IMPERATIVES FOR PEACE - Philippians 4:4-9

All right, thank you guys. Good seeing you this morning. I want us to open our Bibles as we continue in this Advent season to the book of Philippians chapter 4 verses 4 through 9.

We'll serve as our focal text this morning and as you're opening your Bibles there, let me thank you for being here this morning, especially if you're a guest worshiping with us, whether in person or online.

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Immediately. This morning I want to speak, as we come to Philippians 4, I want to speak on the imperatives of peace.

I think that my family has grown weary and becomes more aggravated with each passing year.

Whenever they ask me for my Christmas list, what is it I want for Christmas, I always respond with that angelic host and their words of,

All I really want is peace.

Peace on earth, good will to men.

And I think it's hilarious when I say that.

They don't think it's near as funny as I do.

In fact, my 86-year-old mother beat me to the punch this year.

She had begun asking me at Thanksgiving what I wanted for Christmas.

And I said, I don't know, let me think about it.

Of course, I never get back to her.

And she's been, so for the past several weeks, been asking me that.

So I get this text from her, Monday.

And I've been saying the past three times, all I want is peace on earth, good will.

Good will towards men.

And so I get this text on Monday from my mom, waiting, dot, dot, dot.

Need Christmas list now.

And we all want peace on earth and good will towards men.

So go for something else.

Well, what else could we possibly want?

Well, the truth is, when it comes to the themes of Advent,

when we talk about hope, peace, love, love and joy,

I think we can make an argument that what we most want is peace.

But that is the very thing that we most lack.

As Paul writes about peace, and as he expresses his wish and his desire

for the Philippian church, that they might have peace,

the word that he uses is not a word that means the absence of war

between nations.

He does mean an absence of war within, within the human spirit.

The peace of which Paul speaks and writes is a peace determined

not by whatever circumstances might arise in our life,

but it is a peace acquired and achieved as a result of the one

who has risen up from the grave to be the resurrected prince of peace.

Two times in this chapter, Paul talks about the peace that he wishes,

that he desires for those Philippian believers.

And what I want us to look at this morning in this section of Scripture

is in verses 4 through 9 of chapter 4,

is that the peace that he speaks of, that Paul writes of,

it comes at the very end, both times, it comes at the end of two sections.

The first section is verses 4.

Verse 4 through 7, where Paul talks about his personal piety

and also our corporate piety when we speak of piety in the Christian faith

and our Christian piety.

It's talking about your devotion to God.

It's really about your inner life and how that inner life is expressed.

So verses 4 through 7 talk about the piety of his practice,

the devotion of his practice, his pietistic practice,

and how that looks.

That is necessary.

The imperatives that he offers, these are necessary in your life of piety

if peace is to be the result.

But then the second set of imperatives,

and we know imperatives, they are commands,

things that must be embraced, things that must be practiced.

And so the second list of imperatives that he gives in verses 8 through 9

deal with ethics.

Ethics, simply stated, has to do with how you think.

How you think results in how you act.

And so in the acquiring of peace,

this peace that passes all comprehension that Paul will speak of,

both of these things go hand in hand.

And that's what I want us to look at this morning.

I want us to look at the intricate relationship

that exists between our devotional life, our inner life,

our piety,

our expression of our faith from the inner life,

and then to talk about peace in terms of ethics,

how we think as believers,

and how that thinking is played out in our behavior.

Let's begin with verses 4 through 7

where Paul talks about this relationship and kinship

between peace and piety.

Now, as I've already said,

peace has to do with our reverence and our devotion,

towards God.

Our piety is something that,

your piety and your expression of piety and devotion

is something that emerges from your inner life

as a result of your relationship with Christ.

How that relationship with Christ expresses itself

and how it is seen, how it is observed by others.

And what Paul is going to do now,

through verses 4 through 7,

he's going to,

he's going to offer three, four, really,

other imperatives.

