Trilogy of Gospel Duties

Introduction: Paul's Pastoral Passion for the Philippians

0:02 This sermon was placed on Sunday morning, January 24th, 1982, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now will you turn with me in your Bibles to the fourth chapter of Paul's letter to the Church, the Congregation of the People of God at Philippi, Philippians chapter 4, and follow as I read Philippians 4, verses 4-7.

0:53 In prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. Let us again seek the face of God in prayer, that the Lord himself would open to our understanding his own infallible word. Our Father, as we bow, in your presence, we acknowledge that the words that have been read in our hearing are familiar words to many of us, and with that acknowledgement we confess to our shame that familiarity does indeed often breed contempt, and we pray that the familiarity of these words may not be a barrier either to our true understanding of their meaning or of our desire to implement them by your grace. May the Holy Spirit come upon this congregation as the spirit of power and of utterance for the one who attempts to open up and apply your word, as the spirit of wisdom and revelation, as the spirit of glad obedience

2:21 in the hearts of those who listen. O Lord, make us all to be very conscious that in the opening up of your word we are having dealings with you, the God of the word. Hear us then and meet us, we plead, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

2:43 In our examination of the contents of this letter of joy written by the Apostle Paul to the congregation at Philippi, we have come in our consecutive expositions of this letter to these verses which have been read in your hearing, chapter 4, verses 4 through 7. As the Apostle begins to draw his letter to a conclusion, he is desirous to bring into sharp focus some of his great concerns for the congregation of God at Philippi. This concern has already been expressed in the epistle in the language of the Apostle Paul, chapter 1 and verse 27, where we read, Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you or be absent, I may hear of your state, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one soul, striving for the faith of the gospel, and in nothing frightened by the adversaries. He is anxious, that whether he comes to them and sees with his own eyes, or whether he hears reports about them,

4:09 that it may be true that they are living in a manner befitting their profession of the gospel, that they are living in true Christian unity and in undaunted courage in the face of opposition and persecution. He expresses that concern in language that is a bit different, but at the heart of it, it's the same concern in chapter 2. He says in verse 14, Do all things without murmurings and questionings, in order that you may be blameless and harmless, children of God without blemish, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life, that I may have whereof to glory in the day of Christ, that I did not run, neither labor in vain. So you see this tremendous pastoral passion of the apostle. He longs to know that the people are so living in the midst of a heathen environment that is characterized by ethical and moral darkness that they are constituted lights shining in the midst of that darkness. And he says only if the church has that kind of ministry will his labors have realized their intended end.

5:33 Otherwise, he says, I have labored in vain. Well then, as he comes to draw his letter to a close, something of this pastoral passion again comes out. It came out in the verses we studied last week. For he had to deal with these two leading women, Lodia and Syntyche, who were living in something less than realized Christian oneness and harmony.

The Trilogy of Gospel Duties Introduced

6:00 And so he exhorts them to come to oneness of mind in the Lord. And now in the verses before us, he sets before the Philippians what we could well call a trilogy of gospel duties or a three-fold cord of divine imperatives. And he does so because if the Philippian church is characterized by obedience to these gospel precepts, they cannot help but enhance their witness in the midst of the gross paganism in the city of Philippi. And though each of these gospel commands, each of these imperatives is complete in itself, there is indeed a relationship. And that's why I've used the word trilogy. Usually that's associated with a literary work or a musical work in which each unit is complete in itself, but the three of them together form a larger unit. And so we're going to examine this morning this trilogy of gospel duties.

Duty 1: A Command to Constant Joyfulness (Philippians 4:4)

7:10 And the first one is set before us in verse 4, and I'm calling it a command to constant joyfulness. A command to constant joyfulness. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice.

7:31 First of all, then, consider with me the meaning of the command, and then we will note something of the specific sphere of its fulfillment. When the apostle wrote or dictated the words rejoice in the Lord always, again, I will say rejoice, he was careful to express himself in the imperative. In other words, when he said rejoice, in the Lord, and then repeats that mandate, again, I will say rejoice, he is not calling the Philippians to constant joyfulness as a suggestion, as a mere exhortation, but he addresses them in the imperative. Two times he addresses them with present imperatives which could literally be translated be continually, be continually joyful. Again, I will say, be continually joyful, and as though that's not enough, he adds the word rejoice in the Lord always, that is, at all times, and therefore in all circumstances. And then it's as though he almost anticipates objections.

