This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Philippians” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, January 24, 1993.

We are reading from Philippians chapter 4, beginning at verse 4 this morning. Listen to the word of God. Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men, the Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, 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 and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things and the God of peace shall be with you.

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction. And you yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone.

For even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek the profit which increases to your account, that I have received everything in full and have an abundance, and am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.” and my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Let’s pray together.

Our Father, your word protects us through yourself being a shelter to your people. We know also that your word gives us instruction. that we would not be apprehensive about our life in the world, and you lay upon us command that we would pray for those who are in authority. We would pray for those who are in authority in the Church, who rule on our behalf and for our benefit, bearing the name of Christ, and we would also pray for those who rule over us in matters of state and government, that we might at all times be respectful, that we might reverence you, for we know, our God, that no one has office or position apart from your will. We do pray, our God, for those in the Church and in the world who have responsibility We know the nature of the rule is different as we pass from church to state, but we are mindful of your commands with respect to each of these spheres. May we honor you, Lord. May we honor those who have authority. May we honor the King. We pray this in Jesus’ name.

Amen. a boy on a summer’s day, sitting quietly, ever so quietly, not that that isn’t out of keeping with his usual behavior, but sitting quietly beside a stream The sounds of that stream having hypnotized him. The beauty of it all, the calm, the tranquility.

And he, in later years, unable to forget those wonderful moments. The married couple We could place them in any number of settings. England, France, Germany, Italy, Asia, Southeast Asia, the Arab world. A married couple clinging to each other during a bombing raid only to realize that the bombs had stopped that the enemy had gone and in that moment being wonderfully free of fear and experiencing an uncommon peace grandparents, exhausted, leaning against a closed door, smiling at each other, though weary, now at peace because they have recaptured their house from an army of grandchildren. and elderly women, godly and sincere, rising from her favorite chair to turn off the TV, that she might have a little peace, having had just about enough of the cacophonous madness and mayhem served up to the media, to the growing number of numb, indiscriminate and mindless people.

The peace that I have described in each of these little vignettes is a peace that comes to us in this world, and as nice as these experiences are, they are in fact of a peace with the peace that this world offers. Momentary, fleeting, nevertheless prized and increasingly rare in a world that spins ever deeper into distress. A world overtaken with a culture of self-analysis and psychotherapy, where abnormality and aberrance hardly the ingredients for long-lasting peace have become the standards. A person can actually get rich promising peace to restless people in a restless world. Now the Bible talks a great deal about this priceless commodity, peace.

This discussion of peace, this mention of peace, is unique, for the peace of which it speaks is set apart from the peace that belongs to this world, even those enjoyable moments of peace and calm and tranquility known by us. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee.” Isaiah 26, verse 3. Jesus in the fourteenth chapter of John tells us that he intends to leave his peace with his people, not such as the world would give them, but a peace wholly unique and different.

And the Apostle Paul speaks repeatedly about this peace. He uses it invariably in his salutations. Grace to you and peace from God the Father. and the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul speaks a bit more expansively about this peace, this longed-after reality, this coveted reality.

In Philippians 4 verse 7, he calls it there the peace of God, describes it as surpassing comprehension, says that it’s capable of guarding your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. we have before us in this verse, a memorable text. But this memorable text has an equally memorable introduction, the previous verse. The anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with us, giving that your requests be made known unto God.” These two verses, then, Philippians 4, 6 and 7, are memorable indeed, especially for understanding better the nature of this peace of which the apostle speaks this piece that is part and parcel of the scriptures message. These two verses are full of subtleties. These two verses are full of subtleties.

Because of that, they demand our meditation. A lost art, I might add. They demand our meditation, they demand our concentration, they demand our study. that they might in fact yield up to us their great insight into this incredibly important matter. Now this morning I want to concentrate on the subtleties of verse 6, so that we might build up for a reflection upon that seventh verse in the future. We easily overlook the force of the opening words in that sixth verse.

Be anxious for nothing. Now, I think that you’ll agree with me. that these words, even standing by themselves, have a certain definite power. These words are what public speakers identify as grabbers. Be anxious for nothing. But the force of these words is reinforced by the immediately preceding words from the apostle. Paul has just said, the Lord is at hand. Now, I don’t know about you, but I can speak for myself. If someone had just said to me, the Lord is at hand, I know what kind of thoughts would be going through my mind. And they wouldn’t be necessarily anxiety-free. The apostle has just said, the Lord is at hand. And that fact, certainly from the apostle’s point of view, is sobering and frightening. Paul mentions that the Lord is at hand precisely because such a thing is sobering and frightening.

He is issuing a warning to these beloved Christians. He is issuing a warning to these saints he loves so well, who presently find themselves feeding upon their own self-importance, and how damaging and even damning that can be. He is issuing this warning to them who are having difficulty showing any patience, any gentleness, any gracious forbearance within the assembly of which they are a part.

You see how he begins that fifth verse? Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men. How tragic it is for the Apostle, how stricken he is as he thinks about it. These people for whom he has labored, these whom he loves, come off God by the return of the Lord. How tragic it would be for the Lord to return and find some in this church refusing to show kindness, refusing to show gentleness and forbearance, when such kindness and graciousness and forbearance has been shown to them in Christ. Notice now how quickly Paul moves from these plainly sobering and frightening words at the end of verse five to those expressing seemingly just the opposite sentiment. It would seem that as the approach of the Lord is set before you, you are called into account You would have reason to be anxious.

