Philippians 4
Welcome! Today we finish our series on the book of Philippians, focusing on Chapter 4. Last week, in Chapter 3, we were warned to watch out for those who imply that practicing certain external things (basically, living as Jews) made people more godly. Paul, the author of Philippians, instead explained that our focus should be on knowing Christ Jesus, that so-called righteousness produced by external practices and self-effort were worse than useless, that instead what we should pursue is our relationship with Christ, that in this pursuit we would find righteousness that comes from God. It is Jesus, and not our feeble attempts at self-effort, that transforms us into His image. If I may summarize: If our goal is to know Christ, we will find Christ and righteousness; but if our goal is righteousness, we will find neither Christ nor righteousness. After encouraging us to stand firm, Paul, led by the Spirit to pen these words, writes this:
I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. – Phil. 4:2-3
I have mentioned previously that over the past month I have been reading, little by little, Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard. One of the things I enjoy about the book is the names given to the characters; they are names of character qualities. The main character is Much Afraid, and at the beginning of the book that describes her perfectly. Other characters include her companions, Sorrow and Suffering, and her family members include Pride, Self-Pity, Resentment, Bitterness, and Craven Fear. The much older book Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan does the same thing; characters include Hopeful, Obstinate, Pliable, and Mr. Money-Love.
There are many real-life example of this in the Bible. That is, through God’s orchestration of events, people’s names turn out to describe their actions. Just in the New Testament, for example, we have Barnabas, which means Son of Encouragement, who was in fact a Barnabas. And in the book of Philemon we have Onesimus, which means Useful, who was in fact Onesimus. In fact Paul wrote of him, “He who was useless formerly is now useful.”
I bring this up because there is a great irony in the names of these two women, Euodia and Syntyche, who apparently are having some kind of significant quarrel, significant enough so that Paul is himself commenting on it. The irony is the Euodia means sweet fragrance and Syntyche means pleasant. Well, they didn’t appear to be living up to their names!
So Sweet Fragrance and Pleasant were quarreling. That doesn’t sound right, does it? And Paul, in his letter, to be read by Christians the world over for the next 2000 years, mentions them by name and calls on them to agree with one another in the Lord; in other words, Paul calls on them to live up to their names.
To be honest, I am glad I’m not them! It’s bad enough that my failings and weaknesses are known by those around me, but I’m glad they are not in Scripture. Of course, everything is known by God, and I don’t think there will be any secrets in heaven. But Scripture assures us our past sins brought to the Lord will be forgiven and even forgotten; and embarrassment is only possible with pride. Get over your pride, and embarrassment will no longer have any sting.
By the way, when Paul speaks to “loyal yokefellow,” he may in fact be referring to another person’s name. In Greek the word is Syzygus, from which we get the word you only hear in spelling bees, syzygy, a word in modern usage that refers to points in space in which multiple orbiting bodies (orbiting bodies “yoked” together) line up together in a straight line. Clement is another neat name; in modern usage it refers to mildness, as in weather. The opposite, inclement weather, means stormy weather. We also get one of our children’s favorite fruits, the clementine, which certainly is a mild (as opposed to sour) citrus fruit.
Speaking of fruit, feuding, long-lasting disagreements, enmity, bitterness – these kinds of things are warned of as a kind of fruit in Galatians 5, where specific terms used are dissensions and factions. These are the fruit, or results, or desires, or acts of the sinful nature. In sharp contrast to these are the fruit, or results, of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.And there is a similar contrast in Colossians 3, where Paul says,
But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. […]Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. – Col. 3:8, 12-14
The fact that Paul speaks of these things again and again in his letters, along with the fact that Jesus also spoke of forgiveness and similar themes, tells me two things: first, that it is really important, and second, that despite being told to do them, we resist applying these things to our own lives.
As I think more about Euodia and Syntyche, I wonder what they will be like in heaven. Hopefully they took Paul’s pleadings to heart quickly upon receipt of this letter and forgave one another and even loved each other with the love of Christ. Perhaps when we meet them in heaven they won’t be embarrassed by their former foolishness but will only thank the Savior for the degree to which being written up by Paul caused countless others to look carefully at their own lives, choosing to seek God for the power to forgive and to be clothed with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
And so I now call on you to do a self-inspection. Are you holding any grudges against someone? Do you allow issues with another believer to remain unresolved? If someone comes to mind, I encourage you to write an action item down, to deal with it as soon as possible, today if you can. Be quick to forgive, to let it go, to agree with your source of conflict in the Lord. And if you happen to be in the position of a Syzygy, a loyal yokefellow (which is a wonderful phrase, by the way, a loyal person yoked to Christ), a person who is in the middle of such a disagreement between two other saints, I encourage you, as Paul did, to help these people. Be sure you do so with gentleness, respect, with an attitude of servitude, and with much prayer, or you may only unite the two people in their newfound distaste for you!
