Latest / Chapel Talks / How to rejoice in the Lord | Philippians 4:4-7 | Dr Eric Ortlund

Transcript

How to rejoice in the Lord | Philippians 4:4-7 | Dr Eric Ortlund · Chapel Talks

0:00
We're going to be looking at the famous passage
0:01
from Philippians 4 this afternoon. I mean, we
0:05
all pretty much have this passage memorized,
0:07
right? And it's not terribly difficult to make
0:09
sense out of, but it's been increasingly meaningful
0:12
for me as the years have gone by. So I'd like
0:15
to consider it with you. Just verses 4 through
0:17
7 of Philippians 4. Rejoice in the Lord always.
0:24
Again, I say, rejoice. Let your gentleness be
0:29
evident to everyone. The Lord is near. Don't
0:34
worry, but in everything, by prayer and supplication
0:38
with thanksgiving, make your requests known to
0:41
God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all
0:44
understanding, will guard your hearts and your
0:47
minds in Christ Jesus. This is God's word. Friends,
0:52
that last verse, verse seven, the peace of God,
0:54
which surpasses all understanding. I'm sure I'm
0:56
not the only one in this room. When I read that
0:58
for the first time as a Christian, it just stuck
0:59
in my mind. The way it's phrased is so beautiful.
1:03
And the thing it's talking about is so amazing.
1:05
And yet I'm sure I'm not the only person when
1:07
I read that. I've never read that and thought,
1:09
yep, I'm doing good on that one. I'm all topped
1:13
up on peace that passes understanding. I don't
1:15
need any more of that. You all are so godly and
1:17
sanctified. You're all way out ahead of me, you
1:20
know? It can be easy to look at verse 7, and
1:24
that can feel like an abstract ideal that might
1:27
apply to the really spiritual Christians, but
1:29
for normal Christians, not so much. The peace
1:33
of God that passes understanding does not characterize
1:35
very much of my experience. But what I think
1:40
is, and my thesis today with you, if you look
1:44
at the structure of the passage, verses 4 through
1:46
7, Paul gives three commands. and then a promise
1:49
about peace. Verses 8 and 9, he gives two commands,
1:52
and then the God of peace will be with you. My
1:55
idea, my crazy hypothesis I want to test out
1:58
with you, is that the more we follow the commands
2:01
that Paul gives in context, the more we're going
2:03
to find this peace being ours. In other words,
2:07
the passage unlocks itself for us. It tells us
2:10
how to get at this deeply precious thing. We're
2:14
not going to look at verses 8 and 9. Paul says,
2:16
think. certain things, and do the stuff you were
2:19
told to do, and the God of peace will be with
2:21
you. I think it's continuing the thought. You're
2:23
all perfectly smart. You can figure that out
2:25
on your own. I just want to look at verses four
2:26
through seven. He says rejoice, and then in verses
2:30
five and six, I translated it as be evident.
2:34
I should have just said rejoice, and then let
2:37
it be known, and let another thing be known,
2:39
and the peace of God. that passes understanding
2:42
so that i think as we rejoice and let these two
2:46
things be known more and more what feel a peace
2:48
that feels impossible will actually be ours so
2:51
that's what we're going to consider but before
2:52
we do we all know verse 7 i'm not going to tell
2:55
you anything you don't already know this verse
2:57
is amazing real quickly in verse 7 does everyone
3:00
see see paul says the peace of god That's a genitive
3:06
of possession and of source. That's God's peace
3:10
and a gift from him. This is not you trying to
3:13
convince yourself that everything's going to
3:15
be okay. This is not an abstract Zen ideal. This
3:20
is not even God bringing you up to your own fullest
3:23
potential for a calm state of mind on your own.
3:25
This is a gift from the throne outside of yourself.
3:29
It's something heavenly and divine, the kind
3:31
of blessed peace that God himself experiences.
