Amazing peace of God that can never be imagined (Philippians 4:6-7)

Amazing peace of God that can never be imagined

[Philippians 4:6-7]

Do you have peace in your heart now? Or are you anxious about something now? What we want is peace of mind, but what we experience in our daily life is more worry than peace. I remember a gospel song ‘Although the world wants peace’: ‘Although the world desires peace, the rumors of war grow more and more. There is only human sufferings, fears and they are endless wearisome. But the Lord is here.’ Isn’t it true that this is the world where the rumors of war grow more and more? Don’t we listen to the news about the terrorists bombing here and there and many people die and get hurts? Isn’t it true that human sufferings and fears are endless wearisome? That’s why I often praise God this hymn called “My Soul in Sad Exile”: “My soul in sad exile wax out on life's sea, So burdened with sin and distressed, Till I heard a sweet voice saying "Make me your choice; And I entered the "Haven of Rest. I've anchored my soul in the "Haven of Rest, I'll sail the wide seas no more; The tempest may sweep o'er the wild stormy deep; In Jesus I'm safe evermore” (v. 1). There are many worries, hardships and sinful things and deaths in this world. So there are many times when we do not know what true peace is.

Although the Bible says to cast all our anxiety on Him because He cares for us (1 Pet. 5:7), we still worry, saying “’What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’” (Mt. 6:31). In other words, we have “the anxieties of life” (Lk. 21:34). We the married couples are concerned about how to please our spouse (1 Cor. 7:33, 34). And we the parents with children are concerned about our children. They worry because their children may turn away from the Lord and go and worship the gods of the nations (Dt. 29:18). We who love His church face daily pressure of our concern for all the churches (2 Cor. 11:28). And many times we worry about tomorrow. Although the Bible says “do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Mt. 6:34), we still worry about tomorrow. We worry about our future. And we worry about dying (Gen. 38:11). We have many worries of this life (Mt. 13:22). We are worries and upset about many things (Lk. 10:41). We are concerned and worried, even though we know that we cannot add a single hour to our lives (Mt. 6:27).

Do you know what happens when we worry? At least, there are two results: (1) Our hearts will be weighted down. Look at Luke 21:34 – “"Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap.” (2) The word that we have heard will be chocked and thus make it unfruitful. We cannot live according to the word of God. Look at Matthew 13:22 – “The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.” If there is worry in our hearts, that means we have no peace in our hearts. What should we do?

This is what Apostle Paul said to the Philippian church saints in Philippians 4:6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Based on these words, I want to think about how we can have amazing peace of God that can never be imagined in two ways:

First, we must not be anxious about anything in order to have amazing peace of God that can never be imagined.

Look at Philippians 4:6a – “Do not be anxious about anything, ….” What do you think about Paul encouraging the Philippian church saints not to be anxious about anything? When he was writing this letter to them, wasn’t he in prison? Shouldn’t he be anxious? But Paul said to them not to be anxious of anything. In my opinion, I think it was necessary for the Philippian church saints to tell Paul not to be anxious of anything instead of other way around. Nevertheless, Paul told them not to be anxious about anything. Why did Paul tell the Philippian church saints not to be anxious about anything? The reason was because there was something that they were anxious about. So I thought about what they could be anxious about. I think at least they had two big worries. And those two worries were first, the internal worry and second, the external worry.

(1) I think there were about five internal worries that the Philippian church saints had:

(a) The Philippian church saints would have been anxious about Apostle Paul, the servant of the Lord.

Look at Philippians 1:12 – “Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.” What happened to Paul? Wasn’t he in prison for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ? Then wouldn’t the Philippian church saints have been worried about Paul who was in prison since they loved him? If we hear that our missionary have been put into prison for missionary work in the mission field, will not our church members worry?

(b) The Philippian church saints would have been anxious about some were preaching Christ not sincerely but out of envy and rivalry.

Look at Philippians 1:15, 17: “It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. … The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.” Most of the brothers in the Lord who knew that Paul was in chains for Christ, had been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly (vv. 13-14). The problem, however, is that some of the believers who boldly proclaim the word of God preached Christ out of envy and rivalry (v. 15) and out of selfish ambition and not sincerely (v. 17). Don’t you think Paul who knew this could have been anxious? Think about it in this way. If there is a missionary in our church who is in prison because he was preaching the gospel and he heard some of us are preaching Christ out of selfish ambition and not sincerely, supposing that we can stir up trouble for him while he is in prison. Don’t you think he will be anxious about us? Even we preach the gospel with pure motive and in love, it’s very hard to save a soul. But can you imagine our missionary who is in prison heard that we preach the gospel with impure motive, out of selfish ambition and out of envy and rivalry? Don’t you think he will be anxious about us?

