How to Have Unfathomable Peace - Part A

Imagine having a peace that passes all understanding. Imagine having a piece that doesn't really make sense and should have a safe II have it.

I don't quite get it because every legitimate reason to be anxious right now but I'm not mental health America reported that in the last year for help with anxiety skyrocket. People are looking for peace today on connect with Skip Skip shares how you can neutralize anxiety. So God's peace can reign in your life. But first we want to invite you to see the very places Jesus walked taught and performed miracles in his life.

When you are taking the click to Israel in 2022 invited on the journey.

Places like Nazareth, the Jordan River. See Jerusalem and the Temple Mount in the garden to that's just a quick look at the trip. Find out more about the trip that inspiration cruises.com/CA DQ in Philippians chapter 4 as we dive into our study with Skip Heitzig.

There was a woman who for years couldn't get to sleep because she was always worried that a burglar would break into her house and it was an irrational fear husband try to talk her out of it but it just persisted. So she go to sleep at night, or go to bed at night.

I just can't sleep. I know somebody's in a break in the house so it never happened but one night the husband heard a noise downstairs so he gets up goes down the stairs and guess we meet burglar. It's a genuine burglar so after they kind of settled.

You know what was going to happen. The husband said hey, would you mind coming upstairs to meet my wife. She's been waiting to meet you for 10 years now there's a little thing behind that story burglar can steal from you once the burglar of anxiety can steal from you for years on a show of hands, how many of you have ever been worried okay how many of you have ever been worried about something that never happened.

Okay so I did that because that's most of our worries. Huffington Post ran an article that said 85% of the things most people worry about are things that will never happen. The article went on to say 97% of what you worry about is just a tearful mind punishing you with exaggerations and misconceptions and typically this happens at night you're alone you're closing your eyes trying to zone out try to get some sleep and then those thoughts just come creeping in, assailing you stealing your peace. Imagine having a peace that passes all understanding. Imagine having a piece that it doesn't really make sense that you should have at the site. I have it. I don't quite get it because I really have every legitimate reason to be anxious right now but I'm not. Imagine being able to live that way on a daily basis while I'm calling this message, how to have unfathomable peace and on.

That's what were promised in Philippians chapter 4 now let me just say that typically when when most preachers treat this idea about peace, they go right to chapter 4 verse six and seven. What I'm to do is take you back to the beginning of the chapter because I think the whole thought begins there. The whole idea.

So let's read some of these verses together. Chapter 4 of Philippians. I'm to begin reading in verse one.

Therefore, my beloved and longed for brother and my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord beloved, I implore you rodeo and I implore send to K to be of the same mind in the Lord and I urge you also true companion help these women who labored with me in the gospel with climate also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always again I will say, rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. If you remember our first message was on the promise that Jesus gave to his disciples in John 14 and John 16 a peace I give to you, my peace I leave with you, not as the world gives our second message we talked about being a peacemaker. Blessed are the peacemakers. We highlighted Jacob and Esau. And then last week we looked at when peace gets personal that great promise in Isaiah 26 you will keep him in perfect peace. His mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Now I'm taking you to Philippians what I meant to do is take some of the principles we talked about and overlap them a little bit in and bring it home and give you some building blocks that will help you when I develop a peace that passes all understanding. In Paul's words so here's the first building block. This why wanted to begin the first part of the chapter 1st building block is resolve controversy resolve controversy.

Make sure that as much as possible. You are making peace and you are resolving things that hinder that piece so I'm to take you back to verse one where Paul begins. He's been writing several chapters now this. The last chapter, so is landing the plane and services.

Therefore, my look at how he puts us, my beloved, and long before brethren, my joy and my crown you. You are my crowning activity experience the joy and fellowship that I have with you, so stand fast in the Lord, my beloved is pretty evident that Paul had a special relationship with the Philippian church. He knew them to be mature. He knew them to be enduring this was not these are not the Corinthians. He's writing to he had a really good solid relationship and respect for them and I love how he begins in verse one.

This chapter with gracious words representing a pastoral heart and and here's why this is important you know, here's polities I just love the way he talks is is God is invisible love makes God visible God is invisible to the world.

But our love takes an invisible God and makes him visible in that sense in first John chapter 4 verse 12. That's what thoughts would John said.

John said no one is ever seen God, but if we love each other. God lives in us and his love has been brought to full expression through us have always believed that if if the world can see our loving, caring and nurturing community of people who love each other across barriers across social and economic and racial barriers can really show love to each other. It will make a great impact. So with that statement of love that Paul begins with he knows he's going to turn up the heat a little bit if you know the staff you might think Paul's buttering them up for the kill.