3:35
He gives to those who have been united from his
3:38
son. And it's a gift from God from outside. Notice
3:44
he goes on to say that transcends comprehension
3:47
or that transcends knowing. Luke, what does the
3:51
NIV have there in verse seven? No, it's fine.
3:54
It's fine. Say again. Understanding. Yeah. Notice
3:58
verse seven would make sense without that little
3:59
phrase, which transcends understanding. Why is
4:02
that phrase there? If you're like me and you
4:06
have it, I don't know if it's obvious or not.
4:08
I have a tendency to worry about stuff. I'm just
4:10
irrationally selective about what I worry about.
4:14
And it's funny because my wife and I are both
4:16
worriers, but we both worry about totally different
4:17
things. Early in our marriage, she'd be like,
4:20
our finance is going to be okay. And I'd be like,
4:22
I can always get a job. Don't worry about it.
4:24
I'd be like, is the teaching going to be okay?
4:26
And she's like, well, it goes well most of the
4:28
time, Eric. Quit worrying about it, right? So
4:31
my experience of anxiety, tell me if this fits
4:34
with you. My experience, when I get anxious,
4:36
I'm thinking about the future and trying to plan
4:39
what I'm going to do to avoid bad stuff. Does
4:41
that resonate with it? It's that bad thing might
4:44
happen, and so I can do this and this. Oh, but
4:46
it might have these consequences down there,
4:48
and then maybe I can do that. I'm fretting and
4:50
worrying and wondering about what will happen
4:52
in the future, and I have no idea what's going
4:54
to happen in the future and what I can do. Now,
4:56
Paul says the peace that passes understanding.
5:01
In other words, this gift from the throne is
5:04
not something that you have to independently
5:06
verify is really worth trusting. You don't have
5:11
to let yourself wonder, can I really give myself
5:14
to this if I don't know if the future is going
5:16
to be okay? You have a piece that grips you that
5:20
you don't fully understand yourself. And instead
5:24
of that irritating worrying in your mind as I
5:26
go on and on, what about this, what about this,
5:29
what about... I just quit having to understand
5:31
everything, quit having to anticipate everything,
5:34
quit having to control everything. And I give
5:36
myself to a piece that doesn't make sense to
5:39
me, and it doesn't have to. He says the peace
5:45
that passes understanding will guard your hearts
5:47
and your minds. That is to say, your total person.
5:50
There's no part of your being that will be left
5:53
unaffected. It's not like part of you will be
5:55
at war with yourself and part of you will be
5:56
peace. Through and through you're going to be
5:58
in this peace. And he says it will guard you.
6:02
He could just say the peace of God will be with
6:04
you. That would make sense. But guard. That's
6:07
interesting. Guard from what? Well, I assume
6:12
at the least it means guarding me from making
6:15
dumb decisions because I'm listening to my fears
6:18
and not God, right? Or snapping at other people
6:21
and being unkind to other people because I'm
6:22
really stressed out. I am not pointing the finger
6:25
at anyone. I'm very guilty of that myself, okay?
6:28
At least it will guard me from that. But I wonder
6:30
if in a deeper way, it just protects you. It
6:32
takes care of you. It guards you. You don't have
6:35
to guard it. As you start to experience this,
6:38
it's not like a precious vase that you have to
6:40
worry might fall onto the floor and shatter.
6:43
You don't have to nourish it. It takes care of
6:46
you. And it comes for your hearts and minds in
6:51
Christ Jesus. That is to say, the Son of God
6:53
who dwells with us more intimately than we are.
6:56
This beautiful phrase from Augustine. He says,
6:59
you are closer to us than we are to ourselves.
7:01
You never have to worry about the peace getting
7:03
interrupted on the way down from the throne.
