Today on Renewing Your Mind… We'll be right back. We'll be right back.
Welcome back. So, my advice to you, my counsel, is go out and be happy. What kind of a counselor is that? You see, what kind of minister is that who just says, go be happy? We do not think in terms, realistically, of eliciting joy by means of the imperative, although there are those who do it and who will irritate you and offend you no end.
As I said, the guy who comes up and says, pack up your troubles in an old kid bag and smile, smile, smile, like the good humor man tries to force you to be happy when you don't feel it. Nevertheless, the apostle here does call us to rejoicing by means of a repeated imperative. And what he is saying that in the life of the Christian, rejoicing is not optional. Now, he's not talking about feelings here. He's not saying control your feelings, but he is saying in a sense of participating in that joy that comes from contemplating what God has done for you.
And to be able to rejoice means to walk every minute in the confidence that God is God, that we can even rejoice in the midst of tribulation. Paul is not trying to be the stoic and say, I don't feel the tribulation. I don't feel the hassle. I don't feel the oppression.
I don't feel the misery. He feels it, and he feels it at the depths of his being. He's a human being, and he's not asking people to sacrifice the reality of their feelings, but he's saying, can we stand and praise God and glorify God in the middle of that indeed? And so he says, rejoice to these people.
Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men, for the Lord is near. The forbearing spirit, of course, has reference to the fact that these people were tolerant, not in an immoral kind of a way, but that they were fair-minded. They were people who understood that the Christian church is a fellowship of forgiveness. They were patient with each other. They were patient with each other's struggles.
They participated in the struggles. And that's saying, let that continue. Let it be known by all men, for the Lord is near. Now what this means, again, raises some technical theological questions here. Does this mean that Paul is saying that the return of Christ is at hand, and is Paul teaching at this point a very soon imminent return of Christ and therefore was wrong in his expectations? Or is he simply using a common Hebraic expression to speak of the presence of God that is always near at hand, nearby?
It could be either one of those. He could be saying that the coming of Christ is near and that there's a certain sense in which that's always true in the Christian community. The Christian community is to live every moment as if she is living in the last days because we are and we have been living in a crisis period in history since the advent of Christ.
And we should indeed be people who are living on the edge of expectancy. All right, he goes on to say, 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 your minds in Christ Jesus. Again, strange kind of imperative. Be anxious in nothing. Be anxious about nothing.
Now, how can that be an imperative? What he's simply saying here is that for the Christian, there is no possible ultimate ground basis for anxiety because above everything else, we are committed to a God who has revealed Himself not only as the God of the past, who gives us a sense of origin, but He's also the God of the present, but most significantly, He is the God of the future. That is to say, if God is God and if God has revealed Himself in Christ, He has revealed to us the fact that our lives do have meaning, our lives do have ultimate significance, our lives will manifest themselves if we are in Christ in a state of total felicity, and God has guaranteed that by His promise for the future. And in light of that, it would be a gross act of unbelief, an offense against the trustworthiness of God for us to be creatures of anxiety. There's a real sense in which anxiety is sin. There's a real sense in which anxiety means, oh God, I do not trust You for my future. I do not trust You for tomorrow.
I do not trust You for the day after tomorrow. This is, be anxious for nothing but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Now, let me just say here that in a very practical sense, here's the answer to our anxiety. 99 times out of 100, the anxious person is the person who doesn't spend much time in prayer. The anxious person is the person who strays from his Father, who doesn't know God, who has no understanding of God because he has no intimate communion with Him.
And that, of course, can be broken up into proportions, too, as to how much anxiety we feel. But He's saying the answer to anxiety is everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. If you're worried about something, if you have the capacity to be worried about something that can produce anxiety that will destroy you, what do you do? Go talk to God about it. Tell Him about it.