8:51 But Paul, you certainly cannot mean rejoice in the Lord always, in all circumstances, at all times. Don't you know that? And then as he anticipates all of the objections that people would raise, he uses a future tense and says, again, I will say,

9:14 be continually rejoicing. So between the first command, be continually rejoicing in the Lord always, at all times, in all circumstances, he puts every single objection that could ever be anticipated and when people are out of breath giving all of their rationalizations as to why they simply cannot rejoice in the Lord always, Paul comes back and says, again, I will say, after all of your objections, all of your rationalizations, all of your excuses, again, I will say, be continually joyful, be continually rejoicing. But notice not only the heart of the meaning of the command, but what is the key to its understanding, the specific sphere of its fulfillment. He does not simply say rejoice always, again, I will say rejoice, but he is careful to add that which is the heart of his injunction, rejoice in the Lord. That is, you must rejoice at all times in those things which have to do with your union with Jesus Christ. From the opening words of this letter, Paul was desirous that the Philippians should understand their most significant aspect of spiritual relationship

10:43 as being one of union with Christ. For when he addresses the church, he does in this language, to all the saints in Christ Jesus, that are at Philippi. So that from the very threshold of the letter, he is desirous that the Philippians should think of themselves as the people who are in union with Christ. And all the way through the epistle as we have seen, that theme is expanded, enforced, and amplified again and again and again.

11:22 So as he is drawing the epistle to a close, he says, first of all, I command you, I command you to constant joyfulness, a joyfulness which has as its specific sphere of fulfillment the realities derived from your union with Jesus Christ. For it is those things and those things alone which are unchangeable and unalterable. They are to rejoice in what they are in Christ, in what they have in Christ, and in what they hope yet to be in virtue of their union with Jesus Christ. And in a very real sense, taking that simple little trilogy of concepts, you can go back through the epistle and underscore all of the things that he has said with respect to what they have in Christ, what they are in Christ, right down to the end of chapter 3, what they shall yet experience by virtue of their union with Christ, even a body fashioned like unto his own glorious body. You see, it would have been cruel and inhumane to call upon them to rejoice in the things which bring grief, pain, disappointment, and heartache.

The Example of Paul's Joy and the Nature of Christian Joy

12:50 The Bible knows of no such stoicism. Rather, it is a command continually to rejoice in the unchangeable realities of union with the Lord Jesus Christ. And let me say by way of application, the man who wrote these words was not exactly on easy street when he wrote them. He was chained to a Roman soldier.

13:17 His trial at a Roman court is still in the works. He told us in chapter 1 he is not sure whether his head is going to come off or whether it is going to stay. He repeats that. In chapter 2, he is a man who in the midst of his imprisonment must be pained by the knowledge that there are people taking advantage of his imprisonment to rub it as it were under his nose.

13:41 He says they preach Christ out of envy seeking to add affliction to my bonds. Furthermore, he is a man who said in chapter 3 in verse 18, conscious that there were those who would undermine the faith of true believers by a false antinomian teaching. He said, I tell you now, even weeping. So this was no man on easy street.

14:05 A man who was a stranger to grief and sorrow and pain and what we would call frustrating circumstances which continually pressed in upon him. And yet he said, rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice. For you see, here was the man who from his very beginning of association with the church at Philippi manifested that great principle.

14:33 You remember Acts 16? Because of his gospel endeavors at Philippi he ended up with his hands and feet in stocks and his back laid open with the lictor's lash caked with blood. And at midnight, what is he doing? He and his companion are having a hallelujah meeting.

14:56 Singing psalms and hymns of praise to God. Why? Not because he was a stoic. Not because he did not feel the pain and the sting and the subsequent physical distress of the beating he received.

15:12 But because he knew that Roman stocks upon his neck or hands or feet, lashes upon his back, could not alter one iota all that he was in Jesus Christ. Acceptance. Accepted in the beloved. The imputation of a perfect righteousness.

15:31 The privilege of adoption. All that he was in Christ was completely unaltered by the treatment received at the hand of the Roman jailer. All that he had in Christ. All that he would yet become in Christ.

