Stand Firm
2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat
Syntyche to agree in the Lord. 3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help
these women, who have laboured side by side with me in the gospel together with
Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
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. 8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, 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. 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 4:2-9)
Contentment comes from standing firm
When it comes
to doctrine, there are lines in the sand which we must defend. However, when
the problems are personal or relational or secondary, Paul wants believers “to
agree in the Lord.” Euodia and Syntyche apparently had some kind of
disagreement. Paul does not say what it is. I don’t think it is a doctrinal issue,
because if it were, Paul would have addressed that as he always did in his
letters. Paul notes that the women are believers. Indeed, their names, along
with Clement and the rest of Paul’s fellow workers “are in the book of life.”
The vast
majority of church splits are not over doctrine. They are over personal and
relational issues. People break fellowship about a program, or hurt over a
comment, or frustrated over something secondary, and they leave the church. Paul’s
point is that to stand firm in the Lord we must agree in the Lord.
Next, to stand
firm in the Lord we must rejoice in the Lord always. Paul writes in verse 4,
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” The joy that appears
in Philippians is a particular kind of joy—the joy of contentment even in
difficult circumstances. Keep in mind Paul is awaiting his sentence, which
could be a death sentence. It is in this particular setting that he is encouraging
the Philippians to “rejoice in the Lord always.” So, to stand firm in the Lord
we must agree in the Lord, and we must rejoice in the Lord always.
Third, to stand
firm in the Lord we must be reasonable. The Greek word in verse 5 is the
opposite of being contentious or self-seeking, which is why the ESV opts for
“reasonableness.” We all struggle with self, don’t we? We want to be known for
our work ethic, or our looks, or our humour, or our wisdom, or our Bible
teaching, or our prayer life, or, for preachers, our preaching. We all struggle
with self. Paul goes on to say why we
must be reasonable. He writes, “The Lord is at hand.” That could mean that we
should live in light of the Lord’s second advent. But, I think it more likely
means that the Lord is with us wherever we are. He sees where we go, he hears
what we say, and he knows what we think. So, to stand firm in the Lord we must
agree in the Lord, rejoice in the Lord always, and be reasonable.
To stand firm
in the Lord we must not be anxious about anything. Now, the difficulty for most of us is that
when we hear the command not to be anxious about anything, we don’t know how to
do that. Hasn’t that been the challenge for us for the last year of Covid? How
do I stop being anxious? Paul goes on to tell us how. He writes in verse 6,
“but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your
requests be made known to God.” The remedy for anxiety is prayer. You are anxious
about something. So, Paul says, pray about it. Pray about it fervently. Pray
about it until you have the peace of God in your heart and mind. So, to stand
firm in the Lord we must agree in the Lord, rejoice in the Lord always, be
reasonable, and not be anxious about anything.
Finally, to
stand firm in the Lord we must think holy thoughts. We need to keep in mind
that God not only knows what I do and say, but he also knows my thoughts. When
I first learned computer programming in school, we learning the acronym “GIGO,”
which means, “garbage in, garbage out.” That is true for our minds as well. If
we put garbage into our heads, then we can expect garbage to come out. However,
if we think holy thoughts, we can expect to grow in holiness. Paul goes on to
say in verse 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.” Practically,
Paul wants us to imitate Christians who are further along than we are. Find
godly Christians to imitate and from whom to learn. And, as you do so, as you
“practice these things, the God of peace will be with you.”
Summing it up
How do we find
contentment in an ever-changing world? We
do so by standing firm. In a battle, to
“stand firm” is a defensive action. It can be very hard and difficult. It does
not just happen. Soldiers must be well-trained, and they must work well
together in order to hold the ground they have won. The Christian life is also
a battle. We battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. The battle is,
at times, very hard and difficult. Standing firm takes hard work and
discipline. Brothers and sisters, let me
encourage you to stand firm. Let me encourage you to be disciplined and work
hard at standing firm in the Lord. According to Paul, to stand firm in the Lord
we must agree in the Lord, rejoice in the Lord always, be reasonable, not be
anxious about anything, and think holy thoughts.
Prayer for the
day.
Our Father in
heaven,
Ad we face the
battles of our day; from the world, our flesh and the devil help us to stand
firm. Let us never be swayed by petty squabbles
or gossip that would seek to disrupt the fellowship – let us flee from such divisive
people and be quick to reconcile with those we ourselves have offended. Help us to rejoice in all circumstances and
not be overcome with anxiety. Finally, we
ask for the aid of the Holy Spirit to guard our minds against impurity that we
not sin against you.
For we ask all
this in the name of our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.
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