The Peace of God

Transcript

GRM 1126
9/14/2014
The Peace of God
Philippians 4:4-9
Gil Rugh

There were some articles in the paper yesterday and they relate to what I want to talk to you about today. This is a message that I planned to give at the end of the book of Hebrews before I went on vacation where at the end of Hebrews 13 about verse 20 talks about the God of peace who brought up the Great Shepherd of the sheep, Christ, and so on. And I wanted to talk about the God of peace, the peace He brings. So we're going to be talking about that today.

There was an article in the paper yesterday, some of you may have seen it. It was the local paper, “Painful Journeys Helping Others Defeat Depression's Demons.” There is a sadness to it. A 33-year-old young man who was cardiac intensive care nurse who took his life in 2010. It talks about the matter of depression. Suicide sometimes is an out people look for, for depression, as a result of depression. The article talks about depression and mental illness. Depression, the most common of mental illnesses is among the least understood. Director of Bryan's Medical Center's mental health program said mental illness is a disorder of the brain. They have 500-600 people a month come to the hospital's emergency crisis center. Just as there is no single antibiotic as a cure for every infection, treatment for mental illness is complicated and highly individual. Treatment for depression is among the most complex. Confiding in someone about your pain, feelings and failings even when you don't understand them yourself is risky and terrifying. You see we have moved out of the brain itself to the mind, the feelings and thoughts. I'll say more about that. Depression can be a fatal illness. And we've moved this now to the realm of an illness.

Then he talks about suicide. Most importantly “suicide is not truly a choice,” this person said who has been involved in this area. This person who committed suicide didn't choose to die, he just didn't know how to live. Doesn't matter what all you have in life, depression knows no boundaries. That's after talking about the well-known celebrity who recently committed suicide. We've seen pictures of his $30 million mansion, pictures of him with his trophy, beautiful wife. Then he hangs himself. They blame that on an illness.

For families trying to understand depression in a loved one, it is a lot like looking to a magic eight ball for answers. National statistics estimate that half of all college students suffer from some form of depression. That's understandable. This person they are talking about who committed suicide, earlier the same month, he got caught stealing pain medication from the hospital, was fired and arrested and so on. This involves where to find help, you can get on-line screening for depression, anxiety and substance abuse.

There was an editorial in the same paper yesterday, “Preserve Mental Health Services.” The availability of mental health services borders on crisis. A program that helps keep sex offenders from reoffending was only days from running out of money before the Lancaster County Board granted another $40,000 this summer to keep it operating for another three months. The sexual trauma and offense prevention program . . . And it goes on.

You see what has happened now, sexual sins also categorized as part of a disease, a mental illness that needs to be treated. What we find is all these matters that the Bible would talk about in the area of sin, the result of sin have been moved to the matter of an illness so nobody has to be responsible. Someone who commits a sexual crime or may be thinking about it needs to be treated for his mental illness. Depression. Depression has become, like I said, half of all college students.

I want to read to you from a book written a number of years ago by a psychiatrist. I just pulled it off the shelf because I remembered some of what he had written. It was this morning when it dawned on me I ought to bring this and share it with you. Let me just read you some sections. This is a medical doctor who is a practicing psychiatrist.

Ever since anti-depressants were discovered, it has been assumed that they work because of their effect on nerve transmission in the brain. It has also been assumed that because they work, there must be something wrong with the nerves they affect. This assumption is commonly used as the major reason for searching for a biochemical cause of depression and other psychiatric disorders. It goes like this. The drugs work, the drug affects the brain, so there must be something wrong with the brain. But this is faulty and unscientific reasoning. Many well-known drugs such as caffeine and alcohol affect the mind and brain in the absence of any underlying defect in the brain.

I thought this was interesting and you'll like this, I hope. There are more cells in each of our individual brains than there are stars in the sky. The brain is made up of several hundred billion neurons and trillions of synapses. Each individual human brain is more complex than the entire physical universe with all its stars and planets and with all the various forces such as gravity that are at work in it. Unlike the physical universe the biochemical activities that run the brain remain almost wholly shrouded in mystery. We have no idea, for example, how the brain makes a thought or an emotion. It seems foolhardy to imagine that blocking one of the brain's biochemical functions would somehow improve the brain and mind.