(c) The Philippian church saints would have been anxious because the Philippian church saints were not living in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.

Look at Philippians 1:27 – “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel.” Why do you think Paul exhorted the Philippian church saints to conduct themselves in the manner worthy of the gospel of Christ? It was because they weren’t living in the manner worthy of the gospel. They weren’t standing firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel (v. 27b). That was why Paul said in 2:3-4, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” And in Philippians 4:2, Paul addressed the specific names of two women, Euodia and Syntyche who didn’t have the same mind “to agree with each other in the Lord”. It is very important that the church be a loving community and a united community in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. The reason is that even if we do evangelism and missions, if the church cannot unite in the Lord, and if there is a struggle and division between the saints, then the church will be obstacle and stumbling block to evangelism and mission. Who would be evangelized and come to church if the church members are not agreeing each other in the Lord but are disputing? The church members who preach the gospel of Jesus Christ must first live in the manner worthy life of the gospel.

(d) The Philippian church saints would have been anxious greatly when they heard that Epaphroditus, on of their church members, was ill.

Look at Philippians 2:26-28: “For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety.” Epaphroditus was the Philippian church saint who was sent to Paul to take care of his needs (v. 25). When Paul set out from Macedonia and when he was in Thessalonica, Epaphroditus went to Paul and gave him the gifts that he needed (4:15-16). Not only that, he served with Paul even after he had given the gifts to Paul (2:25). He was with Paul and worked together for the gospel. He cooperated with Paul in evangelism. He also boldly proclaimed the gospel with Paul, fighting like a soldier of Jesus Christ in spiritual warfare against those who opposed the gospel and them. Then Epaphroditus was sick and came close to death for the work of Christ (v. 30). How would the Philippian church saints reacted when they heard this about Epaphroditus, one of their church members? They would have been worried enough. What if our church had heard of the fact that one of our church members who went to a mission field to help our missionary and he got sick to the point of death? Will we not very anxious and concerned? How dangerous are the missionaries who are now doing mission in the communist countries or Muslim countries. What if one of your church members who went to help them got sick and came close to death? Will you not very worry and concern? Will you not earnestly pray for him? I am sure you will ask for God's mercy.

(e) The Philippian church saints would have been anxious about the Judaizers who were the enemies of the cross.

Look at Philippians 3:2 – “Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision.” Here, Paul warned the Philippian church saints to beware of the enemies of the cross of Christ (v. 18). And they were the Judaizers who put their confidence in the flesh (v. 3). The Judaizers were those who fiercely attacked the gospel and insisted that the Gentiles should abide by some of the Old Testament ordinances (especially circumcision) in order to be righteous. Paul said that these Judaizers and their false gospel was heresy and he even cursed them (Gal. 1:8). The problem, however, is that Judaizers had been recognized as a true believer by most people in the church (ex, Gal. 2:12). For example, in the Galatian church was like that. In fact, they undermined the clarity of the gospel in the church, severely profaned the gospel, and confused the Gentile believers.

Apart from these five internal worries and concerns of the Philippian church, there were also some external anxiety factors for the Philippian church saints. If we can summarize those external factors in one word, it was persecution and suffering due to their participation in the ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Look at Philippians 1:28-30: “without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved--and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.” Why did Paul say like this to the Philippian church saints? It was because there were those who oppose them and they could have been afraid of their opponents (v. 28). And since they were going through the same struggle they saw Paul had (v. 30) and were suffering because of their opponents (v. 29), they could have been afraid of the opponents. That was why Paul said to them “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him” (v. 29).

Because of these internal and external factors, the Philippian church saints could have been worried so Paul encouraged them not to be anxious of anything (4:6). But I wonder how the Philippian church saints react to the Paul’s saying. If we were the Philippian church saints, how would we react to the Paul’s saying? If I were them, I think I would say in mind, ‘How can this be possible?’, ‘How can we not be anxious of anything when we are in the very anxious circumstance?’ So I thought about Paul who told the Philippian church saints not to be anxious of anything. He was in prison. He should have worried about himself. But he didn’t. Rather, he rejoiced in the Lord. How could he do that? How could he rejoice in prison without any anxieties? How was this possible? I looked up the answer in Philippians 1:6 – “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” It was possible because Paul had the conviction. In other words, Paul didn’t worry anything even when he was in the midst of worrisome circumstance because he believed God entirely.