7:05
because it's in Jesus Christ to whom you're united
7:07
by faith. What a great verse, right? Now, how
7:10
do we get in on this? Okay, we're going to rejoice
7:12
and let two things be known, but real quickly,
7:14
in case this still feels like an extra add -on
7:18
for the super spiritual, if you don't know this
7:20
already, you and I are going to need this piece
7:22
this semester. Is anyone starting to feel the
7:26
press and the push and the stress of the academic
7:29
work across the semester? Is anyone starting
7:31
to think like, I'm not sure I can do all of this?
7:34
Is anyone being like Hebrew, Hebrew, Hebrew?
7:37
I'll give it 15 minutes and I'll pass the final
7:39
exam right away. Anyone feeling that way? I very
7:42
much sympathize with that. Every semester I had
7:44
at Trinity in Chicago, I was like, I don't know
7:46
how I'm going to get this all done. I managed
7:47
to somehow. We are engaged in a significant labor.
7:52
It is absolutely worth it. Consider how many
7:55
Christians across the world have the privilege
7:57
of coming. Look, I'm not trying to big up my
7:59
own ministry here, but how many Christians across
8:02
the world have access to theological education
8:04
like this? Maybe one in 10 ,000? I don't know.
8:08
But this is a significant labor. When I get to
8:11
the end of the semester, I am shot. It takes
8:12
everything I have to get through it. And friends,
8:14
I find studying depresses me. You should not
8:17
be surprised, especially the first years, if
8:20
you feel a dip spiritually. And Ecclesiastes
8:24
says studying is much weariness to the flesh.
8:29
There's something about human beings. Studying
8:30
is good, and you will need to keep doing it in
8:32
your life. But it's not necessarily automatically
8:35
life -giving, and especially not in November
8:37
when it's cold and rainy, and we've been at this
8:41
for 12 weeks, right? We're going to, and you're
8:45
stressed out and grouchy like I will be. And
8:48
friends, you're going to need this after you
8:50
leave Oak Hill. I have not talked to a single
8:51
graduate of Oak Hill who has said, after I left
8:53
Oak Hill and went into ministry, my life got
8:55
easier. Consistently, the testimony is, Oak Hill
8:59
was challenging and stressful, and it pushed
9:01
me, and then I got more challenged and stressed
9:03
out and pushed when I was in ministry. With all
9:05
due allowance for self -care and not burning
9:07
out, God has not called you to a stressful, easy
9:10
life. So this precious, seemingly unattainable
9:14
gift of Philippians 4 .7, this is a necessity
9:16
for all of us. Sorry, can't even speak English.
9:20
Okay, how do we get it? First, rejoice in the
9:23
Lord. And we all know this already. Most of the
9:28
Philippians are going, yeah, right, Paul. Do
9:31
you know the Wednesday morning I've had or the
9:33
year I've had or how little sleep I've gotten
9:35
this month? And Paul really lovingly and gently
9:38
looks us in the eyes and said, I am talking to
9:40
you. Again, I say rejoice in the Lord. How many
9:43
of us naturally just rejoice in God? I don't
9:46
tend to wander into that on my own. And notice
9:48
he says rejoice in the Lord always. Christians
9:51
never let their circumstances dictate how much
9:54
joy they find in their Savior. And friends, biblically,
9:57
joy in the Lord does not exclude profound grief
9:59
as well. Paul is not saying have a positive mental
10:03
attitude. He says rejoice in the Lord. And that
10:07
doesn't mean it excludes all grief, okay? Okay,
10:10
so how do we do this? Especially if it's not
10:12
natural for me, how do we do this? The simplest
10:14
way I know is to tell God the stuff you like
10:18
about him. Notice it doesn't say think about
10:21
God. It's You consciously direct your mind and
10:25
your affections to that invisible presence there
10:28
in the room with you, and you list for him the
10:31
things you like about him. And I find when I
10:33
do that, it begins, it's very artificial and
10:35
stilted, and I just kind of don't want to be
10:37
there. And it takes time for my heart to warm
10:40
up before I'm actually rejoicing. It's not natural
10:43
for me. But if I'm not rejoicing in the Lord,
10:45
I shouldn't be surprised if I'm not experiencing
10:48
the peace of God, if I can't rejoice in him,
10:50
right? Okay, so that this doesn't remain too
10:53
abstract, I'm going to rejoice in God in front
10:56
of you all for the next three hours, okay? And
10:59
we can get—no, I'm kidding. I'm going to say
11:01
two things about God that I really like, okay?
