May it please God to be with
us this evening as we continue our meditation in the Epistle
of Paul to the Philippians and this evening we'll look at chapter
4 and verses 4, 5 and 6. So Philippians chapter 4 and
reading verses 4, 5 and 6. 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. Well the Apostle begins these
verses with, Rejoice in the Lord always. And we've already commented
in the third chapter and the first verse, we read, Finally
my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. It was obviously a theme that
was very dear to the Apostle Paul and indeed very needful
and very necessary. And it's a great blessing for
all of us today if we can recognise the relevance and the importance
of such a statement. He says, rejoice in the Lord
always. And again, I say, rejoice. Well, we all really have much
cause to rejoice in many, many things. And of course, we have
so much to rejoice in, in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. I often think that we can become
very downcast and inward-looking rather than looking up to the
great and glorious Saviour and to be able to rejoice in all
that He has said and all that He has done. And if we just stop
and ponder for a moment the vast amount of instruction and direction
that the Saviour gave to us when he was on the earth and is recorded
in the Word of God for our encouragement, for our instruction, for our
direction. Surely we have much cause to
rejoice in the Lord always. And it does mean not only when
perhaps we're feeling on the mountaintop and thinking of good
things, spiritual things, but also sometimes when we're in
the valleys we should still rejoice in the Lord. We should still
rejoice in what he's done and what he said. And so the apostle
says here, rejoice in the Lord always, not just once, not just
twice, but always. That means every day. Every day
we should rejoice in the Lord. Well, I wonder whether we do.
Whether we do rejoice in the Lord every day, whether we look
all around and groan and moan perhaps about things which aren't
always going according to plan, aren't always going in accordance
with the way that we want. And yet here we have this gracious
exhortation. And he says, again, I say rejoice. It's quite clear he wants the
Church of God to fully understand the importance of rejoicing in
the Lord. In times of affliction, in times
of illness, in times of sickness, we should still rejoice in the
Lord. We should not therefore say,
well, it's not a rejoicing day today. Every day should be a
rejoicing day in the Lord as we consider His great grace,
His unmerited favour, His great compassion, His love, His mercy. They're all around us, aren't
they? We're surrounded with them. Much cause to rejoice in the
Lord always. Well, we should be very thankful
the Word of God has such a statement as this, to encourage us and
to direct us. And what a blessing it is then
when we're able to follow such a wise and glorious injunction,
because we will not be disappointed when we come to a position of
rejoicing in the Lord all way. And again, I say rejoice. Well, there's very much, of course,
that could be said about this. We will just, we'll move on this
evening. And then he comes and says, let your moderation be
known unto all men. Well, moderation speaks for itself,
doesn't it? We should be reasonable in what
we do, reasonable in what we say and the actions that we take. we should be moderate in them,
and they should be evidenced in our lives. This word moderation
can really be translated as modesty, and also as meekness, and also
as humility. You see, these are all points
which should be exercised and evidenced in our daily life. so that men might take notice
of it. The apostle says here, he doesn't
say, well, let your moderation be known unto Christians. He
says, let your moderation be known unto all men. It's good,
therefore, that in our lives we're able to be, to bear a good
testimony of the things of God, bear a good testimony of what
the things of God mean unto us. and recognise that in our conversation
we should be modest. In all things in our life we
should be modest. It's very easy to not be modest. But here the Apostle directs
us, let your moderation be known unto all men. So that we're not
flamboyant in our life. We are modest in the things that
we do and the things that we say. And also we bear a meek
spirit. It's a wonderful example, isn't
it? We touched on it on Sunday evening,
about those fruits of the spirit. And one of them was meekness.
And sometimes it's not very easy to be meek. But here we have
this gracious word from the Apostle as he comes and says, let your
moderation or let your meekness be known unto all men. Well, it's a good word of admonition
for us, isn't it? To take hold of and to think
about and that it might influence our lives every day. And then
he goes on to say, the Lord is at hand. The Lord is near. The Lord is
near every one of us. We believe that the Lord by his
Spirit is indeed with us here tonight. The Lord is near. And to realise that in our daily
life, to know that the Lord is near us at all times, that may
be a wonderful blessing, a wonderful comfort. But on the other hand,
it should be a word which is with us so that stops us doing
things perhaps which are not in accordance with the Word of
God. Things that are perhaps in the
opposite direction to the things of God. And so the Apostle says
the Lord is at hand. The Lord is watching us. Nothing
happens that the Lord is not aware of. We cannot hide anything
from Almighty God. And that means not only in a
physical way, but also in our thoughts. Every thought is known
unto this God who is at hand. The Lord is at hand. Well, it's a blessing to be conscious
of this. And again, that they may influence
us I'm sure we would probably recognise and say, well, yeah,
I know that, that's true, but perhaps we don't always operate
under the influence of such a statement. The Lord is at hand. Perhaps
we sometimes just deviate and just go our own way and satisfy
ourselves. rather than doing the will of
Almighty God. So clearly it was relevant that
the Apostle should write this under the influence of the Holy
Spirit. The Lord is at hand. And then he says, be careful,
be careful for nothing. Well, be careful for nothing. That means what it says. And we should realize that the
Lord knows all about us. And we shouldn't therefore find
ourselves occupied in things which are not profitable, which
are not beneficial. We should therefore be careful.
about everything, everything that we are involved in, that
they are profitable, they are beneficial. Be careful for nothing. And we can read words of encouragement
to direct us, because the Lord is at hand, He's with us. And
we read in the Psalms, Psalm 145, in verse 18, this statement, The Lord is nigh unto all them
that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth. You see, the Lord is near, the
Lord is at hand. And also Psalm 46 verse 1, a
very familiar text, no doubt. God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble. the Lord is at hand. And so then he moves on to say,
be careful for nothing. Really the carefulness of the
apostle speaks of, in this sense, is this. We should not be immoderate in
the things that we do and say. Often we can be anxious. Anxious
and have a solicitude for worldly things. Be careful for nothing,
nothing that is worldly, nothing that is sinful, we should be
seeking after. We should be seeking those things
which are God glorifying. and bring honour and glory to
his great and holy name. The faithfulness of God's saints
should not be, anxiously or in distressing manner, concerned
for the things of this world. There may be things naturally
which don't go in accordance with the plan and thoughts of
our minds, But we should not be distressed about it. Be careful for nothing. Should
not be distressed about it, because those things pass away. We should
be concerned, therefore, about eternal realities, those things
which really count. And then the apostle goes on.
But, there are many buts in the word of God, and here's one.
But, In everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known unto God. These are gracious
words of instruction to us, especially as we come to God in prayer.
This is the way that we are to come. In everything, as we come
to God, we are to pray. We are to pray to him. God knows
what we need, but we are to come to him with those requests, everything
by prayer and supplication. And we always are to come in
this way, with thanksgiving. We should always be thankful
for what God has done for us, for what God has given to us. You know, sometimes we come with,
as it were, a want list. The list of what we want God
to do, what we want God to appear for us in. But here is this gracious
instruction. Our prayers and supplications
should be brought with thanksgiving. Thankful for what God has done. Thankful there is a God that
we can come to. Thankful we have a God who hears
and answers prayer. And so in everything, not just
one thing or two things, in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. So it's
right to come obviously to God with our requests. because we
have a God who hears and answers prayer. We have a God who is
very gracious, but here he lays down in his word directions for
us, how we should approach unto God by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving. let our requests be made known
unto God. Well we have here then the ceiling
before us, these words of admonition and may they direct us in all
the things that we've thought upon tonight and be a blessing
and not to forget what we commenced with, rejoice in the Lord always
and again I say rejoice.