I am not saying that dealing with conflict is easy, or that we are to just “take” whatever injustices are done to us. It is appropriate to talk and share our grievances with those who have grieved us, but then, after doing so, we are called to “agree with one another in the Lord.” What this may look like may be very different in different situations, but at a minimum it means to move on, to no longer let yourself be consumed with feelings of how the person hurt you, to believe the best, and, bottom line, to be clothed with compassion towards this person, to feel and act with kindness towards this person, to be humble with respect to this person, to treat the person with gentleness, and to ever-patient with this person. And let me be clear – it takes the power of Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit, to do this. You should not try to do this in your own strength.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. – Phil. 4:4-7
One of the great myths of our culture is that emotions are what happen to us, that, by and large, we have no more control over them than we do over the weather. But this is not true! Paul commands us to rejoice. That means it is possible to do so, independent of our current situation. You may think Paul is callous, that he doesn’t know what you are going through. I would reply that maybe you don’t fully know what he means by rejoicing. To rejoice in the Lord always requires that you look beyond your circumstances, and if you do so, you will find plenty to rejoice about. If you are a Christian, that is, if you have put your faith and trust in Christ to save you, if you have committed your life to Him, then you have an eternal future that is totally secure and unimaginably glorious. You will be in intimate fellowship with your Savior for eternity, serving Him and loving Him and enjoying His presence forever. How can any short-term experience compare to this?
If you want an example of what “rejoicing always” looks like, look at Acts 5, where Peter and the other apostles were arrested for speaking about Jesus. They were told not to teach in His name, but refused. The Sanhedrin had them flogged, whipped severely, and they were told not to speak in Jesus’ name any longer and then were let go. How did the apostles respond?
The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ. – Acts 5:41-42
Half-dead, some no doubt receiving nerve damage and other injuries that would plague them for the rest of their lives, knowing that to continue to share about Jesus could well result in their deaths, they despaired. Is that what it says? No? Oh, they moped. Is that right? No. They gave up. Right? No. They rejoiced! They saw it as a high honor to suffer for Christ. They had an eternal perspective, a kingdom of God perspective.
Paul tells us to rejoice. He tells us twice, in case we weren’t paying attention the first time. Hey, you – rejoice! Yeah, you – rejoice! Rejoice despite our busy schedule? Yes. Rejoice despite struggling in our classes? Yes. Rejoice despite our ailing health? Yes. Rejoice despite an uncertain future? Yes. Rejoice despite a great disappointment? Yes. Rejoice despite what seems like our whole world coming crashing down on us? Yes.
Rejoice in the Lord. He knows you. He loves you. He has called you, and you have heeded His call. He rejoices in you. He has made the way so that you can be with Him forever. He is good. He is kind. He is love. He is perfect. He is wonderful. In Him you have rest. In Him you have hope. In Him you have peace. In Him you have love. In Him you have the power to rejoice.
But what about life and its stresses? Look at the verse again.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. – Phil. 4:4-7
Do not be anxious, but pray. Prayer is the antidote to anxiousness. Not answered prayer. Not a change in our circumstances. But prayer itself.
Kristin once gave me a wonderful tip in the area of parenting – that whatever our kids do that drive us crazy is an area we should work on in them. Our job as parents is not just to discipline them when they lie or fight or do things like this. It is to help them grow up to be sweet, kind, loving, compassionate, caring people, people who don’t drive people crazy but who people love to have around, who are a joy in companionship, who make wonderful friends, who ultimately will make wonderful husbands and wives.
As a parent, I find that I still put up with a bad behavior in one of our children for far too long until I finally notice that it is driving me crazy. Part of the problem is that our children’s behaviors and habits are constantly changing, and so we need to periodically do a self-check to see if some new bad behaviors have cropped up and do so before they make us absolutely nuts.
