Scripture
Sermon text: Philippians 4:4–9
Manuscript
If we are going to be successful in big things, We must first learn to practice success in the small things. And for my evidence, I point you to the classic movie, The Karate Kid.
In the film, Mr. Miyagi, the wise and unconventional karate master, teaches his student, Daniel son, important life lessons And he does so through seemingly mundane daily tasks.
At the start of Daniel’s training, Mr. Miyagi assigns him a series of chores: From things like: waxing the car (“Wax on, wax off”), painting the fence, to sanding the floor.
But to Daniel, He becomes increasingly frustrated since these tasks seem completely unrelated to learning the karate.
However, as the training progresses, He comes to a crucial moment of understanding, when Mr. Miyagi shows him how each of these repetitive chores has been building muscle memory for the essential movements needed for karate. From the circular motions of waxing the car, To the up-and-down strokes of painting the fence, and to the sanding motions he practiced over and over All these tasks were secretly teaching Daniel the fundamental skills and defensive moves of karate.
And this teaches us a crucial truth: And the truth is this:
If we are going to be successful in big things, We must first learn to practice success in small things. Because mastering big things, requires first learning the basics through consistent, focused practice, Which alone can prepare us for greater challenges.
This is a truth that goes well beyond martial arts. And so whether it is learning a new skill, mastering a craft, or striving for personal growth, the dedication to small, incremental practices shapes our ability to handle bigger, more significant challenges.
Which is exactly what Daniel son learned, As he went on to achieve victory by winning the biggest of martial arts tournaments. And all because he learned the value of being successful in small things, Which led him to being successful in big things.
The reason I’m reminding us of this story, Is because the truth of this story is the truth of our passage this morning.
Because in our passage, the Apostle Paul is telling us how to be successful with a really big thing. And that really big thing is, being able to “Rejoice always, and I again I say rejoice!” Which means rejoicing in small things: Like when you lose your keys, Or you lose that big client, your job, or you luggage at the airport.
Because if you can’t rejoice in those small things… You won’t have the spiritual muscle memory you need to rejoice in big things: Like the loss of your health, The loss of a loved one, Or even, the loss of your very life.
And so realizing this, The apostle Paul is calling us to simple spiritual mundane tasks, which will build our spiritual muscle memory and allow us to be successful in the biggest of things, Which is rejoicing in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.
If you notice in our passage, right after Paul calls us to rejoice always, he also calls us to let our sweet reasonableness be known to everyone. And he’s saying this, because learning to rejoice always is deeply connected to being a calm, reasonable person. And why is that?
It’s because, if we’ve learned how to rejoice in the Lord always, Instead of rejoicing in our circumstances, Then nothing can ever shake us! Nothing can ever rattle us to the point, where the challenges of life bring on an existential crisis that we don’t know how to deal with!
And that’s exactly what Paul said he learned how to do down in verse 12, Where he says:
12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:12-13 ESV
Now, that’s next week’s passage, But it’s important for understanding what Paul is driving at here in our passage this morning. Because what Paul is telling us in our passage this morning, is how we can come to rejoice always, And that only comes by knowing the peace of God that Paul mentions is verses 7 and 9.
But to know that fuller, bigger and deeper peace, we must first learn to practice peace in the small things, and in our passage we find 3 ways to do that.
To know the peace of God, we must practice peace:
- Prayerfully (v. 4-7)
- Meditatively (v. 8)
- Reliantly (v. 9)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:4-7 ESV
In verse 4, Paul gives us a BIG reason for rejoicing always and being known for our sweet reasonableness. And the reason is that “The Lord is at hand…” And because Paul knew that the Lord was at hand - that He was coming soon, Paul began to discovery how that completely changed his perspective on all of his circumstances! Think about it, If the resurrecting Lord is at hand - what is cancer If the cosmic Lord is at hand - what is a bad political outcome? Right? It’s nothing that He can’t and won’t over come!
I like how the Theologian D A Carson puts it when he says: “There is no problem we face that a good ole fashion resurrection can’t fix!” And that’s absolutely true! And because it’s true, We should have JOY and PEACE in every single circumstance!
Now, I said we should… I didn’t say we always do… Because the fact is, just because we know this BIG TRUTH as Christians, Doesn’t mean it’s going to change our lives… Not yet at least. Because if it’s going to change our lives in a BIG WAY like it did for the apostle Paul, We first have to let the small things change our lives.
Do if you remember what Paul just told us about being able to be content in all situations. He told that it’s something he learned. It wasn’t something he was just born with, it was something he had to learn through trial and error, Through practice. And it was practicing finding joy in the God of peace in every situation! Whether it was failure or success, Poverty or riches, Hunger or plenty.
And so right here in verse 6, Paul tell us one of the smaller mundane tasks that is absolutely necessary for acquiring the spiritual muscle memory we need to handle BIG TASKS. And what is it It’s not being anxious, And instead, taking our anxiety to God in thankful prayer!
