Philippians: Part 4 - Ch. 4

Rejoice!

As Paul closes his letter to the Philippians, he does so in a beautiful way. If you have been with us from the beginning, you remember how this letter that Paul has written was done out of a heart of gratitude and encouragement. Throughout this short book, Paul has expressed his thankfulness for the Philippian church and has instructed them on how to live for the gospel in their day-to-day lives. All of this has built up to this gracious ending, which is all focused on rejoicing in the Lord because of how He has provided for His children. Living a lifestyle of worship by rejoicing in the Lord for all that He has done for you is the perfect picture of what a humble life that has been transformed by the gospel looks like. As John Sartelle observes, “All through Scripture, God commands joy. We are commanded to rejoice. It is a decision — a choice — we make. Every day, we will choose either joy or cynicism; joy or despair; joy or desolation; joy or worry; joy or complaining.” Rejoicing in the Lord is not just something we are commanded to do when being encouraged; it is something we are commanded to do always. As we break down this final chapter, may we take into consideration that it doesn’t matter how we feel or what current situation we’re in; what matters is that God has given us His son to save us, and because of that, we choose joy in all circumstances. With this in mind, let’s dive into this final chapter of Philippians. 

Don’t Be Anxious

To begin, Paul starts off this chapter like he has many times before with the word ‘therefore’, which again implies that he is building off of what he recently wrote in the previous chapter. At the end of chapter 3, Paul is discussing pressing on toward the goal of growing closer to Christ. This is why it ties in perfectly with rejoicing in the Lord, because He is the one who leads us to Christ and makes us more and more like Him through sanctification. Paul explains this in a very practical and gracious way in Philippians 4:4-7 where he says, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all people. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” There is so much goodness in this passage, but for now, I want to focus on how Paul tells believers to pray. Someone who chooses joy will be easy to identify because they don’t let the anxieties of this world overtake them, but rather they pray about everything and give their worries to God as He gives them His peace. 

This is a practical way that we can choose joy in our everyday lives, don’t worry about things that are out of our control. Give those things that make you anxious to the Lord, and receive His peace that He has made available to you. Paul goes even further on this idea by discussing how Christ-followers should think in order to have the peace of God. Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Paul ends this in verse 9 by stating that the reason we should think about these things is because the God of peace will be with us. In other words, give your anxieties to God, pray about what is troubling you, then think about what is good and pure and lovely, and the God of peace will be with us. This is our Lord’s recipe on how we can think like Christ and not be weighed down and overtaken by the fears of this world. 

God Strengthens You

To conclude this letter, Paul finishes this book by talking about how God will fulfill all of our needs and touches even more on why we have no reason to live in worry. In fact, Paul describes this by stating a verse that is very popular in this day and age that I’m willing to bet we often take out of context. Philippians 4:12-13 says, “I know how to get along with little, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. I’m sure you’ve heard this saying before. However, the reason Paul states this verse is that it is an encouragement to get through whatever tough season you may be going through. Paul doesn’t say this in order to say that God will get rid of whatever hardship you are going through; rather, he says it as a way to cheer on those who are going through struggle to remember that we can go through whatever suffering comes our way because it is God who strengthens us, not ourselves. This is what Paul wants the Philippians to remember as he closes this encouraging, gospel-centered letter. I hope and pray that as you read through this book, you will be encouraged in the same way. May we remember that we should rejoice in the Lord always, not because the situations in our lives call for it, but because God is worthy to be rejoiced over, despite whatever we may be going through. When we remember this, we can cast our anxieties on the Lord and trust in Him to fill us with peace and provide for our every need. May you find this same peace and encouragement as you grow in your walk with the Lord. 

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Sources

[1] Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/

[2] Rejoice in the Lord always | Reformed Bible Studies & Devotionals at Ligonier.org. (2010, June 26). Ligonier Ministries. https://learn.ligonier.org/devotionals/rejoice-lord-always