And there is a distinction, as you are aware, between the brain and the mind.

Nowadays it is fashionable, although unproven, to think of depression as genetic and biochemical in origin and to turn to drugs as the answer. We got that sense from the article I read to you. Every person is different, trying to deal with it almost impossible. Phrases like clinical depression and major depression are truly demeaning expressions. Note this this is not a Christian, a psychiatrist writing. They take profoundly important and often inevitable aspects of human existence and reduce them to physical diseases. This approach robs us of the dignity to live a fully examined life and encourages us to solve life's most profound problems by putting ourselves in the hands of biological psychiatrists and quick-fix technologies. Then he goes on to talk about everyone who has risen to a place of being admired has gone through great struggles and trials and difficulties.

Well, I'm not a medical doctor, I'm not an expert in medical things. I don't claim to be, but I think we better be careful in turning over things that the Bible does address to unbelievers who are trying to cope with the reality of sin but removing any concept of sin. I mean, if you commit a sexual crime, it's because you have a mental problem. I mean, you are disordered, there is something wrong in your brain. That becomes true with everything and then we turn it around. If you disagree that homosexuality is a normal human activity, you are homophobic. Pretty soon they'll be saying we have a pill for you to correct such disordered thinking.

The Bible addresses this clearly, I just want to remind us that the God of peace who raised Jesus Christ from the dead has brought peace to us in our relationship with Him through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. That dissolves and resolves the enmity that existed between us and God because of our sin and rebellion against Him. But that peace brought about is also a peace now that is to pervade our lives so that we experience the peace of God in our hearts and minds in our daily lives as God's people. What I'm going to talk about, peace in the heart and mind, is only for God's people. The unsaved world is left to turn to drugs, to counseling, to hopeless pursuits. But the answer is found in Scripture.

Let's go to Philippians 4. We've been to this passage on numerous other occasions. It is simple, it is direct, it is very clear, it is very firm. It is not given as advice to be considered, it is given as commands to be obeyed. We're going to focus our attention in Philippians 4 on verses 4-9. There are six clear commands given in these verses, and they address God's intention and God's plan for us as His children. I want to remind you this is written by the Apostle Paul during a time when he was imprisoned in Rome, a time when those who were opposed to him were doing everything they could to make his life more difficult and more miserable. He referred to that in Philippians 1, what they did to add to his burden. So he is not writing while he is relaxing on the Mediterranean, doing some R&R. He is writing while he is enduring Roman imprisonment and even in that people are doing what they can to make his life more difficult. He is doing this, knowing that it is possible it could end in his execution. He is confident that God is going to spare him at this time. But he acknowledges if that is the outcome, that's even a better outcome because to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. And that is better.

So you keep that in mind as the background. He is writing to a church in which there is conflict. In Philippians 4:2, I urge Euodia and Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. Two women who have played an important part in Paul's ministry have a disagreement. Those kinds of disagreements tend to impact the congregation. So he is writing with that in view and as a background. He is going to pick up in verse 4, and there are six commands. Let me note them to you in case I forget to point out this is a command. I'll do that as we go along. But the six commands beginning in verse 4, the first is “rejoice;” the second command is the beginning of verse 5, “let be known.” We have the statement let your gentle spirit be known, but the command is let be known. We don't want to misunderstand when it says let be known, that is a forceful command. You must make your gentle spirit known to all men. Verse 6, “be anxious for nothing,” don't be anxious; the end of verse 6, “let your requests be made known.” These are all given as commands, imperatives in the Greek text. At the end of verse 8, “dwell on these things;” the middle of verse 9,”practice these things.” And these are all but one, the second, given in the present tense, denoting that this is to be something of the characteristic. It must characterize their lives, these are things they must do. God's intention is that His people be mentally, emotionally, spiritually healthy. And what He has done for us in Christ is not just isolated to a spiritual realm, it involves our mental and emotional well-being. That will not mean there are not struggles, there are not burdens, there are not things that may seem to overwhelm us. That's why there is clarity of instruction in passages like this.

