The Prison Epistles
Sermon Number Twenty-Four
Paul's Closing Remarks (Part 1)
Philippians 3:1-16
September 11th, 2005
Jim Bordwine, ThD

Introduction

Imagine yourself in the circumstance of the apostle Paul, confined to your quarters in the city of Rome, as he wrote his letters to various churches. Guards keep an eye on you around the clock; you aren't mistreated, for now, but you do not have freedom. As you write to all those believers, you want to be sure you say just what they need to hear. You know many of them personally; you planted the churches of which they are a part. Every congregation to which you write is unique; every one has its own personality, its own points of excellence and points of weakness. And you have a particular affection for one, and that is the church in the city of Philippi.

Those believers have been exceptionally kind to you and have done more than others to demonstrate interest in your welfare. You've written to them and recalled those acts of kindness; you've expressed your love for them and your hope that they will continue growing in the faith. You've put before them the Savior and called them to walk according to His example. You've been completely open about your past and have confessed to them that all you once achieved amounted to rubbish now that you knew of the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

Now you must end your letter, so what do you say? You have so much more you'd like to cover, so many more things on which you could comment. But it's time to close; so, again, what do you say and how do you end this letter to those who are bound to your heart in the faith?

We come this morning to the last chapter in Paul's letter to the Philippians. Typically, this section is filled with various odds and ends, we might say, as Paul brings his remarks to a close. This is where we find some of the apostle's most memorable sayings. There are verses in this final chapter that have been memorized and quoted over and over again because they encapsulate such wisdom and such succinct instruction regarding how a Christian looks at the world and how he lives in the world.

As we look at these closing remarks, I'm going to pick out three exhortations from the apostle. These three exhortations are, as indicated, keys to living an enjoyable, productive, and God-honoring life on this earth. As we go through these verses, I want you to be thinking this: What would my life be like if I heeded the words of Paul?

I want to summarize the beginning of this chapter before we look at the first exhortation. You'll notice in vv. 1-3 that Paul again expresses his affection for the Philippians. He calls them his "joy and crown" and tells them to "stand firm in the Lord, my beloved." Paul then addresses two women in the congregation who, it appears, were involved in a dispute with one another. No details are given, but Paul's word to them is: "live in harmony in the Lord." The word he uses (phroneo) refers to being of the same mind. These were women, Paul goes on to say, who had shared in his struggle in the cause of the gospel. Paul mentions one more man by name--Clement, but also refers to "the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life."

It is evident, once again, that Paul was very fond of those in this congregation. They had gone beyond others, as I mentioned before, in showing concern for him and interest in his work as a preacher of the gospel.

That brings us to the first exhortation, which is found in vv. 4-7. It has to do with our temperament, by which I mean our disposition or outlook.

01. Temperament

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

There is so much to be gleaned from these few verses. Remember that I asked you to be thinking of a particular question as we look at these three exhortations. The question is: What would my life be like if I heeded the words of Paul? What if I lived my life as Paul describes here? As you hear Paul's words, you might be thinking of a different question: Is it possible to live my life as Paul describes here? After all, look at what he is urging: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!" (v. 4) It's not "try to keep going" or "be happy on the outside even if you are hurting on the inside." Paul uses a word, translated "rejoice" (chairo), which means "to be glad, to rejoice exceedingly, to thrive." This isn't your ordinary "put a smile on your face" type of encouragement. This word refers to a deep-seated delight in the heart.

This word is used sixty-eight times in the New Testament--in the Gospels, Acts, several of Paul's letters, and some of the letters of the other apostles. In just about every case, it is used to describe the reaction to some aspect of the experience of redemption. The joy contemplated in this word has to do primarily with the soul's glad response to God's work of salvation. What is envisioned here is a happiness or cheerfulness that is not produced by anything else we contemplate in life. It's a kind of pleasure that comes upon the redeemed man or woman when the incredible mercy of God is considered. Inevitably, when God's work of salvation through Christ is pondered, no matter what our present circumstances, we are--at least for the moment--made joyful. Paul says that we should live that way. We should not settle for an occasional moment or two of exceeding joy, but we should be delighting in the Lord in this fashion all the time.

