My message this morning begins with the end, Philippians
4. Let's look at verse 7. I'm going
to speak from verse 4, 5, 6, and 7, but we're going to read
the last verse of the text first, because this is the subject.
The subject is the way. the way of peace and contentment. It says in Philippians 4, 7,
and the peace of God, peace of God, which passeth all understandings
shall keep your hearts and your minds through Christ
Jesus. Now, I didn't entitled this message,
How to Have Peace. I entitled it, The Way of Peace. Peace is not something, and contentment
is not something that you promote or produce. It's a gift of God.
Like salvation, eternal life is the gift of God. And peace
and joy And love, the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts
by the Holy Spirit. You don't preach a sermon on
how to love God. That's the gift of God. You see,
for by grace are you saved through faith. And that not of yourselves,
even faith's the gift of God. It is given unto us to believe
on Him. It's not of works as any man
should boast. Now watch this. For we are His
workmanship. created in Christ Jesus unto
good work. So, a knowledgeable preacher
will never preach a sermon on how to be saved. No, he won't. If I ever preach one, I take
it back. You don't preach on how to be
saved, you preach on how men are saved. How God saves sinners,
that's what you preach. How men are saved. How men are
forgiven. How men and women are brought
with the Spirit of God to God. How men are born again. Not how
to be born again. I can't tell a fellow how to be born.
That's given to him. I didn't have anything to do
with my birth. I was born. I didn't have anything to do
with my spiritual birth either. I was born of God. So this is
the way of peace. Now this verse 7 says, the peace
of God which passeth understanding. And I know firstly, the peace
of God is certainly, no question about it, it's that peace which
is made by our Lord Jesus Christ through his obedience and through
his precious blood, that peace of God, that peace with God. That peace which comes to us
through His precious blood. Turn one page over to Colossians
1 verse 20. And having made peace, and having
made peace through the blood of His cross by Him, to reconcile
all things to himself, by him, by Christ, by his obedience and
by his death, whether they be things already in heaven or those
on the earth, whether they be saints already with God or those
on the earth, Christ reconciled them all. He made peace. He made
peace. And I'll tell you this, back,
look at our text, and that peace of God passeth all understanding. That peace of God in Christ Jesus
and through Christ Jesus passes all understanding of men and
angels. For example, that God Almighty
should be mindful of us from all eternity. That passes all
understanding. David said, when I consider the
heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars, the things you've made,
what in the world is man that you should be mindful of him?
That's beyond my understanding. why God should think on us. That's
beyond, isn't that past, past it all understanding? That the
triune God should call an everlasting council of peace and say, let
us redeem man. Before he said, let us make man,
he said, let us redeem man. Now that's past his understanding,
but so nevertheless. I don't understand that. That
has nothing to do with the accuracy of it. It's so. He's the Lamb slain
before the foundation of the world. We were chosen in Christ
before the world began. And that the triune God should
call an everlasting council of peace before there was a war. That passes understanding that
Christ himself should be designated the peacemaker. That the Son of God should humble
himself, take upon himself the form of a servant, be made in
the likeness of our sinful flesh, and be obedient unto death, even,
even, even the death of the cross. That passage all understand. The angels gathered about that
tree. and with wonder and amazement
to see the Lord of Glory die. They don't understand it, how
can I? That God should show His love and mercy to me. I mean,
there's seven billion people in this world. And He chose me and redeemed me and gave His
gospel to you and to me. That passeth understanding, amazing
love. How can it be that thou, my God,
should die for me? That verse 7, the peace of God
passeth all understanding. That peace does. But Paul's not
talking about that peace. He's talking about a peace that
comes from that peace. He's talking about a peace of
heart, a peace of mind, a contentment. That's what he's talking about
here. A contentment of heart and conscience and mind which
God gives to those whom Christ redeemed. And I'll tell you,
that past is understanding too. That past is understanding. It's a peace to know that our
sins are forgiven. There's therefore now no condemnation
to them whom Christ Jesus. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which
I've committed to him against that day. Peace. Romans 8 says,
Who can lay the name to the charge of God's elect? It is Christ
that died. It's a peace. Knowing sin is
forgiven. Peace of heart and conscience
and mind. It's the peace of God, which
Paul talked about in this chapter, a contentment. Look down here
at verse 12 or verse 11. Not that I speak in respect of
want, I've learned that whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
I'm content with who I am. It says out there on our church
bulletin board, by the grace of God I am what I am. I'm content
with who I am. I'm content with where I am.
