Here are two verses which all Christians need to memorize and repeat daily. “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” As we have learned, “be careful for nothing” is an old way of saying “don’t worry about anything.” The word “careful” has evolved just a bit over the last 400 years. We don’t need to be “full of care” about things over which we have no control. And even those things in which we might have some input, our God is better able to deal with them than we are. So, pray about everything – pleading – supplicating the Lord to handle things. And of course, He will, because He is God. So this is as much about submitting ourselves to the Lord, thanking Him for His wise care of all things.
We are EXHORTED to be “careful for nothing,” and we are EXHORTED to pray about everything. But verse 7 doesn’t exhort us to do anything; it is a statement of fact. “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, SHALL keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” When Christians meet the proper criteria – praying instead of worrying – we will enjoy God’s peace. So I repeat Paul’s exhortation: “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
God will keep your hearts and minds. This morning I’d like to consider the Lord’s potential care of our hearts – His cardiac care. This is important because as Solomon tells us “for out of it are the issues of life.” More precisely he says in Proverbs 4:23, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” But, “the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked; who can know it?” – Jeremiah 17:9. There is one cardiologist who knows our hearts better than any professional on earth. ”In every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Let’s start with the NEED we have of a peace-filled heart.
I thought about going back through this epistle, highlighting some of the disturbing things Paul mentions. He talks about his imprisonment, and how some people were preaching Christ out of their envy of Paul. He warns his readers of dogs, evil workers and the dangerous Jewish ceremonialists. In this chapter he brings up some of the internal problems in the church in Philippi. And then in these two verses, he seems to generalize – “be careful about none of these things…” In fact, “Don’t worry about ANYTHING.”
We notice that Paul makes no reference to the corrupt Roman government, under which his life hung in the balances. And he doesn’t speak of the rumblings of Mt. Vesuvius, just down the coast from where he was incarcerated – the volcano which destroyed Pompey. He expressed no worry about where his next meal would come. He doesn’t mention growing threats of Mongol invasions, or more imminently of the Punic Wars and Hannibal riding his elephants over the mountains into Rome. His letter warns of spiritual and religious problems – not anything political or social. And even these specifics are not worth his “be careful about these things.”
That was the illustrious Apostle Paul. But what about us? Don’t we have more things to worry about than the people of those simple days 2,000 years ago? Have you heard about the reports of possible Iranian attacks on the United States? The Reuters News Agency reported that the FBI has warned law enforcement agencies last month of the possibility that Tehran might try to launch drone attacks on California. Now, there is something to worry about. We’ve recently seen what Iranian drones have done in Dubai, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, what if that country has been able to hide or distribute nuclear weapons? Shouldn’t we worry? And in the media’s desire to terrify us, they have been talking about the FIFA world soccer tournament. Later this year we are going to have millions of foreign visitors among us, spending their money and boosting our economy. But they may also be carrying with them dozens of potentially fatal diseases. Washington state, among others, is gearing up to fight against the spread of measles, COVID and ebola. Shouldn’t we be “full of care” about such things? And what about the increased volcanic activity and earthquakes around the world? Isn’t the AntiChrist on the horizon? Shouldn’t we be terrified?
No, we should not. “Be careful for nothing.” I’m not suggesting disinterest in these or in anything else. What I am suggesting – “in all these things by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto the Almighty God.” We can’t afford to be wasting our emotional energy worrying. We can’t afford to be hurting our Christian testimony by suggesting that God our Saviour is wringing His hands over world events and personal problems. We have no right to ask God to bless our physical bodies, when we have introduced unnecessary stress on our organs, systems and faculties. We need the peace of God from the outset – before we create cardiac problems in ourselves .
But Paul is not talking about the application of some sort of psychological, social or medically induced peace.
He specifically refers to “THE PEACE OF GOD” which can keep our hearts and minds.