And what I want you to notice about these imperatives

is that they are in,

it's not obvious in the reading of the text,

some of them are,

but it's in the second person plural.

In verses 4 through 7,

the imperatives are in the second person plural.

That means that this is the pious,

this is the kind of expression,

the kind of piety,

the kind of devotion and reverence

that,

that you are to express in your life,

not just individually, but corporately.

This is the piety,

this is the expression of our devotion and reverence

that we are to express together,

congregational, corporately,

as the body of Christ.

Now notice,

let's just read through these,

their entirety,

and then we'll come back to them.

The first imperative, rejoice.

Rejoice in the Lord always.

Again, I will say, rejoice.

Let your gentle spirit,

there's the second,

let your gentle spirit be known to all people.

And then,

and then the interjection here

of this indicative statement.

Indicative statements are declarative statements of fact

based upon your beliefs.

And so he interjects this indicative statement here

that, that the Lord is near.

How appropriate for us.

When we celebrate Emmanuel, God with us.

Now, Paul is emphasizing that the nearness of God,

the Lord is near.

Therefore, do not be anxious about anything,

but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving,

let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God,

which surpasses all comprehension,

will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Now, Paul here,

is borrowing from his Old Testament knowledge.

Paul's not really breaking any new ground here

on these, these virtues that are to be expressed

in our, in our devotion and reverence to God.

In fact, there's a very familiar threefold expression

of Jewish piety that is found here.

If you were to read the Psalter,

if you're familiar with the Psalms,

you'll find this redundancy of some of these,

these very phrases over and over.

For instance, in Psalm 64, 10,

in 97, 12, it says,

the righteous rejoice in the Lord.

So there's this threefold Jewish piety

that we're going to see throughout even the Psalter,

this idea of rejoicing and giving thanks and praying.

So it's something that,

that has emerged from the Jewish understanding

of their Jewish piety

and now has been fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ

and now is to continue in the life of the church.

The righteous rejoice in the Lord

as they come before God,

they come before him, Psalm 95, 2, and 104,

as they come before him in thanksgiving

to pray, Psalm 61, 1 through 4,

also 84, 1 through 8,

to pray in his sanctuary.

Interestingly, in the very first letter

that Paul ever wrote, 1 Thessalonians,

Paul would express these same three things,

rejoicing, thanksgiving, and praying,

as being the will of God,

1 Thessalonians, chapter 5, verses 16 through 18.

And then Paul says,

the Lord is near.

In other words, this is something

that is significant in real time.

This is something that is a present tense reality for you.

The Lord is near.

Now, I know it sounds very familiar

to the abode of God, but I know it sounds very familiar to the abode of God.

I know it sounds very familiar to the abode of God.

It sounds very familiar to the apocalyptic language

that we oftentimes find in the prophets.

For instance, in Zephaniah,

in the first chapter of Zephaniah,

there's a statement there

in chapter 1, in verse 7, in verse 14,

where it says that the day of the Lord

is near.

It's apocalyptic language.

It's talking about this second advent

that is to come, the coming of the Christ.

Of course, the prophets were looking

to the coming of the Christ's child.

We, as believers today,

we look for the return of the Christ.

of this one who is the resurrected christ and even paul would co-opt this kind of language in

in the book of of romans for instance in chapter 13 in verse 12 paul would borrow the language of

the prophets and say that the day of the lord is near james would say the same thing in chapter 5

in verse 12 the day of the lord is near it's to a persecuted people saying listen i know life is

hard you hang in there there is a day coming you persevere you fight you fight the good fight you

battle through these present circumstances because the day of the lord is near but paul is saying much

more today paul is stating an indicative statement here he is making a declarative statement that is

no less significant and no less meaningful

than the

the

that has been previously made the day of the Lord is near Paul says the Lord is near right now

it's a kind of realized eschatology if you will that we as the people of God we know that we are

a people of the future we know that the kingdom of God is out there that God is fashioning all