See, if you only go to God in prayer when you’re life is falling apart, your prayers won’t do much good at all. They absolutely won’t! And that’s because your prayers won’t be laced with thanksgiving like Paul says they should, Instead, they will be laced with grumbling and complaining. And that’s because you haven’t learned to make God your peace, instead of your circumstances….
And that’s the key to the prayer, isn’t it? It’s learning to make God, not your circumstances, the source of your tranquility, The source of your peace. But that’s something we have to learn, because naturally, we all do not do that! Instead, we look to our jobs, Our family, Our health, our finances, Or how successful the church is we are pastoring… yeah, that’s a real thing - I know a guy…
But if we are looking to those things for our peace, Instead of the God peace, We won’t have peace! Not in the little things, Nor in the Big things.
And so practically, you have to go to work at training your soul to be thankful for everything! Because, as my dad rightfully said last week in his sermon, If you aren’t a prayerful person, you aren’t a thankful person! Because being a prayerful person is directly connected with being a thankful person, The two go hand in hand.
So let’s get real practical here. When you’re having marriage problems, how are you responding? Are you just sitting there grumbling about it, thinking you deserve better Or are you going to God in thankful prayer, thanking Him for all that He’s doing in your life through that difficult marriage.
Because make no mistake about it, if you’re a child of God, all things are working together for your good! Including that challenging marriage! And if you want proof for that, look around the room! Because we are surrounded by people who now have good marriages, Who didn’t used to!
And it was the challenge of that difficult marriage that deepened their faith in a way unlike anything else! Which changed them to find their peace in God, instead of trying to find their peace in a sin-fallen marriage! Because if you’re trying to find your peace there - I got news for you, It will NEVER WORK And that’s because it can’t work!
Look, whatever it is, we all have counterfeit gods in our life that we are looking to for our peace, And prayer is one of the things that helps us discovery those false gods, and begin to root them out, so we can find joy and peace in the one and true living God!
If we are going to develop the spiritual muscle memory needed to trust God in BIG things, We must first make it our regular practice to go to him for small things. To go to Him and not just unload our laundry list of things we want Him to do for us, But to go to Him and remember all of the things He has already done for us! Which should not only make us EXTREMELY thankful for what He has done, But incredibly hopeful for the things He’s surely doing that we don’t even know about yet!
The truth is, as we are basing our life’s meaning on the vapors of this life, we will be, ultimately, miserable and unable to rejoice in the God of peace. And regular, thankful prayer, helps us build the spiritual muscle memory we need to get there.
To know the peace of God, we must practice peace:
1. Prayerfully (v. 4-7)
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Philippians 4:8 ESV
Now, prayer on it’s own won’t get us the spiritual muscle memory we need, Anymore than “Wax on / Wax off” was enough to turn Daniel into a Karate Champion. Which is why meditation is another vitally important part of this process. And that’s what Paul is talking about here in verse 8, Where he gives us a list of things to think about, To meditate on. Which in Christianity doesn’t mean emptying your mind of everything like it does in Eastern religions, it’s actually the opposite… it’s emptying your mind of bad things and filling it up with good things.
And so quickly here, let’s talk about these. First, Paul says to think about whatever is true, Which means filling your mind and spending time thinking about the truth of God. Which WILL - over time - bring you joy and peace!
This is why the Psalmist writes:
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; 8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9 the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.
Psalm 19:7-9 ESV
Now, the rest of these fit with this idea, But we still should talk about them for a moment,
Whatever is honorable - is the idea of spending our time thinking about honorable things Which means thinking about what GOD finds honorable. Not what our world finds honorable. For example, Does God find a servant’s heart honorable, or a self-centered heart that always wants the spotlight? A servants heart. And so spend time thinking AND PRAYING about those in your life who you see serving… Those who are doing the mundane ministry tasks that no one else wants to do! And maybe even thank them for it - And you can the word “maybe” out of that sentence.
And what might this do for you? Help you find joy and peace in not having to be in the spotlight, Which will help you with jealously and envy and all sorts of fleshly things that will rob you of your joy and peace.
Paul then says to meditate on what is beautiful, Have you ever heard the expression: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder?” Yeah, that’s not true, At least now how it’s intended… And it’s because beauty is in the eye of the beholder - IF and ONLY if the beholder is God. Which means you need to meditate on what God finds beautiful, NOT what you find beautiful, Which is why we must again look to Scripture to LEARN what is and is not beautiful, Not GLAMOR magazine!
And you absolutely had better do that when it comes to finding a spouse, Because if you don’t - Yeah… you very well may end up marrying someone with a lot of external beauty, But as you’ll soon discovery, their lacking inward beauty will overshadow that.
Paul then says to meditate on what is just, pure, and lovely, Which is pretty straight forward, It’s talking about Holy and righteous things. Things that CALL FORTH LOVE in us and others… Which isn’t going to happen if you’re constantly reading the tabloids, OR might I say, even the news… Right? All of that specializes in focusing our attention on unjust, impure, and unlovely things, That WILL sap our joy and our peace!
