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Sunday December 13, 2015
Preparing for Jesus’ Arrival: Embracing Peace and Demonstrating Joy
(Philippians 4:4-7) Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let
your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about
anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your
requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will
guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
(Revelation 7:12) "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and
power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!"
The last few weeks we have been looking at how we can prepare for Jesus’ birthday and
for his glorious return on the Last Day. Two weeks ago we focused on the importance of an
increasing love for the Lord for each other and for everyone as we wait. Last week we
talked about the importance of gaining discernment in regard to the things of God as we
wait. This morning we will look at 2 more crucial ingredients in our wait for Jesus peace
and joy. Peace and joy rise naturally from the foundations we discussed in previous weeks
an increasing love and a growth in discernment. The more we understand God’s love for us
and the deeper we grow in our discernment of the truths of God the more our peace and joy
will abound. Peace and joy. Is it not true that peace and joy are 2 of the things that people
long for the most and seem to experience the least? Peace and joy are things that people
strive for incessantly and yet seem to experience infrequently. Why is that? Why when
people are craving peace and joy are they so often unsettled and troubled? Why do peace
and joy seem so difficult to find for so many people?
Well, first of all because they are looking for them in the wrong places. Most people are
looking for peace and joy in the things of this world and the things of this world can never
provide them. Think about this now. Choose anything or anyone in the world that you want
as a potential source of true and lasting peace and joy. In other words, decide what it is that
you will base your feelings for peace and joy. The goal, of course, is to find true peace and
lasting joy. Now no matter what you chose I can guarantee that these things are true about
it. No matter what you chose for your source of peace and joy whether health, wealth, love,
family, fun, or whatever I can guarantee that it is fleeting or temporary. It is flawed. It is
unreliable. It is limited. It is insufficient. Yet these worldly things are what people turn to
and rely upon to provide them with peace and joy. Talk about a recipe for frustration and
despair! And yet this is the recipe that people keep trying. And this is the recipe you and I
keep going back to over and over again too. It’s not just the other people those who don’t
know better it’s us too, who should know better!
We convince ourselves that if only we had this or that we would finally be happy. If
only we had this much money in the bank we would have peace. If only we owned this
particular possession we would have joy. If only this person would deal with us in this way
we would feel fulfilled. If only we could finally attain that elusive goal whatever it may be
we would be completely content. And so we chase without reservation and with undying
zeal the different things that we think will be the answer. And yet we never seem to find
peace and joy. Even when we manage to get the thing that we thought would provide
happiness we find ourselves feeling discontent and unfulfilled. That’s one of Satan’s
greatest lies and consequently that’s one of the world’s greatest misconceptions. Perfect
peace and joy can never be found in the things of this world. Paul writes about this very
thing in Romans (Romans 1:25) [People] exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and
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worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator -- who is forever
praised. Amen.
So the world isn’t the answer. And created things in the world aren’t the answer either.
Then where can people turn to find true and lasting peace and joy? How can people come
to embrace peace and demonstrate joy? A number of years ago Duke University did a
study on “peace of mind” They listed 8 conclusions to finding and maintaining peace. Most
of the conclusions are common sense, practical things, except for the last one. Their 8th key
to finding peace was to “Find something bigger than yourself to believe in.” Well, now that
sounds a lot like God. And that’s exactly what Paul said too in the Romans passage too,
wasn’t it? He said, “Instead of worshiping and serving created things worship and serve
the Creator” And that’s exactly what Paul writes about in our text as well. (Philippians
4:4&7) Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! … And the peace of
God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus. What beautiful words! What an awesome attitude! And perhaps you are
thinking that was easy for Paul to write. He doesn’t understand my situation. He wasn’t
going through the challenges that I am going through.
Well, interestingly enough when Paul wrote these words, he was under arrest. He was
imprisoned in Rome “in chains” (Php 1:13)… for 2 full years! And yet he has peace and
joy. If you doubt it read the rest of his letter to the Philippians. He wasn’t even sure that he
would ever be free again. He faced the very real possibility of being sentenced to death.
And still he has embraced peace and was demonstrating joy. How could he do that? What
was his secret? It’s not so hard to understand and it’s certainly no secret. In fact, he wrote
about it in our text for today. He shows us that there are 3 solid reasons why Christians can
embrace peace and demonstrate joy
1) The Lord loves us
Now that sounds like some generic, wishy-washy, often-quoted-but-empty phrase, “God is
love” But this first point is so much more than just a common quote. This deep and
meaningful and abiding truth is demonstrated in Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus God himself
came to earth specifically to die for the sins of sinners. It’s why he was born as a little baby
in a barn in Bethlehem so that he could grow into a man and suffer and die for you and me
and all people. (Which is why we celebrate Christmas because our God loved us so much
he intervened in an unthinkable but wonderful way) God’s love for us is so profound, so
all-encompassing, so far-reaching, so pro-active that he was willing to born as a little baby
in order to die horribly as a grown man on a cross. And he did it for a very specific reason.