In the same way, we should be quick to pray. I find that that I make the same mistake in prayer that I do in child-rearing. I put up with my state of anxiousness far too long before I take it to the Lord in prayer. Given this verse, I think it is healthy to periodically ask yourself, “Am I anxious? Am I worried? Am I stressed?” You could even ask those who are close around you if you seem stressed. Figure out the cause of the anxiety, and bring it to God in prayer.
Nothing is off-limits. Bring everything. How? By prayer and petition, with thanksgiving. In the KJV it says “by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving.” What does this mean? Prayer is the act of talking to God. Supplication, or petition, is asking God for help in specific ways. In the context of being anxious, the obvious meaning is to talk to God about whatever you are anxious about and to ask Him for help. This may include asking for Him to help you not be anxious, or it may be very practical about whatever it is you are going through. And then you thank Him, for His love, for His eternal future that He has given you, for His goodness, for whatever the Spirit and your heart leads you to thank Him for. And then He will give you this peace beyond understanding, because you will have been with God, and while you are with Him, He is strengthening you in your Spirit, giving you right thinking, and filling you with His love.
What a contrast – between continual anxiousness, worry, dread, fear – and peace, love, joy, rest, trust. The Greek word for “guard” is a military term; picture a garrison protecting an entire town, and you have an idea of what Paul means here. The peace of God, which is available to anyone who connects to the Father through prayer, will guard your heart and mind. It will guard you from worry, anxiousness, and stress. It will keep you at perfect peace.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. – Phil. 4:8-9
Again we have a promise of peace. The phrase “think about such things” more literally is “use right thinking” or “develop the habit of right thinking.” Right thinking – Fred has in the past appropriately called the alternative “stinking thinking.” And so what is right thinking? Number one, focusing on what is true. Truth is not relative. Truth is not a matter of opinion. The Bible is true and the source of truth. Thinking right thoughts begins with studying the Bible, reflecting on what it means, being a student even of your own thoughts, and when you find opinions that disagree with the truth of Scripture, choosing to believe the truth of Scripture and leaning not on your own understanding. Second is whatever is pure. The word means clean, undefiled. The opposite is thinking “dirty thoughts,” lusts, things like this. Third is whatever is lovely. The word has a combination of meanings, including sweet, attractive, gracious, generous. Thinking about how to bless others would definitely fit in this category. Fourth is whatever is admirable, of good repute. And then Paul says “anything excellent or praiseworthy – think on these.”
By the way, the first verses we read today show you what the opposite of this is. Thinking about your enemy, or grudges, or hurt feelings. If you have been hurt by someone, you really can choose where your mind spends its time. That is what this is saying. Paul wouldn’t tell you to think about these excellent praiseworthy things unless it was a choice. That doesn’t mean it is necessarily easy. Our natural, fleshly mind will choose the opposite of these things. You have to choose where to think. Again, turn to prayer – ask God to help you. He will! But understand that unless you engage this battle, your thoughts will not be on excellent praiseworthy things. And yet, it seems like a contradiction, as you engage this battle, you will find peace. This peace “will be with you.” It will dwell with you, live with you. That is what is implied by these words.
I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. – Phil. 4:10-12
Contentment. Paul here says that he has learned the secret. He can be content with plenty and he can be content in want. Frankly, the kind of want he is talking about here is far beyond what most of us have ever experienced.
There are many verses on contentment in the Bible. Two examples:
But godliness with contentment is great gain. – I Timothy 6:6
So we see that contentment is a virtue.
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”– Hebrews 13:5
So not only is it a virtue, contentment is also a command. Back to our passage, Paul says he has learned the secret of contentment. Think for a moment where Paul is. As we have discussed in past messages in this series, Paul is in prison, chained to a soldier. He has no freedom. He has lost his ability to work – he was a tentmaker, and so he is totally dependent on others for the necessities of life. His future is uncertain – he may be facing death. And yet through all this he is content.
Our culture is quite literally built on the lack of contentment. Commercials are designed to make you want things you didn’t previously want. That is, commercials are designed to destroy any sense of contentment you had. And what are TV programs designed for? They are designed to get you to stick around and watch the commercials. Do you understand this? Our culture is built on the idea that contentment comes from satisfying your current want. But that is a lie, because all that happens is that you move on to your next want. In fact, what you are actually doing is training your mind to continually want the next thing.
