It's wonderful to be able to
have another opportunity to meet together, to hear the gospel of God's grace,
to realize that we would want to be here. I want you to take your Bibles
and turn with me to the book of Philippians chapter 4. Philippians
chapter 4. I'd like to look tonight at verses
4 to 7. Philippians chapter 4, verses 4 to 7. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say, rejoice. Let your moderation be known
unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful
for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the
peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your
hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Let's pray together. Our Father, this evening we ask
You, help us. Lord, help us to hear, to worship. Bless Your Word. May Christ be
exalted. For it's in His name we pray. Amen. The peace of God. God's peace. We began to stop
and realize what is actually being said. Peace with God. Now how was that peace wrought? How did that peace come about? Turn over to Colossians 1. Turn
one page, probably. Colossians 1.20. And having made peace through
the blood of His cross by Him to reconcile all things unto
Himself, By Him I say, whether they be things in earth or things
in heaven. Peace. Peace to be able to settle down
and to know that all things are well. One of these days, Bob,
I'm going to understand that. I know it now. I know it by faith. but to realize that Almighty
God has been pleased to establish peace between Himself and His
people. A people fallen in Adam. Rebels against God. Those that
were children of wrath even as others that hated Him just like
everybody else. And God was pleased to establish
peace. Now with that peace that has
been established by the blood of Christ, I know this, I can
truly rest. Now we're in a world that's in
a mess. This world's in a mess. And I'm telling you every time
you turn around, You see, it just seems as though it gets
worse every day. Things I hear, things I see,
I think, this is a mess. I want to be able to settle down
and to be at peace in my heart, in my conscience, because I know
that peace has been established between myself and Almighty God
by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm prone to let things,
fleeting things, temporal things, perplex me. But the believer in the Lord
Jesus Christ has every reason to be happy. Every reason to
rejoice. The God of all grace has chosen
to show mercy to His people. He predestinated them unto the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself that they should
be holy and without blame before Him in love. I know this. I know that Almighty
God works all things after the counsel of His own will. I know
He does. If I want to know what the will
of God is, just what happened today, whatever happened, that
was the Lord's will. All things Whether I see the
good in it or not is this way. All things work together for
good to them that love God. To them who are the called according
to His purpose. I know this by the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Knowing Him, I've been redeemed. The Lord has put away my guilt
and has forgiven my sins and forgives me every day. If we confess our sins, He is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I know this, that the Holy Spirit
of God has regenerated me by grace and by power and sealed
me, the Scripture says, until the day of redemption. I know this, being accepted in
the Beloved, unless the Lord comes back, as
I've said before, I'm going to die. But I know this, immediately
to leave this body, I'll be present with Almighty God. And we'll
see Him. The Scripture says, be like Him. You know what the Scripture says
concerning peace with God. Having peace with God. And being
at peace within my heart because of the peace that's been wrought
by the blood of Christ. Verse 4 says, Rejoice in the
Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. You
know why? Because I needed to hear it again.
I needed for Almighty God to remind me once again. He's put away my guilt before
His law by the sacrifice of His precious Son's blood. And now
His Son ever liveth to make intercession for me. Reconciled. Peace. Rejoice in the Lord. These are the words of the Spirit
of God. Just stop and think. This is God's Spirit saying these
things. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known
unto all men. You know, we think of the word
moderation as being something that we talk about as far as
food or drink or something. Moderate. Just moderation. Moderate.
This word right here, found one time in all of Scripture. This
is it. This word right here means gentleness,
humility. Consideration. Mildness. Forgivingness. Because Almighty
God has established peace between myself and God Almighty by the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and knowing that the Lord is
the One that works all things, For His glory and my good. Settle down. Settle down. That's what it means. Let your
moderation, that humble, forgiving spirit, gentleness, let your
moderation be known unto all men. Don't deal with men according
with the severity of the strictness of justice, but with mildness
and kindness. Don't insist upon that which
is always going to be the full extent of payment. Bear with
one another patiently. Always interpret a situation
in the best possible way. Give men benefit of the doubt.
Put the best construction on the words and let others be respected. Why? Because peace has been established
between you and Almighty God. You that know Him. Because peace
has been established, rejoice! Rejoice in the Lord always. Let your moderation be known
openly. For the glory of Almighty God
and the peace and the settleness of the body of Christ. Look at
Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 32. Ephesians 4, 32. Be ye kind one
to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for
Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. Peace has been established. This world is just a vapor. As we said before, just a few
more setting suns. Just not much. This life is over
before we know it. God Almighty has established
peace between Himself and His people rejoicing the Lord. Let
your moderation be known unto all men. Why? Because the Lord is at hand. The Lord is near. Two or three
are gathered together in my name. I'm near. The omnipresent God,
the God of all grace, rejoicing the Lord, let your moderation
be known. God is close. God is close. I know this. I know that according
to His Word, He's close as far as His presence. But the closeness,
not only is it in the presence of His people, but the time of
my departure. I know not what a day holds.
