This morning I want you to open
your Bibles to the book of Philippians. I have a message, I prepared
a message that I just believe is going to be a special blessing
to the Lord's people. This is written and prepared
for the Lord's people. I tell you the name of the message
is this, the way of peace and contentment the way of peace
and contentment now listen to my text Philippians 4 if you
have your Bibles open them to Philippians 4 verse 7 I'm going
to use verse 4 5 6 and 7 but here's what verse 7 declares
first and the peace of God the peace of God which passeth understanding Passive understanding shall keep
your heart and your minds through Christ Jesus Now I'm interested
in that peace of God aren't you and That contentment. I mean
peace of God and contentment of heart emotion and mind Now
before I talk about how And I know that's immediately what most
of you are thinking about. How to have peace of mind and
contentment of heart. Now before I talk about that
way and how, I'm going to talk about what it is. What is this
peace and contentment? What it says here, it's the peace
of God. It's the peace of God. Which
was made by the blood and righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now
here's the scripture. Colossians 1 verse 20. having
made peace having made peace through the blood of his cross
that's how this peace was made through the blood of his cross
Romans 5 one says this listen to this therefore being justified
by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now that's how this peace was
made. That's what it is. It's the peace
of God. Now you remember the verse said,
and the peace of God. The peace of God. And Christ
made that peace through the blood of his cross. And that peace
is made with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now look at
the next thing about this peace. It's the peace of God and it
passes understanding. God's mercy and grace to sinners
is beyond the understanding of angels or men. You don't... This
is not something men understand. You might explain it to an unregenerate
heart and he wouldn't understand it. David said this, Lord, when
I behold the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars, the things
you've made, what is man that art mindful of him? That you
even regard his estate, that you even care for his contentment
and his peace. What is man if I aren't mindful
of him? Job said this, listen to Job.
What is man that he should be clean? He that's born of a woman
that he should be righteous. This is beyond understanding
that God should condense sin to look upon us, visit with us,
give us peace. accept us, reconcile us, receive
us unto himself. In Christ, the peace of God,
the peace of God, having made peace with God through the blood
of his cross, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now watch this. Now watch
this carefully. It's real. It's genuine. For he said, and the peace of
God, which passeth understanding, shall keep your heart. Your heart. This is not a claim. This is not a profession. This
is an experience. This is genuine. This is inward
peace. This is inward contentment. It's
an experience, listen, of heart and mind. Are you with me? The
peace of God, it's the gift of God, through the blood of Christ,
which passive understanding, you're not going to put this
in ladies home journal or The readers digest and teach this
world how to have peace and contentment because it's the gift of God
It's through Christ Jesus the Lord and it passes the understanding
of natural men It's beyond the understanding of a regenerate
heart and it's genuine real inward sincere lasting peace and contentment
of heart and mind, emotions and thoughts. That's right. Contentment, content with who
I am. I am what I am by the grace of
God. Content with where I am and what sort of state I am to
be content. Content with what I have. Who
maketh thee to differ? What hast thou that thou hast
not received? A man can receive nothing except
it be given him from above. John Newton said this, I love
this song. Content with beholding his face,
my all to his pleasure resigned. No changes of season or place
would make any change in my mind. While blessed with a sense of
his love, my heart, a palace, a toy would appear. And prisons
would palaces prove if Jesus would dwell with me there. Ah
yes, you see what I'm talking about? The way to peace and contentment. It's God's way and God's peace
and it passeth understanding and it's real, it's genuine,
it's inward, it's in the heart and in the mind. content at peace
with God, at peace with ourselves, at peace with our conscience,
at peace with one another, and content with who I am, and where
I am, and what I have. And listen to me. This peace
and contentment grows. Now listen carefully. It grows. Man doesn't have it all at once.
It grows. Now listen to this verse of Scripture.
You've heard it all your life. In Matthew 11, 28, our Lord said,
come unto me, come unto me, all ye that labor in a heavy laden,
troubled, weary, bowed down, laboring in the bondage of religion,
the law, works and deeds, sin, heavy laden, I'll give you rest.