Paul is emphatic: "rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!" Apparently, he did not think this an impossible achievement. He's not talking about having a cheesy grin on our faces all the time. He's talking about our outlook, our disposition. Ironically, or so it appears to the watching world, the Christian can be passing through some painful trial and still rejoice in the Lord. This is because, as I indicated earlier, Paul is speaking of something other than a cursory reaction to life; he's speaking of anchoring ourselves in the goodness of God so that as we live out our days, no matter what we face, we have that foundation of thankful gladness.

I admit that this is a real challenge for most of us. We let so many things determine our moods and our outlooks as we go about our lives. What we cannot deny is that we do have a disposition or temperament. What we need to work on is the character of that temperament. We should want what Paul describes here, which is a joyful disposition. When we demonstrate a happy countenance, it makes things so much easier on those around us. It may require some work, as I noted, but something is going to determine your temperament; as a Christian, it certainly should be your relationship with Christ, and not some transitory aspect of this life.

Paul isn't finished with that exhortation. He goes on to say: "Let your gentle spirit be known to all men." (v. 5) Joy and gentleness! This time Paul uses a word (epieikes) that means "fair, mild, yielding." This too has to do with temperament. This word describes one who is easy to get along with--not a person who has no convictions, but a person who doesn't make a big issue out of every little challenge in life. This is the word Paul uses when he says that a man who fills the office of elder must be "gentle" (1 Tim. 3:3). Clearly, then, he's not talking about a lack of backbone; he's talking about self-control and the ability to deal with others in difficult circumstances without causing an emotional explosion. This word is also used by James when he speaks of heavenly wisdom in 3:17. This is how God operates, in other words. He is gentle with us and we should be known for our gentleness.

"The Lord is near," Paul adds. He probably means to remind the Philippians that their lives are watched by the Lord; and, in addition, the apostle says this by way of encouragement. "You can rejoice in Him and you can demonstrate meekness toward others because Christ is with you and He is ready to help; He is near." We don't have to doubt that Paul is taking this exhortation from the life of the Savior. Remember, not too far back in this letter, the apostle wrote about the Savior's temperament when He walked this earth. And Paul called the Philippians to imitate that disposition. Here, he is elaborating on that idea. He is defining what a disciple of Christ looks like.

Added to this temperament of joy and gentleness is an absence of anxiety: "be anxious for nothing," Paul says (v. 6). Again, we hear another significant challenge. How can we be "anxious for nothing" when you consider all that there is in this life to be anxious about? That word (merimnao) refers specifically to being troubled by various cares and concerns. It sounds like an accurate description of life, doesn't it? I'll point out something that we all know to be true and that is the fact that Paul speaks from experience. Consider his life as an apostle in the early Church and you find ample evidence that this man had plenty of issues in his experience to produce anxiety. Yet, here he says: "be anxious for nothing."

Here is what I'm anxious about. I'm anxious about this church, my wife and sons, my aging mother and my in-laws; I'm anxious about all the work that needs to be done to my house and I'm anxious about all the things I wish I had time to do but have to ignore. I worry about getting older; I worry about my life ten or twenty years from now and I worry about things in the past I can't do anything about! I don't think that I'm the only one who could make a list of things that weigh heavily on my mind daily.

For those who do have a issues in their lives that cause anxiety, Paul specifies a "cure," so to speak. He says that the remedy for anxiety--the answer to worrying about things you cannot control, yet must deal with--is offering prayer and supplication with thanksgiving in everything. Someone is going to bear the load of caring for the many, many issues we face in life where uncertainty, heartache, and disappointment are potential outcomes. Don't bear those things yourself, Paul teaches; instead, cast them on the Lord.

Take your worries to God; take your fears to God; take your apprehension to God. Leave those things in His hands, the apostle teaches. Right away, you can see how essential a good prayer life is to the Christian. Here, Paul is describing the kind of temperament we should have and he explains that prayer is vital. You cannot experience what Paul urges if you are not a person of much prayer. Let me put it this way: to go through life without spending significant amounts of time in prayer, is to guarantee yourself a life of anxiety.

