Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Paul's epistle to the Philippines,
and chapter four, reading from our text, the sixth verse, verse
six. Be careful for nothing, but in
everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests
be made known unto God. Philippians chapter 4 and verse
6. The Apostle in closing his epistle
to these brethren, he says before them that which shall be a practical
help, a help especially in their thoughts, those things that arise
because of the path that they're walking, the troubles, the trials,
the difficulties, and the propensity for us to have great worry and
anxious care over these things. And this is what the word means,
careful, or to not have anxious care, or to worry, Be careful
for nothing. Obviously, God's children do
have to be careful. They are to redeem the time,
because the days are evil. They are to be a people that
are not slovingly, but diligent in their business, and to work
not as unto man, but as unto the Lord. So that does need carefulness. But that is not what is set before
us here. It is anxious care. It is worry. It is burdensome care. Care that
takes over the mind, the thoughts. There is a real burden. And this is then the apostles'
direction to them. Be careful for nothing, but in
everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests
be made known unto God. I want to look this morning firstly
at the foundation on which these directions are based. And then secondly, what not to
do. Our text says that we are not
to be full of worry, be careful for nothing. And then thirdly,
what we are to do, and that is be in prayer and supplication
with thanksgivings. making our requests made known
unto God. And then lastly, I want to look
at the promise that is attached to these directions, which is
in the following verse, verse seven, and the peace of God,
which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus. So let us look firstly at the
foundation. Be careful for nothing. Why and
how can the apostle set forth a word like this? Well, obviously bound up with
the word what not to do is what to do, which implies that in
the Lord and through prayer and through requests made to him,
there is that which shall deal with those things that are causing
us care and worry. But we would especially think
of that which our Lord taught and no doubt John had, the Apostle
Paul rather, had a much mindful Of this, in the Sermon on the
Mount, Matthew chapter 6, we have the Lord teaching from
verse 25. He says, Therefore I say unto
you, this is after He has said that no man can serve two masters. Either you hate the one and love
the other, or else you will hold to the one and despise the other,
you cannot serve God and mammon. And then he says, therefore I
say unto you. We wouldn't think first, would
we, that a anxious care and thought and God's provision for us should
be something that would be indicative of whom we were serving, whether
serving man, or serving God, serving of this world, or serving
the Lord. But that is the connection that
the Lord puts it here. And so he says, therefore I say
unto you, take no thought, or again this is anxious thought,
for your life, what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, nor
yet for your body, what ye shall put on. is not the life more
than meat and the body than Raymond. So it puts in a balance in this,
the worth of the body itself and those things that are put
on or put in it, the life itself. Then he directs to the fowls
of the air. Behold the fowls of the air,
they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into bonds,
Yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better
than they? Beautiful, simple parable. A parable that we can see every
day. We see the fowls of the air.
We see God's provision for them. And then a reminder of how helpless
we are through our thoughts to do anything. Which of you, by
taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take
ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet
I say unto you, that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed
like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothed
the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast
into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little
faith? Therefore take no thought, again
there's no anxious thought, no worry, saying what shall we eat,
or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after
all these things do the Gentiles seek, or put it this way, those
who do not know the Lord, those that are without, those that
are of the world. For your heavenly Father knoweth
that ye have need of all these things, but seek ye first the
kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be
added. Unto you take therefore no thought,
no anxious thought, for the morrow, and some of you may have those
things for the morrow, that you are with anxious thought, you're
burdensome, cares over them, the morrow shall take thought
for the things of itself, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. The apostle would have known
very well the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, a large section
of teaching and very practical applying to our lives. The Lord
would say, these things that concern you, our burdens, our
worry, these are things that have at the root of it who we
are serving, whether we are serving God or serving this world. And the basis of the apostles,
then exhortations in this way, it centres in God himself. Paul is writing to God's children. In another place he says, you
are not your own, you are bought with a price. Shall not God care
for those that are his own? Those that he has purchased,
those that he has bought, of course he will. Our Lord has
said, your heavenly Father careth for you. Are ye much better,
more worth than many sparrows? God's care, he is as set forth
in John 10, the good shepherd, the shepherd careth for the sheep. What care has the sheep when
he has a Good Shepherd? For food, for protection, in
all that might befall the sheep, all it needs is a Good Shepherd. And the Lord states very clearly,
I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. We read in another place that
God commandeth his love for us in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. That is the basis of his care
