Five Essentials for finding Peace.
Philippians 4:1-9
Introduction
You ask people and they will tell you, the thing that they believe to be an absolute life essential, something that they don’t want to live without is peace.
When a husband and wife are not getting along, they will say “I just want peace”. When there is worry in the heart and mind of someone, maybe about a decision that needs to be made, they will say, “I just want a peace about it.”
We want peace in this life, we now it is hard live in this life without peace, and in the scriptures, we are promised peace, so the question is how do we get it, how do we find peace in this life, tonight I believe the apostle Paul from this passage of scripture will answer that question for us, we will learn five essentials for finding peace.
Read Scriptures: Philippians 4:1-9
I. Stand Fast
Vs.1 “stand fast in the Lord.”
There were problems in Philippi. Paul has already mentioned that the Philippian’s needed to “beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation” in Chapter 3, verse 2.
There were people in Philippi who were trying to influence the Christians to adopt a legalistic form of religion. These “evil workers” as Paul calls them were telling the Philippians they had to follow the laws of Moses to be saved.
These false teachers were causing problems. Paul tells them that there are many enemies of Jesus Christ.
With these kinds of problems the people of Philippi needed to be encouraged not to give up or give in.
These kinds of problems would be discouraging for anybody. So Paul says, “Stand fast…don’t give up. Keep keeping on.”
Now this is important because ‘peace’ is one of the main themes of this chapter. These kinds of problems present a challenge to a church family having peace. All of these problems would have created unrest rather than peace. But Paul doesn’t want the people to be anxious or panic.
PEACE PRINCIPLE #1: I’ll never have peace unless I remain committed.
Let me ask you, “What problems did you bring in here with you tonight?” What problems are testing your commitment to your faith right now?
It might be people problems. It might be money problems. It might be health problems. What is it in your life? For the Philippians it was a combination of people problems and health problems.
We don’t give up on Jesus because we have hope in Him. Unless we remain committed we’ll never have peace.
So the first essential for peace is to stand fast, to stand firm in the faith.
II. Stand Together
Vs. 2-3 “I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.”
So, here’s the story of two ladies, Euodia and Syntache. Evidently these two women were members of this church.
Apparently these two ladies were having a disagreement; either they were disagreeing with each other or the two of them had teamed up and were in disagreement with the leadership of the church.
Because Paul calls on a leader, the identity of which we don’t know, to help these women resolve their conflict. This was definitely a problem at Philippi and maybe one of the major contributing factors to their disunity.
PEACE PRINCIPLE #2: I’ll never have peace until I resolve conflict.
It’s clear from this passage that God wants conflicts resolved. The question is what does it mean to ‘resolve’ a conflict? When is a conflict resolved?
The answer is in verse two “to be of the same mind in the Lord.”
In other words, this conflict would be considered resolved when Euodia and Syntache were “of the same mind in the Lord”.
If there is conflict which is disrupting the peace of your home, or in the Church, we need to go to the scriptures and we need to seek Jesus, and find out what His mind is, and go with that.
III. Stand Tall
Vs .4-5 “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.”
Here in verses 4 and 5 Paul talks about what kind of disposition a Christian should carry around. A joyful one. He says, “Rejoice in the Lord always.”
PEACE PRINCIPLE #3: I’ll never have peace unless I rejoice consistently.
One word that sticks out to me in verse 4 is that word “always”. Rejoice “always”.
How often is “always”?
The idea is establishing a pattern in your life. It’s like starting a new habit. Experts tell us it takes 21 days to establish a new habit in our life. Paul says, “You need to start a new habit in your life; the habit of rejoicing.”
If joy, for you, is an ‘on again off again’ thing, then you’re going to struggle with inner peace. You’re going to live on a roller coaster.
To rejoice is a choice. Make a choice enough times in a row and it becomes a pattern. Form a pattern enough times and it becomes a habit. Rejoicing is a habit, a choice of your will. So stand fast, stand together and stand tall, rise above your problems and choose to rejoice in the Lord’s love for you.
IV. Stand Still
Vs. 6-8 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”
We are busy people. Very busy. We’re people of action. But there are times when we need to stand still. Instead of saying, “Don’t just stand there, do something” we need to say, “Don’t just do something, stand there.”
PEACE PRINCIPLE #4: I’ll never have peace until I remove confusion.
One of the greatest sources of a lack of peace in people’s lives is confusion. People don’t have peace because they feel confused. And confusion is the result of trying to do too much at one time.
The opposite of confusion is clarity. When I’m clear on something I stand more of a chance of feeling peace than when I’m confused about it. Paul offers two commands in these verses. Request and Meditate. Pray and ponder. Ask and analyze.
The two main ingredients of inner peace are: right praying and right thinking.
V. Stand Up
Vs .9 “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”
I’ll never have peace unless I risk courageously.
Most people think peace comes from staying in our cave and not putting our self out there. Don’t risk and you’ll be safe. Not true. If you play it safe all the time, you risk missing your potential. You risk rewards and benefits.
Paul said, “whatever you learnd, heard or seen in me, put it into practice.” Do it, don’t just wait on somebody else to step up and do what you have been called to do, do it.
Put our faith into practice. Stand up for what we believe in, and the God of peace will be with you.
Conclusion
Maybe you are here tonight and you need peace, learn these five essentials for peace, stand firm, stand together, stand still, stand tall, and for the sake of the faith stand up.
