We read from Holy Scripture this morning in Philippians 4, Philippians 4. This is the Word of God. Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crowned, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. I beseech Jodeas and beseech Syntyche that they be of the same mind in the Lord. And I entreat thee also, true yoke fellow, help those women which labored with me in the gospel. with Clement also, and with other my fellow laborers whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men, the Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things which ye have both learned and received and heard and seen in me, do, and the God of peace shall be with you. But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again, wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity, not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound everywhere, and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Notwithstanding, ye have well done that ye did communicate with my affliction. Now, ye Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only. For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity, not because I desire a gift, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. but I have all and abound. I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable while pleasing to God. But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now unto God and our Father be glory forever and ever, amen. Salute every saint in Christ Jesus, the brethren which are with me greet you. All the saints salute you chiefly, they that are of Caesar's household. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, amen. Verses that we consider this Thanksgiving morning are six and seven. Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Beloved in our Lord Jesus Christ, today we give thanks We especially take this day and make Thanksgiving our theme. And on this day, we will all surely give thanks for many, many things. We will list them out. We will bring them to the Lord. We don't simply tell one another we are thankful, but we bring our thanksgiving to the Lord. One of the greatest gifts for which we ought to give thanks is peace. That's not a gift that is appreciated among us as we ought. Our eyes settle on things like food and drink, and even if we go to spiritual matters, often we go to the heart of the issue, which is we are thankful for the forgiveness of sins and the presence of the Spirit, but we neglect often the real wonderful gift that peace is. The importance of peace and why we ought to be thankful for it on this day especially is evident from the Holy Scriptures. How often is it not when God sent the angels down to bring a message to men, the message was peace. When our Lord Jesus Christ was born, the angels sang, glory to God in the highest and peace upon men of goodwill. The apostolic blessing that comes time and time again to the church is not simply grace, but peace be unto you. The Old Testament saints when they greeted one another, didn't say hi or hello, but peace. That was their greeting of one another. The text itself says, so great is peace that it passes all understanding. All of our understanding, not only individually but collectively, it simply surpasses that understanding. Peace is among the greatest of gifts because it is simply a description of salvation. and is a necessary part of our spiritual health. To be thankful for peace is to be thankful for salvation. And that is why the Apostle is concerned that we rejoice always. Peace is an important aspect of that rejoicing and of our life. And so he brings two promises of God. One, that the peace of God be with you, verse 9. And in verse 7, that we consider this morning, the peace of God keep your hearts and minds. So we should be thankful not only for the peace of God, but this amazing reality of peace, that peace keeps our hearts and minds, that peace keeps our hearts and minds when we are careful for nothing, that is, when we don't worry about all the things that we usually worry about. It's kept also, peace keeps our hearts and minds also, when we, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, make our requests known unto God. You see, there's a relationship here, I hope you see, that not only are we to be thankful to God for the peace that we enjoy and have, but the apostle says that when we give thanks and when we, by prayer and supplication, make our requests known to God, then the peace of God keeps us and keeps our hearts and minds. Consider with me this morning, kept by the peace of God. And we notice in the first place the promise that we are kept by the peace of God. Secondly, the manner. The manner, how does this work? How does this happen? And then thirdly, the blessing or blessedness of that. At the heart of the text is a promise, a great promise that is given to the people of God, and that is The peace of God shall keep your hearts and minds. The peace of God shall keep your hearts and minds. And at the outset, it's very important for us to understand the peace that's being talked about here. It is distinctly the peace of God. And that's different from every other kind of peace, every form of peace. We may call that the peace of men. And we see that peace or the striving of that peace or interruption in that peace with regard to two things especially. First of all, the relationships of human beings one to another. With regard to peace, there is a concern with human beings about the harmony and the goodwill and friendly relationships that we have with different men and women, between different classes and groups and even nations. And in the second place, the peace of men is concerned about the circumstances of life, poverty or riches, disease or health, war or its opposite, peace, life or death. There is concern that we have a sort of peace in these circumstances, a peace from these miseries. Now, we have to make that distinction because the means by which we have the peace of God and the means by which men achieve peace or look for peace are two completely