15:49 And so he learned the very lesson he is seeking to impart to the Philippians. That there is always an unalterable base, an alterable basis for rejoicing because that which we are in Jesus Christ is unchangeable. Now let me underscore again, that does not mean that there may not be periods of deep grief and pain and heaviness. We've already seen the indications of it in this very epistle, chapter 3 and verse 18.

16:23 It does not mean that there is no reason that the Christian life is to be conceived of as some kind of a plastic stage smile. A kind of evangelical, Farrah Fawcett grim. No, no. Not at all.

16:39 But it does mean that joy is to be the dominant characteristic of true and biblical Christianity. Romans 14 and verse 17. The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Galatians 5.22.

Joyfulness as a Command and the Sin of Gloominess

17:02 The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control. And in the light of that, it is not an overstatement to affirm that it is a sin to have gloominess as the dominant characteristic of your life if you name the name of Jesus Christ. It is as much a sin as if you went out and stole from your neighbor's garage, as much a sin as if you cursed, as much a sin as if you lusted, for this is a command of God, rejoice in the Lord always. And if joy is not the dominant characteristic of your life, you're living in sin. Oh, you say, Pastor, that's overstating it, is it? Is this a divine imperative?

18:02 Rejoice in the Lord always? Again, I will say, rejoice? Is that just as much a command as thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not commit adultery? Oh, you say it is.

18:16 Well, then it's just as much sin to disobey it. Oh, but you say, Pastor, I can't rejoice in the Lord always. You don't understand. You don't under...

18:26 I didn't write this. It doesn't matter whether I understand your circumstances. Yes, but if...

18:33 It doesn't matter. Almighty God, who knows every one of your circumstances, who in His infinite foreknowledge and by His own sovereign purpose has decreed all of the events and circumstances of all of the lives of all of His children, He dares to lay this standard upon you. I didn't. He does.

18:58 He says, Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I will say, Rejoice. Now, for some of you, you see what that means? That means you're going to go on living in the sin of gloominess until you're determined to deal with the things that are robbing you of your ability to rejoice in the Lord.

19:18 For some of you, it's nothing but unbelief. Wicked, constant unbelief. You refuse to believe what God says about that which you are in Christ. In spite of your stumblings, in spite of your besetting sins, in spite of your failures, in spite of your vacillations, God says, There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

19:47 And you just won't believe that. You only believe it when you are really walking in a state of unusual spiritual victory. Spiritual victory and stability. But when you enter a period where there is stumbling, where there is regression in a given area, you put your conscience back under not true biblical guilt of the son who has displeased his father, but you put yourself back under the lashes of the guilt of an unforgiven criminal.

20:19 No wonder you have no joy. And that sin, dear child of God, that's a dishonoring of the work of Christ. Therefore you are going to have to deal with the sin of unbelief. For some of you, the reason you cannot rejoice in the Lord always is because you are grieving and quenching the spirit who is the author of that joy.

20:46 The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. And you are grieving and quenching the spirit and therefore you find yourself unable to rejoice in the Lord. You must deal with that thing that grieves and quenches the Holy Spirit. This is a command to constant joyfulness.

Duty 2: A Command to Manifested Gentleness (Philippians 4:5)

21:10 But then that is followed very quickly in the second place, this trilogy of gospel duty, by a command to manifested gentleness. Look at the text, verse 5. Let your forbearance, the 1901 edition, the old authorized, let your moderation, the NIV, let your gentleness be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

21:41 Now why can't the translators agree on how to translate this word? Well, for the simple reason it's one of those words that is bigger than any English equivalent. And often the translator is holding one of those words and just when he thinks he's got a handle on it in English, half of the word falls out. And when he goes to catch the other half, the other part falls out.

22:01 You can think of words in the English language, you'd be hard-pressed to give a one-word equivalent in another language. Well, this is one of those words. And perhaps the best way to catch something of its significance is to look at its usage in several other contexts, and we'll see in those contexts, by contrast, what the word means. Turn, please, to 1 Timothy chapter 3.

22:28 We're looking now at the meaning of this command. We can't obey it unless we know what it's saying. Well, what is the apostle saying when he commands the Philippians to manifested gentleness? In 1 Timothy 3 and verse 3 we read, concerning the requirement for an elder, he is to be no brawler, no striker, here's our word, but gentle.

22:58 Now, you get the picture? Here's a brawling man. He loves to fight, verbally or otherwise. He's a striker.