of creation this work of salvation is the work of the entire created order but there is a kind

of realized eschatology that the kingdom of God is here and now the Lord is here

the Lord is near you're suffering right now listen Paul says the Lord is near

to the Philippians then who were persecuted for their faith Paul writing from a Roman prison

part of the Philippians being part of his prison epistles

listen you're suffering Paul says the Lord is near

Paul has a peace because he knows the Lord is near listen you're grieving the Lord is near

you're uncertain of the future

the Lord is near it is a realized eschatology for the here and now and because of this

everything that's before this everything that comes after this everything is rooted

in God's love for us and for us and for us and for us and for us and for us and for us

and grounded in this reality for believers that the Lord is near

and because he is here and because he is omnipresent because he is always dear

because of that he says rejoice in the Lord always

this is your identifying characteristic as a people of God your capacity to rejoice

and it's an unmitigated joy not just for the people of God but for the people of God

not wrapped up not tied into your present circumstances but it is a joy that emerges

as a result of this relationship that you have with Christ the one who is near

and so because of that if we rightly understand

and if we are at a place in our faith journey like Paul where we know that the Lord is near

I rejoice in the Lord I rejoice in the Lord I rejoice in the Lord I rejoice in the Lord I rejoice in the Lord

I rejoice in anything what Paul is saying rejoice always whatever's going on rejoice

whatever's happening whatever circumstances you're facing Paul says rejoice

and joy is the redundant theme of of the book of Philippians being written by a man

under Roman imprisonment facing the very real possibility

of a death sentence and yet he is at a place in his relationship with Christ in his

understanding of the nearness of the Lord that without equivocation he says to those

he loves let us rejoice in everything Paul speaks of it I mean even beginning in

chapter 1 and in verse 4 Paul expresses joy as he prays far and wide but he does this not because of what his great Senhor says а

as he prays for them in chapter 4 and verse 10 he expresses joy over the gift that they have sent to

him in chapter 4 and verse 1 he says to the church at Philippi you are my crown and my and my joy

my joy even in these circumstances my joy is in you and seeing what God is fashioning and

and accomplishing in in you see Paul always has his arrows going outward it's not about him

Paul's not living inside his head Paul is still celebrating and rejoicing yeah I'm in prison but

I still see what God is doing I see his handiwork you're my joy you're my crown

and some 16 times from that bookend from the first chapter to the fourth chapter 16 times

Paul uses this word joy that is to characterize our lives

I love the way Karl Barth

Swiss theologian so aptly states this and I was sharing it with Patty last night because I think

it's such a it's such a great insight and such a a great statement he said for Christians joy

is a defiant nevertheless in the face of circumstances come as they may

come what will whatever this world wants to impose

upon me whatever whatever it is that the world brings my way joy listen church joy is our defiant

nevertheless we can choose joy and we can rejoice in whatever the circumstances

because Paul says the Lord is near

so secondly let your gentle spirit verse five let your gentle spirit

be known to all people this is the attitude this is the kind of devotion out of this devotion that you have to Christ

this devotion and reverence that you have for the one that is near toward your oppressors those who persecute you

listen just be gentle their day of wrath is coming you will be vindicated until then you be gentle

you know when I when I see Paul writing these words it makes me think this is just the Pauline version of what God is doing

what of what Peter said regarding the attitude of of Christ expressed in first Peter chapter 2

and verse 23 Peter said and while being abusively insulted he did not insult in return while

suffering he did not threaten but kept entrusting himself to the one who judges righteously

and now Paul ascribes that same attitude to us as as believers as as the same

as as as slaves to Christ

just as Jesus believed that the Lord was near

and he responded not in kind to his abusers

just as Jesus believed with conviction that his Lord his God was near

enabling him to face his suffering the cross

and he responded not in kind to his abusers

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whose faith in the nearness of God was proved out in in the resurrection Paul