This is a special peace which is the property and purview of God alone. There is no government on earth sufficiently omniscient and powerful to stop every terrorist attack. There is no economic plan able to put a chicken in every pot and a wonderful retirement in every future. There are no sciences which can put a stop to drought, famine, hurricanes and firestorms. But I look at what my God did in Egypt in the days of Moses, and I say, “Wow! Praise the Lord.” In just a few days, Jehovah revealed His power over all three of the illustrations I just mentioned. He even brought a darkness over the entire land and into every home, while at the same time enabling light to flood the homes of the Hebrews. It was as though all Egypt lost electrical power – “but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.” There is a special kind of peace with this God – with Yahweh, El Shaddai – the all powerful Jehovah. Peace is God’s to give, or to withhold. And His peace ”shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
No matter what definition or synonym you might consider for “peace,” God is its epitome and perfection. No matter what antonym you might find for peace, God’s blessings are the opposite. The world, and many hearts, are in turmoil; but God is absolutely calm. The world is a place of confusion, but God has all things in control and has a plan for everything. A peaceful atmosphere, or a peaceful home is not hustling, bustling and noisy. The throne room of Jehovah is quiet and peaceful. Remorse and regret? God has never yet been sorry for anything He has done or permitted to be done. Apprehension about the future? The Lord God has no future; He exists in and controls the future. There is nothing harmful, evil or malicious in God, so with Him governing our hearts, we shouldn’t expect anything evil, malicious or harmful. Conversely, the Lord is righteous and holy, so no matter what the world might do to us, our Saviour will make it resolve into righteousness. In the midst of the world’s disorderly unruliness, “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” The omnipotent and sovereign God has a purpose for everything. So what point is there in our worrying?
As I was preparing this message, I spent 20 minutes trying to think of ways to explain or illustrate God’s peace. Foolish me. I won’t say that it was time wasted, because it was a blessing to my heart. ut I should have known I’d come up short. I’ve just touched the hem of the garment. How can I explain the infinite – and the peace of God is exactly that – infinite.
Paul says, “In speaking about the peace God, remember that it PASSETH UNDERSTANDING.” “Passeth” is the Greek word “huperecho” (hoop-er-ekh’-o) with the prefix “huper,” meaning – “super-size it.” Peter uses that word to say “supreme.” And earlier in Philippians, Paul said, “I count all things but loss for the EXCELLENCY of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord…” There he is speaking of “hyper-excellency.” There is nothing more excellent than the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord. The peace of God is so far above our heads and minds, we will likely never be able to fully understand it. What is its source? What is its potential? How does it originate in the infinite God? Despite our weakness in understanding, God will use it to keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
And the word “keep” is a somewhat rare word which means “to keep with a garrison, to guard.” In II Corinthians 11, Paul described a day when he escaped arrest in Syria. “In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king KEPT the city of the Damascenes with a GARRISON desirous to apprehend me; and through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall and escaped his hands.” Twice in that verse we have the our word “keep” – translated there as “kept” and “garrison.” But we see God’s keeping power more clearly in I Peter 1:5 – We are “are KEPT by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” It is impossible for the soul which God has saved to ever be lost, because He has ordered a legion of angels to protect it, with each one empowered by God. And there is no enemy who can enter the heart which is guarded by the powerful peace of the infinite God.
Oh, and don’t miss the fact that it is God’s peace “through Christ Jesus.” Once again, we find Paul tying together God the Father and God the Son, Jesus Christ. It is Christ who dispenses divine peace, because it is His to administer.
With this I need to step back to make an essential point; this is the point of my message. Remember, Paul was writing “to all the SAINTS in Christ Jesus where are at Philippi…” These thoughts were not directed toward those who had no love for the Lord Jesus. He wasn’t trying to encourage the wicked not to worry about their futures, because they have much to worry about. He was writing to Christians.
And this takes us to the question of the day: HOW may WE have and enjoy the peace of God?
It is available to very few in this world. First – the “peace OF God,” to which Paul refers, requires “peace WITH God.” The United States citizen, who openly sympathizes with Hamas, Hezbollah or Al-Qa’ida should not expect to be well-received in a Jewish Synagogue. In fact, if he is known to be buying excessive amounts of fertilizer or fireworks, he should expect to find the FBI following him, listening to his conversations, and watching his bank accounts. If he is not a friend of this country, then should expect to feel the animosity of this country. Peace requires a friendly relationship. More particularly the peace of God requires a friendly relationship with God.
And, as you hear week after week in this church, no natural human being is a friend of the kingdom of God. The Bible tells us that we are all born with rebel blood in our veins and spiritual terrorism in our hearts. “There is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not,” in the sight of the King of kings.
Consider Pharaoh, king of Egypt, in the days of Moses and Aaron. Over and over again, God said to Pharoah, “Let my people go, that they may serve me.” And time and time again, he replied, “I’m in charge here. I’m not taking orders from any one, Elohim included.” God then sent plague after plague – problem after problem – into Egypt and onto Pharaoh. The Nile turned bloody, killing fish and making water undrinkable. That was a serious problem. Then came frogs, and lice, and swarms of flies. A deadly disease killed Egyptian livestock. Boils started erupting on human flesh, making shingles look and feel like eczema. At various points and for short periods of time, Pharaoh, relented, needing peace with God. “I’ll let Israel go into the wilderness…” but then he changed his mind, and there was no peace. He didn’t enjoy a single plague – not ludicrous frogs in the royal kitchen or the darkness in the palace. He couldn’t enjoy the peace of God, because he was at war with that God.