That's what Paul's saying here. And incidentally, he was in prison
at this time. I'm content with who I am. I'm
content with where I am. I'm content with what I have.
Look at verse 12. I know how to be abased. I've
done without. I know how to abound. I've been
blessed. I've known some days of poverty
and some days of plenty. But everywhere and in all things
I'm instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound
and to suffer need, but I can do all things through Christ
who strengthens me." John Newton wrote this, content, content,
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, a palace, a toy would
appear, and prisons would palace His proof that Jesus would dwell
with me there. That's the peace Paul's talking
about here. Peace with God, knowing our sins are forgiven. Peace
with ourselves. Happy with who I am by His grace,
where I am by His grace, and what I am by His grace. And then
it's at peace with others. We've learned to forgive. We've
learned to expect forgiveness from those who really matter. There'll never be any peace between
us and this world. I don't look for that. There'll
never be any peace between the friends of Christ and the enemies
of Christ. Unfortunately, it's just not
to be. If men hate God, they'll hate
the people of God. But this is a peace among believers. Peace with God, our sins are
forgiven. Peace with ourselves, we're content
with what God has given to us and what God has made us. And
we're at peace with one another. You see, I told someone this
yesterday. Believers are predictable. Religious unbelievers, they may
be religious or otherwise, but they are unpredictable. You never
know what they're going to do. But a believer is predictable.
I know what he's going to do. I know what he finally is going
to do. He's going to do right. He's going to rise. A believer
is predictable. He may fly off the handle, but
he's going to come back. He may stumble and fall, but
he's going to get up. He may get angry, but his anger is going
to not endure for the night. He's going to forgive. A believer
is predictable. He's going to do what the Word
of God says. He's going to do what the Spirit of God leads
him to do. He's not going to leave. He's not going to quit. He's not going to surrender.
He's not going to give up. He's going to walk with God.
That's right. He's predictable. Or you have
to give him room. You have to give him a little
leverage, you know. Because he's got to sometimes give vent to
this personality, this human nature. But if the Spirit of
God dwells in him, you'll straighten him out. He will. Because he's at peace. He's a
man of peace. He's at peace in his heart. Peace
with others, believers. That's right. And this is a gift
of God. This is the work of God. This
peace of mind and heart and contentment, it's the work of the grace of
God. But it can be increased. Now,
that's what I'm dealing with this morning. It can be enjoyed
to a fuller extent. And Paul gives us here five things
that will contribute to this peace. Now, you understand what
I'm saying? This contentment and rest and
peace is in Christ. It's a gift of God. But even
faith grows. Disciples said to the Lord, increase
our faith. Increase our faith. And I'm saying
to you, let's increase our peace. See what I'm saying? Grace grows. Grace, love grows. The believer
grows. And humility increases. That's right. Anything that's
alive grows. And here he gives us five things,
I'm going to show you, of how this peace of God in Christ,
through Christ, because of Christ, can grow and be developed. Here's
the first one, verse four. Paul says, Rejoice in the Lord.
You know this word rejoice is used ten times in this epistle?