Lay it before Him. Let your requests and your supplications come to God. And when you do that, always be sure to do it with thanksgiving. One of the great areas of weakness in our prayer life today is the area of adoration and in the area of thanksgiving. We're pretty strong when it comes to supplication. Okay on that, you know, dear God, please give me this and do this and do that. You know, we can keep God busy with our prayers. But sometimes sit down and ask yourself, how much time do I spend in my prayer life in adoration?
And how much time do I spend in thanksgiving? Those two are very closely related. The more we come to adore God, the more we come to thank Him. We're driven to thank Him. Praise and thanksgiving are inseparably related.
Okay, but now here's the key. Having done this, 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, the peace which passes understanding, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Here is God's answer to our anxiety, His peace. The thing that I think that is most difficult of all things to communicate to a non-Christian is the dimension of peace. You either know that by your bonds with Christ or you don't know it. I don't know any way to intellectualize the peace that passes understanding, because it passes understanding. It's impossible to make it understandable to someone who doesn't know it intimately and really.
This is to me the great tragedy and the great frustration of trying to communicate Christ to other people, is that I know that person who is outside of Christ. I know if he doesn't want anything else, that person wants peace, doesn't he? He'll try everything to get peace. And I know that there's only one place he can get it, and I know what it is, and I know that if he ever tasted it for five minutes, he'd never let go.
But how do you communicate? Again, the greatest single legacy that Jesus gave to His people, what did He leave? What did He leave for us? Did He leave His money? Did He leave His house? Did He leave His horses?
No. He said, My peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth. Well, Jesus says, I'm going to give a peace to My people. It's not like the peace the world has to offer. And that peace has been promised.
And that, of course, was the hope of the Jewish people. To this day, they greet each other how? Hello? Goodbye?
No. Shalom. And the response, Shalom aleichem.
Aleichem shalom. Peace be unto you, and unto you peace. Now, here's what He says, the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension, this follows from communion with God that comes by letting your supplications, your requests be made known unto God with thanksgiving. This will follow the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension and shall guard your hearts and your minds. I like that word, guard. The word in the Greek here is the word that was used as the descriptive term of the sentry, the person who had to be on guard. In other words, he was called to a hyper sense of vigilance, not just casually observing, but the sentry was one whose full-time job was to guard, to watch out, to take care of. And what Paul is saying here using military terms is that the peace of God will not only come and make you feel better, but it will be like a sentry over your heart and over your mind, keeping you together, preserving you from anxiety.
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. I can remember a man that I talked to once came to me one time and he told me that he had had a real struggle with his mind after he became a Christian with the problem of lust. And he'd go to bed at night and lay down his head on a pillow, the head on a pillow, all he would do would begin to let his mind go wild with all kinds of lustful imaginations. And he told me how that he had been able to overcome that. So he purposely and willfully, when he laid his head on his pillow at night, consciously began to rehearse in his mind everything that he could think of, of Christ.
And it's a fact that you can't think about two things at the same time. And he said that he began to fall off to sleep and his sleep was peaceful sleep. And he said the thing too was to get not only his conscious mind converted, but his unconscious mind converted so that after a while he began to dream of the sweetness of Christ rather than the things which were not pure. And Paul is saying here there's a sense in which the mind can be trained. Let your mind dwell on those things which are sweet, those things which are beautiful. What do you feed your mind?
What do we read? I mean, our mind has a capacity to think in terms of what goes into it. There's a certain sense in which we program our thoughts.
And Paul is simply saying here a program in that which is honorable, that which is right, which is pure and lovely, good repute. 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 the opportunity. Not that I speak from once, for I've learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I don't think Paul ever learned a better lesson. You can master that one.
You've got it. You can be content in whatever circumstances you're in. I know how to get along with humble means and I know how to live in prosperity.
In other translations I know how to be abased and I know how to abound. That's a very significant point for the whole question of materialism today. You know, there are those who are reviving the poverty vows of the old monastic period and arguing that a Christian cannot be one who owns private property or who has any means in terms of wealth, that a Christian is obliged to give away his money to every degree. I don't think that that's a biblical concept.