So he begins with the command, rejoice in the Lord most of the time, rejoice in the Lord when you are experiencing His blessings. “ Rejoice in the Lord always.” Now is that realistic? Well, if we didn't get the point the Spirit directs him to repeat it. “Again, I will say, rejoice.” Paul, that means in that Roman prison with even professing believers working to make your life more difficult, rejoice. Now that doesn't mean we are happy about everything. You go to the doctor and he says you have cancer and it has spread. Oh, I'm happy to hear that. No, you are not happy to hear that, but even in that there is joy, there is an inner joy that God brings to the heart, even when you may be weeping. Crucial here.

We are not going to turn to some of these passages if you want more detail. We've done more detailed studies on this passage in past times, we're going to be summarizing here. But you might jot down Nehemiah 8:10, “the joy of the Lord is your strength.” It's in those very time when we are overwhelmed, when we are facing situations that seem to crush us, we need strength from the Lord. “And the joy of the Lord is our strength.” He brings the joy not because I have cancer, to use that as a rather common illustration, but the joy in knowing my God is sovereign. I'm His child, I'm under His care. This isn't an accident or tragedy that just happened to me, this is part of God's plan to work His purposes in my life. That's the joy. My preference? My preference, to be quite honest as an old man now, is to live a few more healthy years and to die in my sleep and to be spared any suffering and pain and difficulty. I'll go to the dentist as long as he gives me Novocain. But we don't look forward to that. But in those trials, in those difficulties, whatever they are, joy comes from knowing my God is in charge.

Come back to Proverbs 15, look at verse 13. “A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, but when the heart is sad the spirit is broken.” And if we all are honest can talk about having experienced that. And it is just grief and it just seems to get ahold of us on the inside and it shows on our face. But God doesn't intend my heart to be sad, He intends it to have joy. When the heart is sad the spirit is broken. God intends me to enjoy His joy.

1 Thessalonians 5:16, “rejoice always;” 2 Corinthians 7:4 talks about joy in affliction; James 1 talks about “count it all joy, my brethren, when you fall into various trials.” Again, not because we are happy to be suffering, but joy comes from knowing my God is in charge, He is sovereign. I don't control the circumstances, I don't control other people, but my God is in control of everything that impacts my life as His child. That's the joy of my heart. Things aren't out of control, this is not a tragedy in the ultimate sense. This is part of God's plan for my good. God causes all things to work together for good to those who belong to Him, to summarize Romans 8. So we are to rejoice.

Come back to Philippians 4. You'll note, “rejoice always,” but note that little prepositional phrase—“in the Lord.” By virtue of the fact we belong to Jesus Christ, we abide in Him, we have experienced His cleansing, we are children of God, He is our heavenly Father. Everything is okay. That's the joy of my heart. Not that I can see how this is going to work out, not that I can guarantee it will have a “good” conclusion. Like Paul, he didn't know finally whether he would be executed or freed, but everything is okay. Even the people unfairly attacking him, everything is in God's hands. That brings a joy to my heart.

In the Lord. He has talked about this several times and reminded them they are in the Lord, in the book of Philippians. So “rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice.” So you come up and say, I'm going through difficulty. What shall I do? And I say, rejoice in the Lord. You say, you don't even know what my problem is. No, I don't, but what does God say? Always. Always. That just simplifies my life. I get apart and I say, Lord, this doesn't seem like a situation that I can rejoice in. Will you rejoice in the Lord always. You didn't get that, Gil? Let me say it again. Again I will say rejoice.

So first command, we rejoice.

Second command, “let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.” Let be known. And again, we want to get the idea, sometimes we use that word let as giving permission. This is a command, imperative in its form. Something that must be done. And you'll note here, you turn your attention. That word gentle, it is a word that has a breadth of meaning. Your gentle spirit as we have it means forbearance, yieldedness, gentleness, considerateness, generosity, charitableness. To summarize it, a willingness to yield personal rights, show consideration and gentleness to others. What happens here in this context, we turn our attention off ourselves. One of the things that causes severe depression is we turn inward, we focus on ourselves. That just drags us down.