I don't know what it's going to be. As I've said before, this
may be the last time that we ever meet together just like
this. The next time we meet together, it may be for the remembrance
of a loved one that's sitting here right now. Let your moderation
be known unto all men. Rejoice in the Lord. God has
established peace. Be careful, verse 6, for nothing,
but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known unto God. Take thought. I tell you, I know, I know. Boy,
we are so prone to worry. Have you ever noticed how it's
always worse at night? Wake up in the middle of the
night, and I mean issues are big issues. Big issues. I can remember telling myself,
I said, well, if the sun would just come up, this would be better.
You know. Lord help me. Concerning being
careful, being anxious, taking thought, worrying about things. Boy, I tell you this, this is
tall order right here. Be anxious for nothing. Why? Peace has been established
by God Almighty. The Lord is at hand. Treat others
with respect. Let your moderation be known
unto all men. Rejoice in the Lord, but in everything
by prayer and supplication. You know, I know that when it
says be careful for nothing, I mean, we are careful in our
exercise. of an honorable duty. We've got jobs. Be responsible. We've got bills. Pay them. We've got the laws of this land. Be respectful to them. But here
the Spirit of God instructs God's people concerning being careful
for nothing. Don't fret. Don't fret. I need for the Lord to bring
this to my memory again. Don't fret. Turn to Psalm 37.
I want to read Psalm 37, verses 1-8. Psalm 37. Fret not. Thyself. Because of evildoers. You know, you look around, you
see, I started off saying how this world is just, there's no
consistency it seems like. There's just so much disrespect.
The things that I hear, the things that I see that just, they grieve
me. They grieve me. Fret not thyself because of evildoers,
neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity, for
they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green
herb. Trust in the Lord and do good,
so shalt thou dwell in the land and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord,
and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way
unto the Lord. Trust also in Him, and He shall
bring it to pass. He shall bring forth thy righteousness
as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Rest in the Lord,
and wait patiently for Him. Threaten not thyself because
of Him who prospereth in His way, because of the man who bringeth
wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger and forsake
wrath. Threaten not thyself in any wise
to do evil." Lord, settle me down. Lord, help me. Lord, calm me by your Word. Lord, bring these words to my
heart. Let me rest in the Lord. Let it be brought back to my
memory. Peace. Peace has been established by
the blood. Be careful for nothing, but in
everything. In everything. Listen, nothing
is too trivial to talk to the Lord about. Nothing's too trivial. There's times that you'll have
some things You think, well, he doesn't want to hear that.
There's nothing that's too trivial. What would be too trivial from
your child or your grandchild? I mean, they were burdened with
something. It's not a big deal to you, but
it's a big deal to them. Would not you be patient with
them and listen to what they had to say? I don't know how things that
have seemed so trivial at first have proven to be much greater
in scope than we ever realized. I don't know where that problem,
that situation, that grievingness, where will that lead? Talk to
the Lord about it. Ask Him. Be careful for nothing
in everything. In everything by prayer, by petition,
and supplication. According to your need. That which is grieving you. That
which burdens you. Ask Him. Talk to Him. How? With thanksgiving. Lord, I thank You that I have
the privilege. Thank You that I can talk to
You about this. Lord, hear my prayer. Lord, help
me. Lord, because peace has been
established by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and I can
approach You in His precious name. Lord, hear my prayer. Blend
Your ear unto me. Lord, I know You hear. I know
you care. Casting all your care upon Him,
He cares for you. And Lord, I know you're able in everything by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving. Oh, never approach Him without
the acknowledgement of gratitude. Lord, thank you that I can talk
to you about this. 1 Thessalonians 5.18, Give thanks. Whatever the condition, whatever
our request, I tell you what, we've much more to be grateful
for than anything else. We've got much to be thankful
for. Whatever state we're in, whatever the state of our affliction,
here's what I know. Psalm 103.10, He's not dealt
with us after our sins. nor rewarded us according to
our iniquities. Everything with thanksgiving,
let your request be made known unto God." And the promise from the Lord
comes back to exactly where we started. And the peace of God, which passeth
all understanding all of the understanding of the
natural mind. The natural mind does not understand
this. The renewed mind doesn't see
it as he wants to. But he sees it. The peace of
God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus. Peace that's been made with God
through the blood of His cross. Peace that dwells in the hearts
of God's people in regenerating grace. Peace because we know
that we've passed from death unto life. Peace because I know
there's now therefore no condemnation to them that be in Christ Jesus. I'm not under His wrath. I'm
under the blood. But when He sees the blood, and
He eternally does, He'll pass over me. Peace that passeth all
understanding shall keep you. Keep your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus. Left ourselves, there is no peace. There's no
comfort. There's no joy. I look around. Again, I see things that bother
me, grieves me, disrespect. Disrespect. Disrespect before
our Lord. Things that men ought to be thankful
for. For the blessings of Almighty
God and how men, by their actions and their words, speak such blasphemous
things. But you that know Him, Rejoice
in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. Let
your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand in everything, by prayer and
supplication, with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known
unto God. And the peace of God that passeth
all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus the Lord. Our Father, we thank you this
evening for the encouragement from your word. Forgive us where
we failed you. Help us, remind us, for Christ's
sake.