You come to me and I give you rest, that's peace, contentment,
rest. Take my yoke upon you, now listen,
and learn of me and you'll find rest unto your souls. Yes sir,
he gives us a rest and that rest develops and grows the more we
learn of him, the more we learn of his word, the more we learn
of his providence. The more we learn of his purpose,
the more we learn of his love, the more we learn of his presence,
the more peace and contentment and rest we have. Oh, he gives
rest. Every believer is resting in
Christ. Rest every believer. But as we
grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ, we grow in peace and
contentment. Now, I want you to look back
at the text, Philippians 4. I read verse 7, verse 7, which
said this, remember? It says that we, now the peace
of God, which passes understanding, shall keep your hearts and your
minds through Christ Jesus. Up above there, it tells you
the way of peace. Now watch this. Five things,
five things that will, from the scriptures here, that will lead
to more peace. and more contentment, more rest.
First of all, verse 4 says this, rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice
in the Lord. This word is used 10 times in
this epistle. Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice. And it's always rejoice in the
Lord. And he says here in verse 4,
again I say rejoice in the Lord. There's always a cause to rejoice
in the Lord. If we look to ourselves, we have
no cause to rejoice. That's right. Either in our works
or our faith or anything. We look to other people, we have
little cause to rejoice. But if we look to Him, there's
always cause to rejoice. No matter how dark the clouds
are, how rocky the road, how difficult the way, if you look
to Him, you rejoice. That's right. Rejoice in His
grace. my grace is sufficient. Rejoice
in his blood which cleanses all the time. Rejoice in his righteousness
which sanctifies. Rejoice in his love never fails. Rejoice in his providence all
things work together for good to them who love God who are
called according to his purpose. All things. We know that don't
we? Rejoice in his intercession. He ever liveth to make intercession
for us. Oh, that's the way to peace. Rejoice in the Lord when you
don't have anything on this earth in which to rejoice. In yourself
or anybody else. And the days are so long and
the nights are so weary and the burden is so heavy and the toiling
is so great. Lift up your eyes and rejoice
in the Lord. You'll find something always
in Him for which you can rejoice. Look to Him, the author and finisher
of our faith, and rejoice, rejoice, rejoice in the Lord and the peace
of God shall keep your heart and your mind through Christ
Jesus. And I know this personally, and
you do too, the more I rejoice in Him, the more peace and contentment
I have, and the less dissatisfaction I have. If I could just keep
my mind and heart on Christ, and set my affection on things
above. Alright, you with me? Secondly,
that's the first one. You want peace? It comes from
Christ, but you rejoice in the Lord. Secondly, verse 5 says,
let your moderation be known to all men. Now the key here
is the word moderation. This word is not used in the
Bible anywhere else. It's in the Bible one, one, one
time. Right here. Philippians 4, 5. Let your moderation be known
unto all men. And the meaning of the word as
it appears the only time in the Bible right here. It does not
refer to eating and drinking. Usually when we use the word
moderation or moderate we say well We ought to be moderate
in all our habits, eating and drinking and dressing and so
forth. You know what this word means? Let your moderation be
known unto all men in and out of the church. The word means,
listen, it means gentle, mild, patient, and considerate of others. That's what it really, let your,
this is what it says now, listen, let your patience and your gentleness
and your consideration of other people be known and recognized
by everybody. That's the way to have peace
and more peace. You see, you can't live in peace
with God and not live in peace with men about you. God will
not allow us to have peace with him unless we're at peace with
others, our families, our friends, our fellow workers, that's right.
