Let's open up our Bibles to the word of God in Philippians chapter 4, Philippians 4, and we'll read the whole of this passage of God's holy word. Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved, and long for my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. I beseech you, Odius, 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 you 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 done well that ye did communicate with my affliction, Now you 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, well-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. As far as we read God's Word, now let's direct our attention to verses 6 and 7. 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 congregation, you will recognize, of course, that the theme of our sermon is the theme that will be used this year, Lord willing, for family visitation set to begin next week. And our theme is based especially on this passage but also with reference to Romans 5, 1 and following, to which we will refer shortly. This text, verses 6 and 7, is a well-known passage. And perhaps you've heard this text considered or approached from the viewpoint or the starting point, as it were, of verse six of the text. Often that is the case. And then the theme of a sermon on the passage would perhaps be this, being careful for nothing. or more literally, being anxious about nothing, being worried about nothing. Our main focus, however, tonight will be on verse seven. That will be our starting point as we consider this text. And we will look at these two verses from the perspective of what verse seven has to say to us and to teach us concerning peace, concerning the subject and the blessing of God's grace of peace. You'll notice that we won't be giving much attention tonight to verse eight. Nevertheless, verse 8 does tie in with and serves as an added way for us as the people of God to experience peace and to be freed from anxiety. That's clear from verse 9 too, which follows verse 8 where it speaks of the God of peace shall be with you. God of peace shall be with us. The God of peace will give us his peace. And so that too is a significant verse and can profitably be discussed even in our family visits. But our main subject tonight is peace. And you may be interested in knowing that the word peace occurs 400 times, 401 to be exact, times in Scripture. Almost the same amount as the word love, which occurs 410 times. Peace is obviously a very prominent idea and a very prominent truth and concept in the Word of God. And that's because it is a very significant blessing and gift of the grace of God to his people. And if nothing else, the frequency in which peace is mentioned is indicative of God's will and God's purpose that his people know about peace and that his people have and experience peace. So let's consider then our text under the theme, Peace with God, and we'll notice what that peace is, secondly, why we need it, that is, why we need it according to this text, and thirdly, how we experience it. The first question, of course, is when the Word of God here mentions peace, what kind of peace is the text referring to? What kind of peace does the Word of God here want you and me to be thinking about and even desiring to have? It's certainly not referring to earthly peace. It's not referring to the peace that some might like to see in the world in which we live where everything is calm and everything is harmonious and all nations have put down their swords and their artillery and there is peace between all of the nations of the world and peace even between all of the people in the world. as God's people. We know that kind of peace will never be attained. That will never happen. The signs of the end of time tell us that the signs that will precede the return of our Lord Jesus Christ include this, that there will be war and rumors of war. There will be an increase in fighting The Word of God tells us also about the signs of the coming of the end, that there will be an increase in hatred, and men and women will be more and more against each other, even against those of their own household, of their own family. Besides that, the Word of God tells us in Isaiah 48 verse 22, there is no peace saith my God to the wicked. The kind of peace that the Word of God speaks about and the kind of peace that our text is speaking about is a peace that the wicked cannot have. They think they can attain it. and they speak of their ability to have peace, but all that they can say is, as expressed in the words of Jeremiah 6 verse 14, all that they can say is, peace, peace, when there is no peace. Peace is a spiritual blessing. Peace is an internal blessing. Peace is a gift of the grace of God for those who are saved, and for them only. And the text indicates that. This is referred to in verse 7 as the peace of God. which points to the fact that this is peace which comes from God to us. God is referred to here in verse seven as the source of this peace. He is the one who provides it. He is the one who graciously gives peace. He is the one who, by the work of His Spirit in the hearts and lives of His people, causes His people to have His peace within them. and they alone. But what exactly is this gift of grace that is called peace? Well, that's where Romans 5 verse 1 and following is key. Their peace is described this way, peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what our text indicates too when it speaks of the peace of God in verse 7 and then says at the end of the verse, it will keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. By nature, We are all at enmity with God. By nature we are the enemies of God. By natures we are sinners who are far from God. And we deserve God to be against us. We deserve God's wrath to rest upon us. We deserve God's hand to be against us in everything that God does in this world and does in our lives. but we are at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and that means that we have been reconciled to God. Atonement has been made for our sins. Our sins have been covered. We have been justified in the sight of God. Our sins have been forgiven, and we are now right with God through Christ. There is no longer division or warfare or hatred or enmity between God and us, but instead, peace. We are at peace with God. God is not holding our sins against