It's a vital part of this epistle. Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice
in the Lord. And don't make it just one of
your doctrines. Ask God to make it your experience,
to rejoice in Him. There's always cause to rejoice
in our Lord. Rejoice in His grace, which is
sufficient. Rejoice in His grace. It is sufficient. Rejoice in His blood which cleanseth. Rejoice in His righteousness
which sanctifies. Rejoice in His love that never
fails. Rejoice in His providence which
works all things out for our good and His glory. Rejoice in
His intercession which is forever. Rejoice in the Lord. Now, if
we look to ourselves and in our own hearts, We can't find much
there in which to rejoice. We can't find much cause, you
know, to rejoice. Our faith is so small. Our holiness. Oh, Paul said,
the things I would do, I do them not. The things I would not do,
I do, O wretched man that I am. I can't find much cause to rejoice
in my faith or my works or my holiness. If I look at others,
they're human too. And you can find very little
cause really to rejoice, because we're frail flesh. But I tell
you this, you can rejoice in Him. You can rejoice in Him. If we can look to Him, we always
have cause to rejoice. The hymn writer said, survey
the beauties of His face, and on His glories dwell. Think of
the wonders of His grace and all His mercies tell. Forgive
me, Lord, when I moan and groan and on my troubles dwell. The cause, O Lord, is Thine alone,
and that I know full well. Want to have peace? Rejoice in
Him. Look to Him. And the more I rejoice
in Christ and the more I look to Him, the more I draw all of
my strength, I can do all things. It's like Ken and Mary are contemplating
a return to Africa. And there are obstacles and there
are struggles and there are privations, but you can do it through Christ
with strength. If you look to us, we can't help
you. You look to yourself, you can't help yourself. You look
to Him, He'll supply you everything. My God shall supply all your
need, all your need. That's not just material needs,
that's all your need. Your strength, your grace, your
comfort, all your need, according to His riches and glory through
Christ Jesus. So this peace, it's ours, but
it can be enlarged. And it can be increased, but
not if we look to each other. And now we're looking, rejoicing
Him. That's all. Secondly, and he
said in verse 5, let your moderation be known unto all men. Now that
word only appears in the Bible one time. Nowhere else. Moderation. One time. And it does not refer to moderation
in eating and drinking. That's what we usually think.
A fellow usually thinks, well, be moderate in all things. Well,
you should. I should. But that's not what
this is talking about. The word means this. Now listen.
It means gentle. Gentleness. It means mild. M-I-L-D, mild. It means patient. It means considerate. So here's
what he's saying. Here's what this verse says.
You who have the Amplified can read it about that. Let all men,
both in the church and out of the church, see and recognize
your gentleness, your considerateness, your unselfishness, and your forgiving spirit. That's
what that says. And here's the reason. There's
no way a sincere, honest person can be at peace in here while he's upset with and irritable
with others. Can't do it. Can't do it. You cannot. God will not allow
me to have peace when I wound and mistreat and hurt other people. He's not going to let us have
peace. And you needn't expect it. Isn't that right? You're
not going to deal with others in severity and law and expect
God to deal with you in mercy. That's an impossibility. If you
forgive not your brother his sin, neither will God forgive
yours. He said when you give, give a full measure, press down,
run it over and it'll be given to you. Give and it'll be given
to you. If you're not patient with the
faults of others, don't expect God to be patient with ours. If we can't put the best interpretation
on words which others speak, you reckon we ought to expect
God to be lenient with some of the things we say. Let us adorn the doctrine. This
is one of the great problems of this doctrines of grace and
Calvinism and preaching of all of grace. And there's no problem
with the mercy of it and the love of it and the grace of God.
There's a problem with the interpretation by some people. God will not allow us to enjoy
peace. speaks of heart and conscience
and mind while we wound and mistreat others. So that's the reason
he said, let your mildness, your gentleness, your unselfishness,
let your meekness, Be known to all men, and be ye kind one to
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God, for Christ's
sake, hath forgiven you. This is the way of peace. Rejoice in Christ, be considerate,
kind. And the next thing says, remember
this, the Lord is at hand, the Lord is near. How can that give
me peace to know that the Lord is at hand, the Lord is near?
Well, I see three things here in this statement which bring
peace to a believer's heart. I'm talking about those who love
Him, those who believe Him. Not those who love a doctrine,
those who love Him. Not those who know what they
believe, those who know whom they believe. The Lord is near,
and they're glad. Now, here's the first thing.
The Lord is near. He's omniscient. He's everywhere. I talked about
that black preacher I heard pray one time. I just loved the way
he prayed. He said, Master, I like the way he started, Master. I pray for those in jail. And
Master, I don't ask you to go to the jail, because you's already
there. That's taken for granted. He's
there. He's everywhere. The Lord's near.