Paul was convinced that the faithful God, who began His good work of salvation, will complete his salvation no matter what. That was why he wasn’t anxious of anything even though he was in the anxious circumstance. We must have this conviction and a firm belief too. Even though we are struck by a situation of great concern and worry, we must stand firm in the faith in the God of salvation. With such a solid faith, we must care all our anxieties to the Lord. The reason is because God cares for us (1 Pet. 5:7). Therefore, we should not be worrying about many things (Lk.10:41). We should not worry about what to eat, what to drink and what to wear (Mt. 6:31). If we worry about our lives, then our hearts will become dull (Lk. 21:34), and the Word will be choked and we will be unfruitful (Mt. 13:22). Let us not worry about tomorrow (6:34).

Second and last, in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, we must present our request to God in order to have amazing peace of God that can never be imagined.

Look at Philippians 4:6 – “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Won’t you pray for those whom you love who are suffering and are in very worrisome circumstance? What if you are in that kind of worrisome circumstance and the people who love you are praying for you earnestly? Won’t you be thankful for their prayers and their concern? It is comforting to know that fellow brothers and sisters in Christ are praying for us when we are going through very anxious moments of our lives. Actually, I have experienced the grace of God when the beloved brothers and sisters in Christ were praying for me when I was going through some difficulties in my life. God answered their prayers and restored my downcast soul and strengthened me many times.

I sometimes think that God is leading us into a situation where there is nothing much we can do except praying to Him. I wonder why the difficult things are keep on happening in our lives in a row. Perhaps God wants us to kneel down before him and cry out to Him. Since the difficult things are too hard for us to bear, we cry out to God in tears with desperateness in our hearts. Not only that, we share our hearts and prayer requests with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ so that we may seek God together. The reason is that we believe in the power of united prayer. It is especially important that we hold on to the promises of God and pray together in faith. When we look at Acts 1, about 120 disciples of Jesus were gathered together in the Mark's upper room and prayed together. They all joined together constantly in prayer (Acts 1:14). The words of the Lord's promise that they held unto was Acts 1:8 – “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The result was that on the day of Pentecost Jesus' disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and boldly proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ even in the midst of persecution (Acts 2). Likewise, as we strive to gather together, we must hold on to the Lord's promise to our church, 'I will build up my church' (Mt. 16:18) and we should all join together constantly in prayer (Acts 1:14). The grace of God is the more abundant when we come together in unity and cry out to God together. But if there are complaints in our hearts, and if there is dissension among us, then we cannot have true prayer atmosphere (Park Yun-sun). Look at James 4:2-3: “You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” We must pray together. We should pray for unity. We must hold on to the words of Matthew 18:19 and pray in faith: “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.” It is the utmost co-operation between us and God that we pray together that the God’s will be done. Also, we must continually devote ourselves to prayer with one mind (Acts 1:14). This means endurance and effort (Park Yun-sun). There are many obstacles that prevent us from devoting ourselves to prayer. One of them is bustling (Nouwen). In the midst of this bustle, we are at a high risk of not being able to prioritize prayer. Therefore, we must make prayer time intentionally and gather together and give wholehearted prayer to God.

In Philippians 4:6, Paul told the Philippian church saints, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Here, we should apply this word to ourselves as we think about it a little bit.

(1) We must pray to God in “everything”.

Mostly we seem to pray to God when a big things breaks out. Especially when that big thing is too difficult for us to bear, we cry out to God. But we don’t feel the necessity of prayer for small things, so we just face those small things and go through them without praying. But from now on, we should have a habit of praying to God in everything, whether big or small. In particular, we must have a habit of not only praying to God for the big worries but also the small worries as well. We must case all our anxieties to God through prayers (1 Pet. 5: 7).

(2) We must pray to God for our "requests".

What do you need to ask God? In other words, what are your needs? I think there are at least five things:

(a) The most basic thing that we need is "a daily bread”.