Stewardship certainly is. Sacrificial giving certainly is. And an idolatry of money is certainly abhorred. But Paul says we have to learn as Christians how to be abased, how to live in poverty.
If that's the calling of God, we have to learn how to do it. At the same time, if God is pleased to bless us with prosperity, we also have to learn how to abound. And a lot of people don't know how to be prosperous. Prosperity can go to our heads. We can begin to flaunt it. We can begin to use it as power. We can begin to be an ostentatious display of our power through money and all of that business.
I mean, the person who does that doesn't know how to abound. On the other hand, a person can be so filled with guilt feelings because God has prospered him that he doesn't have any peace with any gift that God gives him, and that person needs to learn how to abound. Paul said he knows how to get along with what the temple means.
I have to know how to live in prosperity. In every circumstance, I have learned the secret of being filled and of going hungry, both of having abundance and in suffering need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Remember to keep that in its context. Paul is not giving confession to plenipotentiary ability here, you know. He's simply saying that I've been able to deal with all of these kinds of problems, how to live in tribulation, how to live in plenty and want and sickness and health and all the rest. And a Christian is one who can deal with all of these things because of the strength that is present in Christ.
I get disturbed with well-meaning Christians who go out and tell people in the world that if they come to Christ, all their problems will be over. That's nonsense. That's just not true. I've said it before.
I'm going to say it again. I really don't think my life became complicated until I became a Christian. For one thing, you begin to take life a whole lot more seriously. Second of all, you are now committed to a value system and a standard that's a lot harder to deal with than if you accept the standards of this world.
I never cared before. If I hurt somebody's feelings, if I got mad, I say what I wanted to say, and if they got hurt, too bad, you know, that's the way it is. And all of a sudden, you've got to deal with the fact that you've injured another person.
You've got to take that seriously. Life becomes very complex if you're earnestly endeavoring to do the will of God. However, as complex as it becomes and as difficult as it becomes, there is a new power and a new ability to cope with life situations that is impossible to have apart from the presence of God's Spirit.
And I don't know how many people have said to me, I don't know how many times I've said to other people, how do those people make it? How do those people make it without Christ? Well, oftentimes I hear, well, Christianity is a crutch. And there's a certain sense in which that's right because we're crippled people. There's nothing more foolish than to use a crutch when you don't need a crutch.
That's foolishness. And a person who's walking around with crutches who can walk perfectly well on his own needs to have the crutches kicked out from under him. But if you're crippled and you try to walk without a crutch, that's even more devastating.
That's even more foolish. And there's a very real sense, a profound sense, an ultimate sense in which all of us are indeed crippled. Now the issue is not is Christ a crutch, but is Christ true? If He is the Son of God and He has come down to meet my needs, then it'd be utterly foolish for me to try to live without that crutch. If He's a fantasy, if He's an unreality, if He's a phony, then His crutch is useless in the final analysis. But we can't settle the issue of the truthfulness of Christianity on the basis of whether or not it meets people's needs.
For heaven's sakes, it's supposed to meet people's needs. And Paul is saying, through Christ, I can do all things because He strengthened 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.
What an indictment that is on the other churches, huh? For even in Thessalonica, you sent a gift more than once for my needs. Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. I'm pleased, you know. Paul is saying, not that I despise the gift.
I mean, I'm not opposed to it. I'm glad that you gave it. I needed it. You met real needs in my life. You met real needs in my life.
But the thing is, I'm rejoicing is not only that my needs was met, but your need was met. And Paul is saying, I'm worried about those other churches that have not met their responsibility. I don't care if they give their money to me. I don't care if they give it to Timothy or Silas or whoever they want to give it to in the name of Christ.
Do it. But when they don't do it at all, God's going to judge them. That's a serious matter.