He's near. The Lord knows all things. He
looks on our hearts, not on our flesh. You see, other people
look on our flesh and they misunderstand us. They don't. They listen to our
words and they reshape them. They look on our countenance
and we're troubled or worried or hurting. misinterpreted. God looks on the heart, and He
understands. That's what Peter said. He said,
Peter, you love me? Lord, you know everything. Now,
John may not believe I love you, and James may not know I love
you, but you do. And that's a comfort. That gives
me peace. And it'll give you peace. It
does. You see, God looks on the heart,
not on the outward countenance, and in spite of our failures,
in spite of our foolishness, in spite of all these things,
He knows our relationship with Him. Doesn't that give you peace? And the more you understand that
He's near, He's near, well, peace you have. And then the Lord is
near. He's not only omniscient, knows
all things, He's all present, omnipresent. We're under His
eye. We're under His care. We're going
to never lack for anything. I have a dear friend, and he's
always worried about the state of the government. He's always
worried about the Communists taking over. I don't know whether
that's bothering him much now or not, but he's worried about
one world government. He's worried about the mark of
the beast. He's worried about all the things that are going
on in the government and Congress and all this sort of thing. And
he's older than I am. He won't have much longer to
worry about it, will he? Why don't you settle down? Satan's going to rule this world.
Well, God rules this world. And everything's on schedule
and everything's on time. And we'll never lack for anything.
Old David said, he said, I'm old, I've been young, I've never
seen God's seed begging bread. Have you ever seen God's seed
begging bread? Even your African brethren who are God's children
are blessed, aren't they? It's not the believers that are
begging bread. It's not those who love God who
are begging bread. Is it? Ever. Ever. God takes care. You take care
of your children? He said, if your children asked
bread, would you give them a stone? If he asked meat, would you give
him a serpent? But if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts
to your children, how much more should your Heavenly Father give
good things to them that ask you, don't be anxious about tomorrow,
what you're going to eat, drink, or wear. Your Father knows you
have neither of those things. These boys and girls sitting
here, they don't have a care in this world, except homework. They're sure not worried about
what they're going to eat for lunch. You know why? My mother and dad
will take care of it. They're not worried about who's
going to put gas in the car or buy tires for the wheels. Dad
will take care of it. It looks like we could trust
our father as much as they trust theirs. Doesn't it seem that
way to you? Now, you want to have peace? Trust him. He's near. Say, preach to yourself. I am.
I tried this on before. I put it out here for you. The
Lord is near. Here's the third thing. He's
coming back. He's coming back. Our salvation is nearer than
when we believe. You know, I hear preachers, and
Ken, I hear preachers using the Lord's coming to strike fear
in the hearts of people. Come on now. That's no reason
to preach the coming of the Lord. They try, they preach a second
coming and Christ may come in any moment to excite people to
work, to excite them to repent, to excite them to do something.
That's not the way Paul uses it. He says we're waiting for
his Son from heaven. The Lord's at hand, the Lord's
at the door, the Lord's near, and I'm glad. I tell you what,
I tell you how the believer looks on the coming of the Lord. The return of the Lord to the
believer is like the return home of a beloved father who's been
away. Mind me using you again, you've
been gone three weeks. And Mary said to the children,
Dad's coming home tomorrow. Oh my goodness, I'm afraid. What am I going to do? Better
straighten up my room? No. Wonderful. Wonderful. Isn't that right? He's coming
back. He went away but not for stay.
He's coming home. I'm so glad. Now, let's take
that thing like we ought to. The Lord is at hand. The Lord's
at the door. Well, lock the door! No. Go meet
Him. Arise and meet Him. That is coming. And then fourthly, watch this.
Verse 6, be careful for nothing. It's amazing how folks take the
Word and twist it. There are many things that believers
have to be careful about and concerned about. We're concerned
about our souls, aren't we? Give diligence to make your calling
and election sure. That's right. I'm concerned for
myself, for you. Believers are concerned about...
I'm concerned about this message. I worked on it and studied it
and restudied it Ask God to please help me. Don't do anything flippantly
having to do with God. We ought to be concerned about
our bodies, to take care of them, to exercise, to eat right, to
use common sense and judgment. We're concerned about the education
of our children. We're concerned about our families,
to provide for them, to lead them, to do the best we can for
them. We're concerned about our church.
