:25:07.440 Once again, in the Lord. 00:25:08.079 --> 00:25:21.359 True reconciliation, true peace between persons that can really only last and can really only become unshakable peace when it's in the Lord. 00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:26.640 Both parties committed to, surrendered to the Lord. 00:25:27.119 --> 00:25:32.240 And then he says in verse 4, I love this, rejoice in the Lord. 00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:37.119 So it's again, it's not just rejoicing, just laughing for laughter's sake. 00:25:37.200 --> 00:25:38.720 He's not, listen, get this. 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:42.000 He's not just saying, don't worry, be happy. 00:25:42.240 --> 00:25:45.119 He's not just saying, and nothing wrong with that song, by the way. 00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:55.119 I have to tell myself all the time to, you know, ask myself what kind of day I'm going to have, ask myself what the disposition of my heart is, what the set of my sales will be, and all of that. 00:25:55.359 --> 00:25:58.319 But he says, rejoice in the Lord. 00:25:58.559 --> 00:26:02.000 And so I've got to find what that means. 00:26:02.160 --> 00:26:16.480 I've got to look and get on my knees when I read my Bible, lift up the empty hands of faith and say, Holy Spirit, please teach me what it means to rejoice in, to delight in you, Lord. 00:26:17.039 --> 00:26:22.640 Not just in the way you're rolling things out, not just in the things you've given me, not just in the blessings and all that sort of thing. 00:26:22.720 --> 00:26:23.839 And that's all wonderful to do. 00:26:23.920 --> 00:26:25.359 It's great to count your blessings. 00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:26.640 I'm all about that. 00:26:26.960 --> 00:26:29.680 But to rejoice in the Lord Himself. 00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:34.000 How much time have we spent doing that? 00:26:34.240 --> 00:26:36.000 Great question to ask ourselves. 00:26:36.240 --> 00:26:38.880 I know I need to do more of that. 00:26:39.359 --> 00:26:50.960 And so even as I'm studying this this week, I'm reminded this week to spend more time rejoicing in him, not just in his provision, not just what he gives me with his hand, but in him. 00:26:51.200 --> 00:26:51.920 Look to him. 00:26:52.720 --> 00:26:56.880 In my prayers, be going before him. 00:26:57.440 --> 00:27:03.440 And not only just giving him my list of things for him to do today, but listening. 00:27:04.079 --> 00:27:08.079 Listening to him remind me that I'm his son. 00:27:08.559 --> 00:27:12.559 You reminding him reminding you that you're his son or daughter. 00:27:13.039 --> 00:27:25.839 Listening in your prayer life for him to remind you how much he loves you with an unbounded love that's been revealed in the person and work of Jesus in his first advent, coming to die on the cross for you. 00:27:26.079 --> 00:27:34.319 Because we connect the cradle to the cross, to the empty tomb, to the ascension of Christ back to heaven, and to his promised return. 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:37.039 All of that is the same person, you see. 00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:40.799 We don't just leave, it's not just the sweet little baby Jesus in the manger. 00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:42.240 It doesn't stop there. 00:27:42.720 --> 00:27:46.000 The cradle is so that he could go to the cross. 00:27:46.480 --> 00:27:50.880 And the cross turns into that empty tomb. 00:27:51.039 --> 00:27:53.599 And that's one of the reasons we can rejoice too. 00:27:53.839 --> 00:27:59.359 This is a God we can rejoice in because he has defeated our last and greatest enemy. 00:27:59.599 --> 00:28:02.880 Paul goes on and says, be known as reasonable people. 00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:05.519 Part of the prescription for peace, right? 00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:11.839 Be known as reasonable people, forbearing spirit people. 00:28:12.880 --> 00:28:20.400 You are the people who have some tenacity in your spirits, and the reason is because you're in the Lord and in Christ Jesus. 