over us. If he has died for us, if then
he has quickened us by his grace, then shall he not care for us? Shall he not watch over us? Shall
we care for ourselves more than He does? Part of His church,
can we care for the church more than our Lord cares for His church? For love's sake, He will attend
to the needs of His people. For His honour's sake, He shall
not leave His people. I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee. There is a basis wherever there
are those precepts, practical injunctions and exhortations
in the Word of God. If we were to help a friend in
need, if they were distressed and troubled, we wouldn't just
say to them, look, just don't worry. and not give them any
basis, not give them any prospect of help or any reason why they
should not worry. There is a basis. The Holy Inspired
Word of God sets before us our Creator, our Redeemer, our Elder
Brother born for adversity, the Captain of our salvation, the
Head of the Church of God, Our bridegroom, one that careth for his people. May we not forget that. When
we are so tempted to anxiousness, care and burden, sometimes not
over ourselves but over our loved ones, others as well, what shall
this man do? So often is the case, what is
that to thee? Follow thou me? But in our text, there's not
just an implied and giving a reason for the directions, but the directions
are there and very plain. And I want to then look at them. In the second place, what not
to do. Sometimes we need to put these
things, as it were, in small measures so that we can really
have it clearly fastened on our mind. Our text says, be careful
for nothing. Don't have anxious, burdensome
worries. for anything, nothing. If it's a small thing or a great
thing, whatever it is, it shouldn't be something that
causes us to have such anxious worry and concern. The Lord has seen fit to give
us an example of such concern and worry in one of his children
in Martha at the end of Luke chapter 10. And we read of our
Lord going into a house where we told a certain woman named
Martha and received him. It was her house. And she had
a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet and heard
his word. And we read this, but Martha
was cumbered about much serving. It was a burden to her, a worry,
a concern to her, and it came out because she said to the Lord,
Does thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?
Bid her therefore that she help me. Now Lord didn't do that. He didn't. But he gently reproved her. He
said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled
about many things. There's a real reason. This is the real explanation
of this. Be careful for nothing. Thou
art careful and troubled about many things. But one thing is
needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not
be taken away from her. And we can see in this illustration,
and maybe remember that the Lord loved Martha, and yet here these
worries These burdens, even around the Lord, it was preventing her
from sitting at the Lord's feet and hearing His Word. And if
we're honest, there'll be many times that our worries and concerns,
they stop us from hearing the Word. How many times have you
started to hear, as we've read the Word in the house of God,
And then suddenly realize we've got to the end of it and your
mind has been elsewhere. You haven't been on the reading,
haven't been thinking about it at all. And you can actually
do that. I can do it when I'm reading.
I can read a passage, even aloud, and get to the end of it and
realize that I've read it just automatically. And those who
have been listening have probably had no idea that I've actually
not even taken in a thing. about what I've been reading,
because the mind has been so burdened and preoccupied with
other things. And this is the word what not
to do. And we are liable with our own
hearts, we reason things through. And we try to work out what to
do and how to do things. But when the Word of God comes
to us in this way, it tells us in no uncertain terms what not
to do. Be careful for nothing. Have anxious care and worry about
nothing. Don't let these things so bow
you down, so worry you, make you so anxious, so careful. Be careful for nothing. So may
we remember that very simple statement of the Word of God. And it's hard to worm out of
it, isn't it? Because there's nothing that
you can put in there and say, well, that can be an exception,
and that can be an exception. No. For nothing. So if that's what we're not to
do, what are we to do? What are we to do instead? The
Word of God is full of things like this. These examples that
there's not to be left of void and emptiness because something
else will take its place. Now Lord told a very solemn parable
with one that the devils went out of a man and he went through
places seeking rest, finding none. He comes back to his own
house, he finds it swept and garnished And he takes to him
seven devils, worse than the first. The latter end of that
man is worse than the beginning." What went wrong? Things were
cast out, but nothing was put in to replace it. We can be sure,
we can deal with perhaps one besetting sin, one sin in our
lives, we get rid of it. We're pleased we got rid of it.
But what's taken its place? Something else. Maybe many other
things have taken its place. They use the time that that used. They engage the thoughts and
affections that that which we thought we got rid of and had
got rid of, used. There's something else. And so
that's why the apostle says when he writes the Romans, if ye through
the Spirit to mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. And what it is, it's replacing
the deeds of the body with the things of the spirit. So it's
when we are tempted to evil, when we would spend time on forbidden
and wrong things, that we spend that time in the Word of God
in right things. the evil things are pushed out
by that which is good. The children of Israel, when
they went into the promised land, they were forbidden to take the
whole land at once. The reason was, lest the beasts
of the field increase upon them. They were to, as they grew in
number, Then they were to enlarge their coasts and take over more
of the Canaanites' land so they could fill that land. They weren't
to get the conquest of all the land and then be thinly scattered
throughout all of that land. They were to take it gradually.