He's not doing that by using it easier to turn up the heat on his language a little bit.

He is now going to appeal to two people in the community that are mentioned here to resolve a conflict to resolve a controversy so in verse two. Here he goes, I implore it's a strong word to get to that minute, I implore you rodeo and I implore send to K okay not not great names but back then I guess they were great names in their important names to be of the same mind in the Lord of the world implore is where Paul is turning up the heat a little bit the world implore it's not a harsh word but it's a more intense work when you explore somebody. It's when you you really want them to get what you're saying. So you can get up in their space a little bit you.

Hey listen I got to talk to about this and noticed a Paul doesn't say, I implore you rodeo and sent to cases. I implore you rodeo and I implore he's use the twice. He is an equal opportunity eggs order. He wants to make sure that these two gals that he is not going on on on one person side versus the other person side so he uses equal language. I just think this is a very tactful way to approach, I implore you and I implore you to be at the same mind in the Lord now, the name Yuliya is a Greek name that means good journey good journey. So let's call her Mrs. good trip. Because that's kind of the literal translation they got Mrs. good trip over here then you've got sent to K, which means fortunate or fortunate.

One, so let's call her Miss lucky to get Miss good trip in this lucky in their arguing about something. Who whoever they were.

They were prominent members of the church at Philippi because in verse three. Notice what he says. I urge you also true companion help these women who labored with me in the gospel so at one point they worked with Paul the apostle had you like that on your resume. I Paul and I will like this. We do stuff together. We go on mission trips together so they were.

They were pretty prominent and here's my guess they may have been among the first women at that first prayer meeting in Philippi. When Paul went to go visit that city. If you remember the story in acts 16 it says the Paul went to Philippi went down to the Riverside where women were gathering and it was customary for them to have prayer by this Riverside know what most of us don't know when we read that is that Jewish law said if you can't find 10 Jewish males in the town. You can't have a synagogue, you have to have at least 10 males to form a synagogue the community. The fact that Paul went down to the river and there were a group of women praying Jewish women praying shows that it was a very very small Jewish community in that town, not even enough to have a synagogue but there were women there.

Paul spoke to them in the church was probably burst out of those women gathering at the Riverside so that these two gals will probably among the founding mothers of the church, but they were prominent they were important. They had gone on mission trips with Paul. I make a point with this and that is that sometimes even the most faithful servants of the Lord get sideways. I've seen this for years I've worked with all sorts of people on this staff and that sometimes you get people who are mature in the Lord. They seem to be really grown seem to be really good, but some happens and they get a little weird, a little sideways or little angry and evidently that is the case here. What amazes me on a few caught this when you read through Philippians but it's it's amazing me that Paul mentions them in his letter by name. This is like calling them out and say hey you know you had a couple gals in the church. I won't say their names but they need to get their act together.

He likes says their names writes it in the Bible so that forever. They will go down as the two checks who didn't get along in church. You have to understand what this means letters when they were sent by Paul the apostle were read publicly in church so let's say it's Sunday morning and Philippi 8050 or so. It's 10 o'clock in the morning or less. A 9 o'clock service and the elder comes up to the provinces. I got a letter from Paul. What's everybody you say tell me we was okay.

Ghosts are served reading chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3.

Good stuff joined the Lord, you know, I reached for the prize the mark. The high calling Christ Jesus talked about his testimony so filled with love, so filled with encouragement now or in chapter 4 is in the land the plane.

He says okay yeah yeah if you Jody in church right sent to K talk this through resolve the conflict. This is been going on too long. It's amazing to me. Michael Bentley wrote this. If in 100 years time. Your name was to be discovered in an old document what one thing would you like the finder to learn what it be recorded that you were a kind and loving person, a mature Christian. Now I can tell you what these two ladies were arguing about. Paul doesn't mention it, but let me take a stab at it. I don't think it was a doctrinal issue and the reason I don't think was a doctrinal issue is because if you know Paul's writings when ever there was a doctrinal issue. He got the doctrine out on the table and said this is what the Bible says about that the here's the truth is what I learned from the Lord are this is what the prophet say he spelled it out pretty clearly so I don't think was a doctrinal issue. I don't think it was a behavioral issue because again from the writings of Paul. When there were behavioral issues like with the Corinthian church. They were suing each other. They had weird ideas about marriage and divorce. He he would bring those to the forefront.

Tell them to stop doing that and do this so I don't think was doctrinal.

I don't think it was behavioral but I think it was was trivial.