different things. Peace of men with regard to relationships is achieved essentially in two different ways. The first is compromise, compromise. How do we all get along? Compromise. We learn to set aside our own convictions, to set aside our own feelings, to learn how to tolerate and accept one another's positions, our differences, such that in our day and age there is no longer any such thing as absolute truth. When compromise doesn't work and human beings have the means, then they employ the second way to achieve peace, which is, ironically, by war. War is then used when compromise doesn't work. Ironic, because it is simply a means to achieve peace by coercion, by force, at others' expense and others' turmoil. And we say, well, that's peace. so much with regard to achieving peace among men. But then there's also the peace of men with regard to troublesome and difficult circumstances in life. How is that achieved? And it's really one way. And that's escapism, we may call it that. Men try to escape all the troubles and sorrows and afflictions of life by dulling, the sensibilities to them by forgetting the pain and using other means to do that, perhaps drugs or alcohol or recreation. Don't worry, be happy. And if you can't be happy, take a little of this or do a little of that, and you'll forget all about the pain and the trouble and the sorrow. And then there is to achieve peace with regard to all these troubles by simply trying to get rid of them, If one is troubled by a spouse, then you simply get rid of that spouse. If you're troubled in your family, if children make you anxious, then don't have them. Leave them. If you have no peace in your soul because of money problems, then declare bankruptcy. If your trouble is in the church, then take your papers. If your trouble is in your job, find a new one. And of course, the ultimate form of escapism is simply suicide. This is the peace of God. And we mean by that, in the first place, that this is the peace that literally is of God himself. Not only do we mean that it has its source in God, and it's a peace that's concerned with God, it's literally peace with God, but it is the peace that characterizes God's own life. You see, God is the God of peace. Human beings only understand peace, only know about peace, because God has revealed peace. And what He has revealed is that He is a God who lives Himself in peace. Peace, first of all, with others, with human beings, with those things He has created, but in His own being. There are three persons and they live at peace. There is perfect, harmonious peace between the Father and Son in the spirit of peace. That is, to put it negatively, there is no division, no turmoil, no strife within the being of God. The persons of the divine Trinity are at peace because they are one, one in being, and one in all of their thoughts, one in all of their mind and heart and will, one in all of their life. that the persons do, they do together in perfect harmony, and so there is perfect peace in God, and that's the peace we're talking about. God reveals that peace. God reveals that peace in this world of war and trouble. One of the reasons that there is such trouble and war is, of course, due to the sinfulness of man. But in that, God also reveals Himself and who He is, and even reveals that there's peace only in Himself. But God especially reveals this peace in His Son, Jesus Christ, and does that in what we call His great work of salvation. In that work, the persons work as one. The Son didn't simply come into our life and into our world of his own accord, doing his own thing. People teach that. That's taught in churches. And then such churches wonder why they have no peace themselves. They teach that the persons are at odds, that God the Father has a sincere desire and will to save all human beings. He announces that even in the preaching of the Word and even sprinkles some grace in that preaching so that we might receive it. The Son, the Son died and gave His life to accomplish all that, but alas, the Spirit The Spirit either doesn't want to save all, or He's incapable of doing that. Teach there's no peace in the will of God. There is a will of God, they say, to save only some, called election. And then there's a will of God to save all, they call the well-meant offer of the gospel. There's no peace in such a God. and such a God cannot give then us peace. The fact is the scriptures teach utter peace with God concerning his work of salvation. The father chose a people to receive the blessed peace of his own triune life. Do you ever understand that? One of the reasons that peace is the great gift that it is, is it is God's own peace. And God said to himself, I want to share my life of peace with others. I want to reveal that to them by giving them that peace. In fact, God even chose to reveal that peace in the way of turmoil and sin so that we would know what it's like not to be at peace. to make us despise war and sin. And then in the fullness of time, the Son came to accomplish the will of His Father perfectly, down to the last detail in every respect, and the Spirit goes forth, proceeds from the Father and Son, and accomplishes all the will of God through His Son, and only in connection with His Son. Perfect peace. And what we should understand is that is the goal or end of our salvation. You cannot separate our salvation from peace. They're virtually synonymous. To be saved is to be at peace. To have salvation is to be at peace. It's to be delivered from war and turmoil and enmity. And how did God reveal that? God revealed it by sending his son to reconcile us to God. And to reconcile us to God by taking away the enmity thereof, which is our sin. Why? Is man at war with God? Why does man not even perceive of God as he ought? Why does he run from God and hide from God? Why does he seek escapism from everything rather than go to God? And the answer is, he is at war with God because of his sin. So if there is to be peace with God, his son must come. take away, take away the enmity, take away the