11:04
His providence and his happiness. Okay, so first
11:08
of all, God's providence for me. Across my 49
11:12
years, according to my calculator, I've had a
11:15
little over 2 ,500 Wednesdays. Guess how many
11:19
of them I remember? Not very many. Across the
11:24
thousands of seconds I had, for the millions
11:27
of atoms that are in my body, there has not been
11:30
a single instant of my existence that God's presence
11:34
and alert, careful, attentive care and awareness
11:38
and protection has not been with me. Not a single
11:41
second. Not a single second. In my best moments,
11:45
in my worst moments, in my most bored moments.
11:49
In the chapters of my life where I didn't really
11:51
know what was going on, in every single instant,
11:55
God is providentially ordering all things to
11:58
serve his purpose for me. His purpose being,
12:02
turn Eric into an actual Christian, someone who
12:06
can actually be happy in heaven and God's holiness.
12:09
Turn Eric into someone who can actually stop
12:11
thinking about himself so much and be a blessing
12:13
to other people, and turn Eric into someone who
12:15
can glorify God. Everything in my life is serving
12:19
that purpose. The horrible stuff in my life is
12:23
serving that purpose. We all have those times
12:26
where life is tough, but you're kind of thinking,
12:28
this is okay, I'm doing okay, I'm going to get
12:30
through this. And you have those times where
12:31
life is tough, and you're genuinely and without
12:33
self -pity thinking, I really don't know how
12:35
much more I can stand to that. That stuff is
12:38
serving God's purpose to make me wildly happy
12:41
in his presence forever in the resurrection.
12:44
even the boring stuff and the stuff that doesn't
12:47
make sense to me, that's also serving God's purpose.
12:49
Like a master artist, God never wastes any of
12:51
his materials. And if everything in my life is
12:54
serving God's purpose to make me a living fountain
12:58
of joy in the resurrection before him forever,
13:01
then everything in my life serves me. I have
13:04
a divine friend. Do I sound like I'm bragging?
13:06
I guess I kind of am. I have a divine friend
13:08
who is more committed to my eternal happiness
13:11
than I am. And everything in my life serves that.
13:16
And it's not just that. It's the happiness with
13:18
which God does that. I told my kids when they
13:20
were little, you think you're having fun on Christmas
13:22
morning? I'm having way more fun than you. And
13:24
they didn't believe me, and they were totally
13:26
wrong. One Christmas, my daughter, my wife sent
13:29
up this cute, not an obstacle course, but like
13:32
she left notes around the house. to where to
13:35
find a present. Like, go look in the kitchen
13:36
now. And then eventually she found the dollhouse.
13:38
My little daughter's jumping up and off the ground.
13:41
It's a dollhouse. It's a dollhouse. And she thought
13:44
she was the happiest person in the room. Her
13:47
mother and I were way happier in that moment.
13:49
My son is five years old. He opens a present.
13:51
It's a Captain America costume. His quote, word
13:54
for word, wow. Now this is a Captain America
13:58
costume. Wow. And five minutes later, he's on,
14:03
and he's got the shield, and him and I are like
14:05
play fighting on my bed and stuff. And he thought
14:07
he was having the most fun that day, and he wasn't.
