This document provides commentary on Philippians 4:4-7. It discusses how spiritual stability comes from knowing God and rejoicing in Him rather than circumstances. True joy and contentment are found by meditating on God's character and promises in Scripture. Christians are commanded to have gracious humility toward others and not to be anxious because the Lord is near to help through all of life's troubles. Relying on God builds confidence even when difficult times come.

1. Philippians 4:4
June 10, 2012
First Baptist Church
Jackson, Mississippi

2. Thanks for praying
and preparing snacks
for the
VBS Faculty Room

3. Philippians 4:4
4 “Rejoice in the Lord
always; again I will say,
rejoice!”

5. *The only sure, reliable,
unwavering, unchanging
source of joy is God.

6. Certainly the wickedness,
sorrow, misery and death in
this present darkness does
not evoke joy in the average
person.

7. Sometimes loved ones are
not a reliable source of joy
since they can change, hurt
you or disappoint you.

8. Even believers often cannot
find reason to rejoice in their
specific circumstances.

9. *That is why Paul
commands believers to
rejoice in the Lord.

10. The phrase “in the Lord”
introduces an important
principle:
Spiritual stability is directly
related to how a person
thinks about God.

11. A. W. Tozer says:
“What comes into our minds
when we think about God is
the most important thing
about us.

12. The history of mankind
shows that no people group
has ever risen above its
religion, and that no religion
has ever been greater than
its idea of God.

13. For this reason the gravest
question before the Church
is always God Himself, and
the most portentous fact
about any man is not what
he at a given time may say

14. or do, but what he in his
deep heart conceives God to
be like.
We tend by a secret law of
the soul to move toward our
mental image of God.

16. This is true not only of the
individual Christian, but of
the company of Christians
that composes the Church.

17. Always the most revealing
thing about the Church is
her idea of God, just as her
most significant message is
what she says about Him or

18. leaves unsaid, for her silence
is often more eloquent than
her speech.
She can never escape the
self-disclosure of her
witness concerning God.

19. Were we able to extract
from any man a complete
answer to the question,
"What comes into your mind
when you think about God?"
we might predict with

20. certainty the spiritual future
of that man.”
A.W. Tozer (1897-1963)
Reprint; New York:
Harper & Row, 1975, 9

22. A smile increases
your face value!

23. Smile a while & give
your face a rest.

26. We all smile in the
same language!

29. Knowledge of God is the key
to rejoicing in the Lord.
Those who know the great
truths about God find it easy
to rejoice; those with little
knowledge of Him find it

30. difficult to rejoice.
God gave the Psalms to
Israel in poetic form so they
could be easily memorized
and set to music.

31. The first three verses of the
book of Psalms promise
blessings to those who
meditate on Scripture:

32. 1 “Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the
counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of
sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!

33. 2 But his delight is in the law
of the Lord,
And on His law does he
meditate day and night.
3 He will be like a tree firmly
planted by streams of water,

34. Which yields its fruit in its
season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he
prospers.”
Psalm 1:1-3

36. It is from this knowledge of
God and repeated recitation
(meditation) and singing of
His nature and attributes
that believers' joy flows.

37. So deep was the apostles'
knowledge of God's
character and purposes that
even suffering for Jesus
Christ was a cause of joy:

39. Colossians 1: 10-12
“walk in a manner worthy of
the Lord, pleasing Him in all
respects, bearing fruit in
every good work and
increasing in the knowledge

40. of God; joyously giving
thanks to the Father,”
Colossians 1:10-12

42. Philippians 4:5a
“Let your gentle spirit be
known to all men.”

43. Epieikes (gentle spirit) has a
richer meaning than any
single English word can
convey.

44. Perhaps the best
corresponding English word
is graciousness — the
graciousness of humility;
the humble graciousness
that produces the patience

45. to endure injustice,
disgrace, and mistreatment
without retaliation,
bitterness, or vengeance.
It is contentment.

46. Philippians 4:5a
“Let your gracious humility
(gentle spirit) be known to
all men.”

47. A man has this quality of a
gentle spirit if he knows
when not to apply the strict
letter of the law, when to
relax justice and when to
introduce mercy.

48. The Christian, as Paul sees
it, is the person who knows
that there is something
beyond justice.
When the woman taken in
adultery was brought before

49. Him, Jesus could have
applied the letter of the Law
according to which she
should have been stoned to
death; but he went beyond
justice.

51. As far as justice goes, there
is not one of us who
deserves anything other
than the condemnation of
God, but He goes far
beyond justice.

52. *Why should a man be like
this?
*Why should he have this
joy and gracious
gentleness in his life?

54. “gentle spirit" in v. 5 means
"sweet reasonableness“.
It is wonderful when
Christians can have
convictions and yet be easy
to get along with!

55. If we remember that life is
short, we will not wish to
enforce the stern justice
which so often divides men
but will wish to deal with
men in love, as we hope that

56. God will deal with us.
Justice is human, but this
gentle spirit (epieikeia) is
divine.

60. Gracious humility runs
counter to the cult of self-
love that was rampant in
ancient society, and is
rampant in modern society
as well.

63. 1 Peter 5:5-7
5 “all of you, clothe
yourselves with humility
toward one another, for God
is opposed to the proud, but
gives grace to the humble.

64. 6 Therefore humble
yourselves under the mighty
hand of God, that He may
exalt you at the proper time,

65. 7 casting all your anxiety on
Him, because He cares for
you.”

69. Focusing on self-esteem,
self-fulfillment and self-love
leads only to greater and
greater instability and
anxiety.

70. Those whose focus is not on
themselves cannot be
knocked off balance by
inequity, injustice, unfair
treatment, or lies.

