The Peace of God & the God of Peace
To pray dependently upon God; to ponder decidedly upon the things of God; and to practice diligently the works of God, is to possess
the God of peace and thus, the peace of God.
Introduction
In an age of increasing anxiety, peace seems impossibly elusive. Certain ones tell us that the earth is in danger. We are now literally being advised to eat our babies and regulate cow farts in order to combat the monolithic threat of climate change. To you and I, this ideology is perhaps… nutty. But to some minds it has become reality.
Why?
We are interesting creatures. What we treasure we tend to think upon and to act upon. I believe this is the heart of the issue. And I believe it is inextricably connected to both peace and anxiety. Both of these inner states are the fruits of particular focus. That is to say, the preoccupation of a matter within oneself often begets corresponding emotional states, namely anxiety or peace.
And in fact this is precisely what the Bible teaches.
In this Exposition, we will examine Philippians 4:6-9.
Let’s begin.
…do not be anxious about anything, 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 understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:6-9
Prayer: The First Response
Notice first the negative command: do not be anxious about anything. What do you mean, Paul? Do not be anxious? About anything? Yes. About anything. The Christian is not to be anxious about anything.
What is anxiety—what is it to be anxious? To be anxious is to worry, to be overly concerned, to fear, to fret, to be uneasy, to be distressed. It is not passive but active. It does not sit and receive, but it stands and stirs; it’s gnawing and clawing and biting. It’s an active state, a preoccupation with someone or something that may or may not be an actual threat or a worthy consideration.
Anxiety is activity, you see. It’s internal disorder and chaos. And, as much as many Christians don’t want to hear it, it is typically brought on by two things: external circumstances and/or unbelief.
Thus, it is a sin, for anything that is not of faith is sin says Paul (Romans 14:23). If this sin is not dealt with, it will wreak havoc—in many, many areas of one’s life. Thankfully, God has granted us a means to fight.
Here is the means of dealing with anxiety: prayer.
The antidote, the cure, to this awful anxiety is prayer with thanksgiving—privately, publicly, vocally, silently, fervently, regularly, in any and every circumstance, for earthly needs and for spiritual needs. In everything pray.
John Knox lived from 1513 – 1572. He is considered by some to be the greatest Reformer in the history of Scotland. He says this about prayer: “Prayer is an earnest and familiar talking with God, to whom we declare all our miseries, whose support and help we implore and desire in our own adversities, and whom we laud and praise for our benefits received.”
Question: Why would you not pray, Christian?
Prayer is connecting to and speaking with God; a dependence upon Him; a coming to Him as He is—the Almighty, the All Powerful, the Comforter, the Heavenly Father of those in Christ. Now that is it—in Christ! Not in the methods of man, not in psychology, not in psychiatry, not in medications, not in anti-depressants, not in self-help seminars, not in zen meditation, not in mystic trances—but in Christ!
True peace is found in Christ alone. It is through Him that we pray to God dependently. Prayer ought to be the first response—not the last resort—of the Christian. It ought to be the meat and marrow of one’s spiritual life, a daily devotion of constancy, a regular communion with the very God of Peace.
So, the answer to your gnawing and clawing and biting heart is not in this world or a system but in a person—the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul says to us, the peace of God guards, keeps you—in Christ. Guard is a military term. It is the Prince of Peace who dispenses peace. He who spoke peace to the raging waters and it stilled, is He who speaks peace in His gospel. It is He who gives peace, not as the world gives does He give, but He gives the peace of God. The fruit of the Spirit is peace. Therefore, this true peace is from God only. All other peace is counterfeit and temporary.
Father & son
In late December of last year, my wife and I were blessed to receive the gift of a son. He’s now about ten months old. He’s typically happy and smiley and brings us much joy. But sometimes he can be fussy, as all babies can. Some time ago I was preparing this message while he had been sleeping in his bouncy chair, and he woke up. He started to cry. He was upset. He was disturbed. He was anxious. So I came over to him. As I grabbed hold of him, he looked at me and at once he stopped crying.
Why?
Because he was at peace.
And he was at peace because a connection was established between us. He knows his father. He saw me; he felt and knew me; he was held by me. A similar connection takes place when you pray and thank God—you come into the arms of your everlasting, caring, compassionate, peace-giving Father; and he overshadows you, and you are safe.
A Challenge, Warning, and Exhortation
Do you know this God? Is the Father of Christ a Father to you; or are you a stranger to Him? If He is a stranger, then you are His enemy. God in Christ is peace; God outside Christ is peril.
Although anxiety is sin, not all anxiety is sin; for there is a holy anxiety which you must have before you may possess this peace of God.