23:07 First thing that gets in his way, he wants to bash it, or her, or him. Now, the opposite of that is gentleness, a non-basher, a non-striker. Something is in his way that irritates him. Something is in his way that would take advantage of him.

23:26 His first response is not to strike out, to bash, to brawl. It's to be gentle. All right? You see the word used in another context over in the book of Titus.

23:39 Titus 3 and verse 2. Titus 3 and verse 2. Put them in mind to be in subjection to rulers, verse 1, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready unto every good work, to speak evil of others, of no man, not to be contentious, to be gentle, showing all meekness. Now, you see something of the flavor of the word?

24:10 Here's the person, the moment someone wrongs him, he's ready to lash out verbally and speak evil of that person. When there's a situation that could easily develop into a fight and contention, he's right there. But the opposite of that is the one who is gentle and meek. It takes far more moral and spiritual fortitude to back down from a fight than to enter a fight.

24:38 Often takes far more grace to bite your lip than to let your lip run out in what it might want to say in a given situation. And then in 1 Peter 2 and verse 18, where he contrasts two kinds of masters with which slaves may have to do. 1 Peter 2.18, Servants, be in subjection to your masters with all fear, not only to the good, and here's our word, gentle, but also to the froward.

25:11 The master who's always throwing his weight around, asserting his rights, reminding you of his position. Well, the opposite of that is a gentle master. And then the same family of word is used of our Lord in 2 Corinthians 10.1, I beseech you by the meekness and the gentleness of Christ.

25:33 Alright, you get a feel for the word now? When the apostle then commands the Philippians to manifested gentleness, he is saying, let your gentleness, let your considerateness, one has rendered it your sweet reasonableness, your yieldedness, your selfless non-aggressiveness. He says, let this be manifested, notice, to all men. And he uses terminology that generally has reference not to the family of God, but to the world at large.

26:16 And so he has in his mind the Philippians in their concrete situation. Chapter 1, they have adversaries, who are making it difficult for them in the pursuit of their Christian experience. Adversaries who are watching their reaction to the pressure they bring to bear upon them. And so he says to them, not only are you, in contrast with the world, whose joy fluctuates with circumstances, you are to have a constancy in joy, utterly unlike the world.

26:50 You are to rejoice in the Lord always. Now, he says, you are not only to be marked by constant joyfulness, but by manifested gentleness. Let your moderation, let your gentleness, let your non-assertiveness of your own personal rights and dignity, let it be known unto all men, within and without the church. And then he gives a great encouragement for obedience to the duty.

Encouragement for Gentleness: 'The Lord is at Hand'

27:25 Look at the text. We've examined what the duty is. Now look at the encouragement to the duty. The Lord is at hand.

27:33 Now what did Paul mean when he wrote that? Well, he could have meant one of two things. And the commentators are fairly equally divided as to the meaning. He could be saying this.

27:44 Let your gentleness be known to all men. When men wrong you and you are tempted to be a striker and a brawler and to stand upon your rights and to defend and vindicate yourself, don't do that. Let your moderation, let something of the meekness and gentleness of Christ be seen. Who when he was reviled, reviled not again.

28:08 When he was threatened, he committed his cause to him who judges righteously. Be like your master, for your master is at hand. He's at your elbow. Oh, Christian, do not forget that the one whom you are to imitate and emulate and whom you are to reflect, he is by your elbow scrutinizing your response.

28:31 He is there to give you strength in the fulfillment of the directive. That could be the sense of the words the Lord is at hand and it would be a tremendous encouragement. Exactly what Paul said in 2 Timothy 4, 16 and 17 at my first defense. No man stood by me, but the Lord stood by me.

28:55 In the midst of all of the opposition of pagan people, though I didn't have a Christian friend around me, the Lord was at my elbow and strengthened me to make confession to his name. Or it could be that he's referring to the return of the Lord. And by saying the Lord is at hand, he's reminding the believers of this great truth that is a constant demand and buttress to the soul in the path of duty, that his Lord will return. And when his Lord returns, he will take vengeance on all who oppose the truth and all who oppose the people of God.

29:37 And in that sense, we have the language of Peter, 1 Peter 4 and verse 7. But the end of all things is at hand. 1 Peter 4 and verse 7. Chapter I should have said last Sunday night and confused a lot of you when I said chapter 5 of 1 Peter.