00:28:20.799 --> 00:28:21.680 Be known for that. 00:28:21.759 --> 00:28:23.119 Is that what you're known for? 00:28:23.279 --> 00:28:23.920 You know? 00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:30.720 I know some of you have a shorter fuse than some of the rest of you, and I know some of us have shorter fuses about different things. 00:28:30.960 --> 00:28:36.799 I mean, I can't drive on the highway without the shortness of my fuse, you know, being evident to all. 00:28:37.759 --> 00:28:40.960 Because people drive like nuts down here in the South. 00:28:41.599 --> 00:28:49.440 But whatever it is that is unreasonable in your life, pray that God will transform and change you. 00:28:49.599 --> 00:28:51.359 Continue to place that before the Lord. 00:28:51.519 --> 00:28:53.200 Continue to throw it on the altar. 00:28:53.359 --> 00:28:57.200 Continue to let it be that part of you that is crucified with Christ. 00:28:57.519 --> 00:28:59.039 And nevertheless, you live. 00:28:59.119 --> 00:28:59.359 Why? 00:28:59.440 --> 00:29:01.680 Because you live in Christ. 00:29:01.920 --> 00:29:04.160 Verse 6, pray about everything. 00:29:04.319 --> 00:29:05.119 What does he say there? 00:29:05.359 --> 00:29:10.400 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. 00:29:10.559 --> 00:29:15.920 And I love that kind of prayer, that connection of prayer and supplication. 00:29:16.079 --> 00:29:17.440 What is this supplicant doing? 00:29:17.599 --> 00:29:20.400 A supplicant is presenting a request. 00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:30.480 It's approaching God with our desires, with our anxieties, with our prayer requests, if you will. 00:29:30.559 --> 00:29:34.720 And isn't that great about our God, the God of the Bible? 00:29:35.039 --> 00:29:46.960 Not going to shame you or shun you because you present to him the things that are eating at you, the things that are frustrating you, the things that have caused you anxiety or the things that are chaotic in your world. 00:29:47.119 --> 00:30:05.599 No, he wants you to have peace, and he knows that part of that is allowing you, just like in the book of Psalms, every human emotion on full display in the book of Psalms, including frustration with God, including impatience with God, but also great joy in the Lord. 00:30:05.839 --> 00:30:13.279 Also great joy in God's creation and his glory being seen in creation. 00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:15.039 But pray about everything, verse 6 says. 00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:20.640 Pray with thanksgiving, everything says verse 6 says. 00:30:20.960 --> 00:30:22.079 Pray with thanksgiving. 00:30:22.160 --> 00:30:26.160 And here we just come through our holiday that we call thanksgiving here in the States. 00:30:26.319 --> 00:30:28.000 And it's so important to be reminded. 00:30:28.079 --> 00:30:29.279 I'm glad we have that marker. 00:30:29.359 --> 00:30:33.039 I'm glad that we're reminded that it keeps coming up. 00:30:33.200 --> 00:30:34.400 We're reminded to be thankful. 00:30:34.480 --> 00:30:48.640 And I sure hope that you know the Lord and you have him to turn to, because I honestly don't understand what people who don't believe in God are people that don't believe God is personal, if they think God is just a battery, the energy that the universe runs on. 00:30:49.119 --> 00:30:50.319 I don't know who they're thanking. 00:30:50.400 --> 00:30:50.960 Who is it? 00:30:51.119 --> 00:30:56.799 And how can that complete the experience of being grateful if there's no one to thank? 00:30:57.519 --> 00:31:00.240 Here's the God that's revealed himself in the Bible. 00:31:00.400 --> 00:31:04.559 There's the God that's actually come in the person and work of Jesus. 00:31:05.200 --> 00:31:09.440 And we can turn to him and pray with thanksgiving. 00:31:09.599 --> 00:31:10.640 I love that, yeah. 00:31:10.799 --> 00:31:20.400 And then verse 9, uh part of the prescriptions for Advent peace, uh discipleship with discipline is the way we've got it worded there on the slide. 