Instead, we need to go to on focus on whatever is commendable, excellent, and praiseworthy! which means, you don’t sit there and run the tapes on people, Recalling all of the ways they have failed you, And how they fall short of your (I mean God’s) glorious standard…
The point here is simple, What comes in is what comes out… And so whether you’re watching unholy movies, listening to impure music, reading un-commending news articles all the time, or looking to un-excellent, unlovely beauty standards for how to look and dress, You’re not going to train your spiritual muscles to be able to handle big spiritual tasks, Like rejoicing in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.
Now, so far this is pretty straightforward stuff that most of us probably already know, But so often forget, And so maybe you’re thinking: “This is good pastor! This JUST the pep talk I needed to get back at the spiritual disciplines in my life!” “I’m gonna do it! I’m gonna get back at training my spiritual muscles so I can have joy and peace!” Well… hold on a second… Because if the sermon here, ya’ll would come back next week really irritated with me, Just itching to tell me how IT didn’t work, and how you must be a bad spiritual egg or something…
And the reason for that, is if you do both of those things without the last thing, It still won’t bring you joy and peace, until you come to practice reliantly.
To know the peace of God, we must practice peace:
9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me - practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:9 ESV
Once again, Paul makes the point that we need to live dependently by looking to and learning from other Christians who have experienced some measure of success. Which is why Paul tells them to look at himself and the example he set for them. And this is something Paul has mentioned a couple of times now already in Philippians, and it’s not Paul being arrogant, Not at all. Because really, what Paul is encouraging here is looking to Christ and being completely dependent on HIM, Not ourselves, or even others.
In 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul writes:
1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
1 Corinthians 11:1 ESV
The truth is, the only way to find true joy and peace, Is by constantly centering ourself on the God of peace - Who is Jesus Christ - and What He did for us.
And what did He do? Some 2,000 years ago, He left the perfect conditions of Heaven, where He had experienced perfect peace and tranquility with God, In order to enter into our broken and un-peaceful world.
And during His short earthly ministry, what did He do? He brought peace wherever He went by healing the sick, Raising the dead, And casting out demons, And at the end of it all, He was voluntarily nailed to a cross, So He could absorb into Himself the only thing that could ever truly steal our joy and peace, Which was the wrath of God against sin and sinners.
This is why, Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 2: Ephesians 2:14 (ESV) 14 For he himself is our peace…
Do you know that peace? Or more specifically, do you know the prince of peace, and is HE the source of your joy and hope? Because until HE IS - until you have a living and vibrant relationship with Him that You won’t have peace! And until He is - you can read your Bible pray every day, and you WILL NOT grow, grow, grow! You will shrink, shrink, shrink, because your present circumstances will forever be the determiner of your peace and contentment.
This last week, Becky and I were at the Worship God conference in Louisville, Kentucky, Where we heard tons of good music and preaching from people all over the planet, And one of guys who spoke, was a children’s song writer from Australia, Who specializing in writing song that contain big truths for little hearts. And one of this songs, is called: “God never says oops.” Which lyrics goes:
God never says oops Never slips up Never makes any mistakes no God never says oops 'Cos He's got a perfect plan Can He do it Yes He can
And after singing that line for us, he went on to explain how this is simple, but profound truth, That if grasped, Can completely change our perspective on the challenges we face in life. And he then began telling us how when he arrived to the US and after flying over from Sydney, Austria, He went and picked up his luggage, which included his guitar he brought to play at the conference, And when he got back to the hotel, he opened the case and found quite the surprise waiting for him - which was a surprise looking like this:
And in response, to that, He went right back to singing for us: “God never says oops, never slips up Never makes any mistakes no God never says oops cos He’s got a perfect plan.”
And why would he sing that this with a smile after seeing his busted up guitar? Why didn’t He get angry and say: “Lord, what on earth are you doing?” “Here I am coming to a conference to serve your people with my guitar - and you let this happen?” It’s because: “God never says oops - never slips up - never makes any mistakes - for He’s got a perfect plan!”
Maybe you’re here this morning, and your struggling to believe that. You’re struggling to believe that God is working your specific situation for good... And if so, might I encourage you by way of a reminder?
And that reminder is of the cross. Because it was on the cross of Christ, that God used the worst thing in human history for the greatest of all goods! Which giving us peace with God! And it’s a peace that we receive, not achieve! And until you get that - until that truth is the bedrock of your joy and peace - you will NEVER have peace. I don’t care how much you wax on and wax off with the spiritual disciplines Until the cross of Christ is your hope in life and death You will have NO hope in this life, nor in your coming death. But if you do... If Christ is your hope in life and death - then He can also be your hope in the face of poverty, sickness, hardship, and even broken guitars.
Do you have that hope and peace? Is He an ever present reality in your life, that causes your heart to rejoice and sing praises to our God of peace? Because that’s the only way to experience the God of peace which surpasses all understanding, who will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Let us pray
This is the manuscript the sermon was preached from, so the recording may differ in places.
Series
Sermon 16 of 19 in Philippians.