29:56 1 Peter 4, 7. The end of all things is at hand. Be therefore of a sound mind and be sober unto prayer. Or James chapter 5 and verse 8.

30:09 Be ye also patient, establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. And he uses the same family of words. The coming of the Lord is at hand. Now my own conviction is that Paul was referring to this latter truth.

30:27 O dear saints at Philippi, let your moderation, your gentleness be manifest unto all. And though it may be painful for you to take the unjust treatment of ungodly men, and though it may be contrary to your nature to swallow your pride and to bite your lips, and not to return evil for evil, O dear Philippians remember, the coming of the Lord draws nigh. And he will come and take vengeance on all who oppose me and my people. The Lord is near.

The Enigma of Christian Gentleness to the World

31:08 Now once again do you see how practical this instruction is. Living in a dog-eat-dog climate, each man standing upon his own rights, each asserting his own desires, reacting in a way that would please his own flesh. How different are the followers of the Lamb to be. They are to manifest, on the one hand, what the world cannot help but call the most excessive form of bigotry.

31:43 Here they are, so narrow-minded and stubborn and bigoted that they say that Christ is the only way of salvation. So narrow-minded that they would rather die than violate their ethical standards. What a narrow-minded bunch they are. And yet, wonder of wonders, those crazy bigots, when you abuse them, treat them like footballs, you're unjust to them, you're unkind to them, you take advantage of them, what do they do?

32:16 They manifest gentleness. And the world scratches its head and says, I can't figure out people like that. You see, the world can understand the man who's a bigot and then is always asserting himself. The world figures him out and says, well, he's just an assertive, narrow-minded, aggressive personality.

32:34 But when they see delicate, gentle, fragile, in some cases, women, delicate, perhaps naturally fearful, timid men, standing with intransigence upon their convictions, willing to die for them. And yet at the same time, those people are taking joyfully the spoiling of their goods in the language of Hebrews 11. When they are reviled, they do not revile again. When struck upon one cheek, they turn the other.

33:12 The world's ready to pull its hair out and say, what in the name of all common sense makes those people tick? I can't figure them out. Bigots! And yet gentle, stubborn and intransigent, and yet like little lambs.

33:28 Well, you see, Paul says, that's my concern for you, that you shine as lights in the midst of darkness. And true biblical Christianity is always a source not only of irritation to the world, but it's an enigma to the world. They can't figure out what makes us tick. And that's Paul's great concern for the church at Philippi.

Duty 3: A Command to Non-Anxiousness (Philippians 4:6)

33:53 So he calls them in the first place to a life of constant rejoicing. In the second place, a command to manifest gentleness. And now in the third place, the third thread in this trilogy of gospel duty, a command to non-anxiousness. A command to non-anxiousness.

34:17 Let's look at the meaning of the command again. Be anxious, for nothing. And here you have almost the identical words as are found in the language of our Lord in Matthew 6. Do not be anxious.

34:36 Matthew 6, 25. Now this is not a prohibition of all kinds of anxiety, but only a certain kind of anxiety. There are times when anxiety is a virtue and the absence of it is a vice. In Philippians 2 and verse 20, Paul speaks of the virtue of Timothy in this very area.

34:57 He says, I have no man like-minded who will care, who will be anxious truly for your state. So Timothy's anxiety for the Philippians was a virtue. The absence of that in others was a vice. Paul speaks of himself in 2 Corinthians 11, 28.

35:17 He says, Besides all of these things, that which cometh upon me daily, I have no anxiety. Solicitous cares for the churches. You see there is a kind of anxiety that is proper. The mother and father who have children and are not anxious over their children are not worthy of their position as parents.

35:38 The shepherds of the flock who are not anxious for the state of the flock are not worthy of their position. Well what then is the kind of anxiety that is forbidden? Well it's that kind of fretting anxiety that unhinges the soul and makes it unfit for clearly revealed duties. It usually terminates upon things and circumstances.

36:03 It invariably clouds the face of God and paralyzes the hands and the feet for productive, constructive activity. It's the language of Matthew 6. What should we eat? And wherewithal should we be clothed?

36:18 And how are the bills going to be met? And what will happen if...