14:10
Friends, if it's going to be an unspeakable joy
14:12
for us to be before the Lord Jesus in the new
14:14
creation, it's going to be a deeper joy for him
14:16
because of his love for us. There is no lack
14:22
in God. We don't feel any need in God, and yet
14:25
he's able to love us in such a way that you are
14:28
a real cause for happiness with God, even though
14:31
you give nothing to him. In the resurrection,
14:34
the Lord Jesus is going to come up to every single
14:36
one of you, and he's going to take your hands
14:38
and hug you and look you in the eye, and the
14:40
voice that spoke the Sermon on the Mount is going
14:42
to look at you and say, I am so happy you are
14:44
here. There is no way we were going to get this
14:46
party started without you. Now, we all could
14:50
say more, and if you were speaking, you could
14:53
rejoice in the Lord in a way that I can't quite,
14:55
okay? Just those two things, God's providence
14:59
and his happiness in that providence. I, and
15:03
I'm saying this more for me than for anyone,
15:05
I have to make a continual practice of rejoicing
15:07
in the Lord. I've got, or I shouldn't be surprised
15:09
when I don't experience the peace of God. Okay,
15:11
second command, let your gentleness be known
15:14
to everyone. So when he said the NIV has reasonableness,
15:20
I think perfectly good translation. When he says
15:23
gentleness be known, that is, it should be obvious.
15:26
It should be evident. And when he says to everyone,
15:29
that means no exceptions. It doesn't matter whether
15:31
they're Christian or not. It doesn't matter whether
15:33
they annoy you or not. It doesn't matter whether
15:35
they've wronged you or not. There's no exceptions
15:38
here. Let your gentleness be known to everyone.
15:41
Now, quick nuance. The same Paul who said this
15:45
dragged Peter over the coals in Galatians 2 for
15:48
hypocrisy because he's not even with Gentiles.
15:51
And I get the sense he said that in front of
15:53
everyone. He grabs the head of the church and
15:56
says, you're a hypocrite. I imagine that would
15:57
have made for an awkward lunch, right? The same
16:01
Jesus who says he is gentle and lowly will excoriate
16:04
the Pharisees and say, woe to you. Gentleness
16:08
does not mean weakness, passivity, people -pleasing,
16:12
and spinelessness. Okay. And you know this already,
16:16
but in ministry, you're going to need to have
16:18
the capacity to have those really blunt conversations
16:21
where you say things you wouldn't normally say.
16:24
At the same time, what Paul says here in this
16:27
passage must deeply characterize our lives. If
16:30
I'm not being gentle to everyone I meet, I have
16:34
no right to expect the peace of God to be mine
16:37
because I'm not representing who God is. There's
16:41
a bi -form. The word for this in Matthew 11,
16:45
when Jesus says, I am gentle and lowly, we're
16:47
reflecting Jesus when we do this. It's a meekness.
16:51
It's a non -reactiveness, not easily irritated.
16:55
It's a non -defensiveness. It's a calm, level
16:59
-headed, kind, considerateness of other people.
17:04
We've all had those conversations with other
17:06
Christians where you just think there's just
17:08
no talking to you. I can't convince you. You've
17:11
made up your mind. It's not abrasive. It's not
17:19
pushy. It doesn't wear people down. It's not
17:22
overly argumentative. It's reasonable. It's the
17:27
same word in 1 Timothy 3 .3 for the elder being
17:30
gentle and not argumentative, right? James 3
17:34
.17 has the same word. peaceable, our word, gentle,
17:41
open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits,
17:45
impartial and sincere, open to reason, full of
17:48
mercy. If that doesn't deeply characterize my
17:52
life to everyone, whether they deserve it or
17:55
not, I shouldn't be surprised if I'm not experiencing
17:58
the peace of God, because I'm not reflecting
17:59
who Jesus is. Third thing, okay, and Paul says,
18:04
let that be known. Third thing he says, let it
18:07
be known, is your prayers to God. They're not
18:09
the same word in Greek, but they're related forms
18:12
and they sound similar. So if you had heard this
18:14
at Philippi, you would have put the two together.