So he says to rejoice in the Lord. And the next command is turn my attention to others, being thoughtful, considerate, magnanimous, generous to them. “Let your gentle spirit be known” to those who are nice. No, “to all men.” There is to be that concern for others. This would impact these two women, Euodia and Syntyche in verse 2. I mean, conflict comes when I am turned in and this is what I think has to be. And someone else has their same conviction and they just can't see they are wrong. But really the focus I have to have is on them, how can I be considerate? Doesn't mean we compromise doctrine or biblical truth, but in our relationships concerned with how I can be considerate, kind, generous to them. That's a characteristic of Christ. In 2 Corinthians 10:1 we talk about the gentleness of Christ. Same word there. James 3:;17 says the wisdom from above is gentle, that wisdom that God gives is gentle, it is considerate, it is magnanimous, it is kind. It is a quality you can see that comes through, puts others before ourselves. Turns our attention out of ourselves to others. It is part of God's plan to have joy in our hearts always and in that context we are looking to have the right spirit in dealing with others.

And a reminder is the Lord is near. Those things that bother us, that irritate us, that burden us. Think about it, if the Lord is coming at 1:15 today, most of those things will quickly fade into not important. If someone you are having a problem with came up and said, I know . . . You'd say, it doesn't matter, it's not important, not even a consideration. Why? Because the Lord is coming. That's the reminder. Why does he put that here? The Lord is near, He is at hand. He says “let your gentle spirit be known to all men” because it helps me deal with that when the Lord is near. Is it that important? Does it matter? I will soon stand before Him and be judged by Him. How do I want to be treating you? So that command turns our attention off ourselves and out. Your gentle spirit must be made known to all men, the Lord is near.

Next command, verse 6, “be anxious for nothing.” Be anxious for nothing. You see here we are talking about the mental, emotional health and well-being of God's people. They have joy in their hearts, they have a king, generous, magnanimous spirit in dealing with others. They are living in light of the soon coming of the Lord. You must not be anxious for anything, be anxious for nothing. Again a command, present tense command here. No anxiety. The word here in this context is used in the negative of things you worry about, you fret about. They eat away at you. They keep you awake at night, they distract you,. They just always trouble me. Be anxious for nothing. Doesn't mean we are careless, indifferent, but God's people aren't worriers.

Come back to Matthew 6, the Sermon on the Mount, verse 25. “ For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life.” There is our word, do not be anxious, don't be worried about your life—what you will eat, what you will drink, your body, what you put on, your food, your clothing, all these external things. Let it go. Why? You belong to your heavenly Father, He is the one who takes care of the birds and He sees that they eat, that they are provided for. And you are worth more than the birds. Seems simple.

I shared with you, we were on vacation, we traveled down the road in the car and one of these sparrows or little birds flew out in front of the car and we hit him. Didn't matter. The Lord knows that bird, just knocked out of the sky, not flying, lying on the road. But the bird wasn't worth a lot. We didn't stop and have a service even though I am a pastor. We just went on our way. But God knew. Not a sparrow falls from the sky He doesn't know about. And I fret and worry. That's the point He is making. And verse 27 reminds, you can't change anything with your worrying. So why are you worried? God provides for the flowers of the field. Look how beautiful they are. God does it.

So come down to verse 31, do not worry then, “what will we eat, what will we drink, what will we wear? The Gentiles,” and Gentiles here would represent those outside God's people, for the Jews are God's people. He is still working with the nation Israel in the Gospels because Gentiles are those who do not belong to God. “They worry about those things. Seek first His kingdom, His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.” What you need to be concerned about is honoring Him, pleasing Him, obeying Him, living for Him. So “don't worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Doesn't mean we are indifferent, doesn't mean we don't plan. We plan but we don't worry. And I have no control over tomorrow ultimately, it is in God's hands. I have no control over this afternoon, I don't know what will come. I could have a stroke and my life would change dramatically. We don't know. We plan but it is in God's hands. Don't worry about tomorrow.

All of you are here in one stage of alertness or another. You shouldn't have watched the whole game. And it wasn't worth it. We worry about the future. You aren't worried, here you are. If you are worrying, you are worrying about something that is going to happen, you're not worrying about right where you are sitting now. What will happen this afternoon? How will I deal with that tomorrow? What am I going to do at work? How will I deal with this? What are we going to do to pay the bills? Don't worry about it, don't be anxious about it. Your heavenly Father cares for you.