36:22 It's that kind of spirit that our Lord so graphically describes in Matthew chapter 6. Now Paul says, by again, commandment. It's a commandment, child of God. As much as the commandment, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt do no murder, do not be anxious.

36:39 That's a command. Do not be anxious for anything. Do not indulge this kind of sinful, fretful anxiety no matter what combination of...

36:52 circumstances impinges upon your life. It is never right to be sinfully anxious. Well then, what is the means by which we can comply with such a command? Well, he tells us.

The Means to Non-Anxiousness: Prayer and Thanksgiving

37:05 In nothing be anxious but... Here's the divine antidote to sinful anxiety.

37:11 In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. The divine...

37:22 The divinely appointed means to avoid sinful anxiety is to cultivate prayerfulness after the pattern of this text. Prayerfulness that marks...

37:39 I'm sorry, that is marked by this expansiveness. But in everything, and in the context, everything in particular that would be the occasion of sinful anxiety. Anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer, the general word for prayer including worship and adoration and supplication in treaty for need mingled with thanksgiving, let your requests, your specific askings and then there's a beautiful stroke here in the original be known cross tonfeon towards God. In other words, this is not a matter of retreating into yourself and doing a little meditation and getting your act together. You see, a lot of people say, oh yes, prayer is a mighty religious force. You quiet your mind, turn inward upon yourself from all your cares and get your act together. No, there is a blessed objectivity about the prayer that the apostle is talking about here.

38:47 It is prayer with thanksgiving cross tonfeon towards thee, in other words, you, in all of your frailty, in everything that would cause your spirit to be turbulent and distraught, you come and in the language of Hebrews 4, you pour it out before the throne of grace that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Now this is a command, dear child of God, because again, he not only says be anxious for nothing, but when he says in everything by prayer, prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known, that's a command. And some of you may be searching high and low and hither and yon for the fundamental cause of your anxious spirit and it may lie right here. You have not cultivated this kind of artless simplicity in true prayerfulness. As someone has said, we bring together the strands of thought here and what we have is the mandate, be anxious for nothing, be prayerful in everything, be thankful for anything. And the person who lives like that will then find the fruit of his compliance.

The Fruit of Compliance: The Peace of God (Philippians 4:7)

40:07 The mandate is be anxious for nothing. The means by which to fulfill it, in everything by prayer. And now what will be the fruit of that compliance? Verse 7, and the peace of God.

40:20 There's the conjunction. If you do what is mandated in verse 6, and perhaps the and even presses back further to verse 4, but certainly it ties verse 7 to verse 6, and the peace of God which passes all understanding shall guard, literally, shall garrison, will be like a garrison of soldiers. The Philippians, being a Roman colony, often saw a garrison of Roman soldiers protecting someone or some place or something, and he says, the peace of God shall garrison your hearts and your thoughts, the place where anxiety really gets to you. It gets to your heart. It gets to the center of your being. And what has your heart has you.

41:11 Out of the heart are the issues of life. Whatever has your heart has you. And when sinful anxiety's got your heart, it's got you. And it leavens the entirety of your life.

41:22 And what has your mind has you. As a man, thinketh in his heart, so is he. Well, what do I need that if the deepest springs of my being, anxiety, will not be able to penetrate and take hold of me? I need to have a garrison around the heart and the mind.

41:40 And that garrison is the very peace of God. Isn't that a beautiful mixture of what we might say metaphor? Here you've got a military concept, but in the securing of peace.

41:52 You have a garrison, and that garrison is the peace. The peace of God. I can do no better in the brief exposition this morning, and I'm honestly making an effort to just give you the bare outline of the text and not be exhausted. Hendrickson comments on this statement that the peace of God will guard over your hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus.

42:17 Just these two sentences. Thus also, only far more so, God's peace will mount guard at the door of the house. At the door of heart and thought. It will prevent carking care from corroding the heart, which is the mainspring of life, the root of thinking, willing and feeling.

42:39 It will also prevent unworthy reasonings from entering the thought life. Thus, if anyone should tell the believer God does not exist and everlasting life is a mere dream, he would get nowhere. For at that very moment, the child of God would be experienced experiencing within himself the realities which the infidel is trying to reason out of existence. Now there may be a philosopher clever enough to persuade me logically that no such person as Mrs. Albert N. Martin exists.