sin, atone for the sin which he does. And more so, the spirit then must apply that shed blood of Christ to those whom God has chosen in eternity. to bring that word of the Holy Gospel to them and shed that love and therefore that peace in their hearts so they know it. And you see now, this explains why ultimately this peace is incomprehensible, why, as the text says, it passes all understanding. To explain or describe peace is to explain or describe the wonder of God's salvation. to try and explain, why me? To try to explain God's choices and His will. To explain His sovereignty. To explain His power over the power of sin. Explain how it is that God could come into this world and in the person of His Son die in our flesh. Can you explain that? Can you explain how it's going to be in the new heavens and earth? when there is perfect peace, such that even the creatures, the creatures are at peace. Can you explain to me how, in the Bible's own language, the lion shall eat straw like an ox, and a child will be able to play with a snake without being bitten and die? Explain, explain how that peace is wrought by the cross of Christ. We can do that to a certain degree. We can understand to a certain degree, but the reality is you can't understand it. You must live it. You can think about what is being said here if you could imagine you're in the worst war that you can possibly imagine, one of total devastation. where there is no holds barred, where the fighting and the death and the destruction is beyond comprehension, and then try to imagine peace. Imagine the men whose bayonets are at each other's throat and are dropping bombs and machine-gunning each other being at perfect peace, and then the whole land at peace. And in such times, you would say, I can't imagine that. And the peace of God is way, way beyond that. The God of peace, the promise is that God causes us to experience this peace, especially by keeping our hearts and minds. If you would ask the Bible to describe how do you feel? How do you experience? How do you live this peace? The Scripture's answer, especially in our text, would be, well, you will feel it and know it and understand it in terms of keeping your hearts and minds. Keeping has the idea of guarding. And as soon as we think of guarding, what we have to do is think of sentries and army soldiers. For example, on the walls of Jerusalem, there was Jerusalem, Zion, God's people, God's place, with walls. And on those walls were soldiers and sentries walking back and forth, armed to the teeth, watching intently for any harm and any trouble outside the walls. and repelling anything that was a danger and a threat. And so there was peace inside the walls because those walls were kept, the people were kept. That's the idea. And what's interesting here is that the text doesn't say a third thing does that, like soldiers keep the peace, but peace itself. Peace itself keeps our hearts and minds and the ideas, keeps them at peace. Peace keeps our minds. Our minds must be guarded. Why? Because it's there that we rationalize everything. It's there that our fears and doubts and anxieties are all rationalized. It's with our mind that we see all the hard circumstances and troubles, all the threats. We see with our mind how they will affect us negatively, what they might do to our home, to our family, to our life, might do to what our possessions are. It is with our mind that we look out and we see enemies. But then what we forget is that that's not all we do. There's also a heart. The heart and the mind are in communication. They work together, and so the heart also must be kept. For it is in the heart that all that the mind sees and all the mind rationalizes and the mind thinks about is turned to such things as fear and bitterness and anxiety. That all occurs in the heart. But even more so, the heart must be kept because the heart is our spiritual center. It is with the heart that we have a relationship with God. It is in the heart whereby we commune with God and he with us. It is in the heart that we are either at war with God or at peace with God. And so that heart must be guarded. And the heart must be guarded also because that's where the Spirit dwells. That's where the Spirit lives. It is in the heart that I know God as the God of my salvation. It is in the heart that I know and believe whether or not my sins are forgiven. It is in the heart that I have reverence or a despising of God, whether I love God or hate God. It's in the heart that I either trust God or distrust Him. It was in the heart that I first know and experience eternal life. And so, the promise of God is that the peace of God will keep your hearts and minds. What a vivid picture. The idea is that on the walls of our heart and on the walls of our mind, constantly guarding them, walking around, is the peace of God. you are awake or sleeping, whether you are working or playing, that peace of God goes about with you in your heart and in your mind, and it keeps it, it protects it, and it guards it so that it remains at peace. Now, how exactly does that work? Well, the text says through Jesus Christ. Peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ. The peace of God doesn't just keep any heart and any mind, nor does it keep any heart and mind, perhaps, that even has some understanding about Jesus Christ. It keeps your hearts and minds only through Jesus Christ, and therefore hearts and minds that are connected somehow to Jesus Christ. But it makes sense that peace, the peace of God, would occur through Jesus Christ, because after all, this is the peace of God. And peace of God would, first of all, be peace with God. It is a harmonious, oneness of life and will of mind and heart and soul with God himself. And that can only happen, of course, through the cross of Christ, where your sins are forgiven. It's only Jesus who could achieve such peace and work such peace with God. He's the one who took away the enmity thereof. And this explains why so many people lack peace, because they're looking for peace