18:15
Paul says, you make one thing known to human
18:17
beings and another to God. You make your gentleness
18:20
known to everyone and you make your requests
18:22
known to God. I often flip it and I make all
18:25
my annoying requests known to people. I don't
18:26
say anything to God. He says, do not worry, but
18:30
in everything by prayer and supplication, make
18:32
your requests known to God. Worry. When you feel
18:37
that surge of anxiety, worry is an intense sort
18:40
of urgent feeling. It's not calm. As you go through
18:43
the day, he says, don't worry, but in everything,
18:46
as you go through the day, every time you are
18:48
feeling that worry, every time you're thinking,
18:51
what if that happens? Or, oh no, here comes that
18:53
other person. Or you see that thing inside yourself
18:56
and you think, oh my goodness, not this again.
18:58
You continually direct the energy toward God
19:01
and you start pestering your Heavenly Father
19:02
about it. When my kids are little, if they were
19:05
tired of their food, I'd have them just shovel
19:07
it off onto my plate. Everything on your plate
19:10
that you don't want, you just shovel it off onto
19:12
God's. And you continually say, Lord, I'm worried
19:15
about this. Will you please attend to that? You
19:17
do not have to pray long, complicated prayers.
19:20
Please can I ask everyone to remember, Jesus
19:22
himself says, don't think you're heard because
19:24
of your many words. You don't have to explain
19:26
the problem to God. It can be short, brief, and
19:29
repeated. It can be just, Lord, have mercy. Or
19:33
Lord, please help. Or Lord, fix this. Or whatever
19:37
it is. Every surge of worry, you keep passing
19:43
it on to God. And guess what starts to happen?
19:44
The peace of God that surpasses understanding
19:46
is yours more and more. Now, what if, and guys,
19:50
I need to give credit. I'm going to embarrass
19:52
him. Mark Sterling, who's here for this week,
19:55
really helped me with this passage and helped
19:57
me with some of the connections and this crucial
19:59
phrase right in the middle that I'm going to
20:01
talk about. So credit where credit is due. Thank
20:03
you, Mark. Do you see I skipped something in
20:06
the middle? What if you find yourself saying,
20:08
I don't want to be gentle to people. I'm too
20:10
tired and too frustrated. Or I don't quite trust
20:14
myself to be gentle. Or what if you find yourself
20:16
saying, I can't stop worrying. It's got a hold
20:19
of me. Does everyone see right there in the middle,
20:23
the Lord is near? That stands as the reason and
20:28
the ground, and it makes it possible for me actually
20:31
to be gentle and non -anxious. The Lord is near
20:35
means he is present and he sees and he cares.
20:41
There's nothing that happens in your life or
20:43
in your church that he's distantly aware of,
20:46
and it's like 18th on his agenda, and he'll get
20:48
to it when he can. And when it says the Lord
20:51
is near, that means he is active. If you could
20:56
see how busy heaven was each day with the divine
20:59
sovereign commanding his divine servants to bring
21:01
about his kingdom in the world, it would be quite
21:04
something. Friends, if the Lord is near, that
21:07
means present, caring, alert, active, then you
21:12
can be chilled out with other people. You don't
21:15
have to feel like I need to fix this problem
21:17
or I need to fix this person. You don't have
21:20
to grind people into the dust trying to get them
21:23
to be better Christians or something like that.
21:25
You can be chilled out with other people, and
21:27
you can keep passing stuff off to God and just
21:30
say, please take care of this, and you be the
21:32
Savior instead of me. And again, friends, that
21:35
doesn't mean you're silent or passive. In Galatians
21:37
2, Paul said something really blunt to Peter.
21:42
But my experience is whenever I speak or act
21:45
outside of this deep peace, I usually get it
21:47
wrong. And I'm not a blessing to other people.
21:53
That's it. Rejoice, gentleness known to other
21:56
people, your requests known to God. And the peace
22:00
of God, which surpasses all understanding, will
22:04
guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
22:09
May that be ours this day and this week and this
22:12
semester. Amen. Let's take a moment to reflect
22:15
on what we've just heard.