There was a time in my early Christian life when I considered prolonged prayer a less than productive use of my time. I was young and foolish. I mistakenly thought that I would be better off spending my time on other pursuits. I found it difficult to sit for a long period of time and just pray. But I have learned that prayer is vital because in prayer I am enjoying communion with God and in prayer I am building a relationship with Him that is unlike any other relationship I know in this life. Prayer is personal; in prayer, I tell God everything--every worry and every doubt and every hope and every need. That is the kind of activity that builds a bond between us and God and we come to trust Him and rely on Him and eagerly open our hearts before Him. And that's the way we are supposed to live! That kind of relationship with God, one that cannot be realized by any other means, I might add, allows us to live out our days without being undone by all those unpleasant or unpredictable situations we must face.

In my experience, which is no huge revelation, I observed that the busier my life became, the more difficult it was to discipline myself to stop and pray, but I also learned over time that the busier my life got, the more I needed to pray. This is the truth Paul is reflecting. Without prayer as an integral part of your life, all those cares and concerns you have will affect your disposition or your temperament. Paul is telling us how to handle such things. We either choose to bear those worries alone, for the most part, which means a drain of our energy and a preoccupation that is bound to show up in the way we relate to others, or we, with thankful hearts, make known to God what is troubling us.

The end of all this is peace: "And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (v. 7) Who does not want peace? Who prefers turmoil to tranquility? Who feels most comfortable living a life of stress? Not me--and no one I've ever met! We all want peace--and this isn't just any kind of peace, as when two people agree to stop assaulting each other--this is "the peace of God." It's that state of existence in which calm envelopes the heart no matter what else is going on around us. It's that sense of ease that we don't experience except in our communion with God, as Paul implies when he says it "surpasses all comprehension." This state of being in communion with God, letting Him bear our burdens, will guard your heart and mind, the apostle says. That word (phroureo) means "to take into custody." Imagine God taking into custody, that is, into His personal and perfect care, your heart and mind! It's no wonder Paul says this produces in us a peace that "surpasses all comprehension."

Robert Murray M'Cheyne was a nineteenth century Scottish evangelical known for two things: his passionate zeal for lost souls and his prayer life. He was ordained when he was twenty-three years old and died at the age of thirty. In those few short years, he left a mark on the world that few have matched. It was during his brief ministry that Scotland had one of its greatest spiritual awakenings. From 1839-1842, much of Scotland was deeply affected by the labors of M'Cheyne. It has been said of M'Cheyne that for every time he directed men to look at their sins, he pointed them ten times toward Jesus. He was a lover of the lost and this was revealed in his preaching, as I indicated, and in the responses to his ministry, some of which amount to incredible stories of conviction gripping entire congregations at once.

But, as I stated, M'Cheyne is also known for his prayer life. That may sound odd. How can a man be known for his prayer life since most prayer occurs in private? What I mean is that his ministry, and most notably, his countenance testified to the existence of this practice that the apostle Paul has said is so vital. M'Cheyne spent more time in prayer than in any other activity. It wasn't that he lived during a time when distractions were few; no, he lived during a hard time when life was full of substantial distractions, not the kind that so easily keep us away from private communion with God.

M'Cheyne thought of prayer to God as a refuge of fellowship, holiness, and intercession. You don't say such things if you have a habit of uttering 30 second prayers once in a while. That kind of description comes from a man who spent hours each day in communion with God in prayer. In his prayer journal M'Cheyne wrote: "I rose early to seek God, and found Him whom my soul loveth. Who would not rise early to meet such company?" In another place, he said: "King Jesus is a Good Master. I have had some sweet seasons of communion with the unseen God which I would not give up for thousands worth of gold and silver." Now that is how a Godly man or woman thinks of God. He is the one "whom my soul loveth." And if that is the case, of course that man or woman is going to spend time with God in prayer.

Shortly before his death, M'Cheyne wrote a document entitled Reformation in Secret Prayer. In it, he states: "I ought to spend the best hours of the day in communion with God. It is my noblest and most fruitful employment." Please note that phrase: "the best hours of the day ..." Prayer was not something in which this man engaged if he could find the time--he made time to pray. Prayer was not an activity in which he engaged on occasion, it was a regular and essential part of his daily routine. And, as Paul indicates, M'Cheyne's devotion to prayer affected his temperament; his disposition was molded by all that time he spent alone with God in the communion of prayer.