In Ephesians 4 verse 32 it says this, be ye kind one to another,
tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's
sake has forgiven you. An individual cannot go to church
on Sunday and sing these peace, peace, perfect peace, Thou wilt
keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, and sing
about the peace of God, and talk about the peace of God, and then
go home, and mistreat his family, and then go to work, and mistreat
the people who work under him, or with him, and mistreat people
in the stores, and have a bad attitude, and an irritable, unkind
spirit toward others, that's him, it's impossible. Have peace
with God, and not live in peace with all men. Follow peace with
all men, the scripture says. And holiness, without which no
man will see the Lord. So that word moderation, you
can write in your margin of the Bible. Let your gentleness, consideration,
and kindness be known. Let's love one another as God
loved us. Let's forgive one another as
God forgave us. Let's be merciful as we have
received mercy. Let's give and help to others
as God has given to us. The way of peace, here it is. Now it comes from Christ. It's
a gift of God. But if a man is at peace with
God, he's going to rejoice in Christ. Always rejoice. And he's
going to be known for his kindness. He's going to adorn the doctrine
of God with good works. He's going to be gentle and kind
to other people. Now I know that through the years
in the past, in movies and other places, they picture a religious
person as being cruel and mean and heartless. That's what they
are. They're religious people. They're
not God's people. They're religious people. They're
not Christians. They're religious people, they're not saved, because
God's people, God's children, Christians, saved people, are
kind, and generous, and gentle, and loving, and affectionate,
and forgiving, and merciful. That's exactly right. They walk
like their Lord. That's true. Alright, thirdly,
look at verse five. Now watch this, this is the third
thing. The way of peace, the way of contentment, rejoicing
the Lord. Let your kindness and gentleness
be known to all men. Thirdly, the Lord is at hand.
The Lord is near. That's what it says. The Lord
is near. Now that'll give you peace when you realize that.
The Lord is near. He's not off somewhere. He's
near. He's not very far, Paul said,
from all of us. In Him we live and move and have
our being. The Lord's near. Now watch this.
First of all, He's omniscient. He's near. He knows everything. He knows everything. We say sometimes, well, if I
know my heart, well, I don't know how well I know it, but
I know he knows it. He knows it. He looks not on the outward
countenance. He looks on the heart. And Peter
took comfort in that. The Lord said, Peter, do you
love me? Trying him, testing him, not for information. He
wanted to hear what he had to say. Peter said, Lord, you know
everything. You know I love you. These words
don't deceive you. These words may deceive the people,
but not you. You know I love you. You know
everything. And Peter was comforted by that
fact. He was comforted by the fact that though his flesh was
weak, and though he denied his Lord out of fear, the Lord knew
his heart. The Lord is near. That's the
way of peace. I'm glad God looks on the heart,
aren't you? I'm glad He looks on the heart.
And when we fail, when we doubt, when we stumble and fumble around,
He doesn't see that. He looks on the heart. He told
His disciples, said, your spirit's willing, your flesh is weak.
I know that. Our Lord said that. And then
the Lord is near. He's not only omniscient, He's
omnipotent. He's able to do all things. I
love the sovereign God. I love the almighty God. I don't
have any use for an impotent God who wants to and can't, who
wants to and wills to and people won't let him. I don't want anything
to do with a peanut God, do you? My God is almighty and I'm under
his care and under his eye and no one can touch me without his
permission. He'll never leave us. He'll never
forsake us. He'll supply our every need.
The Lord is near. Be at peace. Be content. I tell you, that little boy walking
along beside his big daddy, and that big daddy's hand gripping
his hand, that little fella's not afraid. He's not afraid of
a bulldog. He's not afraid of the neighborhood
bully. He's not afraid of the wind or
the rain or the storm. He's not afraid of anything.
Why? His daddy's big and strong and able to protect him. And
my father is almighty. He's not trying to do anything.
I hear people say, well, God's trying to show you something.
If he wants to show it, you'll learn it. And you'll learn it
quickly. He'll reveal it. When he wants
Abraham, he calls him. When he wants Matthew, he calls
him. When he wants Zacchaeus to come down, he tells him to
come down. My Lord's almighty. He's near. He's near. Alright,
the Lord is near. He's coming again. He said, I
go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I'll be back. I'll come again and receive you
unto myself. I had a good friend that died
yesterday. She's 85 years old, 84, 85 years old. She was in
church Sunday. Talked to some friends Monday
and Monday night. Went to glory in her sleep. The
Lord is near. He called her home. Called her
home. Then he's near, he's coming again.
I know some preachers who use the return of the Lord to scare
people. Boy, you better be careful, the Lord may come today. Or to
excite people to repent. Now, you better repent, the Lord
may come today. Or Christians to work harder.
You better serve God, because He might come at any moment.