And so it is with the Lord with his people. They are to be taught
as they are able to bear it And as they grow in grace and in
the knowledge of the Lord, then those other things are dealt
with, are pushed out. And so here is not just taking
away the carefulness and the anxiousness and the worries,
it's replacing it. It's putting something in its
stead. And may we never only look at
half of a direction, half of the Word of God, but add on the
other, and the other is what we are to do. But in everything,
by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests
be made known unto God. Now what is it to do? First is
this, to take everything to God in prayer. One beautiful way
of looking at it is to view every worry, every care, everything
that causes anxiousness as a gift that the Lord has given us to
give us something to take to Him in prayer. Many of us, I
don't know what to pray for, don't know how to pray, don't
know what to bring to the Lord, the Lord would say in our text,
you bring those things you worry about. You take them to the Lord. As scriptures say, cast thy burden
upon the Lord and he shall sustain you. And if you look in the margin
for burden, it is gift. Cast thy gift upon the Lord. And so those things that are
too hard for us, we are to bring to the Lord in prayer. Our text really teaches us what
things that we are to pray to God over. But in everything by
prayer. You see the two words in the
thing we're not to do, Be careful for nothing. But then in the
balance, the other side, it's everything. It's going from nothing
to everything. There's nothing that escapes
the path of prayer. We're to bring in to the Lord. God has appointed that men pray,
men began to call upon the name of the Lord. And the Lord hears
and answers prayer. We have the throne of grace.
We have the mercy seat, the blood-sprinkled mercy seat. We have the Lord. If he ask anything in my name,
I will do it. Whatsoever prayer, supplication
be made by any man, says he, Solomon, in the dedication of
the temple, can hear everyone that knows the plague of his
own heart, can hear thou in heaven, and forgive. Do, according as
is petitioned to thee, the encouragement right through the word of God,
is to pray. The Lord said that men ought
always to pray and not to faint. So the first thing is a simple
direction to pray. But what do we pray? What do
we actually bring before the Lord in prayer. Our Lord's parable
of the publican and the Pharisee in the temple makes it very clear
that two can be praying, but the prayers would not be right.
The Pharisee was not asking anything, he was telling God all his own
goodness. Now that doesn't mean to say
that we do not tell the Lord things in prayer. In our text here, it is, let
your requests be made known unto God. With Abraham's servant going
to get a wife for Isaac, he made known to the Lord at the well
what his errand was, and then made his request concerning the
woman that he would ask to give water to him. And so it was with
Jacob as well, he told the Lord as he wrestled with him concerning
Esau coming, how Esau was coming, how he feared for his life and
the little ones, and then made his petition. The scripture pattern,
though the Lord does know everything, and our text says, requests be
made known unto God. And you might say, but the Lord
already knows. He knows these things. But no,
they are to be made known unto God. And so the prayers are to
be in such a way that we are asking. Ask, and it shall be
given you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock,
and it shall be opened unto you. Our Lord said, if ye, being evil,
know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more
shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit, or in the other
rendering, give good gifts to them that ask Him? So it is prayer, but it is also
asking for something, making a request, often for your In
prayer it is good to follow the pattern in a sense of what is
termed the Lord's Prayer. Now prayer should be in adoration
and in praise. It should be of making the Lord
aware of those things that we're going through, bringing it to
him. When the disciples said, taken up the body of John Baptist
after he'd been beheaded, they went and buried it, and then
went and told Jesus. And very often, we need to do
that. Here's a friend, here's one that
we can go and tell, tell the Lord Jesus. But what here then is, are things
that have been asked, things that have been requested and
those requests are being made known to God. No, it's not dictating,
it's not demanding, it is not dictating or demanding. Make your demands known unto
God, it's requests and it's supplications, asking, supplicating the Lord. And there will be those things
that we ask for. Some things the Lord won't grant.