These kinds of testimonies could be multiplied. The most effective servants in the history of Christianity have been those who, among other things, were characterized by a view on prayer that reflected the words of the apostle Paul. We are, in my opinion, extremely neglectful in this matter of prayer. The Bible tells us in various places how important a regulated prayer life is and it illustrates by numerous examples the benefits of this practice, but most Christians, I believe, do not have a practice of praying often and praying at length. Many of us, I regret to say, choose not to avail ourselves of this means of nourishing our souls and this means of enlisting the help of God as we wrestle with the burdens of life in this fallen environment.

Why are we like this? Why do we allow so many things--things that will not matter in the least when all is said and done--to distract us and eat up our time and keep us away from God? Are our lives really that much more complicated than the lives of saints in days gone by? Do we really have essential demands on our time that they did not have? Can we really make excuses for being negligent in this matter?

As you think of your own practice, consider that at any moment of any day, something will be affecting your disposition. Paul knew that himself. Therefore, he speaks of this peace of God and sets before us the elements necessary to know this peace of God. Most of us, of course, know what it is like to have our lives disrupted. We know what it is like to have some worry capture our hearts and take over our minds. It can be a financial problem, a sickness or injury affecting someone we love; it can be the troubling spiritual condition of someone close to us or it might be the fact that we don't know how a particular situation is going to turn out.

Paul says you have a choice. You can choose to have the peace of God capture your heart and take over your mind! But you have to develop that sweet communion with God through prayer. You have to view prayer as M'Cheyne did, as a refuge of fellowship, holiness, and intercession. God has to be the first One to hear of your anxiety, the first One to Whom you turn for help. He has to be the One you go to with much thanksgiving even as you lay before Him that situation that troubles you so.

Paul desired with all his heart to see the Philippians become the kind of people he describes in these verses. Do all these things, Paul teaches--contemplate your redemption and rejoice, develop a gentle spirit toward all, and above all, discipline yourself to pray about everything with thanksgiving--and you will have the kind of temperament, the kind of disposition that will cause others to marvel. Develop these characteristics in your personality, and you will be a blessing to others and a source of glory to God.

Application

In the beginning, I asked you to be thinking of this question as I spoke: What would my life be like if I heeded the words of Paul? We've covered the first of three exhortations Paul gives as this letter comes to a close. So what is your answer regarding this matter of temperament or disposition? What would your life be like if you heeded the words of Paul?

I intended, when I first began preparing this sermon, to finish all of chapter 4 of Paul's letter to the Philippians this morning. But I concluded, due to the importance of what the apostle says about our disposition, that I would spend this sermon examining only those few verses we have covered thus far. I am burdened for this congregation. I am troubled because there seems to be a lack of a deep, abiding, and stabilizing faith in so many--and our state is not unique; this seems to be typical of the contemporary Church. This is due, in part, to the hectic lives we lead these days. It is also due, in part, to the fact that we don't pause as long as we should and consider the things the Bible tells us are keys to living in the fullness of our relationship with Christ.

I think Phil. 4:4-7 is one of those kinds of passages. It's the kind of passage that contains pure spiritual gold, the kind of information that will transform lives if we simply take the time to listen and apply what we find here. Consider again Paul's exhortation that we "rejoice in the Lord always." Remember that the word rendered "rejoice" means "to be exceedingly glad, to thrive." Can you say that the Lord--your relationship with Him, what He has done for you--can you say that He is the source of your greatest joy? Can you say that contemplation of Him causes you to be exceedingly glad? Can you say that when you think of the Lord, you thrive? Do thoughts of the Savior give you that deep-seated delight of the soul?