Ah, that's no good. The return of our Lord to receive
His children is like the return home of a loving father. When
I was growing up, my dad worked on the railroad. He left on Sunday
night, was gone till the next Saturday. I wasn't afraid. of his coming home. I didn't
have to straighten up because daddy's coming home. I want him
to come home. I look for his return. I long
for his return. I ran to meet him when he came.
My mother didn't scare me. She said, you straighten up,
your daddy's coming home. Oh, no, no, no. Wonderful. I'm
glad he's coming. I'm glad he's coming. The Lord's
near. Alright, here's the fourth thing. Be careful for nothing. Be careful for nothing. You want
peace? You want peace? Be careful for nothing. There
are many things believers have to be careful about. I know that.
Listen. And concerned about. I've got to be concerned about
my soul. Give diligence to make your calling and election sure.
Examine yourself whether you be in the faith. I've got to
give some care and concern for this body. I mean to take care
of it if I can. God willing. Eat proper things
and get rest. I gotta be careful about my family.
If anybody provides not for his own household, he's worse than
an infidel. He's denied the faith. I gotta
care for the gospel. I gotta preach the gospel and
keep the unity of the church. But here's what this word means.
It doesn't say be careful for nothing in the extent you don't
pay any attention to anything. What it's saying is this. Don't
fret and worry Don't be overly anxious about materialistic things. You see that? Our Lord said,
when Martha came in, said, Lord, don't you care if my sister sits
here at your feet and leaves all the serving to me? He said,
Martha, Martha, you're careful about many things. You're anxious
and fretful and worrisome. Mary's chosen the good thing.
You see what he's saying? And then he said, don't worry
about what you're going to eat, what you're going to drink, what
you're going to wear. Your father knows you need these things.
Look at the linens of the field. They toil not, they don't work,
they don't spin. Solomon was never arrayed in
such glory. The birds of the air, he said,
your father feeds them. Not a one falls to the ground
without him. Your father knows you have need of these things.
Listen, seek ye first. the kingdom of God and his righteousness
and all these things will be added to you now I say it give
diligence to make your calling and election sure provide for
your family provide for educating your children provide for these
things but don't let it come first seek ye first the kingdom
of God we can't live in you know the rich the rich fool worried
about his barn Worried about having enough room to store his
goods. And he worried about it and missed salvation. Worried
about it and lost everything. And what I'm saying is we can't
live in peace and contentment while the majority of our time
and effort is spent on this body. In anxiety and worrying and fretting
over material things. Your Father knows what you need. He also knows what you want.
Now, wants aren't always good for us. We have too much. I tell
you, this affluent society, this rich society, this too much abundance
of material things is damaging to men and women's spiritual
lives. I tell you that, and I know what
I'm talking about. Sometimes the higher a fellow
gets and the more he has and the richer he gets, the more
he forgets God. You know what the wise man said, Lord keep
me from riches, lest I forget you. Keep me from poverty, lest
I steal. Give me that which is convenient
for me. The way of peace, rejoice in
the Lord. The way of peace, be gentle.
The way of peace, remember the Lord's near. The way of peace,
quit fretting and worrying. being so anxious about everything
that we can't do anything about. Here's the last thing, pray.
Verse six says, pray. Pray in everything, everything. There's nothing we shouldn't
pray about. I don't care how minute, how small, how insignificant. Pray in everything, pray. With supplication. You know what
supplication is? It's begging. It's pleading. It's definite request. It's knowing
that what I need, God supplies. And He's able to supply. And
He's my only source of supply. In everything by prayer and supplication. With thanksgiving. Sincere. Sincere. Thank you, Lord. Thank
you. Let your request be made known
to God, not to the people, to God. People write in all the
time and say, brother man, you don't beg for money. I tell him,
let your request be made known to God. And if he wants to supply
the need, you tell somebody. Let your request be made known
to God, not to people. The way of peace, rejoice, be
gentle, remember the Lord is near quit praying and pray and
pray in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
that your request be made known to God and the peace of God and
the peace of God those five things you see gave us and the peace
of God which passion understanding will keep your mind and your
hearts through Jesus Christ alone.