You must see that God is holy, that He hates all wickedness and that you are wicked, that He lies in wait to execute His judgment against you for you sins. You who are unrepentant, who have not yet come to Christ—this very moment is a testimony to His kindness. That you are not yet dead and in hell in some measure ought to disturb and soften you. As Thomas Watson says, every time you breathe you suck in mercy.
If you come not to Christ in trembling and fear, if you do not come under His terms of peace, if you do not come as a beggar and a sinner seeking mercy, as one worthy of condemnation and wrath, you come not at all. Your last breath of mercy will deliver you to the torment of hellfire forever.
So come to Him. Do not delay. His gospel is peace.
And for those of us who are in Christ, we must heed the command: any anxiety is to be responded to by prayer with thanksgiving to God. Life hands the Christian an anxious burden and we respond by handing it to our Father. We simply hand off and unload.
As the Apostle Peter says, we are to be “casting all your cares on Him [that is God], because he cares for you.” Thus our hearts and minds are guarded. The peace of God becomes a fortress for our inner man, and all the armies of anxiety cannot overcome the walls. But if you are anxious, it is likely that you are not praying, thanking, and therefore resting in Christ.
When the Lord Jesus was troubled in His soul, when He was agonizing in the garden of Gethsemane, He prayed to His Father. He commended His soul to His Father. He made His requests known to His Father. He said, “THY WILL BE DONE.” Are you better than Christ, Christian?
So, how does a man possess the peace of God in Christ?
First, he prays dependently.
Ponder: The Second Response
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Philippians 4:8
Now Paul is urging us to move from our hearts to our minds, from our affections to our thoughts. The peaceful man prays and he ponders. He ponders. To ponder is to think… to think.
Notice, again, this is not passivity but activity. This is not simply receiving. This is an engaged, intentional, specific thinking. This is cognitive labor. The mind is being put to think, to consider specific things—whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise. Think about these things.
But why? What’s the importance Paul?
Answer: because a man never rises higher than his thoughts. Stated another way, the thoughts of the mind influence the life of the man. We can go even further and say this: the thoughts of the mind influence the desires of the heart and determine the life of the man.
Simply stated, what you think affects your life.
Thoughts Influence the Heart
In Romans 1, Paul begins to lay out a doctrine of the depravity of man. And in verse 21 he says this: “For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts were darkened.”
Futile thoughts produce a darkened heart; a darkened heart produces a wicked life. This is most significant. It means the thought life plays an integral role in the sanctification of the Christian.
The command here is in direct opposition to being anxious. The man who is anxious does not think proper thoughts. The anxious man does not ponder the things of verse 8. He gives them no attention. Instead, he dwells, he thinks, on his fears and concerns. This is his great focus, his preoccupation.
But the man of peace restrains his mind from wildly running about, for he can do so through the power of the Holy Spirit, and because he has the mind of Christ. Instead of engaging his mind with anxious thoughts, he engages his mind with peace-producing thoughts—whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise. So there is an element of self-control, which is also a fruit of the Spirit. Therefore, this cognitive labor, this peace-producing thinking is enabled and energized and initiated by the Holy Spirit. Yet it is also something that we must do ourselves.
A Simple Illustration
Have you ever heard the phrase, “Garbage in, garbage out”? The point is that you get out what you put in. If all you eat are donuts, you’re going to be fat and sick. So too, if your thoughts are like donuts, your mind will be sick. Garbage in, garbage out.
The Westminster Catechism asks: What is the chief end of man?
Answer: The chief end of man is to glorify and enjoy God forever.
You were made by God and for God—you, your whole person, including your mind. Your mind was not made for donuts but for glory! O that we would see the glories of Jesus Christ! The mind of man was made to be a dwelling place for the things of God.
I ask: Who is God but the one Who is True? Is God not the one worthy of all Honor? Is He not the Just judge of all, the Pure and Lovely One, Commendable and Excellent and worthy of all Praise? Think on these things says Paul. And think on this One, I say to you.
A man does not rise higher than his thoughts. If your mind is in the gutter, your life will be sewage. But if you have the mind of Christ, if you consider the glories to come, if you turn over the Words of God in your mind around and around again, your mind will begin to be renewed.
Isaiah says, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because He trusts in you.” Paul says to us in Colossians, “if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
A Brief Exhortation
Can you think the thoughts of Christ?
Is He worth pondering?
Tell me, what does your mind think; I will tell you what you will be like.
If you cannot comprehend the glories of Jesus Christ, if you cannot see with your mind’s eye the beauties, the purities, the glories and the worth of this Holy One, then you must go back to step 1. You must pray.
Pray to God and make your request known. Thank Him that you can even come to Him. Ask Him to renew your mind, to give you godly mental powers, to have right understanding to think such thoughts. And begin to think. Take hold of your mind in the power of the Spirit of God to think the things of God. Be consumed with them.