These things should be true. If they are not, it's not necessarily because you don't really know Him. It is probably because you aren't giving your relationship with Him the kind of attention you should. Maybe there are a half dozen other issues in your life that occupy most of your attention and maybe it is around those things that your life revolves. If so, then you need to interrupt that pattern immediately and pursue first of all your relationship with the Savior. You need to seek Him, read His word, and dwell on His marvelous character until you know that pure joy that Paul talks about. Jesus isn't just another Figure in your life, He is your Savior. Does He hold a fitting place of distinction in your routine? Or must you admit that many other things rank before Him in terms of what you think about most and what receives the majority of your time? What would your life be like if you rejoiced in the Lord always?

And what about the gentleness of spirit Paul describes? Remember that Paul is not saying that if you have no convictions, you'll never have a cross word with anyone. He is talking about how you live out your convictions. How do others perceive you? Paul speaks of being known for a gentle spirit, but some are not known for a gentle spirit, they are known for the opposite. And that is not good. You probably have a fairly accurate idea of how you are perceived by others. Are you satisfied with that perception? Does it line up with the instructions of the apostle? What would your life be like if you were known for a gentle spirit?

And then there is that matter of being anxious. Be anxious for nothing, Paul wrote. We don't have to spend anytime on one aspect of this topic--and that is the fact that there are plenty of things in our lives to cause us anxiety. We all agree on that, I assume. The question is: what do we do about it? According to Paul, we pray--we pray about everything and our prayers are marked by thankful gladness. This, I believe, is the most relevant portion of Paul's comments because the kind of prayer life he commends in this passage is rare in our day. It is rare because we have a multitude of distractions; or, to be more accurate, we have a multitude of things we allow to distract us. It is this matter of prayer, prayer as one of the leading characteristics of your life, that I want you to consider most seriously.

If what Paul says is true, if the peace of God really is grounded in that communion we establish with Him through a robust prayer life, then how can we not desire it and how can we not determine right this moment that whatever is hindering us in this area will be overcome? Paul teaches that we respond to the concerns and cares of this world by resorting to prayer and in prayer we rest in the goodness of God as we pour out our hearts to Him. In this process, He becomes a cherished companion who bears our burdens for us. But without the practice of prayer, without making prayer a part of our daily routine, we won't have that kind of relationship with God. Think of it this way: Would you walk up to a stranger and pour out your concerns? Of course not; you know that you cannot rely on a stranger. God should not be a "stranger" to us when it comes to how we deal with all the demands of life. But all this takes effort.

Martin Luther was once asked by his barber about prayer. The man asked: How should I pray? It was a simple question and probably not intended to cause Luther any prolonged meditation. But Luther went home and wrote a short booklet on prayer as a result of that question. In this booklet, Luther said to the barber: "... a good and attentive barber keeps his thoughts, attention, and eyes on the razor and hair and does not forget how far he has gotten with his shaving or cutting. If he wants to engage into much conversation or let his mind wander or look somewhere else he is likely to cut his customer's mouth, nose, or even his throat. Thus if anything is to be done well, it requires the full attention of all one's senses and members ..."

Attention to the need, that is what Luther identified as the most important of all matters when it came to a man's prayer life. You first have to commit yourself to developing and maintaining communion with God in prayer. If you realize how vital prayer is, as Paul implies in our passage, if you really want to know that peace of God which surpasses all comprehension, then you have to make the commitment. You have to discipline yourself to that end.

As I noted before, Paul wanted to see the temperament of the Philippians shaped by the elements he specified: joy always, gentleness of spirit, lack of anxiety and thankful prayer. That's what I want for you, too. Listen to what the word of God says. Go home today and ponder what you have heard. Talk to those in your household about these things. Determine that you will find out the answer to that question: What would my life be like if I heeded the words of Paul?

Let's pray...

Conclusion

We need reminders as we go through life, reminders of how we are supposed to think and live. We need to hear the same truths more than once. We hear what Paul says about rejoicing always, about having a gentle spirit, about being anxious for nothing, and about praying to God with thankfulness. But we'll need to hear those same exhortations again in the days to come. And that is one of the many benefits of this sacrament. It is a weekly reminder of what was done for us and who, therefore, we are, and how we should be living. As you receive the elements, make it a habit to reflect on the truths you hear each week during our time of worship. Let this be the time each week when you refresh your memory and when you let your heart be encouraged by what Christ gained for you.

The Scripture says:

While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. (Matt. 26:26-28)