every other way than through Jesus Christ. The text says, if you're going to have peace, and peace is going to guard your heart and mind, it must come through Jesus Christ. And let's not forget, especially on this day, that's not just simply peace with God sort of abstractly with regard to sins, but it extends to all of life and all the circumstances of life. There's not one peace with God through Jesus Christ and another peace that we have in all the circumstances of life, there's not one peace with God regarding sins and perhaps death and another peace with men that doesn't involve Jesus Christ. It's one peace of God. It's either peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ or some sort of peace through pills and drugs and doctors and everything else. You either have peace with your husband and wife and with your employer and all other human beings through Jesus Christ, or you have the peace of men. The peace of God comes through and only through Jesus Christ. How does it do that? Well, what's interesting is it keeps our hearts and minds in Jesus Christ. That's literally what it reads. The idea is that it keeps us, not only our hearts and minds, not only in peace, but in Jesus Christ. It's not only worked by Jesus Christ, but it's worked by Jesus Christ by keeping our hearts and minds in Him. The idea is that the peace of God walking the walls and the ramparts of our heart and mind not only keeps away enemies that threaten, enemies that are without, that might be attacking and come, but it keeps them in Jesus Christ Himself. That is, the peaceful soul is one that consciously abides in Him, that rests in Him. This is God's prescription. This is God's medicine for a healthy, peaceful heart and mind, period, end of story. the soul or the mind that is careful about everything, that worries about everything, that's anxious about everything, is sick. And that mind and that soul and that heart is not restored by alcohol. It's not restored by drugs. It's not restored by escapism. It's not restored by some sort of earthly wisdom and counsel of men. Doctors can't give it. Such a heart and mind are kept in peace only by being kept in Jesus Christ. So that's the question that faces you this morning. How is it with your heart and mind? Are your heart and mind filled with living consciously in Jesus Christ, not only on the Sabbath day, but all of life? Not only today, but tomorrow? Is that how your heart and mind is? Is that where you find your thoughts? Is that where you find your desires? Is that where you find your trust? That's the question. It's a very simple question, and one that you can answer. How are our minds now kept? kept through Jesus Christ? Well, we could say by faith, of course. And that's worth emphasis. Because when our soul is sick, when our soul is sick with too many cares, then we often suppose it requires that somebody else do something to make us well. Then we take our sick soul to the psychiatrist, or maybe to the pastor, maybe to the elder, And we say, now do something. Do something for me. Do something that will deliver me from my sickness, from my disease. Perhaps you can ask some questions, and you quickly discover, well, your soul is sick because you're anxious about everything. You're worried about everything. You're caring for everything in the terms of the text. And then the only thing that I can do or an elder can do or anybody can do, really, They say, you must believe. You must believe in our Lord Jesus Christ so that your heart and soul and mind are in Him. That's your problem. That's the heart and root of your problem. All the other stuff is related to that problem. Now if you ask furthermore, well, what does that look like? What does it mean to believe in our Lord Jesus Christ? Then the text gives two specifics, one negative and one positive, both are activities of faith, but the negative form of it would be resist. Anxiety. Be careful for nothing is the biblical way of putting it. The common everyday way of putting it would be resist anxiety. Wrestle with it. Go to war with it. Interesting. Interesting. Peace in the soul. Peace in the soul comes in the way of warring with anxiety. That's not the same thing as escapism, is it? That's not the same thing as some pills, is it? Notice we're exhorted to do that. That's God indicating that involves your heart and mind and your will. You may say, well, you know, that's just the way I am. I'm a worrywart. No, the Word of God comes to us as redeemed children of God and says, work at it. Apply your heart and your mind to it. You already recognize you're anxious and you're sparing. You already recognize there's no peace in your heart. Now, get rid of it. Be careful for nothing. You see, part of the problem is that we don't resist all anxiety. We resist only some anxiety. We worry about a few things and think to ourselves, well, that's okay. They're not big things. They're not debilitating things. I'm not to that point. Well, you may wait for that point. You may be anxious about anything. Be careful for nothing means go through the list. We're not simply concerned about life or death, war or peace, sickness or health, but we worry about everything. And God comes along and says, be careful for nothing. Notice how it's put, to be careful about nothing. Don't even think about it. It's not worth it. Don't give it any time whatsoever. Put no care into it whatsoever and work at it. Secondly, on the positive side, pray. Pray. I wished I could photograph some time and tell you about the number of people that perhaps have come to me with anxieties, debilitating anxieties and trouble. And I tell them these two things. The first one they kind of get. But they want you to tell them that they don't have to because, after all, they're anxious. Think about that. I don't have to resist anxiety because, well, I'm anxious. No. No, that's not what the Word of God says. It doesn't say just healthy people resist it, but God gives you strength to resist anxiety. But the second one is even more astounding. Pray. Now, sometimes