Overview
We rejoice because the future belongs to God. Paul wrote Philippians 4 from a prison cell, and he could still tell believers to rejoice always because, although our future is unknown to us, it is known to God, who personally guards it with His peace and His presence. Philippians handles the present against the backdrop of the future: let your gentleness be known unto all men, trade anxious thought for specific prayer with thanksgiving, and the peace of God will stand guard, like a military guard, over your heart and mind. Romans 16:20 and Jeremiah 29:11 say the same thing. The God of peace is already in your corner in the future.
Transcript
Why Paul Could Rejoice From a Prison Cell
Please turn to Philippians chapter 4. Why rejoice? Great question. Paul helps us to answer that question in the book of Philippians chapter 4. Paul modeled what it meant to continuously rejoice in the Lord, despite his present circumstances. He was in prison at the time. He was incarcerated. And yet he writes clearly about rejoicing, because he understood that our future is the key to rejoicing. Our past and our present are known to us, but not the future, not the details of the future. God shows us some broad strokes. So God desires that we understand, though our future is not known to us, it is known to him.
He personally guards our hearts and minds with his peace and with his presence in the future. And we’re going to approach these verses understanding a little bit about time, the present and the future, most specifically. Because the future realm is God’s realm. He personally guards it, so we should not intrude on God’s realm. Our realm is the present. That’s what he gives to us in the moment. That’s where we decide. What we’re going to read here in the book of Philippians is interesting, because Philippians does not emphasize the past, like the book of Romans or Corinthians or Galatians.
Rejoice in the Lord Always: Philippians 4:4
But Philippians emphasizes the present in the backdrop of the future. And there’s no better example than Jesus Christ. While dying on the cross, the word says that the joy was set before him in Hebrews 12:2, and that’s why he endured it. For the joy that was set before him, he endured the shame. There’s something about the future that helps us in the moment. And here in Philippians chapter 4, in verse 4, it says, Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice, it says it twice. So that’s pretty emphatic.
And this rejoicing is to be done continuously in its Greek grammatical construction. Even though we’re aware of circumstances, we do not allow those circumstances to rule our life. And Paul is a great example, because he’s in prison and he’s saying rejoice. In the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. And we’re going to see more of how this breaks down as we progress through these several verses.
Why “Moderation” in Philippians 4:5 Means Gentleness
It goes on to say, let your moderation be known unto all men, the Lord is at hand. The word moderation actually is better rendered gentleness, gentleness. You know, we’re not overly strict. We want to retain the heart of the word, kind of like when the woman who was caught in adultery brought before Jesus. And according to the Old Testament law, she should have been stoned to death. But Jesus’ response would be in this category. Sure, the law said she should be stoned, I get it. But Jesus said, let he who is among you without sin, let him cast the first stone. Wow, that’s gentleness. That’s gentleness.
Often your strongest people are your gentlest people, because they understand the strength that they draw from. You can see that physically with certain individuals, especially very, very strong large men, are more gentle because they know they could do a lot of damage if they did not control themselves. So they’re gentle, and spiritually it works the same way. We want to be gentle with one another, and it says unto all men. So that’s an example that we can set in front of people, because the Lord is at hand.
The Lord is at hand is in reference to the coming of Christ in the future to defeat evil and restore all things to right.
And that day is at hand, meaning it’s getting closer and closer. Each day we are a day closer. So that affects the way that we do not react. We respond with gentleness, because we understand where our strength comes from. It comes from the Lord. And that’s where our expectation is in all things, is the Lord. But we still deal with the temptation to be anxious, don’t we, about the future.
Be Anxious for Nothing: Pray About Everything (Philippians 4:6)
The next verse handles this, be careful or have no anxious thought for nothing. But in everything by prayer and supplication, supplication is being specific, with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God.
God is giving us something to do. Rather than be anxious about the future, he’s guiding us to pray. We can leverage huge problems with prayer. We can move mountains with prayer. And God is telling us here by way of the Apostle Paul that we should pray and make our request known continuously unto God. So as the anxious thoughts come up, we pray. And it’s all based on the faith that we have of Jesus Christ, because there’s an action side to faith. That’s right. We received eternal life through the faith of Jesus Christ, but there’s also an action side to faith.
The Action Side of Faith and the Trust Side
And the action side to faith is we confidently do what we know to do. Here, we’re being instructed to pray. Here, we’re being instructed to ask for specific things. And here, we’re told to make requests continuously. That’s something we know to do. And we do it confidently. That’s part of the action side of faith. Then the other side of faith is there are things we do not know. And that big category is the future. We do not know all the details of the future. Or things that are beyond our control would be in this category.