says let that be like that be your attitude

build up the your perspective the understanding that that that there is

always more to the story being written than just these present circumstances

even our Lord who for the joy set before him endured the cross he knew the cross

wasn't going to have the final word he knew that that the father was near that there was more to

this narrative of salvation that remains to be written and so because the Lord is near he would

say in verse six do not be anxious about anything don't worry about anything that's that's an

inclusive statement do not be anxious about anything yeah Bobby I hear that but what about

no don't be anxious about anything yeah but I've got this situation no no matter what your situation

is do not be anxious Paul says about anything why it's because the Lord is near but Bobby my

circumstances are different from no no they're not

no they're not

there's nothing new under the sun

because the Lord is near do not be anxious about anything

you see anxiety and fear listen we all deal with this

we're all we're not all yet where the apostle Paul would have us to be

but we have to we're always trying to grow and get to a different place in our faith journey

and when we deal with fear and anxiety we have to understand it for what it is

the fear and anxiety that we have expresses unbelief

the fear and anxiety and uncertainties that we have about our circumstances

that's an expression of unbelief

it exposes us

it exposes our our our lack of conviction regarding what Paul has said here that the Lord

is near

when we have fear and anxiety and uncertainty all that we sense as being near is our circumstances

we don't sense and we have no conviction regarding the nearness of the Lord

that's why Paul is writing to the church at 5 p.m.

at 5 p.m.

Philippi, the Philippians are filled with distress, worry, fear.

Paul's saying, listen, you've lost sight of the reality that the Lord is near.

And so because the Lord is near, do not be anxious about anything.

But in everything, by prayer and pleading, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Because the Lord is near, and that's foundational to everything that Paul is saying in this passage.

Because the Lord is near, prayer and thanksgiving is to be our response to anything.

That's the appropriate response to anything.

Not fear, not worry, not anxiety.

The appropriate response to everything and anything if we're going to have peace.

And that's the agenda.

That's what Paul is talking about.

Then we have to give prayer and thanksgiving to everything.

In fact, you know the lack of gratitude.

Paul has a very compelling argument back in Romans chapter 1 and verse 21.

Paul sees a lack of gratitude as being the starting place for a life of idolatry, self-worship.

A lack of gratitude at the beginning of idolatry, self-worship.

In fact, if you read all of Paul's writings, one of the things that you come away thinking is,

man, Paul is a guy that is truly thankful.

There is a real thread of gratitude and appreciation for the workings of God

and what God is doing and what God is accomplishing that runs through the entirety of Paul's writing.

And in Romans 1 especially, when Paul writes about the created order,

and the root of all things being the abandonment of our created role.

Problems start happening, and problems started happening with humanity

when the created tried to supplant the creator.

And what thanksgiving is, thanksgiving in prayer is an act of humility.

When we are a people that are truly filled with gratitude and appreciation,

what we're doing is we are humbly expressing,

and acknowledging, I'm a creature.

I've been created by a creator.

And so everything that I have, everything that has been entrusted to me,

it is a gift from my creator.

And for that, we are thankful.

And so Paul says in verse 7,

and the peace of God.

What surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Paul's calling you back to what he, I've shown you the commands.

I've shown you, I've shown you the imperatives.

I've listed for you these three, four commanding imperatives,

that you be a rejoicing people.

This is to characterize your piety, your life of devotion, your inner life.

From your inner life.

Your inner life needs to emerge thanksgiving,

prayerfulness, gentleness, and rejoicing.

And if you follow those commands, you practice those commands, those imperatives,

here's what you get.

You get peace.

These are the things commanded.

Peace is the thing promised.

If you practice these things.

Now these, these are not, these are not things that you just casually approach.

This has to be the devotion of who you are.

Rejoicing, thanksgiving, gentleness, prayer.

And as you embrace those and you devote yourself to those,

in what is acquired and what is promised,

it's peace.