He did it in order to pay the holy price for our every single mistake. Now every time we
see a cross it is a graphic reminder of how much our Lord loved us. Every time we see a
cross it is a graphic reminder that our sins all of our sins have been completely paid for by
Jesus substitutionary death. All those times we’ve relied upon ourselves or the world to fill
our deepest needs. All those times we’ve chased after earthly things instead of the Lord of
heavens. All those times we’ve trusted in created things instead of the Creator to bring us
peace and joy. All those times we’ve sinned in any way have been washed away by the
blood of the Son of God who hung on a cross for you and me. And Jesus’ death on the
cross and his resurrection on Easter morning and the spiritual blessings of forgiveness and
eternal salvation that they earn are unalterable truths. They are objective truths that cannot
be taken away. They are unchangeable truths that cannot be negated by anything in this
world. That’s why Paul writes, Rejoice in the Lord always. Even when some horribly sad
event occurs in our lives a Christian can still Rejoice in the Lord. Even in the face of
financial ruin a Christian can still Rejoice in the Lord. Even in the face of family crisis a
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Christian can still Rejoice in the Lord. Even in the face of the death of a loved one a
Christian can still Rejoice in the Lord. Even in the face of one’s own death especially in
the face of one’s own death a Christian can still Rejoice in the Lord because death for us
is but the doorway to eternal life. No matter what else is happening in the world or in our
lives our sins are all forgiven because Jesus was born and died and rose back to life again.
No matter what other physical, emotional, mental, or material burdens one must bear our
salvation is still secured because of Christ Jesus. This spiritual joy in Jesus is the
fundamental building block of personal peace. God the one, true God, the almighty, eternal
God, the all-knowing and just God, the God who should damn us to hell loves us so much
he intervened for us by sending his own Son to endure the punishment we should endure.
Everything else must be looked at through this view. Everything else must be gauged by
this truth. Because everything else in this world pales in comparison to Jesus and what he
accomplished for us. That is the first and most wonderful truth we need to understand God
loves us. Knowing that is the first and most crucial step toward embracing peace and
demonstrating joy. Here is the second
2) The loving Lord is near
The Lord who loved us so much he was willing to come to earth to die for us is always
close to us. In this crazy, uncertain world is there any greater comfort than that? No matter
what we are going through. No matter how difficult or dangerous our paths. No matter how
challenging our current lot in life may be the Lord is near. Which is exactly what Paul
writes in verse 5 of our text and which he lists as a key to peace and joy. What did Jesus
promise just before he returned to heaven? Surely I am with you always, (Matthew
28:20) And remember Paul’s wonderful words to the Romans? (Romans 8:35, 37-39)
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or
persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? … No, in all these things we
are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither
death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any
powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to
separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In other words there is nothing so horrible, or so powerful, or so challenging that it can
drive our loving Lord away from us. There is nothing in heaven or on earth that can
separate our God from us. Now there is something enduring to grab onto! There is
something of substance. There is something that makes a difference. No matter who
abandons us on earth we are never alone. No matter what we must endure in life we never
endure it alone. The Lord is near. The Lord and his love are always with us. The more
you understand this truth the more you are able to embrace peace and demonstrate joy.
Paul gives us yet another key to finding peace and joy
3) The loving Lord who is always with us answers our prayers
Paul writes in verse 6 of our text Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Human
nature is such that when we find ourselves facing a challenge we immediately tend to think
“Now what do I have to do to overcome this challenge” And we will ponder possibilities
We will think “How can I fix this?” Or “Who do I know who can fix this?” Or “What must
I buy or where must I go to fix this?” That brothers and sisters may seem wise. But if those
are the first steps you take to try to address difficulties that is the path to distress and
frustration. If we want to be able to embrace peace and demonstrate joy then we must go
about addressing life’s dilemmas in a different way. Jesus himself summarized the best
approach (Matthew 7:7-8) "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find;
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knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who
seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. How incredibly
comforting it is to know that we have a God who has promised to hear and answer our
prayers. Now understand that God’s answer to our prayers may be “No” But whether He
answers “Yes” or “No” God is always answering our prayers with perfect love and
complete wisdom. And when we know that we have peace and we have joy. When we
know that we have a God who truly loves us and a God who never leaves us and a God
who always answers our prayers then we have the formula for peace and joy.
As a third-century man was anticipating death, he penned these last words to a friend:
“It’s a bad world an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet
and holy people who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy which is a
thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted
but they care not. They have overcome the world. These people are the Christians — and I
am one of them.” Which is exactly what Paul was writing in our text (Philippians 4:4&7)
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! And the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.