Therefore, in the Lord's Prayer, Jesus taught us to pray “Give us this day our daily bread” (Mt. 6:11). What we need is food, clothing, and shelter, that is the necessities of life. Instead of worrying about them, we should pray to God.

(b) What we need is "health".

This is what Jesus said: “… It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick” (9:12). Of course, the meaning of this word is different, but I think that what we basically need is health. If we are sick, then we need a doctor. But we shouldn’t need a doctor as much as we can. To do that, we have to be healthy. We must pray to God for good health. And we must take care of our health.

The Bible says in Acts 2:45 that the early church people who were filled with the Holy Spirit "began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need”. Until we live in this earth, we need property or possessions. Therefore, I think that we should pray to God for the possessions we need.

(d) We need a ‘faithful friend’.

We need a faithful comrade of faith (Job 6:14). We need the faithful friend who can rebuke us in love when we disobeyed God’s command and committed sin against God (Prov. 27:5). We need the faithful friend who prays and comfort us when we are in trouble. We need to pray to God for the faithful friend whom we can share our hearts with in the Lord.

(e) We need "wisdom".

The more we live in this world, the more we need God's wisdom to keep our faith and to live faithfully (Rev. 17:9). Therefore, if we lack wisdom, we should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to us (Jam. 1:5).

Beside these things that we need, I am sure there are many other things that we need. If so, then we should pray to God for our needs. But we have to be careful about this idea once and for all. The idea is to think of what God thinks that we needs rather than what we think we need. I have asked this question because our thoughts and God's thoughts can be different. In other words, what we think we need can be different from what God thinks we need. For example, when our child comes to us and says, 'I need this', sometimes we may think that our child doesn’t need that but he or she needs this. So I think it is better for us to have a habit of praying and asking God that God will give us what we need rather than what we think we need as our faith grows. I think it is important for us to pray according to God’s will rather than our will, believing that God knows exactly what we need.

When we look at Philippians 4:6, Paul exhorted the Philippian church saints to let their requests be made known to God. He encouraged them to ask God what their needs were. I wonder what Paul thought their needs were. Or I wonder what they thought their needs were as a church. I think the Paul’s thought and the Philippian church saints’ thought might be same. Both of them might think the same things in terms of needs of the Philippian church saints. As I meditated on the whole book of Philippians, I think their needs were at least seven:

(a) I think Paul and the Philippian church saints needed wealth. In working with Paul's gospel ministry, I think that the Philippian church saints needed wealth to support Paul and Paul himself needed their mission support in order to do his gospel ministry (Phil 1:5, 7; 4:15-17 ).

(b) I think both Paul and the Philippian church saints needed God’s help in the gospel ministry so they needed to pray to God (1:4, 9).

(c) I think both Paul and the Philippian church saints needed God’s protection because they were suffering due to the enemies of the cross of Christ who oppose them (1:28-29; 3:18).

(d) I think both Paul and the Philippian church saints needed the mind or attitude of Jesus Christ (2:5; 4:2). With His mind or attitude, the Philippian church saints needed to build their community of love as they love each other with His love.

(e) I think both Paul and the Philippian church saints needed to see healing upon Epaphroditus who was sick (2:25ff).

(f) I think both Paul and the Philippian church saints needed the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus their Lord (3:8).

(g) I think both Paul and the Philippian church saints needed was they need to learn to be content whatever the circumstances (4:11-12).

We should ask God for all these things. We should pray to God for our daily bread, health, wealth, the faithful friend, God’s wisdom, God’s protection, Jesus' mind or attitude, God’s healing, knowledge of Jesus and the secret of contentment.

(3) We must pray to God "with thanksgiving".