He didn't grant to Martha what she wanted her sister to help
her. He didn't grant the Apostle Paul
that the thorn in the flesh be taken from him, but he did give
grace instead. And with Martha the Lord gave
her a gentle rebuke, and sometimes we can have that in prayer as
we're praying, as we're bringing these things to the Lord, the
Lord turns it to a gentle rebuke. We are bidden to pray for our
enemies. Maybe they are the cause of care
and a burden to us, but as we pray for them, the Lord turns
it about and shows us that we also have done those same things
to others. And so it is a reproof to us
and still a direction, an answer that we didn't perhaps expect,
but nevertheless it is an answer. And so what to do? It is to make
supplication, to ask, to request. But that's not all. It says here,
with thanksgiving that your requests be made known unto God. Now I
believe we need to be very careful in this, we're not to go to the
Lord when something is causing us great worry and concern and
we forget everything that the Lord has done for us, we forget
that he's called us, we forget that he's fed us, He's watched
over us. He's given us a house and a bed
and loved ones and friends and freedom of worship and the Holy
Bible and the Word of God in our own tongue. And we forget
all of the blessings and all of the mercies that we've had
and over all of the years, and we come in a way, Lord, give
me this. And until you give me this, then
I'm not going to give any thanks. You give me this, I'll thank
you for that. I'll thank you for what you give me. But until
that's done, there'll be no thanks in my prayer. No, that is not
the way that is here. I believe it is that while there
is supplication and prayer being made, there's also thanksgiving. Also thanksgiving. is one of
our hymns. Hymn 778. The last verse of that
hymn, if I can find it, 778. For blessings like these, you
can read later the whole hymn, or blessings like these so bounteously
given for prospects of peace and foretaste of heaven, tis
grateful, tis pleasant to sing and adore, be thankful for present
and then ask for more. Be thankful for present and then
ask for more. And it's a good thing to remind
ourselves, as well as coming in thanksgiving to God, it is
reminding ourselves of how much the Lord has done for us. How
many other answers to prayer we've had. How many other times
that we began feeling very anxious, very troubled, and the Lord appeared. He stilled the waves and the
billows, he dealt with those things. And it's good at times
when fresh cares and troubles and concerns come upon us that
we are reminded of those things. We don't let them lie forgotten
in unthankfulness and without praises die. How balanced are
our prayers. How much asking? How much thanksgiving? How much are we mindful of prayer
that has been answered? The other aspect here as well,
when are we to pray? Are we just to say, well, our
private devotions, they are when we get up in the morning, when
we go to bed, and our family devotions and we just leave it
to then. But is it not a case of when
we have that opportunity to turn aside that we then pray in that
very time? Sometimes it might not even be
audibly, but our heart uplifting and crying to God. We read of
Nehemiah, who was very fearful when the king noticed that he
was sad in his presence. He cried unto the Lord, but no
audible. But the Lord appeared for him. This poor man cried, says David
in Psalm 34. And the Lord heard him and delivered
him out of all his troubles, but he was standing before the
Philistines. They wouldn't have known he was
in prayer. They wouldn't have known he was crying unto the
Lord, but he must have been, as it were, in threat of his
life, so full of worry and concern, and yet here he is praying. And so it is, instant in prayer. and in thanksgivings. You know,
there's been those times with us that we've been blessed in
earnest service and we've gone out to the car before we started
the engine, gone home, we've given thanks for what we've heard,
for the blessing on the word. And was the last time you couldn't
wait to get home or wait to a set time. You had to give thanks
then. Or in asking, when full of care,
you had to do so instantly, immediately. We can have cares at any time,
can't we? We can have anxious care at any
time. Why cannot we have prayer at
any time? That men ought always to pray
and not to faint. And so there is a, giving of
thanks. Jehoshaphat, they were told that
the Lord would go before them. And they went forth to battle. They were told they would not
need to fight in that battle. They went forth praising and
blessing God. And the Lord appeared for them. So there's that which we are
to do. And then lastly, there's a promise
that is attached to it, is joined to it. Really it emphasizes the
blessedness of the advice given. And the peace of God, which passeth
all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus. What a beautiful promise. Sometimes we forget the connections,
don't we? You think, what a beautiful blessing
if we had the peace of God that passeth all understanding. What if we had that? Would we
join that thought, that blessing, to times when we're full of care,
anxious care? When we feel our minds so weak
and our hearts, as it were, to be so trembling, would we think that the passage
and way to still our poor troubled hearts and keep our minds would
be a path where we seek to put away
from us, to not be full of worry, but to be full of prayer and
supplications and giving of thanks. Maybe think of those things that
are joined together in our text and what follows, this beautiful
promise. It doesn't say, and the peace
of God which passeth all understanding might keep your hearts and minds. it shall. One of the Lord's shalls. Keep your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus. Every blessing comes to us through
him. Our prayers are offered in his
name. It is he that we read of their
Sermon on the Mount that gives these directions in the first
place, of which the Apostle is enlarging. and putting in a practical
way to the Philippines. There may be then a word to us,
a word for today and tomorrow, a word when we do have those
things we are so worried and filled with anxious care over,
that this be the Lord's word for you and I here. And it'd
be in that way. We are led to Christ, led to
Calvary, led to what he endured, what he suffered on the accursed
tree. He was in control there. The
disciples were not. But the Lord brought and wrought
the great salvation of the people of God in a time when The dear
disciples, they knew not what was going on at all. We trusted
it should have been He that should have redeemed Israel. But the
Lord, He was managing those crowds. He was managing all that was
happening. He was in control. I have power
to lay down my life. I have power to take it again.
This commandment, have I received my Father? It's a blessed thing
if the Lord uses those things which, not walking in this way,
would lead us away from Him, but in walking in this way, uses
them to bring us to Him and brings us into that close communion
with our Lord. May the Lord then bless this
word and may we have that fellowship and that peace of God and the
Lord Jesus Christ, most precious to us. Amen.