And that’s where the trust comes in. So the action side of faith is we confidently move on what we know to do. As anxious thoughts come, we pray continuously. And then the things we don’t know what to do or are beyond our control, if you will, we trust. And all of that is tied to faith. We trust and let it go.
The Peace of God Guards Your Heart Like a Military Guard (Philippians 4:7)
Then it says in verse 7, And the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. The peace of God. This could be understood as the peace God has and gives.
The peace God has and gives. And what does this peace do? It passeth all understanding. That means it goes beyond anything your mind can come up with. Right. All those what-if scenarios, the peace of God goes beyond it. That’s right. It’s bigger. Let me ask you a question. Is God anxious about your current situation? If He’s not anxious, He’s telling us we don’t need to be either. When He gets anxious, then you and I can get anxious. He’s not anxious. You know why? Because He knows the future. And He knows and He’s ready and has already supplied the solution and the direction that we need.
As we go to Him with confidence in prayer, not just talk about prayer, pray. Pray all the time. And then what we can’t control, we trust God and let it go.
It says, the peace of God passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. The words keep shall keep are actually guard, like a military guard. And this is in the future tense. God is guarding your future himself with His peace and His presence. Now, if God is guarding like a military guard your future with His peace and presence, I think we can be okay.
I think we can relax. Then verse 8 is what we can do again. God tells us don’t be anxious, pray. Then He tells us what will happen. The peace of God will, that passes all understanding shall keep guard your hearts and minds.
The Framework for Your Thinking in Philippians 4:8
Then it’s verse 8 what we can do. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. The key is the word are, A-R-E, are.
It’s in the present tense. And in the Greek it means present tense and continuing. So these six adjectives describe a framework of thought. In the moment what we’re to do is we’re to think whatever is true. If it’s not true, then it doesn’t fall into the proper framework. If it’s not honest, if it’s not just or pure, lovely or good report, it’s outside the framework in the moment. God is giving you the moment and me, and He’s telling us the framework within which we should think. And then it says if there be any virtue or any praise, think on these things.
Virtue and praise are what is produced. Virtue is moral excellence. And anything that is praise worthy has praise. So you see how God is helping us frame our thinking regarding circumstances and why we can rejoice. We keep our minds within that framework.
Now many people read verse eight and they think it’s a list, but they have to check off. That’s actually not what it is emphasizing. It’s a figure of speech called asyndeton. Many of you are familiar with that. But what it does is it emphasizes the end, which is think on these things.
It rushes through the list, if you will, to get us to the end. And the word think means to logically conclude. You come up with the right answer, the right solution. Well, if God’s telling us to rejoice, to be gentle unto all men because the Lord is at hand, He’s asking us to pray and ask for specific things and requests continuously. And that His peace, which passes all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds. Then yes, we can conclude these things. Logically conclude them. That’s right.
From the Peace of God to the God of Peace (Philippians 4:9)
Now verse nine, those things which you have both learned and received and heard and seen in me do, and the God of peace shall be with you.
Now it mentions it a little differently. Instead of the peace of God, it says the God of peace. What we see is God acting on our behalf in the future. Because Paul is saying, hey, listen, I’m setting an example for you. What you’ve seen and heard in me do. Well, what was he doing rejoicing? What was he doing being gentle? What was he doing praying with thanksgiving? When anxiety knocks on the door. What was he doing? He was framing his thoughts. And then what’s the result again? The God of peace shall be with you.
Or this one could be understood as, God which gives peace shall be with you. And shall be again is in the future tense. See, the future is God. He’s the only one that knows it. So we let him have the future. We don’t intrude on it with our anxious thoughts. That would be intruding in the future. We keep ourselves framed in the present because we have the peace of God that guards and keeps us our hearts and minds in the present. That’s right.
Romans 16: The God of Peace Shall Crush Satan Under Your Feet Shortly
Look at Romans chapter 16, please. This phrase comes up again. Romans 16 in verse 19. Paul writes, For your obedience has come abroad unto all men. In other words, the witness of the Roman church was so significant that it was really everywhere. I am glad therefore on your behalf, but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good and simple concerning evil. He’s telling the Roman church that they should separate good from evil. And with the good they should wisely pursue the things that are good. And with evil, they should remain simple or unmixed or innocent. And again, what is the result?