43:14 And my mind might have to agree with his sophistry by which he reasoned her right out of existence.

43:25 And even though his reasoning might have me totally buffaloed and I'd have to say, well, following your line of reasoning, it's really true, no such person exists. But I'd say, frankly, my friend, you haven't disturbed me at all.

43:39 Because I held her in my arms this morning.

43:44 And all your reasoning doesn't budge me one bit because it's contrary to my deepest felt experience. Now we don't prove truth by experience, but we verify it in our experience. We cannot but speak what we have seen and heard. And to the worldling, this may sound like sheer nonsense.

44:04 You mean peace that comes from God acting as a sentinel over the deepest springs of heart and thought so that no matter what happens around us, we lose all of our goods, we lose our health, we lose our friends, our plans are frustrated and dashed in pieces, that in the midst of all of that, we can still have serenity, non-anxiety, rejoice in the Lord, not get grousey and angry at the entire world. Such a life possible? Yes, it is. And the key to it is the final phrase of the text.

44:46 Look at it. Shall guard your hearts and your thoughts.

44:51 Our friend is back again in Christ Jesus. He comes back to that fundamental, beautiful, basic concept of union, with Christ. You see, there is a direct line in the Apostle's thought from the infinite fullness of grace that is in Christ to the deepest recesses of the heart of the humblest believer. And it is in union with Christ that that virtue and grace that is in Christ is poured into the heart of a believer so that the peace of God can be garrisoned both heart and mind in union with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Conclusion: The Christian Composite and the Necessity of Christ

45:44 Now, what can we say by way of conclusion, having looked at this trilogy of gospel duty? Well, first of all, I trust you see something of the beautiful composite of the Christian that is set forth in this passage. You talk about light in the midst of darkness. What in the world does the world do with a character who is always always rejoicing when the bills are paid and when they aren't?

46:10 When the kids are well, when the kids are sick? When the job's going well, when it's not going well? When he's climbing the ladder of promotion, when he gets the axe? What does the world do with this character that is consistently and pervasively joyful no matter what changes or vicissitudes are manifested in his circumstances?

46:33 What does the world do with a character like that? That's to scratch the head. Say, I don't know where he's coming from. I don't know where his head's at.

46:43 And he doesn't.

46:45 What does the world do with the man who continually manifests gentle forbearance? The world tests him. There's that boss at work who says, you know, this guy seems to be a little different. I'm going to put a little pressure and see if he's for real.

46:58 And so he works harder than anyone else in the whole shop, in the whole office. And what's the boss do? Blames him for everything that goes wrong. Starts tightening the thumb screws on him.

47:08 Unreasonable. I mean unreasonable. And the boss knows he's being unreasonable. And the guy that's being treated that way, that Christian, he knows it's unreasonable.

47:16 And what's he do?

47:18 His gentle forbearance is manifested until that man says, I don't know what makes this crazy character tick. He's not stupid. His work production indicates he's got the smarts. He must know what I'm doing.

47:32 And though I continually bait him, he never takes the bait. I give him every chance to blast me. Then he doesn't do it. I can't figure that character out.

47:46 And then furthermore, knowing that he passes through all the same kinds of trials as a man, as a husband, as a family man that he passes through, he notices that he's never fretfully anxious.

48:02 You see, when Paul said that you may be blameless and harmless, what's it mean to be a testimony and a witness? A lot of young Christians say, oh, I want to be a good witness. I want to be a good testimony. Well, can you give me a book on how to be a good testimony?

48:14 How to be a witness? How to witness to my neighbors? You take this trilogy of gospel duty and take it seriously. And by the grace and power of God begin to live like that.

48:25 And my friend, you are a witness. You are a testimony. You can't help but be. And the world simply doesn't know what makes you tick.

48:36 And it's then that you'll have the opportunity in the language of Peter to give a reason of the hope that is in you. To people whose curiosity will finally not kill them, but it'll bring them to saying, what in the world makes you tick, man? Woman? Friend?

48:55 And if there is any genuine concern that we as a people be light in the midst of darkness, salt in the midst of putrefaction, there's no simple little ten steps to being a good witness. You've got to immerse your soul in such perspectives as these and independence upon the Lord. Lord Jesus, and in the way of His own appointment, pray that your life will be characterized by constant joyfulness, by manifest gentleness, and by this continuous non-anxiousness by the grace of God. Now, such a life is possible in Christ.