us. God is not treating us according to our sins because of Christ. We have peace with God, and we know that because of Christ, and he attaining this peace with God for us, we know that because of him, God's favor rests upon us and God is always favorable toward us. Peace with God. When the child of God has peace with God, then he has peace with or with regard to all things, all that happens, all that comes his way, all that he experiences. He has peace of mind concerning all those things. Peace of mind concerning everything that happens to him in his or her life, not disturbed by those things because He is at peace with God, and God's favor rests upon him. And the context points to that as being the main point here. The main point being that we can be at peace with all things. We can be at peace in every circumstance of life. We can be at peace with whatever God sends our way in life, because this peace stands in contrast here in this text to being careful about all things, that is, being anxious and worried about all things. This peace is the opposite of that. over against being worried, the child of God is given the gift of peace, a gift that is grounded in the fact that we have been saved and that we have been forgiven, and God is therefore not against us, but for us. God is on our side. God is always good to us. Child of God having this peace can be quiet and calm in all the circumstances of his or her earthly life. What lends to and helps us understand the nature of this peace is the fact that the text calls it a peace which passeth all understanding. That doesn't mean that we're not able to understand what peace is. That's not what the text is saying. The text is not even saying that we can know a little bit about peace, but not know very much about it, not know very well what peace is. But when the text says that this peace passeth all understanding, it means that in this sense, that this is a peace that is superior to understanding. It passes all understanding because it is a peace that is better than understanding. It's a peace that does something for the child of God and provides something for the child of God that is superior to and better than understanding all things. suddenly know from life that there are many things that God does that we don't understand. We look at the past and we say there are many things that God has done in the past that I don't understand. We look at the present and we say there are things God is doing right now in my life that I don't understand. Why do things have to be this way? Why sickness, why disease, why pain, why sorrow, why death, why struggles with children, why this and why that? We don't understand. And we sometimes say to ourselves, if only I could understand, if only I understood why God is doing what he is doing, then I could face it, then I could bear it. But our text says we don't need to understand because we have peace. What's enough is that we are at peace with God. What's enough is that God in his grace has saved us and has reconciled us to himself in Christ and has forgiven our sins in Christ. What's enough is for us to know that on account of the complete work of Christ as our Savior, the favor of God rests upon us. That's enough. That's enough. Having peace with God is far better, is superior than being able to understand all things. And I'm sure even if we did understand all things, and even if we did understand and God gave us to understand why exactly he does what he does in our lives and why he is doing what he is currently doing in our lives, we'd still have doubts and fears and worries and questions. Peace is better. Peace is superior. And peace is better and superior, the text says, because it keeps our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. That word keeps is really guards. Peace is like a security force. Peace is like a social security agent, a loyal social security agent for a president. that protects, that will take the blows that are thrown at or fired at him to protect him and to protect his life. And God says to us, that's what he has provided us by causing us to be at peace with him through Christ. That's our security guard for our hearts and for our mind. That's what will keep our hearts and minds from doubt and from fear and from worry. If anything comes to threaten and disturb our soul, then the fact that we are at peace with God keeps the child of God calm, spiritually calm. suddenly peace is a great spiritual blessing and a marvelous gift of the grace of God. Our text recognizes, because God himself recognizes that on account of a spiritual struggle that we have in life, there is an urgent need that we have for this peace, and to have this peace consciously, and to be assured that we have this peace. That struggle is mentioned in verse six, that we are careful for many things. That word careful, as I indicated already, is the word that could be translated worried or anxious. Literally, the word means to have a divided mind. Your mind is going here and there and jumping all over the place. You don't know what to do. You don't know what to think, to be unsure, to be anxious. be troubled, to be worried. I think it can be said that we all worry, myself included. Some more than others, perhaps, but it's very common. We worry about our families. We worry about our children. We worry about fulfilling the responsibilities that God gives to us, whether in home or family, in work or school, or in the church. We worry about finding a spouse if we're single. We worry about having a sufficient income. We worry about decisions that we face and have to make in life and in that connection about all of the what ifs. What if this happens and what if that comes along? We worry about our churches or even about our own congregation and its future. We worry about the next generation of the people of God. We worry about the schools. that we have and finding sufficient teachers for that. Perhaps we even worry about the future of our country, and we worry about the end times too, which is mentioned here in the context. Verse 5, the Lord is at hand. And the list could go on and on, of course, of the things that we worry about. Every challenge and every situation in life and every decision that we face has the potential of leading us to be anxious and to worry about those things. Our minds become