Now note, if we weren't going through trials and difficulties and hard times, he wouldn't even have to talk about this because we don't worry about it. I just got a check for $200,000 from the estate of a relative I didn't know I had. I'm really worried about how I will spend this. We don't worry about that. The very fact he is talking about this indicates these are difficulties, trials, pressures that come, but God's people handle then differently. This is life. God never promised to spare His children from trials, He promised to care for them and sustain them as they go through the trials. Trials are part of His purpose for our lives. We don't escape the things. The book of Ecclesiastes describes this. God's people experience the same thing, we experience sickness, we experience sorrow, we experience hurts, we experience the declining of our physical health. Just because we are believers doesn't mean we don't experience the normal things of life. But for us as God's children, He is in control of it all for our good.

You can just jot down 1 Peter 5:7, cast all your care upon Him, all your anxieties, because He cares for you. Could it get any better than that? What is worrying you? What is eating at you? What is troubling you? Give it over to the Lord. That's easier said than done. Why? Well, you just can't do that. Why? If I have a debt and one of the billionaires rattling around says, here, Gil, give me that sheet of indebtedness. I'll pay it. I can't do that. Why? I just can't do that. Just give it to me. I can't do that. The God of heaven tells me, cast all your cares, all your anxieties on Me. Gil, what are you worried about today? Well, nothing right now. Why? Well, I gave it all over to the Lord. And the next thing that comes to my mind as an anxiety, I'm going to do the same thing. That's what he tells me to do.

Come back to Philippians 4. Be anxious for nothing, but. But let your requests be made known to God. Or we could say you must be making your requests known to God. Don't be anxious about anything, be anxious for nothing but let your requests be made known to God. And in between there you have different words for prayer. But in everything, anxious for nothing. Everything, the contrast—nothing. Everything. Anxious for nothing, in prayer about everything. In everything by prayer, supplication, with thanksgiving, requests. We have different words for prayer here, giving the different aspects of it all brought together. Prayer, supplication, thanksgiving, requests. We come and tell God about it. You are my Father, you are the God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, you are the God who said if you had a need you wouldn't ask us because we have nothing we can give you. But you have everything. All power is yours, you know the concern I have, you know the needs we have here. And they weight upon me. But, Lord, I belong to you.

It's like your children when they are little and they come and say, I'm worried we won't have enough to eat. You will have plenty to eat, I'm providing for you. Yes, but I saw on the news that there are people who are starving in the world. I know, but I'm providing for you, you'll have enough. Do you want them to go to there room and sit down and worry about it for the next week? Why? You are providing, there is plenty. Well my heavenly Father has it all under control.

So in everything let your requests be made known to God. You go to the doctor, we talk about cancer. He says, here is what is new. It is in the Lord's hands. Everything that might concern me is in the Lord's hands. We don't want to trivialize life, but I don't want to live my life like the unbeliever who doesn't have a heavenly Father looking out for him, providing for him, promising to take care of every situation. Sometimes we as believers begin to live like the unbeliever. The unbeliever has a right to be worried. Knowing what I know, if I were an unbeliever I'd be on pills myself and I'd probably be drunk. Give strong drink to him who is perishing, pass the bottle. Do they ever think about the hopelessness of their lives? But that's not my life. God has provided something better for me, not just in the future, but right now as I go through the worst of situations, the worst of circumstances. He is taking care of me, He is guiding me each step of the way. He is saying, trust me. Do you think I am going to get to heaven, look back and say, it would have been better if I hadn't prayed about it and left it in the Lord's hands. I don't think so. I think if I sit and watch the newsreel of my life, I'm going to say, what was I thinking? Why was I fussing and fretting and worrying about that? What kind of fool was I? It was all because . . . Could it be any clearer? He is our heavenly Father. When your physical father when you were young gave you a command, you knew you were supposed to do it. Here it is, you must make your requests known to God.

What's going to happen? And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension. This peace we're talking about has no good human explanation. This peace of God will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. You see where we are? We're in the heart, that innermost part of your being, your mind. God's peace, the word to stand guard, Paul probably could identify with this. He is a Roman prisoner, that guard was there. I have the peace of God standing as a guard at my heart, protecting my heart from all that which would bring anxiety and worry. Why? Because I've done what God said. The peace of God will guard. May guard? No, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The world does have a mental illness, not what they are talking about. As the prophet said, the whole body is sick, sick with sin. No wonder they can't cope with life. But that's not where we are. We live in the same fallen world, we as God's children face some of the same circumstances. I can go to the doctor, sit next to other people who have the same physical problem, but we are living in different worlds. My heavenly Father has His hand on me, He is directing each step, His peace has given me a tranquility of heart. I pity them, their world is unraveling, they are lost and without hope in the world. But that's not where I am. The peace of God will stand guard at your hearts and your minds. We are God's children, we belong to Him.