And it's a peace that, that surpasses all comprehension.

And it's not just, yes, it, yes, it's a, it's, it's a peace that, that surpasses what the human mind can understand.

Our finite minds cannot understand all the things of an infinite God.

Yes, it's that in part.

But the peace that he is speaking of, that is beyond comprehension, more than anything,

it is beyond the comprehension of someone who thinks with the human mind only.

Because when you practice these things, when this is your piety,

when this is the expression of your piety,

thanksgiving, prayer, rejoicing, gentleness,

listen, it elevates your view.

It raises up your eyes, your heart and mind to see beyond just the present tense circumstances.

And when these things come to characterize your life, as they did Paul,

Paul says, this piety will bring peace.

But not this alone.

There's, there's another side to this, and that's peace and ethics.

Now, we shouldn't be surprised that in the writings of Paul,

we're all familiar enough with Paul's writings to understand that there are,

there are ethical implications of being a follower of Christ.

That when you,

when you have been born again, to use the words of Jesus,

when you have become a new creation in Christ Jesus, to use the words of Paul,

there is this expectation that, that it impacts your thinking, your thinking,

your mind is being transformed.

And the result of a transformed mind is transformed behavior.

We, we live differently, we act differently,

because we are a people of God.

And so as Paul thinks about the ethical implications of the life of faith,

that we are called to live and exhibit out there in the world,

this is what Paul says, verse 8,

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,

whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable,

if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise,

think about these things.

You've got to dwell upon these things.

You've got to contemplate these things.

Keep these things.

They're for you.

And it's as you think about these things, as you dwell upon them,

as you concentrate on them, these are translated into actions, into, into behavior.

These are things that don't just happen.

These are things that require reflection, intentionality, and contemplation.

Now here's what's unique, what Paul has done here.

While the other imperatives that we looked at in verses 4 through 7

that were related to our Christian piety,

our inner life,

those grew out of, those came out of Jewish piety.

Those came out of the Old Testament.

And Paul more or less just baptized them.

He brought them up to speed, so to speak,

the implications of them in the life of Christ.

But what's unique about what Paul has listed here,

the virtues in verses, in verse 8 that we're to think about,

this is nothing new.

Paul's not inventing new virtues.

This is, Paul's not throwing out some things here that his,

with which his audience is unfamiliar.

In fact, for, we need to understand, Paul, Paul was a man of letters, so to speak.

Paul, Paul was versed in Judaism,

but Paul was also very well versed in the Greco-Roman world,

as was any learned Jew that was a product of the dispersion.

I mean, their lives were lived in a,

in a Greco-Roman world.

What, what Paul is holding forth here are words and virtues that are very familiar to his,

this is just Hellenistic moralism.

That's all it is.

In fact, if you take a, if you were to remove brothers and sisters,

where Paul says brothers and sisters,

that makes it kind of uniquely Christian in, in his appeal.

But if you just remove brothers and sisters,

everything that follows sounds like,

something you might read in Epictetus' Discourses or Seneca's Moral Essays.

But Paul is not holding forth Stoic philosophy.

Paul's not holding forth the self-sufficiency of Stoicism.

And that's what all these things, these virtues sound like.

Paul's saying these things need to emerge from our life because of our,

Christ's sufficiency.

Because see, Paul is doing something here that is very intentional.

I think very strategic and very missional.

All of us live in a world.

All of us are, are, all of us as believers,

yes, we're, we're aliens, we're sojourners, we're just passing through.

But our faith, we're called to live our faith out in the world.

And there are certain virtues that even the world understood.

So instead of just abandoning the world,

instead of just,

deeming everything is evil in the world,

Paul says, no, there's some things that are out there that are virtuous.

Qualities that, that are good, characteristics that are to be impressed.

Now understand Paul's thinking is, is that morality is not a man made construct.

Paul believes all these things that have been adapted by Hellenistic literature,

Greek literature, the Greco-Roman literature of, of that,

of that earlier day in time preceding Paul.