The discharge of our duties, the duties of our calling. What's
this word here? I'll tell you what this word
is. It's fretful. You can write that down in the
margin, and I'll say it with total confidence. Be fretful
about nothing. Fretful. That's what that word
is. Fretful. Overly anxious. The rich man
fretted over his barns that were too small, and he lost all of
them. We cannot have the peace of God
in our experience while the majority of our anxiety and fretfulness
is over this material world. Just cannot do it. Cannot. So don't fret. Don't fret. Don't be overly anxious about
these material things, physical things. You know, our Lord said
to Martha, He said, Martha, she came in and Mary was sitting
at His feet. learning and listening and loving
him. And Martha came in and said,
Lord, don't you care? Don't you care that my sister
is sitting there at your feet and leaving all the work to me?
Ah, he said, Martha, Martha, two words, you're cumbered about
and you're careful, feckful, that's the word, about many things.
But Martha, Mary has chosen the good thing. Now, these things
have to be done. He wasn't rebuking her for being
concerned about her guests, their well-being and their welfare
and their food. But don't get them mixed up.
See, that's what we're talking about. Don't get them in the
wrong place. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God, His righteousness, and these things will be added to you.
Get them in the right place and position and right priority.
That's right. And that's the only way to have
peace. And then last, last of all, listen. And finally, the surest, greatest
aid to peace and contentment is prayer. Verse 6 says, Be fretful,
overly anxious, and concerned for nothing but in everything
by prayer. with supplication, prayer and
supplication. The word supplication is petition,
definite request. But in everything, in everything,
that means the great and the small. That means the momentous
and the minute. That means the tears of joy and
the tears of sorrow. Everything. Boys and girls, I
said, should you pray about your homework? Oh, yeah. Should you
pray about your relationship with other students? Oh, yeah.
Pray about everything. Should you pray if you're out
on the road driving and it's getting dark and rainy? Oh, by
all means. In everything. Everything. And don't misunderstand me. They got all this hullabaloo
about prayer in school. They never took prayer out of
the school. You can't take prayer out anywhere. Wherever you have
a believer, you'll have prayer. And I always said, forget teaching
Bible in school, forget organized prayer meetings, forget all these
things, and let men worship God from the heart in spirit and
truth. That's just what I believe about it. Forget it. It's much to do about nothing. Actually, it's giving the wrong
connotation to prayer. Prayer is not us getting together. Prayer is me talking to God.
That's right. And we pray at all times. And
here it says, in everything. In everything. In everything. In everything. With what? by
prayer and supplication, definite requests, petitions. Prayer may
be public, it may be private, it may be short, it may be long,
it may be vocal, it may be mental. But it's got to be with two things.
With thanksgiving. With thanksgiving, sincerity
of heart. With thanksgiving. You see that? With gratitude
to God. All prayer has to recognize I'm
dependent on Him. And then secondly, let your request
be made known to God. All prayer must be with thanksgiving,
gratitude, and to God. Not to the preacher, not to the
priest, not to Mary, not to the saints, not to the church, to
God. Let your request be made known
to God. The way of peace, there it is. It's in Christ. But it's enlarged and experienced
and increased by careful consideration of these things. Rejoice in the
Lord. Rejoice in the Lord. Let your
consideration be known to all men. Your relationship with others
has to be given some attention. The Lord is at hand. Recognize
his omnipotence, his omniscience, his care, and don't pray. Peace and anxiety, they're not
compatible. Threatfulness and rest are not
compatible. You can't take your burden to
the Lord and bring it back. Leave it there. And then anoint
everything with prayer. And let me say this about prayer. There are men and women in this
church who could just never pray publicly. It's just their timidity and
their shyness that will not permit them to express themselves publicly. You know, when you're in school,
there are some boys and girls that just have the gift to get
up and stand before the class and talk. Others, it's just like,
well, you might as well shoot them. as you expect them to stand
up and do much, orations. And in the kingdom of God, there
are people who... But prayer doesn't have to be
organized, systematized, it doesn't have to be a certain word. Prayer
is the expression of the heart to the Lord God in Christ's name. It's communication between the
believer and his father. That's prayer. And you don't
have to get together in a group and somebody doesn't have to
do the talking. We're not heard for our much speaking. We're
heard for the sincerity of our love for God and our faith in
Him. I hope you pray while I preach. You'll leave this place in a
spirit and attitude of prayer. That's one of the secrets of
a Alright, let's sing, I believe
it's 272. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and His righteousness. Number 272.