71. It is hard to stumble when
you are on your knees!

75. We can say with Paul, "I
have learned to be content
in whatever circumstances I
am" (4:11).
Spiritual stability belongs to
the graciously humble.

76. Philippians 4:5b
“The Lord is near.”

77. Paul says that “the Lord is
near”.
If we remember the coming
triumph of Christ, we can
never lose our hope and our
joy.

79. There is no greater source of
spiritual stability than the
confidence that the Lord is
near.

83. “When it seems as if God is
far away, remind yourself
that He is near.
Nearness is not a matter of
geography.
God is everywhere.

84. Nearness is likeness.
The more we become like
the Lord, the nearer He is to
us.”
Warren Wiersbe

85. James 4:8
“Draw near to God and He
will draw near to you.”

87. The Lord's nearness is the
sense of His presence -
He is near both to hear the
cry of the believer's heart,
and to help and strengthen
them.

88. Because of God's nearness,
believers should not be
fearful, anxious, or
wavering.

89. Unfortunately, when we
face trials, believers often
seem to forget what we
know about God.

90. We lose our confident trust
in Him, lose our self-control
and spiritual stability, and
are defeated. Even strong
believers are not immune to
an occasional lapse.

91. Both initially in justification,
and continually in
sanctification, the Christian
life is a life of faith in God.

93. As he reminded himself of
the greatness of his God,
Habakkuk's faith grew
stronger.
By the end of his prophecy
he was able to sing

94. triumphantly of God's
glorious nature and power:
“Though the fig tree should
not blossom and there be no
fruit on the vines, though
the yield of the olive should

95. fail and the fields produce
no food, though the flock
should be cut off from the
fold and there be no cattle
in the stalls, yet I will exult in
the Lord, I will rejoice in the

96. God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my
strength, and He has made
my feet like hinds' feet, and
makes me walk on my high
places.” (Hab 3:17-19)

100. Habakkuk's faith in God
made him a spiritually
stable man — so much so
that even if the normal,
dependable things in life
suddenly collapsed, he

101. would still rejoice in God.
The Lord Who is near is the
almighty, true, and living
God revealed in Scripture.
Those who delight
themselves in His holy

102. power, love, and wisdom
and cultivate a deep
knowledge of Him by
studying and meditating on
His Word, will live by the
foundation of that truth

103. and will be spiritually stable.

104. "The Lord is near" does not
only mean "His coming is
soon," but also that He is
near to help us right now.

106. If we keep in mind that the
Lord is with us (Zeph. 3:17)
in every circumstance, then
it is easier to obey Him and
get along with other people.

107. Zephaniah 3:17 NIV
17 The Lord your God is
with you,
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in
you,

108. He will quiet you with His
love,
He will rejoice over you
with singing.”
Zephaniah 3:17 NIV

109. If we would but rejoice in
Him and get our eyes on
Him instead of on ourselves,
we would have His joy and
peace and realize that He is
near!

110. Note the admonitions Paul
gives:
stand firm in the Lord;
be of one mind in the Lord;
rejoice in the Lord;
the Lord is near at hand!

111. This is "practicing the
presence of God,"
seeing Him in every
situation of life, and
allowing Him to work out
His perfect will.

112. Philippians 4:6-7
6 “Be anxious for nothing,
but in everything by prayer
and supplication with
thanksgiving let your
requests be made known

113. unto God.
7 And the peace of God,
which surpasses all
comprehension, will guard
your hearts and your minds
in Christ Jesus.” Phil 4:6-7

114. Because of the presence of
God in our lives, believers
are to be anxious for
nothing. Nothing is outside
of His control or too difficult
for Him to handle.

116. A low view of God leads to
myriad of problems in the
church.

117. A whole new philosophy of
the Christian life has
resulted from this one basic
error in our religious
thinking. (Tozer, The
Knowledge of the Holy, 6)

118. Weak, struggling, unstable
Christians need to build
their strength on the
foundation of what the
Bible says about God.

119. The result of the church's
failure to equip believers
with the knowledge of God's
character and works is a lack
of understanding of His
nature and purposes,

120. and a subsequent lack of
confidence in Him.
*The shifting sands of
shallow or faulty theology
provide no stable footing for
the believer.

122. Philippians 4:6a
6 “Be anxious for nothing”

123. Anxious, fretful, worried,
harried believers are
inherently unstable and
vulnerable to trials and
temptations.

125. Anxiety is both a violation of
Scripture and totally
unnecessary.
In a magnificent passage in
the Sermon on the Mount,
Jesus pointed out the sinful

126. folly of anxiety:
25 “For this reason I say to
you, do not be worried
about your life,

127. as to what you will eat or
what you will drink; nor for
your body, as to what you
will put on.
Is not life more than food,
and the body more than

128. clothing?
26 Look at the birds of the
air, they do not sow, nor
reap nor gather into barns,
and yet your heavenly
Father feeds them.

129. Are you not worth much
more than they?

132. 27 And who of you by being
worried can add a single
hour to his life?
28 And why are you worried
about clothing?

133. Observe how the lilies of the
field grow; they do not toil
nor do they spin,
29 yet I say to you that not
even Solomon in all his glory
clothed himself like one of

134. these.
30 But if God so clothes the
grass of the field, which is
alive today and tomorrow is
thrown into the furnace, will
He not much more clothe

135. you? You of little faith!

139. 31 Do not worry then,
saying, ‘What will we eat?’
or ‘What will we drink?’ or
‘What will we wear for
clothing?’

140. 32 For the Gentiles eagerly
seek all these things; for
your heavenly Father knows
that you need all these
things.

141. 33 But seek first His
kingdom and His
righteousness, and all these
things will be added to you.

144. 34 So do not worry about
tomorrow; for tomorrow
will care for itself. Each day
has enough trouble of its
own.”
(Matthew 6:25-34)