As always, as we read the passage, remember that we are reading the word of God. Faith—trusting God—comes by hearing (and in our case, also, by reading) the word of God. (Rom. 10:17) What pleases God is our faith. If we trust him, we obey him—we do the things that please him. “Without faith it is impossible to please God, for the one who draws near to Him must believe that He exists and rewards those who seek Him.” (Heb.~11:6)

¹So then, in this way, my dearly loved brothers, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord, dear friends. ²I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to agree in the Lord. ³Yes, I also ask you, true partner, to help these women who have contended for the gospel at my side, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers whose names are in the book of life. ⁴Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. ⁶Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise—dwell on these things. ⁹Do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians~4:1-9)

Verse 1 says, “So then, in this way, my dearly loved brothers, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord, dear friends.” The apostle Paul starts out by saying, “In this way...” In what way? Well, if you remember from two and three weeks ago (or if you have read Philippians chapter three recently) you will remember that Paul talked about considering all the things that he had held onto as good, all the things he could boast about, all of his status and human achievement, as filth and a loss, compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ. He completely changed his view of reality. (Actually, Christ completely changed his view of reality.) Paul wanted to share in the sufferings of Christ and to share in his resurrection.

The apostle Paul talked about making every effort to take hold of these things just as Christ had taken hold of him. He considered himself not to have taken hold of them. He said that everyone who is mature should think this way. Finally, he said this: “He (Jesus) will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of His glorious body, by the power that enables Him to subject everything to Himself.” (Philip 3:27) So then, in what way should we stand firm in the Lord? In this way: by sacrificing all worldly glory and pride and even comfort and safety to serve Jesus—to become like him.

Paul calls the Philippians his dearly loved brothers, his joy and crown. They were his joy because of the love they had, because of the generosity they had, toward others. Unselfish love is only possible through Jesus Christ. Before Christ, Paul’s life was completely self-centered. After Christ, he considered his old way as filth and a loss. He sacrificed himself to bring the good news to others—even to the Gentiles, to those who were looked down upon by the Jews, to those whom he had at one time looked down upon. The Philippians were now Paul’s “crown”. (The “crown” is the wreath that they would put on your head when you were victorious—when you won the race or some other athletic competition—or were successful in battle. Paul’s victory was saving the Philippians from destruction.)

And Paul says, “Stand firm in the Lord, dear friends. Actually, “dear friends” is the same word that’s translated “dearly loved”—“my dearly loved brothers” near the beginning of verse 1. Most of the translations say “beloved”. I think what Paul is saying is that they are dearly loved by Jesus. And they certainly are dearly love by Jesus. And so are we. (The kind of love we are talking about here is sacrificial love, not affection, although it certainly includes affection. (Keep remembering as I talk about these things that the point is for us to learn to imitate Jesus—to become like him in our thinking—to have the mind of Christ.)

Before I go on, you know the names “Euodia” and “Syntyche” actually mean something. They are not just words and sounds like most of the names we give people today. “Euodia” means “good way” or “good road”. The way of the cross is the good way and the good road. (Remember the hymn The Way of the Cross Lead Home? “I must needs go home by the way of the cross, There’s no other way but this.”)

We probably think people are a little weird when they change there names when they become Christians, especially when they change them to phrase that means something in English. How would you like to change your name to “Wide Awake”, for example? “Gregory” means “wide awake”. Do you know anyone named Zoe? “Zoe” means “life”. Do you know anyone named Alethia? “Alethia” means “truth”. Jesus says that he is the way and the alethia and the zoe. “Way”, by the way is “o d o s – odos” (it’s like odia in Euodia, the good way).

Well, that was a side track, but, evidently, Euodia and Syntyche were having some sort of dispute—Paul doesn’t say what, but I’m sure everyone must have known. (Syntyche, by the way, means something like “Partner in Providence”—God’s providence, presumably.) Anyway, “Good Way” and “Partner in Providence” were having some sort of dispute—something that wasn’t consistent with their names. They weren’t living up to their names. According to verse 3 they had contended for the gospel right along with Paul. They were strong Christians. But somehow they were having a dispute. Paul was asking “true partner” to help these women. (“True partner” is also likely to be someone’s name. Paul uses it as though he is addressing a person by name.) Paul is urging this person, “true partner” to help Euodia and Syntyche. Sometimes we disagree and argue about things that seem of great importance at the time and later wonder why we ever argued about something that was really trivial. Two things are involved, pride and Satan’s deception. We need to help each other to overcome these things and continue on the good way as partners in providence. Paul wanted “true partner” to point these things out to Euodia and Syntyche.