Secondly, read the Scriptures. Learn the language of God in the Word of God. Read regularly. Take what you read and memorize it. Meditate upon it. Labor over it. Think upon it. Chew it up and taste all the flavors and spices and juices. Seek, see, and savor God in His Book, the Bible. Do this, and you will begin to find it much more natural to ponder upon the things of God.
So, how does a man possess the peace of God?
First, he prays dependently upon God.
Second, he ponders decidedly upon the things of God.
Practice: The Third Response
What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me— practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:9
Here Paul holds himself up as an example, as a man to be imitated. Now let me remind you who this man is, because it’s very important. Listen to Paul, hear the heart of this man. He’s already told us in this letter about his life’s goal and purpose in Philippians chapter 3:1-17.
To Follow Paul’s Example
To paraphrase, Paul says, “I was a Jew of the Jews. I was cream of the crop. If anyone could boast, it was me! But I count it all as loss for the sake of Christ! It’s all garbage! Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord!”
Paul is a madman. Who talks like this? Yet Paul says, “imitate me! Be like me! I’ve left it all behind. I’ve counted it all as loss. I want to know him. I want to share in His sufferings!” This is the heart of this man. He’s in prison at the time of this letter. He’s in prison for the Gospel and he tells them, “rejoice and be like me!”
But he doesn’t stop there, he says, “I haven’t obtained it. I haven’t reached the end. I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me His own. Because He has made me His own, I press on; because He has loved me I will love others; because He has suffered for me I will gladly suffer for him. I will rejoice in my sufferings. I leave it all behind. My former life is gone. I forget it all.”
“I press on toward Christ. Because of Christ. For Christ. In Christ. Christ behind me. Christ before me. Christ around me. Christ inside me! Christ is all I want! To live is Christ. To die is gain!”
This is Paul. And this man says to you and to me, imitate me. Join me. Be like me. Whatever you have heard in me, whatever you have seen in me, whatever you have received—practice these things. What can they do to you? The worst they can do is kill you. And that is the best they can do, because it delivers you to the presence of Jesus Christ forevermore.
Admittedly…
At this point I must admit, I’m not sure Paul’s experience is my own. I doubt it’s been yours either. I haven’t been imprisoned. I haven’t truly been persecuted for my faith. I haven’t been shipwrecked or flogged or stoned or chased out of town for the love of Christ. But I want to be willing to “share in the sufferings” if it is necessary. Don’t you?
Now, in keeping with the theme of possessing the peace of God, it’s important to notice this third essential element: practice. Paul says we are to practice, to do. We are to live out the life that is within us. And in some measure, this is not only taught, but caught—that is to say, it is to be emulated. Paul holds himself up as an example of practice.
A Mystery of Emulation
Without spending too much time on this, I want to at least note the significance of what underlies this. Human beings don’t simply deal in abstractions. We don’t just learn by verbal communication or even by written or audible information. We also learn by emulation, by example, by subconscious saturation.
This is why things like mannerisms, body language, and facial expressions can often be paralleled between generations in a family, because of emulation. This is why you can be among those who speak a different accent, and after some time, you find yourself—without intending to do it—to speak in their accent, to match their intonation and rhythm. This is emulation at work.
So then, who is around you, and who are you emulating?
And, who will, or is now, emulating you?
And what’s your example?
Parable of Practice
There was a man who prayed for a farm, and God gave him one. God even gave the man a barn full of equipment, a storehouse of seed to plant, and a manual for farming. The man read the manual, and thought much about it, and was in awe of all that God had given him. To the farm God gave sunshine and rain and good soil. But when the time came to sow seed, the man did not sow.
He prayed to God, he thanked God, he read the manual, and he thought a lot about farming. But he did not plant. And so when the time for harvest came, there was nothing to gather. He complained to God and said, “God, why didn’t you give me any fruit?” and God said, “I gave you the farm, the equipment, the manual, the sunshine and rain and good soil. I even gave you the seed. But you refused to sow.”
And the man said to God, “Yes, and I am thankful for all these things, but if you gave me so much why not just give me the fruit too?” And God said to the man, “I did give you the fruit. The fruit is in the seed.”
You see, prayer alone is not enough. Praying and pondering is not enough. Everything can be right, but you must sow the seed; you must plow the field; you must do the labor; you must practice.
The bible says that the Lord provides food for each in due season. But does the Lord prepare your food? Does He come into the kitchen and cook it? No. You must do that.
The Lord has made His will known, and it is in the Bible.
We are to pray dependently upon God.
We are to ponder decidedly upon the things of God.
And finally, we are to practice diligently the works of God.
This is how a man may possess the peace of God.