Come back to Psalm 37, we've limited verses we go to. Psalm 37:1, “do not fret because of evildoers, do not be envious toward wrongdoers. They will wither quickly like the grass, fade like the herb.” Remember that when you watch the news, get so wound up. Don't fret. Verse 4, “delight yourself in the Lord, He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him. He will do it.” Verse 7, “rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way. Cease from anger, forsake wrath. Do not fret, it only leads to evildoing.” I mean, it doesn't mean we become indifferent, but relax, believer. Get your mind off yourself, focus on God and what you have in Him, the security that is yours in Him. The world may be falling apart around us, but my world is not falling apart. You don't know what is going on in my life. I don't need to. If you belong to the living God, you are His child, your world is not falling apart because He causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him.

Rejoice when you fall into various trials and testings, God is molding and maturing you. I don't like it humanly speaking, I don't like to suffer, I don't hope I'll suffer more so I can grow more. My desire would be that I could grow without needing to suffer, but God will decide what I need and what is best for me. And that's my security.

Come over to Psalm 55:22, “cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.” That's pretty good.

Come back to Philippians 4. Now we have a follow through here. Peace and joy, we don't have time to go through, we started out with a command to rejoice in verse 4. Now we're talking about peace. And these two are brought together. What is the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22? Love, joy, peace. Joy and peace are often brought together. Romans 14:17 talks about peace and joy; Romans 15:13, joy and peace; and others. Isaiah 26:3-4. All God's providing and keeping.

We follow up with the next command in verse 8, it's at the end. So you have all of verse 8 and the command is given at the end of the verse. “Dwell on these things. Dwell on these things.” Finally brethren, dwell on these things. What things? “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute. If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” Focus your attention, logizomai, focus your attention, concentrate, think through on these things. We're not going to go through each of these words, but you get the flavor just reading them. You can look at the breakdown of them at another time. The summary is if there is anything of excellence, anything worthy of praise, you think on the best. You can control your thoughts. As a believer you not only can control them, you are commanded to control them. You cannot be pleasing to God unless you control them. You must be thinking on these things, concentrating on them, focusing your thoughts on them.

We think, I just can't help it, I have these things on my mind. That's a lie. People don't think I'm a great counselor, I can't understand. I couldn't make money as a counselor because my sessions tend to be brief and short. Don't tell me you can't help what you are thinking about. The Bible says a believer can. Let's resolve this. Are you a believer? Yes. Then why do you sit here and lie to me and say you can't control your thoughts? Or you can't control your thought because you are not a believer? You always do the will of your father the devil. I'm never coming back to you, I came for comfort. When I go to a medical doctor, I don't go for comfort. I go for solution. I have this problem. I went to the doctor a while back, he said, you need to have a spinal tap. Here's what I will do. I'll take this long needle, you'll be over on the table and I'll take that and go through your back, go through your bone, get into the marrow, pull it out. You have to be kidding me! Do you think I came to you for that kind of treatment? I'm out of here, buster. He said, we can do it now or we can make an appointment for you to come back. I ain't coming back!

We go to the doctor we expect that but somehow when we're dealing with this in a believer's life, disobedience to the Word, we think we have to be understanding, we have to be sympathetic. I mean, we need to be kind, we need to be loving, but we need to tell the truth. What are you thinking about? Doesn't seem to me from what you've shared that you've been thinking about the things of excellence, the things worthy of praise, what is of good reputation, what is lovely. I mean, this is a follow-through. We rejoice, we let our gently spirit be known, we're not anxious for anything, we've turned our requests over to God so His peace can stand guard in our heart but we're not done. You must be thinking on these kinds of things. We stop without coming to this one and say, it's not working because you're still thinking about it. If I go in and pray about it and pray about it and pray about it, then I come out and worry about it. I still don't have any peace. God never said He'd just send a lightning bolt down, He said here is what you do. You've turned it over to Me, now you think on these things.