restless. We are unsure. We are uneasy. We have a divided mind. We don't know what to do, what to decide. We don't know what to expect. And that affects our souls, our souls become restless and no longer at peace. And that can even affect a person's physical health, his ability to sleep, his health itself, the ability to be happy. What's interesting is It's not unique to any one of us. That too is the experience that David had. He speaks of that in Psalms 42 and 43. He says this in Psalm 42 verse five, why art thou cast down my soul and why art thou disquieted in me? And this in verse six, oh my God, my soul is cast down within me. And again in verse 11, why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted in me? In verse nine, I will say unto God, my rock, why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? David was struggling with anxiety. The word of God in our text, when it says to us, be careful about nothing, indicates to us, really when it says literally, don't be so anxious, don't be worried about things, it indicates to us that it isn't proper for a believer who has faith and who must live by faith to worry. Worry is sin, worry is an evidence of unbelief. Now, it's certainly not wrong to be concerned about things. When the text says, be careful for nothing, don't worry about things, the text is not saying, don't even think about things, don't even try to make decisions, don't even give any thought to the future or to the decisions that are before you. That, of course, would be irresponsible. But God calls his children not to worry, to put aside their doubts and their fears. He calls his children to be calm and at ease in their lives as his people in this world. He calls us to be at peace. That is to say, he calls us to live by faith and not by sight. It's when we live by sight that we become anxious and worried. To have faith and to live by faith is to believe God is sober. To live by faith is to believe God has eternally planned everything. To live by faith is to believe that God's plan is all comprehensive. There is not one thing that is outside the plan of God. There is nothing that comes along as a surprise to God. There is nothing that happens that is an accident, not for God. And to live by faith is to believe that God has made a wise plan, there are no errors, there are no mistakes in the plans of God. We make plans and we look back and say, I should have decided differently, I should have done something different from what I decided to do, but God never looks back and God never needs to look back and regret anything that God has planned or that God has done, and that's because God has made a perfect plan that serves the glory of God through the salvation of His church in Christ. And central in that plan and purpose of God is that God's people, that you and I, are at peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. And being at peace with God through Christ, then we can know by faith God is not against us. But God's favor rests upon us, and God is carrying out His plan to the minutest detail, and none can stay His hand or say unto Him, what doest thou? God is sovereign. And anxiety arises in our minds when we lose sight of that, when we forget that. Worry and anxiety arises in our minds because we have doubts concerning what God has planned. And we wonder, has God really sorted out and planned everything carefully? And is it all going to serve my good? Will everything be for my salvation? I know God has planned it all. God has planned my life. But I'm anxious about God's plan. I don't fully trust what God has planned and what God is doing. That's really what worry and anxiety boils down to. A weakness of faith, not believing and trusting God as he carries out his eternal and perfect will. And such anxiety disturbs and takes away our peace. We're inclined to say, sorry, because we are inclined to worry, because we are tempted to be anxious, we need God's peace. We need to know once again, we need to be reminded again, we need to focus once again on the fact that we are at peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the peace that will guard our hearts and minds from anxiety and worry because having peace with God means we belong to Christ. Having peace with God means we have been saved. Having peace with God means our sins have been forgiven and God is not against us in anything that he sends and does. Having peace with God means we are the objects of God's love, always, always. And having that peace with God, then we are able to be at peace concerning all things in our life. The text also tells us about how this peace is experienced. not how it is attained, not how do we get it. As we said already, peace is a gift of God. It is ours by faith as those who belong to Christ. It is a gift of God's grace to every child of God. Galatians 5 speaks of the fruit of the Spirit, and one of those elements of the fruit of the Spirit is peace. Love, joy, peace. The Spirit gives that peace to the believer. But the question we ask now is, how can we experience this blessing of peace? How can I experience this peace when I'm inclined to be anxious and worried? How can I be relieved of my anxiety which can plague me, which can affect my health, my sleep, and my Christian joy? God tells us this is the solution, prayer. If you notice in verse 6, prayer stands in sharp contrast to anxiety. Be careful for nothing, that is be anxious about nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. We either worry or we pray. And God is saying to us, when we pray, we are relieved of worry. And implied is this, if we are not relieved of worry, most likely we haven't prayed. Or if we have, it's just been words and not sincere prayer. I've heard, beloved, this text being referred to as, and especially with a focus on verse six, being referred to as God's prescription for worry. That's very striking. God's prescription for worry. It's like going to a doctor because you're not feeling well. and the doctor performs a medical examination, and he discovers what's wrong. And so he prescribes a medicine. The healthy Christian ought not worry, but God knows that we do. And so God tells us what the remedy is. And he says to us, if you are anxious, then pray. And by means of prayer, you will experience instead of anxiety, peace, peace in your heart and