people will tell you point blank, well, I can't. That's my problem. Well, then get somebody to pray for you for a while. Word. Call somebody to pray for you if you're to that point. But that is part of the problem. You haven't been praying. Praying, but in everything, notice again, everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. You see, prayer, prayer is to talk to God. Prayer is to consciously come into the presence of God. And then it's not simply to come into the presence of God, tell Him about all our troubles. or even to make our requests known. When you pray, you're worshiping. Prayer is first to come before God and say, you are some God. It's to express our reverence and our adoration and our love and our respect for God. That's the key to spiritual health in hard circumstances. If you feel peace creeping out and anxiety creeping in, then pray and do that prayer as worship. Only then give thanks. Don't come into His presence complaining, bitter, rebellious. That's worth emphasizing because often the reason why our heart and mind are sick with worry in the first place is that we've forgotten to come with God as worship and then to come to God in thanksgiving. Instead, we come to God, we barely say hello, and we're busy complaining. We're busy complaining about all our problems and all our troubles. By the way, it's the same problem we often have in human relationships too, right? Hello husband, hello wife, let me tell you about all my problems. Not good for a relationship. The key to spiritual health is that in everything we give thanks. And you don't have to look very far. You see? There's no one that can't give thanks to God. Not if they're alive, and if they're dead. Goes without saying. Start with God himself. Start with giving thanks to God for who He is and what He's done. If you can't think of anything, open your Bible mentally in your mind and start going through all the things that He's done to His people and through His people and by His people from the beginning of time. Be thankful for your life, be thankful for the gift of that life and go on and on and on and on. And guess what? You will find all your anxieties and all the turmoil and all the trouble melt away. That's the promise of the text. That's how it works. Haven't you ever had that before? Where you're driven to your knees in prayer by all sorts of trouble, and if you follow the Scriptures, Show God the respect that he deserves, honor and praise him for who he is, and then give thanks. And if you're truly being thankful, you will find out that most of the things that you were going to bring to God with considerable urgency just sort of melt away. But in case they don't, then make your supplications known to God too. You'd be surprised how often it is that people can supplicate me or an elder or a family member or spouse with their problems, but have not brought that problem or concern to God. You'd be surprised. Why is that? Well, again, this is the peace of God that comes through our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the blessing of God. This is his blessedness. In this way, every single one of God's children finds peace. It's the only way they find peace. In fact, this is something that ought to keep our hearts and minds in the peace of God. If you often wonder if peace is possible, or maybe in your despair say, well, this is just a pie in the sky. I've got to wait for heaven for that. No, that's not the text. The answer of the text is, oh, it's possible. It's possible now. It's possible for every one of God's children in every circumstance. And not only is it possible, but it's His will. This is a promise. Now, God doesn't promise you'll find it any old way. God doesn't come to us and say, you'll find peace in unbelief. You can forget about God in prayer. You can thumb your nose at Him. You can be rebellious against God and hate Him. You can live in unthankfulness all your life and have peace. No, that's not the promise. There's no peace for the wicked. There's no peace when we reject Jesus Christ as the Lord of us or the Savior from our sins. There's no peace there. And if we are an elect child of God and we're not experiencing that peace, then don't blame God either. It's your own fault. It's my own fault. It's my fault because I've been careful about everything. I'm thinking about everything. Because my thoughts aren't everything else, my thoughts aren't on God. My heart and my mind have been opened up to seeing trouble after trouble after trouble rather than by faith looking out and seeing I'm surrounded by a legion of angels, fiery angels of God to protect me and care for me, and should I even lose my life, to take me to my eternal home. That's the promise of God. And yes, the promise of God is that you'll have peace because God's going to take away all the tough things, all the troubles, all the sorrows. He's going to see to it that no one dies in your life, and you never get sick, and there'll never be war. He didn't promise that. No, the promise of God is that in all that, He will still give peace through our Lord Jesus Christ. When we are careful about nothing, and we with prayer give thanks and supplicate God, Now, the question this morning is, are you thankful for that? When you bow your head in prayer, and you sit around your table, and if you give thanks, are you thankful? Thankful for the peace of God that you have, or the measure of peace that you have? And will you express that to God? Amen. Let us pray. Lord, our God and Father in heaven, we thank Thee for our Lord Jesus Christ, who having taken away the enmity thereof has given us peace, peace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, peace that is a strength to resist anxiety and trouble and despair, and through prayer and supplication find joy and delight in him, in his peace, that peace that passeth all understanding and even explanation. Give us such peace evermore, and give us a thanksgiving for it. We thank Thee, O Lord, for this great gift. In Jesus' name, amen.