This is how our mind naturally works. You can see it with little children at an amusement park. First they are content with the littlest rides. Being on any ride is great. But before long they are bored with the ride. They want a bigger thrill. And so now the next “scariest” ride is their desire, and when they go on it, again, they are satisfied. But only for a while. And it goes on and on.
This is at the heart of those who are addicted to shopping. This is the essence of drug addiction, alcohol addiction, any kind of addiction. Your mind and body adapt to the “new normal” and you desire a greater thing. And all the while you are simply training your body and your mind to constantly want more, to be discontent. With many addictions, over time, you lose even the momentary joy of getting the next thing. All that is left is the never satisfied hunger for more.
What a bleak existence! And yet for so much of our society, this is life. This is what the future holds, more of the same, ever hungry yet never satisfied. Life without Christ is life without contentment.
Paul speaks of the “secret” of contentment. What is the secret of contentment? You have already learned it.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. – Phil. 4:5-7
Discontentment is a form of anxiousness. The answer is prayer, a real relationship with God, involving Him in your life through prayer. The peace of God is the secret of contentment. And the peace of God comes from God as you involve Him in all aspects of your life.
And then, in verse 13, Paul says,
I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. – Phil. 4:10-13
What does Paul mean? Well, obviously this doesn’t mean that Paul can run faster than a speeding bullet, or that he can be more powerful than a locomotive, or that he can leap tall buildings in a single bound. So what does it mean?
Literally, this wonderful verse means I can go through anything, I have the strength to get through anything, because of Christ who gives me the strength to do it. It doesn’t necessarily mean you will get the grade you want in the class you are taking, but it does mean that you can get through the experience of a trying class with God’s peace. It doesn’t necessarily mean that when you share the gospel with someone they will come to Christ, but it does mean that you can overcome your fears and share the gospel with someone. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you will keep your job when your company downsizes, but it does mean that you can trust God to provide for you whether you keep your job or not. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you can beat cancer – you might, or you might not – but it means that you can overcome cancer. You can endure, and keep your faith, and finish well in the power of Christ who gives you strength.
Paul goes on:
Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. – Phil. 4:14-17
Why does Paul say “Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles”? Because he doesn’t want them to think he isn’t grateful. He has just told them he is content with little or much and does not want them to think he doesn’t appreciate their gift. He wants to encourage them in their spirit of giving. And then, why does Paul say “Not that I am looking for a gift…”? Because he doesn’t want them to swing the other way, to think that he is asking and pleading for more! This is a tricky business, talking about giving.
We don’t talk much about giving at this church. We don’t pass the baskets or have fundraising drives or things like this. We have the box at the table and leave it at that. We trust God and we trust you. But at the same time, as we go through Scripture, when a passage talks about giving, neither will we shy away from what the passage is saying.
So what is Paul saying? Quite simply, it is good to give. Why? It is good to have a heart of compassion, to be thinking of others and acting on these thoughts. To have such a heart is to have the heart of God. Giving is a form of loving. It is good to give, and giving is good for us. Through giving we “lay up treasure in heaven.” Through giving God enlarges our hearts, makes us more self-sacrificial, more like Christ. You will also find that giving and discovering contentment go hand in hand. Your possessions will have less of a hold on you as you give some of them away. And so, just as Paul tells the Philippians that it is good to give, I affirm this to you, and I too encourage you to give and to give generously.
I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. – Phil. 4:18-19
I love Paul’s gratitude. Gratitude is a sign of Christian maturity. If you have young children no doubt you are trying to teach them to say “Thank you.” It is a process, isn’t it? It is relatively easy to get to the point where, when we prompt them with, “What do you say?” they respond with a singsong “Thank you.” But our desire as parents is not that, for the rest of our lives, we will need to prompt our grown children with “What do you say?” Our desire is that they naturally become grateful themselves, that when someone does something for them, they notice and they respond in gratitude. Similarly, as we grow in gratitude we grow in Christian maturity. As we grow in gratitude we grow in understanding the enormous gift that Christ has given us – Himself. Going to the cross, experiencing the unimaginable there, He was the ultimate fragrant offering, the ultimate once-for-all acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. We should never stop thanking Him!
Paul closes his letter of love and joy to the Philippians, and I likewise close my message to you, with this:
To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Greet all the saints in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send greetings. All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. – Phil. 4:20-23
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