And furthermore you are not done. Verse 9, “the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things.” Now you do them. “And the God of peace will be with you.” The old Bob Jones statement—do right, do what God said. And the things you have learned, received, heard and seen in me are things that the Spirit has directed him to write in the Word so we could pattern our life after them. We have this idea we're a believer and somehow God blesses us and we don't pay attention to what He says. No wonder we're trying to follow the world's pattern of getting some kind of relief. We just can't deal with it, it just overwhelms me, I can't help it. Lie. Do what he says, think on what he says to think on, put into practice what he says to put in practice.

And then you'll note the last promise, “and the God of peace will be with you.” Doesn't say the God of peace will be with you if you choose not to do these things. And we all stumble in many ways. And even as believers we fail to follow through and be obedient, we suffer the consequences. We end up with the same kind of problems the world has. So we have so-called Christian counselors so we don't go to the world's counselors, but they basically do the same thing. Come for twelve sessions and we'll talk about your problem.

A person came to me a while back, they had sin their life, said they can't stop. I said, let's settle that, let's deal with this. You're lying, let's just decide which is the lie. You say you're a Christian. How do you know you are a Christian? Tell me why you think you are a Christian when you're sitting here telling me you're living in sin. We went through. All right, then you can stop. You don't have to sin. If any man be in Christ he is a new creature, new creation. Old things pass away, new things have come. We went to Romans 6, you died with Christ. So then you are lying if you can't stop. You can stop, you don't want to stop. It's not both, it's either or. The person got up and left. A month or so later I got a call, he says, you know, you were right. I stopped. Of course. We believers go to our own pity party—I can't help it. Well, I have the indwelling Spirit and greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

I'm not trying to be a medical doctor, but I am concerned. We have followed the pattern of the world so believers are doing the same thing. Have you ever noticed? It's only people in the well-to-do affluent countries that have time to be depressed. Everybody else is busy just trying to survive, trying to get along. The person sitting in the $30 million mansion with the trophy wife and so has arrived and nobody can understand. He must have a disease. He does. His heart was deceitful and desperately wicked above all things and sin always moves you to destruction. We as believers are not to live like the world. Aren't you glad? God commands me to rejoice always. He tells me to turn all my cares over to Him. The song says, oh what peace we often forfeit, all because we do not bring it to the Lord in prayer. There is the simple truth. Here it is, Lord. Lord, you know this is weighing me down; Lord, I've let this begin to eat at me. I'm miserable. Lord, I have to turn it over to you. I have to look and be honest, am I doing what I should? Do I have sin in my life? I better stop it. Sin makes you miserable. When I start with it, I'm not going to sit in that puddle. Lord, I've stumbled, I've failed. You have to commit these things to the Lord and go on.

“Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,” 2 Corinthians 10:5. Thinking on these things, I'm putting this into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. We live in a world of turmoil and confusion, but I'm not in turmoil and confusion. My God, my heavenly Father has me by the hand, leads me each step of the way. And I stumble but I don't fall because He keeps me going. Sometimes I have to refocus myself and say Lord, I have to back up. Where is the joy in my heart? Am I functioning with a gentle spirit? Am I focused on others? When I begin to turn more and more on myself, I lose more and more of the joy. Am I anxious about things? What am I worried about? What am I fretting about? What am I anxious about? I need to tell the Lord about it, turn it over to Him, cast all my anxieties on Him because He cares for me. And His peace will stand guard on my heart and mind. Now think this way, put into practice what He says. And it is a blessing.

If you are here and don't have Jesus Christ as your Savior, you can't have the peace of God. God says there is no peace to the wicked. But He is gracious. He says, come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Doesn't get any better than that. He says turn from your sin, place your faith in the Son of God who loved you and died for you, was raised from the dead. And it's supernatural. He will make you a new person on the inside and He'll begin to produce His character and His peace in your life.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the riches of your grace. How unworthy and undeserving we are. Sinners by birth, sinners by choice, rebellious and stubborn. But your mercy has reached out and touched our hearts. Thank you for the Savior who loved us and died for us, who is alive today. Thank you, Father, through faith in Him we have peace with you and the peace that you give to our hearts and minds moment by moment, day by day. No person, no circumstance can remove it from us. Lord, thank you for the commands to remind us of your blessing for us. I pray for any who don't know you, that this might be a day of salvation for them. We pray in Christ's name, amen.