Here’s the result, verse 20. And the God of peace shall bruise or crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, amen. Sometimes we read that and we think, well, that’s the future, future, future when Christ returns. Well, it doesn’t say that. It says, And the God of peace shall crush Satan. Satan is talking about as the evil one works through the systems of the world. Kind of indirectly. You know, you hear something on the news. You receive bad or harsh information. You have negatives coming at you.
That all comes, it didn’t come from God. That all comes from that realm. And God says that he has the God of peace or the God which gives peace shall bruise. And the word bruise is crush. And it’s in the future tense.
You know, the future is 10 minutes from now. It’s not just 20 years from now. In the next five minutes, that’s the future. When we started this meeting, that was the past. Right now we’re in the present. And in 10 minutes, five minutes, we’re going to be in the future.
And God will crush Satan. And the influences of that evil as it intimidates you, as it tries to paint you into a corner, as it belittles you or shames you, or makes you afraid or anxious, he will crush it. And he’ll do it with his peace. And he is personally involved. Like we saw in Philippians, he is personally involved with his peace. And here in Romans, he is personally involved with his peace again in the future. So we can rest in the present and enjoy the fullness of what God has done through us in Christ Jesus.
Jeremiah 29:11: Thoughts of Peace and an Expected End
This reminds me of a verse in Jeremiah 29:11 where God says this to the children of Israel who’ve been brought captive to Babylon. He tells them through a letter through the prophet Jeremiah in 29:11, for I know the thoughts that I think toward you saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not evil to give you an expected end or to give you a future and a hope. This concept is throughout the Bible. God’s people can rest and rejoice because the God of peace, the God who gives peace, the God who initiates peace is in your corner in the future.
Let Tomorrow Take Care of Tomorrow (Matthew 6:34)
That’s why it says in Matthew 6, take no thought for the morrow. For the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. You’ve got plenty to deal with today. Let tomorrow take care of tomorrow. God is there in the future.
And this is how Paul modeled what it meant to continuously rejoice in the Lord, despite even his present circumstances while he was in jail. Paul understood that God personally guards our hearts and minds with his peace and with his presence in the future because he’s the only one that can inhabit the future, the only one.
This allows us to rejoice. It allows us to be gentle with all men. We are encouraged to pray with thankfulness when circumstances tempt us to be anxious. We frame our thoughts in the moment and the present and simply leave the future to God.
Key Takeaways
- Paul wrote Philippians from prison, and the rejoicing he commands is continuous in the Greek, not something switched on and off by circumstances.
- The future is God’s realm and the present is ours, so anxious thought about tomorrow is intruding on ground God has already taken.
- Moderation in Philippians 4:5 is better rendered gentleness, and the strongest people are usually the gentlest because they know where their strength comes from.
- Faith has an action side and a trust side: we confidently do what we know to do, which here is pray, and we trust God with what we cannot control.
- Keep in Philippians 4:7 means guard, like a military guard, and it is in the future tense, so God Himself guards your heart and mind with His peace.
- Philippians 4:8 is a framework for thinking rather than a checklist. The figure asyndeton rushes the list along to emphasise its end: think on these things.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Paul say to rejoice in the Lord always?
Because the future is the key to rejoicing. Paul wrote from prison, yet he understood that although our future is not known to us it is known to God, who personally guards it with His peace and His presence. The Greek construction makes the rejoicing continuous, so we remain aware of our circumstances but never let those circumstances rule our life.
What does moderation mean in Philippians 4:5?
Moderation is better rendered gentleness. Rico Magnelli points to Jesus and the woman caught in adultery: the law said she should be stoned, but Jesus said let the one who is without sin cast the first stone. Often the strongest people are the gentlest, because they understand the strength they draw from, and this gentleness is to be shown unto all men.
What does it mean that the peace of God shall keep your hearts and minds?
The word keep is actually guard, in the sense of a military guard, and it is in the future tense. God is guarding your future Himself with His peace and His presence, which is why we can relax in the present. That peace passes all understanding, meaning it goes beyond anything your mind can come up with, including every what-if scenario.
Scripture References
Philippians 4:4; Hebrews 12:2; Philippians 4:5; Philippians 4:6; Philippians 4:7; Philippians 4:8; Philippians 4:9; Romans 16:19; Romans 16:20; Jeremiah 29:11; Matthew 6:34
This text was prepared from the teaching audio. Please verify scripture references against your own Bible.
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