Paul would see them as having hijacked what belonged to God.

And he would say, morality and virtue is not a man made construct.

That's an argument of the enlightenment.

Nietzsche thinks that morality was a man made construct.

Paul's argument is that virtue and morality actually emerges from the heart and the mind of God.

C.S. Lewis, if you're interested in this type of topic, C.S. Lewis writes a great deal about this in his book, The Abolition of Men.

That morality and virtue is not a man made construct, it emerges from the heart and the mind of God.

So Paul is saying there is at least some minimum standards out there, these ideals of how people are supposed to behave.

And as the followers of Christ, let the world see in you at least the minimum of what the world's expecting.

It's not unlike Pharaoh.

In Genesis chapter 12, do you remember the story in Genesis 12 where Abraham told his wife Sarah, who was very beautiful, told Sarah, said hey listen, they're going to kill me, so why don't you just pretend, they're going to try to kill me because of your beauty, they're going to kill me and they're going to take you?

So why don't you just pretend to be my sister and not my wife?

Man, how sick is that?

Why don't you pretend to be my sister and not my wife?

Now the Bible says this.

Now the kicker of that story is, and I think it applies to what we have here in this situation, is Pharaoh was disgusted.

Pharaoh was disgusted by that.

He couldn't believe that a man of God would do such a wicked thing, have your wife pretend to be your sister, that your own life might be spared.

Even a pagan like Pharaoh had a certain expectation of how the people of God would behave.

That's what Paul is holding forth here in this passage.

At minimum, let them see us living virtuous lives.

Those things that are good and right and holy.

Those are the basic things that need to be evident in us.

And as for the things you have learned, he says in verse 9, as for the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me.

Practice them.

Practice these things.

And the God of peace will be with you.

Practice, he says.

Put into practice what you have learned, received, seen, and heard from me by example.

Now Paul's assumption is that you're a student.

That you desire to learn.

The people that he's writing.

That they have a student's mentality.

That they have a desire to learn and to know more for the purpose of application in their lives.

Again, knowledge is never for knowledge's sake.

And one of the things that needs to mark us as a people of God is a hunger as a student to learn and to know.

And in matters of theology, it is an inexhaustible quest.

Oftentimes say to college students, oftentimes say to young adults.

Really to anyone who presumes to know more than they really do.

At this stage in life, you need to have far more questions than you're presuming to know answers.

Especially in matters of faith.

You need to have far more questions than you're presuming to know answers.

And I realized a long time ago.

That as the island.

That as the island of my knowledge grows.

So does the shoreline of my ignorance.

As the island of my knowledge grows, so does the shoreline of my ignorance.

We need to hunger to be life students.

To be learners.

Not for the sake of knowledge.

But for the sake of what is offered when we apply and practice these things.

And Paul's assurance to the church at Philippi.

And no less is his assurance to us as a people of God today.

By embracing and practicing this kind of piety.

This kind of devotional life.

By practicing these kind of ethics.

This way of thinking and believing.

And believing.

In the God of peace.

The God of peace.

The one who came.

The one who suffered.

The one who died.

The one who was resurrected to be the Prince of Peace.

He will give you peace as well.

Let's pray together.

Father.

We know that the imperatives that are set in the Bible.

things good and that we must seek to see them played out in our lives in our attitudes and our

behavior if we are to have the peace that you would desire for us that it would be a peace

that emerges not from the favorable circumstances of life but a a peace that emerges because of

your nearness and more especially because of our kinship with you so as we desire peace

my prayer lord is that we might leave here today as a peaceable and gracious people

in jesus name i pray amen and as we stand this morning for our dismissal will be

offered this blessing from the apostle paul from the pen of paul in second corinthians 13

and 14 the grace of the lord jesus christ and the love of god and the fellowship of the holy spirit

be with you all god bless you you're dismissed see you tonight