Now, I admit that Pharaoh is an extreme example, but that is only because he was an extreme person. He was perhaps the most powerful man in the western world. His defiance of the Lord endangered the lives of millions of his people. Unlike him – you and me – we don’t have a kingdom to govern. But we do have our little fiefdom. We have our little insignificant lives, and we want to control them as if we were Pharaoh. Until we are at peace with God, we will never have the peace of God.
Israel may be another extreme example. If I had to summarize most of the Old Testament books of prophecy, I’d say that God was telling His rebellious people to submit themselves to Him. They were being plagued with natural disasters and national enemies, because they refused to be at peace with the God who ordained their existence. In order to enjoy the peace of God in a tumultuous world, there must first be peace with God. Still today, there is no peace in Israel, because the average Israelite is living in rebellion against Jehovah.
Peace with God requires justification – the application of God’s righteousness to the account of that sinner. Paul’s epistle to the Romans, chapters 1 through 3, declares, proves and reiterates man’s sinfulness. And sin is essentially a rebellion against God. “There is none righteous, no not one.” “There is none that doeth good, no, not one.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Romans 4 explains how David and Abraham submitted themselves to the Lord, trusting him. And their “faith was counted unto them as righteousness.” “Justification” was the word Paul used to talk about the application of God’s righteousness.
With that we come to Romans 5 which begins with “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” At that point Paul mentions some areas in which God’s peace is important. He says in Romans 5:3 – “We glory in tribulations” – trouble, distress, afflictions, adversity. How can anyone glory in adversity? – in afflictions like beatings, whippings, stonings and prison? How can we prosper in the midst of loss of friends and loved ones? How can we be positive when the world hates us? The answer is – “The peace of God shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
But that requires we go back to Romans 5:1 – “Being JUSTIFIED by faith, we have PEACE WITH God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Before anyone can enjoy the peace of God in a world full of tribulation and sin, there must exist peace between him and the Lord. And the only way that peace with God can exist is through justification – application of God’s righteousness
It is quite possible that one of the people hearing Paul’s letter to the Philippians was formerly the Roman jailor. In Acts 16 we see his peaceful life crashing down around him. He likely had beaten God’s evangelists and had pinned their legs into the reinforced wooden stocks. He had probably heard Paul and Silas singing the Saviour’s praise out of peace which filled their hearts. And then the unthinkable took place, and the ground under the city shook like a bowl full of Jello. Huge building blocks crumbled, and beams began to fall. Iron doors fell over when their supporting structures disintegrated. And whatever confidence that man once had in himself, in his false gods, and even in the ground under his feet, liquified like the walls of his jail. He was totally peaceless, crying out “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Their reply was – “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…” “And they spake unto him the word of the Lord…” I am absolutely confident that Paul explained to that man that he was a sinner in the sight of the Lord. I am sure he exhorted him to surrender and submit himself to the God – whose little finger was destroying the city in which he lived. As we read in many other scriptures, the man was told to repent before God as he put his faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Then a few hours later, that man was sitting clothed and in his right mind, peacefully listening to the man of God. He went from cowering in absolute terror to perfect calm. He went from shivering in fear under the wrath of God, to rejoicing in having peace with God. But then, facing the problems of his world as a deserter from heathenism – as a convert to Christ – he found the gracious gift of God’s peace moving forward. He enjoyed the “peace OF God” because he had been given “peace WITH God.”
Is there someone here today, who looks with terror at what is going on this world? Maybe it is more personal than that – maybe your life is falling apart, and you are dreading what is coming. You need the peace Paul is describing to the Philippians. But you will never have it, if you aren’t first reconciled to God through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus. “We pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. “For he that made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand…” That grace in which Paul stood – included the ability to face the problems of life, with the peace of God keeping his heart and mind.
But again, the key to having and enjoying that peace is salvation from sin through the Lord Jesus Christ. Won’t you surrender to the Lord this morning? Won’t you forget the confidence you have in yourself and in the crumbling things around you, and put your faith in Christ? You are a sinner facing eternity in hell; you need a Saviour. Permit me to introduce you to the one name under heaven, given among men, whereby ye must be saved.