00:31:20.640 --> 00:31:28.319 What he's saying there in verse 9 is the things that you've learned and received and heard and seen, and I love the way he filters all of that out. 00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:42.240 In other words, what you've seen in me and heard in me, where my walk matches my talk as I follow Jesus, practice these things, he says. 00:31:42.480 --> 00:31:43.680 Practice these things. 00:31:43.839 --> 00:31:46.559 In other words, do those things too. 00:31:46.640 --> 00:31:49.680 And the Apostle Paul's not shy in his exhortation. 00:31:49.839 --> 00:31:53.519 He's not shy about telling us what we need to do. 00:31:53.680 --> 00:31:55.039 And I like that about him. 00:31:55.119 --> 00:31:57.839 I, again, I it's this isn't all just theory. 00:31:58.000 --> 00:31:59.680 It's not all just concepts. 00:31:59.839 --> 00:32:01.839 It's not all just warm fuzzies. 00:32:02.319 --> 00:32:04.319 Following Jesus looks like something. 00:32:04.480 --> 00:32:06.319 It actually does look like something, yeah. 00:32:06.480 --> 00:32:08.000 It means I go where Jesus goes. 00:32:08.079 --> 00:32:09.759 It means when Jesus turns right, I turn right. 00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:11.599 It means when Jesus speeds up, I speed up. 00:32:11.759 --> 00:32:15.359 It means when Jesus slows down or stops, or when Jesus weeps, I weep. 00:32:15.519 --> 00:32:22.000 It means when Jesus rejoices, I rejoice, and you rejoice as well. 00:32:22.400 --> 00:32:26.799 May our eyes see like his, may our hearts break like his. 00:32:27.680 --> 00:32:42.559 May we be drawn to join him in his mission in this world, just like Jesus did, just like the Apostle Paul did in verse 9 is so good at reminding that with discipleship it will require discipline. 00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:45.519 And I love the way that those two words are so close. 00:32:45.759 --> 00:32:55.920 In addition to that, the prescriptions for peace also come with a direction for our minds, for the way we think or our worldview, if you will. 00:32:56.160 --> 00:33:00.079 He tells us what to let our minds dwell on. 00:33:00.240 --> 00:33:00.880 I love this. 00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:01.599 Verse 8. 00:33:01.680 --> 00:33:03.440 Look with me at verse 8. 00:33:03.680 --> 00:33:09.599 Whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and excellent. 00:33:09.759 --> 00:33:10.319 All right. 00:33:10.720 --> 00:33:12.640 Reverse all of that just for a second, right? 00:33:12.799 --> 00:33:29.519 What he's saying is don't let your minds dwell on whatever is false, whatever is dishonorable, whatever is wrong, whatever is impure, whatever is ugly in life, or whatever is just poor and shabby and lazy. 00:33:30.559 --> 00:33:31.200 Wow. 00:33:31.519 --> 00:33:34.079 Okay, now that starts to make some sense to us. 00:33:34.319 --> 00:33:46.480 That's given direction for us, and we have to sort of evaluate again how we spend our time, what we allow our minds to dwell on in life. 00:33:46.720 --> 00:33:56.319 Again, whether that's through the media that we take in social media or or or movies or television shows or whatever it might be, games, whatever. 00:33:56.640 --> 00:34:04.880 Ask yourself the question if you've if you need more peace in your life, maybe I'm dwelling on the wrong list of things here. 00:34:05.119 --> 00:34:19.039 Maybe I'm not, or maybe I'm refraining from, maybe I'm I'm taking away from stuff my soul really needs, my mind really needs, those things which are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and excellent. 00:34:19.360 --> 00:34:25.039 I just so appreciate the practicality of that list from verse 8. 00:34:25.199 --> 00:34:31.119 All right, well, we also have here some proscriptions for peace, at least the category, and I'll say this. 00:34:31.280 --> 00:34:34.400 The category is in the plural, but there's really just one thing on it. 00:34:34.639 --> 00:34:36.639 Verse 6 is what he says. 00:34:36.960 --> 00:34:39.199 Be anxious for nothing. 00:34:39.920 --> 00:34:44.639 Maybe in your translation it might say, don't be anxious for anything. 