49:37 This is not an unattainable standard.

49:42 Now, it's not possible to perfection, but it is possible to be a good witness to come to a very heightened degree of constancy in these graces. And you think now of the people who make you most thirsty to know God as they know Him. Are they not those who manifest to some degree constant joyfulness,

50:10 who display something of gentleness, not always asserting their own rights, standing on their own dignity, wanting to vindicate their own cause, who manifest the ability amidst the pressures of life to keep their poise, as it were, because the peace of God is garrisoning their hearts.

50:34 Such a lifestyle is possible in Christ, my friend. But now listen to me. It is impossible outside of Christ.

50:45 In these four verses there are six explicit references to God and to the Lord and to Christ. Six explicit references six times in four verses. The Lord, the Lord, Christ, God, God are mentioned. What does that teach us?

51:02 It teaches us that you cannot extract these principles and have them operative in some kind of self-help religious scheme that is nothing but humanism that has a little sprinkling of religion on it. No, no. My friend, unless you are in union with Jesus Christ, unless you are vitally joined to the Son of God, you cannot know this kind of life. For He said, severed from me you can do nothing.

51:32 The Word of God says, they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Can it be that I'm speaking to someone this morning who has said, oh preacher, if only I could know that kind of life. I know what it is. When you talk about anxiety, I know what that is.

51:50 I could have had you sit down and I could preach that part of the sermon. I could tell this congregation what anxiety is. I know what it is to have a heart torn in a hundred directions, anxious about everything. When you talk about that spirit of standing on your rights and defending yourself, I know what that is.

52:09 It is native to me as breathing. When you talk about moroseness and heaviness, I know what that is. Oh my friend, listen. I hope that just this statement that such a life as this is possible will make you thirsty to become a Christian.

52:29 Make you hungry to become a child of God. Because that's the glory of the gospel. That the Lord Jesus, when he said, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. This is the life of rest to which he invites us.

52:46 Not a rest of inactivity. You see, if you're to do what this says, there's all kinds of activity. Not the rest of quietism and pietism where you're like the funnel and you just sort of get all yielded and passive and then the Lord just lives his life through you. No, no.

53:04 The command comes to us. You must be rejoicing in the Lord at all times. You must let your moderation, your forbearance, your gentleness be known. You must not be anxious.

53:18 You must by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God. This is not a summons to passivity. To neutrality. This is not the negation of spiritual activity.

53:31 It is a call to the most vigorous activity. But activity that can only be effectual if you are in union with Christ. And so I would call you to him that in him you might find the strength and grace to be the kind of person that is described in this passage. I trust God will write upon our hearts this trilogy of God's gospel duty that as we contemplate the Apostle Paul's original composition of these words by the guidance of the Spirit, anxious for the dear Philippian church that had become so precious to him, thinking that he probably will be released from prison and come to minister to them again, but not absolutely certain, knowing that these might be his last words to them. What is his great pastoral passion? It is that they as a people be marked by constant joyfulness, a manifest gentleness, and a non-anxiousness of life. And may I say that to the extent that my own heart is entered in however feebly to the pastoral passion of the Apostle, that's my great yearning for you, the people of God in this place.

54:52 May the Lord make it true in us to his glory. Let us pray.

55:09 Our Father, we are so thankful that we have your holy word as a lamp unto our feet and a light to our pathway. And we pray that the precepts and the promises and the provisions of the gospel set before us this morning may not be treated as so much religious talk to be tolerated for an hour, perhaps even to be considered noble and uplifting. But, O Lord, write your word, upon our hearts, that your word to us may become the meat and drink of our souls, that we may give ourselves no rest until by your grace we know something of the outworking of this trilogy of gospel duty in our own felt experience. We pray for those that are strangers to your grace. O God, may what they've heard this morning make them thirsty, and hungry to know the privileges that are the unique possession of those who are in Christ. Hear then our prayer.

56:22 Seal your word to our hearts. Be pleased to take us safely to our homes. Help us to drive with a caution that reflects our sense of responsibility not to tempt you. We pray that it would please you to bring us together again safely this evening and on the day of our death.

56:41 Amen. And crown the day with your own presence in the midst of your gathered people. We ask these mercies in Jesus' name. Amen.