I think it was just some personal little thing that got into one of these gals had our hearts and they made mountains out of mole hills. It's sort of like what Solomon talked about in the song of Solomon when he said it's the little foxes, that spoil the grapes.

How many of you have discovered that small dumb stuff divides people.

He found that to be true and if if if you want to see how that works graphically at any point in time get on social media for five minutes and just repost the people say to each other or site keyboard courage write these keyboard piracy just get, you know, there want to know who they are but they just want to spout stuff off.

So what is the solution lease as I implore I begged Quixote and I beg you sent to K be of the same mind.

But notice this in the Lord. That's how you do it in the Lord. That's the one person they forgot in their argument was the Lord.

So what Paul does in calling them out and saying that's the way he said he takes a social issue and places it on spiritual ground in effect facing women. Here's how you resolve the conflict. Aim for the glory of God. Aim for God's glory. Notice this to in verse three.

I urge you also true companion.

I will have time to really go through all the meetings of that but let's get to the in part help these women help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also in the rest of my fellow workers look at this, whose names are in the book of life.

Do you realize that when you have a disagreement with another believer. If you can but realize their names are in the book of life. It might change the atmosphere yellow we don't see I die. But their names are in the book of life yeah but yeah but you could be in heaven forever yeah but right now you see it's like.

But your names are in the book of life. So when there's a conflict when it arises. Ask yourself this is this some something of eternal importance.

This is really a heaven or hell issue. Is this in 100 years time to be really important enough, it sometimes it is sometimes it's eternal sometimes it will separate a person from God. So that's huge.

But maybe it's just personal.

Maybe she was trivial. So the first building block to develop pieces, resolve controversy, the second one is to rejoice frequently.

Verse four rejoice in the Lord always again I will say, rejoice. If you know anything about Philippians, Paul is writing this book from a prison cell in Rome.

Paul does not know if he is in the liver died. He knows he's going to stand trial soon, but he doesn't know if he's in a live or die could be the end he writes in chapter 2, maybe elect be let go.

Now. But what's remarkable is even though he doesn't know if you live or die.

He talks more about joy in Philippians and just about anywhere else filled with joy joy joy joy. So when you read Philippians and you realize there's a guy in jail talking about being joyful you're thinking either he's high on something he's lost his mind or he's on to something.

He's tapped into something that I need to tap into in the first two are not true. By the way, he wasn't high on anything and he did lose his mind. He attacked into the presence and fellowship of God and so he talks about rejoice and don't you love how verse four is written. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I want to say that again rejoice. You can tell is a preacher that preachers ought to do this they will say something and then they will repeat themselves. When we say that again they'll write anything if it's something important they will say it again because they want to make sure that the audience gets it so the word rejoice is the verbal form of joy.

That's what rejoicing is. It's the it's the action being of joy. If you have joy you will rejoice. In other words, to rejoice is to put joy on display.

When I think of rejoicing. I think one person immediately and that is my mom she's in heaven now, but my my mom was a rejoicing woman every time I talked to her on the phone every time I see her face-to-face. She'd always smile. She laughed a lot in cities like lines on her face from years of just laughter and happiness and I thank you and not so great.

You just delightful and aren't delightful people just delightful right is so good to be around people like that rejoicing people and are on the other end of the spectrum aren't grumpy people, wearying right if I do I have to talk to him again.

It's so draining. Now look back at the text because this is a Paul thing. Notice that he is not exhorting them to have general optimism not tied anything at all. He did say don't worry, be happy what he says is rejoice. What in the Lord there it is again so it's like with those two gals fix this in the Lord give the same mind in the Lord.

Now it's rejoice in the Lord rejoice in the Lord. In other words, I'll put it this way life is tough but not we all know the first part. Life is tough, but God is good.

We know that when you know them hard. Rejoice back, Skip message from his series, give peace a chance right now want to share about a great resource that gives you incredible insight into what's going on in the Middle East and why it matters for you. The beating heart of Bible prophecy is the land of Israel and the Middle East. Joel Rosenberg has his finger on the pulse of the world shaking changes happening right now and he unveils them in his new nonfiction book enemies and allies inside loft inside is is think about how US his enemies and allies from multiple New York Times best-selling author Joel Rosenberg takes you on an unforgettable journey inside the turbulent Middle East behind closed doors to hear from the very kings and crown princes, presidents and prime ministers who are leading the charge. Enemies and allies includes exclusive never before published quotes insight and analysis from the authors conversations with some of the world's most controversial leaders your hardcover copy enemies and allies.

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