How can we pray to God with "thanksgiving" without worrying about anything in a situation where we have to worry about it? How can we pray to God with thanksgiving when the situation that we are in is really bad in our perspective? I want to share with you my short writing from my meditation on the book of Jonah: ‘How can we pray to God with thanksgiving when our situation isn’t thankful? If we remember the grace of God's salvation in the past, we can give thanks to God by faith. The situation in which Jonah was never a situation that he could give thanks to God in human perspective. He was inside the fish three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17). He was in distress (2:2). He was casted into the deep heart of the sea (v. 3). He had been expelled from God’s sight (v. 4). He was fainting away (v. 7). He was descended to the roots of the mountain where the earth with its bars were around him forever (v. 6). Even in this situation Jonah offered the thanksgiving prayer to God (vv. 1, 9). How was this possible? It was possible because he remembered the grace of God's salvation in the past. Then what was the God’s grace in the past that Jonah remembered? It was when Jonah was thrown into the sea (1:14) that God had prepared the great fish and swallowed Jonah, so he was in the fish for three days and three nights (v. 17). This was God's salvation that Jonah experienced in the past. I am sure this wasn’t the God’s deliverance that Jonah prayed and expected. Perhaps the deliverance that he expected was that God commanded the fish to vomit Jonah up onto the dry land (2:10). But the sovereign will of God's salvation was to make the great fish to swallow Jonah (1:17). Nevertheless, Jonah gave thanks to God (2:1, 9). We cannot give thanks to God when the answer to our prayers is not realized as we expected. The realization of prayer response does not have to be what we expected, as we have prayed. The answers to our prayer belonged to God's sovereignty. Therefore, we must pray and give thanks to God by believing that we in God’s sovereign will if not the sovereign will of God has been fulfilled yet. We must give thanks to God as we remember God's salvation in the past. We must give thanks to God, firmly believing that salvation is from the Lord (v. 9). We must give thanks to God by believing that God, who saved us in the past, will save us now too. We must give thanks to God by believing that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8). We should pray to God with thanksgiving and with assurance of salvation and hope of salvation. When Jonah offered the thanksgiving prayer to God, God commanded the fish and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land (Jonah 2:10). Jonah’s prayer was answered by God. Jonah was saved by God. Jonah's situation had finally changed: not in the belly of the fish but to the land. When we offer a thanksgiving prayer to God in faith, we will receive an answer of our prayer from God. We will experience God's salvation. God will change our mind as well as our situation. Salvation belongs to God (v. 9).

In Philippians 4:6, Paul continued to write the letter to the Philippian church saints and said, “… with thanksgiving, present your requests to God”. How could Paul, who was writing this letter in prison, be able to pray with thanksgiving in the situation where in human perspective he couldn’t give thanks? Look at Philippians 1:3-5: “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” The reason why Paul thanked God every time he remembered the Philippian church saints was because of their “partnership in the gospel from the first day until now”. How did they participate in Paul's evangelism ministry? Look at Philippians 4:15-16: “Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.” The Philippian church saints participated in Paul’s evangelism ministry by supporting him materially. Paul, who received their support, gave thanks to God when he prayed for them. Another reason why Paul gave thanks to God for the Philippian church saints was because he had confidence. Look at Philippians 1:6 – “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” The reason why Paul gave thanks to God was because he was confidence that God would complete the good work of salvation that He had begun among the Philippian church saints. And this confidence of Paul was never a conviction based on the Philippian church saints. Rather, this confidence was based on God. In other words, Paul had this assurance that God would save the Philippian church saints whom He loved because He is faithful. So Paul thanked God every time he remembered them in his prayers.

We should also thank God for everything when we pray to Him. Although it may seem like a situation that we can never thank God for, we should thank God in our prayers as we look at our God of salvation with faith. In particular, we should thank God in our prayers because we have conviction that our faithful God who has begun the good work of salvation within us will bring it to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Also, we should thank God as we pray for the missionaries whom our church is supporting because of their partnership in the gospel with us. We should thank God because Christ is being preached through them and because of the work of God’s salvation. I hope and pray that this kind of reasons for thanksgiving prayers will become more abundant in your life and our church as well.

What does the Bible says about the result of prayer that is offered with thanksgiving? Look at Philippian 4:7 – “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” The Bible tells us that when we pray to God with thanksgiving instead of being anxious, the peace of God will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. Can you imagine that we can enjoy the God’s amazing peace even in in the midst of very worrisome situation that we are in? This amazing peace can never be given by this world. The reason is because this world doesn’t know or understand this amazing peace of our God. Besides, no one in this world can experience this peace. Only the people of God can experience it. Only the God’s people whose mind is steadfast, because they trust in God can enjoy this perfect peace (Isa. 26:3). Only those who pray with thanksgiving (Phil. 4:6) will be able to enjoy this perfect peace. And this perfect peace will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus (v. 7). The amazing peace of God will protect our hearts and our minds from all the anxieties, fears, doubts, etc., as if the soldiers guard their citizens all night long (MacArthur). Let us not be anxious about anything, but by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let us present our requests to God.