So all you have to do is rejoice—always rejoice—rejoice when you’ve made your plans and are in a hurry and hope to be able to squeeze everything in—and your car breaks down. Or maybe something much more serious happens—there’s an unexpected death in the family—or maybe an expected death that you didn’t want to happen anyway. (I actually think we are more likely to be able to rejoice in the Lord with the more serious things—things we can’t do anything about. We are forced to trust God.)

But remember that it’s not just rejoicing, but rejoicing in the Lord. That’s the secret. It’s impossible to obey this commandment, the commandment to rejoice in the Lord always, always! —without the power of the Holy Spirit. How can we have the power of the Holy Spirit? Jesus says, “Ask for it.” “For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” (Luke~11:10-13)

You know, I have a lot of trouble with this. I’ve asked, but still most of the time I don’t rejoice when there is trouble, which is most of the time. Some of the times when I’ve really been able to rejoice have been when I’ve repented of some disobedience to God. The Lord says (through James), “The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The intense prayer of the righteous is very powerful.” (James~5:15, 16)

“The intense prayer of the righteous is very powerful.” We have the righteousness of Christ, don’t we? We should be able to pray and receive what we are asking for providing we aren’t asking in order to use it for our selfish pleasure (which wouldn’t be a righteous prayer anyway). I’ve prayed for things that I don’t think were selfish and stated that I have the righteousness of Christ. And I certainly think I do have the righteousness of Christ as far as salvation goes. However, I didn’t receive what I asked for as far as I know. Why not?

Well, I have assumed the common understanding of faith—you see something happen consistently and believe it will happen again under the same circumstances. God is certainly consistent in all that he does, but he also knows all of the circumstances completely and we don’t. I think our problem may be that our assumption about the meaning of faith is not biblical. For example, the apostle Paul says that faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ. (Rom. 10:17) Paul does not say that faith comes from seeing the same thing happen repeatedly. As a matter of fact Paul contrasts faith and sight when he says in 2 Cor. 5:7, “We walk by faith and not by sight.”

One thing I have noticed about the word “faith” is that in the New Testament it is the same word as faithfulness. In other words, the fruit of the Spirit could just as well be “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and self-control” as “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Gal. 5:22, 23) (It is, in fact “faith” in the HCSB.) The translators decide which word to use according to what they think is appropriate to the context. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and teachers of the law as hypocrites because they tithed a tenth of their garden herbs but neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. Or is it “justice mercy and faith?” The word that is translated “faith” or “faithfulness” also means “trusting” and “believing”. Obviously, faith and faithfulness, in the language of the New Testament, are very closely connected together—and they are in English too. Faithfulness comes from trust, from faith.

⁷Now the end of all things is near; therefore, be clear-headed and disciplined for prayer. ⁸Above all, keep your love for one another at full strength, since love covers a multitude of sins. ⁹Be hospitable to one another without complaining. ¹⁰Based on the gift they have received, everyone should use it to serve others, as good managers of the varied grace of God. ¹¹If anyone speaks, his speech should be like the oracles of God; if anyone serves, his service should be from the strength God provides, so that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To Him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter~4:7-11)

At first glance the instruction to be clear-headed and disciplined so that you can pray seems to be disconnected from what comes after it—just a list of commands for you to obey. But everything that comes after “be clear-headed and disciplined for prayer” is about the faithfulness to God and to other believers that comes from trusting God. Keep your love for one another at full strength. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. If anyone serves, his service should be from the strength God provides. If anyone speaks, his speech should be like the oracles of God. These things can only be done if you trust God. They are done by faith. If you do them you are faithful.

Also, Peter says in 1 Peter 3:7, “Husbands, in the same way, live with your wives with understanding of their weaker nature yet showing them honor as co-heirs of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.” Here Peter is telling us that if you don’t treat your wife properly, your prayers will be hindered.

And in Mark 11:24 Jesus says, “Therefore, I tell you, all the things you pray and ask for—believe that you have received them, and you will have them.” Do you think that if you are able to work up enough faith you can get God to do anything you want? Look at the next verse immediately after Mark 11:24. Immediately after saying, “Believe that you have received them, and you will have them,” Jesus says, “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing.” Do you think unforgiveness hinders your prayers? It does! It makes you unrighteous. What you do affects your prayers. “The intense prayer of the righteous is very powerful.”

I looked at the word translated “graciousness” in several other translations. They were all different from each other. I got “gentleness” from the NIV, “forbearance” from the Young’s Literal Translation, “moderation” from the King James, “reasonableness” from the ESV and “graciousness” from the HCSB. So you get the idea of being calm and gentle and loving—not argumentative or contentious or angry—of being peaceful so that people can see God’s power working in you. (One time where I used to work, someone came from the outside to work with several of us who were Christians. We invited him to our lunch-time Bible study. He said, I knew you guys had to be Christians because you are so “laid back”. He didn’t see me when I’m not “laid back” which sometimes seems to be most of the time.)

“Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.” The Lord is near. Do you remember that all the time? (I confess that I don’t.) How do you act in the presence of strangers—in the presence of your friends—in the presence of those who are close to you and know you best? The Lord is closer to you than anyone else and he knows you better than anyone else. He is always present with you. Talk to him. He hears you.

The peace of God is the peace that comes through God. It’s a supernatural peace, a peace that goes beyond any human reasoning and understanding. If you have the peace of God, you know it. You know that you could not possibly naturally have that peace. The apostle Peter says (writing by the Holy Spirit), “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, because He cares about you.” (1 Peter 5:6, 7) The reason we don’t have God’s peace (when we don’t have it) is that we are not humble. We may have peace when things are going smoothly and everything is under control—under our control, that is. But the fact is that nothing, nothing at all, is really under our control. The reason we like to be able to think it is is that we are not humble. We want to be able to control everything in every situation. The fact is that we really aren’t in control of anything. God is. Any kind of reasonableness says that having God be in control is a far better situation. But pride tells us that we need to be in control. Lack of faith tells us that we know better than God. Those are Satan’s lies and deception. He is a liar and has been from the beginning. He is a murderer. I didn’t make that up either. Satan is a liar and a murderer. I didn’t reason that out. Jesus says that Satan is a liar and a murderer. It’s his basic nature. Read John 8:44.

Verse 7 says, “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” That’s really a command—something we are told to do—commanded to do. Actually, it’s three commands. The first one is “Don’t worry about anything.” I have to say that I’m not there yet, either—not even close. Paul said that he wasn’t there yet either, but that he was continuing to work toward the goal. He said that that should be our way of thinking, too. But I don’t believe that God tells us to do anything that we are not able to do—not able to do without his power, the power of his Holy Spirit, that is. Paul fully expected to reach the goal—not because he was so great, but because Christ is so great.

The second command is to pray about everything. I don’t think anything is too small to pray about. (Nothing’s too big, either.) Really, the point is to know that God is near all the time—to acknowledge that fact. We are told to do everything in the name of the Lord. When we talk to God about everything, we are doing just that. We are doing things in the name of the Lord. So when you start a new activity, ask God to bless it. (He may tell you not to do it. So be aware of that.) You know, I’ve believed that we should talk to God about everything for a long time. But without the power of his Spirit, I don’t remember to do it.

The third command is to pray with thanksgiving. Some people believe that this means that we should thank God for giving us what we are asking for in advance of receiving it. I don’t think it means that. I think it means that we should thank him for all that he has already done. Have you noticed that some of the psalmists, as they begin their prayers, acknowledge how the Lord led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt? The Lord Jesus has led us out of slavery to sin and is leading us to eternal life—to be in his presence forever—with rejoicing and thanksgiving. But there are many other answered prayers, as well—many of our individual requests that he has granted in addition to the prayer for salvation. Every good thing comes from God.

Let’s look at verse 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 moral excellence and if there is any praise—dwell on these things.” I have a really hard time with this, too. If you watch the news or listen to it on the radio, all you hear is bad news. There’s evil everywhere. Evil men seem to be prevailing. Even on Christian radio they seem to talk about everything that is bad that is going on around us. The bad seems to outweigh the good by ten to one. It’s hard to think about the good. Sometimes I read Psalm 37. I’m going to read the first 9 verses. This is the Lord God speaking through David:

Paul says to rejoice in the Lord always (as opposed to rejoicing in our circumstances). The Lord is good. And there are things that are good. There are things that are lovely. (To see someone else rejoicing in the Lord is lovely.) People do do things that are honorable and just and right. Paul says to dwell on the good (not on the bad). Actually, sometimes when I hear about something good that has happened—like someone who stood firmly against abortion and won, or someone who was considering an abortion, who could not possibly be able to take care of another baby, or the baby was going to have severe birth defects, and decided that it was the right thing to do to keep the baby... Sometimes I hear those things and weep with joy; it seems like they are so few and far between. But I don’t remember them long. The bad erases them from my memory. I need to write them down. But rejoice in the Lord always. It’s the Lord that we rejoice in. He is good. He is our life and salvation. He is the one who is true. He is the one who is just. He is the one who is honorable. He is the one who is pure. He is the one who is lovely. He is the one who is commendable. He is the one who has the moral excellence. And he is the one who is worthy of praise beyond all other praise. He is the one who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. He is Jesus. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus.

Verse 9 in today’s passage says: “Do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.” Paul was not yet perfect, but was continuing to strive to be like Jesus. That’s what he was doing. He expected to get there, too—not because he was strong, but because he believed Jesus would hold onto him. I think he is telling us in this verse to imitate him in this way—to continue to strive to be like Jesus, but to know that he will hold onto you. Paul says, “The God of peace will be with you.” It’s the word of God. The God of peace will be with us.