peace in your mind. While it's true, as I said earlier, we all have experienced anxiety and worry, I think we can all say we've also experienced this, that when, by God's grace, we have unburdened our cares to the Lord through prayer, the Lord gives us, and it's a miraculous thing, He gives us peace of heart. The text calls us to pray, to pray often. Each child of God must pray, whether you're single or married, whether you're young or old, whether you're a child or an adult. And, as we think of this in connection with our families and family visitation, also praying as couples and praying as family. In our prayers telling God everything, as we sing of that in Psalm 55, cast thy burden on the Lord. not try to carry your burden yourself, not try to find your own solution to the burdens that you have, but use prayer to cast your burdens on the Lord. And this text we have before us says, in everything, pray. In every circumstance, in every struggle, in every situation of life, in every responsibility that you face, In every burden that comes your way, pray, keep nothing back from the Lord. Speak to the Lord about it. Let everything that causes you to worry and doubt and struggle or anything that might cause you to worry or doubt or struggle, let that be the content of your prayer. and let that be made known to God. The Lord says to us, prayer is the key. Prayer is the gift that I have given you so that you might experience peace. Shows how critical prayer is in the life of the Christian. We need to use it. We need to use it well. We need to use it more. And in our homes and families, our use of prayer, and with that, our family devotions are certainly indicative of the spiritual health and welfare of our families. And it's so easy, isn't it, to skip it? We're too busy. At least tonight, we'll do it tomorrow. God prescribes prayer as the way to experience peace, and he does that for good reasons. First of all, God prescribes prayer because what does prayer do? Prayer places us as weak, frail, dependent creatures in the presence of the Almighty God. When we pray, our minds turn to the Lord God in heaven. When we pray, we are mindful of God's greatness and God's glory and God's holiness and of how small we are in comparison to God. When we're reminded of how great God is and how small we are in comparison, then we realize that many of our supposed needs and desires and even our worries were really just minor in comparison to God. Before we prayed, we were focused on the earthly things. We thought we had reason to complain. We thought we had reason to be worried because we were looking at things from an earthly perspective and not in the light of the knowledge of God and not in the light of eternity for which God is preparing us. But when the Lord leads us to pray and when we are in our prayers, in our prayer life conscious of God, our perspective changes. We're reminded that what matters is not us, but what matters is God. What matters is not our comforts in life, but what matters is the glory of God. What matters is not our wants, our ease, and our happiness in life, but what matters is that God be glorified in the carrying out of his will for our salvation so that we might glorify and praise God forever and forever. Prayer makes us realize, as we enter consciously into the presence of God, and are reminded of his greatness and our smallness in comparison, that God is God, and God is sovereign, and God has all things planned to serve his glory. And we say, not my will, but thy will be done. But secondly, prayer is the means that God gives because, and that serves as the way for us to experience peace, because prayer includes, as it ought, according to verse six, thanksgiving to God. Thanksgiving to God. And Thanksgiving is certainly significant in connection with the temptation that we have and the inclination we have to worry and to be anxious. If we're going to give thanks to God in prayer, then we are forced at that time to think of all the things that God has given and done for us for which we will give thanks to God. We are reminded of God's goodness in the past. We're reminded of the grace of God toward us in Christ especially. We're reminded of the love of God. We're reminded of the Lord's care of us through whatever we have experienced from his hand in the past. And we're reminded of how he has, as he gives us the sight to see that, the faith to understand that, reminded of how he has used what he has done in the past for our spiritual growth and benefit and blessing. And then we have things to be thankful to God for. And then we say, why am I anxious? Why am I so worried? Why have I doubted God? Why am I not calm and at peace and trusting? He has always been faithful in the past and that gives me every reason to trust God now as well as tomorrow and all the days of my life. Prayers of thanksgiving help to put things in perspective and to relieve us of anxiety and worry, and thus to experience the opposite of that, namely peace, peace of mind, because we are at peace with God through Christ. Finally, beloved, notice that verse seven, when it speaks of the peace of God which passes all understanding and which will keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, notice that that verse is a promise of God. No doubt, no inclination of doubt is there in that verse. God promises this. And God promises that in the way of prayer, we shall receive this peace, we will experience this peace. That is a sure promise of God, as all of God's promises are. He will give it. His Word and His promises never fail. Pray. Pray more. Pray often. Pray sincerely. Pray that God would teach us to pray. And may God grant that twofold blessing, the worries disappear and we experience peace because we are at peace with God through Christ. Amen. Oh, Heavenly Father, Grant us the blessing of peace. It is a gift of thy grace and salvation, earned for us by Christ. Thou dost cause us to be at peace with thee, so that in all of life we may have peace of mind and heart and soul. No matter the circumstances of life, knowing that Thy hand, thy sovereign will, determines all things. Know what, good? We can put our firm faith and trust and confidence in thee. Grant us the blessing of peace and teach us to pray so that we might experience it more richly each day of our lives. In Jesus' name, amen.