And so, Paul is rejoicing here that the fact that these people have met their responsibility and they've done it. And it's very difficult for ministers to hammer at the people about money in the 20th century, isn't it? Because it all of a sudden sounds like, I want an increase in my salary. I want a new house.
I want a new car and all of that. But that's, I mean, that can be the reason for motivation for some men to be sure. But that's not the point. If those of us who are pastors do not call the people to sacrificial giving in their church, we are not doing them a favor at all.
They might like it if we never talk about money. Paul talks about it very freely here. But I have received everything in full and have an abundance. I am amply supplied.
I am filled. Having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. Do you see what Paul is saying? I'm not only a priesthood. I don't just thank you for those gifts, but God is pleased. This is a sacrifice, a sweet-smelling sacrifice with a beautiful fragrance and aroma before God, because God knows that you gave this gift because you were concerned to participate in my ministry.
An acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. And what does that prompt him to say? And my God shall supply all your needs according to the riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
You can take that more literally than often we're one to do. He says, my God is going to supply all of your needs, and He's going to do it out of the riches of glory and in glory that is in Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever.
Amen. And Paul concludes his epistle with a greeting to the people. Greet every saint in Christ Jesus, that is every believer. And 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. Amen. Amen.
That's Dr. R.C. Sproul in a message titled Joy in Christ. We're glad you've joined us today for Renewing Your Mind. I'm Lee Webb, and all week we have had the privilege of hearing messages that go all the way back to the earliest days of Ligonier Ministries.
And do you know what's encouraging about that? Despite the decades and the many changes in world events, God's Word is still perfectly applicable to every one of us. What a joy it is to study Scripture. We've been highlighting these lessons this week because we want to introduce you to our ministry partner program. I wanted to share with you a portion of a conversation I had with one of our ministry partners named Luke. I asked him what caused him and his wife to go from appreciating Ligonier Ministries to becoming a monthly partner. I think that we very much see the value and the necessity in the resources that you guys at Ligonier put out, and how that is so helpful not just for people interested in Christianity, not just so helpful in people new to Christianity, but really helpful to people who have been Christians for years. I mean, the depth of the teaching put out is simple enough that anyone can understand it, but also deep enough that just about everyone I think can benefit from it.
And there's not, at least to my knowledge, there are not a whole lot of organizations putting out the quality of what you guys put out and the depth of what you guys put out, kind of coming from one organization. So on the theology side of things, it's kind of a no-brainer. Well, Luke, we appreciate you sharing that with us.
I'm joined here in the studio by our president and CEO, Chris Larson. And really, Chris, that's what this ministry is all about, right? It's linking arms with young families like Luke and his wife, and knowing that we're able to serve millions of people around the world.
And I just want to kind of reflect back even when R.C. was talking about Paul's letter to the Philippians. And remember how he begins the letter? He thanks them for their partnership in the gospel. And that is exactly what the ministry partner program is. It is a partnership in the gospel as Ligonier is being used by the Lord in the carrying out of the Great Commission around the world.
We have been encouraged by tremendous growth just in the past few years. And this is really part of the plan that Dr. Sproul foresaw and his hopes and prayers for Ligonier to have an ongoing impact in the lives of Christians around the world. And in a time of increasing darkness, we really need to get the light of the gospel out there in greater measure. And that's what the ministry partners do. They come alongside of us to encourage us through their monthly support, but also in knowing that they are committing to pray for the word of God as it goes forth. And this is a treasured special relationship. And so if you're out there listening to this and you have not yet taken that step to become a monthly supporter, take a moment to make this commitment.
It's not a large financial commitment, but it means so much to us on a monthly basis. Thank you. And may God bless you and your family as you serve the Lord. And if you would like to become a ministry partner, you can call us at 800-435-4343. Or if you prefer, you can sign up online when you go to renewingyourmind.org. We're grateful that you've joined us today for Renewing Your Mind. I hope you'll make plans to join us again Monday.
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