But now, the Apostle says, be anxious for nothing. As if he were seeing these people in the very best possible light. As if these people have nothing to fear, even at the coming of the Lord. Now, we have here more than words of encouragement, words of comfort, more than mere words expressing Paul’s devotion to these people and the fact that he wants to see them in the very best possible light. His words here, the anxious for nothing, are the means by which he would beckon the souls of all who would, in fact, have nothing to fear at the Lord’s return, who would be joyous at Christ’s appearance.

If you run through verse 5 into verse 6, then The force and power of what the apostle is saying is this, only those in whom the spirit of the forbearing, gentle, patient Savior is at work, to bring such characteristics out in them, can both welcome him and live without anxiety. Only those in whom the spirit of the forbearing, gentle, patient Savior is at work to bring out just those characteristics can welcome Christ at his return, live in expectation of his return, and presently live without anxiety. These then are those to whom belongs the peace of God. But further now, don’t miss the full force of the Apostle’s thought. For in these words, be anxious for nothing, which indeed have this positive, encouraging, comforting thrust.

There is a subtle reflection upon the matter at hand in Philippa. And as we think about this subtle reflection, we get at the root of anxiety. You see, there were anxious people, to be sure, in Philippi, and we also know about anxiety, we know about anxiousness. But what is the truth about anxious people, be they here in Grace Church or in Philippi in the first century?

Anxious people are always trying to hold on. They’re always trying to hold on. They’re trying to hold on to life in this world. They may be trying to hold on to their own importance, their own reputation. They may be trying to hold on to things, or jealously and self-interestedly to other people. The church at Philippi is going sour because disgruntled, the joyless souls are desperately holding on to things. They’re holding on to life in this world, they’re holding on to other people even.

So as to make those others their slaves, suggesting that if these people do not then fulfill their needs, then they have reason to be upset about them and even to dismiss them as unimportant. And how strange all of this is. So, in another context, the Philippians have done so well. When the apostle was in view, they had gone overboard in demonstrating their kindness and magnanimity towards him.

But now, when it comes to matters within the congregation, they can’t be civil to one another. But of course, the apostle is living at a safe distance from them. He had only stayed a little while, he had moved on. Presently he’s in Rome. We don’t have to deal with him week in, week out. Paul pressures them, then, as they have been carefree in demonstrating their generosity towards him. He wishes them to be carefree in demonstrating that generous spirit with each other.

So then, while Paul beckons these Philippians to a life without anxiety before the coming of the Lord, he does so with a reminder to them about the root of their anxiety, and with a subtle call to a selfless contentment with what the Lord has given them.

But further and finally, one other subtlety here in the sixth verse. I want you to notice that what the apostle has to say here does not merely carry over what he has been saying through the fifth verse. but also what he had said in the fourth verse, specifically about rejoicing. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. Note that when the apostle calls these folk to be free from anxiety, he goes on to give them instruction about prayer.

Now, that’s very helpful, because you see, instead of these people filling up their mouths with complaints and murmurings, they are to fill up their mouths with prayer. The anxious person is always seemingly filling up their mouths with complaints and murmurings. But that one who would be anxiety-free must fill up his mouth with other things. He must fill up his mouth with prayer.

But Paul speaks about prayer here for a special purpose. He wants to underscore the phrase, with thanksgiving. Now, in order to understand that, it is best to read the sixth verse this way, but in everything by prayer and supplication, pause. With thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. So, Paul isn’t here speaking about a general attitude of prayer, that when you go to pray, make sure you’re especially thankful. He is attaching the thanksgiving to making of requests. And why does he do that? The thanksgiving is specifically attached to the requests.

In fact, it precedes the requests, it envelops the requests, because with such thanksgiving we evidence a glad and joyful spirit in the certain knowledge that God is most assuredly caring for us. And that we do not doubt, even if he does not grant us what we request. So here I come. I perceive that I am in need, and I make requests of God. But even as I am making requests of God with regard to my need, I am acknowledging through my thanksgiving that all of my needs have been met. And that God is perfectly and absolutely faithful and sufficient.

We rejoice, we give thanks with our prayers while making requests, because even when asking God for what we lack, we carry with us a certain and profound sense of the fact that we already have what we need. in the full provision of God’s grace to us. Paul has already learned this lesson. Did you hear him? Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity. In any and in every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Let me tell you something. Here is a man who knows the peace of God. Won’t you listen to him? Won’t you listen to him? Let’s pray.

Our Father, we are often fearful and filled with every kind of anxiety. Forgive us, Lord. Grant us, Lord, the spirit whereby we might hear clearly what your word is saying to us. And when we are brought up short, Lord, we know of your sufficiency and your grace, which is proved in granting us the fullness of what we need. Our God end our fears, bring to an end our anxiety. May we instead be filled up with the sentiment of prayer, with the activity of devotion in prayer, but Lord, may our thanksgiving be heard to surround even the requests we make. And this as testimony to our contentment in you with what you have given us and that to which you have called us. For Jesus’ sake, through that one indeed who knew your peace perfectly and now communicates it to us graciously. Amen.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.