00:34:44.800 --> 00:34:46.559 That's another way of saying it as well. 00:34:46.800 --> 00:34:47.599 What is this? 00:34:47.760 --> 00:34:51.280 Like I said, it's not just another version of don't worry, be happy. 00:34:51.360 --> 00:34:52.000 It's not that. 00:34:52.159 --> 00:34:53.840 It's much deeper than that. 00:34:54.079 --> 00:35:03.280 For disciples of Jesus who believe in the sovereignty of God, brooding anger is believing that God got it wrong. 00:35:03.519 --> 00:35:16.480 So if you're just brooding and you're looping in anger all the time, just stop for just a second or two and just ask yourself the question: what is it you think that God may have gotten wrong? 00:35:17.039 --> 00:35:22.000 Now I realize there's some things in the world that it's proper and right to be angry about. 00:35:22.079 --> 00:35:24.000 And I'm not talking about those. 00:35:24.880 --> 00:35:42.239 But I'm talking about those parts of our lives that so often it's just a matter of our preference, our desiring things to go our way, our uh idle worship of something somebody else has, and so we try to get it. 00:35:42.400 --> 00:35:44.000 So we're coveting at that point. 00:35:44.159 --> 00:35:52.480 But what in life are you so angry about all the time that it eclipses your peace or your joy? 00:35:53.039 --> 00:35:57.360 You've got, we've all got to learn to see that though, as a bit of unbelief. 00:35:57.920 --> 00:36:04.800 Because my brooding anger is really just a bit of me saying, God, you got it wrong. 00:36:06.079 --> 00:36:15.119 In like manner, I would say that brewing anxiety is believing that God might get it wrong. 00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:17.920 It's about something that's about to happen. 00:36:18.079 --> 00:36:19.760 I'm anxious over something that's about to happen. 00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:23.039 I think God's not going to get it right, and so I'm anxious. 00:36:23.199 --> 00:36:27.360 And here the Apostle Paul says, don't be anxious about anything. 00:36:27.440 --> 00:36:28.159 You don't need to be. 00:36:28.320 --> 00:36:28.639 Why? 00:36:28.800 --> 00:36:37.440 Because you're in the Lord, because you're in Christ, because the Lord is near, because this is the same Lord that has defeated your last and greatest enemy, death itself. 00:36:38.320 --> 00:36:42.960 And because he is with you, he hasn't left you alone. 00:36:43.360 --> 00:36:44.800 And he's even equipped you. 00:36:44.880 --> 00:36:47.039 So what's the antidote to anxiety? 00:36:47.280 --> 00:36:49.599 Certainly the comfort of good friends can help. 00:36:49.760 --> 00:36:53.360 I think there are helpful resources available from the counseling realm. 00:36:53.519 --> 00:36:58.480 Um, and when needed, medically prescribed pharmaceuticals have proven to be helpful for some people. 00:36:58.719 --> 00:37:28.159 But over the long haul and in the deepest part of who you are and who I am, I think when it gets down into our souls and our spirits, there's nothing like taking a look at the things that have moved to the center for us, the things that we think really matter, the things that we've put as first in our lives, and to ask ourselves the question: have they displaced Christ in our lives? 00:37:30.400 --> 00:37:35.199 What does this passage teach us about God and his promises to us in Christ? 00:37:35.360 --> 00:37:50.159 We've looked at the prescriptions and the one proscription of don't be anxious about anything, and the antidote to that is to pray and pray with thanksgiving and to dwell on certain things, right? 00:37:50.320 --> 00:37:51.440 Well, what are the promises? 00:37:51.599 --> 00:37:53.440 Well, I'll put these up on the screen for you too. 00:37:53.599 --> 00:37:56.079 There is a book of life, isn't that good news? 00:37:56.320 --> 00:38:10.320 So, in other words, we're not just one of billions and billions of people on a dust ball-sized planet that we call Earth in the middle of a vast and huge Milky Way galaxy that's just one of millions and billions of galaxies in the perceivable universe. 00:38:10.559 --> 00:38:16.639 In other words, we're not so small as to be so insignificant that God doesn't know what's going on here. 00:38:16.880 --> 00:38:33.760